The story of the black silk female knight

But the new fog demon that attacked Mr. Morgan seemed to genuinely believe it had completed its mission.

The entire fleet did not encounter any attacks from the Fog Demons until it landed at Gundia, America's largest port.

Chapter 38 Arrival in America

Gundia is America's largest port, located in the southwest of America. It is also America's second largest city and a major maritime trade center.

Ships from Fran and the Four Islands Alliance to America almost always docked in Gundia to load and unload cargo and resupply.

About 850 kilometers north of Gundia lies Arant, the administrative center of America. Although it is not called the capital, it has the same function and status as the capital in America. It is also America's largest city and second port.

Elsers's fleet was originally scheduled to sail directly to the port of Arant, but since most of the accompanying merchant ships were going to dock in Gundia for trade, Elsers decided to dock in Gundia as well, and travel the rest of the journey by land, which would also allow her to tour America along the coastline.

Elsers explained that she had brought a naval fleet, and even though Fran and America were both friendly nations of humanity, it would be too conspicuous to send the fleet directly to the gates of their capital. It would be better to have the fleet dock in Gundia.

The real reason... well, Elsers had been on the ship for more than ten days, and even with all the entertainment facilities on board, she was getting a bit tired of it. Plus, as long as she was at sea, she had to be on guard against attacks from the Fog Demons, so she figured it was better to get ashore sooner.

But none of this has much to do with Valensa and Tia anymore.

Whether they came to America to compete with Yashiro or to serve as envoys with Elsers, it was just an excuse for the two of them to come to America.

Now that America has arrived, the three couples who had been spending their days eating, drinking, and having fun on the top deck of the Seravina immediately parted ways.

Elsers and Gina, leading the Fran delegation, continued north to Arant.

Yashiro and Lanzhi stayed in Gangdia to do business and prepare for the preliminary rounds of the dueling tournament, which would officially begin in four days.

Valensa and Yashiro agreed to return in four days to participate in the first day of the qualifiers, so Valensa took Tia and went off on her own.

There are many things to do in America, the most important of which is to acquire the Rainbow Giant Chicken. However, it's impossible to go straight for it; you need to establish a foothold, gather information, and make some preparations first.

Coincidentally, the main body of the Morgan family is located in Gangdia City, and the Morgan siblings, who are also young, had gotten along well with Valensa and Tia a few days ago, so they took the opportunity to extend an invitation, saying that they would take Valensa and Tia to have a good time in Gangdia for a couple of days.

Considering that the Morgan family was one of America's most powerful families, and that having the Morgan siblings' introduction would make it easier to infiltrate America's high society, Valensa and Tia agreed after a little thought.

Morgan and his sister were very excited. They immediately divided the work: the brother went to gather friends to organize a welcome party for Valensa and Tia, while the sister accompanied Valensa and Tia to do the fastest way for girls to build friendships—shopping.

Morgan's sister may seem like a naive and innocent princess, but she's actually quite reliable. At least when she took Valensa and Tia to tour Gondia, the itinerary was very well planned, and the explanations along the way were quite clear, probably at the level of a part-time tour guide in Valensa's previous life.

As America's second-largest city and a major foreign trade port, Gundia is a very prosperous city with a variety of landmark buildings.

The cultural differences between America and Fran are noticeable on the streets, but not significant.

It's somewhat like the difference between England and America in Valencia's previous life. Both share the same cultural origins and beliefs, but France is relatively more conservative, while America is more unrestrained.

While touring Gandia, Valensa encountered a few American youths who already had a bit of a punk and hippie vibe, as well as female performance artists wearing tight leather outfits who used muscular men as chairs and mounts... These are things you would never see on the streets of Fran.

Just as the numerous restaurants lining the streets and alleys of Fran make it clear that the land is rich in various delicacies, the city of Gundia also makes it clear that America is rich in minerals.

The general stores, big and small, along the street are filled with all kinds of magical items powered by magic crystals, from weapons and equipment to daily necessities and children's toys. These items are usually only available in large department stores and specialty item stores in Fran.

Valensa and Tia enjoyed browsing the shops and bought many interesting trinkets with Morgan's sister's introduction and recommendations.

