CA – Chapter 18
Chapter 18
The Priest Selection Assembly ended in a subtle and awkward atmosphere. Jonas was called away by Priest Monica, and Tang Qiu was left in the care of a brown-haired cleric.
The brown-haired cleric wasn't stunningly beautiful, but her features were very gentle, possessing what Tang Qiu considered a certain Eastern charm. Her first impression was quite good. Then, she heard the brown-haired cleric's self-introduction.
"My name is Linda. I am Priest Cecia's attendant cleric."
Tang Qiu blinked. "...Hello."
Cleric Linda—one of the recent priest candidates. Tang Qiu felt the awkward atmosphere was likely to continue.
"This is the first time I've seen Jonas praise a newcomer so excitedly." Linda's personality was as gentle as her appearance, and the awkwardness Tang Qiu had anticipated never materialized. Between two people with similar temperaments, the conversation was not a prickly confrontation but as gentle as a spring rain.
Tang Qiu shook her head humbly. "Cleric Jonas is too kind."
"You don't need to worry too much about Priest Monica's cold attitude." Linda explained, offering some comfort. "She may seem aloof, but she is actually a very considerate person."
"Don't worry, the Holy See won't overlook any outstanding cleric."
Tang Qiu nodded with a smile but said nothing.
Linda led her down a long corridor to a room. After pushing the door open, she went inside and carefully inspected it before opening the tightly shut window. Gazing at the snow-covered scenery outside, she turned to Tang Qiu with a smile. "From now on, this will be your room. I live next door, so you can come find me if you need anything."
Tang Qiu walked to her side and glanced outside, discovering that the room had an unexpectedly good view. It must have been a highly sought-after spot. She thanked Linda politely.
One of the benefits of successfully becoming a cleric was that they no longer had to painstakingly search for Holy Water of Light. Linda took out ten bottles and placed them on a nearby table. "The Holy See provides each cleric with ten bottles of Holy Water per month for practicing light magic."
"If you make a significant contribution to the Holy See, you'll also be rewarded with a Staff of Light."
Linda thought for a moment and added, "But significant contributions depend on opportunity. Usually, the rewards are things like Light Gems, rings, or necklaces."
Tang Qiu took note of everything, nodding at Linda to show she understood.
After Linda left and Tang Qiu was alone in the room, the smile that had been on her lips faded slightly. She lowered her head and fiddled with the Holy Water of Light on the table. The clerics' rooms were not large and were very simply decorated, a far cry from the marquis's mansion and Anna's estate where she had stayed in Edry.
Tang Qiu sat on the hard bed and picked up the cleric's handbook, flipping through it casually. The Bill Church's handbook was much the same as the one from the Gosse Church. After a few pages, she set it aside. The tension in her nerves slowly eased, and she let out a yawn, falling onto the bed, drowsy.
She slept until it was dark. After changing into a fresh cleric's uniform, she was about to go out to familiarize herself with the surroundings and fill her stomach when she heard a knock at the door. A cold voice passed through the thin wooden panel to her ears, "Grace, Priest Monica wants you to assemble in the main hall."
Tang Qiu paused for a moment, then walked over and opened the door. The speaker was already gone. She poked her head out and could only see a retreating figure in the distance.
Linda emerged from the next room, followed Tang Qiu's gaze, and said softly, "That was Cleric Jennifer."
Tang Qiu straightened up and said with a smile, "Priest Monica told me to assemble in the main hall." She tilted her head, her tone light and casual. "I wonder if we're heading the same way."
Linda walked side-by-side with Tang Qiu and nodded. "We are."
"...Is the Priest going to have dinner with us?"
Linda gave Tang Qiu a somewhat helpless look and shook her head. "A duke of the empire reported that vampires are causing trouble in Kafu Town. Priest Monica is taking this very seriously."
A cleric's life in the Holy See was very monotonous. Aside from the weekly Light Baptism, they usually spent their time practicing light magic in their rooms.
Of course, if dark creatures were causing chaos in the empire, the clerics would have to leave the Holy See to eliminate them.
Establishing a Holy See within the empire meant that protecting the empire's safety was also the Holy See's responsibility, but this was limited to dark creatures, vampires, and werewolves. The Holy See would not intervene in conflicts between nations.
But... she had only just been appointed. Was she really being sent on an elimination mission already? Newly appointed clerics were usually required to practice light magic in the Holy See for a full year before being assigned such tasks.
Linda had thought of this as well. She considered it for a moment and said, "Perhaps Priest Monica has something else for you."
Tang Qiu felt that this "something else" was eighty percent related to the vampires in Kafu Town.
The empty hall was filled by the successive arrivals of clerics and priests. Linda's position was at the very front. Wanting to keep a low profile, Tang Qiu declined Linda's invitation and chose to stand in a corner.
