Chapter 31: Defender of Morals

“I’ve finally escaped.”

After settling Mida in, Mo Baiwei immediately fled.

She didn’t want any strange plotlines to develop between her and Mida.

They were clearly just ordinary friends, and she couldn’t ruin Mida’s happiness.

Since she knew Mida was under the influence of Charm, Mo Baiwei naturally couldn’t take his words seriously.

‘He should be back to normal once he wakes up tomorrow.’

Thinking this, Mo Baiwei prepared to head home.

To be honest, going out in her elf body this time was a very novel experience that gave her a different perspective.

However, she asked herself and still felt it would be better to live with a human appearance in the future.

It wasn’t just because of the trouble it brought; more importantly, she felt a great sense of peace when she turned into a human.

Wei Bai’s current life was exactly what she had dreamed of in the past.

Walking along the road and feeling the dim yellow glow of the streetlights, Mo Baiwei looked up at the sky.

Stars twinkled in the heavens, and a bright moon hung high overhead.

“Today is the Reunion Festival…”

Mo Baiwei murmured.

It was because of the Reunion Festival that she had chosen to come out and take a look using her Elf Bloodline.

If she counted her time in exile, she had already been in the kingdom for 10 years.

She stared blankly at the silhouettes of two adults and a child on the street in the distance.

Even though it was late, the family of three was still very happy.

They seemed to have just returned from the seaside; the mother held a beach bucket, the father was playing with the little girl, and the girl clutched a small yellow duck in her hand.

Since her parents had passed away when she was only 1 month old, she had no memory of them.

But if her parents hadn’t died, perhaps she would have been just as happy.

“Oh, why am I so sentimental lately? I’m clearly used to being alone,” Mo Baiwei wiped her reddened eyes and comforted herself with a self-deprecating smile.

“Really, how old am I? Still thinking about playing like a child.”

As she spoke, a hint of a sob crept into her voice.

She crouched by the roadside.

The emotions she had forcibly suppressed in front of Mida now surged out uncontrollably, swallowing her whole.

‘I’m strong. I already escaped from the Devil’s Den. I’m free now!’

‘I’m very powerful now. I even became a Gold-Rank Adventurer.’

‘I’m living the life I want to live. I’ve even mastered magic!’

‘Everything is getting better and better. I’m a Gold-Rank Hero! A Gold-Rank Hero wouldn’t cry even if a chunk of their flesh was torn off!!’

As Mo Baiwei spoke, her tears fell uncontrollably, dripping onto the ground one by one and shattering like her past illusions.

She didn’t know how long she cried, but finally, she forced a smile, wiped away her tears, and prepared to stand up and leave.

“My, what a pitiful little elf. Crying because she misses her mother.”

An abrupt voice emerged from the shadows of the streetlight behind her.

“Who’s there?!”

Mo Baiwei’s overflowing emotions were instantly reined in.

Hearing the other party’s words, she understood that they did not come with good intentions.

“Gold-Rank Hero, Mage, Miss Mo Baiwei, correct?”

Along with the voice, a white-clad figure slowly walked out of the shadows.

‘When did he start following me?’

Mo Baiwei’s heart grew uneasy.

The fact that the other person had followed her for so long without her noticing, and that she had unintentionally revealed so much information to him, made her nervous.

Her intuition told her that this person was trouble.

“Oh, probably since you were in East City.”

The white-clad figure stepped under the streetlight, and the dim yellow light illuminated his attire.

He wore a white robe with a hood obscuring his face and held a staff in his hand.

“Who are you?”

Seeing that the other person didn’t attack immediately, Mo Baiwei didn’t make any rash moves either.

She quietly observed the figure while looking for an escape route.

“When asking for someone’s name, you should provide your own first.”

The white-robed mage didn’t answer her.

After speaking, he waited quietly, as if he would wait forever if she didn’t respond.

“Hmph, how boring.”

Since she already knew he was an enemy, Mo Baiwei didn’t bother with further pleasantries.

She had found her exit and turned to leave.

The next moment, an Ice Wall appeared in front of her.

“What are you doing?”

Mo Baiwei was dissatisfied and turned to look at the white-robed mage.

“Miss Mo Baiwei, you cannot leave right now,” the white-robed mage said.

“Why won’t you let me go?”

