Chapter 26 - Changing Transportation

"So is the Pope really an avatar of the God of Light or an Elemental Angel?" 

Thinking of the image of the God of Light from her memories, Nicola's expression soured a little.

"Haven't the angels investigated this clearly over the years?"

"Due to the ban, angels are generally not allowed to get close to the Holy City, so we don't really understand the situation in the Holy City...," Aetina helplessly replied.

"Also, considering various concerns, and still having to deal with the threat of monsters, Lady Elara didn't pay much attention to this issue either. After all, over the years, although the True Church has grown quite a bit, it hasn't caused any harm, right?"

Indeed, not only did it not cause harm, it even joined forces with the angels to resist monsters. If I were her, I certainly wouldn't have the heart to question the Pope's origins either.

"But hasn't this Pope never left the Holy City all these years?" 

Cyra suddenly thought of a question.

"As long as he leaves the Holy City, can't we take the opportunity to get to the bottom of this? Whether he is an Elemental Angel or an avatar of the God of Light can be found out immediately with a test. After all, there are basically only these two possibilities."

"But the reality is so bizarre...," Aetina replied with a wry smile.

"For thousands of years, this Pope has actually always hid in the Holy City and never came out. Except for actively going to the Holy City, there is no opportunity to see him at all."

"So, Lady Elara asked me to specifically tell you guys that if you really want to go there, you can take the opportunity to thoroughly investigate the Pope's identity. I believe that with Nicola's identity as the Inheritor of the Founder, you shouldn't fear the power of an avatar of the God of Light and can minimize the danger."

"Is she really letting us go so reassured?" 

Hearing this, I couldn't help but wryly smile as well.

Of course, Aetina might not know that Nicola's actual situation is far from being an inheritor of the founder, but rather the reincarnation of the founder's soul, or even the founder herself!

However, even so, it's hard to say whether she can protect herself with her still incompletely awakened power, let alone protect Cyra and me as well, if she faces an avatar of the God of Light!

"In fact, I think you can try it. I feel that this Pope doesn't seem to be so terrible...," Aetina said, giving us her own opinion and suggestion when she saw Nicola's and my hesitant expressions.

"Why are you so sure?"

Hearing her say this, Nicola stared at her thoughtfully, and suddenly asked.

"That little angel who sneaked into the Holy City saw the Pope, right? So what happened to her afterwards?"

"Of course she was discovered. At the very moment the little angel saw the Pope, the Pope also turned his head towards her from the crowd at the same time. But he didn't do anything dangerous, just smiled handsomely at her and walked away. In the end, that little angel returned safely to Edenmere..."

When Aetina recalled it, her eyes seemed a little lost, and the corners of her mouth even showed a hint of...sweetness?

"Don't tell me that little angel was you yourself?"

Even Cyra saw through it and couldn't help but retort.

"Ah... is it that obvious?"

Hearing this, Aetina was stunned for a moment, not expecting that she would give herself away after just casually saying a few sentences.

"Too obvious! If it was someone else, how could you describe it in such detail..."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Perhaps Elara sent her over precisely because of this factor.

"Don't tell me you've fallen for him?"

"Not really..."

Hearing this, her expression immediately became somewhat coy, but she still denied it.

"We can only be considered as having a fleeting acquaintance. We didn't even get to talk. But it can't be denied that the impression he gave me was quite good. He should be a nice person. After all, over the years, the angels who secretly went to the Holy City have all returned safely. I haven't seen him make things difficult for any angel."

"..."

What more could be said? Seeing this situation, we could only roll our eyes speechlessly. So angels can fall in love so easily too? This Pope's charm really runs deep!

Speaking of which, I've only seen this kind of cheesy love-at-first-sight cliche in TV dramas before.

"Men really do much harm...," Cyra suddenly sighed, having just escaped from the clutches of the landlord, and seemed to have some feelings.

"Don't you often refer to yourself as a man?"

I glanced at her. How dare she say something like this? Think about those two light elf girls, they're still waiting for her! Looks like there's no hope for that now.

"That's totally different! This young master will never casually disappoint any girl, let alone force them...," Cyra shamelessly insisted on clarifying.

"Rest assured, even as an angel, I will never fall for a man!"

