Chapter 265: Who was this saviour…?

"Ah...! I’m sorry."

Hearing the enchanting feminine voice, Arthur paused.

So did everyone else.

Their gazes immediately shifted towards the source of the voice, where a golden-haired woman was standing, looking slightly off-balance as she had almost stumbled over one of the women.

"Miss!" A blue-haired woman immediately hurried towards Stella, her voice filled with concern as she saw the Saintess almost fall onto someone.

"Miss! I told you, please take my hand before roaming around."

"Urrgh..."

Stella grumbled slightly, but she didn’t argue.

She obediently reached out and took Iris’s hand before turning back towards the person she had nearly bumped into.

"Oh, I’m sorry," she quickly apologised.

Fiona looked at the golden-haired woman standing before her—her long, lustrous hair gracefully falling around her shoulders, while a black blindfold covered her eyes.

Just standing before the woman made her feel a faint sense of peace.

"I-It’s—"

Before Fiona could even finish her words, her body suddenly stiffened as the blindfolded woman reached out and gently grabbed her hand, seemingly feeling something wrong when she had nearly fallen over her.

"You look sick..."

Stella’s voice immediately became concerned as her fingers brushed against Fiona’s pale, sickly hand, and for a brief moment, her expression changed.

The darkness before her eyes changed, and seeing the flickering silhouette before her, her brows furrowed.

"Are you eat—"

"S-Saintess?"

A sudden voice interrupted her, causing her to turn in the direction of the voice.

"...Arthur, when did you come here?"

She asked in visible surprise, as she didn’t remember ever seeing him this early—at least not in the Cathedral.

Hearing her question, Arthur rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I... I had some business here, you see."

He paused, trying to think of an appropriate explanation.

"The instructor wanted to test my powers."

Stella nodded, but then Arthur immediately added with a bright expression.

"He even said that I had exceptional talent with all my affinities."

"I see. As expected of the Chosen One."

Stella smiled.

Arthur froze for a brief moment, but quickly felt his chest puff with pride as he heard her compliment.

"Anyways, what are you doing here at a time like this?"

"I always come early," Stella replied.

"Really..."

Before he could complete his sentence, Stella had already turned back towards Fiona.

Her expression changed and became even more worried as she ’looked’ at the other four women—whose figures were in similar states, with one of them comparatively healthier.

Stella’s fingers tightened slightly around Fiona’s hand.

"Who are they?"

The question came from Iris, who could clearly see the physical states of the women, which... didn’t look good.

Leonardo, who had only just recovered from the surprise of encountering the Saintess, quickly answered.

"It just so happened that..."

He began explaining once again, this time much more carefully with his words.

He told them what had happened to these women, trying to keep it as brief as possible so as not to traumatise the captives with his words.

Arthur was almost about to dismiss Leonardo, but seeing the Saintess listening so keenly, he kept quiet for some time.

’Aren’t they just discarded things, then?’

He thought for a moment, knowing what had happened to all of them.

This was also the reason he had dismissed Leonardo’s proposal, as that would just be like doing charity, especially to people who were like broken toys in his eyes.

Silence filled the corridor. Neither Iris nor Stella spoke, their expressions grave.

Stella’s hand, still holding Fiona’s, shook as she understood the fate they had gone through, and hearing it... it was much worse than she had imagined.

Her entire body trembled faintly as she slowly turned towards the woman, and although her eyes were hidden beneath the blindfold, there was an unmistakable sadness in her expression.

"Y-You all suffered so much..."

Her voice shook ever so slightly.

Stella took a small breath, her voice becoming softer.

"I-I don’t know what you all went through... and I might not understand your pain, but..."

Her hand gently tightened around Fiona’s.

"You did your best. So... from now on, just live happily, okay?"

The captive women were startled by the genuineness in Stella’s tone, and for a moment, none of them knew how to react.

Their chests tightened as they heard those words, and some of them even felt their eyes beginning to sting.

Taking a deep breath, Stella gently took Fiona’s hand once again.

For some reason, the moment their hands touched, Fiona immediately felt calmer, and the dark thoughts that had constantly occupied her mind somewhat dulled.

Her shoulders relaxed, and she didn’t understand why, but she simply felt... safe.

But then—

Fwoosh!

Flames burst out of Stella’s hands, immediately causing everyone—except for Iris—to tense.

The captive women flinched, while even Leonardo’s expression changed for a brief moment.

"The most I can do is heal you for now."

The flames completely engulfed Fiona.

Yet there was no pain, no expected burning sensation either.

The golden flames moved across her skin, gently wrapping around her like a warm blanket.

Everyone stared in disbelief as Fiona’s frail, bony body began changing before their eyes.

Her sunken cheeks slowly regained their natural shape.

The outline of her ribs became less visible as her body gradually filled out, and the unhealthy paleness of her skin slowly got replaced by a much healthier and more natural colour.

After a few seconds, the golden flames finally disappeared, and seeing the now-healed Fiona before them, the other captive women’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Even the dark, ugly bruises on her face were gone, revealing a beautiful face that caused Arthur to feel like he had been wrong about his thoughts earlier.

’Maybe they can stay in the Church for some time,’ he reconsidered.

Despite not being able to see, Stella understood the other women’s thoughts, and with a gentle smile, she reached forward and healed them as well.

Iris didn’t say anything, watching the Saintess with an admiring look in her eyes.

"T-Thank you very much, Miss."

Fiona muttered quietly, her voice trembling.

Her eyes turned slightly red as she looked at Stella, still unable to believe what had just happened.

