Chapter 109: Elise, Of Course Is My Wife
“That’s all? It’s just a small matter?” Maya covered her mouth lightly, her smile calm and unreadable.
“You agree?”
“Of course. I’m not a bad person. In fact, I quite admire you. I’ll handle delaying the Beast Tamer Association. As the guild leader, I’ve always disliked excessive research on magical beasts. Human curiosity without limits can bring disaster to ourselves. Even though this trend can’t really be stopped, I still oppose it. Of course, I also understand that studying magical beasts can help protect human society better. But I still instinctively dislike it. No real reason.”
“I understand your difficulties. As a guild leader, you also have your limits. I’m already very grateful that you can help me a little within your ability.”
Peiya thought carefully about Maya’s honest words. In the end, she was still a public official, so she had her own concerns.
She could only offer help within certain limits.
Maya shook her head.
“No, don’t underestimate yourself. You created those patents and helped the Dikert Guild grow. As a guild leader, how could I back down at a key moment? Even if you are not fully in the right this time, I will still hold them back. And to be honest… I’m also very interested in your research results.”
“Alright.” Peiya smiled gently.
The steady sound of the carriage wheels echoed in the air.
Not long after, Victoria woke up. She stretched, then moved to the small window and began directing Maya on the route, carefully avoiding church staff along the way.
“Victoria, how can you detect those church people?”
Peiya noticed earlier that Victoria had been holding her cross. She wondered if the cross worked like a radar that could sense nearby church members.
She had heard Elise mention the “Judgment Cross” before. If she remembered correctly, Victoria’s silver cross was a lower-grade version compared to the Judgment Cross.
The difference was like ordinary school uniforms versus official staff uniforms. Someone holding a Judgment Cross was basically part of a higher-ranking group, not something students could compare to.
Victoria turned her head.
“You mean this? It’s not a secret. I can sense them because of this silver cross. Normally, only the Judgment Cross, the one given to official Judicators, has detection ability. But my teacher recently gave me a device that strengthens my holy power inside my body. Now I can sense other church members. Honestly… I even suspect my teacher already knows about your existence. Giving me this now is probably to protect you. My teacher is very sharp. Why would she give me something valuable for no reason?”
“Helen is helping me?” Peiya quickly sorted through the information in her mind, trying to connect the pieces, but no clear answer came.
The main reason was that she still knew too little about the church.
She could tell that Victoria was, intentionally or not, revealing inside information about the church.
Her motive was unclear.
Peiya didn’t ask directly. If Victoria was only hinting, then it meant this might be something forbidden in the church. Asking directly would be too careless.
She would repay Victoria later if there was a chance.
The two of them naturally continued talking, neither interrupting the other, calmly discussing the Judgment Cross.
With Victoria’s explanation, the identity and function of the cross finally became clear.
It turned out that the “Judgment Cross” was first made to control some Holy Church members whose holy light would go out of control. Later, it was also used to tell the difference between true believers and heretics. After that, both sides chose representatives to speak for them, and the Pope gave these people the title of Archbishops so they could discuss these matters together.
Later, Cardinals were ordered to manage these different bishops of different beliefs. By that time, the Judgment Cross was no longer just a tool to suppress runaway holy power. It had also become a symbol of status.
Peiya paused for a moment. She suddenly thought of how clothes were also first made to keep people warm, but later slowly became decorations.
Thinking of that, Peiya looked down at her own clothes. Her white dress spread out over the chair like a blooming lily.
Then she thought that this outfit was prepared by Elise, and her heart felt warm. She gently tucked the edge of her dress closer under her legs. Such a beautiful dress would be bad if it got dirty.
“Miss Peiya, please don’t tell anyone what I just said.” Victoria put her hands together and looked pleading.
“Mm, no problem. I won’t tell outsiders.”
“Great! I think we’ve arrived. Let’s get off the carriage too. Don’t keep Maya waiting too long.”
After saying that, the two of them got off the carriage together.
Peiya looked at where they had stopped. They were still some distance away from the Calamity Forest. The road ahead was not easy to travel, and the carriage probably could not go further.
At that moment, Maya walked over holding some dry grass. Seeing that they had already gotten off, she greeted them with a smile.
“Perfect timing, you’re down. Help me block the wheels.”
“Why use dry grass to block the wheels?” Peiya asked.
She took the dry grass from Maya and followed her example, stuffing it under the wheels.
“The wheels of the guild carriage are different from normal passenger carriages. They are smoother and have less grip. If we don’t block them, they will slip on slopes.”
“What about safety then?” Peiya asked. “If someone steals the carriage, we’ll have to walk back.”
Maya smiled. “It’s simple. I can use magic to hide the carriage. But if the carriage slips into a ditch, should I first check if the magic failed, or go fish the carriage out of the river?”
“Mm… that is indeed a problem. I’m done here. What about you?” Peiya stood up after finishing.
“I’m done too. Where’s Victoria?”
“She’s by the river,” Peiya pointed.
“Victoria, aren’t you coming?”
“You should come take a look. Something is strange in the river. I can feel a very strong smell of blood on the riverbed.”
“What?” Peiya quickly jumped over a rock and ran toward the riverbank. Maya also finished her magic and followed right behind her.
“So… so many monster corpses.”
Peiya stared at the riverbed. There were many monster bodies lying everywhere, as if they had all rotted there. The sound of flowing water kept going nonstop. It was hard to believe this was the same river from not long ago.
She sniffed slightly and frowned.
Wait…
Victoria just said there was a strong smell of blood, but she didn’t smell anything at all!
Strange. Very strange.
Victoria and Maya also had strange looks on their faces. They looked at the clear river and asked, “Corpses? What corpses?”