The Fake Saintess and the Elf Warrior

"No, it's nothing..."

"You're here to buy medicine, right...? What kind of medicine do you want?"

"I want..."

Taqia collapsed due to excessive physical and mental stress and exhaustion. Therefore, Naka only requested some medicine to clear heat, detoxify, and reduce fever. A short while later, the old man brought out something wrapped tightly in thick layers of brown paper.

"Here you go, little girl."

"Thank you, how much will it cost in total?"

"Forty gold coins"

"I understand... Huh?"

Naka was about to take out her wallet to pay when she discovered that the pocket of her coat, which had previously contained her wallet, was now empty. It seemed something had torn it open by the wind during the heavy rain; her pocket had a large tear in it. Her wallet had somehow fallen out.

A Morning in a Downpour (Part 2)

"What to do? What to do..."

Naka was frantic. She frantically patted herself down, picking up countless splashes of water.

Seeing that the other party was hesitant to take the medicine, the old man asked...

"What's wrong, little girl?"

"Excuse me, could you wait a moment? My wallet is missing. I think I dropped it somewhere on the way here. Let me go look for it..."

"Wait a minute"

Just as Naka was about to turn and run back, the old man called her back. The medicine that had been handed out through the window was still there; he hadn't taken it back.

I won't take your money.

"Huh? Why?"

Although the quantity of these medicines was not large, Naka had chosen rather expensive, high-quality herbs in order to cure Tatya as quickly as possible. Giving them away for free would have resulted in a considerable loss.

The medicine itself was of good quality. It wasn't a substandard product. The old man preferred to give it to Naka, for one reason only.

"You must have come here for someone very important, right?"

"A very... important person?"

"Yes. Do you know what you look like now?"

Rain was streaming down Naka's face, and her expression was one of anxiety and worry. The courage it took to make that decision before leaving home, and the feelings she was experiencing now, were all clear to someone of her age.

"The sick person must be extremely important to you. That's why you braved this heavy rain to come to me for medicine. You must have gone to other pharmacies before, but they were probably all closed today, so you came to me. That person is so lucky; you'd go to such lengths for them."

"..."

Naka desperately wanted to deny it. She kept telling herself that she was just using Tatia to achieve her own goals.

But if the old man was wrong, then why was she here in this place instead of sheltering from the rain indoors? Even if she had lost half a year, half a year was but a blink of an eye for Naka, who had lived for about a thousand years. Missing this registration wouldn't bother her. So what was the real reason she needed to cure Tatya as soon as possible? Naka fell into deep thought.

The old man also sensed that Naka seemed to have something difficult to say, and suddenly changed the subject.

"By the way, do you know why only my place is still allowed to operate?"

"have no idea..."

"Because this isn't just a pharmacy, it's my home too."

"Home?"

"The other shop owners, though they run pharmacies, also have their own homes. They went home after closing yesterday. They didn't come to do business today because of the heavy rain. But I have nothing else besides this pharmacy... Oh dear, sorry. I might have said too much. It's not good for you to stay in the rain. Hurry up and take these medicines back to the patient."

"Really? Is that okay?"

Naka was a little embarrassed and hesitated to take the medicine. The old man simply stretched his entire arm through the small window and forcefully placed it into Naka's arms.

"Alright, alright. You can give me the money later if we happen to meet again. Getting better is the most important thing."

"...Thank you, sir. May the gods bless you with long life."

Naka seemed to have forgotten her identity as a demon king after she shed her "disguise." With the demeanor and bearing of a saint, she offered a sincere blessing to the old man on behalf of the god who should have been her mortal enemy.

"Stop saying all that useless stuff. Even though I wrapped it in several layers of paper, it will still get soaked if you walk slowly. If the herbs get wet, they won't be as effective. Don't bother looking for your lost wallet either; with so much water on the ground, it's probably been washed away somewhere long ago. Just go home."

Although her tone was somewhat impatient, the old woman still wore a kind smile. Naka nodded and then turned and ran away.

"Sigh... I lost forty gold coins..."

The old man closed the small window, sighed, and sat back inside.

On his dining table sat a small black-and-white photograph. It contained a black-and-white image of a young woman. The old man picked up the photograph and gently stroked it.

"But it's alright, isn't it, old woman..."

Naka's soaking wet appearance brought back memories for the old man from decades ago. He was back to when he was still an adventurer, on a stormy night similar to today, he collapsed, severely injured, in front of this pharmacy, and was rescued by the shopkeeper's wife...

