The Villain Saint is my secondary account

“Lady Heville, what do you think of this?” In a shop, the priestess excitedly picked up a hairpin from the shelf and held it up in her long, brown, curly hair.

"Yes, very beautiful." Ella praised insincerely. Because of her eye-catching appearance with silver hair and red eyes, she wore a white hooded cape on the street this time. The wide brim of the cap meant that passers-by could only see a glimpse of her profile and the tips of her silver hair.

Normally, before the Holy Maiden of Light officially takes office, only those within the sanctuary and some nobles would know about her. However, Ayla's coronation was held in public and on such an extravagant scale. Coupled with her beautiful face inherited from her mother, even before she officially took office, her image was already known to everyone from the dukes and marquises of Valond to the fishermen of Stormport.

Of course, her past bad reputation also seemed to have spread quietly along with it.

“Ah, even Lady Heville thinks it looks good, then I’ll buy it.” Chloe happily took out two silver coins and put the hairpin into her pocket.

This thing costs two silver coins? That's outrageously expensive...

Ella thought to herself that she would never spend money on such flashy little things. Even as a duke's daughter, her spending habits remained as simple as ever.

She might consider it if the hairpin could shoot out fireballs.

“Miss Chloe, if you keep shopping, it’ll be noon soon,” Ella urged, seeing Chloe still not satisfied and picking up a bright green dress to show off. “The goblins roaming the forest will all go home to rest soon, and then we’ll have to go to their lairs to find them.”

The Sanctuary quests and the Adventurers' Guild quests have some similarities. In addition to quests issued by the Sanctuary's higher-ups, there are also many other quests that request the Sanctuary's help. Therefore, there will also be quests like clearing out the goblin hordes wandering in XX region.

For tasks that are relatively clear, the system's task panel will also provide the corresponding task information:

[Mission: Clear out the roaming goblin horde in the forest along a tributary of the Blue Dragon River]

[Mission Briefing: Caravans passing through the forest along the Blue Dragon River tributary have recently been harassed by goblins. Therefore, we have been tasked with clearing out the goblins in this area to improve security.]

[Task Rewards: 100 Sanctuary Contribution Points, 100 Universal Points, 4 Gold Coins]

"Ah, are all the goblin gentlemen this lazy? It's only noon." Chloe reluctantly put the clothes back in their place.

“Goblins that live in groups usually hunt within a set timeframe, while only nomadic individuals roam the wild for extended periods,” Ella recalled.

"Lady Havil is so familiar with the habits of monsters." Chloe bit her index finger lightly. "I spend most of my time in the Sanctuary and haven't heard much about these things."

“I occasionally enjoy reading different types of books,” Ella rambled on as usual. “Some books say that they like to kidnap beautiful priestesses to have their babies.”

"Eh!?"

"Not only that, their lair also harbors hidden goblin wizards who can concoct special potions to manipulate the minds of adventurers who stray into their traps, resulting in the emergence of incredibly hideous goblin warriors..."

……

After being verbally tormented, Chloe lost all interest in shopping, her mind filled with the grotesque goblins Ella had described, and she was filled with worry.

The three of them first went to the Adventurers' Guild in the West District. Even if the priests who accepted the mission from the Sanctuary went out to train, they could still recruit companions at the Adventurers' Guild.

However, Ella and her group weren't recruiting companions. The three of them had just gathered a warrior, a priest, and a mage. Chloe just wanted to get an adventurer's certificate so she could take on some adventurer guild quests to increase her merits and prepare to become a professional adventurer in the future.

“That does surprise me a bit.” Ella said, sipping the grapefruit juice the elf at the counter gave her, as she watched Chloe diligently filling out her adventurer’s certificate application. “I thought you would enjoy doing research in the sanctuary, Miss Chloe… after all, you’re so serious when you’re in class.”

“The world is so big, I’ve always wanted to see different scenery.” Chloe carefully held the quill pen and signed her name. “It is said that the night sky in the North is filled with colorful clouds, the oldest dragon sleeps in the Molten Castle, and there is a spring in the deepest part of the Malaga Abyss that can keep you young forever… So many mysterious and beautiful places, how romantic it would be to become an adventurer on a journey.”

