An ordinary profession creates the world's strongest

"Really? You moved me over ten kilometers away, and it took me a while to get back."

Mei spoke lightly, but her breathing was a little rapid, and she immediately took a magic recovery potion, which showed that she must have rushed back very hard.

Rouse said to the knights who were madly burning with the will to annihilate the enemy of God:

"We retreat, everyone board the airship."

"Lord Royce!?"

"Listen carefully. In the midst of a storm, we must contend with a formidable horde of monsters, while also battling four users of Age of Gods magic. Of course, God's will must be fulfilled, but annihilation without fulfilling God's will is unacceptable. Erim, fellow knights, which is more important: fulfilling God's will or embarking on the path of martyrdom?"

Of course, fulfilling God's will is important.

"Then, in order to ensure their complete defeat, let's retreat for now."

“…Yes! We understand!”

After a brief hesitation, although Airem glared at Meredi and the others with crazy eyes, he still saluted Royce in response.

Ross looked at Meredy and the others with sharp eyes.

"Or do you want to stay and fight to the end?"

A smug smile appeared on Meredith's face.

Oscar was sure that Meredith would say, "Hey, how do you feel now? How would you feel as a Templar who was killed by heretics? Hey, tell me, how do you feel now?" So he held Meredith from behind and covered her mouth with his hand.

"Get lost now."

Oscar only answered Ross with this one sentence.

After taking a look at Meredith, who was whimpering with her mouth covered, Ross led the Knights aboard the airship. The airship, its power reactor repaired, took off.

After watching the airship leave, Natsu opened the portal.

The storm grew stronger and stronger, and a large number of monsters could be seen floating on the sea. Then, Milady and the others left the huge waves that were approaching them and returned to the Melkine.

The Melkine is a large Galien-class ship, over fifty meters in length.

Therefore, it is possible to accommodate the nearly 500 residents of Ship Island by just squeezing in a little.

Having said that, the feeling of riding is far from comfortable. If there is no magic to provide ventilation, the air under the ship will immediately become polluted, and the food stored in the ship will not be enough.

"Sister Mei'er...how many people didn't make it?"

After returning to the Melkine, the storm soon calmed down, and Meredith and the others gathered at the helm. With Chris and the others present, Meredith's first question was this.

"...Fifty-seven people."

This number was entirely composed of combatants. They comprised nearly 30% of the over 200 combatants. They were in a state where even regeneration magic couldn't save them... meaning they were already dead.

"I'm sorry, Sister Mei, if we had come back earlier—"

Meredith looked like she was about to cry, and Mel put her index finger on her lips to stop her from speaking, then smiled and shook her head.

"Xiao Mi, you had no obligation to save us, yet you still came back and risked your lives to fight for us. You are our benefactors, so don't apologize."

"Sister Mei..."

Meredy sniffed, and Mel patted her head tenderly.

"Yes, you are my benefactors, and I must reward you."

"No... No, if that's the case, tell me, Mei'er-sister, what is your real purpose?"

"...That doesn't really count as a reward, does it?"

Meredith shook her head, then looked at her with a determined look.

"That's the most important thing to me. That's how much I want you. I want to walk the same path with you and the rest of the pirate group. I came here to seek the treasure of the sea, and I found it. That treasure is Sister Mel and the Melkines."

Therefore, Mei'er's "reason" was the return gift that Miledy wanted most.

Mel and Chris, who had been listening silently, all looked embarrassed and turned their heads away. Katie, on the other hand, looked restless, as if she wanted to rush forward and hug Meredith and give her a good pat on the head.

"This is the first time I've heard such passionate words. Oscar, are you also captivated by this trick?"

"Ah~ well, I can't deny it."

"Yeah, it's quite nerve-wracking, isn't it?"

Oscar and Natsu nodded with wry smiles. Their eyes seemed to say, "Isn't our leader quite persuasive?"

Mei'er also smiled softly and nodded as if agreeing with them.

"...I have a feeling you'll leave me aside and play by yourselves again."

Seeing Mel and Oscar communicating with their eyes, Miledy couldn't help showing a dissatisfied look.

Mei, wanting to change the mood, sat down on the edge of the boat. Then, gazing at the moon, she spoke slowly, her voice filled with emotion:

"I have a younger sister."

She said she was her half-sister, about ten years younger than her in age.

"I told you my mother died when I was little, right?"

"Yes, it was when Mei'er was eight, right? After that, Mei'er lived in the slums."

"Yes, that's correct, but it's also a little inaccurate. My mother did die, but not when I was eight years old. It was much later. In fact, my mother was taken away, gave birth to my sister, and then died several years later."

"Taken away?"

"Yes, she's been spotted by the man who rules Antica—Bahar Dewat."

Mei's typically gentle expression twisted, and she gritted her teeth.

It was a bitter memory.

Afterwards, I heard from people nearby what they had witnessed. It was said that while Mei'er was out for a trip, her mother, Lizhu, was accidentally noticed by Bahar.

Bahar is a man who will get what he wants. Greedy and ruthless, he is the most feared man in Andika, and also the most powerful person in Andika. There is no way Liju can escape. Although Liju begs Bahar to let her go, Bahar will not listen.

Lizhu is a strong-willed woman. She would never obey someone who ignores her will, but she has people she must protect.

That’s right, it’s her beloved daughter Mei’er.

By then, Mel had already demonstrated the ability to perform regenerative magic. If Bahar knew of her existence, Mel would surely be imprisoned, a life of constant exploitation. That would undoubtedly attract the attention of the Church, who would take her away, and she would be forced to live for the Church until her death.

