The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Ella doesn't know whether this is a blessing or a curse.

Faced with the silver-haired girl's silence, Dean's hands gradually went limp, slowly sliding down his white mage's long dress and back to the ground.

For some unknown reason, the boy, covered in wounds, showed no desire to investigate, nor did he feel any anger or rage for revenge. He simply deflated and stopped moving.

Ella had seen those empty, silent eyes in her previous life; they were the eyes of refugees displaced after the Fallen Temple's army had slaughtered their city.

The most utter despair.

Ella could probably guess Dean's thoughts.

He gave everything to protect a girl, enduring inhuman torture and pain, only to discover at the very last moment before his sacrifice that the person he had always wanted to protect was dead.

His actions have become meaningless.

Whether it was revenge or sacrifice, everything he had done and was about to do had come to naught, like a lonely clown who had finished his solo performance only to find that his only audience had long since left.

Nothing he had meant anything anymore.

Therefore, they fell into despair.

Ella didn't have that experience, but she did have a friend who did.

This made it clear to her that all she needed to do next was give a positive answer.

Then the only person in the world who could see through her identity was completely dead.

First comes the mental breakdown, and finally the physical demise.

The only potential problem for Ella right now is so insignificant that it can be solved with a simple breath.

Then... should we just let him die?

Everyone was relieved that he was dead; his life was over, and Ella could finally rest easy.

Ella was silent for a moment...

He sighed softly.

There are some things I can never do, no matter how simple they are.

So... what should we do? How can we awaken the will to live in a dying person?

Ella composed herself, looked at the boy, and then, trying to recall a figure from her memory, extended a finger.

Those slender, fair fingers slowly traced upwards along the boy's throat, lifting his chin.

Her lips curled up, her eyes narrowed slightly, and her crimson pupils, accentuated by her pristine white dress, appeared both alluring and sinister.

“Quite clever, Mr. Dean. It seems you really care about her.”

"Then... if you don't want Miss Ella Hayville to disappear from this world."

"Just be my obedient dog~"

Chapter Thirty: Testing

What a terrible sin, truly a terrible sin...

After returning from the prison tower, Ella soaked in the holy spring, sighing incessantly.

"Lady Ella seems to be in a bad mood today." The little nun Mino, who was massaging Ella's arms, noticed Ella's worried expression and asked with concern.

"I don't know how to say it either," Ella replied helplessly.

Under the watchful eyes of the elders, hoping to give Dean a chance to live, she could only think of that ingenious method.

She also truly witnessed how a person's eyes could burst forth with flames from despair.

Although this might lead to bizarre developments later on...

But there's nothing he can do; in a sense, Ella owes him this.

If Dean hadn't pulled a stunt at the ceremony, Ella might have been killed by the Templars the moment she arrived.

That being said, there was still a certain amount of shame involved.

Moreover, once the desire to survive takes hold, how to get Dean out becomes a problem.

The prison tower is so heavily guarded that it would be difficult to even get a mosquito out. Most importantly, there are hardly any prisoners in the entire dungeon—most of the Holy Temple's enemies have been burned at the stake. Only criminals or suspects who still have intelligence value are temporarily detained for a period of time.

This also meant that the dungeon guards were essentially living right in that guy's face, making it impossible for them to do anything.

Going through the proper channels would be extremely difficult; the Holy Church would never allow someone with clues about the Avatar to be released so easily.

Ugh……

Seeing that the saintess had fallen into a state of deep thought again, the two young nuns exchanged glances, not wanting to disturb her any further. They simply lay quietly against Ella's body in the spring water, their small hands slowly stroking her skin...

"Wait, what are you doing, folding cats?" Sensing the soft, squishy figures flanking her, Ella suddenly snapped out of her daze and quickly reached out to gently pinch the cheeks of the two little nuns.

“Eeya…” Little Sister Mino shrank her head like a kitten, but then blushed and rubbed her face against Ella’s fingers.

what happened!

This caught Ella off guard, and her face turned crimson, with steam rising from her head.

“Mother Margaret said that if a good friend is having troubles, give her a hug,” Nia whispered, holding Ella’s arm.