A sense of dread grew in Mo Baiwei’s heart, but she still maintained her imposing manner.

“Shouldn’t you know better than I do?”

There was a hint of mockery in his tone.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”

Mo Baiwei was certain that as long as she didn’t admit to anything, the other person wouldn’t know her secret.

That was a ring made by the Chief Alchemist, after all.

It was impossible for someone to see through it at a glance, right?

“Then, do I need to address you differently?”

The white-robed mage seemed to see through her thoughts, and his voice gradually turned chilling.

“Little elf… no, I should say Elf Princess, Her Highness Mo Baiwei.”

“What ‘Highness’? How could an Elf Princess be here?”

Mo Baiwei’s heart sank halfway upon hearing this, but she remained stubborn.

She believed that as long as she stayed tight-lipped, the other party could do nothing to her.

“Your Highness, this isn’t playing house. It’s not as if something isn’t true just because you say so.”

The white-robed mage mocked her thoughts and continued.

“It was hard for me to believe that a member of the Elf Royal Family would appear here. At first, I thought the guard had given a false report. But until we stood face-to-face, I didn’t realize I had wrongly accused that dead guard. I repent for my mistaken punishment. This matter is truly quite serious. Perhaps the Holy See shouldn’t have held such a tolerant attitude toward you sub-humans. To think you could penetrate so deep into the inland.”

Listening to him, Mo Baiwei felt a chill run down her spine.

Her intuition told her that this white-robed mage was definitely not a good person.

“Who the hell are you? How did you recognize me?!”

Mo Baiwei demanded.

She only cared about what means this man had used to discover her.

“I apologize for frightening you, Your Highness.”

The white-robed mage’s tone softened, making him sound like a gentle priest.

“As compensation, I am willing to tell you my name. I am one of the twelve Defenders of the Faith of the Holy See, wielder of the Dogma of Sincerity, Francis. I have come here to maintain the peace and stability of the kingdom’s continent and to eliminate the sub-humans.”

“Haha, is a sincere Defender of the Faith this hypocritical? Aren’t you still working for Earl Arnie right now?”

Mo Baiwei understood the subtext and laughed mockingly.

In her eyes, this Defender of the Faith who supposedly held some dogma was as hypocritical as one could get.

The smooth-talking words and feigned respect he gave her made her sick.

A soldier had reported the enemy’s situation accurately, but because he didn’t believe it, he executed the soldier and called it a punishment.

He put on an act of respecting her status, yet his actions were merciless.

He even made a fake apology.

To Mo Baiwei, only one word could describe such a person: affectation.

Hearing Mo Baiwei’s mockery, Francis’s tone instantly turned dark.

“I’m sorry, Miss Mo Baiwei, but I cannot allow you to continue slandering a devout and steadfast defender of the gods.”

Francis paused, then said the next words one by one.

“If you dare to criticize or slander a clergyman again, do not blame me for using force to subdue you.”

“Just do it already. I don’t want to waste words with you. Why bother with all this empty talk?”

Mo Baiwei’s disgust for Francis grew.

She could hardly imagine how hypocritical someone had to be to say such things with a straight face. She just wanted to fight him.

Even if she lost, she wouldn’t regret it; she just didn’t want to be disgusted like this.

“My apologies, Miss Mo Baiwei.”

Francis didn’t waste any more breath.

His figure flashed and disappeared from in front of her.

‘What?’

Mo Baiwei was shocked to see Francis vanish in an instant, and her unease intensified.

The sound of wind came from behind her head.

Mo Baiwei dodged instinctively.

A fist flew past her ear and then immediately vanished from the spot.

‘Is it possible this Defender of the Faith can use space concealment?’

Mo Baiwei felt the wind from the previous punch, and a wave of shock crashed through her heart. Space Magic was the most difficult type of magic.

It not only required the user to have extremely high magical attainment and mana capacity but also required a specific bloodline.

In other words, if one’s bloodline wasn’t strong enough, they couldn’t learn the top-tier magic.

It was like a thin water pipe.

No matter how much water you tried to add, the amount of water flowing out of the pipe was fixed. This was a predetermined limit from birth.

Mo Baiwei knew very well that if she was facing a Defender of the Faith who had mastered Space Magic, she might not even be able to withstand a single blow.