A carriage, luxurious and gleaming, was heading towards the palace. Despite appearing luxurious, or something a noble or a wealthy man would own, there was no sigil of such kind that can be seen. The ones inside after all, were from the Church, they did not want to specifically announce that an important figure was inside.

Namely, the most important person in the Wisterian church was the High Bishop, Xenous Grail. He was old, his hair had turned white, but his body was still extremely well-built, and he could still move around freely with no problem.

He smiled in delight as they get nearer to their destination, feeling excited.

“High Bishop, are you truly intending to reveal our arts to the princess?” A woman, sitting opposite him, suddenly asked

Xenous casually shifted his gaze at the woman with dark hair and dark eyes.

“Why not? She asked for it, didn’t she?”

The woman who always tend to hide her emotion, in the High Bishop’s presence, furrowed her brows in a show of annoyance and hesitation.

“I don’t see the point. She is not exactly a remarkable person.”

“Oh? Why do you say so, Astine?”

Xenous’s smile grew wider, fascinated by the priestess’s comment. Despite his feeling and reverence for the princess, he felt no displeasure. One couldn’t be mad at those ignorant of the truth.

“She was acting so confident with her plan for the festival, but it didn’t bear any fruit at all.”

“Are you perhaps disappointed?”

“I am disappointed, and was a waste of time.”

Xenous chuckled. “Is that so? I think she would be disappointed with you as well. You have yet to make any progress to your task, and well… the first encounter, the church failed.”

“...” Astine averted her gaze. “I admit, it was a failure. But I don’t see the point for you to personally see the princess and share information about our arts.”

“The king asked to tell her.”

“But you could have denied.”

“Perhaps, but I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“It means a lot to me.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Of course you won’t… But I plan to tell you soon, as you will soon be leading the church when I’m retiring.”

“Me? You want me to succeed you?”

“Don’t you want to be High Bishop?”

“You must be jesting. You know all too well I do not deserve that. I don’t take prayer sessions very seriously, and I don’t like ceremonies much. I don’t want to be High Bishop, it is too much for me.”

Xenous chuckled. “So you are aware of your flaws. You should change then.”

“High Bishop, don’t be ridiculous. Don’t expect me to change now.”

Xenous was intrigued, and indeed, that was ridiculous. Astine was already a mature adult, it would be hard to force her to change now, and everyone in the church knew what personality she had. Everyone would say she wouldn’t fit.

“Hehehe, I know, I know. I was not talking about making you High Bishop. I intend to make you head of our fighting force, as I focus on normal church duties.”

“That… that I can manage.”

“Good. It has been tiring training the trainees. Getting old’s not so great.”

“Who are you intending to make the next bishop?”

“I don’t know. Tina maybe, but she’s still young. I can wait though. Do you think she can handle it?”

“Yes, but…” she shook her head. “Her desire to go out with her adventurer friends is getting in the way. She wants to have fun rather than focus on her duties.”

“Hehehehe, as one would expect from youth. Give her time, she’ll grow out of it. It’s normal.”

Astine winced. “Normal? I don’t think it’s normal. This is because you allowed her to become an adventurer. I never even had any desire other than focusing my service on the church… aside from tending to avoid long ceremonies, I offered my life for the cause.”

“You are a different case, you are special. But it is also different for Tina. Not everyone will be the same.”

“... Still, I don’t like it that she’s still wishing to return to her “friends” as soon as possible.”

“Then, try to be patient with your sister.”

“... Not like I have any other choice.”

They arrived at the palace gates and the guard knights allowed them inside. Their carriage stopped at the palace entrance where they were greeted by a servant of the king. Xenous stepped outside followed by Astine.

The king’s servant bowed. “Good afternoon, High Bishop. I will be guiding you to the reception room.”

“Alright.”

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Both Xenous and Astine followed the servant to a room. Upon entering, they saw that the King was already inside waiting.

Xenous approached the king and bowed his head. “Greetings, my king.”

“Xenous, I was surprised to hear that you would personally come to speak with my daughter.”

“...”

“I hope things don’t go out of control.”

“Fret not, your majesty. Nothing drastic will happen.”

“Very good. Estelia should be on her way.”

A few seconds later, knocks came on the door, and Astine opened it. The one who entered alone was a beautiful young woman with long hair as white and beautiful as platinum. Her eyes were as deep and thick as blood, they gleam with gentle holiness. Her skin was pale as snow, she was as fragile as a vase.

Xenous held his breath, feeling a bit nervous in the presence of a god. Indeed, despite a princess here in the physical world, she was still a goddess. It was the same whenever he met her, he both feared and revered, even in the time when he saw her a couple of times when she was small, and recently at the festival.

No man of god would not feel overjoyed and overwhelmed when faced with the proof of their faith.

Princess Estelia was that proof, the daughter of the gods he worships. The moment he knew what the princess truly was, his life only became more meaningful.

“Greetings, High Bishop. It is an honor to meet you again.”

Too late did he realize that he was lost in mesmerization that the princess had stood in front of him. Xenous immediately lowered to his knees, genuflecting before her, one knee on the floor, with his lowered head.

“The honor is mine, your highness.”

He raised his head to look up at that proof, he saw at the corner of his eyes Astine widening her eyes in shock. But he didn’t care. He must pay proper respect to the gods. All of his life he had given to the church, and his faith. And he was completely willing to lower himself in the face of a goddess, the daughter of the gods worshipped by the nation, and he himself.

