The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Besides, Ye Xiao is still recovering from his injuries in Liangqiu Village and has just set off. It would be great if some monster or something came along and fought with him.

At that moment, Ye Xiao, who was far away, seemed to understand him perfectly: "I think you'd love for me to die."

Sigh. Why is going to class so torturous? Even being transported to another world doesn't offer an escape...

The old man on the stage, still unaware that he had become the first person in history to defeat the gods in the spiritual realm, continued to write furiously on the platform.

With nothing else to do, why not think about how to provide your followers with a means of communication?

Ella propped the basic Holy Light spells notes up on the textbook, then lowered her head, pretending to read but actually daydreaming.

The saintess's actions were nothing short of self-deception for the experienced Professor Perth, but the poor old man dared not provoke her and could only continue to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

"The Believer System," Ella called out in her mind.

The transmission of information through the void link on the believer panel is a one-way transmission by Ella, and the efficiency is extremely low. It sounds like whispering to others and can only be used for psychological suggestion to believers.

The sacrificial array provided by the system requires blood sacrifices and such. Although small arrays for transmitting information can use cattle and sheep as offerings, this overly traditional ritual array is inconvenient to use. More importantly, Ella felt that it was very damaging to her image.

Just imagining Marilyn or Hyde draped in a black cloak, drawing patterns in a mysterious basement with their fingers dipped in the blood of cows and sheep—wouldn't that lead to depression after a while?

However, she noticed that if a believer with a higher level of faith was sending her a message, the requirements for setting up the formation were not as strict, and they could convey their thoughts by using a method similar to chanting incantations or prayers.

But she only had one high-ranking follower, Ye Xiao, and Ye Xiao had absolutely no need to use this method.

It's strange. If it's so difficult for ordinary believers to pray to gods, then are all the prayers of righteous gods like the God of Light, who have so many ordinary believers, meaningless?

A chill ran down her spine; it seemed Ella had discovered something she shouldn't have.

It's really complicated.

The main problem is that Ella, this half-baked mage who relies on the system, only has a superficial understanding of formations. It would be great if a more skilled mage could enlighten her.

Thinking this, she suddenly noticed Chloe, who was listening attentively to the lesson beside her.

This guy... he memorized the healing holy light spell circle from memory last time, isn't he a top student?

Chapter Twenty-Six Middleware

"Is this a contract spell?"

Looking at the note Ella handed her, Chloe curiously examined the magic circle engraved on it.

As clever as she was, she could tell that the magic circle was incomplete. It seemed to lack elements such as the contract's object and the ritual medium, and only contained basic runes related to transmitting messages.

"What a unique structure! Was this a magic circle invented by the Holy Maiden herself?"

"No, no, I just saw this in an ancient book and found it very interesting, so I wanted to ask you about it," Ella made up a reason. "It seems that the way this spell is used has some special limitations. Do you have any ideas on how to optimize it?"

Although she was only a half-baked mage, the duke's daughter before Ye Xiao took her place was at least a mage student at a national noble academy, so she still had some basic knowledge of magic.

This allowed her to at least vaguely discern the functional differences between the various rune sections in the spell's main structure. Therefore, she only drew out the basic sections used for transmitting information and handed them to Chloe. As for the remaining parts, elements such as blood sacrifices to outer gods were definitely not to be seen by Chloe. She even deliberately replaced the runes on the basic sections with runes commonly used by the Loren Empire's spellcasting school.

Of course, doing so will result in the drawn magic circle being completely meaningless, but that doesn't matter, as long as it conveys the meaning.

Moreover, in the analysis, compared to the confusion she felt when practicing swordsmanship in her previous life, Ella found that she seemed to have a stronger ability to comprehend things like spells and magic arrays.

"Hmm...it seems to be used to transmit information through a contract of connection. Looking closely, the combination of runes on it seems a bit irregular. It feels like the product of a novice who just learned magic...Ah, such a low level of skill can't possibly be the work of the Holy Maiden. I apologize for my slip of the tongue just now." Chloe scratched her head sheepishly.

"Haha." Ella's smile was a little stiff.

“Due to the imbalance between the two parties in the contract, such direct communication often requires a price to maintain the medium.” Chloe continued her research. “Although the use of runes is terrible, the construction is quite ingenious… It’s strange that the creator’s construction level and the level of filling in the runes are not on the same level at all. It’s like a master’s line drawing being colored by an elementary school student.”

Please, please let me go.

Ella deeply regretted showing the magic circle to her academically gifted priest classmate, as her self-esteem was constantly being bruised and she couldn't even retaliate.

"...Hmm, if there's only one contractual partner, it seems there's not much room for optimization."

"Hmm? Does that mean it's possible to optimize if there's more than one contract partner?" Ella keenly grasped the meaning behind Chloe's words.

