Elden Clergyman

Whether she could win the fight or not was another matter, but the fact that she could get along with him and refrain from fighting was somewhat inconsistent with the Moon Princess's personality in Serenity's impression.

But the Full Moon Queen did not answer the question directly. Instead, after a moment of thought, she said something that seemed completely unrelated.

"He gave that child, Lani, a greatsword of the moon."

Se Lian: “......?”

Wait, what is that?

Moon Greatsword? Who gave it to whom?

Seeing Se Lian's shocked expression, Queen Full Moon seemed very satisfied and added another sentence.

"She accepted it."

Se Lian: “…”

Se Lian: “???”

......

the other side.

After returning to Gallid, Lord found Millicent sitting in a corner of the rest camp, wiping her weapon.

"...Mr. Lord."

After hearing the footsteps, Millicent turned around with some vigilance, but after seeing who was coming, she quickly relaxed.

"What can I do for you?"

"Same old story, check your body."

As Lord walked over and squatted, Millicent moved a little closer to him.

It had been quite some time since the first examination, and during this period Lord had examined Millicent several times in order to prepare the data for the operation.

The other party is now used to this kind of thing. Not only does he no longer resist as before, he will even actively cooperate.

As for why it was a physical examination and not just a prosthetic examination, it wasn't that Lord wanted to take advantage of her.

It's just that compared to prosthetic limbs that are simply used for walking, combat prosthetic limbs have to take into account the coordination of the whole body, so it is necessary to investigate the overall situation.

Millicent had never misunderstood this matter. After all, not to mention that Lord would give her some treatment during the regular checkups, the rest of the time, she was still very happy.

Just look at that body full of holes corroded by scarlet corruption. Not to mention being attractive, ordinary people would probably vomit at the sight of it.

But despite this, Millicent felt somewhat ashamed when being examined by the other party.

On the one hand, of course it was because of physical contact. No matter how ugly or self-deprecating it was, and knowing that the other person was trying to help her and treat her, she could not avoid the instinctive sense of shame.

On the other hand, it is because of shame.

"I'm so sorry to always have to ask you to help deal with such ugly, decayed bodies..."

This was not a compliment, she really meant it.

After all, let alone others, even she herself, who was deeply eroded by the scarlet corruption, would feel nauseous and vomited when she saw the festering flesh and wounds.

If it were someone else, not only would they vomit the food they had just eaten, but they would also be at risk of contracting scarlet putrefaction.

But not only did the other party not despise it, but even those things that she herself felt disgusted and didn't want to touch were willing to help her deal with and take care of them, and they were even handled and taken care of more carefully and properly than she could do herself.

That's a bit...

"Nope."

In response to Millicent's words, Lord answered in a very natural and matter-of-fact tone without even looking up.

"I never thought you were ugly."

"Let's not talk about the fact that this kind of corruption is nothing in my eyes. Even if this kind of corruption is more serious, to the point where it would make me frown—although I don't know what would make me frown right now."

"But that doesn't matter."

"No matter how rotten the body is, it cannot affect the tenacious soul inside."

"Or perhaps it is precisely because the soul, unaffected by the decay of the body, clings to its dignity that it becomes even more beautiful."

“The deeper the decay, the more obvious the beauty.”

"So, I really think you are beautiful."

"Millicent."

"Your soul, your dignity, and even your body are all beautiful to me."

"You have absolutely no need to blame yourself for this."

------

Chapter 65: Michaela: Charmed

She is beautiful?

Millicent was stunned when she saw Lord, who was still lowering his head and carefully handling the rotten parts of her body, completely unaware of what she had just said.

Unlike other women around Lord, she was destined to be cursed and in pain from the moment she was born because she harbored a corrupt nature.

No sane person would want to make friends with a scarlet embodiment of corruption, and no one with normal aesthetic sense would praise her rotten and festering body.

Even the corrupt clansmen who guarded and cared for her were not so much guarding and caring for her as they were caring for the 'corrupt essence' within her body.

No one really loves her, no one really cares about her, and no one even praises her.

She was like an abandoned child, curled up in a corner of the world, looking at the busy streets in front of her, holding something empty in her arms, she herself didn't know why, but it was the only thing she had left. Time and time again, she rejected the scarlet hand that was offered to her.

Even though she knew that by holding that hand, she would gain more strength and live a better life.

But she still shook her head firmly again and again, refusing to hold that scarlet hand, and even more unwilling to hand over the thing in her arms.

