Chapter 70: [Priestess] and [Light Scale]

Due to such rapid development and military conquests, although the Ost Empire was unmatched in strength, it had never had the surplus to address the numerous problems that came with territorial expansion.

For instance, the cultural conflicts between the various provincial territories formed by individual race nations and their local governing bodies, even places like the Coastal City of Leila, and the small number of “countries within countries” that were more independent.

Until the last century, the Ost Empire’s expansion had reached a bottleneck; with the north facing the ice plains, the south bordering the Abyss, and the east facing the sea, there were almost no targets left aside from the Holy Empire to the west. It was only then that the rapid expansion of conquests began to gradually cease, and they started to focus on internal governance.

Due to concern over the Holy Empire’s power, to avoid direct contact that could overly provoke this colossal entity that had survived for a millennium, the royal family at the time even proactively abandoned the occupation of certain smaller countries in the western part of the empire that they could easily annex, leaving them as relatively independent territories that lay between the two great empires as a buffer zone.

This was also one of the important reasons why there had never been a real military conflict between the two great empires.

However, according to Xi Fu Lin, due to certain changes within the Holy Empire and the Ost Empire’s centuries-long accumulation, it appeared that the imperial family was somewhat dissatisfied with the status quo and was beginning to stir again.

Right now, it was merely a phase of garnering allies and testing waters. Once preparations were complete, who could say what might happen next?

Of course, such national, or even world-level changes had no direct impact on Miss Vilyric. At least, for now, she did not plan to get involved in such troublesome matters or take sides, as there were too many considerations; she wouldn’t want to be like some queen who lost their hair from stress every day~

Being active as an Adventurer was indeed a rather good choice.

That said, since Miss Vilyric didn’t lack money, she rarely frequented various Adventurer Guilds and had almost never participated in serious Adventurer work, so her level should logically not be that high.

However, she vaguely remembered that a certain individual named Liliya Meikailande had previously used her private connections to surreptitiously boost her level to an undeserved height, so…

“Guarantee? Miss, guaranteeing a newcomer’s exemption from the assessment for registration is a privilege only higher-level adventurers of Earth rank and above have, and directly guaranteeing to Mithril rank requires…”

The receptionist youth across the counter skillfully took the badge offered by the Priestess, originally focusing on the impressive beauty and aura of the three women and kindly explaining things since they appeared so young. But as soon as he glanced at the badge, he was so startled that his hand trembled, nearly dropping it on the table.

“Legendary level?!”

As the most important identity symbol for each adventurer, the level of the badge is easily recognizable, even by outsiders.

The lowest entry-level badge is just a plain wooden plaque inscribed with the owner’s name. It accompanies each adventurer through a long rookie period, and only upon reaching the next level of Copper rank is it exchanged for a corresponding badge made from the appropriate metal.

From this baseline, with each level increase, the Adventurer Guild will embed corresponding pieces of Mithril and other metal to mark different levels.

Once surpassing the Earth rank threshold and becoming known as a high-tier adventurer, the guild even remakes the badge anew using a whole piece of expensive Ink Steel, then carves out patterns representing different ranks in earth and sky—monstrous beasts or flying birds.

As the pillar of the guild and the upper echelon, Legendary level adventurers not only enjoy various privileges, but their identity badge, made of Ink Steel, is also allowed to be customized according to personal preferences, symbolizing their unique style.

What Miss Vilyric displayed at that moment was indeed such a badge, with its design representing the unique title recognized by the world’s guilds for every Legendary level adventurer.

The receptionist, feeling his heart drop, hurriedly lowered his head and closely examined the pattern on the badge, racing to recall every Legendary level adventurer’s information in his mind, even breaking out in a cold sweat due to the tension.

After all, there were only about ten Legendary level adventurers acknowledged by guilds worldwide! A regular employee might not even get a chance to handle their requests in a lifetime!

Who was this individual before him!?

Thinking along those lines, the image of a snow-white staff appeared before his eyes.

It was thinner than the typical staff used by mages, with a gem set at the top and wing-like white circular rings extending from either side, exuding an air of nobility and holiness.

In that moment, a name not particularly famous, but rich in legend, flashed through his mind like a lightning bolt.

He suddenly lifted his head, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“[Priestess]… [Priestess]! Could you be the One who, since registration, has only completed three adventurer tasks and was directly promoted by the guild, the legendary Legendary adventurer, [Priestess] Vilyric-sama?!”

“Uh? Oh…”

Miss Vilyric was stunned for a moment, then gradually began to process what was happening.

The title…

Now that I think about it, back in the Kingdom of Kwei, in the city of Yanilo, when I took that mission to hunt the [Southern Disaster], the guild president, Epunya, indeed had me and the Little Dragon Daughter think of a pattern and title representing our identities when updating to this badge. At that time, I didn’t think much and just casually slammed down the [Eternal Staff] on the table and threw out the name [Priestess] on a whim…

I didn’t expect it would actually be used… Uh, was I too casual back then?

Oh well, Priestess it is; while it doesn’t sound particularly powerful or anything, it’s somewhat fitting.

“Yes, I am Vilyric. I seem to remember that a Legendary level adventurer can indeed guarantee newcomers’ registrations up to the highest Mithril level. That rule should still stand, right?”

The youth nodded rapidly.

“Yes, yes! That’s obvious… Um, I’ve heard that the [Priestess] and another Legendary level adventurer, [Light Scale], are always seen together, practically inseparable. Now that you’ve arrived at the Coastal City of Leila, could it be that she…”

“Hmm?”

Miss Vilyric tilted her head, feeling a hint of confusion.

The way he spoke sounded like mere curiosity, but as a trained employee of a large adventurer guild, he shouldn’t be bringing personal feelings into his work, much less prying into unrelated matters, especially regarding the whereabouts of Legendary level adventurers.

What was this person’s deal?

Am I overthinking it? But considering that his surprised reaction was just of that degree, this employee’s professionalism should be quite high…

After a moment of thought, she casually reached out to pat the head of the golden-haired little girl across the counter, who was hidden from sight, and decided to respond to the inquiry simply.

“She has some matters to take care of, so she didn’t come with me this time. By the way, does the guild have a rule that our party members must appear together for validity?”

“Ah, of course, there are no such rules! Hahaha… Um, but please wait a moment, [Priestess] sama. The identity of a Legendary level adventurer is quite important, so the guild’s backend needs to perform a simple verification of the badge, is that alright?”

“…? Fine, please hurry.”

“Alright, alright…”

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the young employee quickly called over a female colleague nearby, whispered a few instructions to her, and in the shocked reaction of her wide-eyed stare, hastily dashed into the inner hall with Miss Vilyric’s adventurer badge, quickly disappearing from sight.

Having observed their interaction, as the substitute female employee approached with trepidation, Miss Le Qiao Qiao couldn’t help but cover her mouth and ask Miss Vilyric quietly.

“Boss, what level is a Legendary level adventurer? It sounds really impressive. Are they all like you, celestial beings? Why do they need to keep verifying their identity repeatedly?”

“Not at all…”

Miss Vilyric shook her head helplessly.

Although she seldom frequented the Adventurer Guild, she could see that such odd procedures were unreasonable. Not to mention, badges like that already have detection equipment at the counter; why would they need to run it to the back?

There was only one explanation—he was going to find someone.

   

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