"-And this is your room, Duchess. Once again, you have honored us with your visit. This is sothing we will never forget."
The priest flattered the duchess once more, but she kept a neutral face. She was used to dealing with these people, and it was easy for her to see past their hypocrisy now.
However, just because she knew that these people were putting up a front did not an she could treat them as she wanted.
The temple was too strong of an enemy for either her or the emperor. And the temple was not the only faction she had to be careful around—it was just one of the ones that worked in the open.
"I hope you have a nice day here, Duchess. I will co back soon to invite you for dinner."
The priest told her before he left. As soon as the duchess was alone, she decided to head out and warn the shopkeeper.
She had no doubt that the shopkeeper already knew he needed to be careful. And he also knew human nature well.
But as the person who invited him here, it was her duty to protect him... even if the shopkeeper didn’t want her to.
’I know that the shopkeeper has no reason to trust or depend on , but I promise I will give him a reason to after all this is done.’
The duchess promised herself as she closed the door. Once she was sure the priest was gone, she ca out of her room to warn the shopkeeper.
She knocked at the door, and the shopkeeper opened it for her. But he looked as serious and alert as ever.
Thankfully, the shopkeeper did not take offense to her suggestion and simply thanked her.
Had it been another person in the sa standing, the duchess had no doubt they would have torn her a new one by now.
"Just give so ti to change."
The shopkeeper told the duchess. He was a patient man, and she had no doubt that his help would be needed for what was to co soon.
Once again, the duchess felt sorry that the shopkeeper was being dragged into a ss that he was not a part of.
But it was necessary to ensure that the temple did not cause harm to people—and also did not gain too much power.
________
"-What do you think about the do? We built it after one of our Cardinals had a prophetic dream regarding it. Our god wanted us to live in a pure, blissful state."
The priest who welcod us ca back to take us for lunch. And just like before, he looked far too happy.
In fact, not only him but everyone around the temple looked unnaturally happy. It was almost as if they were all brainwashed to beco happy.
But even if I wanted to say anything, my throat felt dry and my lips refused to produce a sound. Once again, it felt like everyone was looking at .
"This place never changes, and neither do your views."
The duchess spoke these words in a condescending way, but the priest took them as praise and gave her a smile.
"Our god’s rigid ways are one of the reasons we chose to follow him. Things like sadness and such have no place in this sparkling world of white."
The priest told us. The more he spoke, the more disturbed I felt.
But at the sa ti, I also felt a little fascinated by the world of white. It was a little hypnotic.
Just as I was about to lose myself, I felt Fenrir tug at my cloak and snap out of my daze.
"Master, this place is weird. It slls of so much power and faith. I think I will be sick. When can we head ho?"
Fenrir asked , and I shrugged.
Even the duchess looked uncomfortable, almost as if so kind of pressure was pressing down on her.
But I did not feel the sa.
It made wonder if the reason they both could feel sothing was because they had special powers and I did not. Or was it the system that protected ?
Anyway, the reason did not matter. What mattered was that I needed to pay attention and not get taken advantage of.
"Shopkeeper, before we enter the dining hall, there is one thing I need to warn you about. Do not—"
Unfortunately, the duchess’s words were drowned out by the loud horn that was blown as we entered the hall.
The do had been impressive until now, but the hall we entered next was sothing else.
Light shone from all angles, almost as if the roof was made of glass or crystal, and it illuminated the lush green space inside. As far as the eye could see, it had no pillars to support it, and the ceiling was so high it might as well have been the sky.
I felt like I had stepped into a fantasy story as I walked inside, and the priest led us to the dining table.
The table was long and filled with various dishes. But the most impressive part of this was that, despite the variety of dishes around, they were all vegetarian.
No sight of at or eggs could be seen among the spread, and the person at the head of the table stood up.
The first thing I noticed was how tall the man was. The second was how huge his body was—it was rippling with muscles.
"Please, co and have a seat, Duchess Isabella and her... esteed guest. Is there anything that you don’t find to your satisfaction?"
The man asked as he stood up to give us a small bow. Even then, he towered over us by quite a lot.
"Cardinal Joshua, it’s an honor for us to et you as well. I heard that you were sick the past couple of days. Have you recovered?"
The duchess took charge, making small talk with the man in front of us, and the Cardinal let out a small laugh.
"Of course, Duchess. I am as fine as soone in my position can be. But please, don’t keep standing on my account. Have a seat so that we can get this al started."
The man gestured, and a few priests ca out to seat and the duchess at our respective places.
I was not used to this much attention from anyone.
"Let’s start this feast."
The Cardinal told us as he took a sip of his soup to show us that it was safe.
I decided to take a small sip out of my glass as well, but the duchess gave an almost startled look.
[Your resistance has made you immune to effects of other faith.]
The ssage appeared suddenly on my screen when I pulled it up to check. I had no idea what it ant, but I had a feeling it was significant.
"Shopkeeper, you... is it safe for us to eat?"
The duchess asked , and I suddenly realized that there might be sothing wrong with the food. But the system’s ssage assured that whatever was wrong with it wouldn’t matter anymore.
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