This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 49

The True Status

Ellie smiled as she narrated this. It would be impossible for her to gather over 50,000 people to sign a petition to depose Nara from her priesthood, but what about others...could they do it?

Took Aria’s eyes, for instance, now sparkling with hope, or even Vida who showed interest in Ellie’s words. Everyone here was similarly excited upon hearing that such bizarre rules actually exist.

Of course, the details in the book were not as straightforward as Ellie currently presented them. Dismissing a priest was not always as simple as described here; for lower-ranked priests like Nara, the support of 20,000 people was enough to initiate a dismissal, but for higher-ranked clergy, even more signatures would be required.

Ellie deliberately omitted these details to alarm Nara. Let the other act high and mighty, but she should not overly flaunt it. If it came to Ellie having to rally 20,000 people to her side, she could merely reveal her ability in Tezetrons cultivation to the palace, and they would likely curry favor by finding over 20,000 soldiers to support her.

This form of punishment was a rule designed to maintain the balance between the palace and the Church. Priests did not dare act against major families for fear of becoming targets themselves. Even the head of the clergy must act in alignment with the royal household, lest the palace leveraged its influence with powerful families to remove him from his priesthood!

This information was kept confidential and not widely known. This was all to prevent the public from seeing themselves as equals to the clergy; it’s merely an attempt to blindfold the people. But the truth remained the truth.

Upon hearing Ellie’s revelations to many, and seeing the expressions of several high-class individuals, Nara’s heart trembled. She felt overwhelmed by the gravity of the situation. If she were to lose her priestly status, would she return to her poor beginnings? That...How could she accept that!?

"You. Are you making up some nonsense!?" Nara pointed at Ellie incredulously. However, Aman, having heard the entire conversation from the beginning, just smirked and stepped forward to defend Ellie boldly.

"My apologies, Reverend Lady, but everything Ellie has stated...is the truth," he said, pulling out a book. It was the same one from the library. In truth, Aman really was somewhat obsessive; after he had secretly followed Ellie and learned what books she read, he too sought them out and discovered how compelling the contents were.

Seeing the same book in Aman’s hands, Ellie was at a loss for words. Though she knew him to be quite fearsome, in the novel, his frightfulness had a different context—it was meant for others, not the heroine. Thus, she had dismissed it and focused on more captivating male leads. However, seeing Aman’s overly attentive behavior now gave Ellie chills.

"Th-that is...”

"Yes, Reverend Lady, this is the content about clergy in the Church, existing in the library for a long time. It might even be available outside; it depends on who’s interested in reading it...And fortunately, I too had the chance to read this book." Aman’s ominous demeanor made Nara profoundly terrified.

"Y-you...are the Setter family planning to harass me?"

"Hm? Reverend, are you belittling our Setter family? Because of this...our family could easily call for your dismissal." Aman spoke in a low, menacing tone as he approached Nara aggressively. Ellie, witnessing their interaction, grew anxious.

Her anxiety was more about the possibility of them ending up killing each other right there! One displayed a provocatively annoying demeanor, while the other seemed on the verge of madness. The scene hardly looked like they could ever be a perfect harmonious couple.

"I-I...I have done nothing wrong. Regarding this matter, I still need to inquire with the Church to see if such a thing exists, or if you from the Setter family are scheming against me."

"Me, harass you? If I wanted to harass you...I wouldn’t waste time gathering numerous people from the Setter family just to dismiss you..."

"Don’t you know? There’s a better way, which our Setter family often uses against enemies we don’t wish to keep around," Aman smirked, licking his lips. He looked at Nara as if she were a tempting big prey, instilling great fear in her.

Not just Nara felt terrified by Aman; other students felt the same, especially the first-year students who had never encountered someone as deranged as him. They didn’t have enough resilience, and many were genuinely frightened. Only Wint Femon didn’t find Aman’s demeanor frightening; he found it disgusting that Aman was harassing a woman.

"Enough, Lord Aman," Koross stepped forward after seeing the situation escalate.

If Aman escalated further instead of dealing with Nara, the Church might deal with the Setter family first. Although they weren’t particularly afraid of the Church that deceived people, it was best not to create problems.

"Lady Ellie, I apologize for the disturbance," Koross turned to apologize to Ellie. That’s when Aman noticed her displeased expression, so he smiled as if he hadn’t just threatened to murder anyone.

"Have fun talking with your friend, but if you need help with anything, just let me know," Aman said casually and walked away.

