A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Therefore, the Holy Sword is ultimately a sacred object and does not reach the level of a divine sword.

Of course, even if it can't form a contract with people of demigod or higher strength, the Holy Sword is still very useful and comfortable for intense battles between girls. At most, there will be a bit of tearing pain at the beginning, but the rest is just pleasure and wanting more.

Philomena, who knew the benefits of the Holy Sword, also had an unwavering gaze. Clearly, she was not moved by this so-called "love potion." Having transformed from a girl into a woman, her level of knowledge had already skyrocketed like a rocket.

"If you're only selling this kind of thing, I'll just order your tree gem ornaments or other magical materials. After all, those are truly high-quality and inexpensive. Besides, I've seen other forest elves selling them too. Saint... that sir and I can also look around and compare prices. After all, we only need a few of the prettiest ornaments, and the prices are all about the same."

Philomena originally wanted to address her as "Saintess," but seeing Saint Karina's look that stopped her from revealing her identity, she changed her address to "that person."

Her words contained not only sneer and disdain for the Forest Elf stall owner's childish magical "toys," but also a warning, deterring him from continuing to fool the two of them.

Having followed Esther, the representative of God in the Orthodox Church, and His Holiness the Pope for so long, her experience was naturally incomparable to that of a noble lady who had just left home and found everything new and exciting.

She has a broad perspective and has seen many good things; she would never be fooled by a superficial "love potion."

"This...this. I understand, ladies, it was my fault. Please don't leave. Really, I really have some good stuff here, and it's definitely something you won't find at any other stall."

The forest elf no longer maintained her mystique; her expression was slightly anxious, as if she feared losing this wealthy patron before her.

Missing this deal wouldn't cost her anything, but it would certainly mean losing a lot of money. She's a businesswoman; she doesn't want to turn down money.

Therefore, the forest elf absolutely cannot let a money-making opportunity slip away.

"Ladies, I assure you, this time it's definitely not the ordinary stuff we just saw."

She emphasized "ordinary stuff," a smirk on her face as if her little trick had been exposed, and prepared to bring out the grand finale.

139. Princess of the Toran Empire

"I got this from a traveling merchant; it's said to unlock a divine kingdom."

The forest elf carefully repeated the traveling merchant's words, adding embellishments and exaggerations.

She didn't intend to ask for an exorbitant price, but planned to sell it for 2-4 times the purchase price.

"A divine kingdom? What would be the point of me opening that?"

Saint Karina's eyelids twitched. That familiar thing wasn't the key to open the gates of the divine kingdom, but rather her sacred relic.

She had no intention of continuing to search for the sacred artifact to break the shackles that sealed her power. Instead, she planned to use the power given to her by the evil god to quickly recover to her previous tenth rank.

So far, only one of the sacred relics has been recovered, and it was presented to us by the nobles. The whereabouts of the rest of the sacred relics are unknown. Even though she knows that finding them will restore her strength, Saint Karina has no clue what to do.

The sacred relic that the forest elf took out was a ring. Saint Karina could clearly feel her own power within it, and that once she obtained it, she could break through the threshold of the sixth rank.

"Well... as long as you can open that legendary kingdom, you will receive a gift from the gods, and I've heard that this is the key to the legacy of the Eternal Goddess."

"You've actually heard of the Eternal Goddess?"

Saint Karina raised an eyebrow, still believing that the Eternal God Cult and the goddess worshipped by its followers had long been forgotten by the world.

"Of course, unlike humans, we forest elves have much longer lifespans, living for thousands of years is not uncommon."

The forest elves smiled smugly; their adulthood cycle was much longer than that of humans, and their lifespan was also much longer.

Forest elves are a long-lived race, unlike most humans who can only live to be less than a hundred years old.

Take this small forest elf stall owner for example; she is over three hundred years old, but her face looks relatively young.

The rumors about the Eternal God Cult came from her mother and grandmother.

"Alright... Eternal Goddess, I'm slightly interested."

The other party did indeed tell the correct origin of the ring, so it wasn't a lie. However, in the hands of an ordinary person, the ring would hardly have any other use besides being a work of art.

"But everything you're talking about is just empty talk. I'm not buying this to open a divine kingdom, but because I think this magical craft you're selling is quite pretty."

Saint Karina deliberately emphasized the magical artifact to highlight that the ring was of no use to her whatsoever.

Although she has a lot of money, she will get ripped off if she doesn't bargain at all.

"You country bumpkin, if you think it's too expensive, then this princess will take it."

