The Acolyte's Prayers Are Answered!

This test was only going to take a week.

Only a week?

That's cold comfort to someone who wasn’t meant to be here.

Hilda twirled her index fingers through her pink hair whilst she stared out of the window, mouthing out her past conversation to herself.

“If you can handle it, if, I promise that I’ll pay you back for it. This is a big favor, I know!”

Dredging up the memory made the pink-haired acolyte sigh.

"How would you even pay me back...?"

In this fantastical world of magic, while there may be a legend of the demon king returning to terrorize humanity, the only quest of any sort Hilda "needed" to do was show up in place of someone else for what was sold to her as a simple meeting.

That part seemed fair.

The fact the girl who asked her had an orange-cream hair color and a smaller chest, making it hard to think they'd mistake her for Hilda, should've tipped her off it was weird.

In fact it did. Hilda would've rejected it had she not remained so weak to pressure. All it took was a pair of plaintive puppy eyes for her to agree to it.

The memory was enough to make her seethe at herself for how could she be so easily tricked?

She wasn’t some little girl! Why, she was closer to twenty than ten!

Once she arrived at the cafe she was meant to attend it became swiftly evident this was no simple meeting.

If anything, the suspicious glances they gave to a priestess made her suspect it was some demonic cult.

To think that they'd not only believe her name was Tiva but that she was eager and willing to guard some giant gryphon statue out in the middle of nowhere at a roadside shrine.

Maybe that girl's sense of trickery rubbed off on her, or maybe there was no justice in this world and all liars would get away with it.

A long sigh escaped her lips. There were years to go before she'd qualify as a proper priestess who could honor the Goddess properly.

She took a long sip of the elderberry tea, trying to let its aroma banish her pessimistic thoughts away. There were few amenities to enjoy here; even the view outside consisted of the clouds, the road, and what looked like a field of bushes. 

It was already mid-autumn so there weren't many berries left, but the rows of orange leaves could paint their own picture.

“At least there’s nobody around.”

Solitude could become a gift or punishment depending on the person and reason. If someone needed to cool off, being alone could become a boon. If someone needed to be cheered up, solitute could make it hard.

At this point Hilda had already experienced isolation in an empty room before as part of her training; being alone with the wild was hardly a punishment.

Even this shrine offered nice carpeting so she could stretch as she pleased.

No, what truly annoyed her was the statue of the gryphon with a large talisman set in its forehead situated right in the middle of the room.

“Child, go and protect the seal of the gryphon. You only need to protect it for a week. Then we will return to judge you.”

It wasn't like gryphons, who were known to be wondrous creatures, didn't have their place in the Church of the Goddess.

But Hilda didn't get why such a creepy looking gryphon was ever designed to take up space in the middle of a religious shirine like this.

The etching on its wings was jagged and evil-looking, its claws and talons were digging right into its perch, and its beak seemed like it could prick blood.

This evil-looking gryphon had a talisman placed right atop its forehead. When a hunchbacked masked man who claimed to be a priest brought Hilda here, she learned the only thing they actually needed her to protect was that very talisman.

Thanks to that, this shrine was always bereft of monsters. It helped protect the simple furnace, which didn't have any blessings or magic empowering it.

Such a powerful protective charm had to be the work of angels. Hilda knew it couldn't be anything else.

Yet, right as her reminiscence was coming to an end, she noticed something in the shrine beginning to move. There wasn't exactly much to find in the room so it immediately stood out.

The talisman slid right off.

She stared.

It didn't stop.

Hilda's legs moved on their own as she dove on the spot to catch it, scrambling up to her feet to put it back on. She sighed in relief as the click told her all was well, the talisman was secured.

"S-Saafe..."

For a moment it looked like the gryphon stared right back at her.

But... it was too small compared to a real gryphon. It wasn't like she had to be truly concerned it would transform into a giant beast.

There was one problem with that; Hilda was but an acolyte, on top of that, someone with no power of her own to wield. All in all, she was but a simple pretty human girl, and not even someone high status.

She knew that if there was any magic in here, she'd be as good as dead if it were actually unleashed!

Even the sense of unease running up her neck was enough to make the maiden falter. Hilda knelt, facing away from the gryphon, clasped her slender hands together, and prayed.

"Now I'm letting a statue scare me... This is the worst week... Oh Goddess, please help me..."

Constant training taught her that the Goddess would help her. No matter what bothered her, she'd help in any way she could.

Granted, there was also the Dark Goddess who handled all the misfortune in the world, but Hilda knew there was no chance of her interfering with her prayer.

No chance at all.

Suddenly she felt something fall on her head.

"Oww! W-What was-"

Hilda didn't even get a chance to finish grumbling before it slid off her head and onto her hand - the same talisman she'd put on the statue only two minutes ago.

The sound of stone cracking reached her ears next. Her gaze snapped up.

A full sized gryphon, larger than her and much angrier, was staring back at Hilda.

Blinking didn't cause it to go away. Only courage told her it was still an illusion caused by the statue... yet it didn't feel like it would stay an illusion for much longer.

Alarms flashed off in Hilda's mind, causing the young acolyte to scramble up and slap the talisman back atop the statue's head with shaky feet, causing it to come to a stop.

The statue's eyes, which she only noticed were glowing afterwards, became dull.

This temporary relief didn't stop Hilda from breaking out into a pant. Now she knew something was wrong. But there was nobody she could turn to for help, and if she left this alone something terrible could happen.

All because she prayed.

"Goddess, why!?"