Monster Lord: The Goblin Offers the Saintess to Me at the Start

Vikalina's face was now full of awkwardness, discomfort, and guilt.

Did I go too far?

Was I a bit too harsh?

Clearly, Sivis is not the cold person I imagined him to be. He is helping these commoners too!

But I actually...

Misunderstood him so much.

A sense of guilt rose in Vikalina's heart.

The female knight noticed that Sivis didn't seem to blame her, instead, he was looking for his own mistakes.

Vikalina fell silent.

She even felt the urge to make it up to Sivis.

Even though Vikalina didn't fully approve of Sivis's approach, it didn't stop the female knight from feeling very guilty—

She didn't understand the concept of work-for-relief.

As a knight educated by the Church, she believed that in the face of disaster, one should spare no effort to provide aid.

Sivis, while helping, was primarily focused on hiring people to rebuild his family and start a factory for profit, which seemed self-serving and less noble.

Vikalina then thought, Sivis's upbringing was entirely different from hers — she grew up in the Church, surrounded by many fallen individuals, but at least the surface values of truth, goodness, and beauty were still promoted, and her teachers and friends were sincere practitioners of the doctrine. She was able to help the disaster-stricken commoners without reservation or personal gain.

Sivis, on the other hand, was surrounded by selfish and self-serving nobles. It was already quite commendable that he could help the commoners and improve their lives while also pursuing his own interests.

"Our different circumstances lead to differences in our resolve and willpower, but Sivis still possesses the pure power of holy light because he can maintain his kindness despite the external influences."

"He is already very noble!"

Thinking this, Vikalina felt a sudden clarity in her heart.

However, she still had a lingering doubt: If these commoners were 'completely useless' to Sivis, would he still help them?

As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she felt... Sivis still had his flaws.

Vikalina didn't mind her companion benefiting from helping others, but she couldn't accept the idea of him standing by when there was no personal gain to be had in the face of disaster and suffering.

"I need to find an opportunity to guide and improve Sivis's mindset a bit."

She was pondering.

In reality...

She fully understood the significance of Sivis's actions.

Vikalina really didn't understand economics or the concept of work-for-relief.

Seeing Sivis's sad expression, she felt even more uncomfortable and took the initiative to speak, "Sivis, I misunderstood you earlier. Seeing you create the sign and hire these commoners, I thought you were going to abandon them... That was a serious mistake on my part."

Seeing the female knight's uneasy demeanor, a normal person might have responded with gentle understanding. However, Sivis had already planned his approach.

So, he lowered his gaze and sighed softly, his expression slightly hurt, "I thought... Never mind, I was asking for too much."

His demeanor of being deeply wronged made Vikalina feel even more guilty.

"I'm sorry... It was a mistake on my part, colored by prejudice." She knelt on one knee, her hand over her heart, "Please accept my most sincere apology. If there's anything I can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask."

The female knight's attitude was extremely serious, but Sivis didn't press his advantage. Instead, he waved his hand listlessly, "No need..."

Of course, he wouldn't really ask Vikalina to "repay" him — if he settled the debt so quickly, how would he leverage it to win her over?

He needed to let this sense of guilt bind her heart like a rope...

Reminding Vikalina of her debt to him at the right moments would be the most effective strategy!

Seeing Sivis's "magnanimity." the female knight felt even more ashamed.

"Sivis needs to be handled this way. Given her character, she hates owing others, which will only make it easier to persuade her in the future."

Sivis felt a sense of satisfaction, seeing Vikalina stand firmly by his side, feeling that his plan was proceeding smoothly.

What he didn't know was that the female knight was thinking, "Sivis Daister is indeed a good person, forgiving my mistake despite everything. So..."

"I must change his mindset. I can't let such a kind person be tainted and fall into corruption by the outside world."

She was determined to use this opportunity to help the commoners as a starting point, to make Sivis approach disasters with a purer attitude and be more willing to offer aid!

Vikalina was now full of confidence, completely forgetting her own helplessness when faced with the small disaster earlier. Instead, she felt she deeply understood the "way of saving the world" and was resolved to change Sivis's "utilitarian mindset."

The two of them each harbored their own thoughts.

Vikalina watched the foremen barking orders and directing the commoners to work, a twinge of discomfort flashing in her eyes, but she ultimately remained silent. The commoners seemed content with their current situation, and if she were to step in with "sympathy" at this moment, it might come across as insincere.

After a moment's thought, the female knight quickly walked toward the crowd.

Most of the commoners, despite being treated with disdain by the foremen, did not need Vikalina's interference to earn a living. However, there was one situation she felt she could not ignore.

