After reaching the maximum level, my "soft rice system" finally arrived.

“In exchange for providing the sacred relic, I have one condition.”

.......

Listening to the high priest's slightly cunning words.

A bad feeling suddenly arose in Charles's heart.

He asked, "What are the conditions?"

“I have never married in my life... To me, Sylvia and Ingrid are no different from my own daughters…”

"I'm afraid they'll be bullied, cheated by bad people, and wronged in the future..."

The high priest's voice was soft and distant, his gaze ethereal and unfathomable.

She scrutinized Charles with her gentle, beautiful eyes, looking him up and down, leaving no corner unexamined... giving Charles a strange sense of déjà vu.

Tingting—

In the entire Western Continent, who has the right to bully a legendary figure and a near-legendary peak expert...?

Ciel felt a surge of urge to vent his frustration.

But then, he heard that gentle, soothing voice ring in his ears again.

"I know there are many people in the Western Continent who have feelings for you..."

"Given your status... many worldly rules and restrictions are meaningless to you."

"but--"

"I need you to promise me..."

The high priest paused slightly.

"After everything has settled down..."

"The person you married at your first wedding..."

"It can only be them."

.............

P.S.: I was traveling in Hainan a few days ago, so the update schedule was a bit irregular. I'm home now and will resume regular updates from now on.

Chapter 81 We are comrades now (7000)

The high priest stood up, brushed the dust off the scroll in his hands, and placed the neatly arranged scroll back on the bookshelf...

Then, she walked to the window and gazed down at the bustling summer city below.

"Although, as the High Priest of the Dawn Church, I must spend most of my time in the Dawn Cathedral..."

"but......"

“Through the various intelligence channels of the Holy See, I have been paying attention to everything that is happening on the Western Continent.”

After gazing out the window for a long time, the High Priest turned slightly to look at Charles with his gentle, watery eyes.

You might not believe it...

"More than ten years ago..."

“I noticed you when you were just an unknown wizard who hadn’t even broken through to the third ring.”

.......

A hint of reminiscence flashed in the high priest's beautiful eyes.

“That little Sylvia, she grew up right under my nose... I watched her grow up little by little…”

"She was chosen from a young age to be the current Dawn Saintess..."

To outsiders... the title "Saintess of Dawn" might seem like a rather desirable identity...

"This can be described as a favored child of heaven. From the moment it was chosen, it became a symbol of the Papacy in the hearts of the people... destined to be accompanied by glory and flowers."

"He needs to grow step by step... then he can succeed the High Priest and become one of the few people standing at the pinnacle of power in the Western Continent..."

"But in reality... the training for the 'Saintess of Dawn' is far more arduous than outsiders imagine..."

"Not only do they have requirements for their magical abilities far exceeding those of ordinary priests... but they also have to undergo rigorous training from a very young age, including dance and aristocratic etiquette."

.......

The high priest's lips curled slightly, and his silvery laughter echoed in the air.

"To be honest... before I became a high priest, I ran away from home because I couldn't stand the boring training of the saintess, which caused the Holy See to mobilize the entire Knights Templar to search for me."

"And that's why... in the past, Sylvia always strived to play the role of the 'Saintess of Dawn,' whom the world expected of her and whom believers revered..."

"This expectation from millions of believers and the public is so dazzling and so prominent."

"Yet it is...so heavy..."

"So much so that everyone... even herself, subconsciously forgot that the real Sylvia was not the flawless symbol of the Church that the world perceived her to be..."

"She is actually... just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl."

The high priest's words rang out slowly, tinged with reminiscence.

Listening to the high priest's words, Ciel couldn't help but recall those memories, long buried deep within the ocean of his past as an adventurer...

When Sylvia first joined the team... things were indeed very different from how they are now.

Not only was her divine magic extremely advanced, but her manners and attention to detail in every word and action at that time could only be described as impeccable... she was like a perfect symbol with a halo.

only--

Compared to when they first met...

That pure and flawless being, like a perfect embodiment of angels and saints walking among mortals...

Now, Sylvia, who occasionally throws tantrums and whose saintly image crumbles in seconds, feels more familiar and close to Charles.

.......

"So... do you know?"

"When she first concealed her identity and completed her cultivation as a saintess traveling the Western Continent..."

"When she began excitedly sharing her adventures with me, and mentioned your name... the light in her eyes... it was so radiant..."

"Ever since the end of that Saintess Trial, Sylvia has become obsessed with her appearance... She cares about the gossip and news on the continent like a girl her age."

"Especially the news from Black Tower..."

“Every time she sees news with your name on it, she gets so excited that it’s as if she wants the whole of the Dawn Cathedral to know about it.”

The high priest's words were tinged with emotion.

"From that moment on, I knew..."

"She has finally transformed back into Sylvia from that flawless Dawn Saintess."

"She's started to have someone she cares about... She's willing to learn how to dress up and groom herself, learn cooking and culinary skills, and even start researching different types of bento boxes for that person..."

“These are things that the Dawn Saintess of the past never cared about.”

"And it was from that time on... that I began to pay attention to the person she was trying to change..."

"That is, you, Ciel."

.......

The high priest gazed at Ciel with his gentle, watery eyes.

"Over the years... I have been keeping an eye on you... and on the development of Arcane and Black Tower."

"If we say that the past few thousand years in the Western Continent belonged to the Dawn Church, then the wizarding civilization during this period was simply developing and accumulating power steadily."

"So--"

"Since the Arcane Council where you first distinguished yourself ten years ago... the development of wizards and arcane magic has been on a fast track."

"The changes over the past decade or so can only be described as explosive."

The high priest spoke calmly.

"The future... belongs to the age of arcane magic."

"And along with arcane thought, and the gradual spread of knowledge and culture among the common people, a sense of independence and self-awareness awakened..."

"The Dawn Church, which belongs to the previous era... will also begin to gradually decline."

"The Dawn Church... a pillar of the Western Continent in a previous era, and also a legacy of the gods..."

"While the Seven Gods were still alive... the Inquisition, indulgences, and even the oppression and witch hunts against so-called heretics such as wizards and vampires..."

"Such heinous incidents inevitably occurred due to the limitations of the era..."

"Even though in the last few centuries, high priests, including myself, have tried their best to make amends for past mistakes and reform the old system... there is no doubt that the grudges and enemies formed over thousands of years will not simply disappear."

"But what if the war ends..."

"Then, whether it is the Dawn World or the Silver Continent, these worlds are full of hostility towards the gods... naturally, the Church that was once dominated by the Seven Gods will not be viewed separately from the Dawn Church of today."