PoV: Renata
"A Hero, what a joke!"
Renata had just co back to her quarters after watching the mass in the main temple of Histria. He was very obviously in a bad mood, so the maid that was assigned to her maintained a respectful distance.
"I’m sorry for startling you, Bianca. It’s just that I feel defeated just by standing here, locked down in this temple. Is there a reason why I can’t leave this place and stroll by the city?"
"I’m told it’s for your safety, Lady Renata."
"Safety, my ass! If I’m really a hero and as powerful as they say, that explanation is too half-assed."
"But you are still learning..."
"Yes, I am still learning. And what I learn is not boding well. I hear what they say in those masses, and I read what is written in that book. I was told that I would fight a demonic cult, but I wonder if the enemy is really that."
"..."
"You know sothing, Bianca?"
"I... I can’t say anything. I’m sorry, Lady Renata."
Renata’s expression softened a bit, finally noticing the harsh tone with which she was talking to the maid.
"I’m sorry. It’s okay. It’s not your fault. You are here just following orders. It’s not right of to take it all out on you, so I’m sorry."
"N-no, no. You’re the Hero, you shouldn’t apologize to a lowly maid like myself."
"There’s nothing lowly in being a maid. My mother was one, and my grandmother as well. My great-grandmother was a slave. So there’s no need to act like that. All people deserve to be treated equally."
Those words hit the maid like a punch. Never in her dreams would she think that a Hero sent by the goddess herself would say such a thing to her.
Such a nice thing... And a thing so heretic at that.
Bianca breathed deeply and then started ’cleaning’ the room.
"Ugh. This room fills with dust so quickly every ti. And it’s all because of the upper windows on the corridor outside. I get that it’s needed to bring light to the corridor, but they didn’t need to leave them open all the ti. What if a thief enters during the night?"
She was wiping the table with a duster, removing imaginary dust as she talked to herself, but loud enough for Renata to hear.
"When I asked the clergyn about it, they only laughed at . ’Who would even think about robbing a temple of the goddess?’ they asked. In my opinion they trust too much. There are no guards up there on the roof, so I really worry soone could enter through that window."
She went on and on with her rambling. If anyone just glanced at her, it would appear that she was just doing the classic complaining-as-you-work that so many people do. But Renata picked up on the deeper aning of her words.
:::
"Freedom, at last!"
She was on a random street in the city of Veina, capital of the kingdom of Histria. She had waited until the maid was asleep in the side room and then jumped from the open window in the corridor to the roof.
From there, it was just a matter of getting past the guards in the temple’s doors.
As Bianca ’complained,’ the security in the temple was rather lax. That way, using her skills to jump to a dark alley and then escape was a bit too easy.
"A thief would have a rather easy heist there... But it works in my favor. Now, let’s see where I go..."
The city’s streets were busy, quite different from what Renata thought that a dieval night would be. But so magic lights kept the central area alive even at this hour. Not that it was that late, of course.
Bianca wasn’t a reader of Eastern teenager literature, nor was she interested in ani, so she didn’t know the first thing about isekai tropes.
What she knew ca from the life she lived in the streets of São Paulo. It was very practical knowledge, geared towards survival. Which ant she knew exactly what kind of place she was looking for.
"It seems that ’botecos’ are the sa no matter the world, after all."
She spotted a tavern that had the sa energy as the bars she used to frequent back on Earth. She entered it without hesitation.
She was wearing her training clothes, which were not as conspicuous as the rich-looking clothing that she was given to use within the temple. On her belt hung a long dagger, on which she would rely if any trouble arose.
She was a tall and beautiful girl, with a skin color and afro hair that looked out of place in this nation. So, everyone’s eyes imdiately locked on her when she entered the tavern.
She ignored the gazes, as she always did. She was already used to that kind of gaze back where she lived before. The good thing was that there weren’t any temple people here. So, she went straight to the counter.
"A beer, please."
She had read the sign on the counter before sitting, so she already knew what was expected of her. She took a couple of coins out of her pocket and put them on the counter as she made the request.
After all, the sign had put the prices of the most popular drinks and the phrase ’pay upfront.’ She was glad that Bianca had ’forgotten’ so coins over her bedside table.
After all, as a Hero, she already had everything she needed provided by the temple. Why would she even need money for? Well, at least that was what the High Bishop there had told her when she asked.
In any case, now she had the right amount, and soon a mug of beer was in front of her.
It was stronger and thicker than the one she used to drink before, but it was befitting of the image she had of dieval beers.
The people in the bar had already gotten back to their own things, except for a couple of gazes that continued locked on her. She was able to sense them all and decided that the best thing would be to ignore them and focus on hearing what she could.
"Did you hear about the peace deal? Wesgoth is trying to squeeze the faithful countries off."
Two friends were talking at a table near Renata, and they talked very loudly. That way, she was able to catch most of what they were saying.
"No, I haven’t paid attention since my son got back from the front. The higher-ups are trying to cover it all, but the truth is that we lost big ti."
"Yeah, I heard about that. It was a massacre. I heard that even the Saint was in the battlefield. And now they are pressing the advantage. They want us to give up on our slaves."
"Do they? Well, that doesn’t affect , as I don’t have slaves myself."
"Yeah. But the nobles aren’t going to be happy with that. Not at all. Can you imagine the prince giving away his playthings?"
"I guess not. Nobles do like their beastkin to play with, after all. Though sotis they have humans as well. That’s a bad thing, treating humans the sa way as the beast people."
"I agree. And yet, that’s what those heretics are doing. Can you believe it? They are giving full citizenship to beastkin!!! It’s insane. First they end slavery, then give them citizenship, and now it seems that there are even beastkin in high official positions in the kingdom. Even in the army!"
"Outrageous! But the goddess sent the heroes. I think that soon we’ll be able to crush that heresy."
At that point, Renata had already heard what she ca here to hear. She assud that the fallout of the failed crusade would still be the talk of the town, and she was glad to see that she was right on her bet.
On the other hand, what she heard confird what she was afraid of.
After finishing the beer, she cos out of the tavern and retraces her path to the temple.
"It seems that I’m on the wrong side of the conflict... Soone who fights for slavery has no right to be called a hero. But one can’t take a decision about the future with alcohol in the brain. I’ll head back and put the problems under my pillow."
Renata was averse to taking big decisions on the spot. Instead, she would rather at least sleep one night to give ti for the information regarding the problem to settle down.
That ’settling down’ of strong emotions that could cloud the information was what she used to call ’putting the problem under the pillow.’
The journey back to her room was as easy and uneventful as getting out of the temple. Thanks to the Adventuring System, she was able to simply jump up to the roof from a side alley, sothing no human would be able to do in the world she used to live in.
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