That evening, at the Morgan family's estate, Valensa and Tia attended another party, where, through the Morgan siblings' introductions, they met many of America's aristocratic scions.

The fact that Valensa and Tia, two stunning beauties, were actually a couple and engaged caused countless men at the party to feel heartbroken and cry foul about the waste of resources.

A few individuals were clearly still unwilling to give up and wanted to try again, but they were all very polite and did not do anything out of line. In order to leave a good impression on the beautiful women, they answered Valensa and Tia's questions without reservation and were very open to answering all their questions.

From these people's statements, which were five parts true, three parts false, and two parts obviously exaggerated, Valensa and Tia cross-referenced and analyzed them, and obtained two pieces of information that were of some value.

All bad news.

Firstly, the current owner of the Brilliant Giant Chicken, a collector named Erkun Rogins, is notoriously domineering, stubborn, and eccentric.

Many people have coveted Erquin Ruggins' collection, but none have been able to meet his peculiar terms of the deal.

All those who tried to seize by force were brutally beaten by Erquin Rogins, and some were even defeated in return.

He plundered all their wealth.

This eccentric collector is a powerful Rank 300 expert who has lived for over 300 years, and is very likely already a Moon Rank expert.

Secondly, the three major organizations—the Church of the Sun, the Council of Sages, and the Witch Forest—have begun their manhunt and pursuit of Savat Landon, but the process is not going smoothly.

According to the scions of wealthy families at the party, some American merchant guilds seemed to covet the technology in Savat Langdon's possession and offered him protection and assistance.

Some say that local cults in America have colluded with Savat Langdon and are planning something big together.

Some even claim that there were traitors within the three major organizations who deliberately let the manhunt through, which is why the search for Savat Langdon has been so slow and fruitless.

These claims certainly contain falsehoods and exaggerations, but they are certainly not baseless rumors.

Savat Langdon likely has an accomplice in America, and this accomplice is either very powerful or highly skilled, enabling Savat Langdon to hide from the pursuit of the three major organizations.

These two pieces of bad news immediately dampened Valensa and Tia's enthusiasm for continuing their sightseeing. They stayed at Morgan's house for one night and said goodbye to Morgan and his sister the next day.

Chapter 39 Valencia's father's old flame?

Valensa and Tia had planned their trip before coming to America.

Meeting the Morgan family along the way was an accident, and establishing initial connections with the Morgan siblings and a group of scions of prominent families was also an unexpected gain. Now that the accident is over, it's time to return to the planned itinerary.

For example, visiting the Church of the Sun in Gundia.

This was originally planned to be Valensa's first stop after arriving in America, but the Morgan siblings were so enthusiastic that they couldn't refuse, so it was delayed by a day.

At the Church of the Sun in Gundia, Valensa not only receives support from the organization but also gets to see an old friend she hasn't seen in a long time.

"Aunt Ilana!"

She was a tall, voluptuous blonde, blue-eyed priestess, half a head taller than Valensa, and nearly 1.85 meters tall.

"Oh my, isn't this little Sasha? It's been so long! You've grown into a beautiful young lady. Come here and let Auntie give you a big hug!"

Valensa was rather reserved; upon meeting, she was only slightly excited, and her voice carried a hint of coquetry.

Meanwhile, the priestess Ilana, dressed in a very holy priestess robe but with a figure that was incredibly alluring and tempting, suddenly grabbed Valensa and, under the snickering gazes of Tia and several other priests, gave Valensa a good beating, just like Valensa often did when she bullied Thousand Leaf Grass.

With one hand, Ilana pressed Valensa against her and applied face wash, while with the other hand, she ruffled Tia's silver hair, managing to twist a single stray hair up from her neatly styled locks, before laughing:

"Long time no see, little Tia, you've grown into a great beauty... I never imagined that you and little Sasha would actually get together. I bet many noble young men in the capital are heartbroken."

"...Long time no see, Aunt Ilana. You are still young, beautiful and full of energy."

Tia seemed a little unhappy that her hair was messed up, but she couldn't do anything about her mischievous elder, so she could only make a slightly sarcastic remark before smiling and exchanging pleasantries.

Ilana is the current High Priestess in charge of the Gangdia Cathedral, and one of the three Radiant-Rank powerhouses of the Church of the Sun in Gangdia City.

