"I've come to see Madam Camilla, the president of your association. I've arrived unannounced, so I'm not sure if she is available?"
The fox-girl's voice was soft and tender, brushing against the heart like a spring breeze. I couldn't tear my eyes away from her, especially from that enviable, deep cleavage.
"May I ask if you have an appointment?"
"I do not."
Because of my disguise, the fox-girl didn't recognize me, but the knight beside me was a famous Guardian Knight in Brilliant City.
"Madam, I am Guardian Knight Hilda. Could you please relay a message for me?"
The fox-girl was stunned. She turned her gaze to Hilda, looked her up and down, and immediately covered her agape mouth with both hands.
"A... a Knight?"
Hilda stepped forward with a smile.
The fox-girl nodded like a chick pecking at grain.
"Please wait a moment. I will go inform the president immediately."
Her voice was urgent, and she seemed a bit nervous.
In a massive city of a million people like Brilliant City, the eight Guardian Knights who stood at the top were figures of immense status.
Even the fox-girl, who was used to seeing important people, couldn't help but be shocked.
However, she was still a bit curious.
"May I ask, Sir Knight, is there some urgent business?"
Her red fox ears twitched.
"The noble lords usually come here to order medicine to strengthen their bodies. Could it be... the Sir Knight needs something like that too?"
Medicine to strengthen the body?
Well, if there really was medicine that could extend one's life, it would certainly be sought after by many nobles.
Hmm, I should ask Camilla later if she has any similar medicines left.
Hilda shook her head.
The fox-girl hesitated, but she did what she was supposed to do and turned to go upstairs.
Watching her back, that fluffy tail swayed from side to side, making it hard to resist the urge to pet it.
I really like small animals like cats and dogs. Looking at her cute back, I suppressed the internal urge to pet her and waited quietly.
After about five or six minutes, a crisp sound reached my ears.
It was the sound of high heels clicking against the floor.
Following the sound, I saw Camilla descending the stairs. She wore a light purple dress, her long red hair flowed down, her pointed ears extended outward, and her skin was porcelain white.
Before she had even reached the bottom of the stairs, Camilla spoke.
"I never imagined a Guardian Knight would grace us with their presence. It truly brings honor to the Alchemists' Association..."
At that point, her voice suddenly stopped. Her gaze shifted from Hilda to me.
Camilla, who was usually mature, graceful, and elegant, couldn't help but gape. Her beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief.
"You..."
"Miss Camilla, please forgive me for visiting so abruptly without notice."
I greeted her with a smile. The shock in her eyes proved that she had already recognized me.
I wasn't sure how she had spotted me, but clearly, my current clothes had completely hidden my features. If it weren't for someone I knew well, I definitely wouldn't have been recognized.
Hmm, I need to be careful about this. I'll ask her later how she recognized me.
"How... how could that be? Your visit is a great honor for me. Nina, quickly prepare the best desserts. Bring the first tea cake on the top left of my tea cabinet."
"President? Isn't that your most precious tea cake? You said you would never open it unless the Saintess herself visited!"
The fox-girl, Nina, looked at her president in shock. She had never seen such an excited expression on the president's face.
"Go, quickly."
Camilla suddenly snapped back to her senses, her expression returning to normal instantly, though she still urged Nina to hurry. Then, her pace quickened significantly.
When she first came downstairs, she was elegant and graceful, her steps slow and rhythmic.
Now, she was slightly hurried as she walked quickly to stand before Luo Li, smiling respectfully.
"This is not the place to talk. Please, follow me."
"Alright. Thank you for the trouble, Miss Camilla."
"Your presence is the glory of this association. How could it be a trouble?"
After her initial shock, Camilla had begun to return to her usual state.
She didn't know why the Saintess had suddenly visited the Alchemists' Association, especially in such plain clothes.
But that didn't stop her from treating this guest with the highest level of hospitality.
Following Camilla, we went straight to the third floor. As we passed other members of the association, many showed expressions of surprise.
It was the first time they had seen their president display such a kind smile.
Upon reaching the president's office, Camilla turned and closed the door. She walked to Luo Li and bowed slightly.
"I was a bit surprised to see Your Highness personally visit and was quite rude. Please forgive me."
"There's no need for that. I'm the one who came unannounced. As long as Miss Camilla doesn't mind, it's fine."
The other party was being so polite that if I didn't return the courtesy, it would seem like I was being a bully.
Camilla smiled as she stood up and looked me up and down. After a long while, she spoke in a slightly surprised tone.
"I never thought the Saintess would enjoy this sort of thing. This plain outfit is quite something. If I weren't an elf, I'm afraid I really would have been fooled by you."
"Speaking of which, I'm also a bit curious, Miss Camilla. How did you recognize my identity?"
Since there was no need to hide my identity, I took off my sunglasses and looked at her openly.
I had to know this. If I were recognized again during a future private visit, it would be a major problem.
Not to mention safety; once recognized, the effort put into a private visit would go to waste.
This outfit was meant for me to see the real Brilliant City and the real life of the common people.
"Hehe, Your Highness probably doesn't know much about elves, which is why you say that."
Camilla chuckled and made a gesture for me to sit.
"If Your Highness is not in a hurry, I can explain it to you slowly. Please, have a seat."
I nodded and sat on the sofa, looking at Camilla.
"Your Highness doesn't need to look at me like that. It's not anything rare. We elves can communicate with the elementals in the atmosphere from a young age. Those with better talent can even see elementals with the naked eye. And Your Highness..."
As she spoke, Camilla looked up at the Saintess.
