Messai put on her templar’s armor again. She placed the steel arm guard over her arm. On the arm guard was an insignia of a flag and sword in crisscross. That insignia used to be the proof of her identity.
But now... that insignia had no use whatsoever.
This was a room located in the core region of the Holy City. Reportedly, not even the most renowned archbishops would be able to enter this place. The only people that could move about through this place were the Saintess Herolia and her chosen retainers.
Messai was extremely fortunate to become one of Herolia’s retainers. But, what truly brought joy toward Messai was the fact that... she survived.
When Messai came to the Holy City, she had resigned herself to the fate of being sent to the condemnation stage after the trial. Even the best outcome would be being dispatched to the icebound frontier.
But now, she was still able to stay in the Holy City. Nevertheless, she was slightly regretful of one thing... being unable to return to Norland again.
Messai held her forehead. She tried her best to not think about her memories in Norland.
That place was a demon’s lair. It was a city that nearly caused her fall from grace. Especially that ‘Hearthstone’ game... Thinking with a clear head, she had squandered a whole lot of money, time and effort on that game.
She must break away from all those now that she’ll be staying in the Holy City...
Even though Messai was reminding herself nonstop in her heart, she subconsciously opened the magic network. Cheryl’s message once again popped up from the magic network interface.
‘Hey! Are you still alive? If you’re brought to the underground torturing chamber of the Heresy Tribunal, there should be a key hidden under the floor tile to the left of the entrance!’
Messai had no idea how she was still able to receive messages from Norland in the Holy City. But, as Cheryl messaged her out of concern, she decided to send a reply back to Cheryl even though they’re now enemies.
‘I’m alright.’
Right after Messai sent that message, the door to the room was pushed open. Messai immediately closed the magic network interface and turned around to look at the door.
The Saintess Herolia walked into the room. There were no attendants or nuns accompanying her. She was all alone.
“I’ve heard that, since the World Expo, you’ve been stationed in Norland for over two months?”
“That’s correct.”
Messai was filled with confusion as to why the Saintess Herolia saved her. But, she decided to suppress her questions in her heart and answer all the questions Saintess Herolia had for her first.
“In that case... do you miss Norland?”
Herolia’s next question caused Messai to immediately choke with emotions.
Her reasons were telling her that she should treasure the opportunity given to her by the Saintess Herolia and stay in the Holy City as her bodyguard.
But, there was a voice deep within her heart telling her nonstop ‘If you don’t return and open a card pack or two, your deck will be completely phased out by the new cards.’
At this moment, Messai finally realized what the ‘devil’s whisper’ was. This temptation was no illusion.
Suddenly, Messai heard a sound in her head. She immediately opened up the magic network and discovered that it was a message from Cheryl. The sound she heard was the message notification sound.
‘You’re alright? Then, are you able to find a way to escape back to Norland? Even though the Nation of the Holy Church is a bit far from Norland, it’s still better than staying in that boring place forever. Furthermore, I’ve not used any of the stuff you’ve left me. Once you return, you can use them to buy card packs yourself.’
After reading the message, Messai truly wanted to use her hands to type a response of ‘There’s no need. Thanks.’ back to Cheryl.
But, Herolia had slowly walked over to Messai. If she was to suddenly extend her hands to tap in midair, it will definitely raise suspicions in Herolia.
“Answer me, Messai.”
Herolia arrived before Messai. She was a head shorter than Messai. But, Messai knew that this Saintess was even older than her own grandmother. Of course, Messai had lived in the Holy Church’s orphanage her entire childhood and didn’t even know who her parents were.
The sentence ‘I’m very curious’ seemed to be written on Herolia’s jade-blue eyes. They pressured Messai to answer her truthfully.
“It is... more interesting than I expected.”
Messai didn’t know why the Saintess Herolia would be curious about her stay in Norland. But, it was impossible for her to describe her experience in Norland with few words.
At this moment, Messai suddenly recalled the originium crystal the adjutant requested for her to deliver to the Saintess.
“Lady Herolia, my adjutant hoped to be able to deliver this to you.”
Messai took out the originium crystal she had kept hidden and handed it to Herolia. Strictly speaking, that orignium crystal containing the access to the magic network was a demon’s creation.
But, it does not possess any danger. Furthermore, Messai would at times pick up weapons from fallen demons on the battlefield to use.
“Never would I expect for that young missionary to be your adjutant. But, that wouldn’t affect anything.”
Herolia accepted the originium crystal from Messai. She held it and examined it for a long while.
“Lady Saintess, I must call to your attention. This orignium crystal is actually...”
“Created by a demon, right?”
Messai wanted to inform Herolia the true identity of the magic network. But, Herolia declared its identity before she could say finish.
“Yes.. that’s right,” Messai nodded.
Messai knew Herolia to be the person closest to god. Thus, she believed Herolia should possess enormous hatred or disgust toward demons. However, the reality wasn’t that...
“But, what’s inscribed into this originum crystal are the Runes of Order and not the demon’s chaotic magic power.”
Herolia instilled her magic power into the originium crystal. The originium crystal let out a pure white light. The Runes of Order inscribed in the originium crystal began to overflow to the surface.
The magic power began to gather toward Herolia...
Herolia crushed the originium crystal in her hand. Like a flood, the Runes of Order started to pour into her body. She attempted to comprehend the principle behind the composition of the magic network. But, the amount of runes were simply too terrifyingly many. In the end, Herolia gave up on that thought.
“This is the magic network?”
Herolia looked to the interface that appeared in her line of sight. There were only three special icons on the near-empty desktop.
With the demonstration given by the adjutant before, Herolia immediately extended her finger and tapped on the Mage Forum icon. The Mage Forum interface appeared before her eyes. But, she did not obtain her wish... she did not manage to enter this whole new world. Instead, an ice-cold notification message refused her entry.
‘Internet connection lost...’
Internet... connection?
Herolia pondered about the meaning behind this message. After tapping ‘confirm,’ the Mage Forum’s interface was completely blank. It was completely different from the one the adjutant showed her.
At this moment, a sphere of light appeared on Herolia’s shoulder. This sphere of light was some sort of living creature. It lingered on Herolia’s shoulder for a moment and seemed to have whispered something to her.
The next moment, Herolia suddenly grabbed Messai’s hand as if to confirm something.
“Lady... Herolia?”
“Sure enough... is this caused by the remnant of the World Tree?”
Herolia didn’t bother to pay attention to Messai at all. Her attention was completely captured by the full-bar signal at the bottom right corner of the magic network’s desktop.