Strength 99999 but the Holy Sister

The only person who was alright in the room was Elsa. She was half lying on the bed reading a book, but while she was reading, she was also listening to the conversation between Tricia and Inksya.

"It seems that a prayer session can only last about six hours, or even less."

Tricia asked, writing.

"The best effect is achieved within half an hour. The power of protection is endless, and you can attack with all your strength without any scruples."

"After that, the effect gradually fades."

"Around the third hour, we'll reach the first critical point. From this point on, the balance between protection and prayer will be disrupted, and the power of protection will once again place a strain on the body."

"After about five to six hours, the effect of the prayers completely wears off."

While answering Tricia's questions, Inksha kept an eye on Aisha on the bed.

There was only one bed in the room.

Even so, the bed was very wide, more than enough for three people to sleep in, and she had already prepared herself mentally to sleep in the same bed with Elsa and Tricia.

Otherwise, she couldn't suddenly run out and ask someone to move another bed in. For Inksa, she didn't want to trouble others.

Or could they find a vacant bed in another room? After all, the mansion Pope Wilmot had prepared for Elsa and the others was quite large, so there must be other unused rooms. But... moving a bed from another room in front of Elsa and Tricia? That would seem rude, as if she disliked sleeping with Elsa and the others... In reality, that wasn't the case. Inksha was just a little uncomfortable and uneasy. In her heart, Elsa and Tricia were both people she admired greatly, and she always felt that sleeping with two such people...

Such an intimate way of getting along is really too presumptuous!

Besides, she actually doesn't sleep well.

Sometimes she tosses and turns, and sometimes she talks in her sleep. When she first lived with the other nuns, they all said that this was cute about Inksa, but Inksa herself never thought it was cute. She didn't like these little movements in her sleep at all, and now she was even more worried that she would show this side of herself in front of Aisha and Tricia.

She wasn't one to refuse anyone, so when Tricia suggested she stay the night she agreed without a second thought, but now she was feeling a bit stuck.

"But there are still two obvious uncertainties. I don't know if staying with Elsa all the time or away from her will change anything. Also, will the difference in content and concentration during prayer bring other effects?"

"It just so happens that we can conduct experiments and compare them one by one over the next few days. In a few days, Aisha and I will be heading to the Holy Mountain. In that time, Inksha, you stay here and record your feelings at different time periods. We can then compare them with the records from the past few days to see if there are any significant differences."

It was very late before Tricia finished her questioning, but she did not stop writing. Instead, she went back to the beginning and began to mark and annotate every line of conversation and record. Inksha, who was already feeling dizzy, could not wait to go to the window and pray towards the temple.

When she finished, she found Tricia still buried in her writing.

"Let's stop here for today, Inksa. Thank you so much. You've worked hard today. Go to bed early." Tricia smiled at Inksa and motioned for Inksa to go to bed first.

"Sage...are you not going to sleep now?"

Inksa subconsciously glanced at the big bed in the middle of the room. Now, there was only Elsa on the bed. Elsa was reading a book leisurely, which was very different from the heroic image of Elsa in the capable combat nun uniform she usually saw. Now Elsa was only wearing a thin plain nightgown. Her figure, which was usually hidden under the cover of the nun uniform, was now proudly displayed in front of Inksa in an intuitive way. Her slender hands, clean neck, soft long hair, and snow-white legs were exposed from under the thin nightgown. Everything was just right and natural. The flawless beauty made Inksa couldn't help but take a few more glances.

At the same time, she also realized that if she ran over to sleep now, wouldn't that mean... she and Elsa would be alone in bed?

However, Tricia clearly wasn't ready to rest just yet.

Tricia flipped through the notes in her hand and added a few more notes.

"I'll go to sleep later."

It is Tricia's habit to make notes right after finishing the record while there are still some ideas in her mind.

"Then, I'll accompany you..."

Inksha whispered, but she had nothing else to do so she just sat aside and watched.

She noticed that Tricia used a black feather pen with a metal nib to record and write. The feathers were exquisite and beautiful, twenty centimeters long, and the feather bundles were soft and shiny. It was much more beautiful than the common quill pen. It was obvious at a glance that it must have been made from the feathers of some kind of bird monster and must have an extraordinary origin.

There was ink next to it, and Inksa could smell the scent of the ink. This ink was made from some kind of plant juice, minerals and insect eggs through alchemy. It was a very high-quality ink, water-resistant and light-resistant, and would not fade. If properly stored, the handwriting could still be clearly distinguished after hundreds of years. However, there was also a risk of corrosion, so after writing, it needed to be processed with specific magic. Most of the church's documents would be written with this ink, so Inksa knew it.