Although those things were illusory and meaningless, there was even a sense of emptiness that she herself did not quite understand.

But she still refused to give up.

Because that was her only remaining dignity.

Even if her body decays, even if her soul is incomplete, even if she has to travel thousands of mountains and rivers, she still wants to return this dignity to that existence, and to herself.

But now, the person squatting in front of her told her seriously, you are beautiful.

This is not just a compliment on appearance, but also a recognition of her persistence.

What she is doing now is not meaningless.

At least to the person in front of you, this behavior is "beautiful".

This was the first time Millicent was praised and acknowledged.

She didn't know how she felt right now, because this was the first time she had experienced this since she was born.

So, at a loss, she watched the other person examine her body again, her lips trembling for a long time, and finally she only uttered two words.

"......Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Lord didn't notice Millicent's strange behavior. After giving a simple answer, he withdrew his hand and nodded.

"If we keep going at this pace, I should be able to give you a prototype hand in two days. However, with a first-run hand, there's a good chance it'll have some minor issues, like some lag in control and less flexibility in the joints. But that's okay, I'll take care of after-sales service, and I'll be able to slowly adjust it for you when the time comes..."

After a pause, he remembered something.

"Oh, by the way, I remember you said you had a mission before, right? I don't have anything to do here, and Melina isn't in a hurry either. If you need me, I can go with you after the battle festival is over."

Millicent tilted her head and looked at her broken arm.

Especially looking at the wound that has improved a lot under someone's careful care.

After a long silence, he nodded slowly.

"......Um."

And after she agreed, Lord wanted to leave immediately.

But just as he was about to stand up, he saw Millicent in front of him with her head lowered, looking like a bent little red flower.

Lord thought about it, then reached out and rubbed the petals of the small flower.

"Um, you..."

"Nothing, I just thought you were cute and wanted to touch you."

Lord said bluntly.

"Just consider it as payment."

After saying that, Lord left.

He didn't notice that behind him, the little flower slowly lowered its head after being ravaged by him.

The color of the petals is also a little redder than before.

......

"What's wrong with you?"

After checking Millicent's body as usual, Lord found Ceres not far away.

Ever since meeting Millicent, Ceres's behavior has been a little strange, especially after exploring the map during this period, his behavior has become increasingly strange.

"I......"

Seeing Lord coming over, Celeste paused, thinking about the time they had spent together and how he had taken care of Millicent, and finally chose to tell the truth.

"I recovered some of my memories, but I also encountered some problems because of it."

"I don't know if it's because my memory is incomplete, but I feel like a lot of it is full of inconsistencies, even... conflicting."

Lord became interested.

"Elaborate."

Ceres hesitated for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"In my memory, my brother, the divine being Michaela, must have been a very gentle and loving person."

"He would suck the blood out of wounded soldiers' mouths, would willingly establish a sacred tree to embrace those abandoned by gold, and would travel extensively to heal the corruption in me, even sacrificing his own laws..."

"But at the end of my current memory, he said to me."

"You can remove the needle if necessary."

"Just think of it as a necessary sacrifice to achieve 'gentleness'."

Celeston paused, his tone lowering a little.

"That's not something my brother would say in my memory."

"I even used the power of charm."

As Michaela's sharp edge, Marlennia of course listens to Michaela very much.

But being obedient doesn't mean having no thoughts and dignity of her own, especially when it comes to matters involving Scarlet Corruption and her brother, it's impossible for her not to care.

If Michaela had forced her to release the Scarlet Corruption at that time, she would have complied, and she herself did not deny this.

But even if it was Michaela's sharp edge, when faced with a decision that was obviously not something the Michaela in her memory could make, she should at least have some doubts and questions.

After all, as someone who had personally crafted the pure golden needle and suppressed the scarlet corruption in her body, no one could know better than Michaela what would happen when that corruption bloomed.

Galide would become a hell on earth. If it weren't for the Red Lion Knights' desperate efforts to stop it, it might have infected most of the border areas by now.

And her sister, because of the outbreak of scarlet corruption, would at best suffer the pain of being corroded by corruption again, or at worst die on the spot.

Was that really Michaela's order? Why didn't he notice anything was wrong at the time? Why did he agree without even asking?

Ceres couldn't understand this.

Lord also didn't quite understand.

Because from the information he had found out so far, except for Lao Ma, almost everyone who talked to him about Michaela had nothing but good things to say.

The Golden People said he was the Blessed Twins, and the Hybrids said his sacred tree could hold everything.