Chapter 34
This was the first time Nelly had come face-to-face with the Grand Hierophant of the temple, and by extension, the temple and the system he represented.
She maintained a calm expression, but her voice betrayed her inner tension. “Please speak.”
Lux was not at all displeased by her obvious aloofness. He just calmly spread his hands, a gesture as tolerant and lofty as a sermon. “First of all, the last time was an accident. We apologize for the unpleasantness it caused.”
Nelly’s lips moved, and her brow furrowed slightly, as if a retort was on the tip of her tongue, but in the end, she restrained herself and swallowed it. She closed her eyes, clearly pained by some memories that had surfaced.
Lux maintained a cultured silence, waiting for her to speak with a polite yet compassionate air, the same gentle smile still on his face.
Nelly quickly composed herself and said drily, “It’s not that I don’t believe you, but the Demon King I guide the hero to see after this… will it still be him? If it is…”
Lux’s compassionate and pitying expression took on a hint of inscrutability in the candlelight of the prayer room. He seemed to curve his lips. “Such an unpleasant event will not happen again. Please rest assured.”
But Nelly was still not at ease. She bit her lip, and her shoulders hunched slightly. “But…”
“You are safe now. The past is in the past,” Lux comforted her in a gentle voice.
Nelly lowered her lashes and continued to ask softly, “I also want to know about the time before last… no, I want to know what that key was. Why did I see… when I touched it?” She choked, unable to form a complete sentence.
“You can understand it as an item that carries all the space-time of this world. Touching it will allow you to see memories related to yourself.” Lux stood against the light, a magnificent and breathtaking rose window behind him, making his already indescribable features even more inscrutable. His glass-bead-like eyes reflected two faint candlelight, flickering with a strange glow.
He stood on the steps of the altar, naturally in a superior, condescending position. Just by looking at Nelly in silence, an infinite sense of pressure emanated from him. It was as if the will of the entire temple, and even this world, was hidden behind him, with infinite power and wisdom ready to be unleashed, so heavy, so obscure, that the air gradually became oppressive and thin.
The Grand Hierophant’s pressure was withdrawn in an instant. He raised his hand, as if about to tell Nelly to leave.
But Nelly was not intimidated. In fact, she was much calmer than before. She repeated slowly, “All space-time?”
Lux seemed to narrow his eyes. The distorted firelight in his pupils dimmed as his lashes lowered, and his gaze was eerie, for some reason reminding Nelly of the system’s eternally merciless and cold tone.
It was obvious that she had caught a loophole in the Grand Hierophant’s words. Her earlier show of weakness and timidity was all to find such a breakthrough. She spoke before he could. “I’ve been curious about this for a long time. Why does everything have to start over after the hero successfully defeats the Demon King? If this world is a collection of multiple overlapping space-times…”
Lux interrupted her deduction stiffly. “You only need to complete the mission to achieve your wish. We do not believe the reasons for it need to be explained.”
Nelly was not surprised, nor did she force him to listen to her speculation. She just rolled her eyes with a hint of slyness, and her tone was quite mocking. “Then let’s ask another question. How did the Demon King manage to disguise himself as a hero? He even has his own information card on the system interface.”
“That was an accident,” Lux repeated his earlier excuse, pausing meaningfully for a moment. “We are deeply sorry for that.”
Nelly laughed softly. “Is that all the explanation the temple wants to give me? You avoid all other questions and only give me an irrelevant apology.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and with her hands behind her back, she slowly took two steps toward Lux, closing the distance between them. She looked up at him without any fear and slowly opened her lips. “I will not accept it.”
“Are you questioning the temple?” Lux’s tone returned to its gentle state, no longer the cold, hard tone he had used to cut her off, but his enunciation was still much heavier than before. “That was just an accident. The Demon King took advantage of the selection process for the hero…”
A chilling, spark-like glint flashed in Lux’s pale eyes, and he stopped speaking. He had once again misspoken and revealed information he shouldn’t have, and he was annoyed by it.
Who would have thought that the noble and aloof Hierophant was so easy to bait? He gets riled up so easily.
Nelly saw this and, taking his embarrassment into consideration, deliberately looked away. Her tone was still calm, and even held a hint of teasing. “Since you’ve created an information system that only exists in other worlds, you can’t just skip regular upgrades and patches.”
Lux pressed his lips together and said nothing, his expression stern, but it was much more lively than his previous otherworldly demeanor. His inner turmoil was written all over his face, clear at a glance. The system has absolutely no loopholes now and will not make any more mistakes!