Driven by Tricia, the feather pen left lines of words on the notebook. The speed of writing was so fast that Inksa could hardly see it clearly. However, at such a speed, the handwriting was neat and beautiful.

In comparison, Inksa felt that she was completely unworthy of the title of "Saint" - before becoming a saint, she lived with her father in that remote fishing village. She was illiterate and could not write, had little knowledge and no lofty ideals. She just wanted to catch more fish every day. Apart from eating them, the rest could be given to the lame old lady in the village. If there were any left, she could exchange them for some wine to make her father happy.

She started learning many things after she came to the Holy City.

She is studying very hard, but the accumulation of time cannot be easily compensated by hard work. For example, Inksa's handwriting is really... I can only say that it is understandable.

In contrast, she had seen the manuscripts left by the previous generation of Saint, and the beautiful and neat handwriting left a deep impression on her.

Inksa has always felt that she is not worthy of the title of "Saint" in many aspects - she is actually a little inferior. This is not because she feels inferior to her identity as a fisherman's daughter, but because she feels inferior to herself. She always feels that she has failed the expectations of those people. This kind of thought has appeared more frequently than before in the past month, and has repeatedly made her depressed.

Before she knew it, Inksa was in a daze.

Until Elsa's gentle voice appeared in her ears.

"It's getting late, do you want to go to bed?"

Inksha suddenly came to her senses and found that Aisha had been standing beside her, holding two cups of steaming hot tea in her hands. There were a few unknown dried flowers floating in the cups, and bursts of light fragrance wafted in with the hot steam. Inksha then realized that the cup of tea placed in front of her earlier had long been cold. The temperature in the room was too low, and a cup of hot tea could not be kept for long.

Aisha handed the hot tea to Inksa, who quickly and carefully took it with both hands.

"Thank you, thank you... But I'm not tired yet..."

She was a little flattered that Aisha brought her tea personally.

"Be careful, it's hot."

Aisha reminded her, but it was obvious that this reminder was unnecessary. Inksha didn't feel the heat at all - her physical fitness had been improving every day over the past month, and she no longer felt cold because of ice and snow, nor did she feel hot because of boiling water.

"Thanks a lot."

Elsa handed the hot tea to Tricia again. Tricia took it with a smile. Her hand seemed to touch Elsa's wrist inadvertently, and then passed across the back of her hand like a silk scarf. When she raised her eyes, she met Elsa's gentle gaze.

"If you're tired, go to bed early. There's always work to do."

"Okay, there's still a little bit left. I'll do my best."

As she spoke, Elsa took out a coat and gently put it on Tricia. While adjusting Tricia's collar, Elsa leaned down, almost leaning on Tricia's shoulder. She looked at the notes in Tricia's hand, then looked away.

Inksha, who was watching this scene from the side, always felt that there seemed to be some... flirting between Aisha and Tricia?

Anyway, the atmosphere seemed a little strange - she had never seen other nuns do this to each other.

But she didn't think much about it.

When Elsa was about to get a coat for Inksa, Inksa quickly declined - she didn't feel cold and really didn't need one, and... if Elsa put it on her with her own hands like she did just now... she didn't dare to think about that scene. In her opinion, Elsa was a very powerful person, she respected and admired her, and now there was another layer of special relationship between her and Elsa. She felt that it was a bit rude on her part that she and Elsa could get along like this. She didn't think they should go any further, nor did she think she should enjoy the same treatment as the sage.

Aisha didn't know what Inksa was thinking, she just smiled and touched Inksa's head.

"You can relax here and just treat me and Tricia as your sisters."

"Hmm...yeah!"

Inksha whispered in response and nodded.

……

The moment that Inksa was most worried about finally came - she lay beside Aisha, lying straight, her fingers tightly clasped under her chest, her eyes staring at the ceiling, without any sign of sleepiness.

She actually slept in the same bed with Aisha and Tricia! Under the same quilt!

Oh my God, this was something she had never dared to think about.

She had thought that perhaps she would only be able to get along with these two people whom she admired and longed for so much in such an intimate way at some point in the future, but she didn't expect it to come so soon, which made her uneasy.

Inksa could almost feel a different temperature, it was Elsa's body temperature, transmitted through the narrow space in the quilt. Yes, Elsa was sleeping next to her. Although the bed was indeed very large, since three people were sleeping together, there would not be much space left, and some physical contact between her and Elsa was inevitable.

This feeling of being touched is very strange.

She felt a little hot, and she suspected that it was because the prayers were beginning to wear off, making her feel a little uncomfortable.

