So I'm a Dragon, So What? - Game System [83]

"The Saintess has been found!"

The old elf’s voice was heavy with importance, but Potimas just offered a thin, polite smile. "Oh?" he said, his tone dripping with fake surprise. "How... wonderful."

Potimas knew he wasn't the only power in these woods. 

This old man, Gyazo Tolleponte, was the Pontiff of the Divine Religion, a holdover from a forgotten era. 

He was a contemporary of the Human Pontiff, Dustin, and had once ruled all the elves before Potimas came along and pushed him into the shadows.

Of course, "retirement" hadn't stopped Gyazo from stirring up trouble, constantly poking and prodding at Potimas's authority. If they didn't share the same, singular obsession, immortality, Potimas would have arranged a quiet "accident" for the old fool years ago.

"So," Potimas said, turning to face him fully, "who is she?"

He knew the Divine Religion had been searching for their so-called Saintess for ages. The whole process was wrapped in mysticism, something even Potimas hadn't bothered to untangle. But a new thought sparked in his mind. 

This Saintess… could she be one of the reincarnators?

The idea was intriguing enough to momentarily distract him from his new Earth Dragon problem. It was certainly a coincidence that Gyazo was only finding her now, after all this time.

"The honored Saintess was born in the Corrupted Forest," the Pontiff announced. "I sent a team to confirm it a few days ago."

A flash of anger ignited in Potimas's chest. That old fool! He sent his own people into my territory without even asking? The sheer disrespect! But he kept his face a calm, neutral mask. "And did they find anything?"

"Only traces of others having been there. The place was empty. Do you know who was living in that area?"

Now it was Potimas's turn to be surprised. The Corrupted Forest… only the lowest of the low, elves with impure blood, would ever choose to live in such a desolate place. A Saintess born there? It made no sense. 

Elves were obsessed with purity; a single flaw was unacceptable. How could their holiest figure, the Saintess of the Divine Religion, be anything less than perfect?

As if reading his thoughts, Gyazo’s eyes narrowed. "Even if she is an impure half-elf, her bloodline can be purified. I can make her a true elf. Just tell me who took her." His patience was clearly wearing thin. "Lend me two of your Type-B robots. I will bring the Saintess back myself."

"Are you insane?" Potimas’s gaze hardened. "You'll expose our movements!"

The Type-B models were his prized war machines, each one a walking engine of destruction. Humanity's strongest mage, Ronandt, wouldn't survive a single blast from one. 

They were built for one purpose: slaughter. Using them in the Human Empire would cause an international incident! And this old man was asking for two as if he were borrowing a cup of sugar.

"Hmph! Whoever took the Saintess from right under your nose must be powerful," Gyazo shot back, leaving no room for argument. 

"She must be brought back, no matter what. It is for the good of all elves!" As the Pontiff, he would not allow his Saintess to wander the world. She had to come home!

"Do as you wish," Potimas sighed, knowing he couldn't argue with the stubborn old man. He agreed to lend him two of his robots, codenamed "Lightbringers." 

They were fitted with advanced cameras, of course, allowing Potimas to watch from the comfort of his home and see exactly what the Pontiff was up to.

"Try not to get yourself killed out there, old man."

"These old bones still have some fight left in them."

After their brief squabble, Pontiff Gyazo left the village with his followers. Watching him go, Potimas let out a soft, sinister chuckle. 

That old fool has no idea what’s really happening in the world. He doesn't know about the reincarnators.Gyazo was powerful, certainly, but against a reincarnator? 

Who could say what would happen? Maybe the old master was about to get a lesson from a completely unexpected source.

"Heh heh… Things just keep getting more and more interesting," Potimas muttered to the empty air. Gyazo was a major player, but he wasn't under Potimas's control. If he happened to die out there, Potimas would shed a few crocodile tears and move on.

The Saintess that Pontiff Gyazo was searching for was, of course, the half-elf girl, Emilia.

But Emilia knew nothing of this. Her world had become a cycle of grueling training orchestrated by a spider-woman. 

Yet, with each passing day, she felt herself growing stronger, and that feeling was more fulfilling than anything she had ever known. 

She was no longer the weak, helpless girl from the woods.

And here, not only was there always enough food, but she was surrounded by… well, she supposed she could call them friends. 

There was the calm and steady Lord Elliot, the sharp-tongued but kind-hearted Lady Shiraori, the unbelievably cute Lady Kanna whom she just wanted to hug all the time, the very jealous but also strangely adorable Lady Sophia, and… uh… the vampire man whose name she could never quite remember (Mera).

In short, they were all very good to her.

Emilia felt like she had finally cut all ties with her past. The cruelties of elven society, the scorn and the loneliness, they were a world away now. She had a new life, a new purpose.

She never imagined the elves would still be looking for her.

"Lady Sophia, what would you like for dinner today?" Emilia asked, a warm smile on her face. 

She looked down at the infant, currently wrapped in a harness of spider silk, being forced to walk on her own two feet. Emilia’s own brutal training for the day was over, but Sophia’s was just beginning.

"A… whole… goat!" Sophia grunted, her teeth clenched as she forced another step forward. Sweat beaded on her tiny brow, and she didn't even bother to look up. Talking was too much effort right now.

Emilia chuckled. "I don't think that's possible. Where would we find a goat in the middle of these desolate mountains?"