The bishop of this Holy See in Bill had a rather low presence. Although they were all priests, Monica's status seemed a rank higher than the others, including the four priests who had accompanied the bishop from the Central Church.
This was an extremely rare situation in any nation's Holy See.
"A group of eighth-generation vampires is hiding in Kafu Town. The empire's knights discovered over a dozen drained corpses dumped in the suburbs. This vicious act has already caused public panic."
"Linda and Jennifer." Monica's gaze swept over the two of them as she said expressionlessly, "You will each take five clerics and ten Holy Knights and drive these vampires out."
A cleric with slightly stronger light magic could handle eighth-generation vampires. Just driving them out was not a very difficult request from Monica.
Linda and Jennifer went down to prepare and select their clerics. Monica kept Tang Qiu behind, looking her up and down before saying, "You will assist the two of them."
Having already prepared herself mentally, Tang Qiu wasn't too surprised by her words, but she still showed a hint of astonishment on her face before nodding in agreement. "Yes."
"I will seriously consider Jonas's recommendation, but you must also show me your abilities." Monica's cold tone echoed Linda's earlier words. "The Holy See will not overlook any outstanding cleric."
She paused, studying Tang Qiu carefully once more, and frowned. "Judging by the aura of light around you, you should have been selected by the Central Church. Why did you go out for training?"
Tang Qiu calmly fabricated a reason. "Because I was delayed by some people."
Monica was taken aback. For some reason, her tone softened slightly. "...Although we are all believers of the Light Goddess, some people have no light in their hearts at all."
Tang Qiu glanced up at Monica and noticed she seemed lost in thought, distracted by some past memory. She took this opportunity to observe Monica and was surprised to see a scar on her forehead.
Only a wound inflicted by a dark aura could leave a scar on a cleric's body.
Monica sensed Tang Qiu's gaze. She turned her head slightly, letting her hair cover the scar, and asked with a frown of displeasure, "What are you looking at?"
Tang Qiu lowered her eyes, concealing the thoughtful look within them, and shook her head. "Nothing."
Monica, who had been about to offer her some advice, pursed her lips, let out a cold snort, and strode away.
Kafu Town was two cities away from the Holy See. However, the Holy See had established teleportation arrays in every city of the Bill Empire, so it wouldn't take long to get there.
Night was the vampires' domain. A feast of blood often arrived with the darkness.
Although Monica had tasked Tang Qiu with assisting Linda and Jennifer, the specific implementation required a discussion among the three of them.
However, when one of the three refused to discuss, directly taking her chosen clerics and knights straight to Kafu Town, while another was indecisive, not knowing how to mediate and could only follow helplessly behind, what could the remaining person—who belonged to neither group and was left behind all alone—do?
Tang Qiu sighed. She could only figure it out herself. After all, she was just a poor, newly appointed little cleric.
When Tang Qiu arrived in Kafu Town via the teleportation array, Linda, Jennifer, and the others were nowhere to be seen. She was draped in a large, hooded cloak, her hands toying with a ring Linda had given her before leaving, one that could conceal her aura of light.
The array on the ring was temporary and could last for three days at most.
Kafu Town, shrouded in night, seemed to have a giant dark beast behind it, its mouth wide open, ready to swallow it whole. It appeared calm on the surface but was fraught with hidden dangers.
Tang Qiu strolled along the empty streets. The houses on both sides were shut tight; only a tavern still emitted a faint glow. The occasional stench of alcohol drifted by, and around a corner, one could see a drunk lying unconscious on the ground.
Unsure of Linda and Jennifer's plan of action, Tang Qiu couldn't find any trace of them after walking down two streets. She pondered for a moment, then stopped, turned around, and decisively pushed aside the curtain of a tavern and ducked inside.
Instead of aimlessly searching for a team of clerics that didn't welcome her, it was better to first investigate the vampires' situation and then wait and see how things developed.
To find out about the vampires, a tavern that was bustling even at night was often their active hunting ground.
Not long after Tang Qiu entered the tavern, Kafu Town welcomed another new guest. With features so exquisite they seemed unreal and dressed in a gorgeous, dark-colored gown, the newcomer looked like a noble young lady from the capital who had wandered into the wrong place. She lifted her head and looked forward, her pale face appearing even more sickly against the night, a hint of gloom in her dark red eyes that she couldn't hide.
The newcomer was Lucille, who had followed Tang Qiu's aura to this place. She glanced around, frowned, and took a deep breath, her cold voice laced with a trace of disgust. "Vampires..."
So there were vampires entrenched here. Lucille stood in the same spot Tang Qiu had, quietly gazing at the night-shrouded Kafu Town. After a moment of silence, she finally walked in with a stern expression.
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