She felt that this was not a good idea. She thought that perhaps praying could alleviate this strange feeling a little, but she didn't know if it would disturb Elsa's sleep, so she decided to endure it for the time being.

She tried to close her eyes and count to stop her mind from wandering.

However, as soon as she closed her eyes, she could feel all the sensations in her body more clearly. She felt her arm touching the person next to her. It was not the fabric, but the touch of skin - she thought she might have touched Elsa's arm?

She heard again a slight, slow and long breathing sound in the darkness, and that breathing sound was right beside the pillow.

She also smelled a very faint fragrance, which was a hard to describe, but very pleasant and charming fragrance.

All this made it difficult for her to sleep.

At this moment, she heard a rustling sound coming from the other side and the bed shook slightly. She knew that it was Tricia turning over.

However, when she turned over, she heard some other noises.

She subconsciously opened her eyes and looked to the side secretly - a slender hand wrapped in semi-transparent black cloth passed through the side of Aisha's neck and appeared in Inksha's field of vision. It was Tricia's hand, she knew.

She opened her eyes a little wider and saw Tricia's profile leaning against Aisha.

It seems... the wise man is not very peaceful even when sleeping...

Inksa suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of security.

She closed her eyes again because she felt it was a bit rude to peek at other people sleeping.

The night is very quiet.

Inksa heard no more sound.

I don’t know how long it took, but Inksa’s consciousness finally became hazy and chaotic.

She fell into a dream.

However, the next second, her consciousness suddenly became clear again - she could clearly feel a very unfamiliar feeling spreading throughout her body, as if she was bathing in warm sunshine, but it also gave her an indescribable sense of incongruity. She subconsciously opened her eyes, but suddenly found that she was not in the original room. The brown wooden ceiling was now replaced by the solemn and majestic palace dome.

She was incredibly familiar with that scene, for this was the Goddess Temple—but how did she end up here? A dream? Such a lucid dream…

Wait!? Temple?

She quickly touched herself, looked down, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief - she thought she was wearing a thin nightgown, but fortunately, she was dressed very formally and neatly, but... she didn't seem to have such a set of clothes.

She also felt a little heavy on her head, so she subconsciously touched it and felt a hard object.

She took it off and was stunned. What she held in her hand was a crown. She recognized it. It was the "Ceremony Crown," one of the holy relics bestowed upon the Saint. But... the Ceremonial Crown was a symbol of the Saint's status, an important token bestowed upon her only after her coronation. Why...

It seems that I must be dreaming. Perhaps, deep down in my heart, I still can't forget the position of Saint...

She thought so.

However, at this moment, two people suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of her.

One is Elsa. Elsa is not wearing a nightgown, but she is not wearing a nun's uniform either. Instead, she is wearing a style of clothing that Inksha has never seen before.

Next to Elsa was a little girl with black hair and a confused look on her face. Inksha had seen her before. She was the cute little girl who lived in the black sword. Her name seemed to be... Adele?

"Hey! Aisha, I was sleeping well, why did you drag me here again..."

Adele crossed her arms and pouted angrily.

Elsa ignored her and just turned her gaze towards Inksha. Inksha saw that Elsa seemed to be observing her, then turned her head to observe the surrounding scenery, revealing a thoughtful expression, and then remained silent as if she was thinking of something puzzled.

"It seems that the protagonist this time is Inksha..."

"What...protagonist?"

Inksha was confused.

As she finished speaking, Elsa and Adele's eyes suddenly shot towards her at the same time. Elsa's eyes were full of doubt, while Adele's were weird.

Elsa suddenly asked her a strange question.

"Inksa, can you see me? Do you know me?"

"what?"

Inxa pointed at herself.

"What are you talking about... Weren't we just sleeping... sleeping together..."

She didn't understand at all.

But Elsa understood.

"Really? It seems this time is a little different. I brought you in too... but... you seem to have become a member here." Aisha looked at Inksha's current attire, then looked at herself, "and I'm still just a bystander."

“W-What are you talking about…”

Inksa asked subconsciously. She had no idea what weird things Elsa was saying, but she was not stupid after all. She instinctively noticed something unusual during the short conversation. She finally realized that this place did not seem to be the dream she had after falling asleep, but another unusual place. Even Elsa was cautious about this place.

This made her a little nervous.

"This is the 'Dream Space,' that's what I call it." Elsa was silent for a moment, staring at her with an unclear meaning hidden in her eyes. "Based on past experience, you shouldn't be able to see me, nor should you know me - because I don't exist in this world."

……

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561. This is a nasty space (7K)

Dream space? What is that?