All my life I had been plagued by poverty, my childhood could not be described by any other words other than "dejecting". Living on the streets of Malakai as an orphan was no breeze, I was no stranger to mistreatment and exploitation. I've been there, done that, saw things I shouldn't have, but in the end, I barely push through the hard times. I was lucky enough to have someone pick me up from the streets at a young age, and put me under the care of an orphanage that was owned by the Holy Church. About a dozen more orphans and I were taken care of by a sister, she would tell us old fairytales about the kingdom, I had always been fascinated by the heroic tales she spoke of.
When I was 13, I decided to join the church and underwent my training. I learned how to pray, I learned about the legends and stories of the gods, and how laundry works. I was taught how to cast my first spell shortly after that, it was a simple healing spell, even though it took me several weeks to master I eventually got the hang of it.
Eventually, I completed my training, got placed at the Central Cathedral, and started my career as a sister then. Even though hundreds of people come in every day to receive healing for their injuries, I thought it was going at quite a slow pace. I lived leisurely there, gained many experiences, to me, it was perfect. But...
The elderly priestess came up to me one day and said "Congrats! Your getting kicked out!"
"Wuh?" I immediately responded with the only thing I could force out of my throat at that moment.
"YEP! Well...not exactly." What does this mean? What does she mean by "not exactly"? Vague, it's so vague and so sudden too. What do I even say here?
"Excuse me? But what." With my last bit of brainpower, I managed to blurt out a question that was logical enough to understand.
"A new church was built last week at the east of Malakai. And the problem is...right now there's no one taking care of it." She pauses as if to let me process everything.
I began to recollect my thoughts and summarised the situation in my head. So a new church was just built last week, no one's taking care of it, I'm getting kicked out of the central cathedral, that means...
"You want me to take care of it, don't you, priestess?"
"Yep!"
"Can I not accept?"
"Nope!"
She continued, "I already ordered a carriage for you, you have about 10 minutes to pack your stuff! Best of luck then, Sister Marie!" And just like that, she left me. I looked around, everyone was staring at me, as clueless as I am.
...
"Y-yayyy! Good luck M-marie!" Someone shouted.
The room went silent.
"Y-you need help packing?"
...
I think I have brain damage.
~
After I politely declined the offer to help me pack, I climbed up the beast-drawn carriage and left. Eventually, I reached my destination, a newly built church on the east side of the capital. Beautiful but nowhere near as grand as the cathedral, I could tell it was well thought out. I opened up the wooden door of the building and was immediately welcomed by the scent of fresh paint.
The moment you opened the door, you immediately enter the worship hall, marble pillars hold the building together and add quite an elegant feeling to it. The floor was made with black tiles, colorful window panes were placed instead of the traditional colorless ones. The worship was was lit up by the blue glow of the mana lamp as usual. In the middle of the room stood the altar and the statue of the protector god, I kneeled down and offered my first prayer here.
...
After I finished, I turned around and looked at the empty rows of seats behind me.
Well...
I really don't want to be here...
I didn't enjoy this sudden change in environment at all...
...
Well...What's the worst that can happen right?
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~
I would later meet a boy that would bring the worst out of every single situation possible.