CHAPTER 35: SAINTESSES

Elizabeth’s smile widened, hiding some pride: "And this race is called... the angel race!"

For a moment, Dante just stared at her blankly.

’What the fuck?’

Dante frowned instantly: "Have you just said... angel?"

Elizabeth nodded: "Yes, angels!"

’Yeah, something is certainly wrong.’

Dante’s mind drifted to the story of Fafnir’s father.

According to him, he injected his wife with demon bloodline to save her by turning her into a demonic dragon.

In other words, demons were supposed to be the race that could share its bloodline, right?

So why was she now saying that a race called angel was the only one that could do this?

’Maybe the demon race isn’t a heavenly race? Then what explains their bloodlines?’

Something was indeed wrong, but he couldn’t ask about it.

What would she think if the boy who was supposed to be clueless about demons suddenly knew that demons had shareable bloodlines?

’I’d look too suspicious.’

Just then, Dante noticed something else.

’Angel, human, demon, dragon... why are all of them pronounced the same in English and this world’s language?’

Dante didn’t think much of it when he was in the ancient ruins, but why were only these four races sharing identical pronunciations in both languages while everything else was different?

’Wait, are there languages other than the one I have seen so far? I should ask Skylar later.’

"Hmm? You don’t look surprised." Elizabeth said suddenly.

Dante snapped out of his daze and tilted his head: "Why would I be surprised of people turning into angels? I have seen humans literally launching their heads."

He was only a bit confused. But surprised? Not even a little.

She’d need more than some information about bloodlines to shock him.

Elizabeth sighed: "Nevermind... Anyway, let me tell you what a saintess is."

Raising her head in pride again, she explained: "As I said, angels can share their bloodlines somehow, but for some reason, the blood they share yearly is extremely limited. In addition to that, they can’t simply share it for no reason, can they? It’s something that all the races—including the other heavenly ones—would kill for!"

Dante nodded in understanding. He himself had seen what a bloodline is able to give. If he had the ability to share his bloodline, he’d sell it for a fortune!

’Oh, maybe I really can, hehehe.’

Dante’s eyes sparkled as Elizabeth continued: "And here come the saintesses to solve this problem! Only seven positions are available for the candidates. They are the link between the Holy Kingdom and the Holy Court where angels who can share their bloodlines live.

"From what I was told, their job is not only earning the angelic blood, but also choosing who deserves it! Though they’re usually the first ones to use it... Oh, I forgot to mention that they usually bring enough blood for only two people yearly, so it’s really important to decide who’s going to take it."

’Earning? So they work for the angels in exchange for their blood?’

Dante couldn’t be sure about whether that was a good or a bad deal to the saintesses. That depended on what kind of job they did to earn the blood.

But there was something strange that Elizabeth mentioned.

"Why only seven saintesses? And why not male saints?!"

Were the angels sexists? Dante thought that would be really hilarious if it was true.

Elizabeth scratched her head: "Hehe, I don’t actually know. I only know that if a saintess dies, the most worthy woman among the tens or hundreds of saintess candidates would be chosen judging by her feats and achievements across the continent and a few other factors."

’So she wants to be a saintess but she doesn’t even know why they ask specifically for saintesses rather than male saints...’

Dante sighed inwardly as he asked: "So... how do you become a candidate exactly?"

"It’s simple." Elizabeth responded: "For a girl to be a candidate, she must be, well, a girl with the saintess class, have either the Light Aspect or Heaven Domain with any of its aspects, and a pure nature that will be judged by someone called the Seer. That’s all about it, and of course, I passed!"

Dante felt a bit puzzled by a few things she said. That system was a bit too strange, and he didn’t know what was so special about the Heaven Domain other than its name. But there was something else that he was curious about.

Looking at Maxwell, he asked: "What about the holy knights? Why are they ready to die for you?"

Hearing his question, Elizabeth lowered her head embarrassingly: "Well, the holy knights are individuals who protect the Holy Kingdom and hold high positions. There are a few ways to become a real holy knight, and one of them is to follow a candidate until she becomes one of the seven saintesses."

Dante’s brows furrowed: "And you said only seven of hundreds can become saintesses. And you have to wait for one of the seven saintesses to die in order to take her position?"

’Does she realise that she basically wishes for someone’s death?’

Elizabeth nodded: "It’s... not so hopeless, hehe. Anyway, I grew a bit close to Maxwell and Selena, so they’re overprotective now."

’So it’s not about duty or anything.’

Dante sighed: "Okay, can you take your hand off my shoulder now?"

Elizabeth blinked in confusion: "Why?"

Dante gritted his teeth: "Because I hate it!"

Bam!

All of a sudden, the inn’s door opened brutally as Dante heard Skylar’s voice.

"Ladies, beautiful ladies, and gentlemen." Entering the inn and giving an apologetic glance toward the furious innkeeper, Skylar continued: "Skylar is here to bring good news!"

As he moved to the side, two figures emerged.

’Are they... blue humans?’

They were human-like creatures, one man and one woman, with pointy ears, white hair, blue eyes, and blue skin.

Wearing leather armor, the man had an excited smile on his face. He had short spiky hair and two sheathed swords on his back.

Wearing a light outfit, the woman had a cold, expressionless face. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and she held a longbow and quiver on her back.

Seeing them, the villagers started murmuring:

"Frost elves?"

"What brought these two here?"

"Oh, I saw them yesterday."

Ignoring the villagers and holding a red rose in his mouth...

’Creep!’

...Skylar explained:

"Cheer up, my friends. The baron’s days are numbered, because now we have a Rank 2 warrior!"

’Rank 2? Are they the ’elves’ thing that the baron’s knight talked about?’

Out of curiosity, Dante activated his spiritual eye.

The woman: 35

The man: 72

’Oh...’

Dante didn’t have any excuses now.

They now had both numbers and a Rank 2 individual.

Now, they only had to make a plan to attack the baron and hope nothing would go wrong.

[Author’s note: For the readers who comment tftc on every Chapter, read author’s thoughts]