A Crime Before the Gods

"Ta-da~"

The footsteps stopped at the entrance of the sanctuary, and then only one person entered the icon room.

"Huh?"

Ailin gasped inwardly.

He was not surprised that the Old Duke and the Sorceress were both turned away.

The sanctuary is the closest and most sacred place to the goddess in the entire temple, and it is not a place that outsiders can enter at will.

He was puzzled by the identity of the visitor.

Judging from both the pace and the tone of his voice, the keen Witcher Senses told him that the person who entered was Ianna. Logically speaking, she should be the first person to enter the place where the miracle occurred.

However, the force of the newcomer's steps told Ailin that this was not something a seventy or eighty-year-old man could produce.

"Is it the goddess's Divine Art?" Ailin thought of a possibility.

"Ta-da~"

The footsteps stopped at the entrance to the iconostasis.

"Come out, Ailin," Ianna's voice rang out.

Ailin remained motionless, hidden in the shadow of the statue of Meritellie.

"Really not coming out?" Ianna's tone was full of sarcasm. "In that case, I'll go find Vesemir and confiscate all the amulets that Lyra secretly gave you."

Ailin's face darkened.

How did Ianna even know that Lyra stole the amulet?

Vesemir is really unreliable.

However, since things had come to this, he could only cancel the "Night·Color" invisibility and silence, and step out from the shadow of the Meritellie statue.

"How did Mother Ianna find out about me...?"

Ailin came out, trying to change the subject with an awkward smile, but he froze when he saw Ianna's face.

A white-haired girl with silver hair and snow-white skin!

Is this High Priest Ianna?

"How was it?" Ianna smiled and winked. "When you were young, you weren't any less beautiful than Lyra and Mary, were you?"

Ailin's face darkened again.

"Is it the goddess's Divine Art?" he changed the subject.

"So you knew all along."

Ianna glanced at the doorway, took two steps closer to Ailin, and muttered as she sprinkled some salt on the ground.

A silver spherical Divine Art barrier with a radius of two meters immediately enveloped them all.

Ailin readily moved a little closer as well.

"Time is of the essence, let's stop the jokes here," Ianna said seriously. "You've communicated with the goddess?"

"Yes."

"In what way?"

"Ceremony."

"A ritual?" Ianna paused, "What ritual? I don't think I've ever taught you anything like that."

Not only had she not taught Ailin such a ritual, but in fact, apart from daily prayers and dreaming during sleep, she herself did not know that there were other ways to obtain oracles, let alone that Meritellie had personally bestowed upon her such powerful Divine Art because of it.

"After I cleared the Great Old One's Curse last time, I met the Goddess Meritellie, and she gave it to me." Ailin pointed to the ritual marks on the ground and told the truth.

"Given by the goddess..." Ianna was stunned for several seconds.

"Etc..."

"By Meritellie, have you seen the Goddess Meritellie?!"

Despite her somewhat wicked sense of humor, the usually very calm Ianna let out a piercing scream.

Fortunately, Ianna had cast a sound-blocking Divine Art beforehand, otherwise the Sorceress and the Old Duke outside would definitely have heard it.

"Yes, I saw it." Ailin instinctively took a step back and nodded.

He not only saw the goddess, but he also entered the ultimate destination that every follower of Meritellie longed for: the eternally bountiful golden wheat field guarded by the maiden in the divine kingdom.

However, after glancing at Ianna, who was agitated and flushed, Ailin opened his mouth but refrained from revealing the information to upset her.

Although Ianna looks young now, she is actually quite old.

"I'm already so old, with one foot already in the goddess's kingdom, and I still feel jealous..."

Ianna also realized that her current state was not very presentable. After taking a deep breath, she looked at Ailin with an extremely complicated expression.

"What divine favor! What divine favor this is!"

She had only seen the goddess a few times in her life, especially in the last twenty years, not even once.

And Ailin...

Not only did they meet the Goddess Meritellie and have the Great Old One's Curse lifted by her, but they also received a ritual that allowed them to frequently contact the goddess...

"Why didn't you tell me about meeting the goddess before? It's been almost two months." Ianna suddenly remembered something, put her hands on her hips, and glared fiercely at Ailin, bringing up old grievances.

Ailin was momentarily speechless.

