While the Saintess was fighting her lonely battle, Christia stood guard at her door until the moment the Saintess finally drifted off to sleep.
Even then, she patrolled the perimeter of the church several times to ensure absolute safety before finally retreating to her own chambers and changing into comfortable nightwear.
’’Hmph...’’
She should have been lying down, resting her back against the mattress to prepare for the new day. Instead, Christia sat cross-legged on her bed, arms folded, letting out a low, frustrated groan.
The moonlight, which had been briefly obscured by clouds, rode a gust of wind to once again sprinkle its light upon the world. Christia’s bedroom was no exception.
The pale, azure moonlight filtered through the window, slowly illuminating the dark room and the bed where she sat.
’’...’’
The light eventually landed on the object Christia had been staring at intensely—a strange scrap of fabric sitting forlornly on her bed. Christia finally opened her tightly sealed lips.
’’I cannot fathom the meaning behind this gift bestowed upon a lowly servant like myself...’’
A few hours ago, after finishing a bath with the Saintess, Christia had gone to the chapel to confess her sins and offer a prayer.
At that moment, a blinding halo of light had erupted from the Goddess statue, cascading down upon Christia.
It was a light composed of pure divine power, a density incomparable to even Violet’s holy aura. Faced with such brilliance, Christia couldn’t hide her fluster.
Even if humans praised her as a Master-class knight, second only to the living legend Eleonora Croft, that was merely talk amongst mortals.
To the Church, and to the Goddess, Christia knew she was nothing more than a single Crusader serving the Goddess and Her Saintess.
No matter how much she was lauded as the undefeated Commander of the Crusaders or the Sword of the Goddess, she was ultimately a human—a lowly servant of the divine.
For the Goddess to grant such overwhelming grace to her? To a mere knight, not even the Saintess?!
The Goddess had answered the prayers of a sinner, a mere human!
And to answer her now, right after she had confessed a sin that could never be washed away!
Throughout the history of the scriptures and the church, there was no record of the Goddess answering the prayers of a single Crusader. It was unprecedented!
She was currently witnessing and feeling a miracle that would remain in the continent’s history forever.
Of course, she didn’t know why the Goddess had responded to a mere sword, especially a sinner deserving of immediate punishment.
She couldn’t even discern the purpose behind this halo of light, which contained such immense divine power that it made her lose her sense of direction.
Was She trying to punish her for committing a sin that outraged both heaven and earth?
If She intends to punish a sinner who dared to defile Her proxy, I will gladly accept it, Christia thought. I leave everything to You. Murmuring this, she squeezed her eyes shut and offered her prayer.
However, contrary to her expectations, the light began to fade. Feeling the fragments of divine power scattering like grains of sand, Christia cautiously opened her eyes.
And there she saw it.
On the small altar in front of the Goddess statue—where nothing had been just moments ago—something had been placed.
’’Is that...?’’
Just as Christia questioned what it could be, she sensed the other Crusaders rushing toward the chapel, alerted by the massive wave of divine power.
She quickly made a decision. She would order the knights to forbid entry to anyone. Then, she would have the Saintess, the Goddess’s proxy, arrive to identify this object and reveal why the Goddess had bestowed it.
This was, without exaggeration, a monumental event unprecedented in the history of the Goddess Church. As a mere Knight Commander, she had no authority to handle such a divine incident alone.
She hurriedly moved toward the altar to secure the item.
But then, from within the scattering fragments of divine power fading like a haze, a woman’s voice flowed into Christia’s ear.
[This is the guidance I grant to you... only to you... Fufu, keep it a secret between the two of us... okay?]
"..!!’l"
Hearing the voice whisper right in her ear, Christia reflexively turned her head to look up at the statue.
She saw it.
Using the fading sunlight retreating into the clouds as a staircase, the figure of a woman was slowly ascending toward the sky.
A woman with a halo floating above her head, just like the statue she was looking at.
’’Th-This lowly servant... shall obey... Y-Your will...!’’
Christia was known for maintaining her composure in any situation, but asking a lamb who had just witnessed and received her Lord to remain calm was impossible.
Still, the reason Christia managed to maintain this shred of rationality was that she was a devout believer and had disciplined herself more rigorously than any other knight.
As her Lord completely vanished along with the light, the Crusaders threw open the chapel doors and rushed in.