The owner of the voice, arrogant and haughty, casually tossed out the amount of gold coins demanded by the forest elf stall owner at the price he had previously quoted, and then prepared to grab the ring.

How could Saint Karina let a cooked duck fly away? The owner of the ring reached for the box containing it, and an air blast shot out, sending the box flying.

"Miss, I don't care which country's princess you are or what. When it comes to buying things, let's talk about first come, first served."

As she spoke, as if performing a magic trick, Saint Karina used a small whirlwind to lift the ring from the box that should have been knocked away, and it returned to her palm.

She lost interest in haggling and threw the bag of money she had taken out earlier onto the stall, then put the ring on her index finger.

There's no particular rule or special meaning behind wearing it on which finger; it's all up to Saint Karina's mood.

"You! How dare you steal my things!"

The young lady whose things had been stolen stomped her feet in anger, her face turning bright red with rage.

She was clearly a pampered noblewoman with a spoiled attitude. Without much hesitation, she drew her ornate sword from her waist and swung it at Saint Karina.

The sword didn't care that the stall owner's stall was right behind Saint Karina. However, she wasn't malicious enough to want to kill her; she just wanted to vent her anger and cut off Saint Karina's arm.

"God said, 'Weapons are forbidden here—reject!'"

Saint Karina immediately cast a divine spell to prevent the forest elves' stall from being destroyed.

The forest elf, who had initially been quite critical of Saint Karina for deciding the price of the item without consulting her and forcibly taking the ring for herself, now looked slightly relieved.

It's one thing to seek compensation from customers who cause trouble, but if the stall is actually vandalized, compensation alone isn't enough. At most, she can only recoup her initial investment; all her hard work will be wasted, and she won't make any profit.

If that happens, then selling the ring will only make her feel a little better about her bleeding heart; it won't give her the sense of accomplishment of closing a big deal.

As for why she was unhappy that Saint Karina acted first and then informed the customer, it was because there was an additional customer bidding. Since the other party was not her shill, the original price of 2-4 times could be doubled, turning it into a situation where she might not make a single sale for a year, but make enough to live off for three years.

"boom--"

Lost in thought, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground jolted the forest elf out of its reverie.

The young lady, who was about to slash with her sword, was knocked away by the force of the repulsion and landed heavily on the ground. Her sword also fell to the ground with a clatter.

She fell hard, her buttocks went numb, and she couldn't get up. All she could do was glare at Saint Karina with her fiery eyes.

“Ouch…it hurts…”

Having grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth and been pampered by everyone, she had never suffered such humiliation before; the pain in her buttocks was almost numbing her.

Her eyes were clearly glistening with tears, looking pitiful, a stark contrast to her arrogant demeanor when they first met.

Now, the elevated perspective gave Saint Karina a good chance to take a good look at this uninvited guest.

The girl looked to be just over 18, with a childlike appearance and very delicate features. However, the expression of her grimacing in pain slightly distorted her features, which somewhat detracted from her beauty.

Her hair was the typical red hair of the Toran Empire's royal family, her head like flamingo feathers, or like blazing flames, proving that her initial claim of being a "princess" was not some random princess from some backwater or a fake princess, but the genuine princess of the Toran Empire.

Her eyes were also the same bright red, such a distinctive feature that it would be difficult for most people to mistake her for someone else.

After all, apart from this member of the royal family, the people of these two neighboring empires, whether it is the Lorian Empire or the Toran Empire, are usually blond-haired and blue-eyed, with fair skin.

Her beautiful red hair cascaded down to her waist, contrasting beautifully with her snow-white skin, making her dazzling and alluring, like a delicate porcelain doll. She was truly a feast for the eyes.

140. Forced Duel

However, it was only because of her status that the girl dared to make a move on the forest elves' territory.

"You two country bumpkins! I'll remember you! How dare you snatch things from this princess! Just wait, when the people of the Toran Empire arrive, you won't get away with it!"

She spoke in a condescending tone, and because she was angry, her voice rose to a shrill level.

However, the reason why the other party seemed sarcastic and mean might be because they repeatedly called the two of them "country bumpkins".

"What do you mean, 'steal your things'? When did that thing become yours? This is utterly absurd."

Saint Karina felt herself hardened; it was her fists and the holy sword that hardened.

"How can it not be mine? I just paid for it, and I paid you before you did."

"Miss, is that paying money? That's attacking people and smashing stalls. And did the stall owner just take the money? Forced buying and selling is robbery."

"you!!!"