The female knight noticed two disabled men among Sivis's hired workers. They moved slowly, struggling even to carry broken bricks.

Vikalina frowned — in their condition, they simply couldn't handle such physically demanding work.

She remembered Sivis mentioning that he planned to start a factory, where some of the mechanical and repetitive tasks required less physical strength...

Vikalina decisively stepped forward to intercept the two men.

"Wait, your physical condition isn't suitable for this work —"

"We can do it! Please don't make us leave..." The two men clutched their clothes in fear, their calloused hands trembling with nervousness.

Vikalina didn't let them finish. She pulled them aside and took a few silver coins from her pocket.

She knew she couldn't support all the disaster victims, but helping two disabled men was within her means.

The men stared at the silver coins, their lips trembling as they tried to refuse, but her firm gaze silenced them. "I'm not stopping you from working, but the physical labor isn't suitable. Once Sivis's factory opens, I'll arrange for you to do more manageable tasks."

A glimmer of despair flashed in their eyes — to them, being "specially taken care of" by a Church knight might not be a good thing.

Especially when Sivis, seeing this from a distance, merely nodded in silent approval, it only made them more anxious: "Is Master Sivis rejecting us?"

"If we don't work now, can we still join the factory later?"

They weren't fools.

Sivis had said he would reopen the factory and recruit villagers. When he produced glass soap, only the first batch of workers knew how good Sivis's treatment was, and they had managed to enter the factory without much trouble.

Those who wanted to join later had to grovel and beg, offering gifts to the original workers to get a chance.

Now, they had finally managed to get a chance to work for Sivis, taking advantage of the factory being set up near their homes. They had hoped to smoothly transition into the factory and the estate, but this female knight had thrown a wrench into their plans.

Could they not hate her?

A few silver coins would allow them to live comfortably for a couple of months.

But a spot in Sivis's factory and the estate was a matter of their entire lives, and the lives of their children.

The two disabled men knew the female knight meant no harm, but they couldn't help feeling resentful — they wanted a job with Sivis more than they wanted charity!

Vikalina didn't notice the change in their emotions and felt satisfied with her "filling in the gaps" actions.

She turned to look at Sivis and noticed he was watching her with a half-smile. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing." Sivis shook his head.

Of course, he knew that charity alone couldn't solve poverty. It would require continuous funding, like in the high-welfare countries of his past life, something even the Church, the dominant power, couldn't manage.

Because the resource production capabilities in the world of Gandanyir were far from sufficient!

But...

He just smiled without saying anything.

Sivis would still give those two disabled men jobs later.

He could use their performance to further manipulate Vikalina.

Sivis had also figured out that the in-game female knight, Vikalina, the Sacred Flame Spear, had a mature worldview and was extremely determined.

But the current Vikalina was just a young, naive girl.

She had the enthusiasm to change the world and do good deeds but lacked the corresponding ability and wisdom.

Sivis decided...

He would be Vikalina's life mentor!

He would be the guiding light for the young girl.

Naturally, wouldn't the female knight have to offer her loyalty to this mentor, the one who could help her realize her dream of changing the world?

Following a hypocritical Church would be far less reasonable than following him, a true capitalistic force capable of changing the world.

But... Vikalina clearly didn't understand her companion's intentions.

Instead, she thanked him seriously.

"Sivis, thank you."

"You hiring these commoners solved a big problem for me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had enough money to help them on my own."

Vikalina remained naive.

Sivis didn't point this out and simply asked, "What, are you short on money?"

Vikalina was taken aback, then nodded and shook her head. "The Church covers my daily expenses, but the funds needed for disaster relief... I don't have that much money."

There were plenty of opportunities to make money within the Church, but the female knight had never reached out, so she was naturally quite poor.

"Since you're short on money, why not work for me?" Sivis raised an eyebrow. "The Church forbids you from taking external tasks, but since we are both bearers of holy light, we're 'family.'"

"Besides..."

He threw out another chip.

Sivis lowered his voice and shared a hypothesis.

Earlier, his mind was preoccupied with Reina's problem, and he had overlooked a crucial point.

The Blood Clan might be secretly spreading the blood plague in the city!

Sivis had previously analyzed that the Blood Clan, which had the Blood Shackles on him, and had converted Conning and the other two, was only at the Silver level. Given that the Blood Servants found it difficult to kill him, the Blood Clan had a high likelihood of taking direct action against him.

But...

Taking direct action didn't mean the Blood Clan wouldn't cause trouble in other ways.