Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

Chapter 276: Undying Faith Of A Priestess

After temporarily parting with her companions, Erika made her way to Aphrodite church. Upon getting there, however, she instantly regretted her decision. The place rested empty with not a nun in sight, even the children who used to play in the backyard were nowhere to be seen. The blood offering to the devil had truly killed the church with little hope of it recovering to its former glory.

ʼDust and silence, is that all thatʼs left here?ʼ The goddess of bounty was long dead, and now it appears that her church was dead as well. Yet the bounty of Athenia flourishes still, and so in honor of the dead goddess, Erika got to her knees and prayed to her idol. ʼMay our trees bore sweet fruits, may our crops be plenty, our men honorable and our women flowing with bounty.ʼ

”Sheʼs dead, Erika.” Appearing in her misty form beside her, Asmodia folded her arms while looking at Aphroditeʼs idol.

A stack of hay in one hand, a child suckling on her breast in the other, she wore a radiant smile–blinding enough to any devils out of her church. Had she been alive that is, as now the statute was nothing more than rock sculpture.

Opening her eyes to look at the devil, Erika slowly lifted herself up and glanced at her sideways. Her hands still joined in prayer, she held out hope that praying would help her mind settle if not reach the dead goddess.

”I donʼt much care if sheʼs dead, her blessings are still plenty in Athenia,” the ever spring clad the kingdom in a warm blanket of nourishing, ensuring the health of every creature, and tree as well as feed.

”Why are we here anyway? Just to pay her homage?” Not exactly fond of elder gods, Asmodiaʼs mouth curled with a foul taste. She wanted them to leave as soon as possible, but unfortunately for her Erika had different plans.

”If you want to leave, go ahead and head off to the Boartooth, Amedith and Liliyana were headed there already so youʼll have company,” scattered throughout the city, the party was busy doing their own chores, for Erika it was visiting the church to clean up her first ever home, and for Aria, it was getting new gloves at the blacksmith and Raven just wanted to meet up with an old friend before heading to the Inn as well.

Walking around in the dusty hall, Asmodia brushed her hands against the many rows of chairs. In them she could feel sin, deception, lies, and hidden in a corner was an ounce of hope and penitence. None came to their gods in good time, but only when in dire need of a miracle. It felt sour, but the devil didnʼt care much.

”You plan on staying here tonight?” She asked, turning her attention back to Erika.

The priestess back on her knees kept on mumbling in prayer. She wasnʼt wishing for anything for herself, but rather the prosperity of her home town and its inhabitants. Being an orphan, her ambitions were far and little, as such the most that she could wish for herself was no more than a welcoming home to return to whenever they grew tired through their journey.

”Yes…” Concluding her prayers, Erika finally answered the devil. ”Iʼm gonna stay here tonight, clean up this place, maybe even inscribe a rune to mimic my appearance and keep this place well kept while weʼre gone.”

”Why not just let it do the work?” Turning to Erika, Asmodia walked up closer to her. ”The clone I mean, let it do the work and we can get out of this place.”

Staring at the devil with squinted eyes, Erika contemplated reasoning with her but decided not to since there was no way she would understand.

”Itʼs not about getting the place clean, but rather my devotion to this place…” And just as sheʼd expected, Asmodia shrugged her shoulders as if she couldnʼt care less. A bit annoyed at this point, Erika decided to ask her a question of her own. ”I thought you served Athenia–a goddess, so whatʼs your deal with not liking Aphrodite?”

The devilʼs contour fell the instant she was asked that question. The mention of Aphroditeʼs name reminded her of the cruel fate the gods had subjected to her and her lover. However, having come to terms with her loss, she shut her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking.

”Donʼt lump all devils together, Erika. Only the weaker ones are subservient, itʼs in our nature to hunger for power, and deals with gods are just one way we maintain our standing in the heavenly order,” lacking astute understanding of the heavenly works, Erika let her mind brush past Asmodiaʼs rambling.

Instead, forcing on the cleaning at last, she reached into her magic abilities not in any way related to Asmodia. Well-versed in water-based magic, her work was made easy, but even so, the scrubbing and draining were gonna take a massive toll on her body.

And while she struggled through the cleaning process, far away from the church, Aria had finally arrived at the blacksmith. Holding the blood gauntlet in hand, she was there to return them just as Helga had before her.

Sheʼd thought about keeping them still, however, her reliance on them had been holding her back recently, and so letting them go she wanted to work with a regular pair that didnʼt cripple her by sucking too much blood by the end of the fight.

ʼLetʼs hope she can make me a good pair with these while weʼre staying in the city.ʼ Holding another bag in her hand filled with scraps of dark metal that the centaurs used, she was hoping Reina could work her magic and turn them into something more useful.

But being metallurged for defensive properties rather than offense, she knew things could get a bit tricky as the metal itself was an enigma amongst many.

”Welp, gotta try anyway!” Crossing her fingers, Aria stepped into the store regardless, hoping to both pay off Reina for past fixes and convince her to work on an unknown metal.