Why Am I a Priestess When I Reach the Maximum Level?

[Vol. 5] Chapter 240 - The Sound of Life

[Vol. 5] Chapter 240: The Sound of Life

Several days later, in a large primeval jungle over two hundred kilometers away from the Saint Sarnos City.

“Wah! Help, help, help! I think I’ve stepped into the swamp again! I’m sinking, I’m really sinking!!!”

“Haah…”

With a sigh, Miss White Fox waved her robe lightly, and an invisible force lifted the flustered green-haired girl, who had plunged a portion of her leg into the mud, bringing her back to solid ground.

“Sister Theresa, are you okay?”

Eudora, who was closest to her, hurried over to comfort her. Theresa, who had fallen to the ground in a sitting position, gasped for breath a few times before patting her chest to calm her racing heart, then waved her hand.

“I-I’m fine… just a little scared…”

On the other side, Miss Dragon, who had also stopped due to the commotion, frowned and said, “I mean, come on, you should have some limits to your foolishness. This is the ninth time you’ve stepped into something like this.”

Xiao Guang narrowed her sharp golden vertical pupils slightly as she glanced at Miss White Fox and then observed the utterly flustered green-haired girl.

“…Could it be that you’re doing this on purpose?”

“Ah?”

Theresa blinked in surprise, finally realizing what the blonde girl meant. Her face flushed slightly as she quickly shook her head in denial.

“Don’t, don’t say that! How could I deliberately trouble Miss Dawn? It’s just… just…”

Seeing Theresa wanting to explain but seemingly unsure of how to start, and finding it a bit hard to say, Violet, who had just saved her, turned around with sudden curiosity.

Now that she thought about it… it was indeed strange.

Even though the eastern hills and rainforests of Sanos Province are full of swamps and poisonous insects, as the saying goes, one learns from one’s mistakes.

Theresa was from a small village and wasn’t some pampered young lady. How could she keep getting stuck in the mud around here?

Aside from the possibility of doing it on purpose, the only other explanations would be a lack of careful observation of her surroundings or perhaps being a bit distracted.

With this in mind, she pondered.

“Theresa, has that omen of danger appeared again?”

Theresa was a girl with an exceptional talent for environmental resonance. Possessing the bloodline of a Tree Spirit Tribe, she could listen to the “vibrations” in the air to a certain extent, sensing the echoes of terrible events that had occurred beneath her feet and preparing for impending crises.

It was precisely because of this ability that Sethlin chose her to be a messenger and agent to plant divine trees around the world.

However, based on Violet’s previous experiences with her, such situations mostly indicated dangers relative to Theresa herself. In reality, they were unlikely to pose a threat to a more powerful priestess, so…

“No, it’s not that kind of feeling…”

The green-haired girl denied without hesitation, causing Miss White Fox to raise an eyebrow slightly under her mask.

But then, the former approached as if avoiding something, leaning in to whisper in a volume only the two could hear.

“Do you remember, Miss Dawn, that I mentioned something about Her Divineness Sethlin a while back?”

“Sethlin?”

A flicker of understanding passed through Violet as she grasped what Theresa meant.

She was referring to the sudden increase in the power of that Goddess of Life due to some reason, which led to Theresa, being closely connected to her, also receiving an influx of divine power, resulting in some instability.

However, during these recent days, she hadn’t seen Theresa using that strange item she had gotten from Eilush to alleviate the overflowing divine power phenomenon, so it was likely that Sethlin had already adapted to the situation.

Why was she suddenly bringing this up?

The green-haired girl quietly glanced at the four members of the ?Reaper’s Scythe? standing a bit further away. Having been with Miss Priestess for so long, she naturally understood what could be said and what could not. She lowered her voice again, covering her mouth with her hand as if sharing a secret.

“In fact, the excess divine power transmitted from Her Divineness Sethlin hasn’t been withdrawn. She just helped me adjust and control it a bit, compressing it in my body like a ball, saying it could help enhance my strength and improve my constitution.”

“Although I’ve only absorbed a very small portion of it so far, I can indeed feel some differences. After my resonance ability became stronger, I started to hear some voices of ?life?.”

“Voices of… life?”

Miss White Fox tilted her head in surprise.

“What is that?”

“Hmm…”

At this point, Theresa no longer tried to hide her voice. Instead, she walked straight to the edge of the marsh pit where she had carelessly stepped, and tapped her fingers against the trunk of an ancient tree that was thick enough for at least two adults to hug.

“Actually, it was just talking.”

This action naturally drew the attention of the others, who were already curious about what the two girls were whispering about.

“Miss Theresa, may I ask what you mean by that? Is there something unusual about this tree?”

Facing the gray-clad swordsman who had come closer and was also curious about the ancient tree, the green-haired girl smiled and shook her head.

“No, it’s just an ordinary silver birch tree. It’s very common in this area. It’s just older than most. It’s probably over a hundred years old.”

Gently stroking the dry, rough bark of the old tree, the kind of tender smile on her face reminded Violet for a moment of a certain Goddess of Life who was thousands of miles away.

“Everything has a spirit. Anything that possesses life can actually communicate. Although trees don’t have the organs to interact directly with the outside world, they express their emotions in their own ways.”

“Due to the limitations of their forms, most trees possess only the most basic and primitive instincts. However, as they age, these vague instincts gradually become clearer.”

“Just like this one. Through the resonance of life, I can vaguely hear the ambiguous thoughts this child… this tree wants to convey.”

Hmm, that statement was definitely not something Theresa came up with on her own.

Violet immediately saw through the truth.

Considering the awkward transition earlier, it was likely that the Goddess of Life had taught her these exact words through some means, which Theresa had directly copied to explain the current situation.

Although she could see right through it, Miss White Fox chose not to reveal it, instead continuing to engage with Theresa’s topic.

“So, what exactly did you hear that left you so entranced?”

“Ah heh heh…”

It seemed that Theresa finally recalled her earlier embarrassment, and a few shades of awkward redness appeared on her serious face, which quickly turned serious again.

“Actually, it’s not just this tree. As we’ve traveled through this ancient forest, many places resonate with similar sounds.”

“They say, ‘Dreadful beings from afar have brought terrible things, and something is changing beneath the ground.’”

Theresa steadied herself.

A sudden, unusual wind swept through the forest, carrying a faint scent of rust and tousling the girl’s green hair.

“It… is begging us to save this place.”