Only then did Christia realize that the miracle she had witnessed was reality. She quickly snatched the piece of fabric from the altar and stuffed it into her bosom to hide it.
Turning to her subordinates, she feigned ignorance, claiming nothing had happened.
And now, as time passed, Christia sat on her bed under the moonlight. She spread open the fabric the Goddess had given her, and once again, she couldn’t help but be flustered.
’’Th-This! This is...?!’’
It was underwear.
Not the triangular panties women wore. Not the dizzying, sensual lace panties worn to seduce a lover. Nor the thongs worn by brothel whores that barely qualified as underwear.
This was—
’’Is this not... men’s underwear?!’’
Striped pattern!
It looked like simple lines, yet depending on the thickness and spacing, it allowed for varied expressions. Narrow spacing for a classic look, wide spacing for a casual feel—a pattern that was practically the absolute truth when it came to boxer shorts!
The identity of the fabric fluttering energetically in the hand of Christia, who had screamed without realizing it, was indeed a pair of boxer shorts with an impressive stripe pattern.
’’Why? Why give me this? Why bestow such underwear upon me?!’’
If She is omnipotent, surely She knows that although I wear armor, the being inside is undeniably a woman. So why give me men’s underwear?
Is She telling me to face my sin?
Is She giving me men’s panties to force me to realize that no matter how attractive the Saintess is, I am a woman too?!
Even if... even if I did spread the Saintess’s pure pussy lips and peeked at her hymen... to do this...
Squiiish—
’’Kuhhh?!’’
Suddenly, unaware of her own actions, Christia’s body twitched, startling her as a sensation shot through her pussy.
’’I... I thought the Saintess’s body had changed into that of a woman... but I never expected... I would become like this too...!’’
Taking the love-juices of a female in heat into her body was the root of the problem.
It wasn’t just anything. She had swallowed a mouthful of the fluids from the Saintess, who had just opened her eyes to sexuality and experienced her first heat.
Just like Eleonora, the legendary female knight she had met once, said, she thought she had abandoned her life as a woman. But whether intentional or accidental, all that effort had turned to bubbles in an instant.
’’Kuugh... It’s... it’s happening again... My crotch is tingling... The instincts of a woman I’ve forgotten for so long are rushing back all at once...!’’
Thud!
Collapsing helplessly to the side in a manner unbefitting a Crusader, Christia realized it. She was in heat.
Her pussy and her womb were screaming, demanding she pay the price for ignoring the body that had been heated up by the Saintess all day without resolving it.
And the memory was resurfacing.
The scent of those female juices, heavy with the Saintess’s smell, pouring into her body... that distinctive violet aroma was rising from her throat, teasing her nose, and piercing her brain.
"N-No... I am the Goddess’s sword...! I cannot commit the sacrilege of going into heat remembering the Saintess’s l-love juices...!"
This was why. This was exactly why she had confessed her sins to the Goddess and begged for punishment.
She had asked the Goddess to punish this body directly to prevent the worst-case scenario of going into heat over the Saintess’s scent.
’’Haaah... No... I can’t... stop my hand... If I keep going like this... I’m really... I’m really going to fondle my own crotch, my p-pussy, while remembering the Saintess’s smell...!’’
Even though she had reached the point where the vulgar word ’pussy’ slipped from her lips, realizing she was a depraved sinner, Christia frantically begged the Goddess in her heart not to let this lowly servant sin again.
Despite her faith, her hand moved helplessly downward, tearing off her black panties as if stripping them away.
Her pussy, already fully preheated, was drooling sloppy fluids, yearning for even her fingers since there was no cock to fill it.
In this situation, the moon, which had been hidden in the clouds, suddenly pierced through and shot its light down.
Reflected in Christia’s tear-filled golden eyes...
The spotlight of pale moonlight fell upon the striped boxer shorts she had left neglected on the bed.
It was a sight impossible to miss. Christia finally stopped her left hand, which had been trying to grab her own pussy.
If it’s going to go, let it go!
Her left hand, completely consumed by instinct, seized the opportunity and headed straight for her tightly clenched pussy.
And with her right hand—the hand that had been stopping her left until now—Christia snatched up the boxer shorts with lightning speed.
And then,
’Sniiiiiiiiffffff!!’