Chapter 57: The Saintess Will Not Easily Lose Her Composure

"Huh, why did that woman leave so suddenly? Was she in such a rush..."

Inside the cell, watching Clementina vanish into thin air, Mino was completely baffled.

"Tch—whatever."

The pain in his back was steadily intensifying, causing Mino to bare his teeth and grimace. Yet, as he looked down at the gold coins in his palm, his spirits lifted once again.

[Do you wish to use Contract Magic: Weather Modification? Cost: 10 gold coins]

"With gold coins, I can finally use contract magic to make this damned rainy day stop!" Mino akimboed and burst into loud laughter.

"Starting today, I am the Child of Weather!"

At the cell entrance, a petite figure pushing a small cart poked her head out. Having been there for who knows how long, she stared blankly and intently at Mino.

"Mino, so weird."

The zombie demon, dressed in a brown-and-white classical maid outfit, stood at the doorway. Her hollow eyes looked at Mino's antics with a hint of curiosity, and she tilted her head in incomprehension.

Under the damp weather, Fim had not gone out today. Wearing a well-fitted short maid dress, its light short sleeves and small apron retaining ruffled decorations made working much easier. Beneath her knees, small black leather shoes were paired with lace-trimmed short socks.

"Fim, you came at just the right time!"

Mino pointed at the gloomy rain outside the window, wearing a sunny smile. "Look, it's about to clear up now!"

The lingering drizzle gradually subsided with his voice, thin veils of rain thinning and fading away. Soon enough, a streak of golden sunlight pierced through the pitch-black dark clouds like a sheaf of wheat, completely tearing the rainy day apart.

"It really worked!"

Mino stood by the window, feeling the air lose its dampness. The old wounds on his body finally stopped throbbing with a dull ache.

He touched his money pouch, feeling the perceptible evaporation of its heavy weight; only ninety gold coins remained inside.

"How is that? Isn't it magical?"

Having succeeded, Mino walked over to Fim happily and patted her little head.

Fim stared blankly out the window, without much surprise on her face, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

"Mino, scared, rain?" Fim thought for a moment and asked.

"I hate it! I hate it very much!!"

Fim was still somewhat puzzled, her words pieced together intermittently:

"If you hate it... wouldn't it be fine to just tell Apophis to stop... This rain was caused by it..."

"Lady Clementina just finished picking roses and replanting... so she had Apophis make it rain... It will stop soon..."

Mino's smile froze on his face.

He had almost forgotten—having been in the Demon King's Castle for so many days, the weather had remained gloomy and unchanged. Come to think of it, just like the royal capital, there had to be a specialized magic formation controlling the weather.

"Which means... even if I did nothing, this rain wouldn't have lasted long anyway?!"

In an instant, Mino's eyes widened. He turned his head to look at the clear skies and scattered clouds outside the window—a firmament as though rainclouds had never once existed—and then lowered his gaze to look at the heavy gold coins in his hand.

***

Outside the Demon King's Castle.

By the flower beds, Apophis gradually reined in its demonic energy and approached Clementina.

"Lady Clementina, has it rained enough?"

"Yes, that's enough." Clementina nodded, brushing her damp hair behind her shoulder, and offered a gentle smile toward the magic sword Apophis.

The blade of Apophis paused slightly. It somehow felt as though Clementina had cast off a heavy burden, her aura growing increasingly ethereal and profound.

Watching Clementina walk further away step by step, Apophis shook its head, pressing its doubts deep into its heart, and once again channeled its demonic energy to reconnect with the magic formation...

Dazzling sunlight pierced through the clouds, evaporating raindrops before they could even touch the ground.

"Huh."

Apophis's demonic energy fluctuated slightly, its tone carrying profound confusion and astonishment.

No matter how it drove the formation, the upper-level air currents and temperature seemed frozen solid, completely repelling its magic power.

"The weather... can no longer be changed—"

***

"Today's weather is rather strange; the rain stopped for a short while without any warning..."

In the borderlands.

In a dilapidated wooden hut within a frontier village of human territory, a peasant couple sat at the table enjoying their lunch, whispering among themselves:

"When has the region close to the demons ever been peaceful? Perhaps it's Her Holiness the Saintess protecting us!"

"Indeed, thanks to Lady Lena patrolling the borders for demons lately, our lives have become much more stable."

"It's just that... Her Holiness the Saintess is far too cold and indifferent. Perhaps protecting us is just something she does in passing."

"That's not true at all!"

"Daddy! Mommy!" At the dining table, a little girl who had been wolfing down her food raised her head from her bowl, rice grains still lingering at the corners of her mouth, and muttered:

"When Lena big sister told me the story of Lord Mino last night, she wasn't cold at all. And her face even looked a bit red—she was so pretty!!!"

The couple exchanged glances, then smiled and shook their heads:

"After all, he is the Hero Mino. To the Ice Saintess, the only one capable of stirring her heart is probably that legendary hero with whom she shared such a close relationship..."

"Is that so?" The little girl blinked ignorantly.

She somehow felt that her father and mother were wrong, because at that time, Lena big sister didn't seem flustered because of Lord Mino...

"Stop talking, Ayni, hurry up and deliver breakfast to the Saintess. She should be practicing her sword by the river right now."

A meticulously packed lunchbox was handed into Ayni's hands, and the little girl immediately broke into a lively smile.

"I'm going right now!"

Skipping along, Ayni headed toward the small river on the edge of the village. The murmuring river water exuded a faint chill, guiding the little girl's path all the way.

Faint frost crept along the cross-hilted longsword. The Saintess, holding the hilt and standing proudly upright, was a dozen meters away from the river.

Ayni obediently stopped her steps behind her, knowing that Saintess Lena would only eat her breakfast after she finished practicing her sword—

*Swish.*

A frigid sword Qi was drawn from the scabbard, flying toward the river and leaving a trail of icy scars all the way across the greenish grass.

The sword Qi controlled its energy with extreme precision, dissipating into points of light the moment it reached the edge of the river without freezing the water...

*Swish, swish, swish—*

Streaks of sword Qi were slashed rhythmically toward the riverside, as precise as if controlled by machinery, dissipating near the bank and leaving only a faint chill behind.

Bored on the side, Ayni thought for a moment and pulled out the pocket-sized *Chronicles of the Hero's Rise* she carried with her. It was her favorite book, and looking at the little stories related to Mino written inside, her eyes lit up with little stars.

"Wow! Lord Mino is just like me, he loves eating rye bread!"

*Swish.*

The cold sword Qi remained undisturbed by external noises, precisely dissipating at the riverbank.

"Wow, Lord Mino and His Highness the Prince are best friends! They must help each other out all the time!!"

*Swish!*

The sword Qi was as steady as the wind.

"Wow, are the stories about Lord Mino and Lena big sister true? It's written so romantically..."

*Swish*—the sword Qi did not waver in the slightest.

Ayni raised her head, glanced at Lena's immaculate back, and contentedly immersed herself in the storybook once more, exclaiming:

"Wow, Princess Kalia is so pretty!"

*Swish*, the sword Qi—

"She must have... so many suitors."

*BANG!!!*

A terrifying, icy-blue sword Qi burst forth violently and erratically—

The downstream of the river instantly froze into a glacier.