Chapter 33
It wasn’t until that moment that Nelly was certain the shipwreck was truly the prelude to a hidden plot.
The legendary King Halga’s sword had actually appeared. It could only be said that Melissa was extremely lucky.
After obtaining the sword, the connection to the system was immediately restored. Relying on the map, the three of them soon found a nearby village to rest. After a day of recuperation, they set off for the not-so-distant Halga’s Keep.
Along the way, Melissa’s spirits were high. Nelly became familiar with her fighting rhythm and consciously guided her to do a little more than the quest required. Step by step, Melissa’s sword swings and skill usage became more proficient, and she was no longer as clumsy as before. As for the Heart of the Hero… of course, it was temporarily treasured away, to be used when she was of a high enough level.
Kal no longer needed to intervene, nor did he speak. He just minimized his presence and silently acted as the shadow at the back of the party. Nelly and he didn’t speak, and naturally, they didn’t bring up the inconclusive conversation on the beach again.
That moment of probing and pain, like the storm, seemed to be just a fleeting backdrop that quickly faded from their minds as the stage changed.
Two days later, Halga’s Keep finally appeared on the horizon.
It was the time when the sun was about to set. The southern spring afternoon was the warmest and most pleasant, and even the wind blowing from the old imperial capital seemed to be a little more fragrant than in the countryside. The winding city walls, against the sunlight, were like a black snake, stretching out to the edge of their vision, still showing no sign of ending.
The impassive posture of the city walls had the coldness of a snake, reminding one of the three-headed serpent, the symbol of the old empire. Further in the distance, the lines of the magnificent palace in the city glittered in the sunlight. That must be where the heart of the continent’s temple, the Norn Palace, was located.
The Norn Palace was built on a hill in the city. It was said that its roof was covered in gold leaf, and even from outside the harbor, one could clearly see this blessing from the goddess’s envoys. After all, it was once the center of a vast empire. Even though it had been reduced to a marquisate’s main city, the mere silhouette of Halga’s Keep had a grandeur that the new royal capital, Mez, could not match.
Nelly’s party left the narrow country road and entered a flat, gravel road. The road grew wider, and dense olive trees were planted on both sides, swaying gracefully in the spring breeze. The number of carriages and travelers also increased, and merchant caravans traveled side by side, shouting and laughing with each other.
From their laughter, Nelly felt none of the tension of the Demon King’s rampage in the north.
But the calmness of the people of Halga’s Keep was as famous as the gold-leaf roof of the Norn Palace—when the southern city gate was breached back then, the nobles living in the northern city continued to debate, bathe, and enjoy themselves as usual. Everyone thought that the hill and the dividing wall that separated the north and south of the city would surely hold.
Now, the demon army was behind the mountains on the other side of the inland sea, even further north. To the people of Halga’s Keep, those few northern counties that had been swallowed up were probably just an insignificant, irrelevant topic of conversation.
The attitude of the guards at the city gate toward the hero was not as friendly as in Canossa.
A tanned, sturdy young man looked at the pass from the Marquis of Nafaray back and forth several times, and sized up the three of them suspiciously for a long time before he reluctantly and lazily raised his spear to let them pass, seeming to be dissatisfied that he couldn’t find a fault to extort some money.
Melissa couldn’t help but let out a disdainful snort.
“Does Melissa want to take a look around the city first, or go to the Norn Palace for an audience with the Lord Hierophant?”
“Hmm… let’s get the important stuff done first, shall we?” Melissa scratched her chin. “That way, we can have a good meal tonight!”
Nelly was no longer surprised by the Lord Hero’s priorities. She familiarly led Melissa and Kal through the farmland of the outer city, past another checkpoint, then across the bustling southern market, through a series of stone-paved alleys, past an abandoned memorial stone pillar, and finally arrived at the foot of the hill where the Norn Palace was located.
A snow-white temple stood majestically and sacredly at the mountain gate. The marble steps leading to the temple gate were lined with olive trees, swaying gently in the light wind.
Melissa looked up for a moment, then lowered her gaze deeply, crossed her hands on her chest, and bowed on the spot. She was actually a devout believer of the temple.
“I’m not going in,” Kal said at that moment, pulling his hood down and stepping to the side.
“Don’t go far!” Melissa scratched her hair in frustration, then, as if remembering something, she carefully tidied up her appearance before nodding to Nelly. “Let’s go.”
Her voice trembled slightly, and she actually seemed extremely nervous.
After reporting to the temple guards, a handmaiden in a floor-length white robe soon came out to greet them. “May the three goddesses bless you, chosen hero. Please follow me.”
