Saintess Summons Skeletons

“A bit of a lengthy story but yes,” Sofia answered, “you said it was around here?”

“That’s what the viewers told me…”

Sofia frowned, “Can you really not explain what this is about viewers?”

“It’s… Fine, I’ll tell you if you tell me how you canceled my attacks!” Cinthia offered, her hands on her hips.

“My second specialization lets me do that. I can pay twice the mana your spell costs to cancel it. Your turn.”

“Second specialization?! Also that’s quite strong… I assume you have lots of mana then? Yet you’re so physically strong…”

“Do you not know about specializations?”

“No, no, I know. Boss has two of them too. It’s just so hard to get them…”

“Hmm, makes sense that Saria also has two, since her name was so high in the tower.”

Cinthia’s expression froze. “H- Her name?”

“Well yeah?” I’m sorry Lords, for I have sinned. Bragging is too much fun! “I finished first after all, so…”

Sofia had to remember all she knew about [Poker face]’s mana patterns to not burst out laughing at Cinthia’s series of shocked expressions. Her red skin kind of made her look constantly startled, which only made it cuter.

“Will you explain about the viewer thing then?”

“Ah, yes, sorry… It has to do with my class… Uh, to put it bluntly… The Recessed watch me. For fun. That’s my class.”

Uh?! How is that a class?!

“They, like… Follow you around like perverts?” Like the Orator?

“N- no… Kind of… More like they can always watch me if they want… I get my skills from it, so…”

“So you get your powers from the Recessed watching you? They’re watching us right now?”

“Yes… Don’t worry they’re not as evi-” Cinthia got defensive all of a sudden, but Sofia had moved closer, she put a finger on Cinthia’s mouth. “How many?” she asked before removing her finger.

“T- Twelve right now…”

“TWELVE?! Is Sorrow there too?”

“I… Uh… Aaaaaaah, so many messages…” Cinthia said as she looked to the side. “I think Sorrow is present, yes…”

“Really?! Hello mom! Can you see me?” Sofia jumped in place and waved, ”Thanks for the skills!”

“Mom?” Cinthia was starting to overheat.

“Ah, it’s nothing, I’m just Sorrow’s Apostle.”

Sofia caught the Orc as she fell backward. “Ah, did she faint? Crap. I bragged her halfway to death… Are the Recessed still watching, then? She could’ve been lying too. But why would she?” She softly shook the girl but she was not waking up. She’s not dead though… Well…

Since Cinthia was down, Sofia gave up trying to find some random trapdoor in the ground for now and carried the girl up to her bone throne rooftop. She made a bone ‘bed’ and put the Cinthia on it. Then she returned to her map, to monitor the birds. Most of them indicated empty buildings, but some were giving the signal from monsters and one seemed to have found a person.

Another disciple? I’m surprised they didn’t notice the bird, everyone in this fake world should be around my level. Cinthia seems a bit mentally weak but she’s no pushover… I had to dispel her attacks because they were really threatening. They cost a huge chunk of mana to get rid of, too!

Sofia gave another look at the sleeping girl. I can’t believe she passed out so fast, I didn’t even have time to show her my heart.

It’s nice to have lighthearted interactions like that, for once, since I haven’t seen Alith in a while...

“Ah!” Cinthia yelped from behind. Sofia turned around, “Welcome back, and sorry.”

Cinthia frowned, “It’s not nice to lie like that.”

“It was all true though?”

“Come on,” Cinthia's frown deepened, “You don’t look like an Apostle at all! Even if you look kind of strange…”

“Can’t you ask your viewers then? Since you said they sent messages. That’s what it was, right? If it’s really Sorrow then She would know.”

Cinthia narrowed her eyes, she looked to the side again, and again she whispered to herself, “How are there so many…”, “Wait, for real?”, “And I thought I was the weirdest disciple of the sect…” she looked up again, “I’m sorry I doubted you… It looks like they have messages for you…”

“Sorrow?”

“A bunch of them, in fact… To explain a bit more, they can give me quests that reward me with a currency I need to use some of my skills. I just received a lot of new quests just to give you messages…”

“Does that usually happen?”

Cinthia shook her head, “No… to begin with there’s usually only two or three of them watching at a time, never so many…”

“So you’ll get free stuff for just letting me look at some system windows?”

“That’s one way to say it…” she answered, standing up from her sitting position on the bone bed. “Do you want to see them?”

