Soon, the scene was taken over by the Knights of Lena, and the entire camp began to be put under martial law.
Holy Water was also transported in, along with Lila and several maids who were absolutely loyal to the Lars Family. The level of martial law was so high that even Caroline had to return to the territory first with Lauri.
After a discussion between Lind and Isha, the Holy Water was poured into a large wooden barrel as if it were free.
“Lord Flora, you go first.”
Flora looked at the bottles of liquid being poured into the large barrel with confusion and asked, “Little Isha, what is this?”
“You’ll know once you step in.”
Seeing Isha continuously urging her on, Flora decided to take the plunge and removed her tattered nun’s robes. Lind, being very gentlemanly, moved to the outskirts of the camp and squatted down on the ground with Lena as they began to review this battle.
The icy sensation quickly filled Flora’s entire body, and her vibrant red hair gradually spread out on the surface of the Holy Water. At first, Flora had no idea that she was submerged in a whole barrel of Holy Water, as this was completely against common sense.
Every bottle and every drop of precious Holy Water needed to be carefully preserved; how could it be poured by the barrel?
Until the coolness from her wounds and curses began to awaken her senses, Flora suddenly stood up, glaring angrily at Isha.
“Where did this Holy Water come from?!”
Flora struggled to suppress her emotions, but her not-so-soft voice still carried anger.
Upon hearing this, the other nuns and refugees turned to look, Holy Water? Lord Flora is soaking in that whole barrel of Holy Water? How is that possible?
Flora’s anger shifted to a choked sob as she held the continuously flowing Holy Water in her hands, questioning Isha: “Do you know how many people even a little bit of this Holy Water can save? Have you forgotten how I taught you? Isha, you could save so many more people with this amount of Holy Water!”
Before Flora could continue, suddenly another horse-drawn carriage was pushed in from outside the camp, and two maids deftly transported wooden barrels filled with Holy Water and set them down beside Flora.
Flora suddenly choked on her words, staring dumbfounded at the two barrels of Holy Water beside her.
Correct, now that she was no longer dazed, Flora could clearly confirm that the two barrels being poured in like river water were incredibly precious Holy Water, something that the most devout nuns and priests would take an entire month of prayer to earn just one bottle.
Isha personally brought the most severely afflicted nun and refugee into those two barrels.
“Thank you, Goddess, thank you, Goddess! Thank you, Goddess for bestowing this miracle!”
Feeling the Holy Water continually healing the nun, they fervently prayed to the Goddess.
But Isha interrupted the nun and said, “This is not a miracle bestowed by the Goddess; these are produced by that Graywhite Territory’s lord. You should thank Graywhite, not the Goddess.”
The scene immediately fell into silence; everyone suddenly stopped speaking.
Noticing that the atmosphere was off, Flora immediately continued Isha’s line, “Thank you, Goddess, for sending Lord Graywhite to save us! Thank you, Lord Graywhite, praise Lord Graywhite!”
Everyone quickly followed Flora in prayer: “Thank you, Goddess, thank you, Lord Graywhite.”
Seeing the relieved expressions on the nuns and refugees, Isha realized how blasphemous her earlier words were.
She had nearly placed Lind in opposition to the Goddess, but thanks to Flora “correcting” it, both the faith of the people was protected and Lind was thanked.
At the same time, Isha loudly shouted to the crowd, “These are not Holy Water, but the ancestral potions of Lord Graywhite! Lord Graywhite brought them out to save everyone, and when they’re used up, there won’t be any left!”
The nuns understood, while the refugees, although unsure what this meant, quietly nodded, but seeing those barrels of potions continually being brought in, it certainly didn’t look like they would be used up quickly.
Just soaking in a bit of Holy Water is not enough for complete healing; truly eliminating the curses and plagues would require long-term treatment, and subsequently, the amount of Holy Water, or rather potions, needed would be astronomical. Are there really that many ancestral potions from Lord Graywhite?
But who cares? At least that’s what Lord Graywhite said. Ultimately, the explanation rights belong to the Graywhite Territory authorities, and Lind planned to pass all the blame to the original territory’s ancestors; after all, the original territory was destroyed, so even if someone wanted to investigate, they couldn’t.
As the well-covered maids began to wipe down the bodies of the nuns and refugees with Holy Water, those who had previously despaired immediately rekindled hope for life, and even things started to become lively again; at least no one was seeking death anymore.
Just soaking in Holy Water couldn’t cure them entirely, but it greatly alleviated Flora’s suffering. Though the ugly festering sores and curses remained, Flora began to regain the composure of her former saintly self.
Watching the Holy Water continuously being delivered, Flora was still in shock. If her mind weren’t growing clearer, she would really suspect that she was in a dream woven by the Goddess.
“Little Isha, is everything you said true? Did that lord really make all of this?”
Isha told Flora about the origin of the Holy Water but said nothing about how it was manufactured, putting all of that on Lind.
“That’s right, Lord Graywhite can produce a bottle of Holy Water in three minutes; all of this Holy Water was made by Lord Graywhite.”
“Ah? Are you sure that lord is male? Isn’t he the chosen Saintess? He’s simply a miracle in action!”
Flora was even impulsive enough to want to run out and confirm; this is too shocking, and if the church found out, they might well bind Lind up.
“Is Lord Graywhite really not the Goddess’s illegitimate son?”
Flora expressed the same question she had asked Isha earlier.
“Lady Flora, such words are extremely disrespectful to the Goddess!”
Isha, who once had the same doubt, began to scold Flora instead.
“Sorry, Goddess above, but this is simply…”
Flora turned to look; the maids had already begun explaining the rules of the Graywhite Territory to the nuns and refugees.
Many had already started crying, treating the Graywhite Territory as the Goddess’s divine kingdom on earth, with Lind as her representative.
Soon, there were discussions that perhaps Lord Graywhite had received the Goddess’s revelation, having unearthed a Holy Water spring; oh no, it was magical potions dug up from his hometown to save everyone—that kind of rumor.
Although Flora felt incredibly shocked and baffled by the endless supply of Holy Water from Graywhite Territory, she was actually very clear about the Church of the Light Goddess, as she had thought a lot along the way.
Does the Scarlet Saintess Flora still believe? Looking at the dim Holy Light in her hands, Flora might say she is still the devout saintess, but perhaps even she wouldn’t believe herself.
However, Flora did not abandon her faith; in fact, she had even defended the Light Goddess before because she realized people still needed faith. Those who had just experienced a hell of despair needed a stable and just faith to support their spirits.
And the Goddess they once believed in was the most easily accepted by these people.
Unknowingly, Flora and those refugees had already split the Goddess and the Church of the Light Goddess.
It’s okay to believe in the Goddess, but believing in the Church of the Light Goddess is not guaranteed.
If Lord Lind were to appear now, claiming to have received a divine revelation from the Goddess and wanting to be the Pope, this group would likely bow down.
This was also the ultimate answer to the questions Flora had pondered along the way— the Goddess had abandoned the current Church, which violated divine revelation and was gradually declining. Now they should follow the Goddess’s guidance, not the Church.
In simple terms, it is a matter of the final explanation rights of scriptures and divine revelations.
