Chapter 89

"… The situation in Holier City is not peaceful. There have been reports indicating that the 'Viper Cross' has not given up on courting and luring the city's nobles over the past six months. However, the situation is still under control, so you can rest assured..."

The quill pen glided across the yellowed parchment as Bishop Benjamin frowned in thought. He lifted his hand to dip the pen tip into the inkwell and continued writing. The "Viper Cross" he mentioned was a sect active in the southeastern part of the empire. Although its name was similar to the "Rose Cross," it could be considered a long-standing rival for decades. The Viper Cross had split from the Rose Cross, and its founder had distorted some of the original doctrines of the Rose Cross, then vigorously recruited followers in the southeastern part of the kingdom. This inevitably led to a "Li Kui meeting Li Gui" situation. About thirty years ago, conflicts between the two sects began, resulting in numerous casualties and a state of mutual enmity.

"Many of the children in the convent have outstanding abilities, but the characteristics displayed by Miss Sally are something I have never seen before. Her divine magic cultivation will undoubtedly be smooth sailing, and she has already reached the threshold for advancement. If possible, I hope the 'Rose Temple' can give her special attention. I will write a detailed report separately..."

"Everything is fine in Holier City. Duke Angmar's condition has not changed, but this is a bad omen. I suspect his body cannot hold on much longer. As for the Lucifer family's internal affairs..."

Replying to Bishop Rubens was one of Benjamin's tasks for the day. The old bishop was already 63 years old, but as the longest-lived clergy, his mental and physical condition remained good. Rubens, the recipient of the letter, was Benjamin's "old friend," and they had worked together when they were young, so the tone of the letter was not overly formal.

After writing two full pages of parchment, Benjamin picked them up, blew on them, and set them aside to dry. As he turned his gaze to the window, he saw Sally and Chris chatting as they walked toward the church. The bishop smiled and sighed, "Being young is great," then turned to seal the letter with sealing wax.

Not far away, the chatter continued—

"Let's guess what story the poet will tell today... I think this time it will be, um, maybe something about mages?"

"Scouts, knight retainers, last time they went to the Wall of the Dead... Is that in the Tassman Kingdom?"

"The land of the undead! It sounds so scary, but I want to keep listening. Will they encounter those walking dead?"

Chris and the others were excited about the story they would hear today. They walked briskly toward the church, but when they encountered a priest passing by, they quickly composed themselves and continued their discussion in hushed tones—

"Ryan, if you're interested, you can ask him if he really experienced the battle. I think what he says is all true, like how soldiers treat their wounds after being injured, or the words the enemies shout when they flee. One day he even said something in orcish, but I can't remember it, though it did sound real!"

"It's impossible for anyone to understand orcish. Those guys just make grunting sounds. Who can understand what they're saying?"

Ryan and Booker, who had been at odds in the morning, were now walking in front of Sally, their conversation centered around the bard. However, neither of them noticed Sally, who seemed to be recalling something amusing. Her lips curled slightly, but she managed to hold back a laugh.

The memory of Rody using orcish to bluff the wolf riders and then slicing one of them in half left a deep impression on her. Thinking about it, Sally wanted to burst out laughing, but she soon felt a strange emotion spreading in her heart, which made her a bit flustered. However, when she realized no one was paying attention to her, she quickly followed Chris and the others into the back door of the church...

At the same time, Rody stopped in front of the convent at the main entrance of the church.

Two bored temple guards raised their eyebrows, looking at the man standing before them with some confusion. Just as they were about to ask his purpose, they saw the adventurer mutter some incomprehensible words, then lift his head and look around the buildings with a puzzled expression.

Hey, another out-of-towner who's lost his way.

The temple guards closed their mouths, losing interest in asking questions, and looked elsewhere.

The sound of the vielle echoed through the street, and the atmosphere in front of the convent seemed no different from usual. But in Rody's eyes, everything had changed.

