Today, Elise had quite a lot of free time.
Counting carefully, it had already been three months since she arrived in Orario. Back then, it had only taken her half a month to rise from Level 1 to Level 2. Now another two and a half months had passed.
Although she had spent a fair amount of time training Alise and Kaguya, controlling her strength while beating others up could still improve herself, couldn't it?
And she was helping Alise and Kaguya raise their abilities as well. In that sense, it could be considered in line with the path of a saintess, right?
As a result, Elise's status had grown quite impressively. Around the beginning of this month, all of her abilities had already surpassed one thousand.
By now, she was close to her previous maximum of 1999. She planned to ask Astraea to update her status again tonight after returning to the Familia.
If her abilities were truly maxed out, then she would be able to Level Up once more.
But for now...
Elise was being watched again.
This sort of thing had happened many times before. She was already used to it.
First it had been Ishtar, then Freya, and later Evilus. Now that her reputation had begun to spread, quite a few forces had set their sights on her, the Saintess of Scales.
Though most of their outcomes had not been particularly pleasant...
Whenever no one else could see, Elise would teach them a lesson. If they stopped afterward, fine. If they did not...
Well. Anyone who understood, understood.
However, this time, the person following her was somewhat special.
As mentioned before, Elise possessed the magic Scales of Judgment. Because its consumption was extremely low, she had used it on most people in Orario. The good and evil within many individuals had already been laid bare before her eyes.
The one following her this time was undoubtedly good. In fact, this was not even the first time they had followed her.
There had been several occasions before. They would trail her for a while, then suddenly leave just as she was about to make a move. Almost every time, they disappeared right at the moment she prepared to act.
That had puzzled Elise for quite some time and made her suspect this person's identity.
Today, however, the person had followed her for much longer than usual and had not left as before...
There was no way Elise would let them off easily now.
She had to catch them and see who they were.
As time passed, Elise deliberately began heading toward increasingly deserted streets. The figure behind her made no effort to conceal their intent and continued following closely.
Finally, at a corner...
Elise vanished.
The figure paused briefly in surprise but quickly reacted and turned their head to look behind them.
"It seems the rumors were true. You possess strength comparable to—or even surpassing—that of a first-class adventurer. Elise Holiness."
At some point, a white sword had already been placed against their neck. The cold gleam along the blade was more than enough to prove its destructive power.
Shhk—
With a flash of the sword, the outer covering draped over the figure was sliced away.
Unexpectedly, beneath the cloak was yet another black robe. A faceless silhouette stood before Elise, their features completely obscured.
This was...
Elise recognized the identity instantly. In this world, this characteristic was far too distinctive.
Fels—the former sage who called themselves a fool.
A genius who had elevated the Development Ability of Mystery to an extraordinary level.
Eight hundred years ago, the exceptionally talented Fels had created many astonishing things, including even stepping into taboo territory with the Philosopher's Stone and the secret art of immortality.
Unfortunately, the Philosopher's Stone had been shattered by their patron deity at the time, and the immortality ritual had caused all flesh to fall from their body, leaving behind only a skeleton.
As a result, the sage had been unable to update their status ever since, forever remaining at Level 4, forever unable to become a first-class adventurer.
Yet their unparalleled abilities more than compensated for that gap.
For centuries, Fels had been sheltered and protected by Uranus, the founding god of Orario, and had become one of Uranus' mercenaries.
So the one who had been following her all this time was Fels?
Did that mean... Uranus had taken notice of her?
To avoid alerting them, Elise pretended not to recognize the figure. After all, Fels was not a god and could not see through her lies.
"Who are you? Why have you been following me?"
"The previous times were the same. Every time I was about to make a move, you ran. Could it be that you finally couldn't hold back today?"
To make it more convincing, Elise mobilized her Prana. Starlight began to shimmer along the Sacred Demon Sword.
"I'll use this to send you to eternal sleep beneath the earth."
The starlight flickered intensely, as though Fels might be beheaded in the very next instant.
"Wait! Elise Holiness, I'm not a bad person!"
Sensing the terrifying fluctuations from the blade at such close range, Fels panicked. At this distance, there was no way to completely block Elise's attack...
You're supposed to be a saintess!
I admit I've been following you for quite some time, but that doesn't mean you should immediately take my life!
"Don't bad people always claim they're not bad?" Elise replied coolly.
That response nearly broke Fels' composure, forcing them to blurt out what they had planned to say.
"I'm a mercenary employed by the Guild! I came to find you this time to ask about something!"
For a brief moment, Fels felt the fluctuations on the sacred sword pause before slightly diminishing—though it still retained considerable power.
"And how do you plan to prove that? Previously, I encountered some members of Evilus who claimed they were hired by the Guild. They intended to capture me and send me to the Pleasure Quarter."
The statement was half true and half false. Elise was merely scaring Fels out of boredom—while also subtly reminding them to pay closer attention to Evilus.
"That happened?"
Fels was stunned. They had been completely unaware. When had Evilus done something like that?
If they failed to explain themselves clearly today, wouldn't they truly die here?
Feeling the blade at their throat regain its earlier intensity, Fels had no choice but to resort to their final method.
A spherical crystal roughly the size of a ping-pong ball appeared in their hand.
At that very moment, Elise swung her sword toward Fels' neck.
Did she think I was about to attack her? That cautious?
For an instant, Fels truly believed they would never see tomorrow's sun.
Until—
"Stop!"
A voice echoed from within the crystal, filled with authority and age.
There was no doubt about it.
It belonged to a god.
Those two words successfully halted Elise's attack.
"Bring her here, Fels."
"I will be waiting for you at the Guild."