This was the only thing Liju couldn't allow to happen. Therefore, Liju made a prompt decision and let Bahar take Mei'er away before she returned home. Fortunately, he didn't know about Mei's existence yet.

Seeing the empty house and hearing what happened from people nearby, Mei was stunned for a long time.

With her only family gone, Mel is left alone and wanders around the slums, but she still longs for her mother and struggles to survive in the slums. Six years later, with the help of Chris and others, Mel learns about her mother's current situation.

She is dead.

Then, Mei'er has a younger sister.

"Her name is Tigne. At first, I hated her deeply... because my mother died because her body was damaged during her birth, and she is the daughter of the man who took my mother away."

but……

"One time, I wanted to see what she looked like, so I invaded the central area."

And that's where it all began.

——Are you my sister?

When they first met in that underground room, before Mei could even speak, Tigne asked with wide eyes.

"She said her mother told her about my existence as a sister, and that we would definitely meet one day. Haha, her mother even said, 'Your sister is lively and active, maybe she'll come to Tignes on her own.'"

Tigne stretched out her little arms through the window, crying out, "Sister! Sister! I finally see you!" Seeing the young Tigne, Mei understood everything.

Even though Tigne was the daughter of a powerful man, she was definitely not fully cared for.

She was in a room deep underground, all alone.

She endured her loneliness by missing her mother, and relied on the thought that she would one day see her sister to support her heart.

Mei still doesn't know how to describe how she felt when she saw Tignes reaching out his hand to her.

It's just that she wanted to love her sister and thought for no reason that she should protect this child.

and so……

"I made a pact with her that one day we would live together."

However, reality is always cruel.

If Tigne was just an ordinary daughter, Bahar might have let her out easily.

"Tigne can use her own unique magic, though it's limited. However, it's the same restorative power as mine."

There was no way Bahar would let her go.

"Because Antica is the capital of criminals, there are many people who want to take his place. Of course, resistance often occurs. If Tigne's magic is used in such a situation..."

The absolute healing that surpasses recovery magic is too useful, and Bahar cannot let it go.

Being able to heal injuries that were fatal in nature made the people of the Dewat family even call Tigne the "Saint".

"Eh? So the 'Saintess of the West Sea' originally refers to Tine?"

Hearing what Meredy said, Meier smiled bitterly and shook her head.

"The title 'Saint' does refer to Tigne, but I'm the 'Saint of the West Sea'. This way, if rumors about the Saint reach the Church, they won't be able to track down the child."

Even if Mel had taken Tine away, she wouldn't have had the power to protect her from Bahar or the Church. On the contrary, Bahar's power was needed to conceal Tine's existence from the Church.

Sometimes when the Devat family went out to sea, Mel would use the magic of looking into the past to find out about Tigne without being noticed, to confirm whether the church had discovered her.

Then one day, Mei learned that some people called Tigne the "Saint," and thus the legends of the "Saint of the West Sea" and the "Saint of Healing" were born.

"Is that so... So, Mei'er-sister's goal is to take Tigne back from Bahar? Eh? But then why do you want Andica too?"

"The reason is simple, and Xiao Mi, this is exactly why I can't join you."

Meredy was puzzled, and Meier said to her:

"Bahar is secretly colluding with the church."

"Didn't the church turn a blind eye to him?"

"Yes, he sends most of the casino's revenue to the church. In other words, besides being a warning to others and a prison, Andica is also an important cash cow for the church."

That is to say, as long as they can gain control of Antica, the inherent magicians who would have been taken away by the church and lost their freedom, as well as Mei's own existence, can enjoy a certain degree of freedom with the church's knowledge.

"In this world, the only entity that can form a cooperative relationship with the Church is Andica. If I can obtain Andica and replace Bahar, myself, Chris, the others, and Tigne can all live freely."

Then--

"Everyone will have a safe place to live, and there will no longer be people like my mother or those in the slums who are cut down simply because they say, 'It's the weak ones' fault.'"

So Mel will not join the Liberator. She cannot join an organization that is hostile to the church.

Mei'er will cater to the church, demonstrate her own value, establish mutually beneficial relationships, and make choices that will give her a certain degree of freedom.

"I want to use myself, a Divine Age Magician, as bait to negotiate with the Church."

Mei'er's eyes were fixed on Millardy, and those eyes had already made it clear that Mei'er's conclusion was unshakable.

Meredith looked up at the sky, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as if to suck all the air into her lungs.

After a pause, Meredith looked at Mei'er with the same expression and said:

"I understand, Sister Mei."

That was all she said, and it spoke louder than any words could.

A gentle atmosphere flowed between the two of them, like the calm surface of the sea. They just stared at each other for a long time.

Afterwards, Mei took action that same night.

The moonlight shone on the sea. Mei was now drifting alone on the water, lying on her back, drifting with the waves. As long as she closed her eyes, the previous scenes would emerge one by one.

Tonight would undoubtedly be a turning point. She told herself that it would be fine, and then she thought about the little sister who had said goodbye to her, saying, "It will be fine."

"...I'm sorry, Mi-chan."

She spoke these words in a very low voice, as if it would be drowned out by the sound of the waves. Then, she felt a presence approaching.

Mei'er built a small water arch bridge, sat on the arch bridge, and greeted the person she was waiting for.

"Good evening, Captain. I'm glad you've come."

The person who came was Ross, and now he could see the airship in the distance.