Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

Elsa didn't want to stay in the monastery all day, she had something to do.

"Don't be so restrained. We don't have a curfew like other monasteries do," Mary said. "But be careful if you go out at night. It's best not to go to the West Street area in the outer city. The security there is not very good. Outsiders like you may encounter some impolite people there."

"I see."

"The church has been in trouble these days, so please forgive me for the poor hospitality."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Nothing, just some ordinary things, but they suddenly piled up and became a headache."

Mary smiled, but still revealed some information:

"The appearance of Aru, whom you captured, has made many people anxious and uneasy, so we sent out the Knights to protect the other Holy Sisters. They set out today. Of course, the Holy Sisters who were recommended here like you only make up about half of the total number, so it should be relatively quick to confirm. But it just so happens that the troublesome black monsters have appeared recently, and there are also some concerning matters in the north that need our intervention... Perhaps these are troubled times."

In short, there are too many things to do and not enough people to do them.

But Elsa couldn't help with these things because she was not from the Dammas Church Monastery and was not familiar with all of this.

"A black monster...Sister Mary, do you know what it is? Could it really be the Demon King's army?"

"Unfortunately, our people are still investigating this matter, and we haven't reached a conclusion yet," Sister Mary shook her head. "However, the knights we sent to Weilin Town should return soon with definitive information, and then everything will be clear. If it truly is the Demon King's army... some things may change."

"Hmm..." Aisha thought for a moment and suddenly asked, "Sister Mary, have you heard of the 'Filthy One'?"

"'The Filth One'?"

Mary repeated it, and it was clear that she knew nothing about it.

"I forgot where I saw this name, but it seems to be related to those black monsters," Aisha said ambiguously, "but I have never found any relevant records."

"I see..." Mary frowned slightly and nodded thoughtfully. "Thank you for telling me this. I'll go look for it in the library."

"Then I'll bother you."

"That's all right. If you need anything, you can come to me directly. I live in the easternmost room," Mary smiled. "Have a good night's sleep, Sister Faris."

Mary left, and Elsa returned to the room, looked at the pass and put it into the space ring.

At night, the bustling city becomes silent.

There is no such convenient thing as electric light in this world. At night, lighting can only be done with candles or luminous magic devices. Magic devices can be said to be a derivative of "magic science" based on magic theory. In essence, they are still a tool for utilizing magic, but they have various functions after careful adjustment. For example, a magic stone that can provide magic elements is embedded in a magic circle engraved with luminous magic. By controlling the bridging magic circle, it can emit light like an electric light. In fact, Elsa's space ring itself is also a magic device, but the difficulty of the two is different. Its magic circle is space magic rather than luminous magic.

Since it is something related to magic, it is conceivable that the price of the magic device is very expensive, and naturally it cannot be found everywhere.

The church uses a kind of candle made from honey indoors. It does not produce pungent black smoke and burns much brighter than ordinary candles. But it is obvious that this thing is a luxury and not everyone can afford it. Most ordinary people still use the crudest extracts of animal and plant fats as candles, which smell very bad and produce black smoke.

Perhaps it is because of these reasons that most people in this world are accustomed to going to bed early. Elsa estimated that around nine or ten o'clock is considered "late at night" and there are no people on the streets. Conversely, people in this world are also accustomed to getting up early.

Elsa was also used to this kind of life routine. She turned off the lights early, lay on the white sheets, and looked at the white-painted ceiling.

Moonlight streamed in from the window, and the tip of the spear on the table emerged from the black cloth, flashing a bright and dim light.

Elsa turned over.

I don’t know how everyone in Weilin Town is doing these days.

Aisha thought.

Maybe I should send a letter to the old priest and nuns tomorrow to let them know I'm safe. It doesn't cost much. Besides, I took a quick tour of the monastery today and have a general understanding of it. So after sending the letter tomorrow, I'll take a walk around the city and get a little familiar with it.

Thinking of this, Elsa fell asleep early.

At the same time, in a corner of the city, a pair of eyes were quietly gazing at the night.

"Another nun has arrived—all bad news, huh."

……

------------

22. Gold medal two years ago

The next morning——

As soon as the sky was getting light, Elsa made her bed and washed up - this was a habit she brought from her previous life. Protecting oral health is a necessary task. There is no toothpaste in this world, so she found a wood-scented plant powder mixed with rock salt powder for cleaning, and applied it on a soft cotton cloth.

The world does not yet have a systematic concept of personal hygiene and health, and productivity is not high enough to allow ordinary people to actively pursue a more refined life. Those who are more particular will use mint or orchid powder to apply on their teeth and rinse their mouths. The method of cleaning teeth is relatively simple, and the main cleaning object is the mouth, and the teeth are just incidental.

