The First Pope - Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Cynthia and Sarah's first attempt at recruiting believers met with no obstacles, but the results were far from successful.
None of the humans on Cynthia's side reacted to the Power of Light, and the same was true for Sarah's group.
Although a few humans had come to believe Cynthia's words, she unfortunately had to send them back.
Cynthia had already prepared herself mentally back when she first conceived of the plan to bring humans into the fight against the Vampires, so this failure didn't affect her mood.
Although the search for humans who could sense the Power of Light had failed, the experiment at least allowed them to see how humans reacted to the rhetoric about being believers of the Goddess of Light.
It was a little better than Cynthia had expected.
It had to be said, the God Race's appearance was too striking. Placing them alongside the Goddess of Light felt completely natural.
If Chelsea and the others had been the ones to say those words, the effect would certainly have been diminished.
Night fell silently. The witches decided to stay and rest in the village. Cynthia found a random wooden hut and went inside. The hut contained only a wooden bed and a set of a table and chair. She glanced around, showing little interest in the bed, and instead took out a cloth to carefully wipe the table and chair clean.
The room was dimly lit. Just as Cynthia was about to summon a few flames for illumination, there was a sudden knock on the door. Chelsea walked in holding a kerosene lamp and said flatly, "Betty asked me to bring this to you."
The kerosene lamp illuminated a corner of the room. Cynthia smiled at Chelsea and said, "Thank you."
Chelsea placed the lamp on the table but didn't leave. She sat down opposite Cynthia, and meeting her questioning gaze, she explained, "There aren't enough rooms."
The humans were also resting here, and Eunice was in Betty's room, so she had no choice but to come to Cynthia's.
Cynthia nodded in understanding and pointed to the wooden bed behind her. "You can have that to sleep on."
"What about you?"
"I'm not tired." Cynthia took some books out of her Space Gem and said with a smile, "I want to read."
Chelsea lowered her gaze and glanced over, noticing that the book in Cynthia's hand was about the witches' Witchcraft and formations. She was silent for a moment, then dismissed the idea of sleeping and took out a book of her own to read.
The witches' system of formations was rather complex. Chelsea and the others had only slowly learned the basics as children, taught step-by-step by the clan's elders. Someone like Cynthia, who had never encountered formations before, could only grasp the superficial details even by reading books.
However, Cynthia wasn't trying to study the witches' formations. She wanted to find some inspiration from them to see if she could create formations that used the Power of Light.
But this was very difficult. After discovering that the witches' formations required all sorts of materials, Cynthia was already thinking of giving up.
She flipped through a few pages, her brow furrowed slightly. Her fair fingers traced a few lines on the somewhat yellowed pages. Cynthia looked up at Chelsea opposite her and asked, "I saw that the witches have a type of formation that can trap enemies inside. Do you know how to use it?"
Chelsea shook her head. "The elders said that kind of formation isn't practical." So they had never specifically studied it.
The time gained by trapping an enemy with a formation wasn't enough to get very far, given the witches' speed, so it wasn't practical.
Cynthia blinked, disagreeing. "That's very practical."
She reached out and drew a circle on the table, saying with a smile, "If the enemies are trapped and can't escape, we can take our time finishing them off."
Chelsea: "..."
That was true, but...
Chelsea was about to say something, but she suddenly remembered the flames Cynthia could conjure. She swallowed her words and finally said with a deadpan expression, "I'll look into it."
Cynthia nodded in satisfaction and went back to reading her book.
The dim yellow light of the kerosene lamp shone on Cynthia, casting a long shadow of her on the wall. Chelsea watched Cynthia quietly for a while before suddenly asking, "Do you think we can really find humans who can sense the Power of Light?"
"We can," Cynthia said without looking up, her eyes still fixed on the page. "It just takes some time."
"What if we never find any?"
Cynthia's fingers, holding the page, paused. She closed the book. Seeing the confusion in Chelsea's eyes, she propped her chin on one hand and looked at her. Even in the dim yellow light, her delicate features were visible, captivating whether she was smiling or not. "Have a little patience, Chelsea."
"Look at Betty. She's always full of hope."
Of course, she wanted to be like Betty, but the dark reality was slowly eroding her inner expectations. "...Can we really defeat the Vampires?"
"How will we know if we don't try?" Cynthia shrugged, her tone casual. "Besides, this is the only path we can take, isn't it?"
