Chapter 136: The White-Stockinged Female Knight and the Saintess Get into an Argument

Himan stood frozen in place.

She didn’t understand why Christine brought this up.

She tried to remember, and thought back to when she was eight or nine years old.

She did seem to have come to West Town once.

That year was because the Black Knights were conducting recruitment for their reserves.

Hall had been selected and was preparing for training, but Himan was prevented from running by Duke Von Braun.

For Himan, who was a bossy young lady at the time, joining the Black Knights was a very serious matter.

She hadn’t really factored what would happen after joining the knightly order into her life plan.

But she felt she absolutely had to participate.

After all, the young masters and young ladies of the entire Saint Louis nobility took pride in being a Black Knights reservist.

She also wanted to join, but she was irritated by Hall’s comment, “Why be a Black Knight? You’d be better off saving yourself the trouble.”

So that year, the two families came to Bal for a trip, and Hall said, “Then let’s go see how hard the adventurers work, fighting with monsters every day, and that will be the end of it.”

Duke Von Braun thought it was a good idea.

“Little Hall, speaking so wisely.”

As a father, he doted on Himan, his only daughter, and couldn’t bear to hit or scold her, so naturally, he couldn’t educate her properly.

Although Hall sometimes made Himan cry, it made him uncomfortable.

But this mission could indeed help him cure his daughter’s spoiled and wayward personality.

So in the middle of that trip to Bal, the two families came to West Town and were warmly received by the local managers.

“I’ve been here before, but I was very young. What about it?”

Himan asked Christine in return, “What does this have to do with what we’re talking about now?”

The Saintess Candidate nodded, indicating that it was indeed relevant.

But she didn’t speak directly.

She just led Maria and Himan forward.

After walking for a while, the three girls could see the edge of the main residential area of West Town.

Then Christine suddenly said.

“When did Miss Himan first meet me?”

“More than three years ago, at the Saintess Candidate’s banquet.”

Himan recalled.

Christine, however, shook her head.

“That wasn’t the first time we met.”

“What? Had we met before that?”

The white-stockinged knight didn’t know what the Saintess Candidate was up to.

Maria also didn’t dare to speak and just looked around nervously.

Watching for any danger.

And Christine continued to walk forward.

A closed dessert shop appeared on their right.

“Yes, but Miss Himan doesn’t remember the ordinary me from that year. Not everyone is born a duke’s daughter like Miss Himan, who can casually throw away a strawberry cake that a commoner girl only gets to eat on her birthday.”

Himan was a little at a loss for how to answer when she heard this.

In the circle of noble young ladies in Saint Louis, she wasn’t particularly wasteful.

But she also wouldn’t ignore the price of an item like a commoner girl.

For her, she would eat what was delicious and not eat what was not.

If she was full, she wouldn’t eat.

She wouldn’t wear a dress she was tired of.

She didn’t think it was wasteful.

A viscount’s daughter was like this, so a duke’s daughter like her…

Didn’t Christine, as a Saintess Candidate, even understand these simple principles?

Why would she say such a thing?

Himan was straightforward, but she wasn’t stupid.

“Saintess Candidate Christine, if you have something to imply, please be direct.”

At this moment, they had arrived at the crossroads beside the dessert shop.

The crossroads of fate.

That year, Hall, Christine, Mandosha Flower, and Himan.

The four of them met here.

Christine was brought by Mandosha Flower to buy a strawberry cake.

Hall was brought by Himan, who was angry, to buy a strawberry cake.

Little Himan had eaten two bites of the cake she got, but because she was full of anger from Hall, she had casually thrown the still mostly intact cake to the side of the road and run off.

And that whole scene had been witnessed by Christine.

It could be said that although her personality and extreme sanctity were innate, little Himan’s actions at that time had indeed stimulated Christine to some extent.

It had caused a change in Christine’s heart.

“Do you remember what happened here, Miss Himan?”

Christine stood in the middle of the not-so-straight crossroads of West Town, looked back at Himan, and said, “We met here.”

Himan was speechless for a while when she heard this.

She began to recall, and then her face changed slightly.

Although it was a long time ago, Himan’s talent was not low.

For someone with not-low talent, memories were usually quite clear.

Those images were hidden in a corner of her mind.

At this moment, Himan, guided by Christine, opened that chapter of the past.

She remembered that time when she came to West Town.

Because the town’s infrastructure was poor, there were some mosquitoes, and it happened to be after a late summer storm.

The air was hot and humid, which made little Himan very uncomfortable.

Especially the day before, she had said she wanted to see the sight of adventurers fighting with monsters.

Hall had deliberately led her to the small forest on the outskirts of the west.

Himan had been bitten by a few mosquitoes on her legs and arms.

She hadn’t felt much when she was bitten, but when she returned to her room at night, it was itchy.