"Even if there are goblin warriors in those places, it's still romantic, isn't it?" Ella took a sip of grapefruit juice.

"Lady Hevil, can we not talk about goblins..." The priestess's hopeful face immediately fell.

Chapter 44 The First Batch of Players

Adventurers...

Looking at the familiar decor of the Adventurer's Guild Hall, Ella felt a little sentimental.

Once upon a time, she often listened to the melodious tunes of bards, sat by the warm fireplace, clinked glasses with her companions, and chatted and laughed, boasting as she watched the snow fall heavily in the night sky outside the window.

The elegant waitresses and maids will serve you fragrant roasted lamb chops, and they won't forget to slip a card with the sign of the red-light district shop next door under the plate.

At that time, with her sharp eyes, she would always accurately pull out this thing and stuff it into Li Cheng's hands, who was still thinking about the goddess, while she and her friends teased and laughed.

Her initial adventures may have stemmed from curiosity about new worlds. As she traveled to the ends of the earth and witnessed magnificent landscapes, some of the beautiful scenery gradually faded, while the pleasant nights spent in the guild became her most precious memories.

By now, the first batch of players who arrived in the Imperial City should have arrived by now, right?

Just as Ella had this thought, the guild's door was pushed open and a group of people walked in.

Unlike ordinary Loren adventurers, this group of people wore strangely mixed and matched clothes and equipment. Aslan's rune gloves were worn over Loren-style silver-white inner armor, Valen Kingdom hunter trousers were worn over a pair of barbarian-style wolf skin boots, and one guy was wearing a pumpkin-shaped helmet that was wider than his shoulders... This group's equipment looked like a simplified demon festival circus that had been picked up from the ground and put together.

Hmm... So this is what it feels like for a native of this other world to see a player for the first time...?

However, there's no other way. In the early stages, basic equipment is bought from the system shop and obtained through quest rewards using universal points. You can only wear whichever equipment has the best attributes. It's only when there's a blacksmith shop in the city that you can start crafting and improving your own equipment. That's when you might start to consider aesthetics a little.

Although that kind of "aesthetic" may differ slightly from the aesthetic understanding of indigenous people.

Ella couldn't help but recall her previous outfits: a Valen hunter black trench coat paired with a Tedher Federation swordsman brown vest. Back then, she thought it looked pretty cool, but now she realized it probably looked like a country bumpkin in the eyes of the natives.

That being said, these strange outsiders, who seem odd now, will become an important force influencing the entire world in the not-too-distant future.

Players with a World Tree system and a mindset completely different from the locals will gradually overturn the worldview of the original inhabitants of this other world.

Such a novel outfit naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the guild hall. They stopped playing cards and drinking, and all curiously looked at this group of people.

"Hello, is this... the Adventurers' Guild?" The person wearing a pumpkin-headed helmet walked up to the guild's front desk and asked in a deep voice.

Ella never expected that the captain would be this pumpkin head.

"Yes, you've come from elsewhere, haven't you?" The elf receptionist was very professional, opening the notebook on the table. "Would you mind if I registered your adventurer credentials?"

"Ah... what proof?" Pumpkin Head tried to scratch his head, but because he forgot that his helmet was too big, he bumped his finger and shook his hand with a "Ouch!"

A burst of laughter immediately filled the hall.

"Excuse me, this thing... it's really torturous to wear if it weren't for its good stats..." The pumpkin-headed knight pulled the helmet off his neck, revealing a head of black, tousled hair and a young face. "Beautiful lady, what kind of proof were you referring to just now?"

Ella froze, not because the pumpkin-headed knight was particularly handsome, but because this was exactly the guy she had just been thinking about—

Li Cheng!? What's he doing here??

Shouldn't he be in Stormport right now?!

Belatedly noticing, Ella glanced at the strange sword on Li Cheng's waist, its hilt uneven in length, and suddenly remembered that this sword was the mountain battle sword that Li Cheng had drawn from the system when he first came to this world.

