ALL NOVEL Chapter 65
Chapter 6: Testing and Anecdotes of the Temple
“Miss Vilyric, are you referring to those magical beasts that contain the legendary dragon’s bloodline? Of course, I know, after all, there are plenty of similar magical beasts around Flame Dragon City.”
The City Lord seemed to deliberately emphasize the term magical beast, while Vilyric insisted on countering her.
“Oh? I think… those who possess dragon blood aren’t necessarily just magical beasts.”
Nastaia furrowed her brow, her expression darkening for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure. “What you mean is the royal lineage of beastmen, the Half-Dragons, right?”
As the lord of the city of giant dragons, Nastaia naturally had a deep understanding of all things “dragon,” especially since Flame Dragon City is a western city with plenty of opportunities to interact with beastmen.
“Exactly.”
This time, the Priestess did not continue to press aggressively; she appeared to completely disregard the City Lord’s change in expression, smiling as she explained.
“While I’ve never seen a Half-Dragon, if they are indeed the same existences I envision… to put it bluntly, those afflicted with Dragon Blood Disease are actually mutating in that direction, blending human and dragon blood… Half-Dragons.”
“Mind your words!”
The City Lord displayed shock, checking to ensure the door to the private room was securely shut before seriously advising the girl in front of her.
“Miss Vilyric, please refrain from mentioning such things again. I know well what a Half-Dragon is; putting aside the enmity between beastmen and our nation, how could those patients, half-dead as they are, possibly be connected to Half-Dragons?”
“The United Kingdom has strict regulations in this regard; if someone with ill intentions hears you, it could be deemed slander.”
“Well… that’s why I said they’re failed mutations.”
Vilyric shrugged, seemingly indifferent to the City Lord’s warnings.
“The bloodline concentration isn’t enough, the purity is too mixed; an ordinary human body can’t withstand such intense mutations, which is why they evolved into their current state. If I’m not mistaken…”
The Priestess suddenly smiled brightly at the young lady, her eyes filled with meaning.
“Miss Nastaia, this disease must be somewhat related to that fallen Red Dragon here, don’t you think?”
“……”
Nastaia obviously hesitated. She seemed to have some unspeakable secrets, wanting to say something but unable to make up her mind. After a long pause, the City Lord gritted her teeth.
“Miss Vilyric, I know you have some curiosity regarding this matter, but please remember, Dragon Blood Disease is a disease and not something else. You only need to treat it; don’t delve deeper into it. That would be beneficial for both you and us.”
Saying this, she quickly added.
“Of course, regardless, your reward will be given without any deduction!”
Well, that part doesn’t really matter.
The promised reward for recruitment is nothing more than gold coins and magical items; in Vilyric’s eyes, these material possessions are trivial.
Vilyric didn’t come for the reward in the first place; she initially just wanted ease and didn’t want to wait in line. Later, however, she found the situation quite interesting and just wanted to figure out what was going on.
She certainly wouldn’t just leave after ambiguously curing the patients and leaving Flame Dragon City; after all, her second objective was to investigate the dragon-related intelligence.
But there was no need to rush.
“Do as you please; I should be staying at this inn during my time in Flame Dragon City. If you figure something out or if anything else happens, you can find me anytime.”
“……Alright, I’ll trouble you, Miss Vilyric. For now, let’s end it here for tonight; farewell.”
Nastaia bowed her head in a salute and left the room, her mind heavy.
A quiet night followed.
The next morning, Vilyric, along with Xiao Guang, headed straight to the official medical center from yesterday.
Bishop Isaac and City Lord Nastaia were already waiting.
“Hey, good morning to both of you~”
“Good morning, Miss Vilyric.”
Nastaia had already regained her usual gentle and graceful demeanor, as though everything from last night hadn’t occurred. However, Vilyric noticed that the way Nastaia was looking at her was somewhat unnatural, filled with both caution and a hint of veiled expectation.
“May the Goddess be with you, Miss Vilyric. We will trouble you once again today.”
