Chapter 97 — Guests from the Royal Capital
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The instant that nameless woman appeared at Viroday's side, Gao Yang sensed something was wrong. He had been moving through this world in human form for several months now, and before that he had spent many years observing the land as a satellite spirit; he could safely say he had seen every strange and outlandish race this continent had to offer. Yet he had never seen anyone shaped like this: bearing a set of human features, dressed in human clothes, but in truth semi-transparent light from head to toe—a form that looked less like a person than some kind of elemental being...
But elemental beings did not look like that either!
Gao Song's first reaction was that he had encountered a rare creature—perhaps even an SSR. But a moment later he noticed that everyone around him was perfectly calm, as if they had not noticed the short-haired woman's peculiar appearance at all. If it were only a mage like Hedy, calm because she had witnessed all manner of bizarre magical phenomena, that would be one thing; yet even Amber—someone who could spot an egg an extra size too large and gleefully natter about it for ages—was equally composed and even had the leisure to analyze someone's aesthetic merits... That meant there was a serious problem.
There was only one explanation: to everyone but him, the short-haired woman looked perfectly normal.
So Gao Yang decided to suppress his immense astonishment and curiosity for the time being. He forced his expression under control and shifted his attention to Viroday's appearance—and he had to admit, apart from the deathly expressionless figure beside her glowing all over like a holographic projection, Viroday was indeed the most eye-catching presence on the scene. Though in pure beauty she was not vastly superior to Hedy, that almost inhuman aura was something not everyone possessed.
Rumour had it that this "Saint Princess" had displayed astonishing gifts from childhood; besides overpowering ordinary people in magic and martial skill, she also possessed an incredible spiritual gift inclined toward the holy light. The very first time she stepped into the Church of Radiance, even the bronze bells in the main bell tower were struck by holy light and rang of their own accord three times—one of the reasons she ultimately renounced her right of succession and converted to the Church of the Shining Stars.
Perhaps ninety percent of that was hearsay, but Gao Yang believed that even hearsay had its causes.
The two parties exchanged brief pleasantries on the dock—nothing beyond "Your Grace has worked hard opening up this wilderness," "remember the spirit of heroes," "how is the King's health," "I have long heard of you, forgive my poor manners," and "when do we eat" (that last from Amber)—and in the course of these pleasantries the two sides introduced themselves briefly.
From Viroday, Gao Yang learned the name of the priestess beside her: an ordinary name, Sandy, but no ordinary status. She was a high priestess of the Blazing Radiance Church, equal in rank to Viroday, but since she held no office within the church and had been promoted only recently, she was for the time being travelling with the party in the capacity of Viroday's assistant.
The man in clerical dress, wearing the insignia of the Royal Knights, was the deputy commander of the First Royal Knights, directly under Francis II, by name Cohen Loren, holding the title of count. The surname alone told him that this man was closely connected to Silas Loren, Duke of the Eastern Marches; indeed, this deputy commander was a member of the Loren family—a distant cousin of Silas Loren—but many years ago he had voluntarily renounced his standing in the family and instead accepted a special patent from Francis II, becoming one of the crown's court nobles.
On this journey, the deputy commander's duty was to protect Viroday.