Chapter 42: Lady Saintess Has Not Yet Slept

-“Duchess Leticia seems to come to the university often recently.”

-“Yeah, I saw her near the Swordsmanship Academy just yesterday.”

-“The Swordsmanship Academy? What was she doing there?”

-“Because of Hall, of course. Haven’t you heard about what happened on Theology Day a few days ago…”

-“What happened? I’ve asked several people, but no one will give me the details…”

-“It’s really not something we can talk about in detail. If the rumor spreads, the Child family might come after you.”

-“Riddlers, get out of Holy Light University!”

It was Wednesday.

Gossip was constantly buzzing around Holy Light University.

Hall’s fame, after a long period of silence, had once again reached the top of the campus hot list.

Hall himself didn’t feel much about it.

He just wanted to avoid Leticia every day until the weekend.

After delivering the map that day, Himan would occasionally strike up a conversation with him.

But the topics she brought up were always a bit awkward, and the conversation would usually die after a couple of sentences.

Hall himself had no interest in chatting.

If they actually got to talking, it wouldn’t be good.

Of course, he wasn’t just waiting for the weekend; he was also waiting for a response to the report he had submitted.

After the Xia Kingdom spy incident, as someone involved, the College of Cardinals had required him to write a report.

Hall, naturally, filled it with creative and misleading prose, painting himself in the report as a duke’s young master passionately pursuing Leticia to win her favor.

Xia Kingdom spies, the Judgment Bureau, the current situation between the East and West continents—

He kept his mouth shut about all of it.

In the entire document, aside from women, there were only women, and more women.

Finally, to add some dramatic effect, he even expressed to the College of Cardinals his hope that they would act as matchmakers to help ease the resistance from the Child family regarding his relationship with Leticia.

‘That’s right, in his eyes, Hall only saw women. A completely law-abiding citizen. How could he possibly be a Western traitor?’

To this day, the College of Cardinals and the Judgment Bureau had yet to give a reply.

After another theory class that was rather boring for him, it was time for school to end.

Hall was about to clock out of his campus life as usual when he heard Himan’s voice.

“Hall, when are you planning to go to the Demon God’s Labyrinth?”

“The weekend, but I plan to go alone.”

‘Why is Himan bringing this up again?’ Hall thought.

‘Is the game’s plot forcing me to go with Himan?’

‘There’s no such plot, is there?’

“That’s not it. It’s because the academic affairs office summoned the members of the Holy Light Sword Association today.”

“?”

The name “Holy Light Sword Association” sounded impressive, but it was actually just the internal swordsmanship club of Holy Light University. After enrolling, Himan had become the vice-president of this association.

“For what? I’m not the type to join clubs, you know that.”

Hall planned to refuse in advance.

A hint of disappointment appeared on Himan’s face. She had actually wanted to recruit Hall into the Holy Light Sword Association.

Hundreds of years ago, the Holy Light Sword Association was co-founded by a Hero of a certain generation and the first headmaster of Holy Light University. It had great influence back then, and nobles took pride in joining it during their student days.

But then she added, “It’s not that I’m appointing you. It’s the dean of our Swordsmanship Academy who appointed you. This Friday, the delegation from the Kingdom of Cateline will be visiting the campus, and there will be a swordsmanship exchange competition. He hopes you can participate.”

Hall suddenly remembered the notice on the announcement board a few days ago, saying that Cateline’s delegation was coming.

But he was still very confused.

Swordsmanship exchanges were indeed common in Himan’s route.

They could even be considered a monthly quest in her route. Laid-back players could participate to get a participation prize, while more dedicated grinders could achieve a high ranking in the exchange for not only rich rewards but also Fame Value.

But this had nothing to do with him, Hall.

“Why?”

“I don’t know. The dean specifically came back from out of town to name you. He values you. Why are you even asking about something others have to fight for?”

Himan got a little angry again. She didn’t understand.

Why did Hall always get hung up on things that were beneficial and harmless?

But Hall really didn’t want to increase his Fame Value.

After getting a good rank in the swordsmanship exchange, Fame Value was the main reward.

And this stat was also quite important in the game. The higher the Fame Value, the higher the probability of triggering side quests in an area, and the chance of getting discounts on expensive items in shops would increase.

The success rate for events like apprenticeships would also be higher.

This mechanism was actually quite good for players.

Especially for the grinders. The more they grinded, the higher their Fame Value, the more side quests they got, the cheaper the items they bought, and the more convenient it was to learn skills. A well-managed run was basically a perpetual motion machine.

But for Hall, increasing his Fame Value meant increasing the number of times he got dragged into incidents, which meant more interactions with the heroines.

Death rate UP!

As for buying things cheap, he didn’t need to support a whole team, so the discounts were of limited use.

“Aren’t you participating?”

Hall dodged the question.

“Of course, I am. Three people were chosen from our year.”

“Three people?”

“Yes.”

According to the custom of previous years.

They would usually win two matches to secure the Papal State’s absolute leadership position in the Western Continent, and concede one to save face for the visiting country.

“Oh, right. Well, I’m grateful for the dean’s high regard. I will do my best when the time comes.”

Hall thought about it. There was no need to be difficult. Anyway, according to the high-EQ arrangement, they had to lose one match.

It didn’t matter who lost.

“Okay. I look forward to your performance, Hall.”

Seeing him relent, Himan looked a bit happy, and then she left.

Saint Louis’s Third District was the administrative district, where the embassies of all nations were gathered.

Among them was an eerie blue castle that seemed to be made of ice crystal, which gave off a chill from a distance in the night. It was the embassy of the Kingdom of Cateline.

Cateline, located in the northwest of the entire Western Continent, was the coldest country in the land. In the era before the Demon God’s fall, only various large and small tribes existed there.

It was not until a thousand years ago that the first Eternal Winter Saintess, guided by the gods, obtained the Eternal Winter Holy Sword Fimbul from the depths of the distant frozen sea to fight the Demon King, and united the tribes to establish a kingdom in the north.

But Cateline was not heavily bound by religion; the people’s only faith was in the Empress who inherited the bloodline of the Eternal Winter Saintess.

Furthermore, the previous empress’s drastic reforms, which reduced the number of churches in the country, led the Papal State to exert a great deal of public pressure on them.

So, for the past twenty years, not a single official royal delegation had come to Saint Louis.

Many of the embassy staff had been withdrawn over the years, leaving only some diplomatic personnel for routine matters.

“I wonder what Her Majesty’s intention is in sending you all here this time. Is it to mend relations with the Papal State? The friction between the East and West continents has indeed been constant recently. If a war were to break out, that bunch from the College of Cardinals would certainly need to ensure that we, Cateline, are on the same side as them.”

Marquis Chekhov spoke to the envoy dressed in black, watching the carriages parked below the ice palace under the ubiquitous lights of Saint Louis at night.

The envoy glanced at the elderly Marquis Chekhov and said.

“I came this time mainly on behalf of Her Majesty to obtain information on Hall Faxtius. That Mandosha Flower from the Salvation Church should have made contact with you a few days ago.”

“Yes, but what’s so special about Hall Faxtius? I remember he has no other merits besides being good with women.”

Marquis Chekhov was very puzzled.

“I don’t know, but the people from the Salvation Church told Her Majesty that he is necessary, just as the Hero is necessary to the Eternal Winter Saintess.”

“In that case, for Cateline!”

“For Cateline!”

They raised their glasses to each other.

And on this night, Lady Christine, with her thoughts on Hall, had not yet slept.