The next day, the air was still hot and humid, and the symptoms became even more severe.

Then little Himan had angrily gone to find Hall, saying that he clearly had a better route, but he had insisted on taking her there.

But Hall had then said that he had a way and told her not to worry.

Himan had obediently listened, but Hall had taken the opportunity to tickle her, saying, “Didn’t you want to see the difficult life of the adventurers? Now you’re blaming me.”

This time, Himan had begged for mercy, and Hall had stopped, feeling very angry.

This had caused a rift between the two families.

The son of the Faxtius family had run off, saying he was going to complain to his father and aunt.

More than ten years ago, Duke Faxtius and Duke Von Braun had not yet truly held the power they did now, and they still had time to spend with their families.

Then Hall had told her to go to the local church and ask a nun for some holy water to apply.

He had fooled Himan into going to the local church again.

However, holy water was indeed a casual cure for this kind of mosquito bite.

Normally, Himan should have been fine, but she felt that Hall had known all along that this would cure it, but had deliberately delayed it for so long.

He had even played a trick on her in the middle.

Did he think she was easy to fool?

Her little face was even more puffed up with anger.

This time, Hall had taken out a bracelet and said he would take her out to play and buy her something good to eat.

Although, for a young lady like Himan, she had eaten all kinds of delicacies in Saint Louis, but she was still happy that Hall was taking her out to buy it specifically for her.

But the unpleasant thing had also happened at that time.

That’s right, Hall, that guy, hadn’t looked at her while buying her a strawberry cake.

His gaze had been fixed on the two sisters who had looked hesitant on the side of the road before.

The two little sisters were wearing very simple dresses that were considered very plain in the Saint Louis noble circle.

It could even be said that the material and style of the maid uniforms worn by their family’s servants were more exquisite than those dresses.

But both the little golden-haired girl and the little purple-haired girl.

Wearing those ordinary dresses, they still shone and were the focus of the crowd at all times.

And Hall, her cousin, who was supposed to be comforting her and buying her things, from the moment the two of them appeared in her sight.

He had been looking at the two girls almost non-stop, seemingly afraid that they would run away and miss this encounter.

Himan was a part of the noble circle, and she was a bit precocious.

The little girls in the circle all took pride in being precocious.

So she knew about the love between men and women a little earlier.

She knew that Hall was very popular with the girls in Saint Louis.

He would receive a large pile of love letters every day when he was only in the third grade.

The daughters of barons and viscounts would stare at him, this duke’s son, and the young ladies of viscounts and counts would always talk to Hall with red faces.

Coupled with the fact that Hall was called “little adult” by the adults for a reason, he handled the girls who had “admiration” for him properly, and his methods were mature.

The thing that made Himan feel the most secure was that she, as his cousin, would put her hands on her hips and vow that he couldn’t fall in love early, or she would tell their uncle and aunt.

And he would cooperate and casually deal with those love letters.

He would tear them up, burn them, or keep them.

That’s right, Hall was indifferent to the admiration of those little girls, and was only special to her.

This feeling of being “specially treated” made Himan very happy.

So when Hall was clearly comforting her, but was looking at those two beautiful, unfamiliar little sisters.

Little Himan got angry, extremely angry.

She felt that the strawberry cake in her hand was not sweet at all, but sour, so she threw the still mostly intact cake away and ran off.

And at this moment, the white-stockinged knight looked at this Saintess Candidate and said.

“We have indeed met, Miss Christine. If I’m not mistaken, you also have a close friend by your side.”

“Yes, it seems Miss Himan still remembers. We met here.”

“So, Miss Christine, what are you bringing this up for?”

Himan’s tone was obviously a little different at this moment.

She no longer addressed Christine as Saintess Candidate.

“Miss Himan, that day, my friend and I were planning to buy a strawberry cake here.”

“Oh, Hall was buying me a strawberry cake at that time. What about it?”

The two’s gazes were no longer as calm as usual.

Especially Himan.

She had really been tortured by all sorts of things these past few days and was mentally exhausted.

Hall was in West Town, but he wouldn’t help her.

And the vampire she was chasing had counterattacked her.

“But the thing Hall bought for you was thrown away by you, just like how you threw away Hall by believing rumors. But for me, the strawberry cake was very precious, and for the current me, Hall is even more precious.”

Christine did not say that Mandosha Flower was her sister, to keep Hall’s secret.

She also did not directly say that Hall had been with her this month and had always deliberately avoided Himan.

“Are you trying to say that the things I discard and don’t cherish will be picked up by you? That’s not the same.”

Himan remembered her conversation with Lov.

She was completely ignited.

She said loudly.

“Christine, why do you think I threw away that strawberry cake here that year…”

“Isn’t it because of you!”

Himan, who usually only had strong emotions for Hall, but was very calm and composed towards outsiders, was now like a volcano.

