Chapter 270: The Emperor's Past (Part 1)
Under the faint holy light, these jar pieces were gradually pieced together until finally, they were restored to their original complete form.
After doing this, Freya carefully put away the new jar, walked to the opposite side of the street, and rearranged it, placing it in a very conspicuous position.
After finishing this set of actions, Freya patted her hands, let out a long sigh, and then walked towards the next "crime scene".
Reji: "..."
Looking at Freya's hurried back and the brand-new jar that had been repaired and placed by the roadside, Reji's heart couldn't calm down for a long time.
As a player, he took many things for granted.
For example, the smashed jars could often refresh and reappear.
But this scene he accidentally discovered tonight made Reji realize that there was no such thing as refreshing. There was only the Saintess working overtime and quietly rearranging things for him in the middle of the night.
Wait. If that's the case, could it be that his other heinous behaviors were also all fixed by Freya...
Perhaps sensing Reji's fluctuating emotions.
The Sage Stone on his right hand emitted a strange light at this moment.
As a powerful gem with the "save" ability from the game.
The past recorded within the Sage Stone was not only about the Hero.
Especially after the Hero "disappeared", the gem was handed over to Freya and held by the Saintess as the "Emperor" for a thousand years.
Therefore, the part of the past belonging to the Emperor was also stored in the gem.
In terms of the game, it was the hidden plot that the player didn't know about.
They were activated by Reji's accidental discovery. Now, he only needed to pay energy to use the Sage Stone to investigate.
Reji, of course, chose to consume energy without hesitation.
The gem's light instantly reduced by about one-third from its original full state.
But in exchange. This blue-green light symbolizing "memory" enveloped Reji's consciousness.
As if letting him briefly travel through time and space.
When he came back to his senses, the scene before his eyes had already changed to the first-person perspective of the Saintess.
Or more precisely... It was Freya, who was walking on the Emperor's route back then.
In the history of the first playthrough, he didn't frantically push the main storyline but focused on exploring the big world.
So as the main storyline NPC, the Radiant Saintess was naturally neglected, with very little interaction, and he even almost forgot that there was such a character.
But now, from Freya's perspective.
Even if he didn't advance the main storyline and ignored the Saintess, the Saintess would still silently follow him.
The first scene was in Stone Sword Town, where they obtained the Holy Sword. It was also the first village on their journey.
There were many, many jars here.
Reji remembered very clearly that the jar-smashing journey also started from here.
Smash!
From the perspective of the following Freya, the Hero very arrogantly smashed a jar in front of a household, leaving a ground full of shards, and then left with his head held high.
That angry civilian was about to angrily chase after him to argue. At this moment, Freya behind quickly stepped forward.
The Saintess kept bowing and apologizing to this household.
And used a spell to repair the jar.
Only then did they stop pursuing the matter while grumbling.
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Every time the Hero smashed a jar.
Freya behind had to repeat the process of apologizing.
Until the Hero went to do a commission, the Saintess could finally take a breather.
From Freya's perspective, Reji could clearly hear the Saintess's inner thoughts at this moment.
Although she didn't understand why the Hero did this.
But she believed that the Hero must have his reasons.
However...
Freya had a brainwave. Afterwards, she visited every household in the village and bought all the jars that her Hero had smashed before. Then she secretly posted an exploration commission under the name of a stranger.
Reji remembered this plot very clearly.
Because it was this commission that made him open up a new wilderness map.
But he never thought it was actually posted by Freya?
After the Saintess successfully lured him from the village to the wilderness through the commission, those jars she had bought before came in handy.
It turned out that Freya had already placed all these jars in various places in this forest the night before.
The Saintess thought that since the Hero had the hobby of smashing jars, she wouldn't stop him, but she hoped that the Hero could do it without affecting others. So she placed the jars in the wilderness, satisfying the Hero's desire while not disturbing the villagers.
On the day of the commission, Freya, who was observing from behind a tree, was very nervous, not knowing if her brainwave would succeed.
Until she saw the Hero become excited as soon as he discovered those jars she had placed in the forest, and quickly rushed over to smash them, Freya finally smiled happily.
From then on, the Hero indeed liked this forest full of ceramics, jars, wooden boxes, and various small destructible objects, and rarely went to the village to cause trouble anymore.
In order to deepen the attraction to the Hero...
Freya paid out of her own pocket and not only ordered a large batch of jars, ceramics, and containers of various shapes, patterns, colors, and textures from the craftsmen in the village but also tried to put some items inside these small containers.
For example, she found that the Hero was injured in battle that day, so the next day she would find bandages for stopping bleeding and put them inside.
For example, noticing that the Hero's weapon had become dull, she bought a whetstone to sharpen it.
For example, she saw that the Hero always ate meat, so she picked fresh fruits in the morning.
As for why these were not handed to the Hero in person...
Reji, as the person involved, knew the reason best.
Because of Freya's positioning as a "main storyline NPC" in the game, as long as he interacted with her too much, it would force the plot to enter the main storyline, and many unexplored areas would never be accessible again.
But in other words, as long as he didn't talk to Freya, the main storyline could be dragged on.
So from Freya's perspective, he, as the Hero, seemed to dislike her, deliberately avoiding and hiding from her.
But even so, from the memories, Reji could clearly feel Freya's tolerance and understanding towards him.
Even if she was abandoned by the Hero, she couldn't abandon the Hero. This was her responsibility as the Saintess - to take good care of the Hero.
Even if it was silently contributing behind the scenes without the Hero's knowledge.
But whenever Freya saw her Hero being very happy and delighted with those new and different jars she had carefully arranged, whenever she saw the Hero "immersively" enjoying the fun of smashing jars...
The Freya hiding under the tree shade couldn't help but smile, becoming happy along with him.
Even though every night, when the Hero returned to the camp to rest, she had to act immediately, rushing to repair those smashed jars with magic before dawn and rearranging them in different positions in the forest.
Although it was very tiring.
Freya felt that it was all worth it.
She saw that the Hero, by "smashing" these little things and getting her supplies, fought more and more bravely, moved freely in the forest, and handled various commissions more and more skillfully. In the village, his reputation changed from the original "Destroyer" to now being loved by almost every villager as an adventurer.
Freya felt proud of the Hero and had a certain sense of gratification and joy in her heart.
After all, the Hero had grown with her help.
This was the best reward for her as the Saintess.
However, this simple and happy time didn't last too long.
As the Hero's power grew stronger and stronger.
Gradually, Freya found that those little thoughts she put in the jars were no longer liked by the Hero.
The Hero began to complain.
"Only this much money?"
"There's nothing but junk inside."
"Give me some good stuff."
"Apples again? My backpack is already full. Throw them away."
The carefully arranged cans no longer attracted the Hero.
She quietly picked up the items the Hero called junk and threw on the ground, carefully putting them away.
Looking at the apples stained with mud, Freya felt a little aggrieved, but still walked to the small stream, cleaned them with clear water, and silently nibbled on them as dinner.
As the Hero's demands for the items in the cans grew higher, the time and energy she had to spend also increased.
Sometimes she even neglected to eat, just to find more delicious and rare fruits, better bandages, and higher-grade whetstones for the Hero.
Finally.
It seemed that her long-standing efforts had finally paid off. On this day, the Hero actually took the initiative to find her.
Although Freya was extremely excited inside.