Chapter 159: The Shy Maiden |
The moment she heard the word “begin,” Weiss immediately tensed up a little.
“Let’s start by studying the pose. Try imitating the sculptures behind you and make a pose that covers your face. A sitting posture would probably be best. Oh right, let’s temporarily set the theme as ‘The Shy Maiden.’ What do you think?” Leon suggested, sounding exactly like a painter discussing things with his model.
“There has to be a theme too?” Weiss froze for a moment.
“You need to blend perfectly into these artworks, so naturally we also have to imitate the artistic creation process properly. Come on, try improvising first.” As Leon spoke, he shifted a sculpture aside to make room for Weiss.
“L-like this?” Weiss stiffly struck a pose covering her face.
“Too rigid. Relax a little, your joints need to look softer. Actually, why don’t you try this pose?” Leon said while personally demonstrating a pose for Weiss.
Weiss took one look and her expression stiffened before she finally failed to hold back her laughter.
Because the pose was intended to display the graceful beauty of a woman’s figure, seeing Leon—a robustly built man—doing it instead produced an oddly comical contrast.
“I’m demonstrating poses for you here, and you’re laughing at me?” Leon smiled bitterly toward Weiss.
“Feeling less nervous now?” Leon asked.
“Mm, much better.” Weiss realized that after that, she genuinely did feel less tense.
“Then now, your turn.” Leon said.
“Okay.” Weiss began imitating the pose Leon had just demonstrated.
“Raise your hand a little higher. Let me help adjust it.” Leon reached out and began adjusting Weiss’s arms and hair.
Feeling Leon’s touch, Weiss was initially still somewhat nervous, though she gradually became a little more accustomed to it.
Maintaining the face-covering pose, she secretly observed Leon up close through the gaps between her fingers.
Leon’s eyes were extremely serious and meticulous. He looked completely focused on helping her.
Gradually, Weiss relaxed as well and began actively cooperating with Leon’s adjustments.
“Mm, this pose should be about right. Remember this feeling.” Leon finally arranged a pose he found relatively satisfactory.
He had Weiss curl her legs together slightly while sitting sideways, cover her face with both hands, and keep her elbows shielding her chest, creating the appearance of a shy maiden. It both displayed feminine grace and concealed some sensitive areas.
“Understood.” Weiss could tell Leon had genuinely put considerable thought into her situation.
She realized that, at least when it came to escaping, she truly could trust the man before her.
So all she needed to do was maintain a normal state of mind.
Then Leon brought out a bucket of prepared white plaster liquid along with brushes of varying sizes and naturally said:
“Then now, take them off.”
At that instant, Weiss’s previously calm mindset flew straight beyond the clouds.
Yet even as her cheeks burned and her body trembled nervously, she could only respond with a single sentence:
“Alright.”
Before removing her clothes beneath the white cloth, she suddenly thought of something.
“Leon, I want you to promise me one thing.” Her entire face flushed red as she seriously looked toward Leon.
“Don’t worry. I already said I wouldn’t do anything strange, and I absolutely won’t.” Leon reassured her again.
“No, that’s not what I mean.” Weiss looked at Leon with lifeless eyes. “If we’re exposed during the inspection, then please kill me on the spot and let me turn into salt immediately.”
If she got captured naked like that, she would rather die right there.
“……” Leon remained silent for a moment before replying, “If that happens, I’ll take you and fight our way out.”
If they truly were exposed accidentally, then the Church would also learn he had hidden Weiss. Once he was dragged before the tribunal and his crimes further uncovered, Rena and the others would inevitably be implicated as well.
At that point, it would be better for the two of them to fight their way out together and organize a full-scale escape.
Hearing this, Weiss’s heart stirred slightly before she immediately reminded herself internally that Leon was not doing this solely for her sake.
Leon spoke so casually about such an outright apostasy contingency plan, as though he were already accustomed to such things.
“Leon, besides accepting Moilai’s Blessing, have you committed other acts of apostasy as well?” Weiss tentatively asked.
“Mm…” Leon thought for a moment before a subtle smile appeared on his face. “I think in that regard, things are probably far more serious than you imagine.”
……
Southeastern Major Diocese, Southern City Gate.
One carriage after another formed a long queue stretching from the city gates deep into the streets.
The gates were under extremely strict guard. Every carriage underwent inspection, and every location capable of hiding a person was carefully searched.
Even under normal circumstances, the Major Diocese saw constant traffic of carriages and travelers. Now, releasing the tens of thousands of civilians stranded in the diocese at this level of inspection efficiency naturally required much more time.
Bishop Enrique Davidson finished inspecting another carriage and wiped the sweat from his forehead while grumbling internally:
“Sigh, I really shouldn’t have accepted a position in the diocese.”
Everyone serving within the Southeastern Major Diocese was currently so busy they wished they had eight arms—especially official personnel from the Secret God Church like himself. The penetrating perception granted by their Blessings was incredibly useful in circumstances like these.
Enrique not only belonged to the Secret God Church but also held a position within the Southeastern Major Diocese, so naturally he had been assigned gate inspection duties during this critical period.
Starting from four in the morning, he had worked nonstop until the afternoon. At this point, he could probably fall asleep the instant his head touched a pillow.
“Bishop Davidson, I’ll take over from here. Go get some rest.” A colleague from the Secret God Church called out to him.
“Ah, thank you so much.” Enrique let out a relieved sigh as though granted amnesty and prepared to leave after greeting his colleague.
“Wait a moment, Bishop Davidson. An Intermediate Inquisitor is preparing to leave through the internal passage. Inspect him before you go.” A Knight Commander responsible for gate security suddenly transmitted the message to Enrique using the Teleportation Blessing.
“Yes, sir.” Enrique sighed heavily and internally cursed that Church colleague. The man could not have arrived earlier or later—he had to appear precisely during shift change.
Among the Church personnel attending the Holy Spirit Festival, besides those stationed within the Major Diocese itself, there were also representatives from other dioceses and local personnel from the surrounding five counties.
Now that they had all been delayed here for an extra day, many operations would suffer if they did not depart soon.
Thus, the Major Diocese reserved an internal passage specifically for official Church personnel so they would not need to queue alongside ordinary pilgrims.
Enrique brought two Apprentice Knights over toward the small gate beside the city entrance, where a carriage was already waiting.
When he saw the person standing beside the carriage, he looked somewhat surprised.
The Church colleague he had just mentally cursed happened to be someone he knew.
“What a coincidence, Bishop Davidson.” Leon greeted Enrique upon seeing him.
“Inquisitor Set, preparing to head back already?” Enrique stepped forward and shook Leon’s hand.
“I only just assumed my position. Staying away too long always makes me worry that my subordinates might cause trouble.” Leon smiled.
“I really envy you. You get to leave already. Honestly, I shouldn’t have taken a position in the diocese either.” Enrique smiled bitterly.
“Not at all. Compared to local territories, there’s much more future potential in the diocese. Countless people are desperate to squeeze their way in here.” Leon replied.
“That may not remain true after this. Nobody knows how much impact this incident will have on the entire diocese.” Enrique sighed. “Even now we’re overwhelmed with work. Honestly, I already regret it. I should’ve just found a position back in Caster City.”
“You’ve been on duty all morning?” Leon asked.
“Actually, I started at four in the morning and only just got relieved now.” Enrique smiled helplessly.
“Then haven’t I just added even more work to your day?” Leon said apologetically.
Although he said this, in truth he had deliberately chosen Enrique’s shift change timing. He had already secretly observed the city gate earlier and knew the Church’s rotation schedule.
Enrique was his acquaintance and far easier to deal with. Furthermore, during shift changes, Enrique would naturally want to finish things quickly.
“Not at all. If such a disaster hadn’t happened, I should’ve properly hosted you all myself and invited you to gather together. At least now I can still send you off.” Enrique smiled.
“Then let’s not waste more of your rest time. Let’s begin.” Leon gestured toward his carriage.
“Mm, just a routine procedure. Please understand.” Enrique instructed the two Apprentice Knights to open the carriage doors while simultaneously activating his Blessing. Then he immediately let out a surprised sound.
“Inquisitor Set, your carriage has a hidden compartment underneath?”
“Yes. I normally use it during missions to store confidential documents and evidence that shouldn’t be seen by others.” Leon calmly provided the explanation he had prepared long ago. “I can open it for you if you’d like.”
“No need, no need. I already know it’s empty, and nobody could hide in there anyway.” Enrique waved his hand dismissively.
Previously, the hidden compartment only contained Weiss’s Magic Mirror. That Magic Mirror was currently on Leon’s person and had already been switched by Weiss into the state of an ordinary mirror.
At this moment, the Apprentice Knight who opened the rear carriage door let out a surprised sound.
The carriage interior was separated into sections. Originally, the rear half was designed for transporting prisoners, but Leon had repurposed it as cargo storage this time.
Now, after opening the rear door, the Apprentice Knight saw five human-body sculptures draped in white cloth, each revealing a small portion of the body beneath, along with numerous framed paintings covered in black cloth.
Enrique walked over and froze briefly before turning toward Leon.
“Inquisitor Set, so you’re not only interested in academics—you also collect artwork?”
“Just pretending to be cultured, honestly. I mainly wanted to try investing in art. A friend of mine bought a sculpture years ago, then the sculptor suddenly became famous, and the sculpture sold for twenty times the original price. So I casually picked out a few pieces I personally liked.” Leon stepped forward and lifted one white cloth, revealing the boldest full-nude female sculpture he had selected from the gallery. “Look at this, Bishop Davidson—the chest, the hips… one glance and you can tell the artistic standard is incredibly high!”
“Ahaha, yes… quite… impressive.” Enrique could only force an awkward yet polite smile, inwardly thinking: Brother, calling this pretending to be cultured really is modest. Your entire understanding of artistic standards is based on breasts and hips, isn’t it?
“And these paintings too—the figures are all absolutely amazing…” Leon enthusiastically pulled away a black cloth to display another nude artwork.
“Alright, alright, that’s enough!” Enrique hurriedly stopped Leon before the conversation grew even more awkward and impossible to respond to. “Congratulations on acquiring artwork you truly like. There’s no problem with your carriage. You may depart at any time. Next time you visit the diocese, I’ll host you properly.”
“Alright, until next time.” Leon wisely covered the sculptures and paintings once more.
At that moment, Enrique noticed the innermost sculpture, wrapped in white cloth with only the head and the hands covering the face exposed.
Suddenly he remarked:
“That sculpture…”
“What about it?” Leon tensed slightly.
Enrique examined it for a few more moments before asking Leon:
“What’s the name of that sculpture?”
“The Shy Maiden.” Leon answered.
“This sculpture is genuinely excellent. Just from the craftsmanship of the head and hands alone, it’s extraordinary. It honestly feels no worse than the works of famous masters.” Enrique nodded repeatedly. Born into nobility, he truly did possess at least a bit of appreciation for art.
“Then I’ll take your blessing and hope it appreciates in value.” Leon replied with a smile.