But as the eruption happened, she let out a sigh and lowered her arms.

Standing under the dim light.

Looking at Christine in front of her.

The latter did not immediately reply, only blinked.

Maria did not dare to speak.

She was confused about how Lady Christine and Himan had started arguing.

Although the two of them had argued before about Christine going to the site of the miracle.

But it was clearly not about such a serious matter.

And they were arguing about a “strawberry cake.”

How to put it.

Maria’s background was slightly better than Christine’s.

She was a citizen of the Papal State, and her father was a priest.

Although his position in the clergy was very low, he still worked in the church.

Her mother was also a believer.

Their family was not rich, but it was by no means poor.

The Papal State was basically the country with the best material conditions in the continent, second only to the ducal families.

So Maria’s concept of a strawberry cake was that “she could eat it as long as she got good grades as a child or her mother went shopping.”

Why were they arguing about this?

She didn’t understand.

It seemed to involve Hall.

Maria felt depressed.

She had heard that Leticia and Ye Wangxue had been arguing fiercely in Saint Louis over Hall a while ago.

The news of the love triangle between the noble duchess, the princess of Xia, and Hall was already well-known in Saint Louis.

But for Lady Christine to argue with the usually strict Himan over this mundane matter.

It was very strange.

If this were to spread back to Saint Louis, it would surely…

Maria didn’t dare to imagine.

Fortunately, she was a spectator tonight.

“Because of me?”

After a long while, Christine’s voice was calm.

Himan, on the other hand, stopped speaking.

She was reluctant to admit it.

Admitting it would be like admitting that she had been jealous of Christine back then.

How old was she at that time?

Why would she be jealous?

“In any case, Hall is my cousin, and it’s not for Saintess Candidate Christine to say that I lost him. It’s not that I don’t cherish him. He is also very important to me!”

“Oh… Baron Hall is my savior. Besides, I will never forget the taste of the strawberry cake he bought for me. Miss Himan?”

The hidden meaning of this sentence was “Himan has already forgotten.”

Himan was straightforward, but she wasn’t stupid.

She could certainly hear it.

“Thank you, Saintess Candidate Christine, for reminding me. I will also never forget it.”

That sour taste.

“What taste? I found it very sweet. To be honest, that was the first time in my life that I had eaten a whole strawberry cake.”

Christine said to herself.

Himan’s heart was already sour.

The cake was certainly sweet.

She knew that.

As long as it wasn’t spoiled, a cake was sweet.

“It’s nothing. I don’t care. That wasn’t the first time Hall bought me something. He has bought me even more expensive cakes.”

Himan was a little resentful, so she said this.

She wanted to save some face.

“Is that so?”

“Of course. Besides, with his personality, he only bought it for you because you were pretty. Did you, Saintess Candidate Christine, fall in love with him just because of this incident when you were a child?”

Himan tried to regain the upper hand.

Christine just smiled.

She also didn’t know when she had fallen in love with Hall.

Perhaps it was the first time he had appeared.

Perhaps it was the half a month after that, when he came to play with her and Mandosha Flower every day.

Perhaps it was when he left and came back in winter, and carried her out of the big fire that night.

Or perhaps it was in the later times.

But none of that mattered anymore.

It was enough that she still liked him now.

“In any case, don’t think that you were very special to Hall when you were a child, Saintess Candidate Christine. The time you spent with him is definitely not as much as mine.”

“Oh, so Miss Himan was the most special to Hall when you were a child?”

Christine continued to speak calmly.

But every word of hers seemed to have the magic to pound Himan’s chest.

After a brief silence, Himan remembered a name.

That name that made her feel uneasy and uncomfortable when she was a child.

“I… I didn’t say I was the most special. If there was one person who was more special to him when he was a child, it would be that girl.”

“Oh, that girl?”

Christine became interested.

“Hmph. Although I’m not sure of that girl’s real name, her codename is Hela.”

“Hela?”

Christine showed a hint of thought, then confusion.

Her clear memory ended after she became the [Angel] of the Salvation Church.

After that, it was very blurry.

“I’m not very clear on the details. If you want to know, go and ask Hall yourself. Anyway, he doesn’t want to see me now.”

Himan felt she should be angry.

But seeing Christine’s confused expression, she wasn’t too angry.

Instead, she vaguely looked forward to the look on Christine’s face when she went to Hall to confirm.

“Alright then, Miss Himan. Let’s part ways here tonight.”

After Christine finished speaking, she greeted Maria and prepared to leave.

“By the way, this is for you.”

Himan took off the white cross Christine had given her before.

And put it in her hand.

Hall returned to West Town and went straight to the church.

Actually, he had already learned from the magic communication scroll that Lov had been arranged to take shelter in the church when he started to move.

