The morning market of the border city was unlike any other; its proximity to the sea meant a wealth of products, and being located to the south of the Seyi Empire, it was a crossroad for merchants traveling between north and south. As dawn broke, the streets were already bustling with stalls while the sea breeze still carried a faint fishy scent.
"Fresh seabass, just three copper coins per pound!"
"Roasted vinegar barley, roasted vinegar barley~"
"Extra, extra, Seaside City News! Only three sule for a copy!"
The wind from the harbor meandered through the streets, accompanied by the tinkling of wind chimes, as paperboys rode their bicycles, delivering the latest Seaside Morning News into the sea-blue mailboxes of each household.
"Please give me a copy," an elegant and clean voice requested.
The paperboy halted his bicycle and while retrieving a newspaper, he surreptitiously glanced at the customer: She had a pair of beautiful amber eyes, dressed in a ladylike dress of white and ink, adorned with tiny stars, standing slim and tall on the street.
"This young miss is so pretty, I wonder whose daughter she is," the paperboy thought to himself.
Enya gracefully accepted the newspaper and then turned to walk towards a young man, "Here's the newspaper you wanted."
Calling him a young man, he appeared to be no more than thirteen or fourteen years old. Walking alongside Enya, he seemed more like a younger brother she was accompanying, creating a rather warming scene.
"Do you need me to buy anything else for you, Master?"
Enya whispered into An Su's ear, "The usual, the fertility medicine?"
"Please do not harass the underage."
An Su didn't want to entertain his maid. He took the newspaper and the front page was filled with boring gossip like #The Untold Story of Prince Nether and the Three Princesses#, #The Forbidden Love between a Legendary Hero and a Rich Young Lady#, and #The Lady Knight and the Seven Goblins Adventure#...
On the second page, he finally saw the article #The Goddess Makes a Mistake: Child of the Curse Awarded a Divine Title#
The article detailed how An Su Moningsta, the Child of the Curse from the Morningstar Family, had garnered the god-given title 'The Newborn' and become a Fourth Order saint at his first prayer.
'The evil Child of the Curse is flagrantly polluting the sanctity of the Church; it's the darkest day in the history of the border city,' the journalist emphasized indignantly in the newspaper.
Studied journalism.
An Su, looking at the newspaper, showed a contemplating expression, "Enya, help me contact the editor-in-chief of this newspaper."
"Young Master. I understand what you're thinking."
Obviously, Enya also saw the article and being an observant maid, she immediately grasped her master's intentions, "Do you need me to take care of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper?"
"They need to learn what should not be said," Enya stated calmly.
An Su turned back and looked at his rather extreme maid.
As the only heir's attendant of the Morningstar Family, the maid was three years older than An Su, but at the tender age of seventeen, she was already a Fourth Order assassin. Outwardly she was an elegant lady, but her nature was problematic.
If An Su truly asked her to kill, she wouldn't hesitate, nor ask why.
"No," An Su shook his head, "I mean to throw money at them, to have them intensify their efforts! Better yet, make it known to the neighboring City-States as well."
"...?"
Enya tilted her head in confusion, "So you enjoy being insulted? I can also accomplish that for you."
"...I'm creating momentum."
An Su said,
"In any case, think about it. A person both cursed with dark talents and blessed by a goddess as a quasi-saint, who comes from a wealthy and prestigious household, and is An Su Moningsta, who would such a character attract the most?"
After thinking it over, Enya gave up, "Naturally, it's most attractive to me."
An Su ignored her flirtation, pocketed the newspaper, and headed towards the library. The sparkling sea hung half against the azure sky; the sea breeze brushed past, with both the sky and the sea shimmering with waves of light.
——
This week, An Su's life had been extremely regular.
It began with the Church's library.
He set off while the sky was still dimly lit.
The first hurdle of the saint test was the written exam.
It mainly covered the history of the Church and political treatises.
He designed a draft, found a tailor, and had a very comfortable outfit made: a blue shirt paired with grey, drab trousers. Whenever Old Dad asked why he needed to wear such an outfit, he would reply that this outfit made studying feel right.
Because this set of clothes was his high school uniform from his previous life.
And An Su indeed fiercely made the residents of Nether World experience a taste of what's called the Huaxia miracle.
He would head out in the morning and return at night, go for a run in the early morning, attend evening self-study sessions at church, and even used connections to buy more than a decade's worth of past exam questions, committing himself to completing three full tests each day. All he did each day was study and study.
Studying by lamplight late into the night and waking up at the crow of a rooster, he made Old Dad anxious and panicked, who exclaimed, "Stop studying, just learning to count is enough to inherit the gold mine!"
Such a diligent and hardworking youth truly seemed like a rising new star in the Church.
His dedicated performance had also caught the attention of the Church. Many deacons who had been dissatisfied with the Child of the Curse had a change of heart, and of course, many prospective saints had some opinions on that matter.
The reason was that An Su's performance had also been noticed by their own parents, compelling them to set the same standards for them. The most common phrase heard by students preparing for the exams in the recent days was:
"Look at how the child from the neighboring Morningstar Family is studying!"
Banned from entertainment, going out, and dating, the students preparing for exams were spinning from all the studying, and directing no small amount of ill-will towards An Su, the chief culprit of their plight, cursing under their breath, "Damn birth!"
But in reality, for An Su, merely cramming at the last minute wasn't going to place him at the top of the written exams.
An Su didn't set high expectations for himself; combining the original host's knowledge with his own heaven-defying endeavors over the month, he just needed to scrape together a passing score.
Not dragging down his overall score was considered a success.
Despite this, this stint of studying had brought significant gains for An Su; he had become reacquainted with the political ideology of the Nether Empire, the historical framework of the state, and the rise and fall of its civilization...
These fresh and clear pieces of knowledge hadn't been covered in his previous life's gaming experience, and through continuous learning, his understanding of this world slowly deepened.
At the same time, the editors at "Seaside Morning News" got down to business after receiving An Su's money.
The journalists knew how to sensationalize; thus, each day the front page of the morning paper would feature stories such as 'The Untold Story of the Child of the Curse and the Three Princesses,' 'The Forbidden Love of the Child of the Curse and the Young Lady of Wealth,' and 'The Strange Adventures of the Child of the Curse and the Seven Goblins'...
And 'The Sadomasochistic Legend of the Child of the Curse and the Maid'
The last one seemed to have been forcibly added by Miss Enya to the editor-in-chief.
Regardless of the process, the deeds of An Su gradually became hot topics within the surrounding city-states.
It was yet another evening.
An Su ended his day of studying.
He was now confident of passing the written exam.
And the news had already sufficiently fermented.
Next, it was time to move on to the next stage of the plan.
An Su put down his book and walked out of the library. Enya leaned against the doorway, quietly waiting for him with the latest edition of the newspaper in her hands.
"Let's run away from home," he said as his opening remark.
"Do you intend to elope with me?" Miss Enya asked calmly, putting down the newspaper.
"...Silly girl."