Chapter 92: Temple of Bright Light in the Storm

As I stepped onto the streets of Mingguang City again, the patrolling Temple Knights had clearly become denser, and every short distance I walked, I frequently spotted notices posted by the church, depicting the wanted poster of that Black and White Mask.

These were sights that hadn’t appeared yesterday.

Such a big commotion made it seem that the true situation in Mingguang City last night was far more severe than the so-called rumors.

Perhaps due to the accurate depiction of that Black and White Mask, Miss Vilyric, wearing the Mask of the God Fox while strolling through the streets, still attracted the attention of many passersby and especially the patrolling Temple Knights. However, because there were notably clear differences between the two masks, today, no one approached to stir up trouble.

Smoothly, Miss Fox headed straight for her destination.

Mingguang City has nine districts, each with its own temple, but the one where the Saint of Bright Light usually resides is, of course, the largest and grandest Temple of Bright Light located in the central Bright Light District. I recalled that someone was half-dragged here for a visit yesterday, but this would indeed be my first time coming here voluntarily.

Passing by the lively square with a ten-meter-tall stone statue of the Light Goddess and a steady stream of believers and worshippers, I was greeted by the high, imposing gates of the Temple of Bright Light.

Although the level of patrols and curfews within the city had massively increased, near the temple in the Bright Light District, it appeared to still maintain the harmonious appearance from yesterday.

Saint Knights clad in white armor patrolled back and forth around the temple, while priests and nuns were in the spacious main hall, listening to the concerns of a long line of people, solving their various problems, much like the receptionists at an Adventurer’s Guild.

Most of these services were free, especially for recognized believers of the Church of the Goddess; only when requiring some relatively precious and non-recoverable resources would a request need to be notified to the upper bishops for allocation and approval, with the applicant required to pay a small portion.

By the way, if one was a believer of the Church of the Goddess, this payment would typically be eligible for discounts and waivers, and under certain circumstances, could even be completely free.

It was precisely because of such generous benefits that among over a billion local residents in the Holy Empire, the number of believers in the Church of the Goddess reached a terrifying 80-90%. In other words, as long as one met the conditions and wasn’t too far gone, few locals would refuse to formally join the church.

Of course, the official reasons couldn’t be stated so plainly.

Not long after stepping into the main hall of the temple, a young female priestess, or rather a nun, wearing a golden round hat approached me.

“Praise the Goddess, may the light be with you! Welcome to the Cathedral of Bright Light. How may I assist you?”

Though her actions seemed rather routine and her smile artificial, and the nun’s gaze was obviously fixed on Miss Fox’s mask, perhaps it was the faint aura of divine light emanating from her as a holy figure, or her clean appearance and neat priestly robes that easily left a good first impression.

Overall, she was quite likable upon first meeting.

In truth, excluding those who joined the church for personal gain, most of the genuine holy figures that Vilyric encountered, be they Temple Knights or these priests and nuns who selflessly provided assistance and healthcare, including the Supreme Leader of West City, the Saint of Bright Light, Yuna, felt quite reliable to her.

These individuals, one could say, truly held a yearning for the light and devout faith—simply put, they were good people.

If it were otherwise, if their motives were solely profit-driven, the Church would not have been able to establish temples almost everywhere in the world and garner an immense following representing over a third of the world’s total population.

While her mind wandered to such thoughts, the emotions of the girl veiled by the Fox Mask still appeared calm as she nodded.

“Hello, my name is Xī. I’d like to see the person in charge here.”

She certainly couldn’t just waltz in and say, “I want to meet your boss, the Saint of Bright Light!”—that would likely get her tossed out as a troublemaker. So, she had to be a bit more subtle.

“Alright, if you’d like to… huh? Did you just say your name is?!”

“…Xī, is there a problem?”

Caught off guard by the girl’s strange reaction, Miss Fox blinked for a moment, but the young nun just widened her eyes, stared for a moment, and then blurted out, “Sorry! Please wait right here!” before dashing away, leaving Vilyric, who was bemused but hidden behind her mask, standing there in confusion.

What… was that about?

Though puzzled, since the nun had made such a request, Vilyric couldn’t just turn around and leave; she had to wait at least for the return of that little nun.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long. In under a minute, the nun came rushing back from the inner hall, accompanied by a middle-aged man dressed as another priest.

And this new arrival was evidently not just another ordinary holy figure.

The identification method to recognize priests of the Church of the Goddess mainly relied on the holy emblems they wore; almost all basic believers’ emblems took the form of two wings. Based on seniority and details, they could be classified into three colors, white, silver, and gold, from lowest to highest.

The white two-winged emblem represented the most basic members, making up more than half of the believers in the church. Many who joined to gain benefits belonged to this group.

To advance to a higher level would require greater effort and contribution, mostly without compensation. In other words, what’s the point? Besides changing the color of the emblem, the treatment would remain unchanged.

The young nun Vilyric encountered earlier wore a silver two-winged emblem, indicating she had provided assistance in the temple for at least several years without compensation.

Nevertheless, even she was merely an ordinary believer; her status in the temple wasn’t particularly high. For a real qualitative change, one must achieve at least a four-winged emblem.

To earn a four-winged emblem, one typically needed to serve in the temple for ten to even twenty years, or be a believer who made notable contributions, such as defeating heretics or major demons, thus obtaining the title of a regional or town bishop.

For example, the priest accompanying the nun, while appearing to be just in his early thirties, wore the highest-level golden four-winged emblem. This indicated he was likely a top administrator of the entire Temple of Bright Light, akin to the right-hand man of the Saint of Bright Light.

Moving up from there, the highest-level six-winged emblem could only be worn by individuals holding extremely prestigious titles, such as members of the three divine lineages, council members of the holy church, the Pope, or the Saint—people like the Holy Knight, or Saint Yuna, whom Vilyric knew, belonged to this category.

At this level, the color of the holy emblem was entirely reflective of the purity of one’s faith, or simply put, what Vilyric referred to as the “light attribute affinity.”

“Whew… whew… Are you… Miss Xī?”

Skipping pleasantries, this priest, who clearly wasn’t adept at physical labor, came panting up to Vilyric and spoke directly.

“It’s me, well… Looks like Yuna isn’t here?”

“Uh, actually… Huh? How did you know that?”

The bishop was about to say something when Miss Fox interjected with her observation, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded, and after coming to, he could only helplessly shake his head.

“Such keen observation, no wonder the Saintess specifically left word for you… Yes, as you guessed, Miss Xī, she left the Temple of Bright Light not long ago to attend to other matters.”

“Before leaving, the Saintess particularly instructed me to inform you when a girl named Xī wearing a White Fox Mask comes by—‘Sorry, let’s meet at the usual place; something came up, I went ahead.’”

“Hmm… huh? That’s it?”

   

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