"You even gave up this pharmacy for me, just to deliver some medicine or something. You won't complain, right?"

It's impossible not to feel the pinch. But the elderly understand even better. The longing for the most important person is a priceless treasure that no medicine can match.

Naka clutched the parchment containing the medicine tightly to her chest and ran through the pouring rain. Although the old man had told her not to worry about the wallet, Naka simply couldn't obey.

This wasn't just a simple matter of losing some cash. More importantly, she had also put her bank statement in that wallet. Without it, she couldn't withdraw her savings from the bank. Reporting it lost would be extremely troublesome, potentially taking up to a week. And without finding it, paying for the adventurers' school would be impossible.

So Naka continued running through the heavy rain along the path she had come from, groping her way through the ever-flowing water.

"The Demon King's Authority" is a special ability that only the current Demon King can use. Besides "Disguise," which allows him to change his race and appearance, "Detection," which allows him to instantly know his opponent's level, and "Wormhole," the ability to instantly travel between places he has been, which he used to return instantly from the orc general Komre's castle to Isard Town, there are four other abilities. Unfortunately, none of the seven abilities of "The Demon King's Authority" can be used to find lost items. Even the Demon King can now only search blindly like an ordinary person who has lost something.

As expected, no matter how hard Naka searched, she couldn't find her money pouch. She searched every place she had been before. Aside from endless mud and sand, she found nothing.

"Damn it! Did it really get washed away by the water...?"

The floodwaters throughout the city are rising rapidly. According to the drainage system design of Isad, this rainwater will eventually flow into a large river next to Isad and eventually into the sea. If Naka's wallet were to fall into the river, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Having regained her identity as the Demon King, Naka completely lost her vigilance regarding the attacks she was receiving. She failed to notice that her clothes offered no protection, nor did she perceive the sound of them being torn. Deeply regretting her carelessness, Naka slumped helplessly against a large tree by the roadside.

"What should we do now...? Infinite levels, infinite stats, they're completely useless..."

If she went back, she wouldn't be able to explain it to Jasmine and Tatsia. But if she didn't go back, the medicinal herbs she had worked so hard to obtain would be wasted. Naka was torn. She could only keep hitting her head under the tree, blaming herself for her carelessness.

Hey! You over there!

In an environment where only the sounds of rain, wind, and thunder should have accompanied her, a rough male voice suddenly rang out. Naka turned her head and saw a person in armor standing not far from her.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a soldier on patrol. What are you doing here, a girl, in this heavy rain?"

Humans generally wouldn't go out in this kind of weather. But monsters might be a different story. Perhaps some monsters would take advantage of the rain to storm the city. Therefore, the town administrators dispatched a small squad of elite soldiers to patrol the city. One of them spotted Naka under a tree. To rule out the possibility that she was a monster or someone with ulterior motives trying to take advantage of the situation, he approached her and questioned her.

The purpose of her trip wasn't exactly a secret, so Naka told him truthfully. The soldier nodded after listening.

"Oh, I see. My important travel companion is sick, so I went out to buy medicine... Did you manage to get it?"

"I bought it."

Naka took out the soaked parchment and showed it to the soldier.

"Now that you've bought it, why aren't you going back yet?"

"Because... I lost my wallet."

"Lost your wallet? How did you buy the medicine then?"

Naka also truthfully explained that the boss had given her the medicinal herbs. This finally convinced the soldiers to accept her explanation and dispelled their suspicions about Naka.

"By the way..."

At the same time, the soldier pulled a bag from his pocket.

"I was patrolling the pedestrian street over there when this thing floated by with the current, so I just picked it up. Is it yours?"

Naka looked closely and saw it was indeed her missing wallet. She quickly nodded.

"Yes, yes, that's it! I've been looking for it for ages!"

When she reached for it, the soldier stepped back and did not immediately hand over the wallet.

"Wait. Tell me how much money and how much stuff is in here before I believe it's yours."

"No, besides you patrolling, I should be the only person in the city, right? Doesn't that prove it?"

"That's hard to say. Isad is a large town, and people from other places might have gone out as well."

This soldier seemed inexplicably alert and had a very serious personality. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, but in this environment, it was inexplicably infuriating. Naka replied impatiently.

"There are about three hundred gold coins inside, and a bank deposit certificate for four thousand gold coins. Do you agree?"