After informing Meritellie, he returned to Kaer Morhen the next day.

To be honest, in such a short time, he hadn't even recovered from the incident of "breaking into" the Kingdom of Meritellie, and with the "Path of the Beast Roar," he naturally put the matter out of his mind.

To be fair, he was indeed in the wrong in this matter.

Just as he was pondering how to reply, Ianna waved her hand first, ending the topic. "Never mind, business is more important."

"I'll settle the score with you properly after we banish the Evil God."

She glared at Ailin again, then said seriously, "Goddess... Goddess only transmitted vast divine Divine Power and the usage of Divine Art to me, she didn't mention anything else... He... the Evil God..."

"No," Ailin knew what Ianna was carefully choosing her words, wanted to say, and gently shook his head. "Only we can exorcise the Evil God; His power cannot leave the Temple of Melitele."

"That's enough..." Ianna said with a sense of loss. "At least there's hope."

"Is the Divine Art given by the goddess very powerful?" Ailin asked tentatively.

Ianna shook her head. "It's not very strong. Tissaia is enough for powerful offensive spells. It's very balanced and enough to increase the strength of Mason's soldiers three or four times."

Ailin nodded thoughtfully, then tentatively asked, "The amulet?"

"The goddess has already made it clear, so what can I, as her servant, do?" Ianna shook her head helplessly. "I won't ask you what you plan to do, to save myself the trouble."

"Vesemir knows about the plan to expel the Evil God."

"Tell me if there are any changes needed before you take action, and I will cooperate with you."

Ailin was delighted; being able to do it openly was certainly better than doing it secretly.

However, to describe cooperation so casually...

"Any changes are allowed?" he asked curiously, "Including those to the Aretuza Academy?"

"Of course!" Ianna's youthful face revealed a domineering gaze. "As long as it's for the purpose of expelling the Evil God, whether it's a temple, an army, or Aretuza, I can cooperate with whatever changes you want to make."

Oh ho!

It seems that Ianna has truly benefited greatly from the blessing bestowed upon her by the goddess.

"Also," Ianna continued, "Vesemir only said you were in the icon room. Mason and Tissaia now think you're going to stay and refine the Necrophage Oil, so don't give yourself away."

"But that's fine too. Witchers aren't suitable for being assigned to ordinary teams. You can adapt to the situation."

Ailin nodded, but then realized something was amiss. "If it wasn't Vesemir who said it, how do you know about the amulet?"

Ianna smiled mysteriously and pointed to the side.

Ailin looked in the direction she was pointing.

The three statues of the goddess are bathed in the tranquil moonlight, appearing sacred and benevolent.

"Let's go," she said, not giving Ailin time to think. "I'll take you out to meet the others; they're probably getting impatient. Tissaia de Vera and Vesemir are very close, but..."

"Isn't this a bit inappropriate?" He took a step back, interrupting her.

"Trust me..." Ianna looked directly into his deep blue Cat Eyes, "This is better for you, for Arland, and for the temple."

"And what about you?"

"Me?" Ianna smiled. "I am the Temple of Melitele!"

After speaking.

She grabbed Ailin's hand and led her outside the icon room.

Ailin thought about it and didn't resist.

However, Ianna stopped abruptly just as her left foot stepped out of the Divine Art soundproof barrier.

Ailin thought she had regretted it.

Unexpectedly, Ianna seemed to hesitate for only a moment before turning back and softly asking, "Is His condition very bad?"

Ailin paused for a second, looked directly at the young yet aged face, and nodded vigorously.

"I see..." Ianna sighed softly.

In the end, Ianna told the Sorceress of Meritellie and the Old Duke in front of everyone that Ailin had prayed to the Goddess Meritellie for help and received a response.

The temple priests and apprentices who had been surrounding the sanctuary were eyeing him intently.

The Old Duke merely glanced at Ailin with surprise, then leaned on his cane and nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

The Sorceress all looked on in astonishment.

These exquisite and alluring women, whose ages were indistinguishable, glanced at Ianna and then savagely swept their gazes over every inch of Ailin's body, making her extremely uncomfortable.

As they whispered among themselves, inquiring about Ailin's identity and deeds, they were all amazed that such a young witcher would be so favored by a female guardian deity.

