Why must I be a woman? (WMW)

The nun and child who died were just unfortunate victims that were caught up with the nun Thea.

"I feel that the chance he was moving on his own is very low since Sister Thea had no injuries. We were not able to arrive in time to stop them raping her, but they hadn't released her nor had they left any bruises. I got the impression that they were more interested in humiliating her than physically harming her." The same amiable-looking mage who crushed the Holy Knight's hand commented as she continue to heal the children, their injuries were heavy so it would take a while.

The other woman was beaten badly even while being raped and her neck was broken cleanly, indicating a lack of care for her health which is a stark contrast to how they treated Thea.

The children were all huddled together, dressed in rags and with eyes full vigilance despite our clear desire to help. Their gaunt features and the way they guarded one another gave me the feeling that their caution was practically an instinct so that even our friendly actions would need more time to earn their trust.

Sophia, ever the mature and skilled maid, read my mind and laid out a small fabric for me to sit on. It was comfortable and of the highest quality, soft enough that the small pebbles and uneven edges wouldn't cause me discomfort. There was a small and broken wall between the inn and a broken down house on the other side, I sat on that wall and faced the kids.

After thinking about what to say, I began with, "Hello little ones, I'm sure you're all scared and worried after having so many bad things happen, I promise we will try our best to make it all better. My name is Lilith, and I am a Blessed Champion of Lady of the Night Sky, Cassandra. Lady Cassandra warned me that someone who was praying to her was in danger and to come to save her, that's why I'm here." I looked at them again and saw some changes in their faces, their hushed whispers to one another showed a few who were swayed.

'Just as I thought; a Blessed or a Champion, maybe even both, hold very special status' in this country or maybe in this entire world. Even these kids reacted when they heard me say that, is that why those three are so eager to serve me for the so-called reward?' What I didn't know was that my phrasing was a problem that would be corrected later, I organised my thoughts and spoke up again.

'Speaking of which, I really should just ask the teacher or look it up in the library once I get back.' I redirected my thoughts toward the current problem.

"I need you all to help me so I can catch the bad guy who did all this, so can you all try and remember what the bad men said?" They had calmed down more and their taut nerves had relaxed, "Did the bad man talk about someone else who asked him to hurt the two Sisters? Did he talk about a priest or someone else?"

More whispers ensued before a young lady came up, she looked like she was the eldest as she was the one who stood protectively in front of them all. Her hair was cut short and was caked in mud, her starved and weathered features made her light and soft voice the only proof of her age, she spoke shakily, "I remember what he said, the- she was in the doctor's way and she was too, umm, too useful to let Sister Thea replace her. It was because Sister Thea has friends in the Holy City."

"So this doctor is involved but might not actually have anything to do with what happened here... the main issue is that Sister Thea has some influential friends so if she took a position of influence herself, they wouldn't be able to control her." The mage who was healing the kids' bruises after she finished tending to the sister spoke my thoughts out loud.

I nodded, I followed up by commanding one of the knights to bring transportation for all of them and clean the kids up, they might be needed as witnesses. I felt a headache coming, mostly because I wasn't sure how to deal with this without letting the world know that the poor nun was raped.

I groaned in contemplation until I heard the rattle of wheels on cobble, another carriage was brought here in the time we walked and dealt with the problem. The leader of the knights who has been explaining this so far told me that the carriage took a detour to arrive in the area to take us back, assuming that I wasn't in a hurry on the return journey too.

"Mistress, if you're not sure, then you just leave it to someone else." The energetically brainless recommendation was actually a very correct answer. I looked at Clarise who gave a toothy grin while standing next to me, faithful to her role as a maid despite her seemingly inability to sit or stand still for long

I stood up and stretched, feeling more than a little weird by the glances the men gave but not being able to do anything about it, "Since that's all been decided, drag those dogs up, cover both their eyes and ears, gag their mouths. Make so they are blind, deaf and mute to the world, when the time comes to ask questions, the quickest to answer correctly will have one of their senses returned."

They didn't react much to my words, they were all on their knees with their hands raised above their heads. It was a little funny because they were already at their limits and couldn't hold their hands up much longer, not to mention a few who were injured so they couldn't move their hands anyway.

While the knights got to work on my command, I asked my maid Sophia who told me about who held power in the church. The answer was quite stunning, apparently, the church was one that paid tribute to celestial deities. This includes the sun, moon, day and night; which means they are Lady Cassandra's people.

As her Blessed Champion, so long as I do not abuse authority or try to steer the whole church into a direction that would be overruled by more than two-thirds of the holy council, I would have absolute authority. It's even considered a great honour for any follower of the church to serve me and any church that I would visit first to pay tribute to my patron deity would go down in history.

"...So what you're saying is that I just need to show my face at the church and nobody would have the courage to hide things from me? And even if they did, I could still hold a trial and execute that dog since I have more than enough evidence without anyone else needing to approve my right to do so?" That was the most important piece of information I needed right now.

"That is correct mistress, you would have no trouble simply by standing before Lady Cassandra's statue and the reaction of the statue would be the greatest stamp of authority." The children were almost all healed, the injuries were healed by varying amounts. The amicable-looking mage explained that healing magic puts a hidden strain on the body and its magic circuits, if you overheal someone there will be sequelae that would even harder to heal than the original injury.

"I guess not every problem needs the main character to be Sherlock Holmes... I just need to show my face and my sugar momma at the deity level will let me do anything I want." I stepped into the carriage in a daze, my first problem in this world was too easy to solve, even more so when you take into account that royalty might intervene.

The children were placed to be taken in another carriage that was rented from the inn while I pondered if I should expect a plot twist or if my plot armour was too strong