The girl jumped up from the ground in anger, but her face was flushed red and she kept rubbing her bottom, so you could tell that she had fallen pretty hard.

She had no intention of going back to retrieve the sword that had flown further away, because she knew she was no match for Saint Karina, and her companions hadn't come either; if she were to embarrass herself again, she would be the only one left out.

The bluish-white patches on her knuckles showed that she was restraining herself from rushing forward.

Saint Karina had no intention of staying any longer. She knew the girl clearly had powerful backers, and once she got what she wanted, she decided to quit while she was ahead and stay away from the source of trouble.

"Curtis, what's wrong with you?"

The first to run over was a young man dressed as a nobleman. He had handsome blond hair, very handsome features, and was about 1.75 meters tall, not particularly tall, but not short either.

He has a bit of a V-line, but not very prominent muscles. He's the type of handsome, refined man, more like a pretty boy than a muscular, rugged type.

Two bright green eyes were fixed intently on the girl named Curtis, filled with worry and affection for her.

"Aaron, look at me now, what's wrong with me? This woman stole my things, spoke rudely to me, and just now she hit me!"

Seeing his companion come to his aid, Curtis's eyes darted around, as if he had found his backbone again, and his anger was about to burst forth.

She pointed at Saint Karina, and there was a picture of her hitting me.

Upon hearing that Curtis had been bullied, Aaron, her suitor, couldn't stand it anymore. Without even asking what had happened, he immediately took her side.

“Miss, although I pride myself on being a gentleman and never lay a hand on a woman, you hit Curtis, and I have to demand an explanation. I can give you two choices: either apologize to Curtis immediately, return what you stole from her, and seek her forgiveness, or you can duel me. If you lose, you will do as I say.”

He didn't address the princess as Her Highness, but called her by her first name, which clearly showed he had ulterior motives.

Moreover, the two were at least friends, and Curtis didn't mind Aaron's rudeness.

"I have no interest in dueling with you."

Saint Karina shook her head, having no intention of playing dueling games with a group of children.

Her physical age is several hundred years old; bullying them would be utterly unfulfilling.

"Besides, I wasn't the one who stole the things. If you don't believe me, you can ask the Forest Elf stall owner or other passersby."

She left after saying that, intending to take Philomena with her.

The two are still dating, so there's no need to cause trouble.

“I will find out the reason later. You can’t leave! Guardian of the Black Forest, I promise I won’t kill this lady. I just want to resolve this little dispute between us. I hope you can set aside a place so we can settle this minor unpleasantness through a duel.”

He shouted into the air, where there should have been nothing, but the treetops lit up with a green light.

A vibrant green light band formed a protective barrier, sealing off a hundred-meter radius around Aaron and turning it into an arena. The forest elf granted the boy's request.

"The duel is established."

In the empty space, an old and dignified voice rang out.

Saint Karina saw that the barrier had surrounded them and knew that she could not leave the scene immediately.

She was certainly not afraid of Aaron as an opponent. Although, judging by his confidence, Aaron's strength should far surpass Curtis's, he was still no match for her.

Saint Karina was simply trying to avoid trouble, and if Curtis was indeed a princess, then she must have other companions, and her entourage wouldn't consist entirely of boys and girls of that age.

She beat the young one, then the older one came; she beat the older one, then the old one came. She didn't like stringing gourds.

“Great! Aaron! Teach those two damned country bumpkins a lesson.”

Unlike Santa Karina, Curtis was simply happy.

With someone backing her up, she can take off from the spot.

"Fine, I have no objection to a duel, but if you lose, this lady has to apologize to me, and you also have to apologize and compensate me for emotional distress. Is that alright?"

Saint Karina was a little annoyed by the repeated phrases "country bumpkin" from one end of the sentence to the other.

She frowned, especially at this inexplicable forced duel, which clearly showed that the forest elves were biased towards the two young men and women from the Toran Empire.

Saint Karina suddenly realized that if the paladins and priests were still behind them, they wouldn't dare to be so domineering. However, despite her displeasure, Saint Karina saw no need to reveal her identity to them.

"I'm OK."

Aaron nodded, his handsome face calm and composed.

However, his physical skills were completely devoid of the gentlemanly demeanor he claimed to possess; on the contrary, they were quite ruthless.

"let's start."

No sooner had he finished speaking than he hurled two containers at Saint Karina. The containers exploded near Saint Karina, releasing corrosive gases and liquids that, while not fatal, would certainly cause considerable discomfort if they landed on a person.