“Of course? Who wouldn’t want to receive some godly mail? And if you can get paid for it, please do, suck them dry!”

“I… Ehrm, I’m not allowed to show the entire message log to anyone, but I will give you the messages they sent for you.”

I wonder what they have to say. Why do they want to talk to me in the first place, except for Sorrow? Is Dread going to ask for their essence back?

Cinthia seemed to be messing with her many system windows, her eyes looking everywhere as she struggled to organize her things. “So, in order I got them, this is the first… Please don’t get offended…”

“Why would…”

‘[Daddy Hatred] : Who the fuck are you, uh? Leave Cinthia alone!’

Well, the name is consistent with the message…

“Daddy Hatred?”

“That’s… Hatred is my most dedicated viewer. He is easily riled up. The Recessed all use alternate names, but Hatred isn’t the kind to hide His Identity…”

Sofia chuckled, “Somehow, I feel a bit sorry for you.”

“No, Hatred is nice, really… Uw… That’s a weird thing to say… Anyway, just… Here's the next one!”

‘[|||||]: (→_→)’

I don’t get it… “Can you help me translate that?”

Cinthia nodded, “This is Death.”

“Oh. I died a few times, I have to say, it never appeared to me that death was a bunch of bars.”

“You died a few… I’m not even going to ask… So, yes, this is Death, according to Hatred at least. I don’t know why but they only communicate with these faces, I think this one means they’re mildly annoyed…”

Death annoyed? Because I deleted [Avatar of Death]? I also took Sun’s blessing for Bookie instead of theirs… Yeah no wonder a God might be annoyed after being ignored two times by a random mortal…

“I’m sorry elder Death, the other offers were too good to pass up…” Sofia decided to say, giving a polite bow to the direction where Cinthia kept looking.

“They sent another quest…” Cinthia said. Sofia made her understand that she should show her, making the hand sign meaning ‘Money’, with a smug smile.

‘[|||||]: (´￢з￢)’

“And what does this one mean?” Sofia asked, perplexed.

“I think they’re pouting…”

“I see, very understanding, thank you for your generosity, Elder Death, just say the word and I’ll be glad to accept your generosity next time… Cinthia, there’s more, right? As inner disciples, we should help each other, right?” Sofia encouraged with a wink.

“This next one is from Sorrow,” Cinthia announced as she resorted to using her fingers to manually move her system windows because there were so many to deal with.

‘[Crybaby]: You’re close, my dear daughter. I’m happy for you. And do not be afraid to rely on your Elder brother.’

Sofia smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad to be a part of your family.”

Cinthia was curious, “How can you still look so human if you’re Sorrow’s Apostle? All the apostles I’ve met were…”

“You met multiple other Apostles already? Ah, well, to make it short, my Apostate ritual went a bit wrong, in a way… I can take my Apostle form if I want but it’s only temporary and comes with a level debt.”

“I think I’m starting to understand why they all want to talk to you, Vakaria…”

“I just happened to run into a lot of things related to the Recessed recently. It’s nothing special. Usually they’re speaking to you, not me, so you’re interesting in your own right, don’t you think? Also, any more coins to steal from them?”

“There’s still a few… This one is also one of my regular viewers, Dread.”

‘[Twistyface] : Thank you for ending the suffering, he would thank you too. You can keep the change.’

So this is how it is? I guess Dread’s Apostle really was beyond saving then. Well, I gave them a swift death… “I didn’t even know what I was doing back then, but you're welcome, Dread. Who’s next?”

“This entire exchange really feels wrong… Next is [TallBro], I don’t know which Recessed it is. They rarely show up. And then there’s one last message from [TheJailed], I don’t know their real title either.”

“Show me then, I might be able to put a name on them.”

‘[TallBro] : I’ll give you something good if you return my essences to the hidden temple, small one. *maniacal laughter*’

“That’s Domination,” Sofia affirmed as soon as she saw the message. “Sure I will, if I manage to get them. It better really be something good or I’ll make sure no one ever attempts your ritual again,” she answered the message, unimpressed.

“You could tell just like that? Oh, they answered you…”

‘[TallBro] : *Hearty laugh*’

Sofia stared at the message then at Cinthia. “... Domination really paid to say that? You’re not making them pay enough.”

“I don’t get to decide the price it costs them…”

“But you do? Just reject the quests for the message with stingy rewards.”

“That’s…” Cinthia had to sit back down on the bone bed. “You do understand that they are Gods, Vakaria?”

“Yes, and?”