* * *
That night.
In the depths of the Temple Hall, inside the sanctuary, a secret purification ceremony was held. In addition, the knights and escorts brought by the saintess closely monitored the surroundings of the sanctuary.
"Saintess, what happened to the holy relic?"
The pope came to the sanctuary as soon as dawn broke, and Princess Deborah pressed her temples with a tired look on her face. It seemed to everyone that things weren't going well.
"That... Saintess. I'm not rushing you, and I'm asking just in case, but could you finish the purification by the 15th of this month?"
With the large-scale annual event coming up soon, he tried to hide his nervous expression while asked, and the princess pursed her lips for a while with a face that had something to say, then closed her mouth.
"Saint... Do you have anything to say?"
"Hmmm! No."
I don't think so. I think you were just trying to say something.
"Feel free to say anything! The temple is entirely on the side of the saintess. We will spare no effort to support you to the best of our ability."
After repeating it, her purple eyelashes trembled as if she was deeply concerned about something.
"Then..."
In such a serious atmosphere, the pope involuntarily swallowed dry saliva.
"Could you help me with the healing stone?"
"......!"
At such an unexpected request, the pope's pupils shook rapidly with agitation. The healing stone is a mysterious stone imbued with divine power, and not many people even know about its existence.
'It is a mineral that can only be found in mines within the Helleia Autonomous Territory, so it is inevitable that the outside world does not know much about it.'
The healing stones are monopolized by the temple, and since the amount mined each year is so insignificant, it is a treasure divided in order of rank.
'But why does the saintess say she needs a healing stone?'
Healing stones are used by priests to amplify or restore divine power.
However, the enormous divine power that the saintess showed in the final battle with the demon last time even affected Helleia, which was far away from the capital. She even demonstrated the intense divinity like the sun twice.
To be honest, the saintess asking for a healing stone was no different than asking for a mana stone because a dragon lacks mana.
'No way... Is there a problem with divine power?'
Suddenly, he thought that Princess Deborah's continued avoidance of the temple's call might have something to do with this. Because he may ask her to show her divinity here.
His head was complicated by various speculations, but the Pope replied that he knew for now.
"How many healing stones do you need, Saint?"
"To speed up the purification time, the more the better."
The Pope, who felt sorry for the top-class healing stone he possessed, retrieved the healing stones from his subordinates and handed it to her.