Isaac, not wearing protective gear, was a mature man nearing his forties, with neatly styled golden short hair, thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a benevolent face that very much fit the characteristics of a priest.
He held a holy emblem, adorned with a pristine white symbol of the Goddess, which somewhat resembled a cross on Blue Star but with slight differences; the horizontal bar was shorter than the vertical, and there were four wing-like extensions behind it.
It’s said that the holy emblem worn by temple officials in the Holy Empire is quite significant; first, it is categorized according to status by the number of wings, which can be two-winged cultists, four-winged bishops, and six-winged divine messengers. Among those with the same number of wings, there are also differences in the colors of their emblems.
In short, it’s very complicated, with hierarchical relationships being extremely strict. Of course, this division isn’t solely based on strength, but rather on “closeness to the Goddess.” The closer one is to the Goddess, the higher their status.
The key point is that the majority of people in the Holy Empire believe deeply in such seemingly ethereal notions, should one call it the simple-mindedness of the people in another world?
The Holy Empire is a state where church and state are unified; their king is the Pope of the temple, and the temple holds immense power, with branches established in almost every major city worldwide, including Flame Dragon City.
The official narrative is that they are doing good and spreading their doctrine, but anyone with some sense can see that this is actually a form of covert infiltration.
This is unavoidable.
First of all, the Holy Empire is exceedingly powerful; in terms of national strength and area, it can almost be said to be the world’s number one.
The religion they follow, the Church of the Goddess, is a broad faith encompassing nearly all intelligent races. Anyone aspiring for peace can worship the Goddess.
This has led to nearly every country and race in the world having a substantial number of believers of the Church of the Goddess. Even according to incomplete statistics, the believers almost account for nearly a third of the world’s population of billions. What an enormous influence!?
Oh, except for the Beast Kingdom and the Feather Kingdom; the former couldn’t care less about this, after all, gods can’t fill their stomachs, while the latter unifies its faith under the God of Sky and Freedom.
The Church of the Goddess could develop to such a scale for a reason; the most important point is that the Goddess genuinely responds to every sincere believer.
The temple’s “faith-based magic” is a truly existing power system. As long as one offers sincere prayers to the Goddess, the goddess will respond to you and grant you the light’s power.
The more condensed the spirit, the more sincere the faith, the more powerful this strength will be. Thus, the high-ranking officials of the Holy Empire are the most loyal followers of the Church of the Goddess; this point isn’t just hot air.
The Church of the Goddess’s doctrine is very open; aside from core personnel, as long as ordinary believers worship the Goddess and do not commit crimes, they are free to live as they please.
This causes the faith of the temple to fully integrate into people’s daily lives.
Especially in high-risk professions like adventurers, who often need to battle, the dependence on priests is particularly severe. Therefore, in the Union Kingdom, which rose through adventuring, the influence of the temple runs deep, with Goddess believers accounting for almost half the entire population.
So, that’s why Liliya said earlier that religious authority cannot interfere in politics; it’s also a helpless preventative measure.
The power of faith comes in many forms, with priests leaning towards healing and assisting, arbiters primarily judging heretics and demons, and holy knights specializing in combat and protection—all of which are essentially determined by the desires within the hearts of the believers.
Though many people are reluctant to admit it, the basic consensus in the current world is that the “priests” in the faith-based magic branch indeed possess the strongest healing abilities at comparable levels.
In comparison, long-established potion studies, medicine, and healing magic seem to fall short, not to mention that priests also wield combat support capabilities.
In fact, this profession is quite similar to Vilyric’s, but she had previously tried seeking a priest in Wanku Fortress. The so-called faith-based magic and the power she brought from the “Illusionary World” are fundamentally different systems.
The abilities of priests, regardless of their strength, are not self-cultivated; rather, they resemble lower beings borrowing power from some higher existence.
This is the bounty of the gods, where humans borrow power from the goddess’s hands.
The Goddess truly exists.
The God of Dawn and Hope—Aurora.