Either die, or drive out the Vampires and enjoy the beauty of this world.
Although Cynthia had sounded casual and confident when she assured Chelsea they would find humans who could sense the Power of Light, the search was, in fact, not going smoothly.
In the past month, they had visited nearly every village and town, large and small, around Hatz City. They had met more than ten thousand humans, but not a single one met the criteria.
Sarah, who had been anxious at first, slowly grew accustomed to it. Although she sometimes wondered if there were simply no humans who could be like them, seeing Cynthia remain as unshakable as ever quickly extinguished the small flicker of doubt that arose in her heart.
Cynthia said there were, so there must be. Sarah always found herself unconsciously wanting to believe her.
"We've liberated all the villages and towns marked on the map. There are probably still some that aren't marked." Betty spread out the map, lying on the ground and studying it with her chin in her hands. "It's strange. We've liberated so many villages, yet there's been no reaction from Hatz City."
This was highly unusual. These villages were supposed to send people to report to Hatz City at regular intervals.
"They might be plotting something. We need to be more vigilant from now on." Cynthia stood on a hillside. The morning mist was thick, but she could still see a village faintly visible through it. "I've found today's target. Let's go."
Betty folded the map, stood up, and trotted over to Cynthia's side. She grabbed her arm and peered into the distance, surprised. "This is a village that's not on the map."
"But it's probably just guarded by Silver Knights like the others." They had only been dealing with Silver Knights recently, who weren't very strong. A few spells from the witches were enough to handle them.
Betty let go of Cynthia's arm, turned to see Chelsea, and said with a smile, "Just as you said, there really are no Vampires here."
Chelsea, staring at the book in her hand, grunted in acknowledgment.
Betty moved closer and asked curiously, "What are you reading?"
Chelsea answered succinctly, "Formations."
Betty was surprised. "Why are you suddenly so diligent?"
Chelsea: "..."
She had always been diligent, but she had been focused on studying Witchcraft. It was only after Cynthia brought it up recently that she had picked up formations again.
If formations could prove more useful, she didn't mind setting Witchcraft aside for a while.
She didn't need to be powerful herself; she just wanted to be useful enough.
The village at the foot of the mountain was neither large nor small. Judging by the houses, the facilities were surprisingly good. A long fence surrounded the village, and there were no Silver Knights at the entrance. There was even a small plot of farmland outside the village.
Betty ran a few steps forward, her eyes widening as she stared at the farmland in the distance. "This place..."
Cynthia came up from behind and finished her sentence, "...doesn't look like a place where prisoners live."
The village exuded peace and tranquility-two of the rarest things on the continent right now.
It was strange, yet somehow not strange at all.
Chelsea also walked over and glanced up. She put away her book, walked forward, and summoned a gray shadow to smash a hole in the fence.
The sound of the fence breaking woke the sleeping villagers. Someone ran out to check on the situation and was startled to see the witches in their black robes. "...V-Vampires?"
Seeing that Chelsea had frightened the man, Cynthia pushed Sarah forward. Sarah's beautiful features, shining silver hair, and pure, clean aura quickly put the villager at ease. He greeted Sarah warmly, "Are you fugitives? Quick, come inside and hide."
Although Sarah was dressed neatly and didn't look like a fugitive at all... the villager opened the fence and whispered to her, "I know you're of the God Race. It's too dangerous for you to be out here."
Sarah was taken aback for a moment. She reached out and touched the villager's palm, then whispered her thanks.
More and more villagers came out of their houses. Although they were also sallow and thin, their clothes were much better than those of humans elsewhere. And most importantly, the expressions on their faces were surprisingly vivid; they were expressing their emotions.
It wasn't just numbness and fear.
These were probably the most normal humans Cynthia had seen since she'd transmigrated.
"...Could there be Vampires hiding in there? Waiting to jump out and grab us once we go in?" Betty asked, expressing her concern with a straight face.
Cynthia was amused by her and replied, "I've never heard of Vampires hiding for an ambush."
As far as she knew, the Vampires had always strutted around this continent as if they owned it.
"Sarah has tested the waters; it should be fine." Seeing that Sarah and Chelsea had already followed the villagers inside, Cynthia gestured for the others to follow. "Let's go too. We can find out what's going on here by asking."
