Banishment is Fine: As a Genius Saint, I Can Shine Anywhere. - Chapter 1

It wasn’t just Lady Meteora who had a change of heart. Lionel also picked up one of the amulets and examined its quality closely.

“The protective spell written in an ancient language on the amulet… is extremely well done. What’s more, the letters sparkle brightly. That’s proof that they are imbedded with great power.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“We couldn’t even take a nap without being protected by charms. This will give my men some relief. We appreciate it.”

She raised her eyebrows slightly.

“I accept your gratitude. Can I also get an apology?”

“An apology?”

“You called me incompetent, didn’t you?”

Lionel looked taken aback.

“You’re the type to hold a grudge?”

“Yes, to the point where I’d curse you for generations.”

She stood tall with her staff.

“Don’t think I can’t curse. For a genius saintess like me, there is nothing impossible. Take back your previous statement and apologize. Then, I might help you a bit more.”

“That’s quite the confidence.”

Lionel showed a bewildered expression, but he understood the high quality of the charm in his hand. Having witnessed her barrier and healing abilities, he had no objections.

“I apologize for calling you incompetent. I won’t speak so carelessly again. As the captain of this unit, I sincerely apologize. So, please assist us for a while.”

“I don’t dislike honest men.”

Meteora smiled and extended her right hand. Lionel, though surprised, firmly shook her hand.

With this handshake as a symbol of their cooperation, she decided to accompany Lionel’s second unit for the time being.

“But a saintess who can make amulets, barriers, and heal is extremely rare. Why were you sent to a remote area? Usually, such saintesses are kept hidden deep within the Central Temple.”

As they moved around the area with half the squad left at the temple, Captain Lionel asked.

As Meteora is placing charms on withered trees and building remnants, she replies calmly.

“Yes. After becoming the head saintess, I couldn’t even step into the temple’s garden. I was constantly called to heal seriously ill or injured people.”

“That must have been tough.”

“Indeed. But healing the sick and injured is a saintess’s primary duty, so that’s fine. However, it did bother me that most of the severely injured people brought to me were from the privileged class.”

She added in a low voice. Lionel nodded, seeming to understand.

“It’s the same everywhere. Nobles and clergy are favored. People without privileges or abilities are treated worse than garbage.”

“But I wanted to focus on such people too.”

Meteora gritted her teeth as she struck her charm.

“I also argued that the temple’s system needed to change. If monsters are crossing the border, powerful saintesses should be sent to the regions to repel monsters and repair the stakes that protect the borders, along with the knights.”

“I bet you faced a lot of opposition.”

Lionel’s face twitched as Meteora nodded. “Yes, there was a lot of opposition.”

“In the end, they claimed a promising young saintess had appeared, so they made me retake the head saintess exam to compete with her.”

“I get it. Those who didn’t like your stance made up excuses to send you to the countryside. I bet that exam was rigged too.”

“Probably. Even without grading, they knew I had clearly outperformed the new saintess, but they wanted me gone.”

Nonetheless, Gloriosa, the other candidate, wasn’t significantly weaker than the previous head saintesses. At just sixteen, she could make charms and barriers, though weaker, and her healing power was stronger than average saintesses.

In another time, she might have been recommended as the head saintess in a few years—if Meteora, the exceptional genius, hadn’t been there.

“So you were sent away for challenging authority. What a misfortune.”

“Oh, not at all. Going to the regions was my true wish too. I’m glad to see this devastation with my own eyes.”

Meteora looked around at her surroundings.