“Hmm…” Chloe took out another piece of paper, spread it out, and drew two circles, one above the other, on it. Then she connected the two circles with a straight line. “This contract spell assumes that the two parties are unequal communicators. For example, imagine two lakes, one high and one low. If the lake at the lower level needs to transport water to the lake at the higher level, it must provide a certain amount of energy to transport the water. Moreover, the greater the difference in elevation, the greater the energy required for transportation.”

"Can't the energy be provided by lakes at higher elevations?"

"No, providing energy from a high lake is like pumping water from a low place. That's information from a higher level spying on a lower level, not information from a lower level to a higher level."

...The gist of it is that the transmission of an active action must be subject to a price paid by the active party? Ella felt a little confused. Listening to a top student solve a problem was indeed painful, no matter the world. "Doesn't that mean that this magic circle is meaningless for parties with a large difference in elevation?"

No wonder those cultists who use magic to communicate with evil gods have to spend a lot of offerings, while those on the side of the righteous gods who claim to be able to communicate with deities are often high-ranking members of the Holy Temple.

“Yes, if the gap is too large and direct transmission is required, it would come at a huge cost.” Chloe nodded. “However, as the Saintess just said, if there is more than one contract partner, there should still be a workaround.”

"Hmm, how do we adapt this?"

Chloe held up two fingers. “I have two ideas so far. One is that if there are two lakes at the bottom, they can share the cost if they only transmit one message collectively. The other is that if there is an intermediate lake between the top and bottom lakes, the lake at the bottom can pay a small cost to transmit the message to the intermediate lake, and then the intermediate lake can transmit the message to the lake at the top.”

Ella paused, staring intently at Chloe's face as if deep in thought.

"I...I...did I say something wrong..." Chloe blushed. Looking at the saintess so closely, it would be hard for even a girl not to be moved by her beauty.

“You must be a genius, Miss Chloe,” Ella murmured, as she scrolled through the system’s follower panel in her mind, and a possible solution was gradually taking shape.

"Hey, I'm nowhere near as good as the Saintess!" Chloe was so excited by Ella's praise that she almost flew away.

But the problem is, who should be used as the middleware? Ye Xiao has the highest level of faith, but his mental energy can be almost depleted by throwing a few fireballs, so it's definitely not suitable.

The other believers are all low-level believers. Although they can directly consume universal points to increase their faith level, their mental energy capacity is still a problem. Even if they use potions to forcibly increase their recovery, the human body's drug resistance is limited, unless they can directly consume magic crystals...

Wait a minute, it seems I have a non-human follower.

Ella turned her attention to her special "follower," whose name naturally carried an air of calm and gravity.

[Liangqiu Ridge - Lower-level believers]

What's outrageous is that this thing's panel also shows mental energy, and it's ridiculously high!

Ella suspected that the mountain might have developed its own sentience under the influence of the evil god's power, and that the spirits and wills of all the plants and animals on the mountain had been attributed to it.

"Class, that concludes today's lecture. Next time, we'll continue discussing the unique aspects of Holy Cities and Holy Lands in an arcane sense." Professor Boss's words interrupted Ella's thoughts. The clergy around her, who were also attending the lecture, had already stood up and, carrying their books, came to Ella's seat in the front row.

Since discovering that this saintess was kinder than they had imagined, the young members of the sanctuary have been eager to chat with Ella.

After all, he is the future master of the Holy Temple. If we don't curry favor with him now, we may never have the chance to meet him again.

After these two days, Ella gradually got used to it and greeted everyone one by one, after all, she is not a reclusive person at heart.

However, not everyone was friendly. For example, the blonde arcanist girl walking towards us through the crowd had an icy expression as always.

This guy is practically a walking iceberg.

Feeling the aura around her instantly cool down, Ella couldn't help but complain inwardly.

The surrounding clergy also made way for this lady. Although she could no longer take the position of saintess, her talent to become the youngest high-ranking arcane mage and her status in the sanctuary still far surpassed that of her peers.

"Lady Freya, what brings you here?" Ella asked softly.

“I am not worthy of such a title, Your Excellency. The elders have sent me to inform you to come to the chapel.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Preacher

It's just going to church, but judging from this guy's expression, he'd think I was being dragged to the trial.

In the corridor, Ella followed Freya, who remained silent, while inwardly grumbling.

The clergy along the way were all drawn to the beautiful sight of the two, but due to their professional ethics and, more importantly, Freya's reputation, they didn't dare to look too closely.

When they arrived at the chapel, sure enough, there was a kind-faced elder waiting there.

"Elder Brandon, the Holy Maiden has arrived."

"Thank you, thank you, little Freya." Looking at Elder Brandon's eyes, which were narrowed into two crescent moons, Ella wondered if he could really see things like that.

“It is so, Your Grace, as an appendage of the God of Light, the Sanctuary is required to spread its teachings and heal diseases on behalf of our Lord. And Your Grace, you are the future spokesperson for the Sanctuary, and will have a dedicated priesthood for spreading its teachings.” Elder Brandon said with a smile as he led Ella to a room on the side of the chapel. “After you take office, you will have your own monastic hall, but before that, you will need to serve as a preacher in the missionary room for a period of time.”