"Mmm." Mino nodded, her face flushed.

Okay, it was my thinking that was wrong. I repent to the God of Light.

"So, you two are twins?" Ella looked around. Although the two little nuns were both cute, they didn't look alike.

“We grew up in the same orphanage, and Mother Margaret was the nun who took care of us,” Mino shook her head. “We were adopted by the adults of the church after we were eight years old.”

“I see.” Ella understood. Sometimes the Holy Temple does do human things. Unless all its members are corrupted by some evil god and driven insane, such a huge organization often behaves in a multifaceted and complex way.

For example, churches often adopt orphans and provide them with food, clothing, and work. Although this may not be entirely for charitable purposes, it is still a good thing.

"Lady Ella, are you feeling better?" Nia asked timidly.

"Much better, thank you both, little ones." Ella smiled and patted Nia's head.

"Hehe." Nia covered her mouth and chuckled. "As long as Lady Ella is happy. Besides, Lady Ella earned so many gold coins today, she shouldn't be looking so gloomy."

"Thank you... gold coins? What gold coins?" Ella was stunned. When had the Holy Temple ever given her gold coins?

"Ah, aren't there many people here today to hear Lady Ella preach?"

“There are a lot of people…” Ella put her finger to her lips and tilted her head slightly, “but they all came to listen to the sermon, and no one gave me any gold coins.”

"Huh?" Mino asked in a puzzled tone. "But when I passed by the chapel, the sign outside said, 'Sunday Preacher - Saintess of Light, donation of two thousand gold coins for admission.'"

ha?

"Young Master Duo...?"

"Ah... two thousand ducks."

Ella was speechless for a moment.

...Two thousand gold coins? ??

I killed an Outer God's healer, an Outer God's agent, and even two stages of that, plus a demigod in the fusion stage, and in the end, the system only gave me so little in total...

They only gave me 500 gold coins! Add it all up!!!

No wonder a bunch of elders and high priests came to my door begging me to become a saintess. I used to think it was the will of the gods, but now if it were me, I would have asked too. This is more than just a saintess; this is a money tree! It's an idol-making project personally chosen by the God of Light!

Just put the saintess in that small room, and the profit from one guest is equivalent to killing four demigods!

What kind of fucking capitalism is this?! They're even taking a cut! I take back what I just said, Holy Temple, you really deserve to die!

The saintess's face immediately showed a depressed expression. The two young nuns looked at each other, not knowing what had happened, and could only silently hug her again.

……

Day two.

An angry Ella ran straight to the high priest's office.

“High Priest, this is going too far!” Ella pushed open the door and entered, her brows furrowed, looking both annoyed and indignant, yet trying her best to maintain a ladylike demeanor. “I acknowledge that the Holy Maiden needs to do the work of preaching, but isn’t it a bit excessive to use this as a pretext to collect gold coins?”

"Your Holiness, good morning... Hehehe, please calm down. Preaching is a long-standing tradition of the Holy Church. I didn't expect it to make you so indignant." The High Priest leaned back in his soft chair with a kind expression. "I understand your feelings, Your Holiness, but this tradition cannot be easily changed. Besides, think about it, if you didn't charge gold coins, with your fame, everyone in Valond would probably come to hear you preach."

Ella had expected that the old man wouldn't change anything because of her complaints.

However, her real purpose was not to complain about this.

Having lived two lives, Ella certainly wouldn't act recklessly just because she was angry about something. On the contrary, after realizing that the actions of the Sanctuary were not "legitimate" to her on the surface, she keenly sensed the hidden opportunities within them.

"Hmm..." After feigning thought, the silver-haired girl nodded, her gaze shifting. "High Priest, I understand what you mean. But... wouldn't that be a little unfair to me?"

“Hmm… If Your Holiness feels this is inappropriate, we can lower the threshold to benefit more people,” the High Priest said with a smile. “I just thought you didn’t really need this meager income, so I used it for the construction of the sanctuary without informing you… Of course, Your Holiness works so hard as a preacher, and it was indeed my oversight not to consider your feelings. I must apologize to you for that.”

Old fox.