The "Character Status Bar," "Surrounding Buildings Information Bar," and "Surrounding Objects Information Bar" were all activated, and Rody's world was almost instantly covered with a large amount of text that others could not see. In the game, most people would not activate these auxiliary information bars in bustling areas like "cities" because the overwhelming amount of information would make it almost impossible to see anything.

But now, Rody opened them not to check the durability of buildings or how much water a barrel could hold. Instead, it was because these well-disguised and highly skilled individuals had triggered his instinct to prepare for combat!

Where to shoot, where to escape, where to take cover, Rody scanned the information of all nearby buildings and found a suitable "sniper point." Confirming that he could reach there within two minutes, he felt a bit more at ease. Then, as he turned his gaze to the church, he saw a group of young monks and nuns chatting as they walked out of the entrance.

In the sunlight, Sally, with her oval face, was gently tucking her long hair, chatting and laughing with the nun beside her, her gaze inadvertently sweeping over the area...

Almost instantly, Rody moved silently, positioning himself in a blind spot in Sally's field of vision. He then slightly turned his head, looking at the red names marked in the information displayed in his field of vision.

A believer sitting in the corner of the wall lifted his head and slowly stood up...

A fat merchant glanced in their direction, then, holding snacks, distributed them to the children gathered around as he walked toward the convent entrance...

On the other side, the bard singing a song bowed in thanks, then pretended to pack up and leave, lifting his bag with a grateful smile on his face, but his eyes fixed on the church entrance, piercing through the crowd...

"I hope it's not... trouble."

Muttering these words, Rody felt an increasingly ominous premonition. Without a second thought, he sprinted away, disappearing behind a house opposite the church...

On the other side, Booker, who had just walked out of the church, was discussing the possibility of shooting a wolf rider with Ryan—

"The probability of a direct hit is relatively high, but if shooting while running sideways, you need to calculate the lead, otherwise, it's almost certain to miss. And according to the bard, the scout was riding a horse..."

As Ryan explained the relationship between the arrow's trajectory and the wolf rider's speed, he realized they had already left the church and stopped, turning to look at Sally, who was seeing them off, and said, "We'll go out first, Sally."

"Sure, have fun and come back early, or Bishop will scold you."

Sally smiled and bid them farewell at the convent's entrance. Her white-gold hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her outstanding appearance and spotless white robe almost became a "scenic spot" in front of the convent, drawing many admiring glances—some even murmured, "Praise the Lord, she must be an angel"...

To be honest, such compliments and exclamations made Sally blush. Chris took the opportunity to tease her a bit, and the monks and nuns prepared to leave the convent, while Sally looked toward the two mercenaries and a contact person she had ordered to guard the street outside...

But as she raised her gaze, her smile suddenly froze.

Because she saw her contact person, who was not trying to hide his identity, frantically waving his hands from a distance of several dozen meters, pointing to... right in front of her!

This was a prearranged signal, indicating danger in front of the convent, do not come out...

Such precautionary measures were initially set up just in case, but Sally never expected they would actually be needed. When she realized what was happening, she saw a "believer" walking straight toward her, reaching for the package in her arms, his eyes cold and unmasked!

Francis was about to make his move.

As this thought flashed through her mind, she only hesitated for a moment before immediately reacting, stepping back and shouting a warning—

"Ryan! Booker! Get out of the way!"

Sally did not want to involve her companions in such a dangerous situation, but this was clearly wishful thinking, as Booker and the others were blocking the entrance to the convent... obstructing the assassin's path.

Hearing Sally's warning, Ryan, who was demonstrating the destructive power of an arrow on armor, stopped in his tracks. He turned his head, still holding his hand up, and asked, puzzled, "What—"

"Whoosh!"

Before he could finish his question, a long arrow shot through the "ring" formed by his fingers, embedding itself in the ground with a thud!

As he turned his gaze to the arrow, Ryan noticed that the arrowhead had deeply penetrated the stone floor, missing the guard's toes by less than five centimeters!

"Someone is attacking!!!"

The temple guards, equally shocked, shouted warnings to those around them...