Since she had no other plans for the day, Elsa changed into a classic nun's uniform.

After praying, Aisha had breakfast, said goodbye to Sister Mary and left the monastery.

The first thing to do was to send a letter to the old priests and nuns.

This world hadn't yet developed a dedicated postal service. So-called "postmen" were mostly rickshaw drivers who traveled extensively, picking up letters along their way. Wealthy families would hire servants to make the trip, or ask acquaintances to deliver mail. Otherwise, they'd have to entrust the Adventurer's Guild or mercenary agencies—some of whom were willing to take on such inexpensive commissions. Of course, it wouldn't take Elsa long to get back to Verin Town from here, but she had other things to do.

Elsa first went to a tavern and asked several coachmen under the surprised eyes of passers-by, but none of them planned to go to Weilin Town recently - the reason was that it was too dangerous.

Indeed, due to the influence of the black monster recently, fewer and fewer people are coming to and from Weilin Town.

Elsa sighed.

"Looks like I need to go to the guild..."

Elsa thought for a moment, fumbled in her space ring for a while, and took out a badge engraved with an exquisite griffin pattern.

"I don't know if this badge can still be used."

The Adventurer's Guild was not a strange place to Aisha.

She had briefly been active in the Adventurer's Guild in Verin Town, wearing a mask and concealing her true name. No one except the guild knew she was Elsa Faris—perhaps. Elsa's adventurer work at the time was partly out of "experience," but also primarily to earn some pocket money to buy a gift for little Alice.

It was during that period that Aisha and the union president, Brahmute, met.

Of course, Elsa's adventurer career didn't last long. The old priest seemed to have noticed something, and Elsa had had enough fun and bought a gift for Alice, so she left without any regrets - she didn't even cancel her identity in the union, and kept an identity badge in her hand.

……

There are always crowds of people at the gate of Dammas City, and the heat and noise show the prosperity of Dammas City.

This type of regional metropolis is often the center of commercial trade, politics, and military in the region, with a population far exceeding that of surrounding towns. Similarly, the difficulty of governance also increases dramatically, so the city’s checkpoint management is very strict.

"Oh, thank the goddess for your protection, we arrived safely."

Thorne looked at the people queuing in front of him with a smile on his face. Winnie and Caesar also looked at the towering city walls, and both of them looked very ambitious.

Ruth got off the carriage, took a deep breath of the fresh air from the wilderness, and looked at the majestic gray-white city walls. Although it was not her first time here, she had to admit that the city of Dammas was really daunting, and looking at it for too long would even make her dizzy.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s incredibly magnificent… It’s precisely because of cities like this that they can bring a sense of security.”

Thorne said, and Ruth nodded in agreement.

The city of Dammas is undoubtedly the safest city in the entire western province of the empire. Even the Demon King's army fifty years ago failed to completely occupy it.

“But the prices here are also amazing.”

Caesar poured a bucket of cold water at the right time, and Thorne and Winnie sighed at the same time.

Thorne planned to open a tavern of his own, and Winnie also planned to open a tailoring and leather processing shop, but to be honest, even if they put out all their assets, they were still a little unsure - after all, shops in Dammas City were really expensive.

"Forget it, let's just take it one step at a time. At worst, I can just find a way to make some money first. There's always a way."

Thorne is very open-minded. You can call him heartless or casual, but he has always been a carefree person. Although he seems a little unreliable, he is very easy to get along with.

They lined up along the way and entered the city with Winnie's parents, then said goodbye to the caravan and parted ways.

They found a hotel on the side of the road to stay temporarily and settled Winnie's parents.

The next day, several people started to get busy early in the morning - Thorne and Winnie wanted to change their careers and do business, so they naturally had to choose a good store. This stumped them. They asked around and looked around on the street, but some stores were shockingly expensive, and some stores were ridiculously off-the-beaten-path.

They were tired from walking, so they stopped by the roadside to rest.

"Wow... everything here is so expensive... How can a loaf of bread cost forty copper coins..."

Winnie rubbed her ankle which was sore from walking, with a sad face and a look of heartache.

Caesar explained, "After all, the mill can't be used privately. These breads are all the property of the lord's mansion, so naturally they're more expensive than other places. The waterwheel mill in Weilin Town doesn't have that restriction."

"Hey……"

Winnie sighed and suddenly felt that the big city was not so beautiful.

She wanted to open a shop here, but now it seems that she is still far away - because she does not have enough money to support her initial investment.

