Wulin Monastery was over twenty kilometers away from the city walls of the royal capital.
However, the reach of the royal capital extended beyond the walls, covering a ring of self-built houses that stretched outward for three to four kilometers. But even the outlying area seemed subject to some sort of regulation—so beyond the walls, the carriage still traveled along a tidy street, though the houses varied in style.
Large monasteries were actually no different from a lord’s estate; each had its own mill, pasture, farm, and various other buildings, with the ability to be self-sufficient. In fact, some monasteries were the personal property of the local lord, who claimed the title of monastery head as well.
But Wulin Monastery’s structure was different from what Dolores remembered. The moment she arrived at the gate, she saw armed personnel in silver half-armor.
The monastery was surrounded by stone walls two meters high. From the outside, stone towers were visible. The grounds covered more than five square kilometers. Farmland ringed the walls in a circular pattern, giving the place the appearance of a small fortress.
The armed personnel reported Dolores’s arrival up the chain of command, and after a while, someone came out to receive her.
Welcoming Dolores was the monastery head, a fifty-year-old woman named Mary.
In this world, the church did not forbid women from becoming clergy. Outside the official ranks, being the head of a monastery was one of the highest religious authorities a woman could attain.
Yet, even so, female monastery heads were still quite rare.
For any woman capable of reaching such a position, she could easily have climbed even higher in the church’s official hierarchy.
Dolores explained her purpose: she had come to find a nun named “Hilberu.”
But the answer she received was unexpected.
“Sister Hilberu, along with several other nuns, went into the royal city to purchase supplies—just four hours ago,” Mary replied.
“Where might they be?” Dolores asked.
“The market on Rock Street, the blacksmith on Golden Street, the shops near Golden Square. Usually, Sister Beta handles the purchasing, but this time, Hilberu wanted to go out and gain some experience, so we let her take charge of the shopping this time.”
Mary responded, then, with some unease, asked, “Did that child do something wrong?”
Hilberu’s rebelliousness was nothing new in the monastery. Though she hadn’t been sent by her parents, she was a child personally adopted by the head.
But despite growing up in the monastery’s deep atmosphere of knowledge and faith, Hilberu seemed completely uninterested in the Holy Church. From early on, Mary had decided that when the girl came of age, she would leave her the choice of her own path.
She could stay in the monastery or leave.
There were just two months left until Hilberu reached adulthood. Dolores’s sudden, pointed visit made Mary inevitably worried about the girl.
Dolores smiled and shook her head, dispelling Mary’s concerns. “She hasn’t done anything. I just want to meet her and become friends.”
“It would be her honor,” Mary replied.
But deep inside, uneasiness welled up in Dolores’s heart.
Not finding Hilberu in the monastery was unexpected, but it made the timing of the dragon attack clear—it would be today.
Dolores had previously assumed there was a church in the royal capital, and that when the city was attacked, Hilberu would be in the city. But based on the current situation, she could confirm Hilberu would not be returning to the monastery, and the dragon was about to arrive at the capital.
What about taking shelter in the monastery? It looked like a fortress—perhaps, in the coming Dragon Calamity, it would be safer here than in the city, which was destined to become the main battlefield.
Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, Dolores caught a glimpse of a Knight in the crowd looking toward her. Instinctively, she gripped her sword, but the figure vanished from sight.
No—she absolutely could not stay here. She had to return to the capital.
The relationship between the Kingdom of Rand and the Church was extremely complicated. With turmoil soon to hit the city, she couldn’t stay here.
So Dolores bade farewell to Head Mary and instructed her maid to hurry back to the royal capital.
It was already dusk; the sky outside was gradually growing dark. In the distance, Green looked at Wulin Monastery, pondering why Dolores would come here.
Of course, he knew Hilberu was born here, but the monastery was tightly guarded and closed. The head and the stationed High-Ranking Knight were both Saint Officials, so he had never considered causing trouble for Hilberu ahead of time.
He couldn’t win.
In his memory, Hilberu only appeared in the royal capital after the Dragon Calamity ended. When he saw Hilberu covered in blood, she already carried the aura of a miracle.
Who had Dolores come to the monastery to find?
While pondering, Green glanced at the System Panel’s timer for the dragon’s arrival. Only three hours remained.
If Dolores wasted any more time, she might not make it back to the city. But she seemed only to have asked a few questions and left the monastery after just half an hour.
Naturally, Green continued to follow Dolores. When the carriage was halfway along the road, a group ambushed it.
By rough count, there were at least ten attackers, all masked, each emanating a faint aura of power.
“Are they bandits?” Dolores asked her maid.
“No, they’re disguised as bandits… It seems they’re after us,” the purple-haired maid replied, her expression grave.
But before leaving, she reassured Dolores, “I can handle these. Just give me a moment.”
It was the first time since coming to this world that Dolores saw real magic. A blue barrier wrapped the carriage like an eggshell, and then an arrow with a pale blue glow pierced an attacker’s skull.
The maid kept drawing her bow, forcing back the masked attackers with her fists and feet. Sometimes, magical elements restrained the assailants’ limbs, and arrows followed right after.
Dolores watched the fight outside with curiosity. When the maid took arrows from her ring, she also reported on the situation, “These attackers don’t seem like professional assassins. They seem to be under some spell—acting stiffly.”
“But in theory, whether Mage or Necromancer, no one would waste their resources like this, let alone act so brazenly near the capital.”
This was right next to the royal capital. Such audacity would surely bring down a military purge, unless he knew that in the coming hours, no one would have the energy to care.
The maid told Dolores she needed just half an hour to clear out the attackers. Already four or five corpses lay before her, and fewer and fewer new assailants appeared.
It seemed Dolores’s guess was right: this maid did possess enough strength to protect her completely.
Just as Dolores was getting used to the bloody scene, the attackers in front of the maid were suddenly cleaved apart by a sword. Apparently, they hadn’t expected there to be someone behind them, and two more attackers met a miserable end.
The one who joined the fray, wielding a greatsword with both hands, was Green.
The maid drew her bow and coldly warned, “Don’t come near us.”