Chapter 77: What kind of normal person keeps a diary
The body under her foot felt stiff when she nudged it, which meant the person had been dead for quite some time.
Peiya crouched down and turned the body over. It was a square-faced man. When she looked lower, she noticed he was wearing church clothing.
“He’s from the Church. Someone found this place before us… and died here.”
They were still excited about exploring, so this sudden situation hit Peiya hard. She stood there in shock for quite a while.
If someone had died here, then the mine was probably not as safe as they thought.
Could it be that the Ice Bear King had some hidden trick?
Church members usually carry holy items, so they shouldn’t die so easily.
Peiya searched his body and, as expected, found a bronze cross in his pocket.
It looked similar to the one Victoria wore around her neck, but this one was bronze and more decorative.
“Do you recognize this?” Peiya turned to Elise. Elise looked calm as usual.
She stepped forward and nodded.
“That’s a Judgment Cross. If I remember correctly, this style is only worn by Judicators, the ones you saw in the Holy Library before. You might not know this, but church ranks are divided by the crosses they wear. The lowest level uses bronze crosses like this, and higher ranks use different colors. For example, cardinals wear red ones, and the top figures like the Pope wear shining gold ones.”
Peiya thought for a moment. “Last time, I saw Victoria wearing a white one.”
“She’s a student of the Holy Academy, so she can only wear a silver-white cross. It’s not as high-level as the one you’re holding. To make it simple, silver-white is like a school uniform, while this bronze one is like formal wear.”
Peiya was surprised. “Wow, I didn’t know that. Looks like I really only understand a tiny part of this world. Are Judicators strong?”
Elise nodded. “Yes. They’re like mid-level officers in the Church army. Much stronger than normal adventurers. If someone like this died so miserably, then there must be some kind of danger deeper inside. Miss Peiya, to be safe, I suggest I go ahead alone to check the path. You wait here.”
“How can that be okay?” Peiya stared at Elise, like a hungry, angry dog unwilling to back down. “You’re trying to leave me behind again, aren’t you? We agreed no one abandons the other. Why are you going ahead alone?”
“Don’t make trouble. It’s dangerous inside. You saw it yourself, someone already died. I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Peiya’s eyes turned red. “And what, you won’t die?”
Elise shook her head. “I won’t die.”
To be honest, she didn’t want Peiya to take this risk. They still didn’t fully understand what was deeper in the cave.
She still clearly remembered how the research team had fainted before. Now there was also a dead Judicator.
Things were changing too quickly. Elise had already decided this was something Peiya shouldn’t get involved in.
This was something she had to handle herself.
“That’s nonsense!” Peiya’s chest felt tight, like something inside was hurting. “You said you cared about me, but when danger comes, you just say ‘I’ll protect you’ and go alone? Did you ever think about how I feel? That’s selfish, really selfish!”
“Miss Peiya, I’m worried you’ll get hurt.” Elise crouched down so they were at eye level and could look at each other.
“And I’m not worried about you?” Peiya shot back. “Did you forget what you said last night? We’re partners, we face danger together. But now you’re acting like some hero in your own story. Your idea of ‘protecting me’ is just making yourself feel good. I don’t need that kind of protection, understand? Usually, I can be your wings. But when needed, even small feathers can become your sword.”
Peiya spoke a long stream of words. In her eyes, Elise also needed to change.
Elise paused for a moment, then gently placed her hand on Peiya’s soft silver hair and gave a warm smile.
“Alright. I promise, I won’t act recklessly this time.”
“And not next time either. Let me check if there’s anything useful on him first, then we’ll go deeper.”
Peiya wasn’t going to miss such a good chance to search for loot.
She searched the body again and found a diary. After a quick look, it was filled with hard-to-understand, strange religious ramblings.
The most shocking part was that this guy’s diary only recorded one thing.
How to praise the sun!
Damn!
As expected… he was crazy.
What kind of normal person even keeps a diary like this?
“Peiya, did you find something? Your face doesn’t look too good,” Elise noticed her muttering and asked.
Maybe because of what Peiya had just said earlier, Elise felt a bit warm inside. This time, she stood closer to Peiya. If she paid attention, she could even smell a faint fragrance from her.
It was very pleasant, like being in a field of flowers.
Sniff… sniff…
“This dead guy was also chosen by the sun or something. Look at his diary, it’s full of lines praising the sun. He’s probably a follower of some Sun God cult. But I remember the Church’s main belief isn’t about the sun, right?”
“It’s not,” Elise shook her head. “Looking at the patterns on his clothes, he’s probably from a branch division, one of the less fortunate ones. The main division prefers to follow the supreme ‘Knowledge.’ She was the foundation when the Holy Academy was first built, and you could say she was half the creator of the Church. But after the war with the witches five hundred years ago, she fell into a deep sleep and has been missing ever since.”
“Something like that happened? That’s strange then. If he’s from the Church, why is he alone? No companions at all. Could it be that others came with him, but someone wanted him to die here on purpose?”
“I don’t know. We don’t have enough evidence right now. The Church itself is quite divided because of different beliefs. But that’s not something we can deal with now. Let’s keep moving forward, maybe we’ll find more clues ahead.”
“Alright…”
Peiya put the diary back and searched the body again. After finding nothing useful, she gave up.
Her hope of finding some powerful Church artifact was completely gone.
“Can this cross be useful?” Peiya played with the cross in her hand. It was surprisingly well-made.
It didn’t feel sharp or uncomfortable at all, more like a piece of smooth jade.
With the dim light, she could see complex patterns carved at the bottom of the cross, like passages copied from scriptures.
Elise thought for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, it can. Didn’t you awaken holy light power? This cross can help you use basic holy-type magic. To put it simply, the reason students from the Holy Academy are stronger than adventurers who also have holy light talent is because of items like this Judgment Cross. The power of magic depends partly on the user’s mental strength…”
“...The stronger the mind, the stronger the magic. But it can also be enhanced by tools. For example, my enchanted sword. It boosts my magic through enchantment, improving the medium I use to cast spells. And the Judgment Cross in your hand works in a completely different way. It’s part of the Church’s controlled system, using the power of faith to strengthen magic.”
“That’s so powerful?” Peiya was surprised. This unexpected gain felt almost too good.
“Of course. You can’t just get a Judgment Cross whenever you want. You’re just lucky. Many people who awaken holy light abilities are taken by the Church first. They’re brought to the Holy Academy to study, and only after proving they are faithful enough will they be given a Judgment Cross.”
Peiya’s heart started beating faster. “Now you’ve got me excited. Let me try it.”
She poured a bit of magic into the cross. The complex patterns on its surface began to glow.
Soon, a beam of light surrounded her whole body. It felt warm, and the area around them became much brighter.
It was much stronger than normal lighting magic.
“This is amazing. It’s my first time using something this powerful.”
“There are many powerful items you don’t know about yet. It’s fine to use it here, but once we leave, keep it hidden. If the Church finds out the Judgment Cross is in your hands, someone will come looking for trouble.”
Elise warned gently, her eyes already focused on the path ahead.
“No problem.”
Peiya quickly followed her and looked deeper into the cave.
The entire mine suddenly looked clear and crystal-like. The walls reflected their faces from all sides.
But in the next moment, everything changed.
All the crystals shattered at once, and in every broken piece, a pair of angry bear eyes stared back at them.