“Priest Leon!”
Ryan greeted Leon, and Leon nodded in return.
Leon sat down on the soft sofa opposite him, with Alicia following suit and sitting right beside him.
Seeing this, Ryan couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
He had watched Alicia grow up in the town and knew exactly what she used to look like.
Because of her stutter and her lack of clean clothes, she had been filthy all day and was largely ignored by the other children in town.
Now, things were different. Dressed in the gown of a noble lady, her delicate features and striking emerald eyes made her look like a completely different person.
It really was true that clothes make the man—or in this case, the girl.
It wasn't just Alicia's change. After learning that Leon was a scion of a ducal family, Ryan suddenly felt that Leon seemed more noble, possessing an aura unique to the aristocracy...
“Damn, I’m being way too shallow!”
Ryan mentally scolded himself before looking up and pointing at the packages beside the sofa.
“Priest Leon, these are gifts of gratitude from the families of the girls you rescued. They aren't allowed to enter a noble manor, so they asked me to deliver them on their behalf.”
“The packages contain tokens of their appreciation: home-baked bread and pastries, traditional Solainem clothes hand-sewn with silk thread, and dolls sent by the girls' younger siblings...”
Pausing for a moment, Ryan added somewhat sheepishly, “The items aren't expensive, but they represent their sincere hearts. Please don't look down on them.”
Leon shook his head, indicating he wouldn't mind at all.
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief.
He knew it. Leon was a true, cultured noble, nothing like Baron Sori, who would block off an entire street just to throw himself a birthday banquet.
“Was the thousand gold coins paid by Baron Sori delivered to the girls' families?” Leon asked.
“They all received it.” Ryan nodded, his tone still carrying a hint of disbelief. “I really didn't expect the Tribunal to hand down such a verdict. After all, that’s a thousand gold coins. Even for a noble like Baron Sori who owns his own shops, that’s a massive sum...”
Leon nodded slightly. Under normal circumstances, the ruling wouldn't have been so severe, but since he had intervened in the name of the Douglas family, the matter had naturally escalated.
Leon asked further, “How is Granny Taylor from the Delicious Bakery doing?”
At the mention of Granny Taylor, Ryan’s expression dimmed. He shook his head and said, “Her situation isn't great.”
“Granny Taylor already suffered from chronic headaches, and she accidentally hit her head on the way to Solainem.”
“Even though you and the other priests of the church have already healed her external injuries, those years of headaches simply cannot be cured.”
“Plus, the news of little Juliet’s death... it was too much of a blow for her. It made her headaches even worse, and sometimes she even falls into a state of confusion.”
“However, whenever she’s lucid, she specifically mentions wanting to thank you, Priest Leon.”
“She said that although Juliet couldn't be saved, she is still grateful for your kindness... because you rescued all the other trapped girls.”
Leon felt a weight in his heart. He exhaled and asked, “What about Granny Taylor’s children?”
Ryan blinked, only then remembering that Leon hadn't grown up in the town and didn't know the history.
He sighed softly and explained, “That happened ten years ago. A group of cultists called the Black and White Hand drifted into town.”
“They attacked the townsfolk, sacrificing innocent people to the god they worship—the gray mist.”
“The gray mist?” Leon looked puzzled.
“Yes, the gray mist,” Ryan nodded. “That group firmly believed the gray mist is the world’s cleansing tool, an existence sent down to purge the sins of the world.”
“They claimed everyone is born with sin, and only by believing in the Black and White Hand and sacrificing oneself to the gray mist can one atone in this life and find peace in the next.”
“Granny Taylor’s son and daughter-in-law... died in that attack, leaving only little Juliet and the grandmother to depend on each other.”
“To move past the shadow of their loss, Juliet and Granny Taylor spent several years opening the Delicious Bakery, pouring all their heart and soul into making bread.”
“But then the gray mist spread, and they had to abandon the bakery and flee the town for Solainem. And then, in Solainem, they went through this...”
Ryan shook his head, tossing the somber mood out of his mind. “Let’s not talk about that anymore.”
