“It’s not like we’re complete beastmen.
As long as someone has human blood, acknowledges the Goddess of Life, and recognizes the church, they can become one of us.
If the church could recruit more talents like little Fia, we’d lose far fewer people to the Dark Ones each year.
You saw the captain’s face when he chased after the two-horned bull tribe, right? That was the expression of someone ready to die.
Those of us left here are either newly married or have children who aren’t yet adults.
The captain considered our families and didn’t let us go with him.”
“That’s true.
It’s all thanks to Fia and Miss Claire here.
If it weren’t for the two of you stepping in to help, who knows what would have happened to these patrol soldiers.
Three two-horned bull tribes would require at least a squad of paladins to handle.”
At this point, the tall paladin glanced at the soldiers lying on the ground receiving treatment, then smiled warmly at Claire and Fia, who was hiding behind her.
Claire returned the paladin’s smile, naturally taking Fia’s hand like an older sister.
“If the esteemed paladins have no other matters, we’ll take our leave.”
“Wait a moment.”
The tall paladin hurriedly ran forward, took paper and pen from a companion, quickly wrote something, and handed the note to Claire.
Perhaps it was some kind of blessing that paladins naturally had, or maybe because he wasn’t an ordinary person without magic, the tall paladin was no longer as afraid of Claire as he initially was.
“This is proof of the help you two provided us.
You can take this to the church to claim your reward.
Although the exact amount depends on the rank of those three two-horned creatures, saving so many soldiers should earn you at least fifty gold coins.
Please make sure to claim the reward you deserve.”
“Thank you.”
Taking the note, Claire left the clearing with Fia.
Although the paladins didn’t question why Fia kept her head covered, staying near them always carried the risk of being discovered.
If the paladins hadn’t witnessed Fia defeating the Dark Ones and had their doubts dispelled, they would have insisted on checking Fia’s identity.
However, the two hadn’t walked far before stopping again.
It wasn’t Claire who stopped, but Fia.
She had caught sight of a Dark One disease patient that Claire had treated.
Due to the Dark One disease and the presence of paladins nearby, the man could only curl up in a corner of the ruins, with his family standing outside to prevent the paladins from discovering the man whose skin had turned black.
Fia let go of Claire’s hand, walked over to the man, and bent down to ask.
“Are you okay?”
If Fia remembered correctly, the man had been caught up in the chaos when the bull-headed creatures charged at the soldiers.
Although the creatures targeted the temple soldiers, they certainly hadn’t avoided this unlucky man.
Hearing her voice, the man looked up, and upon seeing Fia, the fear in his eyes gradually faded.
“I’m… I’m okay.
Thank you for driving away those Dark Ones.”
“This doesn’t look like ‘okay’ to me.” The man’s back, likely scraped by the bull-headed creatures, was missing a large patch of skin, with blood slowly seeping out.
The man forced a bitter smile.
“I’ll be fine once I apply some medicine.”
“More importantly, do you have a way to get him out of here? If the paladins find him, he’s done for.”
The woman standing next to Fia asked with concern.
Probably not.
The man’s entire body was black, and he was only wearing shorts, making him too conspicuous.
There was no way to take him away in front of the paladins.
“Let’s heal the wounds first.”
As Fia pondered, Claire’s voice came from behind.
She crouched slightly and handed a bottle of medicine to the man.
However, the family’s reaction was unexpected.
First, fear appeared in the man’s cloudy eyes, followed by a scream from the woman, and then the loud cries of the surrounding children.
It was as if Claire was not human but a demon from hell, and everyone recoiled in fear.
The man, especially, curled up in the corner of the ruins, pressed himself against the wall to avoid Claire’s hand, just like the cat-eared slave had done that night.
“Monster… don’t come near me!”
“Don’t touch my husband!” The man, in extreme fear, shielded his head with his arms, while the woman, trembling, stood in front of him.
Their chattering teeth and shrinking pupils revealed their inner terror and panic.
Even though Claire withdrew her hand and stepped back from the family as soon as she sensed something was wrong, their actions remained unchanged, and their fear deepened.
What’s going on? Fia frowned and questioned.
“Hey, she just healed your husband, remember? You even knelt and begged her.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never seen this person…” The woman’s expression seemed like a smile, but the fear inside twisted it into something ugly.
Fia clicked her tongue and pointed to where Claire had treated the man, now reduced to ruins by the bull-headed creatures’ trampling.
“Right there.
Your husband was in agony from the Dark One disease, and you cried and begged her to save him.
Then, Claire used potions and magic to revive your husband.
Don’t you remember?”
“Are you joking? Wasn’t it you who healed my husband? You seem angry… ah! I’ll make sure to pay the treatment fee to the leader, who will pass it on to you!”
“Tsk.”
The woman’s ingratiating smile made Fia feel impatient.
Almost instinctively, she reached for the woman’s collar.
But just as her hand was about to touch it, she stopped.
It’s not the woman’s fault; violence won’t solve anything.
It’s all because of Claire’s own curse.
“Fia, let’s go back.”
“But—” But what? Fia didn’t know what to say.
These people had forgotten Claire, even attributing Claire’s healing to her.
No matter how angry she was, how unfair she felt for Claire, even if she beat them up, vented her anger, or complained about the injustice of fate, they wouldn’t remember what had just happened.
Just like how Anastasia had met Claire but had no memory of her when they met again.
The two situations were the same.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Fia withdrew her hand and turned away.
“Let’s pretend we never met.”
