novelraw Chapter 3
Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Goddess, you really aren't leaving me any room to breathe
Lilu, dragged back by force, received her new set of clothes. It was a white set of vestments that looked light and airy and rather cute — though the design that left her shoulders bare felt somehow a little deliberate. However, it was only after putting them on that she realized: what appeared to be a skirt hem that reached her knees was actually two separate panels of fabric, front and back, with slits on both sides that ran all the way up to her hip joints. Was this an outfit designed to be violated the moment someone lifted the hem?
"Are you done changing?"
"Yes……"
Lilu shuffled out the door in her new clothes, fidgeting awkwardly. Serina's face broke into a smile — though somehow that smile felt just a little suspicious.
"Lilu, as a Holy Maiden you must keep your body pure and untouched. Do you understand?"
Recalling how the Hero had taken her the day before, Lilu instantly broke out in a cold sweat.
"And so — let us begin the physical examination."
Lilu's heart sank on the spot. What had to come had come after all! She turned to flee, but Serina grabbed her in one swift motion and forcibly pulled her into the room.
What followed was a moment of humiliation.
"She is still intact."
Serina reached her conclusion. Lilu was stunned — but when she glanced at her own Status Screen, the SSR Talent "Undying Body" was flickering with a rainbow radiance. Could it be…… even her virginity could be restored? This Talent was just too overpowered, wasn't it? Wait — if that was the case, then every time she got taken it would hurt from the very beginning again! This was bad, really bad!
Lilu's eyes spiraled into dazed rings, her head overheating. Was she actually about to grow a brain?
"These are your textbooks. I will be testing you in two days, so please make an effort."
Clang!
The door to the room was shut. Lilu stared at the three thick volumes in front of her and sank into a pit of self-doubt. She took out her Class Card, tapped it gently, and opened her Status Screen.Name: Lilu
Race: Elf Race
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Class: Holy Maiden (Apprentice)
Skills: Healing Arts (Beginner), Purification Arts (Beginner), Pharmacology (Beginner), Alchemy (Beginner)
Talents: Undying Body, Universal Charmer
What a refreshingly concise Status Screen, Lilu mused — this world really was quite convenient in certain ways. Though when her Class was confirmed, she found she had gained two additional Skills beyond the standard starting ones: Alchemy and Pharmacology. Were they trying to turn her into a healer? Damn it — what she had dreamed of was being a Hero who could cut down the Demon King with a single sword, someone dashingly handsome like Fred at the very least. She absolutely did not want to be a healer!
Her protesting little hand shot up high — and then quietly came back down. Lilu decided she would run away! The Goddess was clearly targeting her. The Sacred Mark could be engraved on her lower abdomen — which was clearly just a Naughty Mark. Every time she had to use the Sacred Mark she would have to lift her skirt, and just thinking about it made her want to die of shame. So running away it was! With Pharmacology and Alchemy she could make a decent living selling potions — anything was better than being toyed with in the palm of that awful woman's, ah no, that awful Goddess's hand!
And so, Lilu decisively opened the window — only to find iron bars gleaming with a metallic sheen. She opened the window on the other side — the bars there were even closer together than the first! Lilu's face turned ashen. She was being imprisoned, wasn't she? Ahhhh! She just knew this Church had major problems! Was the next step going to be brainwashing and conditioning? Oh no, this was terrible!
Returning to the desk, Lilu slammed her forehead down onto the books and completely deflated. Even her pointed ears drooped down, looking utterly lifeless. From somewhere in the void it seemed as though the Goddess's malice-laden laughter was drifting over. Lilu no longer wanted to try. She felt the world might as well just end already.
Damn it — she had made it all the way to the Other World, so why did she still have to study! Once was more than enough of that college entrance exam nonsense! She just wanted to live a Cheat Mode life—! Damn it!
Just as she was sinking into despair, a magic formation suddenly unfolded across her forehead where it pressed against the book, and the knowledge within came pouring into Lilu's mind like an awakening flood. The knowledge came so fast and so suddenly that her brain nearly cramped! Lilu rolled around on the floor clutching her head, and finally, in one last gasp, passed out completely.
Damn it, just as I thought…… I really am…… the most miserable Transmigrator……
While Lilu hovered in that Schrödinger state between dead and not-quite-dead, the door to the room was pushed open with a soft creak, and a dark shadow silently drew closer to Lilu, finally coalescing into an assassin dressed in black. Two swords were strapped to his back, a dagger gripped in his hand, and his ashen-grey skin and long pointed ears marked him unmistakably as a Dark Elf.
"Your Highness the Princess — to think you actually survived. Then allow me to kill you once more."
Schick — the dagger pierced Lilu's heart. The searing pain jolted her back to consciousness in an instant. Blood surged from her mouth, and Lilu raised her little hand in a bid to cry out for help — but it fell back down without strength.
"That should have done it?" The Dark Elf Assassin prodded her twice more with the dagger. "Yes…… that ought to be good and dead."
Satisfied, he turned and walked away, dissolving into shadow and vanishing without a trace.
The body that was Lilu lay in the room as blood spread across the floor — yet not long after the assassin's presence had fully faded, the blood that had pooled all around her began flowing back into her body as though time itself had reversed. The wounds on her body rapidly healed, and in the end disappeared entirely.
Hssss—!
With a sharp, ragged gasp, Lilu's eyes flew wide open. She realized she had just experienced death once again. This Undying Body was truly a broken, concept-level Talent — she really seemed to be incapable of dying.
"Wuu wuu wuu…… who was that, why would someone want to kill me……"
The lingering pain of a dagger through the heart remained in her chest. A sharp sense of crisis welled up in Lilu — if she kept being killed like this, she would eventually go mad! The Goddess Church was deeply suspicious, but at least becoming the Holy Maiden would offer her some protection, wouldn't it? She no longer wanted the Cheat Mode life of being surrounded by admirers on all sides. As long as she wasn't killed, anything would do.
"Goddess, you really aren't leaving me any room to breathe……"
She sniffled, then obediently sat back down at the desk, ready to study. But when she opened the books, she found she already knew all the contents inside and out.
"Status Screen."
The Status Screen appeared at her call, its blue light panel spreading open.
Name: Lilu
Race: Elf Race
Gender: Female
Age: 18
Class: Holy Maiden (Apprentice)
Skills: Healing Arts (Intermediate↑), Purification Arts (Intermediate↑), Pharmacology (Beginner), Alchemy (Beginner)
Talents: Undying Body, Universal Charmer, Rapid Learning (New)
Oh? The two base Skills of the Holy Maiden had actually leveled up! Was this truly the power of reading? Lilu blinked, her eyes taking on a look of quiet insight — though she quickly figured out the reason she had absorbed the knowledge so fast. It had to be down to the newly appeared "Rapid Learning" Talent.
And so she picked up the second book and gently pressed it against her forehead. A flash of magical light — and endless knowledge came flooding in like an awakening torrent! Then Lilu's head exploded. In the literal, physical sense. Brain matter and blood splattered across the ceiling, and her body swayed before crashing to the floor.
Outside the window, the Dark Elf Assassin lowered his longbow and muttered to himself: "That should kill her this time, right?"
Before the words had even faded, a Holy Scripture came hurtling into his head, and the whole person tumbled down from the tree and crashed into the bushes below.
"Damn it, who just ambushed me — oof!"
A massive silhouette blocked out the setting sun. The Dark Elf looked up — and found himself staring up into the furious glare of a Minotaur.
"My reading ain't great but…… this thing sure is satisfying to throw at people!" Cain Blood-Horn hoisted the Holy Scripture. "May the Goddess's blessing be with you!"
Dark Elf: NO—!