Nelly raised an eyebrow, her tone unchanged. “And are you really sure there are no problems now?”
“What are you trying to say?” Lux finally put his gentle smile back on, but his eyes had not yet been properly disguised, revealing a sense of alertness and unnaturalness.
“That mage from Naxier who appeared by the hero’s side, is there really no problem with him?” As she asked this question, Nelly felt a light, exhilarating feeling.
Lux’s posture instantly relaxed, and a low, almost contemptuous laugh came from the depths of his throat. “So you’re still worried about that.” He narrowed his eyes again, and the firelight in them flickered. “We can guarantee that this time, the temple and the system have made absolutely no mistakes. You just need to focus on completing the mission.”
He turned around and carefully cleaned his hands in the holy water basin by the altar, then dried his ten fingers with a plain white cloth. Without turning his head, he added, “As a hierophant, I’ll remind you, Guide No. 1028, do not underestimate the unseen forces of this world.”
Was that a threat to stop her from making any more unnecessary moves? Nelly resisted the urge to roll her eyes and just replied nonchalantly, “With all due respect, coming to this world and completing the mission forced on me were all unilateral actions on your part, without any regard for my personal wishes.” Her lips were on the verge of curving up. “I might as well remind you, Lord Hierophant, that in the end, I can wash my hands of the fate of this world at any time.”
“Oh?” Lux turned back, and for the first time, the lines of his face became clear in Nelly’s eyes. There was a faint, phosphorescent glow in his eyes, and his deep-set features were cold, exuding a confidence that was so natural it was almost naive. “On that point, we are very certain. All guides, especially you, No. 1028, between the world and yourself, will only choose the former.”
He gave a very vivid yet chilling, faint smile. “Isn’t that right?”
At that moment, Nelly just wanted to act out a scene of tearing the hierophant apart. He was right, and she hated this unsettling feeling of being seen through.
Lux then tried to mend the tense atmosphere. He slowly descended from the altar, minimizing the sense of superiority created by the height difference. His pale eyes, which could reflect everything in the world, gazed at Nelly, and his tone was persuasive and kind. “Personally, I greatly admire the choice you made before. Not everyone has that kind of decisiveness and courage. I am very grateful to you.”
Nelly tried to convince herself that this was just a trick of this hypocritical hierophant to manipulate people’s hearts. But she couldn’t help but be slightly swayed. She did need to hear such a sentence, to be sure that all the darkness and tragedy were not in vain, to confirm that her choice was not wrong.
Lux walked up to her and gently touched the top of her head with a finger dipped in holy water, his voice solemn. “To be able to summon such a guide is Wildia’s good fortune.”
Nelly quickly glanced up from under her lashes, but she didn’t look directly into the Grand Hierophant’s eyes. Even though his words had given her comfort, even though the faint, astringent scent of the holy water had calmed her thoughts, she still didn’t like these pale eyes that could manipulate people’s hearts at will. Precisely because they were too clear, any hint of darkness approaching a shadow would become incomparably vivid.
She didn’t even dare to think about what she was deliberately avoiding.
Which was more terrifying, the secrets hidden by the temple, or the self she might see in his eyes?
“May the three goddesses bless you.” Lux gave his blessing, and Nelly took the opportunity to take her leave.
“Thank you for your explanation, Your Excellency.” She paused, but in the end, she couldn’t help but take another jab at him. “I hope there won’t be any more frequent connection interruptions in the future.”
Lux didn’t answer. Whether it was because he felt that his earlier promise was weighty enough, or because he was displeased by Nelly’s repeated defiance, Nelly didn’t know and didn’t intend to find out.
As she walked out of the hall, the brilliant, unrestrained sunlight of the southern country poured down on her. Nelly couldn’t help but close her eyes in the strong light and forced herself to quicken her pace back to the entrance of the Wellspring Hall. She had only been standing there for a short while when Melissa’s very recognizable footsteps gradually approached: confident, long strides.
The silver-haired girl was wearing a brand-new swordswoman’s attire. Seeing Nelly, she called out excitedly, “I’ve become a swordswoman recognized by the goddess!” As soon as she said it, she regretted not lowering her voice and looked around guiltily, afraid of desecrating the holy place.
Nelly smiled at her, but her mind couldn’t help but wander back to the conversation she had just had. She chewed on the subtle meaning of each reply in her mind, and for a moment, she was lost in the infinite possibilities. She left the Norn Palace in a daze and didn’t come to her senses for a long time.
It wasn’t until Melissa, who had run a lap around and was sweating profusely, came over and shook her that Nelly suddenly realized:
Kal was gone.