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Chapter 115: The Statues

The conversation ended quite swiftly after that. Camilla thought she made a good argument and impression on Demuur, and her previous experience with him certainly helped.

He had agreed to put in a good word for her and to try his best to convince the bishop to allocate more resources toward researching Orlog, the remaining crystals, and trying to find the undead behind the scenes. 

During the conversation, however, Camilla realized that there actually wasn’t much she could do here in Moltrost, despite what she had originally thought.

Her original plans had been to keep her presence hidden so she could act covertly, giving her much more freedom. However, circumstances forced her out into the open, restricting much of what she would be allowed to do.

Simply put, her presence here was near useless. She would be of no help to Justin and Arvel in their hunt for traitors, and she wasn’t very good at research either.

It would be best for her to leave the city, away from prying eyes, where she was free to do whatever she wanted.

Kagriss seemed to have gotten rather bored of the city as well.

After they left the restaurant, Camilla tooked Kagriss’s hand to the latter’s surprise. However, Kagriss shook off her shock quickly and began to caress Camilla’s hand.

Camilla stiffened, looking around at the people all around them.

“Kagriss…there’s people around.” 

“What do you mean? We held hands so we wouldn’t be separated,” Kagriss replied nonchalantly, faking ignorance.

Camilla bit her lip. “You know what I mean.” But she didn’t take her hand away, since she knew even Kagriss wouldn’t be so bold as to go any further out here on the streets. “By the way, there’s something I want to discuss…”

“Hmm?”

“Well, during our talk with the Church…” Camilla recounted the conclusions she came to about why she felt like staying in Moltrost wasn’t necessary anymore. “So what do you think?” she asked after she finished.

Kagriss fell deep into thought.

Unlike before, Kagriss was actually seriously considering the question rather than simply pushing it away and leaving it up to Camilla. In more ways than one, they were becoming equals.

“I don’t really want to stay, but where else can we go? Maybe…we can sneak into where you used to live?” Kagriss’s eyes twinkled mischievously, making Camilla shiver as memories of restless nights came to her where Kagriss had that same look in her eye.

Not to mention, that was a terrible idea. It was as bad as the one where she suggested that they picked a fight with an unknown mana beast.

Yet, Camilla didn’t dislike the idea of infiltrating her old home.

First, she knew the place like the back of her hand and while defensive formations might’ve been swapped out of modified since she was last there, any significant changes would’ve been too expensive to do casually.

Second, they didn’t have as heavy a responsibility to shoulder compared to the time with the mana beast. No nearby girls to protect, no rush to catch up to a group that might get stuck between a rock and a hard place. It was just her and Kagriss.

Even if they were caught, Camilla was confident that they could at least self-extract as long as they didn’t head into the deepest parts of the stronghold.

Not to mention, there was an old friend she wanted to meet there. Compared to Arvel, that one might be a little more accepting of how she was right now.

“Can we go?” Kagriss asked again.

Camilla came back to the present, this time with her mind made up. From how Kagriss’s eyes looked, she looked like she was confident that Camilla would say yes. Evidently, she had put a lot more thought into her decision before voicing it compared to last time, and naturally, Camilla didn’t disappoint her.

Although their plans have been made, they couldn’t leave immediately.

Camilla hadn’t come to Moltrost only to play. There were things to buy, not the least the armor she ordered that was to be forged using the valorum ore she bought from Leland.

At the very least, it would take a few days. But just because they couldn’t go far didn’t mean they couldn’t leave at all. 

Combined with how oppressive it was to be so close to a massive power such as the Church, the walls of Moltrost felt a bit like the bars of a birdcage.

It was better to spend the rest of their days outside of the city in some of the farming communities after they finished their errands inside.

“So what should I do?” Kagriss asked again as they walked toward the Church at the center of the city.

“Nothing. Just keep an eye out for threats.”

“Mm. Okay.”

Right after the sun peeked over the top of the forest in the distance and the sky began to brighten, Camilla and Kagriss tumbled out of bed. If their first session of lovemaking in bed was wild and euphoric, the one last night was gentle and loving. 

