Chapter 4 : The Omen

It was another quiet, peaceful day in Millstone Village, a border settlement in the Verald region of the Radiant Empire.

Thanks to the formidable strength of the Radiant Empire, this border village had known peace for nearly fifty years.

Tranquility was the norm.

But today, something strange happened in Millstone Village.

The son of the Landu family had gone hunting in the forest and had not returned for two nights.

At first, everyone assumed young Landu had simply gotten tired tracking his prey and decided to spend the night in the forest.

This was a common occurrence among hunters; after all, young Landu was an experienced woodsman.

He wouldn’t get lost in these woods.

But when the second night passed and young Landu still hadn’t returned, everyone realized something was wrong.

Old Man Landu hastily gathered the village hunters to search the forest, but after a full day of searching, they found no trace of his son.

Left with no other choice, Old Man Landu reported the matter to the Imperial Knight garrison stationed near Millstone Village.

The mage dispatched by the knights used the spell “Earth Memory” to trace young Landu’s footprints, discovering they led deep into the forest.

The search party followed the magical trail, only to find that young Landu’s tracks abruptly vanished after a certain distance.

When the knight’s mage tried to use Earth Memory again, he was met with a magical backlash.

The earth itself was resisting!

To force the earth to reveal its secrets would require the power of an Archmage, a level of power a simple hunter from Millstone Village could never hope to summon.

In the end, Old Man Landu had no choice but to accept that his son had likely met with disaster.

The Imperial Knights’ report on the matter, after passing through many hands, eventually reached Theodore Verald, the Count of Verald.

“My Lord Count, these are the documents that require your attention today.”

A royal guard, holding a stack of papers, knocked on the door of Count Verald’s study.

Hearing his knight’s report, the ruler of the Verald region, a count of real power within the empire, looked as if he had been granted a reprieve.

Count Verald forced a smile and spoke to the guest sitting on his sofa, “Your Holiness, I have some official business to attend to.

How about we discuss the matter we just spoke of in more detail during our next meeting?”

Count Verald’s guest was Saintess Veronica of the Church of Radiant Light.

She had come to discuss the matter of support for the Church’s activities with the Count.

Count Theodore Verald was one of the few nobles in the Verald region who had not accepted Bishop Fletcher’s overtures.

The Bishop’s numerous requests for a meeting had been politely declined by the Count for various reasons.

Having run out of options, Bishop Fletcher could only send Saintess Veronica to persuade the Count.

Faced with a visit from the Saintess, the Count no longer had any excuses to refuse.

Count Verald could ignore a regional bishop like Fletcher, but he could not turn away Saintess Veronica.

In an empire that worshipped the Goddess of Radiant Light, a private audience with the Saintess, whose status was second only to the Pope, was a great honor for the Count.

Faced with a Saintess who was highly likely to ascend to the Holy Rank in the future, Count Verald dared not make any more excuses.

When they met, the Saintess, just as the Count had expected, brought up the matter of supporting the Verald Diocese.

However, she only mentioned it briefly, seemingly uninterested in the matter.

Compared to supporting the Church’s activities, Her Holiness seemed more interested in the dragon skull displayed in the Count’s study.

Furthermore, the Count noticed another difference in the Saintess today.

The noble and sacred aura she had exuded during the speech a few days ago was absent.

Veronica’s posture, with her legs spread wide, was not at all ladylike.

If she hadn’t been wearing a long dress, she would have exposed herself countless times.

But it was precisely this version of the Saintess, stripped of that high and mighty feeling, now approachable and down-to-earth, that made the Count feel a hint of fondness for her.

The two of them thus fell into an awkward equilibrium.

Due to his status, Count Verald felt it was improper to initiate a new topic of conversation.

And Veronica had no desire to help Bishop Fletcher gain more support; her initial mention of the matter was merely for show in front of the Church knights Fletcher had sent.

Now that the Count had conveniently brought up the excuse of official business, Veronica naturally took the opportunity to back down.

“Since the Count has official matters to attend to, I won’t disturb you any longer.

Let’s talk about that matter next time.”

With that, Veronica rose and left Count Verald’s study.

The two Church knights who remained in the study exchanged glances for a moment before following the Saintess out of the Count’s mansion.

Upon returning to the church, the two knights who had accompanied her immediately disappeared, likely in a hurry to report to Bishop Fletcher.

Veronica couldn’t be bothered with such things.

She returned to her room to enjoy the few moments of freedom she had in her day.

Veronica pulled out a book hidden under her pillow.

Beneath the colorful cover of a novel was a book titled Elementary Divine Arts.

Veronica currently possessed immense power but didn’t know how to use it.

The instructors sent by Bishop Fletcher only taught her auxiliary divine arts.

Whenever Veronica asked when she could learn offensive divine arts, the instructor would always say, “It is not yet time.”

In Bishop Fletcher’s eyes, Veronica only needed to be a puppet Saintess.

She could be a money bag, a banner to win people’s hearts, but she could never be a sharp blade that might harm its master.

Therefore, Bishop Fletcher had consistently refused to let Veronica learn offensive divine arts.

Veronica had secretly obtained this book from a student during her last speech at the church school.

Although the maid Serra discovered it the very night she got it, that was all that happened.

Not only did Serra not report the matter to Bishop Fletcher and confiscate Veronica’s Elementary Divine Arts, she even tacitly allowed her to practice in her room.

Serra’s attitude was puzzling to Veronica.

She was like the old foxes he had dealt with in the business world of his past life, never revealing her true intentions until her goal was achieved.

Since Serra didn’t want to expose her true purpose, Veronica naturally wouldn’t press the matter.

In any case, Serra had given her an opportunity to learn offensive divine arts, and Veronica was determined to seize it.

After several days of study, Veronica had gained a basic understanding of offensive divine arts.

Tonight, she would attempt to cast her first offensive spell—Sacred Lance.