After hearing this, Ella thought to herself.

First, he said he could reduce his income, and then he mentioned that Ella would get a share. This was both a test of Ella's true intentions in asking the question and a pretense of trying to win her over to make up for it.

If you really wanted to consider her feelings, you should have told her about this from the beginning!

Hmm, wait a minute, could this old guy's probing go beyond just this one layer?

Looking into the high priest's peaceful eyes, Ella suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Throughout history, those chosen by the God of Light have always been his representatives, following God's will with "noble and pure" hearts. Could it be that the High Priest intended to test my attitude towards charging for preaching in this way from the very beginning?

Could it be that he... also has doubts about something...?

Ella thought for a moment without showing any emotion, then composed herself and said, "It's alright, High Priest, thank you for your understanding. As you know, as the eldest daughter of the Duke, I don't really care much about things like gold coins..."

Okay, actually I do care quite a bit.

"...As a preacher, I feel very honored and happy to spread the teachings of my Lord to everyone. However, I have a small request, and I wonder if the High Priest can grant it to me."

"What kind of request is it, Your Holiness?" The High Priest leaned forward slightly. "You are the future leader of the Holy Temple. If there are any conditions, we will certainly grant them."

Ella clasped her hands together, her fingers interlaced, as if she were praying pitifully. "Mr. Dean in the dungeon is one of my closest family members. I still hope the Sanctuary can release him."

Chapter Thirty-One: Letters Home

"This..." The High Priest immediately put on a troubled expression. "I understand and admire the Holy Maiden's concern for her loved ones, but this involves the investigation of the evil god incident. You may not know how many clergy have sacrificed themselves in the fight against the Dark Cult, and how much innocent blood has been shed among them. Holy Maiden, please reconsider."

“Indeed, I know this is a bit unreasonable,” Ella sighed. “Then at least, at least we can spare Mr. Dean from execution. I’ve heard that almost all of the Shepherd’s loyal followers were sacrificed in that ritual, and even if Mr. Dean was one of them, he wasn’t a very important person.”

“It is difficult for me to assure you, Your Grace,” the High Priest stroked his beard, “but I will do my best.”

If you directly say you want to open the window, the other side will try to negotiate with you about whether to open it or not. But if you say you want to tear down the ceiling, the other side will start discussing whether you can just open the window.

That's all I can do for you, Dean. The rest is up to fate.

Ella silently prayed for the poor boy, "After that, will I ever be able to see Mr. Dean again?"

“That’s no problem, Your Grace. I’ll give you a badge in a moment, so you can visit Mr. Dean anytime.”

"Thank you, High Priest. May the great God of Light protect you."

"No, no, thank you for your hard work, Your Excellency. Thank you for your contributions to the Holy Temple. May the great God of Light bless you."

Oh, so that's how it can be said. No wonder you're the High Priest.

Ella's preaching skills have improved a little bit more.

……

As soon as Ella returned to the meditation room, Freya delivered the things the High Priest had promised.

The emblem was actually a small ivory disc, engraved with the sun symbol representing the sanctuary, as well as some miniature text praising the god of light.

Although Ella is a chosen saint, she has only just entered the Holy Temple for further studies. She is like a management trainee sent by the chairman of the board to a company. Everyone knows that she will take the position of the head of the headquarters in a few years. But for now, the person in charge of the Loren Grand Holy Temple is still High Priest Evans. He is like a strategic executive of the Holy Temple in the Loren Empire region. If you want to do business in the Holy Temple in the Loren Empire, you still have to follow the procedures and formalities.

After obtaining the seal, Ella did not rush to find Dean, but instead used her magic to carefully examine the emblem.

There was no other way; ever since she suspected the High Priest was suspicious of her, Ella had become extremely cautious around him.

As for the meeting with Dean, the High Priest agreed a bit too readily. Ella had expected it to be arranged at a fixed time or with a limited number of times. Instead, he directly gave her a pass to the Prison Tower, making it hard for Ella not to suspect that the old fox was up to something again.

If there's some kind of tracking or eavesdropping magic on this emblem, Ella might break apart.

However, the magic didn't detect anything.