Every time she accompanied a hero to the Norn Palace, the center of all the temples on the continent, Nelly would feel a little uncomfortable. It wasn’t just because, as a resident of the global village, she naturally had a critical view of the existence of temples. It was also because the system that had kidnapped her to this world was carrying out the will of the temple.
They passed through the side door of the temple dedicated to the goddess of the present, Verdandi, above the mountain gate, and walked along an elegant corridor for a while. Looking out through the gaps between the straight stone pillars, the scenery of the western half of Halga’s Keep was revealed. Nelly’s gaze passed over the city and settled on the north. Behind the undulating mountain range, which looked like just a faint black line, was the place she truly had to go.
In just a moment of distraction, Melissa had gotten a few steps ahead. Nelly hurriedly followed.
They ascended the steps and soon arrived at the main hall of the Norn Palace at the top of the hill.
The snow-white square brick plaza, so clean it was almost blinding, was surrounded by colonnades. On the left was another temple built for the goddess of the past, Urd. It formed a straight line with the Verdandi temple at the mountain gate, extending to the downward slope to the north, where there was a third temple dedicated to the goddess of the future, Skuld. And on the other side of the plaza stood the Wellspring Hall with its golden eaves. This magnificent main hall was the heart of the Norn Palace and also a sacred place in the hearts of all temple believers.
The handmaiden crossed her hands on her chest and curtsied slightly, saying softly, “The Lord Hierophant is waiting for you in the hall.”
Melissa nodded solemnly, returned a bow to the handmaiden, straightened her collar, and slowly walked between two Doric stone pillars, which were as thick as three people could embrace, and stepped into the Wellspring Hall on the sea-wave-patterned stone floor.
In the main hall stood statues of the three goddesses. They linked arms, their expressions different, and faced an ancient well in the middle of them. The lines of their robes and hair falling down were lifelike. A person in a white robe with a blue cloak over it was kneeling on the altar in front of the statues. He heard the sound, turned his head, and smiled faintly.
It was a face of indeterminate age. The soft features and platinum-blond hair blended together, giving one a feeling of holiness and gentleness, and at first glance, one couldn’t even remember his appearance. A second look would meet his pale blue eyes, as clear and calm as well water. The color of his eyes was so pale it appeared gray, and in the candlelight of the hall, it was like glass, almost transparent, as if it could reflect the deepest colors of one’s heart.
This gaze was compassionate and transcendent, and it would only make one feel a sense of shame that reached the dust, not daring to look directly, and deeply regretting one’s impoliteness. But people were soon comforted by the pity in this gaze and felt a sense of intimacy and submission welling up from the bottom of their hearts.
This was the Grand Hierophant of the temple, the goddess’s envoy in the human world, Lux.
Melissa knelt on one knee and said humbly in a low voice, “By the call of the three goddesses, I have come to the Norn Palace to see the Lord Envoy and request your blessing.”
After that was the textbook-like blessing plot. Nelly, half-kneeling at the side, almost fell asleep listening—who could blame her when Lord Lux’s voice was as gentle as water, unhurriedly reciting long sentences that were hard to understand, making one want to record it as sleep music.
After finally getting through this plot, Nelly couldn’t help but take another look at Lux. Perhaps it was because she had been kneeling for too long and her eyes were playing tricks on her, but she actually felt that the Hierophant’s glass-bead-like eyes had settled on her meaningfully for a moment.
“The road to the Demon’s Lair is perilous. Have you thought about the path you will take?”
When Nelly looked again, he had already turned to ask Melissa about her intention to change her class with a pleasant expression, and there was nothing unusual. Was she being paranoid again?
A female attendant in a white robe came forward again, bowed wordlessly, and signaled for Melissa to follow her to the secret room behind the temple. There, the hero would complete the choice of her class.
With a treasure sword like the Heart of the Hero in hand, Nelly was almost certain that Melissa would become a swordswoman.
Before she could enter a state of emptiness, another female attendant came forward and said in a soft and calm voice, “Please follow me.”
Before Nelly could ask, this beautiful but cold-tempered priestess had turned and walked away, her posture very lofty, clearly not intending to explain any further. Although she was confused, Nelly still followed the female attendant through the corridor on the right side of the main hall and came to the outside of a side hall.
The female attendant wordlessly told Nelly that this was their destination.
Passing through the archway, Nelly stepped into a long, narrow rectangular hall. The air was filled with a light scent of incense.
The hierophant in the white robe and blue cloak was bent over slightly, carefully lighting the candles at the end of the aisle. His well-maintained hand was cupped around the brass candlestick to shield the flame from the wind. Even this simple action was done with extreme delicacy, exuding a calm and composed air learned from a pampered upbringing.
Lux unhurriedly straightened up, as if smiling, his voice gentle. “Guide No. 1028, after consideration, we have decided to provide you with some explanations.”