Chapter 129 – A Serious Illness
"Ugh… this feels awful…"
Frieren lay on the bed groaning dramatically.
"When I roll my eyes, my stomach hurts. When I touch my stomach, my hand hurts. When I move my fingers, my butt hurts. When I wiggle my butt, my eyes hurt…"
"Priest Giles… is there really nothing you can do to make me feel better?"
Giles silently shook his head.
At that moment, the door opened and Elias walked in with Teresa.
The instant Teresa appeared, Giles's gaze turned sharp.
"What are you doing here?"
"I brought her," Elias replied calmly. "Does the priest have a problem with that?"
"But what use is she? She's just a little girl who knows nothing!"
"Heh. Since when does the priest get to decide whether someone is useful or not?"
Elias's quiet but imposing tone instantly made Giles fall silent.
Flamme then stepped forward with a gentle smile and took Teresa's hand.
"Teresa, my disciple isn't feeling well. Could you take a look and see what's wrong?"
Hearing this, Teresa instinctively stepped back.
"W-what? You really want me to? Even Lord Giles couldn't do anything…"
"It's alright. I believe in you."
Encouraged by Flamme, Teresa finally approached the bed where Frieren lay.
Giles retreated to the side, watching them warily while muttering under his breath.
"Such strange symptoms… Even if the Goddess herself descended, it wouldn't help. How could some nobody girl possibly—"
"Huh?"
Teresa didn't even cast a spell.
She simply glanced at Frieren twice and frowned in confusion.
"She… isn't sick at all."
"Heh… heh…"
The moment she said that, Giles seized on the words like a lifeline and sneered.
"Well then, everyone…"
"If you were hoping to prove that this girl's Goddess magic surpasses mine, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."
"Did you hear that? That elf girl is in obvious agony, with such complicated and shifting symptoms—and yet she claims there's nothing wrong with her!"
Teresa opened her mouth to argue, but her courage faltered and she lowered her head.
Flamme gently patted her shoulder.
"Go ahead, Teresa. Speak your mind. Tell this priest what you truly think."
With Flamme's encouragement, Teresa finally gathered her courage and spoke clearly.
"She really isn't sick."
"That's right!"
Before Giles could even mock her, another voice suddenly joined in.
He turned in shock to see Frieren sitting upright in bed, perfectly fine, staring straight at him.
"H-how is that possible…?"
"Weren't you just saying—"
"Hehe. Of course I was lying," Frieren said with a mischievous grin.
"I'm a powerful mage, after all. How could I fall ill that easily?"
"So you were faking it?!"
Giles cried out in disbelief.
By then, Flamme had already stepped forward, arms folded as she faced him.
"My disciple's act was obvious the moment Teresa walked in."
"But you, Priest Giles… seem to have noticed nothing at all."
Giles stammered.
"Th-that's because… because you deceived me! You deceived the Goddess's magic!"
"What a pathetic excuse!"
Flamme shot back instantly.
"How could the effects of Goddess magic change just because of a fraud like you?"
"Tell us the truth, Giles. Why are you impersonating a priest?"
"Or is even the name 'Giles' a lie?"
"Wait!"
Giles suddenly lifted his chin arrogantly.
"You're just travelers from outside. What right do you have to question me?"
"Even if you try to force me to confess with numbers on your side, the villagers would never agree!"
—BANG!
Giles suddenly rushed out of the room.
No one tried to stop him.
For a moment, Teresa simply stood there, stunned by what she had just heard.
"The great Lord Giles… he… he actually lied to me…"
"It's alright," Flamme said gently.
"At least now you've finally woken up."
Flamme spoke softly, offering reassurance.
"Not only that—now we also need the villagers to see Giles's true face."
The moment the group of four stepped out of the church with Teresa, they found themselves surrounded by villagers.
Giles stood arrogantly at the front of the crowd, pointing straight at Flamme.
"Villagers! These strangers of unknown origin have conspired with Teresa to plot something sinister!"
"Luckily, I discovered their scheme in time and stopped them before they could succeed!"
The moment he said this, the villagers erupted in anger.
"Lord Giles kindly gave you shelter, and this is how you repay him?!"
"Wait—what happened last night… could it have been their doing?"
"That Teresa girl has always been suspicious! No wonder she was the only one unharmed last night!"
Hearing the villagers' accusations, Giles nodded in satisfaction, confident that victory was already in his grasp.
But the next moment—
Flamme stepped forward.
Facing the villagers' sharp stares, she tossed her long hair back and spoke clearly.
"Villagers, it's actually the opposite. The one who saved you last night is Teresa, standing behind me."
"As for the man bragging about himself—Giles—he was sleeping like a dead pig, just like the rest of you!"
"You're lying!" Giles shouted.
"It was clearly me who saved the villagers! Teresa is nothing but your accomplice!"
"How strange," Flamme replied calmly.
"If you truly had the power to save the villagers, why didn't you drive away the monster from the beginning?"
"Why did you wait until the middle of the night before slowly waking everyone up?"
"That's because I was—"
Giles bit his tongue.
He dared not finish that lie in front of the villagers.
How could the great priest who protected the village admit that he had been knocked unconscious by a monster?
"That's because you're not a priest at all."
Flamme's voice cut through the air, decisive and cold.
"You simply don't have the strength to defeat the monster."
The villagers immediately began murmuring among themselves.
Giles still struggled desperately.
"If I'm not a priest, then who are you supposed to be?!"
"You're just a group of nameless outsiders! What gives you the right to question my identity in front of the villagers?!"
"…Heh. I suppose I haven't worked hard enough."
Flamme lowered her head and gave a cold laugh.
"To think there are still so many people in the south who don't recognize my face."
The moment those words were spoken, both Giles and the villagers fell silent.
Their eyes widened as they stared at Flamme's long orange hair.
Then they saw her take out a silver cross pendant from her robe.
"The Proof of the Holy Staff?!"
Before Flamme could even speak, Giles blurted out the words himself—and immediately collapsed to his knees with a thud.
"So it's the Great Mage Flamme! I—I truly… truly…"
His mind was in complete chaos. Not a single flattering word could come out.
Whether the villagers recognized Flamme or not, the appearance of the Proof of the Holy Staff forced them to reconsider everything that had happened.
Flamme looked down at Giles's trembling head and said coldly:
"Before we question you further…"
"Hand over the sacred scripture."
"With your abilities, you're not worthy of using the Goddess's magic."