Nanako: "!!!!"
She stared with wide eyes, looked down, and immediately became frantic, saying: "Let's try again! Nanako the Great Mage won't be defeated by such a small detail!!"
(▼ヘ▼#)
Whoosh whoosh—
Another series of faint lights flashed.
"How about now?" Nanako gritted her teeth.
The young mage girl shouted: "It's gone! It's all gone! It's even starting to look concave!!"
Nanako: "(ΩДΩ)!!!"
"..."
After a while.
After several more attempts at transformation.
Lynn finally couldn't bear to watch anymore.
He sighed, then pulled out two small bread rolls from his bag, handed them to his master, and said sympathetically:
"Master, use these as padding for now... Some things just can't be forced..."
Nanako replied in a daze: "Can we use something else... Master... doesn't want to use bread rolls..."
Because.
She had used them many times before...
Lynn wiped his moistened eyes and said: "Alright, I'll get you something else right away!"
Then he opened his backpack.
His gaze fell upon the two watermelons inside.
...
A few minutes later.
Nanako, who had transformed into Saint Anna's appearance, strode toward the pig farm with Lynn.
The guards stationed at the main gate saw someone approaching and immediately shouted:
"Halt! By Saint Anna's orders, no one is allowed to—"
But before he could finish.
He suddenly saw Nanako who had transformed into Saint Anna's appearance.
In an instant.
They were shocked.
Lady... Saint Anna?
Is this really Lady Saint Anna?
Something seems off!
She didn't look this... magnificent before! How did she suddenly become so...
This scale is simply heavenly!
Won't this... affect her center of gravity?
They were dumbfounded.
Nanako, disguised as Saint Anna, glanced at them and imitated Saint Anna's cold tone:
"What are you looking at? If you don't want your eyes, I can have them gouged out right now!"
The soldiers trembled.
They quickly dropped to one knee, lowering their weapons: "We didn't know Lady Saint Anna had arrived, please forgive our transgression!"
Nanako looked at the locked gate and said coldly:
"Where are the residents inside?"
The soldier hastily replied: "Reporting to Lady Saint Anna, as per your orders, all cursed residents are locked inside. We haven't shown any negligence, ensuring that not a single one has escaped!"
"Open the gate! I want to see inside!" Nanako commanded harshly.
The soldier didn't dare delay.
He quickly took out the key and unlocked the gate.
Pushed it open.
Carefully stepped back, not daring to offend this high-ranking church official.
Though the surrounding soldiers were puzzled why Saint Anna wasn't accompanied by her usual spellbreakers but instead by two mages.
But naturally, they didn't dare to ask.
Stepping through the gate.
And at that moment, when Nanako and her companions saw the scene inside, they were all shocked.
Even Lynn couldn't help but frown slightly.
Inside the gate.
A foul stench wafted over.
In the lower enclosure, hundreds of pigs were crowded in a muddy area, the unbearable smell making people want to keep their distance.
Seeing this scene before her, anger nearly erupted from Nanako's eyes.
She had never seen such a sight before.
They were people!
Even though they had been turned into pigs, they were still people!
And now, they were being penned up here like livestock...
"Unforgivable..." Nanako said in a low voice, forcefully suppressing her anger.
Her fists gradually clenched inside her sleeves.
And what made her feel even worse.
Those residents cursed into pigs merely lifted their heads, looked at her with clouded eyes, then lowered them again apathetically.
They didn't even show hatred in their eyes.
"Disciple," Nanako said softly, "why don't they hate me? Don't they want to kill me?"
She was referring to her current form as Saint Anna.
Lynn took a deep breath and said: "I'm not entirely sure either, Master."
[No, I know exactly why.]
[To be honest, in a sense, the lower classes in this world... are even worse off than pigs.]
[Because no one cares whether they live or die, no one cares about their thoughts, they're just tools to be ruled.]
[In my world, when oppression reaches its extreme, at least there would be sparks of resistance...]
[But in this world, any resistance would be easily suppressed by the church and royalty who possess supernatural powers. To them, the royalty and church are gods they can never rebel against.]
Lynn turned his head, steadily watching the trembling expression on Nanako's face.
Reached out his hand.
Grasped her cold little hand.
[And even if you kill a god, without the courage to completely revolutionize everything, new gods will simply appear, continuing the cycle eternally.]
Listening to her disciple's inner thoughts, Nanako bit her lip.
To be honest.
She had never known about these things before.
She grew up in Winter Spring Valley, always thinking the outside world was as beautiful as her home.
As an official of Winter Spring Valley, she had only ever interacted with royalty and high-ranking officials, only ever seeing their luxurious lives...
She had never thought...
Never thought...
In an instant.
She raised her head, suddenly gritting her teeth and shouting: "You are free now! I will find a way to break your curse, and from today forward, no one will ever lock you up again!"
She waved her hand forcefully, and in an instant, the surrounding railings were blown apart by magical energy.
Boom—
The fences collapsed.
Complete silence fell.
The pigs lifted their heads listlessly, but not one stepped beyond the fallen fence.
Nanako trembled as she said: "Go! I'm telling you to go!"
But still no one moved.
Seeing this.
Lynn let out a sigh.
He walked forward, looking at the cursed residents below the railings, and smiled:
"Everyone, don't be nervous or afraid, you must have heard! Lady Saint Anna is God's saint, and in God's name, she now officially pardons you of your sins!"
The pigs suddenly trembled.
Then, under Nanako's shaking gaze, the pigs knelt down, prostrating themselves toward her direction.
Making oinking sounds that Nanako could understand without translation...
They were...
Expressing gratitude...
Lynn closed his eyes, clasped his hands together and smiled: "God will bless you all. Now go home, and don't worry about your transformation, it's just God's test for you. Once you pass this trial, you will receive God's grace."
Gradually, the pigs quieted down, their eyes full of gratitude, then one by one they walked toward the exit.
Even when passing by Lynn, they would stop and oink softly a few times.
Nanako's eyes suddenly turned slightly red.
Very uncomfortable.
Very painful.
"Why do they listen to you?" Nanako asked with reddened eyes, "When... when..."
Lynn patted her shoulder and shook his head: "They're not listening to me, they're listening to God."
Nanako's whole body trembled as she stared blankly at his face.
"Listening to God..." Nanako silently repeated those words.