In the eyes of others, this lady looked like an ordinary noblewoman with nothing special about her.
But in Camilla's eyes...
At this moment, the Saintess was radiating a soft holy light from head to toe. Her sacred aura floated around her almost without concealment.
Countless multicolored elementals were joyfully dancing around her.
It was as if they were decorating a goddess.
However... among them, the appearance of one elemental made Camilla's brow furrow.
It was a deep, dark black.
"Why... would that appear around Your Highness?"
"What appeared? Did you... see something?"
Luo Li was a bit incredulous. After all, she didn't have such magical eyes.
Camilla hesitated for a moment and looked up at the three people behind Luo Li.
Clearly, she had some reservations.
Understanding Camilla's meaning, I turned back and gave the three of them an order.
"Hilda, Nara, Sake, the three of you step out first. I have some important matters to discuss with Miss Camilla."
Hilda nodded and didn't object. She clearly trusted Camilla, the president of the Alchemists' Association.
Nara hesitated for a moment but still obediently stepped out. The old bull didn't care at all and followed the two women out.
In the room, only Luo Li and Camilla remained.
Once the room was completely quiet, Camilla hesitated before speaking about something seemingly unrelated.
"Does Your Highness know that there are seven major elements in this world?"
"I know a bit."
Being a traveler from another world, I was naturally very curious about the magic of this world, so I had investigated it in detail.
"Mhm. Your Highness might know, but I will explain anyway. The seven major elements of this world are earth, wind, water, fire, lightning, light, and dark. Each has a vast branching structure. At the same time, combining two different attributes will produce different effects."
As she spoke, Camilla raised her hand. A swirl of dark yellow rose from her palm. The dust around her seemed to be attracted by something and moved slowly toward her. Even the tiny particles in the air were quickly absorbed, eventually forming a ball of sand floating in her palm.
Then, she raised her other hand. The surrounding air suddenly turned cold, and then a dim yellow light radiated from her palm, forming a small fireball.
"Like this..."
She pushed the fireball and the sand ball in her hands together. Instantly, an orange-yellow light erupted from her palm.
Glowing lava flowed slowly in her hand.
"This is the fusion effect of two elements. In this situation, the fused attributes might counter each other. Once they counter, they will be extinguished."
She raised another hand, and a ball of water appeared in her palm. She pressed it onto the lava. Instantly, the orange light of the lava vanished, leaving behind only a hard stone ball.
"Therefore, the seven major elements rarely get close to attributes that counter them. The elements wrapped around Your Highness are arranged in this way."
I looked around myself in surprise, but clearly, I didn't have Camilla's magical eyes and couldn't see those multicolored elements.
"However... everyone has their own fixed attribute. Therefore, although other elements will approach a person with high elemental affinity, the countered element usually won't appear near that person."
After a pause, Camilla added.
"Your Highness is primarily a light attribute person. Although your affinity is the rarest I've ever seen, causing the seven major elements to actively approach you, logically speaking, one of those elements should not be attracted to you."
I didn't know much about the seven major elements, but I knew that five of them countered each other in a cycle, while the other two countered each other directly and could not be fused at all.
As if answering my thoughts, Camilla said something that shocked me to the core.
"There are dark elements wrapped around Your Highness... This is not logical."
Me?
A Saintess of the Holy Church?
I, who had received the god's blessing, had dark elements wrapped around me?
The five elements cycled, but light and dark were completely unable to merge; they were purely contradictory.
The two were like opposite sides of a scale.
But now, as a Saintess who should be filled with sacred aura and have the highest affinity for the light element, there were dark elements lingering around me?
In an instant... I understood the root cause of this.
It was because of demonization!
Although I didn't know why, the dark element had a very high affinity for the demon race. Most of the spells used by the demon race were dark element magic.
The fact that dark elements were wrapped around me was likely because of the Holy-Demon Conversion.
Even though others couldn't detect it, the elementals, who were most sensitive to auras, could sense it.
And the elf race, who could see elements with the naked eye, could naturally detect this abnormal point.
"However..."
Just as I was starting to think about how to explain this problem, Camilla suddenly tapped her red lips.
"I've heard that some people are natural elemental magnets. Although I've never seen one, it's said that these people are naturally loved by elements. Even if their own attribute counters an element, those elements will still approach them like moths to a flame. I think... the reason there are dark elements near Your Highness is likely due to your constitution."
At this point, Camilla saw my heavy expression and smiled.
"Your Highness, the sacred aura radiating from your body is enough to ensure that no dark element can affect you. So in this regard, Your Highness has no need to worry."
"So that's how it is..."
I nodded. Although I didn't know if Camilla's explanation was correct, it at least relieved the current awkwardness.
Just then... a knock on the door broke the silence in the room.
Nina walked in carrying a tray. She had an envious expression on her face as she looked at the teapot on the tray.
As the door opened, a wave of tea fragrance drifted into my taste buds. The rich aroma was enough to make one's mouth water.
"What a fragrant tea."
Even my Temple probably didn't have tea like this. Where did Camilla get it?
Sensing my confusion, Camilla smiled and explained.
"This is something I brought from the elven kingdom. It's tea carefully cultivated by us elves and isn't available on the market. Why don't you try some, Your Highness? If you like it, take some with you when you leave."
Camilla picked up the teapot and poured a cup for me, then poured one for herself. Her jade-like fingers picked up the teacup. She first sniffed it at the tip of her nose, as if enjoying some delicacy, then took a sip.
"Speaking of which, I wonder if Your Highness has some urgent business visiting in disguise like this?"
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