He suddenly leaned in toward Leon and whispered, “By the way, a new Yellow Pavilion just opened in the city. How about it? Want to go and relax a bit?”
Yellow Pavilion? Wasn't it the Red Pavilion?
Leon blinked. Ryan continued in a low voice, “I asked the commander of the Lionheart Warband. There’s no such thing as a Pure Love Warrior among bloodline warriors, and there’s no need to stay a virgin!”
“Don't worry. I’m a veteran of many battles in these establishments. If I take you, I’ll make sure no rumors get out. It won't damage your noble reputation.”
Leon: “...”
It was his first time hearing the phrase “veteran of many battles” used in that context...
Instead of commenting on that, Leon asked, “The commander of the Lionheart Warband is back? What about the gray mist?”
Seeing that Leon wasn't moved at all, Ryan couldn't help but feel disappointed. He replied, “It’s just like that. With the Gray Mist Barrier in place, the mist can't break through the pass. It’s basically stabilized outside.”
“Since the Viscount is away and there was that vampire incident in the city, they rushed back from the pass overnight to maintain stability in Solainem.”
Leon nodded and chatted with Ryan for a while longer before seeing him out.
Before leaving, Ryan once again mysteriously asked if he wanted to have some fun at the newly opened Yellow Pavilion, but Leon could only helplessly refuse again.
Watching Ryan’s retreating back as he shook his head and sighed, Leon wondered to himself. Logically, bloodline warriors needed to strengthen their vital energy and maintain their physical state.
Ryan went to those pavilions every day; wasn't he worried about depleting his vitality?
“Leon, Priest.” At this moment, Alicia, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up.
“What, is, a pavilion?”
“Uh...” Leon pondered for a moment before saying seriously, “It’s a terrifying place that makes men roar and women scream. It’s best if you don't let your curiosity lead you to investigate.”
Hearing this, Alicia nodded slowly, thinking that it indeed sounded like a bad place.
Originally, when she heard Ryan say the pavilion could help Priest Leon relax, she had thought about taking him there herself as a small way to repay him for saving her life.
But since it was such a terrifying place, she decided against it.
...
Night fell.
The sky was cloudless, and the moonlight was brilliant.
The moonbeams filtered through the large window of the room and fell upon Leon, seemingly draping him in a thin veil.
Leon had just finished his Holy Light Meditation, and a streak of light flashed across his panel.
【Holy Light Meditation Lv1 (95/100) → Holy Light Meditation Lv1 (96/100)】
“Only 4 more experience points to go. It’ll be Lv2 soon!”
Leon exhaled.
Since learning Holy Light Meditation, Leon had been grinding for experience. After all these days, he had finally reached 93 points.
“I wonder what enhancement trait I’ll get when it hits Lv2...”
As for the enhancement traits for Holy Light Meditation, Leon wasn't hoping for a linkage with other divine spells.
After all, the primary function of Holy Light Meditation was development and recovery; it seemed difficult to adapt it to a linkage with other spells.
For Leon, it would be best if it provided a trait to increase his mental energy, so he wouldn't have to worry about his lack of endurance.
After all, as a man, being drained dry in one minute... how does that look!
Just as Leon was immersed in his fantasies about the upgrade, the sound of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Thud!
The door was thrown open, and a figure burst in.
It was Alicia.
She was wearing a nightgown, the collar askew and slipping off one arm, revealing a rounded shoulder and pale skin.
She wasn't wearing shoes, stepping onto the room's carpet with bare feet.
It was clear she had jumped out of bed and rushed over the moment she woke up.
“Calm down.” Leon’s voice was steady. “What happened?”
“The gray mist! The gray, mist, is here!”
The gray mist was here?
Leon’s dark eyes narrowed. Just as he was about to ask—
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Three heavy tolls of the bell echoed through the city of Solainem.
“Three bells... that’s a city-wide danger warning!”
Leon’s expression hardened as he suddenly looked out the window.
On the distant horizon, a massive gray wave was surging toward Solainem like a collapsing mountain or a tsunami.
Boundless and infinite, it looked as if it were about to swallow the entire city whole.
Rate on N.U.
