“According to you, the two of you were only temporary companions?”
“Strictly speaking, that is the case.”
Bang!
A palm slammed onto the desk. Cecilia scolded, “Tell me the truth!”
“I am telling the truth!”
After Noren stirred things up, Cecilia dragged Lance back into the office to regain some control over the situation.
As soon as they entered, she crossed her arms and questioned Lance with a cold face.
Resigned, Lance had no choice but to recount the entire process of how the two met and traveled together in detail.
Naturally, he used a version that hid Falia’s existence.
When she heard that Lance was about to form a Covenant with the Elf in the Dream, Cecilia’s brow furrowed, and her face became cold enough to freeze someone solid.
It wasn’t until she heard that the Dream came to an abrupt end and the two failed to conclude the contract that the Saintess’s expression softened slightly.
“Hmm…”
“The sealers of the Dream Eaters were actually transported into the depths of the Maze?”
Cecilia was naturally no stranger to the Calamity of Dream Eaters that nearly ignited the entire North Continent hundreds of years ago.
No wonder the Dream Eaters had never appeared on the Surface after so much time; they were trapped in the depths of the Maze.
Well… now they were completely annihilated by Lance…
Observing the ancient yet holy lantern Lance summoned from his waist, Cecilia’s attention was instantly drawn to the exquisite sacred script on the top of its cover.
After careful identification, the meaning of the script was very simple — just a string of sacred names:
[Made from the bones of the Monument-Bearing Apostle — Edith Sterling]
‘The Monument-Bearing Apostle… Edith Sterling…’
Whispering the name in her heart, Cecilia’s expression shifted repeatedly.
The Monument-Bearing Apostle was one of the earliest apostles of Panice, the God of Nature.
It was even recorded in the scriptures of the Nature Church that after her death, this apostle received a divine blessing and became one of the sword-bearing angels in the divine kingdom.
This showed how high the saint’s status was within the Nature Church.
Although the effect of the item itself was only Element-grade, because it was made from the bones of a saint, calling it a Holy Relic was not an exaggeration at all.
Clearly, that Elf Princess knew nothing about Holy Relics. Otherwise, how could she have let Lance obtain such an item?
Clicking her tongue twice, Cecilia briefly explained the origin of the object to Lance. As she toyed with the Holy Relic in her hand, she lamented, “It’s actually a bit of a hot potato~”
Hearing Cecilia’s lament, Lance didn’t think much of it and replied instinctively, “Then… give it back to the Nature Church?”
Upon hearing this, the smile on Cecilia’s face stiffened. She rolled her eyes and said irritably, “What’s in our hands is ours!”
“How could we possibly give it back to them?”
“Even if we were to return it, they would have to pay an equivalent price!”
Rebuked several times, Lance realized how ridiculous his words were and could only laugh awkwardly.
But in fact, he had subconsciously wanted the Elf lady to return this Holy Relic to the Nature Church.
That way, with the Elf Royal Family’s intervention, they might be able to persuade the Nature Church to grant Lady Astrid a Blessing and a Holy Office.
After all, Astrid seemed to have always been a bit bothered by her failure to obtain a Holy Office…
However, it was not appropriate to say this in front of Cecilia, lest he trigger the Saintess’s overactive imagination just after finally calming her down.
Soon, Cecilia stopped obsessing over matters related to the Elf Princess. Recalling Lance’s previous narration, Cecilia fell into thought.
“Lance… can you currently draw energy from a Life Gem?”
Lance confirmed it without hesitation. Astrid’s emerald Life Gem was fresh in his memory.
The purity of the Life Essence inside was extraordinarily high, allowing him to jump from early Middle Rank to early High Rank in one go, leaping across three or four sub-levels.
“Is that gem still around? Let me see.”
“Oh, alright.”
Fumbling through his Traveler’s Bag, Lance soon found the emerald gem necklace.
Because the Life Essence stored inside had been swept away by Lance, the Life Gem appeared somewhat dim at this moment.
However, the nature of this gem was special. Even while staying in the space of Lance’s Traveler’s Bag, it was slowly absorbing the life force dissipating from the environment.
Now, a portion of Life Essence was stored in the gem again, though it was insignificant compared to the gem’s storage limit.
Reaching out to take the gem Lance handed over, Cecilia’s calm expression sank again after just a cursory glance. Looking through the dark green gem, Cecilia instantly recognized the Elga Royal Family mark within it.
This didn’t look like something that could be given away casually! The Elgar family was an Elven Royal Family of a thousand years, and their family heirloom was this kind of Life Gem made through a special process.
Looking at it this way, that Elf Princess really did give her family heirloom to Lance. How reckless! If others found out about this, Lance’s reputation would be ruined!