But when he returned to the church, his heart suddenly sank.

Because outside, there were a few corpses of Silver Knights and clergy.

Walking into the church, he could also see bloodstains in the aisle.

And signs of battle.

In theory.

Christine was the core figure tonight.

All the various forces should have deployed their main powerhouses around Christine and the orphanage.

There was no need to sneak attack the church now.

The church in West Town had no important people, and no strange holy items.

He didn’t quite understand.

But he could only pray that Lov was fine.

But when he used the magic communication scroll to contact her, the other party did not reply.

“Vampires?”

Hall sensed that aura.

It was similar to Parousia, a pure-blooded vampire.

In that case, he would have to find a way to contact Parousia.

But Hall decided to search the church first.

He found Lov sleeping in a room used to store miscellaneous items.

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

Lov was asleep.

But her posture was indeed not very graceful, not to mention her torn skirt, which exposed parts of her thigh and private white skin.

Normally, Hall’s heart would be racing now.

He would even feel that this scene was somewhat like the fan service in some anime or something that children shouldn’t watch.

But at this moment, he was only wondering what had happened inside the church.

A vampire had come in.

And had killed some clergy and Silver Knights.

It was a blessing that Lov was completely unharmed.

But Lov’s situation was also very strange.

He would only know when she woke up.

So Hall thought for a moment and decided to put the Starfall Feather that Christine had left here on Lov to help her recover quickly.

“But I don’t know if it will work. This feather can only recover when it’s in my heart. After it’s summoned, it can’t be used casually. To make this feather work normally, it has to be activated by Elizabeth herself.”

The effect of recovery and healing was an innate property of the feather.

The game’s setting was basically the same, so he wasn’t surprised.

But when Hall placed the feather on Lov’s chest.

Her body suddenly jumped.

She moved her arm as if she was in some kind of pain and directly knocked the feather off her chest.

Seeing this, Hall did not try again.

Lov was a subordinate character that he had set in the game.

A character with no combat power.

To suddenly receive a highly holy gift might cause a backlash.

After all, in some fragmented legendary texts of the game, it was roughly described as such:

When the true angel descends, the common people who have seen the true angel will even spontaneously combust because of the angel’s extremely high sanctity.

But a legend is just a legend.

Hall remembered that there were no true angel characters or important characters in the game.

He just quietly stayed by Lov’s side.

The little girl woke up after a moment.

“Young… Young Master?!”

The other party showed a hint of panic when she opened her eyes and saw Hall’s face.

“What’s wrong? Why are you sleeping here, or rather, unconscious?”

“I… I don’t know, Young Master. I just vaguely remember that the church seemed to have been attacked by someone, and the nun took me to the basement to take shelter, but…”

Lov touched her head.

Then she shook her head.

She looked a little confused.

“Oh, there are indeed traces of vampires. Mm… it’s fine. It’s good that you’re safe.”

Hall didn’t quite have the heart to force Lov to recall.

If she remembered, he knew she would tell him.

He would talk about it later.

“Mm. By the way, Young Master, is your business over there finished?”

“It’s finished. A lot has happened tonight. Thankfully, everyone is still safe.”

“Then, speaking of which, are you staying at the church, Young Master? If Miss Himan comes back, we…”

Lov remembered this.

Hall thought for a moment and decided to leave first.

He would ask Christine for details.

It seemed that Christine and Himan must have met.

Counting the time, she should be back at the church.

“Then you take care of yourself, Lov.”

“I, I know, Young Master.”

Then he patted her head and left.

But he hadn’t been out the door for long.

When he ran into the returning Christine and Maria.

“Himan?”

Hall’s quasi-demonization state had not completely subsided.

The power he had absorbed during his confrontation with Ancestor Demon had a strong after-effect.

His perception was still very strong.

And he felt that if he could convert part of this power into a permanent part of his body.

He might be able to reach level seventy-eight or seventy-nine in his normal state.

With the Demon God’s sword technique, weapon grade, and dual wielding and recovery abilities he had mastered.

Opponents below level eighty-five would almost all be unthreatening to him.

Unless it was a cheat like Sophia who came with a divine artifact.

“Her? She’s thinking about life, I think. She probably won’t see me again for a short time.”

Christine said calmly.

“What happened?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Teacher Christine, what happened?”

Hall used the honorific.

Himan couldn’t have had an accident.

He had already ensured Christine’s safety.

As long as Himan was fine, if it were in the game, he would definitely get an A-rank reward score for clearing the [stage] event tonight.

“I argued with her because of you.”

“Huh?”

This so-called argument made the black-haired youth frown slightly.

He had a bad feeling.

“Let’s not talk about that for now, Baron Hall. Can I ask you a question?”

Before he could refuse or confirm.

Christine stared directly into his eyes and continued.

“Who is Hela?”