Chapter 1

The protagonist is only pitiful for one episode, so please rest assured.

The Kingdom of Olivinis, known as the land beloved by the spirits.

In the central square of the capital, thousands of people suffering from the plague had gathered.

Before the eyes of the people stood a princess, a holy maiden, wearing a luxurious and beautiful dress and a splendid tiara on her head.

"In the name of the gods, obey me, spirits! Show the miracle of the gods here and now!"

The holy maiden princess invoked the spirits in the name of the gods and cast a healing spell on thousands of people at once.

Such a large-scale use of magic was unthinkable by normal standards.

Indeed, the holy maiden was an extraordinary being.

"Oh, my body is getting better..." "Thank you, thank you..."

"God, Holy Maiden..."

Immediately, thousands of people were healed.

"I bestow the blessing of the gods upon you all."

The holy maiden princess, with a smile full of compassion, let her beautiful silver hair, the symbol of the royal family, flutter in the wind.

It was a scene so beautiful, like a religious painting, that it was enough to make the people believe the princess was truly a holy maiden.

...No one noticed that there was another carriage next to the one the princess had arrived in.

◇◇◇

Inside the other carriage were a man and a girl.

Around the girl's neck was a "slave collar."

The "slave collar" is a magical artifact that makes the wearer unable to disobey orders. It is primarily used on slaves and criminals.

Just as the "holy maiden" princess was praying to the gods,

"Hey, trash. It's an order. Heal all the sick people."

The man said this and struck the woman's face with a whip.

"...Yes."

The woman, without resistance, cast a wide-area healing spell.

In sync with the "holy maiden" princess's lines, she healed thousands of people.

"Good."

Saying this, the man struck the girl with the whip again.

It had no meaning. He was just hitting her to torment her.

The reason for hitting her with the whip was to prevent the true holy maiden from getting too full of herself.

The girl's name is Luisa.

She is the daughter of the former king and the niece of the current king. She was once the princess Luisa Olivinis.

Ten years ago, when Luisa was five years old.

Her father, a renowned wise king, and her kind mother were killed by her younger brother, the current king, and Luisa was declared dead.

The current king intended to kill Luisa, but the power of the holy maiden was too useful.

She could defend against the attack of thousands of monsters alone, heal a major plague, and bring down heavy rain during a drought.

Therefore, he declared Luisa dead, put a slave collar on her, and took control of her.

The "One God Church," which had become the state religion by assisting in the assassination of the former king,

had the princess, who was believed to be the holy maiden, replaced by Luisa to perform miracles.

Her living quarters were a livestock shed.

To prevent her face from being recognized if seen, she was particularly beaten on the face, and to take away her will to resist, she was fed only once every three days.

It was an environment in which she would have long since died under normal circumstances.

But Luisa was the true holy maiden.

"Lu-i-sa. Don't... don't give up..."

A spirit that only Luisa could see and hear encouraged her.

The spirits, who were the only ones to talk to Luisa and support her mentally when she was only ever insulted by humans, gave her their magic to sustain her body, which received only a small amount of food every three days.

"Thank you, Roa."

Roa is the name of the Spirit King.

He is the entity that oversees the spirits, which are nature itself, and appears as a small red dragon with powerful magic.

"If we could... directly exert our power in the world, we could break the slave collar."

"There's nothing we can do."

Spirits are not physical beings. They cannot exert their power in the real world without a biological medium.

Ordinary mages borrow a tiny amount of magic from weak, mindless spirits to cast spells.

However, Luisa, as a holy maiden, could use the power of the Spirit King directly.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Shut up! Stop talking to yourself!"

The man in the carriage struck Luisa with a whip.

Only Luisa could hear the voice of the spirits.

Luisa endured the abuse without resistance.

Since she had been thoroughly abused from a young age, she had lost the will to resist.

Moreover, if her suffering could save the people, she had resigned herself to it.

The people were the ones her kind parents had cherished.

◇◇◇

A few days after healing the plague with the healing spell,

Luisa was taken to a room in the headquarters of the "One God Church."

It was a large room with high ceilings, made entirely of stone, with stone walls, ceiling, and floor.

In the center of the room was a large magical artifact of unknown purpose.

Along the walls were cylindrical metal boxes connected to the magical artifact.

The room was filled with many priests of the One God Church, dressed in fine clothes.

"Lu-i-sa, I have a bad feeling."

The Spirit King Roa murmured worriedly.

The priests, who could not see Roa, said,

"Place your hand here and channel your magic."

"...Yes."

Without understanding, Luisa channeled her magic. Then,

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH