Chapter 157: Open Strife and Boring Miss White Fox

Yuna’s voice, though not particularly loud and laced with her signature gentle tone, quickly caught the attention of Miss Vilyric, who had just entered the conference room. The middle-aged bishop, likely the representative from the Holy City, suddenly found his already strained smile freezing in place, looking unsure of how to respond.

The words had stunned the Holy City representative, and the Saintess merely turned her head leisurely to acknowledge a certain Miss White Fox who had just entered the tent, giving a slight nod.

“Good morning, Miss Xī.”

“Good morning! It seems I’m coming at a bad time ~”

In response, Yuna managed a subtle smile, one that was far more genuine and natural than when dealing with that representative from the Holy City.

“Not at all, you’re just in time. Please, have a seat.”

The Saintess gestured to the only empty chair closest to her, which was obviously saved for someone special, likely having anticipated her arrival.

Vilyric didn’t hold back, nodding and sitting down close to Yuna, then looking up to size up the representative across the round table, who appeared to be left hanging and particularly awkward.

Although he too wore the Holy Emblem of the Four Wings, his attire clearly differed in style from the western folks, likely a result of cultural differences.

Miss White Fox feigned ignorance.

“And who might this be?”

Yuna smiled and nodded, her tone soft as if the earlier heated confrontation had never happened.

“I’d like to introduce, this is Archbishop Ian Nois, representing the Holy Church from the City of Angels, responsible for liaising with our western Expeditionary Army.”

Not so subtly, the Saintess emphasized the three words “Holy Church,” and before the representative could rush to respond, continued to gesture toward the White Fox girl beside her.

“Archbishop Ian, this is Miss Xī; you must have heard of her by now.”

Originally, the newcomer named Ian had been secretly observing the suddenly bold Miss White Fox with a contemplative expression. Upon hearing the Saintess confirm her identity, he perked up, immediately putting on a friendly smile, standing to place a hand on his chest in greeting.

“Oh, so you are the one who stepped forward in Mingguang City to single-handedly defeat the main forces of the masked demon! It’s an honor to meet you, truly! I am Archbishop Ian Nois, Deputy Director of the Holy Court, may the Light bless you, and may the Goddess’s protection be upon you ~”

“Hi there!”

Though it seemed he wasn’t exactly favored by Yuna, Vilyric didn’t completely align with the Expeditionary Army either and found it hard to appear overly cold when someone was showering such praise. A nod served as her greeting.

By the way, the Holy Court is another name for the temple in the City of Angels, and unlike Mingguang City’s grid layout, it follows a traditional design of distinct inner, outer, and core districts.

The so-called core area occupies about one-tenth of the Holy City and is home to the Holy Court Temple, renowned as the largest, most magnificent structure in the world—a sacred place in the hearts of Goddess worshippers globally.

Even with the Holy Empire’s status as the world’s strongest nation, it took more than ten years, involving countless human and material resources, to construct it when the capital was established here over three hundred years ago.

The completion of the Holy Court also marked the Holy Church’s official replacement of the three Saintesses as the highest governing body of the Holy Nation and the definitive end of the Third Demon War.

Naturally, the leader of the Holy Court is the head of the Holy Church, referred to as the Holy Pope.

In other words, this representative from the Holy City and Holy Court could confidently be tied to Pope Augustus Lambert.

No wonder nobody gave him a pleasant look.

While Archbishop Ian seemed to have plenty he wanted to discuss with Miss White Fox, clearly it wasn’t a good opportunity. He could only smile sweetly at Vilyric again and return to the previous topic.

With Miss White Fox’s entrance as a buffer, he seemed to have thought through how to counter Yuna’s earlier assault, and he directly explained.

“Your Highness the Saintess, while this decision was not discussed by the Holy Church, it was approved directly by the Holy Pope. The Holy Church has a lot on its plate, and there are bound to be some minor oversights in details; it would be overkill to discuss everything in court, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Moreover, we did not refuse the army’s arrival; we simply wished to allocate a separate encampment outside the city for reorganizing the troops to swiftly engage in combating demons. This matter is significant, and we hope the Saintess and everyone can understand the Holy Court’s good intentions…”

“You…”

The previously hot-tempered Holy Knight almost immediately had something to say, but Yuna merely remained indifferent, cutting him off with a glance, and nodded blandly.

“I see, what Archbishop Ian says has merit. In that case, I have no intention of forcing the issue, but the specifics regarding troop placement, resource allocation, and when to continue advancing… still require thorough discussion; what do you think, Your Excellency?”

It seemed he hadn’t expected the Saintess to relent so easily. The originally tense Ian was momentarily caught off guard, quickly recovering and nodding earnestly.

“Of course, of course! You’ve all traveled far, and the Holy Court has prepared ample supply and comfortable accommodations for the army. Your Highness, please take a look at this map…”

Without hesitation, Ian pulled out a map and spread it across the table, clearly having prepared well in advance for this discussion.

The subsequent conversation hardly involved Miss White Fox, dealing with details like “how the knight groups should be stationed, which units should amalgamate for battle, how many personnel each camp should accommodate, and how much supplies there are…”

In the end, Vilyric found it all uninteresting.

The only point that piqued her interest was when Ian mentioned during their discussion about the meeting time that “the Redeeming Saintess and her healing group coming from Huadu had encountered some minor troubles, which had delayed their schedule, and they might arrive later.”

However, it seemed Yuna was already informed about this and didn’t show much surprise or inquiry, leaving Miss White Fox feeling slightly concerned yet unwilling to interrupt their conversation.

Thus, after about an hour, during which someone even started contemplating “how many spoons of sauce to put in the noodles tonight,” the initial discussion regarding the army’s stationing and movements was finally wrapped up.

   

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