This is a piece of equipment with pretty good stats in the early game, but that's not the key point. The key point is that in his previous life, this spendthrift Li Cheng gave this thing to the goddess he had a crush on while exploring in the wild!

But in this life, he didn't give it to me?

Ella then suddenly remembered that she had specifically reminded this guy before she traveled through time.

He actually listened to that!

Ella felt relieved, but also a little conflicted, as this seemed to have triggered some unexpected butterfly effects.

"Holy crap, boss, this girl is gorgeous! Look closely at that one, the one with the white hood." A player nudged Li Cheng with his elbow, and Li Cheng turned his head slightly, his eyes meeting Ella's.

Then this guy's eyes widened immediately.

Oh no, this is so embarrassing!

Ella pulled her hat brim down; she couldn't very well go up to him and give him a warm hug, saying, "Brother Bear, it's been a long time!"

"Sir... sir?" The elf girl waved her hand in front of the pumpkin knight's eyes with slight dissatisfaction. She thought to herself that she was, after all, the head of the guild's front desk, and shouldn't be completely ignored.

"Ah... oh, ha, sorry, sorry, what did you just say? What good proof?" Li Cheng came back to his senses and subconsciously tidied his hair. However, after nearly a week of wilderness survival and fierce battles with wild monsters, this only made his already messy hair even dirtier.

If they hadn't at least bathed in the forest streams, they probably would have had some unexpected odors on them.

"Adventurer's Certificate..." the elf lady said helplessly, "Judging from your attire, I thought you were all professional adventurers. If not, would you like to register as adventurers here?"

"Oh, right, it's about registering for this." Li Cheng nodded. "After registering for this, you can get quests and fight monsters here, right?"

"Monster hunting..." The elf lady was a little unaccustomed to this strange term. "If you mean a quest to hunt monsters, you can get it here. And the difficulty and rewards of the quests you can get will vary depending on your adventure rank."

"Nice, oh, I mean, no problem. Also, is there food and lodging here?"

"We provide all of these. We still have quite a few rooms available. We can take you up to see them." After saying this, the group of players visibly relaxed and even started clapping and cheering with each other.

After several days of wilderness survival, we finally arrived at a place where we could sleep and eat in peace.

"Everyone, you can have a good rest today." Li Cheng let out a long sigh, then seemed to suddenly remember something, and with a flick of his hand, a tooth-like object appeared in his palm. "Oh, right, beautiful lady, there's one more question. Can these things be exchanged for gold coins here?"

"Grey rhinoceros ivory?" The elf looked at the item in Li Cheng's hand with a hint of surprise. "We often have merchants commissioning us to collect materials from monsters. However, if the materials you have are mixed and not all of them are commissioned by them, you can go directly to the corresponding merchant guild to sell them."

"Thank you, thank you." Li Cheng smiled and nodded, then patted the shoulder of one of his companions and handed him a gold coin that seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Hey, Xiao Deng, you take the brothers to register first, and then we'll go find rooms."

"Hey boss, where are you going?"

"I have some important business to attend to." Li Cheng said with a serious expression. After ordering a glass of mead, he swayed over to Ella, who was quietly drinking grapefruit juice not far away.

Chapter 45 Li Cheng

Ella naturally noticed that big idiot wandering over and was a little puzzled.

What's this guy doing?

"Ahem." Li Cheng walked over to Ella, cleared his throat, holding a beer in one hand and the pumpkin helmet in the other. "This..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Templar Knight beside Ella stepped between them, crossed his arms, and silently watched Li Cheng.

"No, canned food, I wasn't talking to you." As expected of an old friend, Li Cheng's first reaction upon seeing this sullen knight was also "tin can."

“It’s nothing.” Ella tapped the metal plate on the Templar’s ​​arm.

The Templar Knight glanced back at Ella, then took a half-step to the side, making room between them.

Upon seeing the adorable face of the silver-haired, red-eyed girl up close, Li Cheng's eyes widened involuntarily, as if he wished he could devour her with his gaze.

