“The Goblins?”
Qiansitelin looked at the simple map on the table, her fingers tapping it slightly.
“Yes…”
Muxuan stood beside her, a hint of unease on her face. She really hadn’t expected the new ceremonial dress Qiansitelin prepared for her to be so complicated. It wasn’t just heavy to wear; it was incredibly uncomfortable.
As she accidentally remembered the scene from when she was changing, Muxuan immediately pressed her legs together and shot a cautious glance at Qiansitelin, not daring to relax her posture.
Noticing Muxuan’s small movements, Qiansitelin felt like laughing, but she quickly refocused her attention.
The matter Muxuan had brought up was the current priority.
They had been resting at this base for nearly three days, and some of the more pressing dangers needed to be dealt with.
“Your Highness, do you remember what this area was?”
After thinking for a moment, Qiansitelin moved her finger to the southern mineral vein marked earlier.
Now that the entity known as “Him” in that place had fallen back into a slumber, anyone with a certain amount of Lightforce in their body could mine there without being affected. Once Muxuan’s knight count exceeded 120, she had already dispatched thirty knights to carry out the mining operations.
If nothing else, the Church needed to maintain its prestige, and that marble was necessary to extract.
Of course, the most important thing was that because the location was the source of the Corruption, a new type of ore had been discovered in the lower layers. Due to its extremely powerful corruptive nature, Muxuan called it Eldritch Ore.
Since she had sent personnel to mine there, Muxuan had naturally gone back to survey the area again.
“Of course.”
Speaking with confidence, Muxuan picked up a quill from the side and added a section to the rough map near the mineral vein, along with labels.
Watching Muxuan complete the surrounding area of the vein, Qiansitelin’s finger pointed toward a specific spot.
“Look here, Your Highness. What do you notice?”
“This is…”
Muxuan, who had been somewhat confused at first, was suddenly enlightened by Qiansitelin’s hint.
Initially, Muxuan only thought the Goblins might have some kind of plot, but she didn’t think it would be as outrageous as she was now imagining.
However, following Qiansitelin’s train of thought, Muxuan realized the Goblins’ schemes were quite massive.
They were most likely here for “Him.”
“Now that we’ve put ‘Him’ back to sleep, the Goblins will definitely take action.”
Qiansitelin’s voice carried a hint of gravity.
Muxuan nodded in agreement, then looked toward Qiansitelin with an inquiring gaze.
She felt that when it came to handling this matter, she still needed to let Qiansitelin make the final decision.
The Goblins’ underground palace was indeed far from the mineral vein, but the mountain behind that village was continuous, stretching all the way to the vicinity of the vein.
If it weren’t for Qiansitelin, Muxuan still wouldn’t have understood what the Goblins were trying to do.
As for that so-called Goblin Elder, although Muxuan knew he might have been hiding things or deceiving her, this was a bit much.
Her heart sank. Muxuan realized that those who she had left behind there probably wouldn’t meet a good end.
‘Why wasn’t I more forceful back then… fine, being forceful would have just led to a desperate struggle with that Goblin Elder.’
Seeing Muxuan’s expression, Qiansitelin shook her head and said softly, “Your Highness, you are the decision-maker of the Church. You must believe in your own judgment so that we, the Faithful, can follow you without hesitation.”
Muxuan fell silent for a moment, and her expression became serious.
“I understand…”
It was true… she was the decision-maker of the Church. Letting Qiansitelin make decisions for her wasn’t appropriate.
‘But… I don’t want to think anymore.’
Slumping over the table in a somewhat defeated manner, Muxuan looked like a limp doll, lying motionless.
Qiansitelin looked at Muxuan with doting eyes and didn’t rush her.
These things had to be done sooner or later; they were unavoidable. Besides, this version of the Saintess—somewhat lazy normally but completely serious when working—was exactly how her ideal Saintess should be.
“Hmm?”
Sensing someone approaching outside the door, Qiansitelin quickly patted Muxuan’s head, flattening the stray hair, and then immediately stood up to block the doorway.
“Ow!”
Rubbing her head, Muxuan pouted and looked at Qiansitelin with annoyance.
Despite her irritation, Muxuan didn’t make another sound. She quickly used her Lightforce to disguise herself.
In the moment the door was knocked and opened, Muxuan happened to finish disguising herself as the male version of Muxuan.
“What business do you have with His Holiness?”
Meeting Qiansitelin’s cold gaze, Jack gave a sheepish smile, which was quickly replaced by an anxious expression.
“My brother Roman ran into the Black Mist, and now he’s vanished!”
“Set that aside for a moment. First, you must understand that you have committed three mistakes.” Without giving Jack a chance to speak, Qiansitelin continued, “First, opening the door to His Holiness’s room without permission after knocking. Second, you must maintain proper decorum when meeting the Pope. Third, small matters like this should be reported to the Knights, not His Holiness.”
Hearing Qiansitelin’s words, Jack was stunned, shrinking back in fear.
He was too anxious; he hadn’t thought about all that!
“But…”
Seeing that Jack was on the verge of tears, Muxuan stepped out from behind Qiansitelin.
“That’s enough, Qiansitelin. Don’t make things difficult for this pious follower.”
After saying that, Muxuan nudged Qiansitelin aside and looked at Jack again.
“Pious follower, if I remember correctly, your name is Jack. Have you reported this to the Knights?”
Muxuan had a slight impression of this man. During the commendation ceremony after the memorial service, he had gone up on stage to receive his blessing. Because he had been looking around while on stage, Muxuan had glanced at him a few extra times.
“Thank you, His Holiness, for remembering my name… I couldn’t stop Roman. After he rushed into the Black Mist, I immediately found Commander Gelifende.”
“The Commander assigned three knights to go into the Black Mist with me to search for half a day, but we still couldn’t find Roman… I was so worried that I asked for your location, His Holiness…” Jack said, sounding both fearful and respectful.
‘He ran into the Black Mist himself?’ If memory served, Roman was also one of those who received a blessing, and he had even approached Muxuan privately, expressing his desire for power…
Thinking of this, Muxuan couldn’t help but sigh.
Indeed, without Gelifende’s permission, Jack wouldn’t have been able to find this place.
Gelifende probably knew the general situation and judged it to be a serious incident, which was why he let Jack come to him.
Was it because… he felt there was some entity in the Black Mist bewitching people?
Roman’s state did indeed seem like someone who desperately craved power and was lured by some existence within the Black Mist under the guise of being granted strength.
“Is it them…?”
“Who?”
Muxuan heard Qiansitelin’s murmur and asked instinctively.
Qiansitelin simply shook her head and then smiled. “It’s nothing. I might just be overthinking things.”
‘I should find a time to deal with those old guys myself. I can’t let our little Saintess be influenced by them.’
‘Overthinking? It’s probably another idea to mess with me!’
After grumbling internally, Muxuan spoke aloud. “Unfortunately, I cannot help you with this matter.”
Regarding this situation, Muxuan truly had no solution.
Tracking someone through the Lightforce inside a follower? Please, as if the Black Mist wouldn’t block that. Besides, this wasn’t like the stone she had given to Buzhaqi; that Lightforce came from within Roman himself.
With only the connection between Lightforce, finding someone in the Black Mist was fundamentally impossible.
Furthermore, Roman had likely already traveled a great distance, making it even harder to find him.
“I see…”
Jack lowered his head in disappointment, but he soon looked up again, his eyes filled with determination as he stared at Muxuan.
“His Holiness, I want to become a defensive knight at the pioneer outpost!”