The others soon followed her and thanked her with genuine, almost tearful yet genuinely happy faces.

"It’s fine... that was the only thing that I could do."

Stella replied modestly with a soft smile, though ironically, she couldn’t actually see how much their bodies had changed despite healing them herself.

"Let’s take a look at the others too."

Her expression became slightly more determined as she remembered there were many more women aside from these, and she wanted to help them as well.

But before she could move, Leonardo immediately stopped her, looking at her seriously before telling her the main reason they had come here.

Stella’s expression softened.

"They can stay in here for some time. We still have spots, right?"

Stella turned towards Iris with a questioning look.

Iris slowly nodded.

"There isn’t much capacity, but we’ll be able to do that."

"Y-Yes!" Arthur immediately chimed in.

"That was what I was telling him earlier!"

Leonardo looked at him with faint confusion, but decided to remain silent.

"I was telling him that there is a place to keep these poor souls. We can even give them spots to work in the Church—like cleaning and all."

Stella frowned slightly.

"Arthur, they just recovered. Give them some time before they decide on that."

Arthur’s expression froze.

"I-I meant other professions too! I was just... just giving my opinions!"

Iris looked at him strangely.

She could already see what he was trying to do here.

His sudden enthusiasm and stumbling made it obvious that he was trying to impress the Saintess or something of that sort.

She inwardly shook her head. This wasn’t her place to speak.

Seeing Arthur’s apparent desire to help, Stella turned towards the women again.

"After resting for a few days, perhaps you could all find work in this place. We’ll do our best to provide for you and keep you safe as well. You won’t have to worry about your safety while you’re inside the Cathedral."

Hearing her words, the women looked at each other for a moment, but they could see how appealing her offer was.

For a moment, they seemed to consider Stella’s offer.

But then—

"N-No."

Chloe answered without hesitation, lifting her head towards the Saintess.

"What?"

Arthur frowned as his voice rose slightly, but the moment he noticed the looks Stella and Iris gave him, he immediately quieted down.

"It’s fine if you want to do something else," Stella said with a gentle expression, not feeling bothered.

"Is there something you want to do?"

Chloe immediately nodded, and after a moment of silence, she spoke resolutely.

"I want to get stronger."

Stella blinked beneath her blindfold, though she didn’t find it that surprising to hear those words.

Not that it was any less surprising, but it was surprisingly brave of her to think like that rather than cower—which was a natural reaction, in fact.

The other women looked towards Chloe as well, and seeing the determined expression on her face, they immediately understood what she meant.

Their gazes slowly moved towards the sheathed dagger Chloe had been holding close to her chest.

Something in their eyes shifted as well.

"That is certainly... a very brave goal."

An earnest smile appeared on Stella’s face.

"I want to get stronger so that I can be of help to Mister Vam—"

A woman from the captives—Hannah—immediately moved and closed the girl’s mouth before she could finish.

Chloe’s eyes widened, but seeing Hannah silently glaring at her, she immediately understood.

She had almost slipped, almost revealed the existence of Mister Vampire—the person who had rescued them.

They had seen in movies how vampires were hated by religious people, and speaking about him, especially in a place like this, wasn’t a good choice.

Chloe’s expression became slightly pale.

"...?"

Stella looked at her in confusion.

Iris, however, narrowed her eyes.

"What were you saying just now?"

She felt like she had almost heard something important slip from her mouth, something that made her skin crawl for a small second.

Chloe’s body shivered as she saw the killing glare of Iris, making her lower her head in fear.

"Iris?"

Stella was even more confused, but her words immediately brought her caretaker back to her senses.

Iris immediately blinked, then shook her head.

"Nothing, Miss."

Her voice turned calm once again.

And yet...

Her eyes remained slightly narrowed as she continued staring at Chloe, who felt a bead of sweat forming on her forehead—though she didn’t know why.

After hearing Chloe’s decision, Stella decided to leave the other things for later.

Instead, she quickly asked Leonardo to take her to the others, to the other women, and healed them within minutes.

Despite healing so many people, Stella didn’t look even a little tired, mainly because almost all of them were unawakened, so she didn’t need to use too much energy.

Leonardo was finally able to catch his breath after roaming around and continuously thinking about the captives, and after hours of struggle... he was finally able to feel the weight on his shoulders ease.

After thanking the Church and making sure the women had everything they needed, Leonardo was finally able to return home after an exhausting night and a tiring morning.

Meanwhile, Arthur, though tired from his own training, decided to tail the Saintess around. She brought the women to a place where they could rest, accompanied by Iris.

Eventually, she sat along with them, speaking with them for some time, and during that time, she learned about the two people who had rescued them.

A man and a... maid...?

Apparently, both of them had been responsible for saving the women.

Hearing their words, especially Chloe’s enthusiasm and slightly strange, almost creepy behaviour when she talked about this man... Arthur couldn’t help but feel like they were dreaming or something.

"An extremely handsome man? And a maid...? Are they sure they weren’t high at that time?"

He almost scoffed to himself, though the moment he spoke those words—

A sudden chill ran down his spine for no reason.

"What are you doing...?" Fiona asked quietly, seeing Chloe slightly removing the dagger from its sheath.

"N-Nothing..."

Chloe immediately hid it with a frightened expression, making Fiona narrow her eyes slightly.

Meanwhile...

Despite the way Arthur had spoken and the words that perhaps shouldn’t have been used against people who had already suffered so much, Stella couldn’t help but feel grateful towards the person who had saved them.

Whoever he was, he had rescued these women—had brought them out of that terrible place.

Still... a small curiosity began to form within her.

Who was this saviour...?