Chapter 127 – An Ordinary Person
She had light blue hair, and aside from her dull gray clothes, wore no ornaments at all.
Was she one of the villagers?
All four of them realized this at the same time. Frieren quickly noticed something odd.
"The villagers are all asleep—so why is she still awake? Could she be the demon who cursed them? But I can't sense any demon magic…"
"Nonsense!"
The girl suddenly snapped back.
"You're the ones who—!"
She abruptly stopped mid-sentence.
The moment her eyes fell on the people standing behind Elias, her expression froze.
"How could this be…"
"A demon… a warrior… an elf… and that orange-haired one… could she be…? No, that can't be!"
"There's no way that person would appear here. And even if she did, how could she possibly be traveling with a demon…?"
Flamme seemed to understand what she was thinking. She stepped forward calmly and allowed the girl to examine her.
"You're right. I am indeed the Great Mage Flamme. As for the one standing behind me—his name is Elias."
"Just as you sensed…"
"He really is a demon."
"Wh-what?!"
The girl tightened her grip on the sacred scripture, already preparing herself to launch another attack.
"Don't be afraid."
Flamme spoke softly to reassure her, then glanced back at Elias.
"Even though he's a demon, you can think of him as someone like us—a human."
"Think of him as human?!"
The girl couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Treating a demon as a human…
Wasn't that completely absurd?
"Huh?!"
The confusion on her face suddenly turned into pure shock.
"The demon horns… they're gone?!"
Just moments ago she had clearly seen through his disguise.
But now, when she looked again, he appeared exactly like a human—without even a trace of demonic presence.
Flamme stepped closer with a gentle smile.
"So there's no need to fear."
"Elias is someone who can be recognized as human. He may be a bit cold, but he won't harm you."
"She's the one who tried to harm me, actually."
Elias interjected with a faint smile.
"The reason this girl was unaffected by the curse—and could even use Goddess magic—is because she was born with the Goddess's blessing."
"For someone so young to attack me so boldly, she must know how extraordinary her talent is."
"N-no, that's not it!"
The girl's voice trembled.
"I don't have any special talent!"
"When I attacked just now to protect the villagers, I had already prepared myself to die!"
Her face was full of sincerity.
But Elias merely smiled mockingly.
"If you were ready to die, couldn't you have spared a moment to wake the villagers?"
"For someone holding the sacred scripture, lifting a curse should be a trivial matter for a sage, shouldn't it?"
Hearing that, the girl lowered her head silently.
Her hands trembled slightly.
"I… I don't dare wake them."
"And I'm not a sage."
Elias tilted his head, intrigued.
"What do you mean?"
"Then are you a nun?"
"N-no…"
Elias leaned forward slightly, squinting at her as if examining a rare specimen.
"Did I misjudge?"
"Are you a man?"
"Or perhaps a priest?"
"N-none of those."
The girl raised the sacred scripture in her hands.
Like someone who had committed a terrible mistake, she couldn't bring herself to meet Elias's or Flamme's eyes.
"This scripture… doesn't belong to me."
"I'm just an ordinary person."
Even though she didn't fully understand, Flamme sensed the fragility in the girl's voice.
She stepped closer and gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
"No matter who you are, you were very brave. Could you at least tell me your name?"
"…Teresa."
"Alright, Teresa."
Flamme spoke gently.
"Then why are you afraid to use the Goddess's magic to save everyone?"
"Because… the priest said my strength isn't worthy of using Goddess magic."
"The priest?"
Flamme looked around the village.
"So there's a priest here after all. Where is this priest?"
Teresa pointed at Flamme's feet.
"Right by your feet."
Flamme looked down and saw a bespectacled man sleeping like a dead pig on the ground.
"He… is the priest?!"
Elias showed the same level of doubt.
"Normally priests receive the Goddess's blessing. They should be immune to curse magic. How did this guy end up affected by it?"
Robin scratched his head blankly.
"I have no idea either."
"Well, in any case…"
Flamme clicked her tongue.
"Teresa, it's already late. You need to wake everyone up now."
"If you leave them lying here all night, someone could freeze to death."
Teresa bit her lip. After a long moment, she seemed to make up her mind.
"…Alright."
She opened the sacred scripture and summoned a gentle, warm light that spread throughout the village.
At the same time, the priest lying at Flamme's feet began to stir.
"Mm… what's going on…?"
The priest opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Teresa holding the sacred scripture.
—Thud!
He jumped up angrily, snatched the scripture from Teresa's hands, and shouted viciously:
"Teresa! Didn't I tell you before? Without my permission, you are not allowed to touch the sacred scripture!"
"I-I'm sorry, Lord Giles! It won't happen again!"
The villagers around them gradually woke up as well.
The moment they saw the priest holding the scripture, they cried out in excitement.
"It's Lord Giles!"
"Lord Giles saved us with the Goddess's magic!"
"As expected of a priest! He dispelled the demon's curse so easily!"
Giles puffed out his chest proudly, basking in the villagers' admiration.
"Everyone, everyone—there's no need to say so much. This is simply my duty as a priest."
At that moment, his smiling eyes landed on a cold-faced woman standing nearby.
Looking more closely, he noticed three unfamiliar people standing behind her.
"…Ah? May I ask who you are?"
After witnessing the entire scene, Flamme didn't even feel like speaking to Giles.
But she forced down her disgust and answered calmly.
"Priest, we are travelers passing through. We would like to stay in the village for the night."
"No problem!"
Giles laughed heartily.
"You can stay in the rooms behind the church! It's only natural for me, as a priest, to help travelers. Come, I'll show you the way!"
Before following him toward the church, Flamme glanced back at Teresa.
The girl stood there with her head lowered, dejected, slowly walking back toward her home.
Flamme knew the situation was complicated and didn't dare act rashly.
Better to wait until tomorrow and talk to the girl then.
Frieren, upon entering the room, finally let out a sigh of relief.
Touching the thick stone walls, she happily thought that at least tonight she wouldn't have to listen to Robin's snoring.
Flamme, however, was lost in thought.
Even after lying down in bed, Teresa's face lingered in her mind.
Just then, Elias's voice suddenly echoed in her mind through telepathy.
"Flamme, I know you want to step in…"
"But I advise you not to meddle."