Ella roughly understood that, simply put, her main job after becoming a saint would be preaching, and in order to preach smoothly in the future, she would first have to work as a preacher in a small preaching room as an intern.

This even has a detailed training plan and career path, like a management trainee... Ella thought that the saintess was just a pretentious character who sat on the throne all day looking down on everyone, and when others reported to her, she would just lower her head and say "good" or "bad" without knowing whether it was good or bad.

But there's a very serious problem: why wasn't this kind of job mentioned earlier?!

Ella felt a chill run down her spine. She basically slept through class, and she had never even glanced at the teachings of the God of Light because she was bored out of her mind. How could she be a preacher? She was more like a martyr!

Especially since it's such a serious missionary role, Ella remembers a player in her previous life who got drunk and went to the chapel to debate with the priest about whether God existed. He was immediately arrested by the Templars, judged as a heretic, and burned as firewood. Some things are completely different when said in private versus in public.

If she accidentally says something wrong, wouldn't she be treated as a heretic and beaten up?!

No, we have to refuse, absolutely refuse!!!

“But… Lord Brandon, my training in the Holy Temple has only just begun, and I believe there is still considerable room for improvement in my understanding of the Holy Light,” Ella said, trying to express her lack of academic ability as tactfully as possible. “I’m afraid that if I rush into preaching at my current level, I might mislead people’s faith in the Holy Temple and my Lord due to some shortcomings.”

“Don’t worry, Your Grace.” Elder Brandon placed his hand on his chest. “You only need to follow your heart. You are the chosen one of my Lord, possessing a holy soul closest to my Lord. The doctrines of the Sanctuary are merely interpretations for us mortals. The teachings of the great God of Light will naturally reside in your heart.”

Ha, really? I feel like there's only a bunch of tentacles inside me.

"But I've only just joined the Holy Temple. Wouldn't it be more appropriate for me to focus on cultivation?"

"Preaching is also a form of spiritual practice, Your Majesty."

"...But I'm not very good at communicating with people; I'm a bit socially anxious."

"Language is just a tool; what matters is your pure heart."

"...I'm afraid I'll say the wrong thing and get a complaint."

"The Holy Maiden conveyed the teachings of my Lord, so it is not a big deal if the church is misunderstood by the world."

"..."

Ella was speechless and tried every possible way to refuse, but the elder was like a block of wood, determined to make her the preacher.

I can't take it anymore, this guy is the king of motivational quotes.

This elder is better suited to be a success coach; he's really wasting his talents here.

"Hiss, well... I'll give it a try first."

Unable to refuse, Ella reluctantly accepted the job of preacher.

"If, I mean if, I accidentally said something wrong, please forgive me, Elder."

"Rest assured, Your Holiness, your words are the will of God."

……

Ella eventually walked into the preaching room with a sorrowful expression.

It was a spacious room, divided in the middle by a long wooden table, with a cushioned bench on each side. On the side where Ella sat, there was a door for the preacher to enter and exit, while on the other side, there were two doors, one for exit and one for entry.

The room was quiet. Ella, carrying a chapel manual, walked to a chair, sat down, and took a deep breath, preparing to receive her first guest.

But seriously, work aside, why did Freya also come into the room?

Her icy face standing next to me was like a portable air conditioner, making the indoor temperature feel several degrees lower.

Noticing the silver-haired girl glancing at her, Freya, who was standing to the side, said calmly, "The elder instructed me to look after the Holy Maiden. If the Holy Maiden encounters any difficulties, just come to me."

You're the biggest problem here, okay!

Ella was really struggling to keep up. She was already worried about saying the wrong thing while preaching, and now she had to have a high-definition monitor next to her.

Just as she was having a headache, the clear sound of bells suddenly rang out, and a young man dressed in luxurious clothes walked in from the other side of the room.

How come we have customers so quickly?!

"Ah, uh, welcome!" Ella gave a forced smile and hurriedly opened the sanctuary lecture notes and placed them on the table.

The man who entered paused for a moment, and the air fell into a brief silence.

What am I even saying...? A bead of sweat slid down Ella's cheek.

"Ah...hello! It really is the Holy Maiden!" Upon seeing Ella's appearance, the nobleman's joy was practically written all over his face. "It was worth waiting in line for so long."

"queue?"

Ella seemed to have vaguely sensed something.

"Ah...no, no...may I...may I sit down, Your Majesty." The nobleman couldn't wait to walk to the chair and sit down.

I figured you weren't planning on listening to my answer before you sat down...

Ella was somewhat speechless. "Sir, is there anything you need... or how can I help you?"

“My name is Andrei, Andrei Devon. Devon is the Devon of Earl Devon, whose residence is in the West District. Yes, I am his son. Um, I study swordsmanship at the National Noble Academy. I mean, I am a high-level swordsman. I saw you at the academy before…”