"Tsk tsk, I'm not worried about you falling for a man...,"

With Aetina here, I didn't dare to be so blunt. For a shameless person like Cyra, turning into an angel just makes her even more shameless.

"Don't get so off-topic!"

Nicola didn't seem to want to talk about these topics for long, and stopped our bickering. She specifically asked for my opinion again.

"What do you think, can we still go to the Holy City or not?"

It seemed she was also unsure so she had to ask me like this.

In fact, looking at it rationally, the Holy City was still somewhat dangerous. Despite the distance, he was still able to accurately sense the hidden wings of an angel through the crowd. This shows that even if the Pope is not an angel, his attainments in light magic are quite high!

One must know that even if he is an avatar of the God of Light, it is not necessarily something we can resist right now!

However, I also trust Aetina's judgement quite a bit. She shouldn't be too far off. Plus so many angels have returned safely from the Holy City, which means there shouldn't be big problems, right?

"...I trust Aetina's intuition!"

After looking at Cyra's expectant gaze, thinking it over for a bit, I finally made the decision to gratify her. After all, After all, one shouldn't disappoint others if you take their gifts... 

"Great! Feliciana, I knew you would consider our friendship! My money pay off!" Cyra said excitedly as she rushed over to hug me.

"Get lost!" 

I kicked her away in irritation. I naturally scorn such plastic friendships.

"What money?"

Hearing this, Nicola's expression darkened and she hurriedly asked,

"Did you guys make some shady deal behind my back?"

"Nothing much, just that she split half the money from selling holy water with me!"

I quickly explained, afraid that she would get the wrong idea.

"Holy water huh...," Aetina sighed with some feelings upon hearing this.

"Back in the day, I also secretly made and sold quite a bit of holy water and earned the money to open my shop in Edenmere from that..."

"Same idea!"

Glancing at each other, Cyra and I indeed realized that even though few, there were still angels who thought like us.

"Teacher, do you have any tips you can teach me? I found that the ratio of light element fused into the water doesn't seem very high. For example, adding double the light element doesn't achieve double the concentration effect..."

Seizing the opportunity, Cyra hurriedly began to draw from her experience in a very eager manner.

"Quite professional! To notice such subtle differences!"

Facing Cyra, Aetina finally tasted the gratification of teaching, although the topic was a bit off track.

"Actually, the absorption rate and concentration of light elements in water have a limit. If you don't grasp it precisely, it can easily lead to overflow and waste of light elements, needlessly consuming production time! It took me a long time to figure this out!"

As expected, like master, like disciple! Seeing the two of them enthusiastically discussing the topic of holy water production, Nicola's and my mouths couldn't help but twitch. We mourned in silence for the True Church of this world for a few seconds.

Actually, fleecing does need some restraint. No matter how wealthy the church is, it probably can't stand such ravaging...

"Be careful! Especially after arriving at the Holy City, it's best to contact Lady Elara every day, she's also very worried about you guys!"

After finishing the proper business, we accompanied Aetina wandering around in the wilderness for a while. When it was nearing dusk, she had to return to Edenmere. At our parting, she exhorted us again.

"No problem, we're well aware!" 

Nicola nodded and took the initiative to take on the task of contacting.

"Why don't we take a different mode of transportation to the Holy City!"

Watching Aetina's departing figure, I made a suggestion, mainly because I had obtained some

"privileges" recently and was a little eager to try them out...

"Oh, what transportation? You're not saying we have to walk there right? That would be too tiring!"

Hearing this, Cyra immediately showed great interest.

"Wouldn't flying over be good enough? Fast and convenient. I can make a round trip from here to the border in half a day...," Nicola frowned and said somewhat reluctantly.

"Don't worry! Trust me, it will definitely be faster than your top flying speed!"

I winked confidently at her with a smile.

However...

"What!" 

I slammed the table, unable to help crying out loudly.

"I'm sorry Miss, since this service is a new emerging project that has only been in trial use in recent years, the Adventurer's Guild in Holy City does not have the relevant teleportation magic arrays established. So naturally, we also cannot teleport you there...,"

In the VIP room, the Adventurer's Guild service staff explained to me with an extremely apologetic expression. As for Nicola and Cyra, although they didn't have the qualifications to enter, they could still be specially permitted due to being in my party.