With an unhappy expression, Cecilia looked up at Lance. Seeing that Lance’s expression was normal and his crimson eyes were clear, it was obvious he didn’t know what such an action implied.
‘It seems like it’s just that Elf Princess who unilaterally has feelings for my trusted general.’
‘Hmph!’
‘What wolf-like ambition! Trying to poach from my wall!’
‘That’s impossible!’
But at the thought of the other character’s terrifying background as the currently only princess of the Elven Royal Family, this prestigious Saintess felt a bit of a headache.
The current Elf King was a fierce character who could mediate a Holy War. He could probably suppress this newly appointed Radiant Saintess with a single hand.
If she completely fell out with the Elf Princess and she went back to complain to her father…
Taking a sharp breath, Cecilia instantly calmed down and quickly erased the several aggressive ways to declare her sovereignty that had just surfaced in her mind.
‘It seems safer to make her back off in the face of difficulties…’
“Lance.”
Putting down the gem, Cecilia looked up and turned to Lance with a serious face.
“Don’t be in a hurry to go to the Restoration Army for now.”
“I don’t have anyone by my side right now. Stay behind and help me handle things for a while.”
“When the time is ripe, then you can go take over the Restoration Army.”
Hmm?
Lance hesitated. Noren would be enrolling in school in one year.
If the anomaly in Noren’s body wasn’t handled within that year… If her race was identified as a Blood Race by then, she would only be assigned to classes for those dark races.
In that case, they would really have to give up on enrollment.
After all, no matter how you looked at it, both Noren’s and his parents had died in the Blood Race invasion.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a blood feud. How could he let Noren study in the same class as those dark races?
Seeing Lance’s hesitation, Cecilia naturally understood the crux of the problem and said at the right time, “Don’t worry, I’m only keeping you for a while. Once things are busy enough, I’ll let you go to the Restoration Army.”
Hearing this, Lance no longer hesitated and immediately agreed.
“Do you still have any perception of the Element [Wind]?”
The topic shifted, and Cecilia asked an unrelated question, but it was a very important one.
If Lance still had some perception of the Element [Wind], she was fully capable of scouring for more Life Gems to raise Lance’s level and reach the Element stage directly.
But to Cecilia’s disappointment, Lance shook his head and gave a negative answer.
After all, this body was very different from his previous one. Even ordinary senses were skewed, let alone any perception of elements.
For the current Lance, re-perceiving elements was something that needed to start from scratch.
However… having the experience of success, Lance was still very confident in perceiving the element again.
Nodding, Cecilia still decided to scour for some Life Crystals, although the quality had a chasm-like gap compared to the Elf Princess’s.
But it should also help Lance make further progress. If Lance could advance to the Element stage, she would have the capital to flip the table on those old geezers in the Restoration Army.
What belongs to Midgar can only belong to Midgar…
Exhaling, Cecilia put on a smiling face again. After some thought, she picked up the quill on the desk.
With a few strokes, an appointment letter written with Holy Power was completed.
“Hmm… Lance!”
“I appoint you as my first Radiant Knight!”
“You are now a member of the glorious Radiant Knight Order!”
“Huh?”
Lance reached out to take the glowing appointment letter and read the fresh words carefully. The more he read, the weirder his expression became.
‘Did I just get an official position in the Church of Holy Light?’
‘But… I think I’m a Ghoul?’
……
“Oh~”
“So Big Brother was trying to bite you then, Big Sister?! Honestly!”
“My brother is so irresponsible!”
After listening to the beautiful Elven sister finish the story of how she met and traveled with her brother, the little maid Noren was filled with righteous indignation, harshly criticizing her own older brother behind his back.
It was as if she was the one whose mood had been ruined.
But seeing Noren’s angry look, Astrid quickly waved her hands to clear Lance’s name. “He had no choice then because the flesh-and-blood craving in his body erupted…”
“And he compensated me afterward…”
Speaking of this, Astrid’s beautiful emerald eyes flickered a few times, and she didn’t quite know how to speak.
Her gaze fell on the Seven Star Stone Ring on her left ring finger, and a blush quickly climbed up to the tips of her ears.
Seeing the beautiful Elven sister’s hesitant look, Noren followed Astrid’s gaze and her eyes instantly froze on the somewhat ugly stone ring.
‘Hmm? Ring finger?’
‘Is Big Sister Astrid engaged?’
Clang!
Her mind suddenly stalled, and Noren’s eyes widened. A terrifying thought had flashed through her mind.
“Could this… perhaps be a gift from my brother?”
After mulling over the words for a while, Noren opted for a more cautious way of phrasing it.
But…
“Yes… Lance put this on for me.”
Noren: !!!
‘Brother!’
‘Sister Cecilia is going to kill you!’