But a few years ago, Elena was the High Priestess of the Royal Cathedral of France and had an excellent relationship with Valensa's parents. She loved Valensa and Elena like her own daughters since they were little.

In fact, Valensa had a feeling since she was a child that she wouldn't be surprised if Elana suddenly married her father and became her stepmother.

After learning the true relationship between her family and the Church of the Sun, and gaining access to the intelligence network of the Inner Templars within the Church of the Sun, Valensa also learned something else.

Ilana and Valensa's father, Wilson Bader, were childhood sweethearts like Valensa and Tia, who grew up together. If it weren't for Valensa's mother, Teresa, appearing out of nowhere, Ilana would most likely have become Countess Bader.

Even if Valensa's father married the evil god to save the world, it's hard to say what his relationship with Elana really is... Anyway, Valensa thinks that the two of them are probably having an affair.

That's why, after Valensa's father died in battle, Elana was so enraged that she lost her composure, abandoned her duties as the High Priestess of the Kingdom of Fran, and hunted down the heretics of the Church of the Abyss across the continent.

It wasn't the Church Headquarters that ordered Ilana to be transferred from the capital of Fran. Rather, it was Ilana who disobeyed orders and acted on her own. The Church Headquarters had no choice but to send a new High Priest to the capital of Fran to take charge, and also sent Rika, who had a good relationship with the Baldr family, from the continent of the gods to Fran to take care of Valensa.

After secretly visiting Valensa in Sergin Town a few times, Rika discovered that Valensa was growing rapidly through her adventurer life and even had plans to enter the War Academy. So she didn't disturb her and planned to tell Valensa everything after she returned to the capital on her own merits, and personally hand over what Valensa was entitled to inherit to her.

As for Ilana, who was furious for her childhood sweetheart, she also achieved a small success in her revenge.

The two Star-level Abyss Spirit Church cultists who participated in the ambush of Valensa's father but narrowly escaped death from Valensa's mother were relentlessly pursued by Elana all the way from Fran to America, and were ultimately killed by Elana herself.

However, this process took Ilana more than two years. If she returned to the capital of Fran, she would be held accountable for dereliction of duty. In addition, she did not want to be reminded of the past and that Yuanling would still have remnants in America. In the end, she stayed in the cathedral of Gundia and quickly became the chief priest of the cathedral based on her years of work experience in the capital of Fran.

Valensa knew all this after she gained the intelligence privileges of the Inner Templars. She had been planning to come to America after graduating from the War College or during her second year summer vacation, but things didn't go as planned, and she's here now.

In short, Valensa once harbored resentment towards Elana, the elder she couldn't reach when she needed help the most, but after learning the truth and thinking about it carefully, it's not entirely incomprehensible.

The person Elana truly cares about most is undoubtedly her childhood sweetheart Wilson. Her doting affection for Valensa since childhood is simply a case of loving someone because of someone else… In addition, women are mostly emotional and impulsive, so it's normal that she would prioritize revenge after the incident.

So Valensa had already forgiven Ilana, and now that they've reunited and made up, she can comfortably snuggle in Ilana's arms and enjoy the face wash.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Ilana dismissed the increasingly curious and gossipy local clergy, led Valensa and Tia to her room, and told them that they could ask her for help with anything they needed during their trip to America.

Valensa didn't stand on ceremony, and after a few more sweet words, she made her first request:

“I’d like to meet with America’s Inner Templars first… Aunt Ilana, you should know that I’ve already been granted most of the Inner Templar privileges ahead of schedule, right?”

As she spoke, Valensa showed Ilana her divine particle armor and lightsaber, which were exclusive equipment for inner paladins and the best proof of their identity.

"Yes, I heard about it from headquarters. Little Sasha, you're amazing... You actually managed to kill a Star-level cultist while still at the Pearl level. That breaks the church's historical record!"

Ilana smiled and nodded without any surprise, but after staring at Valensa's silver armor and lightsaber for a while, her eyes became somewhat unfocused again:

"No wonder she's his daughter... When he first inherited these equipment, he came to me with the same smugness you have now, showing it off and even... sigh, Wilson, that idiot, always bragging that he could subdue even evil gods, how could he suddenly... sigh."

