Quick Transmigration: Saving The Crazy Villainess

Chapter 309: Agatha (7) <2-in-1>

Aliyah was invited by the priest to the Church of Wisdom. She visibly hesitated so the other thought it was due to the assassination attempt on her life a month ago. But that was not actually the case. 

The man put some effort into reassuring her safety with the church's knight, simply unaware that she was totally not interested in meeting whoever got captured by them.

She couldn't tell him this reason though, right?

"I'm sorry, Reverend. I've been feeling a little under the weather these past few days... I would have loved to go with you to the church, but... *insert drama and excuses*."

Nope She sadly couldn't say that because her mother, the Viscountess, popped up at one point in their conversation. The older lady was a pious believer of the Goddess of Wisdom so she wouldn't tolerate any form of disrespect towards the church of its priests.

The girl felt miserable but she had no choice but follow the priest outside the castle, especially since her mother also tagged along.

Along the road, since it would be quite a long and boring journey, the priest took the initiative to speak about the person they found, describing the other as a young man who seemed very knowledgeable and had an unusual air of maturity commonly found only on men aged forty and above.

It seemed they thought quite highly of the person. But of course, there was no way they would truly deem him as a messenger without several verification processes and tests.

"We invited the young man into the church, and he has been with us for two days. Today we took the trip in hopes that you can help us verify if he's the person you saw a month ago."

She slightly bowed and smiled. "It would be my honor to be of help to the Church, Reverend."

That was what she said even though deep inside she didn't know what to feel upon learning that somebody got detained for days due to her irresponsible words.

Halfway through the journey, the priest not only exchanged news with the mother and daughter pair but gave more information about the suspected lad.

"All in all, we are quite satisfied with the man. But yesterday, we're quite not getting along with him because he mentioned something future predictions of the human civilizations outside the land of Mu."

"What did he say about them?" Aliyah was curious.

The clergyman's face was not that good. He frowned for a while before answering with a serious face.

"The predictions are interesting. He said the Eastern part and the Western part of the outside world would both enter a golden age. Humans would no longer be simple war freaks as they would realize that they need some 'peace and quiet' to make new inventions, further their society's developments in other fields to make their lives easier... That's how he phrased it." 

None of those listening interrupted him since he seemed immersed in his narration despite the odd look he was sporting. His hands were gesturing in the air as he continued.

"He did not elaborate on the Eastern regions. But for the Western side, he said one state there would be the center of everything for some time. The name is Rome. All roads in that part of the land will lead to that place. It will be technologically advanced than most nations. For example, they will know how to connect running water to their homes and districts and will be more conscious of hygienes, and health. He said, in fact, barbarians there already have their own formulas for concrete! Unbelievable!"

"Tch. However, after a few hundred years, they would be divided into two and attacked by neighboring states. A few hundred years later again, they, and the whole Eastern region would enter a dark age But"

A complicated expression emerged from the priest's face.

Aliyah blinked for a couple of times after realizing her elegant mother who was sitting next to her was also sporting a weird look.

The Viscountess suddenly asked in doubt, "Is that messenger truly predicting the outside world's future? Why does it seem to me that he's just reciting our history and simply changing some details while at it?"

Obviously, the noblewoman found it ridiculous. Someone suddenly claimed that whatever had happened to the kingdoms in Mu would happen at the Western Side of the outside world. In the first place, why would that be?

The pretty daughter was quite thrilled by what she heard, remembering her recent history classes. A guess popped up in mind.

"Your Honor. I hope you were not offended by my remark..." Softly, the older lady apologized after voicing out her misgivings. She was afraid that she had spoken inappropriately after being carried away by her emotions.

"There's no need to feel sorry, Lady Osbon. The Goddess is ever merciful and encourages people to pursue knowledge. At the same time, we're not to blindly believe in something that is not yet fully verified or backed by factual evidence."

"Your comforting words are also words of wisdom. My sincerest thanks, Reverend. "

Nodding, the priest replied. "It's the Goddess who willed it. Anyway, like you said... The little gentleman seems to have used our own history as a reference. It's like this whatever Rome is equated with the ancient central tribe that existed before our own continent's dark ages Many technologies and secrets are lost due to constant wars and plagues."

'Yeah, including plumbing and pest control methods' Aliyah almost interjected. Reminded of this, she badly wanted to scold her past self for not conducting more research on these two matters. This was despite knowing she could have not known in advance that she would transmigrate without warning.

More complaints and doubts came out of the priest's mouth and she attentively listened to each of them. But this time, her interest was piqued and she began to want to know about the captured youth.

At one point, she subconsciously said, "Someone who knew about the outside world within the land could not be an outsider. No one from the lands beyond Maris Pacifici would ever be able to set foot in their continent. This sacred rule applied even to those who hitched a ride in ships owned by people of Mu." Her thoughts, wandering. 

"Since the situation is like this, is the person impersonating a messenger somebody whose family frequently ventured outside?" asked the older lady.

The Viscountess didn't really believe that the person in question could be a real messenger. There should be no way the Goddess of Wisdom would be interested in barbarians not believing in her. Why would his information be all about the outside world then?

'If even a woman mostly trapped in a castle can think of this, what are the odds the clergies won't be able to?' Aliyah shook her head. 

The priest smiled and replied, "Anyway, we will be there soon."

He looked at Aliyah. The girl nodded almost half-hearted. She knew what her role would be.

