Even though there was such a commotion last night, people’s lives went on as usual.
Those who prayed kept praying, idle passersby stood around the square, wiping sweat and gazing at the goddess statue peeking out from the temple, paladins bustled about the ruins salvaging valuables, and only the children were still running around the square near the rubble.
Humans really are incredibly adaptable creatures.
As she got closer, Fia couldn’t help but sigh.
“Looks like all the paladins buried in the rubble have been rescued.”
“With earth magic and underground blueprints, if they couldn’t get everyone out in one night, that’d be pretty disappointing.” Claire said with a troubled smile.
“It’s thanks to the people of the Milcandis Holy Nation worshipping the Goddess of Life.
Faith magic gives them enough vitality and healing power, otherwise the losses would’ve been much worse.”
“Well, that’s a grudge between the darkspawn and them, nothing to do with me.”
The one who destroyed the underground and attacked the paladins was the moon dragon, Radric.
If anything, she was the one who saved the paladins from disaster.
If not for her, they’d have been picked clean by chaos and demon wolves by now.
After this, the grudge between the church and the darkspawn would only deepen.
But Fia had seen too many of these grudges.
After a brief sigh, she quickly put it out of her mind.
Unless you merged the consciousness of all living things, societies with culture would always have this kind of thing.
Fia was used to it by now.
“Your Highness, the paladins over there are watching us.”
With her right hand resting on the sword at her waist, Anastasia glanced to the right front and whispered a warning.
Just as Anastasia said, as soon as the paladins maintaining order in the square saw Fia’s group, they immediately became alert.
One jogged over to Fia, while another ran into the half-collapsed temple to notify the others.
It’s worth noting that the paladins running toward Fia didn’t have any murderous intent in their eyes.
Clearly, someone higher up had already briefed them.
That matched Fia’s expectations.
As long as the temple people weren’t too stubborn, they’d know not to mess with her.
Fia stopped on her own, waiting for the paladins to approach.
Leading the paladin squad was a nun of about fifty, the wrinkles left by time taking away some of her feminine charm, replaced by a kind of elder’s warmth.
The elderly nun lowered herself a bit and smiled kindly.
“You must be the elven princess, Her Highness Dofilia Alexia Yusil? The bishop and the chief inquisitor have been waiting for you.
Please, come with me.”
“Okay.”
The nun gestured for them to follow, and the paladins immediately made way.
Under everyone’s gaze, the group slowly walked toward the temple.
Ignoring the surprised looks and chatter from the people in the square—mostly about Fia beating up the moon dragon barehanded last night, and even though she was an elf, people weren’t stingy with their praise—Fia looked toward the other side of the ruins.
Nearly a hundred paladins and soldiers, drenched in sweat, were relaying treasures and weapons hauled up from underground.
A little farther away, there was a huge pot, four or five meters across, apparently cooking something.
Men dressed as servants were adding firewood, and the air was filled with the smell of meat broth.
“Everyone’s been rescued, right?” “Thanks to you, the last person was saved at dawn.
But those kids who didn’t react in time and were attacked by chaos have now gone to the embrace of the Goddess of Life.
They’re sacrifices the church will always remember.”
“I see…” “Don’t be sad for them.
If not for Princess Dofilia, the number of victims wouldn’t have been just a few dozen.
Even though the Unsinkable Moon was destroyed, from a personal standpoint, I have to thank you for saving so many children.”
The elderly nun turned back as she spoke, bowing slightly and giving Fia a grateful smile.
No wonder the temple sent her to guide them.
It was hard to feel any ill will toward her.
Fia exchanged a glance with Anastasia, then asked,
“What’s with the big pot over there?” “Ah, that’s for cooking the demon wolves that died last night, to distribute to those in need in the city.
If you look a bit farther around the square, you’ll see refugees and the poor lining up, and our soldiers are keeping order.
There are too many demon wolf corpses, and raw meat doesn’t keep long.
Rather than throw it away, it’s better to clean and cook it for distribution.
Refugees and the poor rarely get to eat meat, so letting them eat their fill will also reduce conflicts caused by hunger in the city.”
“Eating demon wolf meat, isn’t that kind of dirty?” Fia didn’t have any hang-ups about eating monsters—after all, Claire’s breakfast this morning was made with monster meat.
What she was curious about was that the church, which always claimed to be noble and holy, would actually consider using monster corpses.
Normally, the church would see monsters allied with the darkspawn as filthy, and draw a clear line, eventually forming a consensus that “eating monster meat is a disgraceful act that taints the soul and pollutes the purity of faith.”
Now the church was not only eating monster meat, but distributing it to the people, which Fia found hard to understand.
The nun smiled as she explained.
“If there’s something to fill your belly, why refuse it? Livestock are always in short supply, and low-level monsters, aside from using magic, are basically no different from animals like badgers or deer.
Humans are the rulers of the world, and eating unintelligent animals is only natural.
Besides, letting ordinary people eat monster meat helps more people realize that monsters and normal animals are no different—they both bleed and die.
Reducing people’s fear of monsters isn’t a bad thing.
Of course, the most important thing is still filling stomachs.”
“I see.”
Even faith needs a material foundation.
When people can’t get enough to eat, using the rule of “no eating monsters” is too high a bar—if you’ve never tasted monster meat, fine, but once you have, there’s no going back.
Looking at the refugees and slaves sniffing the aroma of the broth, Fia followed the nun into the temple.
The inside of the temple wasn’t complicated.
After a few turns, Fia’s group arrived at the council hall.
The ivory-white room, five or six meters high, bright and spacious, had only two people inside.
One was the cardinal of Aurora City, the other was the chief inquisitor who’d been hit by Fia’s “Flame Storm.” Both had changed into clean clothes, but their tired faces and sunken eyes showed they hadn’t slept all night.
When Fia and the others entered, the cardinal and chief inquisitor stood up together, glancing at Claire, Anastasia, and Liti behind Fia.
The middle-aged faces forced a smile.
“Welcome to the church, Princess Dofilia, and Princess Liti.”
