Chapter 55: Apply for Heritage Status!

At that time, in the Adventurers’ Guild.

Guild Master Maya was just about to clock out and go home.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the tightly closed door.

Maya paused for a moment and looked toward the door.

“Sorry, the guild is already closed at this hour. If it’s not urgent, please come back tomorrow.”

“It’s me, Victoria, from the Holy Academy. I wonder if Guild Master Maya could make an exception?”

Victoria was wearing her formal robe, the kind she usually wore on prayer days. A silver cross hung around her neck.

Inside the room, after hearing that it was someone from the church, Maya put down the documents she was packing, casually tossed them into a cabinet, and went to open the door.

“Victoria, what brings you here? Shouldn’t you be studying with your teacher? Instead, you came to bother an old, lonely woman like me.”

Victoria walked in, sat down, and smiled.

“How could that be? The Adventurers’ Guild also has things worth learning for us at the Holy Academy. My teacher said we should always look for opportunities to grow and learn.”

“No need for polite talk. You didn’t come here just to chat. Say it, what do you want?”

Victoria froze for a moment with her teacup in hand, then smiled even more.

“Since you put it that way, I’ll be direct. I want to ask if your guild has a female adventurer named Peiya.”

With the information Lisa gave her last time, Victoria deliberately added details to avoid asking the wrong person.

“Oh? What kind of person is so important that you came here in person?”

Maya leaned back in her chair, resting her hand on the desk, trying to act like she wasn’t familiar with Peiya at all.

Others might not understand, but someone in Maya’s position knew very well what the Holy Academy was like.

Over the years, there had been many conflicts between the church and the Adventurers’ Guild. To be more precise, the church wanted to gain the support of adventurers.

After all, the church wasn’t stupid. The king had openly started educating large numbers of common people, telling them that knowledge had long been locked inside the church, out of their reach.

This was a huge blow to the church.

It was basically like challenging them directly, almost like shouting, ‘Take down the church and seize everything!’

But the church couldn’t openly stop people from getting education. So they could only watch as the king raised more and more people who opposed them, with no good way to stop it.

At this time, the neutral Adventurers’ Guild became even more attractive to the church.

Even if adventurers weren’t as outstanding as academy students, they were still valuable.

The church still wanted support from ordinary people. Otherwise, one day, donations might completely disappear.

Because of this long standoff, the relationship between the church and adventurers had become very complicated.

Some people liked the church, others hated it deeply.

In short, it was a complete mess.

This was also why Maya tried to act like she didn’t know Peiya.

Before understanding the church’s intentions, she didn’t want to push that girl into danger.

Seeing Maya act like she “wasn’t familiar,” Victoria felt a bit confused.

That shouldn’t be the case, right?

Lisa’s guild was quite well-known, how could Maya not know?

But directly asking the guild to hand over a person was impossible.

Wouldn’t that make it obvious she came to take someone away?

Even though that was exactly what she was doing, Victoria understood how complicated things were between powerful groups. As just a messenger, she had to pretend not to know too much.

Even if the answer was obvious, she still had to act clueless.

So, after thinking for a moment, Victoria said,

“My teacher noticed a talented newcomer during her travels and wants me to learn from her. It would be too rude for me to go directly, so I thought I should ask you to introduce us.”

Maya forced a smile.

In her heart, she thought, ‘Victoria, you really are shameless.’

Coming to take someone from her territory and even asking for her help?

It was so obvious it almost hit her in the face.

As expected, people from the Holy Academy were really cunning.

There wasn’t a single rude word in what she said, but it still felt extremely unpleasant.

She really didn’t treat her, the guild master, with any respect at all.

Not only did she want Maya to help, she even expected gratitude for it.

This kind of excuse might fool an eight-year-old, but you couldn’t really find anything wrong with what she said. So Guild Master Maya could only respond politely.

“If it’s about learning, then why don’t you stay at the Adventurers’ Guild for a few days? Your church also encourages students to gain experience outside, right?

How about you use your holy magic to help us deal with the Ice Bear King that has been troubling us for a long time? For someone from the Holy Academy, that shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”

“Oh, not at all. I’m just a beginner. I’ve looked into that Ice Bear King, you’re all using the wrong map, so how can you even talk about defeating it? And besides, I came with sincerity. I’m willing to give her the real map of the Ice Bear King. I don’t think any adventurer would refuse such an opportunity.”

Since she had already been seen through, Victoria decided to stop pretending.

Today, she came here to take someone away.

If she couldn’t even recruit one adventurer, how would the seniors at the Holy Academy look at her?

However, Maya’s reaction poured cold water on her.

“That won’t be necessary. If your teacher is interested in her, don’t you think your teacher could draw the correct map herself?”

Victoria was shocked. “Ha, so you really do know something, right? Don’t worry, our Holy Academy won’t treat her badly. My teacher would love to tie her up— I mean, place her at the top of the church like a treasure. I don’t even get that kind of treatment!”

“‘Tie her up,’ huh? Your Holy Academy really hasn’t changed. But that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m just a guild master. How could I possibly know everyone? If you really want to meet her, why not find her yourself?”

“……”

Victoria understood now, Maya was speaking in circles.

She clearly knew, but just wouldn’t say.

“If I could find her, I wouldn’t be asking you.”

Maya poured a cup of tea and pushed it toward her. “Haste makes waste. Why don’t you stay at the guild for a few days? If I happen to meet her, I’ll introduce you.”

Seeing Maya’s firm attitude, Victoria realized she wouldn’t get an answer anytime soon. So she reluctantly nodded.

“Fine. Then give me a place to stay. Otherwise, I’ll just stay in your office and not leave.”

“Sure. If you want to stay, then stay.” Maya pointed at the sofa, then at the floor. “There’s a blanket down there. It’s new, I haven’t really used it.”

“Huh? You’re seriously going to let me stay here? I was joking!”

At this point, Victoria was completely anxious. Wait, was Maya really going to let her sleep like this?

“See? Now you don’t want to stay after all. But let me give you a reminder. She’s very special, and her movements are unpredictable. Even I don’t know where she is. If you really want to invite her, why not offer her some knowledge from your Holy Academy?”

“No, absolutely not! If I tell her that kind of knowledge, I might get struck by lightning.”

Maya spread her hands. “See? Your Holy Academy offers her nothing. Why should she teach you anything? Victoria, being too selfish isn’t good.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to give it. The church has been very strict recently. I can’t tell you more. Just remember, this kind of knowledge cannot be shared easily. My teacher once said, knowledge is a kind of disaster. Getting too close to the truth of the world can destroy both the world and yourself.”

Maya waved her hand and smiled. “I’ve heard another version, new beginnings often come after destruction. If that’s all you came for, then you should go. You won’t meet her.”

Based on Maya’s understanding of Peiya, if she had been hiding her strength all this time, she was probably avoiding attention from the Holy Academy.

So why would Maya tell Victoria anything at all?

The reason was simple.

The Holy Academy would never give up easily. If they really wanted someone, they wouldn’t be this polite.

Victoria, in the end, was just a pawn, sent to test how capable Peiya really was.

She would go back and report everything she learned. That would only make things more complicated.

So keeping Victoria here was the key.

It would give the Holy Academy the illusion that everything was under control.

As a rare mind-type mage, Maya knew the Holy Academy wouldn’t stop. The reason she stayed here was also because of guidance from a certain expert.

The Adventurers’ Guild held the key to her advancement, and perhaps Peiya was that opportunity.

“Victoria, come here for a moment.”

“What is it?”