When they arrived at the destination, the priest immediately wanted to lead the mother and daughter pair towards a room at the inner part of the church. But before he could open the side door of the large hall, he was stopped by one of the trainee priests. It was a boy with reddish hair wearing an unadorned grey robe who looked quite timid.

After the salute and greetings, the boy told him, "Reverend, Bishop John came and the guest has been taken away by him."

"Taken away? Where?" asked the white-robed man in puzzlement. He was not informed about this.

"Reverend" The child first looked at the guests brought by the priest, obviously hesitating.

Aliyah looked on with interest while her mother stayed silent.  

"It's okay. Everyone is believing in the same goddess. They have the right to know."

The child was not aware that the main priest of the church would bring back somebody related to the matter but since the higher-ranked church member nodded, he did not conceal the location. "Miladies, Reverend, it's near the Holy Fountain."

"Ah? The place where Goddess Penemue first taught humans how to create wine?" The viscountess couldn't help but exclaim.

Aliyah looked up for a while. She then remembered from the history lessons she had been having since she arrived in this world, the human settlement near the Obson castle had a bishop stationed in there due to this myth.

Apologetically, the priest looked at the two ladies and asked them to come with him to another place. The mother and daughter pair did not turn down the invitation. They were there anyways.

Thankfully, it was not that far. In fact, it was behind the church. They only had to walk along the path cutting through the groomed grasses and flowers for about five minutes.

Soon enough, Aliyah saw a carefree looking young man, somebody around her age, laughing before a stoic middle-aged guy. The latter seemed to be the bishop since he was wearing a white robe and some sort of cap that had more elaborate patterns than the priest escorting them.

All of a sudden, that boyish voice resounded. "Is Your Honor is doubting me? Because I have yet to give predictions about the Mu continent?"

Aliyah gave the speaker a closer look. She didn't know what the youth's conversation partner said. But it was kind of surprising that the young man appeared younger than her.

"Is it the boy?" asked the Viscountess in a low voice to which the priest nodded. An expression of disbelief crossed the lady's face. "So young!"

"He said, the Goddess of Wisdom chose him precisely because he is young. So he can stay in service for several more decades." The tone of the priest was weird.

'I see,' thought Aliyah as they crossed the small bridge leading to the gazebo. 'I wonder what this person will say. He's aware that everyone is skeptical about him.'

The boy whose age was around 16-17 slowly turned his head towards them, letting them see an innocent smile on his barely above-average face. Somehow, that gave Aliyah the creeps so her own expression stiffened. But thankfully, his eyes did not linger on her for more than a second. 

She couldn't help but look away, consequently rummaging through her memories to confirm if she had ever read about this guy on the forum. A moment later, the answer came. She hadn't.

"My mistakes then," said the boy when his gaze went back to the person seated before him. He then continued with a solemn attitude. "To be honest, all I know now is that our current continent is actually barely past the dark ages. Diseases and epidemics pop up every now and then. Wars are still rampant in each kingdom's borders and it wouldn't show signs of stopping for another five hundred years. A witch hunt will start in a decade or so, which will continue for about three hundred years. Many more will happen. But what people like us should focus ourselves on is that one which takes place in the near future."

Aliyah nodded to herself. 'Ah. It's really a charlatan' 

Time passed and the ones nearby had grown tired from waiting. Yet no more continuation resounded. The topic was steered away from predictions and the bishop nearly failed to keep his kind and serious front.

There had been a bit of awkwardness so the priest decided to save the situation by asking her in front of the two whether the young man was the one she saw that day

Aliyah chose a vague answer. "Forgive me, Your Honor. That time I didn't see the face of the gentleman clearly because his face was covered by some dirt However, the stature is the same."

The girl added the last one since the church was pretty sure that it was him. Yet if ever they discovered that the one they found was a fake, they would also not be able to blame her much.

She did this as a precaution... because she had a hunch that the person would create some trouble. After all, it was basically confirmed this little guy was somebody from another world.

A transmigrator, timetraveler, or reincarnator could only belong to either of the two types of personalities: extremely cautious, the wary type who felt like since they were in a foreign place, they must not excel much, or excel greatly but hidden in the shadows and the extremely arrogant, people who felt like they owned the era and they had to do their best to flaunt their knowledge.

She was afraid the other belonged to the latter type In short, trouble!

'Uhhh, I already decided. I'll simply hide in the shadows and only worry about money. The Viscount will soon not tolerate my large expenses so I would have to think of ways to raise funds to pay my rat-catchers and fragrance makers'

Not long after, the slightly stressful talk ended and they were invited for lunch.

Without looking at the person in question, she let the priest and bishop led them back to the church. She pretended to not see the weird gaze the bishop was giving the strange youth. She even sped up her pace, dragging her mother along with her to distance themselves from the two clergymen who were whispering about something to each other.

...

The girl was unaware, but the commoner youth she was intentionally ignoring was intently looking at her back. 

None of the clear weather and the rare flower-scented air in the weird smelly medieval city could get his attention. He also cared not about the fact that the priests could no longer tolerate his nonsense and were secretly deciding how to deal with him. 

Unmuting the foreigner being in his brain, he commented satirically, 'Hey system. Do you know that you're so annoying and deceitful?'

System: ...???

'Come out. Explain to me why you said there's another female lead in this world. I thought there's only one, the woman confronting the villainess royal concubine, Agatha.'