"Is there something you need, sir... adventurer?" Ella asked slowly and deliberately.

"Um, this extremely beautiful lady, I just feel like we've met somewhere before." Li Cheng's lips curled up.

Ella was a little confused for a moment.

Huh? Our friendship has deepened to the point that you can recognize me even here??

“Don’t be so quick to deny it, ma’am,” Li Cheng said, raising his mead slightly. “I once tried to imagine what the most beautiful girl in the world would look like, day and night, but I found that the answer I tried to imagine was not even a fraction as beautiful as yours… Perhaps it was because of my beautiful imagination that I was able to feel an instant connection with your stunning beauty. I think this might be a kind of fate.”

...Turns out, my buddy had lost his mind.

Ella gave her evaluation.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir, but I have a request to complete.” Ella stood up. Theoretically, this long-awaited reunion could have provided plenty of material for conversation, but the way they were meeting was just too awkward. “I’m sorry I can’t keep you company.”

"What kind of request is this, ma'am? If it's possible, may I also do my part?" Li Cheng also stood up.

"...Weren't you just about to rest?"

“Those are my underlings, I’m different.” Li Cheng raised an eyebrow. “I just warmed up, I’m full of energy.”

“Thank you for your kind offer, sir, but it’s not necessary,” Ella smiled slightly, waved, and turned to leave. “See you later.”

Staring at the girl's retreating figure, Li Cheng stood there in a daze for a while, his mind replaying the touching smile she gave him before she left.

"See you later...see you later..." he murmured.

"Boss, boss? You're the only one who hasn't registered yet." The player who had just been entrusted with the task came over and patted Li Cheng on the shoulder. "Stop daydreaming, boss."

"See you later..." Li Cheng brought the mead to his lips but didn't touch it for a long time. "Little Deng, she said goodbye to me. Do you think she likes me?"

"...I think you've lost your mind, boss."

……

Ella wasn't too surprised that Li Cheng became the captain of that player team, after all, Li Cheng was also the guild leader of the player guild they established in their previous life.

Although this guy may seem simple-minded, he actually has a unique personal charm as a leader and can always gather a group of partners who are willing to take risks and fight alongside him.

As for Ella, although she was the only member of the guild to survive to the final battle in the Holy City in her previous life, she honestly didn't think she had any special leadership talent.

However, Li Cheng arrived in the capital city first in this life. I wonder if those friends gathered in Stormport will still form a guild.

But this shouldn't be a big problem, since the system will be updating the player communication panel in two days, and the World Tree system will also be constantly upgraded. At that time, even if Li Cheng established his guild in the Imperial City, he will still be able to contact other friends in Stormport through the communication system.

Of course, this mainly refers to those I met before I traveled through time. I don't know what will happen to some of my companions whom I will meet after I travel through time.

However, there's no point in Ella worrying about this now.

An hour later, Ella and her two companions left the city in a carriage that was traveling along the same route. Before noon, they successfully arrived at the forest of a tributary of the Blue Dragon River. This was not an official place name. The Blue Dragon River was a river that flowed through the entire Valond region. There were many tributaries and forest areas extending from them, but only this area had trade routes passing through it.

Because this area is relatively close to the imperial city, it is not as gloomy and terrifying as the Black Forest of Liangqiu Ridge. In fact, because standard commercial roads have been built, horse-drawn carriages can be seen passing by on the dirt roads from time to time.

The landscape here consists of sparse forests and shrubs, with the occasional brightly colored flower.

Perhaps because it was her first time in such a wild forest, Chloe gripped the priest's staff and followed Ella nervously. "Lady Heville... if... if the goblin warriors come out, you will protect me, won't you?"

"..." Ella began to feel a little guilty about the far-fetched stories she had told earlier.

Generally speaking, if it is necessary to track down a certain monster, the team usually needs to have a member who inherits the Hunter class. This class's skills allow players to track a specified target based on some clues, or use special spells to mark the target based on some connection, such as scent.