The princess appeared to be dumbstruck herself, no one expected he would do this. That aside, truly the princess’s physical traits were so unique. Her appearance now was almost look like what Xenous has imagined the Goddess of Serenity would be.

“Ahem.”

The king audibly cleared his throat, Xenous heaved a heavy sigh. But he did not move.

“Um, thank you, High Bishop. You may rise.”

After the princess said so, Xenous stood up.

Then the princess continued. “Now then, let’s proceed to our business.” the princess sat on a couch and formed a tender smile. “So, do you agree with my request for information, High Bishop?”

Xenous sat down on the couch opposite her. “Firstly, may I ask what you intend to do with the details of our arts?”

“I will need details of what you can do so I can formulate my plan and your role in it. How can a leader lead without knowing their subordinates’ capabilities?”

“And this plan of yours… to eliminate those threatening your life?”

“Capture, not eliminate.”

“Princess, that is easier said than done.”

“Oh I am aware of your last encounter with them. That is why next time will be different. The lessons you learned from your failure will aid you.”

Xenous grinned. “I see. Am I to take that you will be leading this mission?”

“Yes.”

“Then I am fine demonstrating the primary holy spell we use.”

The princess would be leading the operation, leading the church members in a fight. Normally, everyone would have qualms about this, even Astine was hesitating but choosing not to speak. The princess had no record of being a leader of a unit, then her leading the church should have been rejected.

But Xenous didn’t mind. Although, he would prefer he had some assurance.

“But, will there be someone else leading with you?”

“My brother Estevan will be leading with me.”

“Then I have no problem with this. I will lend you my soldiers, and share with you the details of our primary art.”

“Thank you.”

“First I’ll tell you about our purpose, princess. We are forces prepared in order to fight demons from the south, in case they try to invade our lands. Therefore, our power is meant for exterminating demons. Our powers imbued with holiness.”

“Holiness?”

“Divinity, faith. Just like how a flame’s property is heat or ice is cold, the holy element is special. An element bestowed by the gods to this world to fight the forces of darkness, to fight the creations of the fallen god.”

“Interesting. A fallen god? And this god, what happened to it?”

“Records say the gods have eliminated this fallen god.”

“Which gods?”

“There is nothing specific that we know.”

“I see. Sorry, we’re going off-topic, tell me more about your holy element.”

“The demons have special characteristics that are not commonly known. For instance, the imps have incredibly high resistance to fire, and they can heal their wounds if given a short time, they are also agile and silent. A succubus, made to mislead men and take their life force, their mental capabilities are something to be feared. Attempt to fight them and they will play with your mind. There are many others. But with the power of the holy element, one can resist them.”

Xenous held out his hand and a dagger made up of golden light appeared in his hand. The princess’s eyes widened and leaned forward.

“If imps are stabbed with this, they will not be able to heal for a long time, making your fight with them easier.”

“Oh? You said make your fight easier? So you mean you can still kill them despite having the ability to heal.”

“Yes, but that is difficult. They know how to stay back. The worse the wound they get, the longer it may heal than smaller ones, but they will heal in a short time nonetheless.”

“I see. Then how would your holy element help against psychological attacks by a succubus?”

“In a presence of a holy weapon, you will get more resistance, but not completely. But it will help in your fight with them. That aside, there is also a spell against mental attacks, but only powerful people can cast them.”

Xenous stood up and his dagger changed into a spear.

“Empyrean Arsenal, the spell’s name. We can conjure any weapon in the form of pure divine light. This is what we primarily use. There are others such as healing spells, and barriers, all with the holy element.”

“Hm. Your skillset is truly made for facing demons. I think I understand why you failed in the past if your enemies are not demons, they’re not are they?”

“They were not.”

“Then that could be the reason. Or… those elves are more troublesome than one would expect.”

“...” he observed as the princess averted her eyes away, deep in thought.

“You said you can conjure any weapon. But, can you make chains?”

“Chains? We normally don’t… but…” Xenous conjured chains, and the edge dropped to the ground.

“Good. May I touch it?”

“Go ahead.”

Xenous presented the end of the chain to the princess, but he kept a hold of the other end. The princess grasped the chain and peered closely at it. She caressed her thumb on it.

“This will be used. How many can you give me?”

“Princess?”

“How many soldiers can you give me?”

“How many do you need?”

“Hm. I would prefer about twenty. I want more room in case we need more than three people to restrain each one of my enemies.”

“You want that many to chain one?”

“Yes. The enemy can not be underestimated. Still, I am concerned about the magical capabilities of the enemy. If only there is something that can disable their magic…”

“... Princess… there are special shackles used to disrupt the magic casting of the one wearing it.”

“Oh?”

“But, they are designed for demons. It is tested on humans, but they do not work well with them. Also, it only disrupts magic, not completely disable one’s ability to do so.”

“But they do work somewhat on humans?”

“Yes.”

“That will do. We will need to weaken them enough and keep them watched. Please bring them in time for the operation.”

“I will prepare as many as possible.”

“Thank you. Now then, let’s talk about the other details, we have plenty of time, yes?”

“Of course, your highness.”

“And I need some things, I hope you can help provide.”

In the duration of their talk, Xenous only grew more fascinated by this young goddess.

If only the princess did not need to hide her status as the Princess of Blood, perhaps the world would have been a brighter and better place. More faith would have been offered to the gods. And the princess would finally be able to ascend to true godhood, as the other gods will become aware and perhaps take her to her rightful place in the divine.

Although, that was what only Xenous believed.