"Let me check."

The soldier shielded his eyes from the rain with one hand, and with the other, he slightly opened the wallet to check it against Naka's testimony. The result matched Naka's account. Only then did he tie the bag shut and hand it to Naka.

"Yes, it seems this wallet is indeed yours. Take it and go home now."

"...Thanks!"

Naka was grateful to him for finding her wallet. However, his overly meticulous and cautious nature and procedures made it difficult to thank him. Naka deliberately emphasized her thanks, putting "thank you" in quotation marks. She snatched the purse and quickly left the tree, running towards the inn.

"Stop right there!"

However, this cautious soldier once again demonstrated his skill. Watching Naka's departing steps, he immediately called out to stop her from leaving him as quickly as possible. Anyone else would likely have overlooked this. But he noticed that Naka could move with surprising ease through the strong winds and puddles, as if walking on flat ground. This was highly suspicious.

"Judging from your clothes, you should be a saintess, right? A saintess with no combat ability can stroll leisurely along a path that even we elite soldiers struggle to walk on? Girl, there's something wrong with you."

"..."

Naka obediently followed his instructions. However, Naka's tolerance for him was nearing its limit.

The soldier slowly approached the suspicious saintess, while simultaneously taking out an ability detection device from his pocket and pointing the lens at Naka.

"Don't move! Let me see who you are... No, that's impossible..."

After the device displayed the results, the soldier's eyes widened in disbelief and despair.

Normally, if a soldier encounters a sudden situation during patrol, they should immediately sound the alarm to notify all soldiers in the city. Even if they could imagine that monsters might take advantage of the chaos to attack, there was no way they could have imagined that a legendary being would actually appear before them in person. There was nothing they could do.

The detection device in his hand also fell into the water. He no longer cared about those things; instead, he raised his trembling hand and spoke in a voice barely audible.

"You, you, you...you are...a demon..."

"Swish"

Naka, who had been a few steps in front of him, suddenly appeared before him. Her left hand pressed against the soldier's chest. In a cold voice, she uttered the last words the soldier would ever hear.

"I hope you won't be so smart and perceptive in your next life."

Tatia slowly opened her eyes.

She didn't know how long she slept after drinking the bowl of porridge. Because the doors and windows were tightly closed, the room was pitch black. She couldn't judge the time by the light from outside.

However, she felt much better. The aches and pains in her body had lessened considerably, and the fever had subsided. Strangely, a rather bitter taste lingered on her tongue.

She sat up in bed and looked to her right. The first thing she saw was Jasmine sitting on the other side of the room. At the same time, Jasmine also noticed her.

"You're awake, kid. How are you feeling now?"

"Hmm, I'm feeling a bit better..."

"Really? You really should thank Sister Naka!"

"Sister Naka?"

"Look."

Jasmine pointed to Tatsia's bedside. Tatsia looked down and saw Naka kneeling on the edge of the bed, her upper body slumped over the edge, emitting soft snores. She seemed to be asleep, but her left hand was still tightly holding Tatsia's right. On the table beside her was a bowl that emitted the same bitter taste as the one in Tatsia's mouth.

"You've slept all day, it's about 3 a.m. now... Do you know what? Naka risked her life to go to the city to buy you medicine in that torrential rain that could drown or crush you."

"What? Sister Naka, she..."

"Isn't that stupid? Isn't that silly? When she came back, she was so soaked that the hotel owner didn't even want to let her in. And the nun's habit I had painstakingly mended for her was now tattered again. The hotel owner and I yelled at her for ages before we calmed down... But even after preparing herself for all that, she resolutely went to buy you medicine. I can't even imagine how many shops she went to to find those medicines. She didn't even bother to change her clothes or take a shower; she was soaking wet, yet she personally brewed the medicine for you and fed it to you, who was sleeping soundly, sip by sip, before finally going to shower and change. And that's not all; she sat beside you watching you until she couldn't resist the drowsiness anymore and fell asleep kneeling by your bed..."

After recounting everything that had happened while Tasia was still fast asleep, Jasmine said fiercely.

"Kid, Naka would do anything for you, right? Aren't you two dating now? Whether Naka forgives you or not, if you dare to betray her, I'd rather be arrested and sentenced to death than not kill you, you heartless bastard... Understand?"

"I understand..."

"Good that you understand."

After saying that, Jasmine turned her head away and continued mending Naka's clothes.