Maddy looked at the woman’s worn habit and the dark circles under her eyes. Through her divine sight, she saw no red flickers of deceit. The nun might have a sharp tongue and a clumsy way of speaking, but her heart was pure. She was a "real" nun, one who truly bled for the people she served.

"We wouldn’t normally post such urgent quests at the guild. We usually have a small group of adventurers who look after us. But... they haven’t come back. They went out on a mission days ago and haven’t returned. I’m worried that the distortions took them."

Maddy reached out and placed a steady hand on the nun’s arm. For a moment, she allowed her own overwhelming power to feel like a warm, grounding weight rather than a destructive force.

"Don’t worry, a good person like you attracts good people to protect you. They will come back. The world isn’t so cruel that it takes away everyone who tries to do the right thing. You’ve kept this place standing; they’re likely just walking towards here to get back to you."

The nun’s eyes filled with tears, and she managed a genuine, hopeful smile.

"You have a way with words, adventurer. Thank you. Truly."

Maddy turned back to her tools, her heart still heavy but her mind clear. The "good people" might not always come back, but she would make sure that the people currently in this room had a safe place to sleep tonight.

She moved with a fluid, silent speed that the humans couldn’t fully track. She didn’t just repair the beds; she reinforced them with a structural precision that would make them last for years. She organized the supplies so efficiently that the nuns would no longer have to struggle to find what they needed. She even went out of her way to fix a leaking section of the roof and stabilize a wobbly farm gate that had been bothering the caretakers for months.

By the time the morning ended, the heavy work was done. The atmosphere in the church had shifted from one of frantic survival to a quiet, orderly peace.

"You’re finished already?" the head nun gasped, looking around the transformed hall. "We thought this would take you a whole day or even DAYS! Goodness gracious, everyone can actually get to sleep on time, or even right after lunch!"

As Maddy packed her tools, she felt a tug on her cloak. She looked down to see the small boy from earlier, the one who had been so terrified of her. He wasn’t crying anymore. He held out a small, wilted wildflower he had plucked from the garden.

"Thank you, Miss Adventurer... The bed doesn’t squeak anymore." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

One by one, other families and orphans began to approach her. A mother squeezed her hand in silent thanks; an old man nodded with deep respect as he sat on a bed that finally felt solid. Their personal appreciation washed over Maddy, thinning the icy layer of guilt that had settled in her chest.

She realized then that despite the vast difference in their power, she and these people were not so different.

"They are just like me... We both have families to protect. I am fighting to keep my children hidden and safe... and they are fighting to keep their children fed and warm in this sanctuary. We are all just trying to survive this world."

The realization brought a strange sense of relief. She wasn’t just a curse; she was a protector who had momentarily lost her way in her own anger.

The head priest of the church, an elderly man with a kind, weathered face, walked toward Maddy as she was wiping the dust from her hands. He looked at the rows of sturdy, repaired beds and the orderly hall with a look of profound gratitude.

"You have done a miracle’s worth of work in a single afternoon, child. Our sisters have told me of your speed, but I did not expect such precision. The timing of your finish is quite a blessing—the midday meal has just been prepared. Please, join us. I can tell from your efforts that you must be famished."

Maddy instinctively opened her mouth to decline. Her mind was already racing back to the marketplace, calculating the distance to the merchant’s house and the strength of the trail she needed to follow.

"I appreciate the offer, Father, but I have other matters to attend—"

She stopped mid sentence. Throughout the hall, the families she had helped were pausing. The small boy who gave her the flower, the mothers she had eased the burdens of, and the elderly men were all looking at her with wide, pleading eyes. They didn’t just want her help; they wanted her presence. They wanted to share a meal with the woman who had treated them like people instead of "refugees" or "distortions."

Maddy looked at the steam rising from the large pots of soup and the humble loaves of bread being set on the tables. The warmth of the room felt like a physical weight against her cold resolve.

"I... I suppose I have a little more time before the day ends. I would be honored to eat with you all."

A small cheer broke out among the children, and the priest gestured for her to take a seat at the center table.

"Wonderful! A hungry worker is a restless soul. Sit, eat, and let the peace of this house reach you before you head back into the noise of the capital."

Maddy sat at the long wooden table, her eyes scanning every face in the room with the precision of a hawk. As the families and orphans filed in, she memorized each and every feature, hoping against hope that a small girl with orange hair would appear in the doorway.

The nun who had greeted her earlier slid a steaming bowl in front of her. To Maddy’s surprise, the soup was thick with fresh vegetables, tender meat, and aromatic herbs. It wasn’t the thin, watery broth she expected from a sanctuary for the poor. In many stories she had heard, places like this struggled to provide even a crust of bread.

"Wow... This is real soup. This is a good, hearty meal for everyone here. I didn’t expect such quality."