Chapter 87: Let’s Give Life a “Yeah!” Sign!
When she was young, Peiya used to complain that the church was too strict with people like them. Everything had rules, and people were always divided into ranks.
But as she grew up, those complaints slowly faded away, covered by all kinds of things in life.
It was like she began to understand more and more that life is actually very simple. Even something small, like talking and chatting with someone you care about, can already make you feel happy.
Sadly, days like that are like a palace in the sky… beautiful, but impossible to truly hold.
“Miss Peiya, sometimes I used to think you were just saying nice things on purpose to make me happy. But now I understand.”
Elise looked at her gently.
“You’ve always been trying to be yourself. I really admire that. Because of many reasons, I always have to wear a mask and live in a beautiful but fake world.”
“I’m not complaining. My background gave me a lot, and I’m luckier than many people. But deep down, I like the real you more.”
“It feels like I can reach out and touch you… instead of something I can feel but never truly hold.”
Peiya lowered her head and looked at her feet. After hearing that, she didn’t dare look into Elise’s eyes, afraid Elise might see through her thoughts again.
“Well… you’re already doing really well. Many people aren’t as good as you.”
“Can I take that as a compliment?”
“I guess so. You’re… great!”
Elise’s delicate face showed several expressions in a row, and in the end, she couldn’t help but laugh.
“You too.”
“I’m not.”
“Hm?”
“I’m even better.” Peiya raised her hand and made a peace sign.
Every day, give life a “yeah” sign!
“You really… tell me, what made you so happy? You used to be serious and didn’t joke like this.”
Peiya glanced at Elise, her expression much more relaxed now.
“I learned it from you.”
“I don’t remember teaching you that.”
“Then I must have learned it myself. Anyway, I’m just happy because we’re going back. The city has good food and fun things. It’s much more interesting than here.”
“That’s true. Are you going to the Adventurers’ Guild first?”
“Yes.”
Peiya didn’t deny it. When she got back, she really planned to meet President Maya, and also talk with Victoria.
For now, she didn’t plan to tell Elise about this, so she wouldn’t worry.
Besides, she was doing this partly for Elise.
She needed to understand what Maya and Victoria really thought about her. That was important.
The four of them represented four different forces. Maya stood for the neutral Adventurers’ Guild. Elise represented the royal family. As for Victoria, she belonged to the Holy Academy, but she definitely didn’t come alone.
Without the church secretly influencing things, Peiya didn’t believe any of this would happen.
And then there was herself, Peiya. She was the most complicated one. She was connected to all of them, and now she had also been pulled into the Witch’s side.
As things became more complicated, relying only on what she knew before was no longer enough. She had to start taking action herself, instead of just depending on powerful groups to protect her.
In other words… she wanted to do something for Elise too.
Seeing how serious Peiya was, Elise nodded.
“Alright. Let’s go. It’ll be dark soon.”
……………………
Not long after the two of them left, another group arrived at the cave.
Father Ross entered the mine with his men. When he saw the broken crystals, he immediately felt that something was wrong.
As he went deeper, he ran into Bal, who was coming back.
“Father Ross, you’re here?”
Ross looked at Bal, whose clothes were still clean. He guessed things weren’t too bad, but out of politeness, he still asked in a serious tone:
“Sir Bal, how is the situation inside?”
“It’s mostly resolved. The boss monster was probably killed, but we didn’t find its body.”
“Killed?” Ross froze for a moment, finding it hard to believe.
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the adventurers, but before coming here, he had already investigated. At that time, the maps those adventurers had were wrong. In that situation, even finding the Ice Bear King would be difficult, let alone killing it.
“That’s right. On our way in, we met Lady Elise. She told us the monster had already been defeated. She asked us to rescue the other adventurers in danger. Her sister is also inside, so I think the information is reliable.”
“Did she come alone?” Ross still sounded doubtful, though many of his questions were already answered.
Elise was the youngest legendary adventurer in the kingdom. It wouldn’t be strange for her to find the right place and kill an Ice Bear King.
What Ross couldn’t understand was why she was involved in this matter.
Right now, the witch was about to revive. It was hard to believe her actions had nothing to do with that. Could it be that the old nobles in the kingdom were also interested in the witch’s power?
That possibility wasn’t small, it was actually very likely. Those nobles loved to challenge the church’s limits.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have openly built academies to teach knowledge to poor people. In the past pope’s time, that would have been seen as disrespect toward knowledge.
But now, the current pope said nothing about it.
Ross didn’t understand why. He was just a priest, and these power struggles had nothing to do with him.
Still… there were exceptions.
A distant relative of his had recently shown potential to become a bishop. If Ross could achieve something and help him succeed, he might get a chance to rise in position too.
“You mentioned Lady Elise. There was someone with her, but that person looked dirty and messy. I couldn’t see clearly, probably just a servant. You know her personality. I guess the situation got too big, so the Adventurers’ Guild asked her to step in. After all, now that they have someone with a duke’s background supporting them, they won’t just ignore it. They’ll definitely try to get closer to her.”
Ross nodded. “That makes sense. Bal, you’ve worked hard. Are you heading back now?”
Bal showed a bitter expression, as if he had something unpleasant stuck in his throat.
“Hard to say. Quite a few church members died this time. Even one of my colleagues died here. I need to think about how to report this to the bishop. You know there’s going to be a new round of bishop appointments soon. If something like this happens at this time and isn’t handled well, my superior might treat my head like a ball.”
“What?” Father Ross’s eyes widened.
Bal’s colleague had died, that meant an Judicator had been killed.
It wasn’t a very high position, but in times of peace, it was still a serious issue. After entering peaceful times, the church had set many strict rules.
Even one death required a complicated process to handle. More importantly, just as Bal said, this incident could affect the upcoming bishop appointments.
“Should we inform Bishop Mosil? I saw him earlier.”
Bal moved his lips slightly.
“We definitely have to report it, but not now. He has ties to the Sun Church. If we release the news too early, the opposing side will use it against us. They’ll accuse us of not caring about lives, of discriminating against other believers, and claim we don’t care whether our followers live or die. Incidents like this will just become political tools for endless arguments. It’s a huge headache. To be safe… let the bodies stay undiscovered a bit longer.”