Upon waking, Maggie walked along the corridor toward the Cathedral of Light, sensing the various gazes around her, some disdainful, others watching with amusement.
You could still faintly hear their discussions, which were filled with deep malice.
Most of the knights and nuns who were able to enter the Temple of Light came from noble families, and they mostly scoffed at the idea of Maggie becoming the Holy Maiden of Light.
When the saintess was chosen, the other three ladies were far superior to Maggie, and Maggie was the least known of them.
Whether it was due to the power of the Zephnea family or Maggie's extraordinary beauty, choosing Maggie to become the Holy Maiden of Light was enough to provoke discontent among many.
In addition, some high-ranking nobles were aware of Maggie's true talents.
The reason they haven't exposed Maggie is simply because they want to see the Zefneria family make a fool of themselves.
They wanted to see what would happen to her after she embarrassed herself in public and brought shame to the temple.
Maggie was fully aware of all this; the plot of the comic book was still vivid in her mind. She was now surrounded by wolves, and if she took the wrong step, she would be doomed.
"Is that her? She's finally here. I thought she'd chickened out."
"Does the Temple of Light need vases?"
Maggie ignored the sounds and walked into the Cathedral of Light without a care, keeping the noise out until the doors closed.
Arguing with them now will only cause unnecessary trouble, so it's better to ignore them.
"It should be here."
Seeing that the cathedral was empty today, Maggie quietly breathed a sigh of relief and muttered to herself.
The pilgrimage to the saintess is in two days. Her magical talent is very low, so she has to rely on external objects to create the illusion of releasing a large amount of holy light.
According to the comic, a level 5 amplification gem—Moonstone—is hidden in the prayer room beneath the statue of the God of Light in the center of the temple.
Each magical gem on the continent of Coral possesses a different effect, and they are divided into nine levels.
In the Kingdom of Saint Na today, the most common and widely circulated magic gems are basically level one and two. Level five gems are already considered the grand finale items at auctions, and only a few can be found in a year.
Moreover, it's a moonstone with a special amplification effect; if sold, it would be worth tens of thousands of gold coins.
"Enter the village quietly, don't fire."
Maggie tiptoed into the prayer room with the dog, who fumbled for a hidden compartment on the uneven bricks, muttering something under his breath.
She was now extremely grateful that she was the Holy Maiden of Light, which granted her higher authority than ordinary nuns; otherwise, she probably wouldn't be able to enter this position so easily.
"Thank you for your gift, senior."
Maggie took out the moonstone that popped out of the hidden compartment, restored the wall, and finally bowed to the wall.
This moonstone was a complete find; it was a relic left by a paladin hundreds of years ago. It requires 99 days of sincere prayer for the hidden mechanism to activate and be discovered by the most devout followers of the God of Light.
Harlen, who was initially frustrated, prayed for 99 days in the prayer room. The moonstone she found at the end of the first volume of the comic played a significant role in the final battle of the first volume.
Now, she can only take it to save her life.
As Maggie thought about it, her hand, which was about to push open the door, froze in mid-air, a faint sense of guilt rising in her heart.
She quickly turned around and bowed twice more to the wall, not to Harlan, but to the paladin.
Please forgive me for taking your inheritance in order to save my own life.
"Your Highness? What... are you doing?"
Suddenly, a pleasant male voice came from behind.
Maggie, who was already feeling guilty, suddenly jolted and stood up straight as if she had been electrocuted.
Maggie turned around stiffly and saw Harun, radiating holy light, standing smiling at the door of the prayer room behind her.
"...Pray sincerely to the God of Light."
Maggie twitched the corners of her mouth, revealing a slightly embarrassed smile.
Harlan's golden eyelashes partially obscured his pupils, and the curve of his lips hinted at amusement, but Maggie, still immersed in the pain of social death, did not notice.
"Your Highness, it seems you are bowing in the wrong direction."
He slowly raised his arm and pointed with his long, slender, white fingers at a 45-degree angle behind Maggie, politely reminding her.
"..."
Maggie, having been ruthlessly exposed, fell silent.
What should I do if I feel like dying?
A few seconds later, Maggie chose to lie through her teeth and stubbornly defend herself.
"The God of Light is omnipresent; we should pray devoutly in every direction."
Harlan raised an eyebrow and looked at Maggie, his gaze intriguing.
The air was eerily quiet.
Just when Maggie thought he was about to make trouble, he surprisingly cooperated by showing a look of sudden realization and nodding in agreement.
"Your Highness is right."
Maggie didn't want to get entangled with Harlem, so she made an excuse and slipped away.
She had forgotten how she left the prayer room, only remembering Harlan's gaze as he watched her leave, bright and clear like the bright moon, yet it made her heart flutter.
In the comics, Harlen discovers the moonstone, which makes him feel a bit guilty, like he's been caught red-handed.
Now I'm just glad that Harlan didn't see her take the moonstone.
...
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west; time flies.
Maggie, having washed and dressed herself, sat quietly on the edge of the bed, wearing a solemn and inviolable saint's robe, awaiting the arrival of the nun.
Her delicate and beautiful face appeared even more sacred and noble, accentuated by her clothing.
Maggie was extremely fortunate that she had a good talent for languages, and in just two days she memorized the lyrics of the sacred prayer fluently and completely.
Hopefully, nothing unexpected will happen during today's pilgrimage to the saint.
As Maggie was thinking, the door to the room was pushed open, and footsteps approached, accompanied by a nun's low voice reminding her.
"Your Highness, it's time to head to the Kingdom Square."
Maggie closed her eyes briefly, clutching the invaluable moonstone in her bosom, before opening them again and responding softly.
"Okay, let's go."
Today is the pilgrimage to the saintess, and also the time for the next main character to appear in the manga's storyline.
Yesterday, she successfully cast a Holy Hymn and Moonstone that resonated, amplifying the effects of the Healing Light countless times.
Although the current coverage of Holy Light is far from reaching the effect that an 8th-level talent can achieve, this is already the limit that Maggie can do.
If she can successfully complete the pilgrimage today, she will try to intervene in the plot.
The saintess rarely has the opportunity to leave the temple, so she plans to take advantage of her pilgrimage trip to rescue Perkin Xavier from the underground slave auction.
Maggie thought so.
It's not that she wanted to play a boring rescue drama, but Perkin Xavier is very useful for her in her current predicament.
Xavier, as the human incarnation of the Dark God, possesses assassination skills that surpass even those of the Shadow Elves.
The Dark God's true form was a giant serpent. Although his reincarnated race was human, Xavier's physical characteristics inevitably showed serpentine traits.
For example, snake-like eyes, a forked, long tongue, sharp fangs with potent venom, and a low body temperature, etc.
When experiencing significant emotional fluctuations, snake scales may appear on the skin.
As a race that so rejects those who are different, Xavier naturally had no place to belong.
He was sold into an underground slave auction without any repercussions; even the race field wasn't filled in as human, but as a mutated snake-man.
According to the original plot, he would go berserk in the arena tonight, destroy the auction house, escape, and encounter Harlan who was on patrol.
With his top-notch assassination skills and knowledge of underground auctions, he collaborates with Harlan to investigate the Zefneria family.
If she can make the first move to save Xavier, his abilities can be used by her. With his venomous fangs and top-notch stealth abilities, Xavier is the best assassin.
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