His words, "have fun talking with your friend," made people around Ellie take an additional one step back from her. Everyone now knew that Ellie was not just important to the Setter family but also protected by its most frightening member.

Aman’s reputation as a devil was well-known among all students, even the new first-years. Thus, no one wanted to cause trouble to him.

However, Ellie’s words had already achieved their effect. Many students who had been discontented with being downtrodden by Nara for days saw an opportunity for revenge and would definitely seek more information to learn about it.

Actually, it’s not easy for people to band together to do something like this. Even though it’s said that only 20,000 people were needed to dismiss a priest, which family would want to go after a priest to that extent? Generally, they needed to maintain good relations with each other. It’s not as if the major families didn’t benefit from the Church, especially with things like holy water or healing by light magic, which only priests could perform. That’s why it’s best to avoid causing displeasure to the Church.

But Ellie decided to reveal this today just to teach Nara a lesson about her own status and the uncertainties surrounding it.

Nara looked at Ellie with anger. She herself didn’t know how accurate the things Ellie said were. After this, Nara would go to the revered priest for an explanation of the punishments, but more than anything...the Setter family and Ellie...they were now her enemies!

"What’s all this fuss about? It’s time to get ready for our journey." Professor Regan, who was responsible for the students, breaking into the awkward situation. He glanced at all the students still engrossed in the Four Torments and sighed.

"No matter what disputes you have, don’t forget that once we reach the treatment site, you must perform your duties to the best of your ability. As I’ve said before, the patients’ lives are the most important thing. There are no titles, no positions involved. You are merely assistants to the priests and apothecaries."

"Professor, what about a priestess who is already a priest?" asked a student, and everyone looked at Nara.

The young woman, still troubled, dared not show the arrogance she used to display when she saw everyone looking at her. She clenched her teeth before smiling.

"Since I am still only a trainee priest and also a student at this institution, I will perform my duties just like everyone else," Nara said with a warm smile, but it did not convince everyone of her good intentions.

With Nara’s previous actions, where she had displayed power arrogantly and suddenly changed her attitude after learning that a priest could be deposed of the status, everyone was not foolish enough not to understand what Nara was thinking.

"That’s right. The institution has confirmed the status of Priestess Nara. The Church maintains her status as a trainee priest, not yet promoted to a true priest until she completes her studies. Only then will student Nara become a true priest."

"Furthermore, the Church has notified us of the conditions for a priestess to become a true priest, which you should be well aware of. That is, you must graduate from this institution. Am I correct?"

Regan stated this truth, causing Nara to pause slightly, which indeed was a condition given to her by the Church. In other words, she was not yet a true priest, but a prospective priest until she graduated from here, then she would become a true priest.

Upon hearing this condition, many students were greatly surprised. How could someone who was merely a "prospective priest" be equal to someone who was already a "priest"?

The status of a priest, if said, could be considered higher than the upper class, but how is it the same for someone who only had the potential to become a priest? Such a person was not yet a priest and may never become one.

It’s true that some may respect her as a priestess, but others may not give her the same respect.

"What does that mean? Then what about the punishment I received?" Aria paused slightly as she contemplated the professor’s words, and Nara bit her lip, afraid to speak.

"The Femon family wants to be friends with the “prospective priest”. It’s also not wrong, if you behave poorly towards the priest now, and then when the day comes that the priestess becomes a priest, the Femon family might face danger," Regan explained his understanding. However, he knew that the Femon family also misunderstood this issue. Who gave the Church the permission to have such conditions for the first time!?

Normally, the Church appointed only priests. They didn’t appoint "prospective priests" like they did with Nara. If it weren’t for the institution sending someone to negotiate about the status of Priestess Nara, everyone would still understand it as the Femon family did.

"How can it be the same! This must be a misunderstanding. No! It must be her making the Femon family misunderstand. She is just someone who has the potential to be a priest, but how can we know for sure she will actually become one? Isn’t this just making the Femon family lose face?"

"Calm down, Student Aria."

"No, Professor, how can I be calm! She’s just an ordinary person who might become a priest. How can she act so high and mighty!?" Aria was extremely dissatisfied, not even listening to Regan’s words.

Ellie had also just learned about this. Normally, who would dare to question Nara’s status after she posed as a priest! If it weren’t for the fact that the institution was sending Nara on a mission with others, they might not have sent someone to inquire.

Now...even without the Four Torments, Ellie believed that Nara wouldn’t have a good standing any longer!

This might just be the end for someone who liked to lie....

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