Thorne has been an old adventurer for more than ten years and has some wealth. The shops in Dammas City are very expensive, but Thorne can buy one if he grits his teeth. However, this is too difficult for Winnie, who also wants to open a shop. She has only been an adventurer for more than a year, and part of the money she has is used to subsidize the family expenses. Even if she lives frugally, there is not enough money left to rent a shop.

Ruth comforted him, "It's okay. If you don't have enough money, I can lend it to you first."

"Eh? How can that be..."

Winnie was tempted, but she didn't want to take her friend's money for nothing.

"What does it matter? I have nothing to do with the money anyway."

"Count me in," Caesar said, "but you have to give me a share of the profits."

"Count me in too," Thorne laughed. "When you make money, we'll go to your place and show our support. You can just give us a free meal."

A few jokes made Winnie want to laugh and cry at the same time, Thorne was so happy that he laughed out loud, and even Caesar, who was usually as cold as an iceberg, started laughing.

Ruth covered her mouth and chuckled, sighing in her heart and feeling happy about the scene before her.

Just then, a familiar figure flashed by across the street.

Sister Elsa?

Ruth suddenly turned around, stood up, and looked over the dense crowd - she didn't see clearly, but she felt something flash by in her heart. She was about to get up to confirm what it was, but found that she couldn't find it.

"Sister Ruth, what's wrong with you?"

Winnie looked in the direction Ruth was looking at, which was the Adventurer's Guild.

"Nothing, I think I saw it wrong."

Ruth shook her head and sighed delicately.

……

------------

23. Impending Crisis

Weilin Town——

To the north of the area west of the town where it borders the Great Western Forest is a riverside wetland covered with shallow grass and muddy puddles. Streams and rivers from the forest converge here and flow eastward. Normally, many birds live here, but at this moment, the tranquility of the past was broken by a fierce battle.

A team of fully armed silver-armored knights and an elite group of adventurers led by the leader of the Weilin Town Guild, Bramute, joined forces to attack a pitch-black monster that was larger and stronger than a pack horse.

"The Knights will surround it from the right wing and distract its offensive!"

"Prepare for a frontal attack!"

The knights and the adventurer team cooperated tacitly. The muddy wetland was littered with the corpses of black monsters. The monsters' blood had dyed the originally lush green land black. They were besieging the last and most powerful monster. The battle had lasted for several minutes.

“Pastor, Pastor!!”

Someone shouted.

"Be careful of its counterattack, and seek medical treatment immediately for those who are injured!"

The quagmire-filled area was not suitable for fighting. One knight was a step slow to react and was slapped by the cold white claws and flew more than ten meters away. A mouthful of blood stained his mask red.

"Stop it! Protect the wounded!"

Brahmot shouted immediately.

The monster opened its mouth wide, and its fangs that were neatly meshed like gears separated. It slowly turned its gaze towards Bramuth who was giving orders, and suddenly pounced on Bramuth who was directing the battle in the front.

"It's coming towards me. Now's the chance to attack it! I'll hold it off!"

Bramuth's eyes narrowed, and he roared. Muscles swelled inch by inch, a rich glow rising from his feet and spreading across his body. The blade of his straight sword gleamed with dazzling light. The moment he met the monster, a resounding bell-like sound swept across the plains, and the shockwave swept away vast swathes of mud. Bramuth was sent flying like a sandbag, rolling several times on the muddy ground before finally stabilizing himself. Slowly climbing to his feet, one of his arms had been twisted backward, broken bones protruding from his skin and muscle. Blood gushed out, a horrifying sight.

The monster was stopped in place by the huge force, and Bramuth's straight sword pierced its eyeball at an angle, and black blood gushed out like a fountain.

It screamed in pain, and what followed was the magic and attacks of the adventurers and knights. In an instant, more than a dozen scars appeared on its body, head, and neck. Black blood gushed out for a moment, and its resistance suddenly became powerless. It swept away the adventurer who tried to intercept it with a claw, but the next person immediately took the lead. Spears and straight swords left more and more wounds on its body, and the magic of ice crystals and lightning fell on it again and again.

Finally, under the continuous and unremitting attacks of the crowd, the black monster fell to the ground with a bang and was no longer alive.

"Finally...finally solved..."

The knight captain confirmed that the monster was dead and breathed a long sigh of relief. He immediately mobilized people to rescue the injured and clean up the scene. If the injured did not receive timely treatment, the black magic would corrode their bodies, deprive them of their sanity, make them "crazy", and even attack others.

However, the injured people immediately discovered that the injuries caused by the monster were recovering at a very fast speed - the injuries that originally required the use of medicine and magic to fight hard were restored to their original state in just a few breaths.