After a quick trip outside of Moltrost and shaking off followers from the Church, they returned to the inn. That night, both of them were wide awake and conscious the whole time, bathing in each other’s company.

Naturally, they were also on guard for unwanted visitors, but for good or bad, there weren’t any. 

Despite the seeming lack of movement from the side of the Church, neither Camilla nor Kagriss let their guard down, especially since they had one last thing they needed to do inside before they moved out.

Hidden deep in her dress, inside of a little pocket, was the cube filled with the mana sample of the intruder on the first night. They needed to hand it over to Arvel, and while they were at it, Camilla wanted to test the reaction of the Church.

Thus, they were currently heading into the heart of enemy territory.

Passing by building after building, each more extravagant than the rest, they finally crossed a line invisible to normal people, but was as eye-catching as a physical wall to Camilla and Kagriss.

A thin, translucent film stretched over the city in a dome, and as they passed through the film, the air itself began to burn slightly like a mild itch on their skin. At the same time, Camilla felt a bit dizzy. Kagriss was probably a little worse off, but she didn’t show it.

It was the special consecration zone protecting the Church, the one they stopped at on the first day.

Last time, they were heading into a possible trap while under heavy escort. This time, they were popping over uninvited at a time no one expected them and when most of the templars will have been deployed already. The difference was quite large.

Keeping their mana sealed tightly within their bodies, Camilla and Kagriss walked undetected by magic toward the cathedral. However well they could hide from magic, however, it was much more difficult to hide from the physical eyes that tailed them all the way from the inn.

Like blurring shadows, two life signatures hurried past them, putting behind the houses, evidently heading to warn the Church.

A few of them stayed to continue to keep an eye on them.

Soon, when they were close enough, the cathedral of the Moltrost branch of the Church loomed over them, large windows filled with stained glass of various vibrant colors. The deep blue that represented the Heaven Beyond Heaven dominated the color scheme. Second was the light yellow and gold to represent the holy, and third was the white that represented purity as well as the color of messengers of the five Gods.

While most believers would be awed by the sight, neither Camilla nor Kagriss was very impressed. Camilla had been here many times before, and according to all accounts, the stronghold in the center of Amaranthine Point was a much grander construction compared to this cathedral.

Through her lifesense, Camilla could sense the people scrambling within the cathedral up ahead like a frenzied beehive. Several powerful signatures—archpriests—moved into position near the door, while others—templars off duty—first made a detour toward another location, probably to pick up their weapons.

“It looks like a lively welcome.”

“Don’t worry too much about it. It’s only natural that we’re on guard. Do you still remember what I told you to look out for?”

Kagriss nodded.

Assured by Kagriss’s competency, Camilla straightened her back a little more. Like everything else, doing something like this was taking a risk. Only this one was a rather large risk in comparison to most things. But it was a calculated one.

Although there were five—one more than the amount that greeted them at the city gate, probably Demuur—archpriests waiting just beyond the wide doors of the cathedral, Camilla entered without fear. 

Kagriss matched her steps and they escaped the increasingly hot sun as they disappeared into the cool shade of the cathedral. Of course, the cathedral was merely the face of the complex that was the Moltrost Church, but it was already plenty big.

Right after they entered, they were greeted with the nave, filled with countless rows of seats. Beyond the nave was the elevated sanctuary, complete with the altar, the cathedra, and a huge piece of stained glass artwork that depicted the blessings of the Gods.

Flanking the sanctuary were two massive statues depicting the messengers of the Gods: the winged people, angels, that possessed holy power beyond the greatest of archpriests.

Although the stained glasses all around were filled with similar imagery, in all of Moltrost, there were no greater icon to the grandness of the winged race than in the two statues in this cathedral.

Compared to the cathedral itself, these two statues were much more impressive to Camilla.

Shortly after their first steps in, the archpriests swooped in on either side. Demuur and someone else that Camilla forgot the name of on their right, Pavlor and two others on the left.

Camilla stopped.

The archpriests did as well. No one was willing to get too close to a knight-class undead warrior.

With the tension so thick in the air that it could almost be cut, Demuur was the first to break the silence.

“…why have you come?”