After entering the village, Cynthia found that signs of life were everywhere. There was even a small tavern at the end of the village. Children crouched by their doorways, peeking at them with clear, bright eyes full of curiosity, not fear.
Cynthia briefly observed the village, a faint doubt lingering in her heart. Hearing Chelsea call from behind, she turned and walked toward her.
The villagers had cleared out a few clean houses for them. The villager who had first led them in was named William, and he was the chief here.
When Cynthia followed Chelsea inside, Chief William was looking for cups to pour them water. He looked up, saw Cynthia, and froze for a moment in surprise. "There's another one from the God Race."
Cynthia had been wearing her hood, hiding her long silver hair, so William had only thought Sarah was of the God Race.
Although William was momentarily stunned to see Cynthia, he quickly recovered. He handed her a cup of water and said earnestly, "It's very dangerous for you to be like this. I've lived here for ten years and have seen many of the God Race captured by the City Lord of Hatz."
Cynthia took the water but didn't drink it. Instead, she gently rubbed the rough surface of the cup and said with some surprise, "Ten years?"
No wonder this place felt so lived-in. But... why hadn't they been captured and imprisoned like other humans?
Cynthia sized up Chief William with a scrutinizing gaze.
"That's right, ten years." Chief William smiled with a simple and honest look. "Perhaps the vampire lords don't fancy our blood, so the City Lord of Hatz has never sent anyone to capture us."
Although his gaze was frank, Cynthia still felt that William was definitely hiding something.
She pondered for a moment and chose not to press further. Instead, she smiled and said, "You might be the luckiest humans on this continent."
Chief William waved his hand. "A little lucky, maybe, but certainly not the luckiest." He seemed to want to say more but changed the subject. "The City Lord of Hatz sends people to search the area every month. By my calculations, it should be in the next few days. You'll need to find a place to hide."
He leaned in slightly and lowered his voice. "I've heard the City Lord has been rounding up non-humans to send to Lord Della. You're in great danger right now."
"Lord Della?"
Seeing that they didn't even know who Lord Della was, Chief William's brow furrowed with worry. "Lord Della is a fourth-generation vampire, currently residing in the nearby Manden City."
A fourth-generation vampire was nearby? Cynthia, Betty, Chelsea, and the others exchanged glances, their brows slowly knitting together.
Thousands of miles away from Cynthia's group, in a forest, Olivia sat at the top of a tree. She held a cup of nectar but didn't drink it, instead staring blankly at the somewhat dim sky.
Polly leaped up from below and said in a low voice, "Her Majesty the Queen, an elf has brought news of Cynthia."
As she mentioned Cynthia's name, she glanced up to observe Olivia's expression. Seeing that she remained impassive, Polly breathed a sigh of relief.
In the first few days after they left Nobi City, almost no one dared to mention Cynthia's name in front of Olivia.
In Polly's opinion, whether Olivia got angry or happy upon hearing the silver-haired God Race's name, it always felt a bit off. An expressionless face like this was much better.
Although Olivia's face was devoid of expression, her hand holding the cup tightened unconsciously. She was silent for a moment before asking, "Has she reached the Tallas Mountains yet?"
The young elf girls enjoyed chatting with Cynthia, and Olivia had overheard Cynthia say that their next destination was the Tallas Mountains.
Polly shook her head. "They didn't go to the Tallas Mountains. They're in Hatz City now."
"Hatz City?" Olivia paused, lowering her gaze in thought for a moment before frowning. "If they keep heading west, won't they reach Ochester?"
Polly thought for a moment and nodded. "At their pace, they could probably reach Ochester in about two months."
Ochester... that place wasn't safe.
Olivia pondered for a moment, then stood up and leaped down from the tree. Her pale green hair traced a graceful arc through the air. She turned to Polly, who had followed her down, and said flatly, "Let's go."
Polly's eyes widened. "Where to?"
Olivia gave her a strange look. "Back to the territory, of course."
Polly let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, I see." She had thought Olivia was going back to find that silver-haired God Race.
Olivia looked Polly up and down a few times as if she had read her mind. She frowned slightly, displeased. "You're becoming more and more flighty, Polly."
How could she possibly go looking for that God Race member whose mind was filled with nothing but frivolous thoughts?
She had things to do back in her territory. Of course, after those things were done... she would also make a trip to Ochester.
But Olivia would absolutely not admit that her trip to Ochester had anything to do with that silver-haired God Race.
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