Tissaia de Veres was much more polite than when they first met.

She didn't stare at Ailin with that gaze that seemed to pierce the soul.

Instead, after learning about his relationship with Vesemir and his achievements in alchemy—mainly Sword Oil —he nodded at him with satisfaction, as if looking at a nephew, and then used the name of the Crimson Fox to stop the Sorceress from going too far in her gossip.

Ailin did understand Ianna's actions.

If the Old Duke informs everyone of this, he will surely spread the news among the soldiers going to war that the Knights of Arland have once again received divine revelation and sought the goddess's favor.

His name was now a household name in Arland, which would surely boost the morale of the army.

With news that the temple has once again turned its attention to Meritellie mortal world, the declining prestige of the Temple of Melitele in the Northern Continent is bound to be reversed.

As for Ailin himself, let's not even talk about him.

Not only did she gain a huge boost of fame from Arland, but she also became known to a group of Sorceress had only heard of her before, or even never heard of her before due to the slow information transmission speed in the Witcher world, and gained considerable favor from them.

Especially the latter.

Ailin already had a natural connection with the Sorceress because of Vesemir, and now with the added bonus of being favored by Meritellie, her favorability rating could easily reach 70 or even higher on their first meeting, out of a possible 100.

This is definitely a major boon for the School of the Wolf, which is already at odds with Ben Ade.

Moreover, the Sorceress not only had a considerable number of commissions, but she was also quite generous with them.

But what will be the cost?

Ailin glanced at Ianna, who was performing the final exorcism of the Evil God.

After this incident is over, will people be curious, will they ask...?

Once is fine...

Why did the Goddess Meritellie repeatedly bestow revelations and favors upon a witcher?

Why isn't this person Ianna, who is regarded by everyone as the goddess's representative on earth?

Is Ianna less devout than a witcher?

Even setting aside Arland or other countries in the Northern Continent, wouldn't the priests and apprentices in the temple be curious about this question?

This is why Ailin hid behind the icon and refused to go out.

He never expected that Ianna would make no attempt to conceal her identity even before he left the sanctuary.

"Don't be discouraged. Witchers are indeed not suited for this kind of large-scale battle. Making Sword Oil in the rear is also a contribution."

At some point, Tissaia de Veres approached, interrupting Ailin's thoughts.

Is this to comfort me because I'm disappointed that I can't participate in the war?

Ailin looked at Tissaia blankly.

"Besides, you've already done enough," she continued. "To be honest, I wasn't optimistic about this war. The descent of Evil God is no small matter, especially when Ban Ade has his own troubles and Hen Gedimidis can't come. With only the three of us..."

Tissaia paused, then gently shook her head. "Very difficult."

"Then you..."

"Then why did we come?" She smiled gently.

Ailin nodded.

Tissaia didn't answer immediately. She looked up, her gaze passing over the noisy crowd and converging on the northeastern sky.

There was nothing there except the night sky, which was covered with stars.

for a long time.

"This world is getting more and more dangerous," she suddenly said. "Four or five months ago, the Conjunction of the Spheres in Ban Ade was like dwarves mining underground, accidentally destroying an underground river."

"Even though the Conjunction of the Spheres was closed on the day of the conjunction, the ghost tide spread from Kedwen in the far east all the way to Hidavos in the far west."

"For the past two months, the senior apprentices of Aretuza have spent most of their extracurricular activities going into the sewers of Gos Velen and Cidalis to kill water ghosts and then use them as material for the junior anatomy classes. The entire college reeks of water ghosts."

"Then the legendary Wild Hunt appeared, attacking Gors Velen and Temeria, and most recently severely wounded Hen Gedimidis and destroyed Ban Ad..."

Ailin's eyes darted around unnaturally, and a layer of cold sweat broke out on his back.

However, Tissaia's gaze remained fixed on the northeastern night sky, and she did not notice anything amiss with him.

"Do you know, Ailin?" After a moment of silence, her gaze suddenly turned back, startling Ailin.

"What?"

Tissaia's gaze was somewhat blank. "Senne, who is also the current interim dean of Ban Ad, just sent me a message yesterday?"

Senne ... Having caught the key phrase, Ailin instantly perked up and asked calmly:

What did he say?