Chapter 43: The Battlefield of the Goddess’ Followers and Dragons

Under the guidance of Xiao Guang, Vilyric, who had followed the scent of dragons, finally stopped at the entrance of an inn.

“Xia — Yun — Ting?”

She pronounced each character etched on the signboard. With just three stories, the inn made Miss Priestess tilt her head in confusion.

“Is this really the place? It doesn’t seem particularly special. Shouldn’t a hotel for dragons be more luxurious and grand?”

“Master, the presence has already faded. I think they might have appeared here, dealt with someone, and then left.”

For the first fellow of her kind encountered in this world, the Giant Dragon Miss showed a bit more enthusiasm than usual, surprisingly beginning to analyze alongside Vilyric.

“Well, you’re right. Let’s just go in and take a look.”

Upon entering the three-story inn, which could only be considered of medium size in the royal capital, both Vilyric and Little Dragon Daughter immediately noticed the place was rather chaotic, with many people darting about.

In the midst of the commotion — near an entrance on the second floor, the wall had been blown open with a hole over a meter wide, surrounding it was a charred mess.

“Master, the residual presence is right there.”

Xiao Guang pointed to the gaping hole surrounded by curious guests and staff, many of whom were discussing and pointing at the destruction.

Due to the current chaos, the signboard girl seemed to have vanished, likely busy with something else, leaving nobody to greet Vilyric and her companion, allowing them to easily reach the scene.

With her strength value of over ten thousand, the Priestess easily parted the crowd and arrived at the hole, staring momentarily at the blackened marks on the wall before making a judgment.

“This should be from a Holy Light-type energy; I’m very familiar with this kind of fluctuation.”

Though the abilities in this world’s temples are entirely different from those in games, the magical elements that make up the world — basic light particles — are exactly the same.

The Holy Light skills used by Vilyric, the Holy Light driven by faith-based magic, and the light magic summoned by orthodox mages are essentially the same thing, the only differences being structure and intensity.

The light element remaining here is distilled very pure, almost like the standard Holy Light used by people capable in the temple.

Or is it the Holy White Dragon? Is this the guy Xiao Guang is sensing?

No, my pet is a high-ranking branch of the Holy White Dragon. Vilyric knows very well, if it were a true dragon, the purity and destructive power of the light element would be much higher than this.

It seems highly likely that it was someone from the temple who clashed with another dragon.

Upon entering, Vilyric had already observed that there was no one in the room. Although a fierce conflict should have occurred, the furnishings inside remained relatively intact, with the only damage being the large hole in the wall.

It appeared that one party in the fight didn’t want to attract attention and used a barrier-like ability, but it broke due to the intensity of the clash.

The outcome of the battle… who won and who lost?

If it were an adult true dragon, based on game standards, it should at least be at the pseudo-god level, making it hard for humans to compete.

But the temple serves some goddess or other, so perhaps they could use some means to draw on godly power to go toe-to-toe with a dragon.

Speaking of temples and the Church of the Goddess, Vilyric has already encountered quite a few related figures, such as Bishop Isaac of Flame Dragon City and that Holy Knight girl named Edwina whom she had met twice.

On the whole, the members of the temple gave the Priestess a pretty good impression, embodying that air of compassion and the intention to help the world. Though possibly a bit rigid, from another perspective, this adherence to rules also seems to sustain order and stability.

Should she go inside to take a closer look and investigate further?

“Make way, make way! The city guards are here!!”

A commanding shout rang out from nearby, overpowering the surrounding chatter and interrupting Vilyric’s thoughts.

She pulled Little Dragon Daughter, silently stepping aside to let the group of soldiers in black armor surge into the room.

Forget it, it’s not necessary.

The temple members have nothing to do with her; even though she’s somewhat interested in the potential dragon, since they’ve already left, staying here probably wouldn’t yield any important clues.

Best to find a place to stay first and meet Liliya alone in the evening.

By the way, there’s the Adventurers’ Guild I originally planned to head to; if so, might as well check it out and look for an inn nearby.

“Let’s go, Xiao Guang.”

“Okay, Master.”

Now it’s the festival period, and the official handling of unexpected events is very strict. Before the guards completely surrounded the incident site, Vilyric and Little Dragon Daughter concealed their appearances and quietly left the “Xia Yun Ting.”

One must say, the City of Courage is incredibly vast, even more outrageous than the Wanku Fortress she had been to in the West; according to the map, it took a full hour to walk from Xia Yun Ting to the Adventurers’ Guild, which is also located in the north of the city.

It’s said that it takes an entire day for a carriage to travel from the southern city gate along the official road to the northern city gate.

From this, one can see just how expansive the City of Courage is; it surpasses any regular city in Vilyric’s memory on Blue Star.

And this isn’t even the largest city in the world; the City of Angels, the imperial capital of the Ost Empire, and several other particularly large cities are all at least as big as the City of Courage.

Along the way, Vilyric also experienced the prosperity of the royal capital of this united kingdom.

Even during this special time, it’s said that the current traffic is only about half of what it usually is, yet to the Priestess, it felt like a sea of people. Streets, various shops, inns, and stalls were bustling with activity, the crowd pressing in all around — it was quite the lively scene.

Though this may have something to do with the northern city being the economic center of the royal capital, where the density of nobles and the wealthy is highest, it’s likely that other districts aren’t too far behind.

This royal capital, compared to other cities in the united kingdom, truly feels like two different countries are being ruled; the degree of its prosperity and economic development is in a league of its own.

No wonder it’s marked as being in a category apart from the first-tier cities; even a king understands the need to ensure his own household is the best.

That’s just human nature.

With these thoughts, Vilyric and Xiao Guang played and observed along the way, finally arriving at the Adventurers’ Guild in the City of Courage, the largest and original guild for all adventurers in the world.

It is said that the Adventurers’ Guild in the City of Courage is the very first ever established, so the term “original” isn’t an exaggeration.

Standing on the roadside, the Priestess looked up at the ten-story tall, massive building that lay sprawled across the ground like a giant beast, feeling a sense of wonder.

After all, she could be considered an adventurer herself.

According to records, this Adventurers’ Guild is the second-largest building in the City of Courage, surpassed only by the royal palace, located in the center of the northern district, covering at least a million square meters.

Since its establishment, this building has constantly been renewed, fortified, and expanded, undergoing over eight hundred years of history to reach its current scale. It can be said to encapsulate the essence of the entire history of the united kingdom, serving as a true monument that remembers the past.

Now, Vilyric was about to step inside.

   

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