Chapter 40 As everyone knows, childhood sweethearts are no match for those who fall from the sky.

Ilana perhaps realized that Valensa and Tia were now adults and could talk about many things that children couldn't hear before. She talked on and on about her past with Wilson.

It turns out that Elana and Valensa's father were having an affair! She even had a childhood sweetheart versus newcomer rivalry with Valensa's mother, just like in many anime... Of course, the childhood sweetheart lost to the newcomer.

In the process of their rivalry, Ilana and Valensa's mother, Teresa, gradually became good friends, their relationship evolving from initial antagonism to genuine friendship.

Teresa not only pretended not to notice when her husband occasionally spent a little too long praying in the cathedral, but she also jokingly said to Ilana:

"You keep saying I stole your man, so how about I give birth to a son to make up for it?"

However, the evil gods of the Abyss Spirits cannot give birth to male individuals, so Teresa was just joking when she said that.

Seeing that Ilana was taking the conversation further and further astray, Valensa had no choice but to interrupt Ilana's reminiscence and reiterated her request to meet with the Knight of the Hearth, America.

Ilana sighed:

"I'm afraid I really can't help you with this, Sasha... because even I don't know America's true identity as a Knight of the Inner Court. I've only contacted her a few times by leaving messages for each other."

Ilana is unaware of America's true identity as an Inner Templar.

Valensa was slightly disappointed, but not entirely surprised.

The true identities of the Inner Templars are kept highly secret even within the Church of the Sun. For example, Valensa's identity is known only to a few clergy members in the Royal Cathedral of Fran. Clergy members in other cities are almost completely unaware of it, including even the high priests and captains of the Holy Knights.

That's why Inner Templars have exclusive equipment. It's not just to enhance their combat power, but more importantly, it serves to reveal their identity to unsuspecting clergy when needed.

Although Gangdia is America's second largest city, and the high priest in charge has a higher status than the high priest in other cities, Ilana has only been in America for a few years. Moreover, the priests are more inclined to internal affairs than the paladins who go out on missions, and they have less interaction with the inner temple knights in their work. It is reasonable that she does not know the true identity of the inner temple knights.

Valensa could only sigh in response.

"It seems I'll have to wait until I get to Arant to visit that senior... My plans for this operation in America will require his/her support and help in many ways."

Just as the Chinese police in Valencia's previous life needed cooperation between police forces in two different regions to arrest criminals who committed crimes across regions, Valencia, as a Faron inner clairvoyant, had to greet the American inner clairvoyant before she could operate in America, whether out of etiquette or courtesy.

Especially since Valensa has not yet fully inherited all the authority of the Inner Templars, acting rashly without prior notice is more likely to give people the impression that she is impulsive and unreliable.

But then Ilana smiled and produced a letter:

"Even if you get to Arant, you may not be able to see that person. However, that person already knows about you, since you contacted us beforehand using divine communication."

So… here’s a message and authorization from Lord [Moon Cluster]. They have granted you permission to act independently in America, and when necessary, you can call upon the paladins of any cathedral in America for assistance, according to the standards of a formal Inner Templar Knight. All you need to do is submit a detailed report to headquarters explaining the cause and effect after the event.

"Great!"

Valensa was overjoyed and quickly took the letter to read it, but she was also filled with curiosity and doubt:

"Is the 'Moon Cluster' you mentioned that senior?"

"Hmm, look here..."

Ilana smiled and nodded, pointing to a moon-colored arrowhead in the upper left corner of the letter:

"When that person gives us orders by leaving a message, they always leave this unforgeable mark to prove their identity. So many people like me who don't know that person's true identity like to call that person 'Moon Cluster'."

"understood."

With the support of the local Knights of the Temple in America, Valensa was in high spirits and instead of discussing work, she started chatting idly.

As they chatted, Ilana suggested that she do her best to be a good host and take Valensa and Tia on a tour of Gangdia.

Although I already went around with Morgan's sister yesterday, a big city like Gondia can't be explored in a day.

So Valensa and Tia didn't refuse, but they made an additional request: they hoped that Ilana could give them a brief introduction to the various local factions while they were sightseeing, so that it would be easier for them to carry out their various operations later.

"Hey?"

This made Ilana blink in surprise: