With the incredibly enthusiastic Little Black Rabbit as her guide, Pest gradually came to understand the layout of the Holy Cross Orphanage.
It turned out this was a training ground for Saviors. Among the children here, one was destined to bear the fate of saving Human History.
Although Pest's current knowledge was insufficient to fully grasp the concept of Human History or the existence of Little Garden, she could connect the dots and associate it with the Messiah, the savior from the Bible.
So she quickly understood that the divine children of myth had to compete for the position.
Only the successful one could become the Savior, the Messiah.
Realizing this, Pest felt a little uneasy.
If Su Mo had acknowledged her identity and recognized her as a divine maiden, perhaps Pest would have had more confidence, believing she could surely become the Savior.
But Su Mo hadn't acknowledged that.
Therefore, as the daughter of a low-ranking noble—an ancient person from centuries ago with little formal education—Pest found it hard to imagine what kind of absolute advantage she could possibly have.
Forget about being evaluated as the Savior in the competition; with her current power, she might not even qualify to participate.
At this moment, Pest felt a sense of inferiority.
However, Little Black Rabbit was just too good at praising people. Though it wasn't her intention, in her eyes, a child personally rescued by Su Mo like Pest had to be special.
Therefore, even if she didn't show any special traits now, little Pest was bound to reveal an extraordinary talent eventually.
Otherwise, why would Lord Su Mo treat her differently?
It couldn't be because the other adults felt too guilty to face Pest, right?
Under Little Black Rabbit's praise, Pest gradually built up her confidence, and her mindset began to shift.
She realized she had no reason to feel inferior.
*I'm the only child my master personally scouted. To say I'm not good enough, wouldn't that be saying my master has bad judgment?*
Harboring admiration for Su Mo and a desire to prove herself, Pest developed a new idea amidst the praise.
"Maybe... I'm not that useless after all. Do I really have what it takes to be the Savior?"
"That's right! I believe you can definitely achieve victory, Miss Pest!"
The bunny-eared little girl cheered her on.
With that in mind, Pest and Little Black Rabbit went to meet the various esteemed individuals staying at the Holy Cross Orphanage—the candidates for Savior.
And then, Pest's mental state collapsed.
"I'm sure of it... I really am useless."
On the emerald green lawn, Pest lay on the ground, completely dejected, trying to hide her small body in the grass.
Seeing her despairing expression, Little Black Rabbit quickly tried to console her.
"Don't say that, Pest-chan! No normal person would compare themselves to that bunch of freaks. It's perfectly normal that you can't keep up with them right away!"
Taken on its own, this comfort sounded perfectly normal.
But—
"You just said I could definitely win!"
Pest stared blankly at the bunny-eared girl, her emotionless gaze making Little Black Rabbit feel as uncomfortable as if she were being pricked by needles.
"I-I didn't know you had zero combat ability, Miss Pest! I thought you were the type with a special Gift, like Miss Asuka!"
Little Black Rabbit explained in a fluster.
Just a moment ago, they had gone to visit the Kudou sisters.
Not to mention Kudou Ayato—Pest wasn't an idiot, so she naturally wouldn't dare provoke a God-tier martial artist.
If nothing else, Leticia's assessment alone was enough for Pest to label Kudou Ayato as the strongest competitor on the path to becoming the Savior.
How could a God-and-Demon-level powerhouse be defeated so easily?
Correspondingly, Kudou Asuka, who could stand against Kudou Ayato, was naturally not someone she could afford to provoke either.
So, at first, Pest just wanted to go over, get acquainted, and secretly gather some information.
But who would have known that the two peeping Toms would be discovered so quickly?
Although they received a warm welcome from Kudou Asuka, Pest also experienced her unfathomable power.
A single sentence was enough to render her immobile, unable to even control her own body.
Even though the other girl hadn't done it on purpose and had apologized for it multiple times, in Pest's eyes, Kudou Asuka was still categorized alongside Kudou Ayato as someone not to be trifled with.
"Logically speaking, Miss Asuka's power isn't fully mature yet. If she only uses her words, individuals with a slightly higher Spirit Status should be able to resist her Authority..."
"For me, Miss Asuka's verbal commands aren't very effective, so I completely forgot about that. I'm so sorry!"
Before leaving Little Garden, she had received the blessings of all Twelve Devas from Su Mo as a Gift for self-protection.
Therefore, even though she wasn't an adult, Little Black Rabbit had obtained power that surpassed even her adult state in the original story, becoming a top-tier Four-Digit.
Kudou Asuka's Gift, her Authority, had been polished to an excellent degree, but it was primarily in the domain of controlling other Gifts, not controlling other people.
Lacking Divinity, her words alone had very little binding power over the likes of Little Black Rabbit, Shiroyasha, the Halloween Queen, or even Canary.
As a result, she hadn't developed much of a psychological block against it, and Little Black Rabbit had never paid much mind to this power.
She never expected that Pest, having just arrived, would be completely dominated by the Authority, utterly incapable of resisting.
At first, she thought Pest was hiding her Spirit Status aura, thinking to herself how amazing Pest was for pretending to be a normal person so convincingly.
Only after this incident did she realize that Pest truly only had the Spirit Status of a normal person.
"..."
It would have been better if Little Black Rabbit hadn't apologized. The moment she did, Pest was immediately reminded of the humiliation of being so easily controlled by Kudou Asuka's words, and her gaze toward the bunny-eared girl turned a little cold.
"Are you sure you're apologizing and not humiliating me?"
More than being easily controlled by Kudou Asuka, she was bothered by the fact that the other girl hadn't even done it on purpose.
The more sincere Little Black Rabbit's apology was, the more it proved that she was completely helpless against a power that even Little Black Rabbit could completely ignore.
Wasn't that even worse?
".I-I'm sorry! I didn't know you weren't good with Spirit Status, Pest-chan!"
Little Black Rabbit apologized profusely.
Hearing this, Pest subconsciously thought of the other people she had met. Her train of thought was diverted for a moment, and her expression became dejected again.
"It's not just Spirit Status I'm bad at. Combat, research, Gifts—I'm not good at any of them."
Recalling what she had seen earlier, she still shuddered with lingering fear.
"You people are treating a monster who could smash a mountain with a single punch as a Savior... Are you sure that kind of monster is being raised to save the world and not destroy it?"
She remembered the monstrous physical prowess they had witnessed when visiting Saigou Izayoi—a strength a million times greater than any gorilla's—and shivered.
"That monstrously strong gorilla... I bet he could carry Noah's Ark and jump to a mountaintop so high the Great Flood couldn't reach it!"
"Mr. Izayoi is indeed more skilled in terms of strength, but don't worry. He received martial arts training from Big Sis Great Sage. Although he can't compare to Miss Ayato, he knows how to hold back against normal people. Besides, I'm here, so you don't have to worry about getting hurt, Pest-chan."
Little Black Rabbit immediately reassured her.
"And that other one... what do you call it in modern terms? A tech geek or something?"
Pest continued coldly.
"He looks a lot like that big gorilla, but he seemed very polite. I thought I could actually talk to him, but who knew he'd nearly cause another explosion right off the bat? The big gorilla isn't even as dangerous as him!"
The thought still made Pest a little scared.
"Are you talking about Mr. Izayoi's younger brother, Dr. Homura?"
Little Black Rabbit immediately understood who she meant.
"Dr. Homura's research is indeed dangerous, but Lord Algol is here, so there's no need to worry! Didn't Lord Algol petrify the thing that was about to explode just now?"
Saying this, the bunny-eared girl puffed out her chest.
"Besides, you have me, a noble of Little Garden, to protect you! Even if Lady Algol didn't react in time, I would have gotten you out of there safely! You can rest assured, Miss Pest!"