Vol 5. Chapter 67: Saint Fanona City
Escorted by the Radiant Cross Knights, the platinum convoy arrived at the Holy Capital of the Church.
“Little Vanessa, we’re home.” Kaleni raised her teacup with practiced elegance and took a sip as she gazed through the window at the vast, sparkling lake.
“Have we reached the Holy Capital of the Church?” Vanessa asked.
“We have. Have you never seen the Holy Capital before, little Vanessa?”
“No, I haven’t.” Through the billowing white gauze curtain, Vanessa looked out at the seemingly endless lake beyond the carriage. “I’ve never been here. Ever since my grandfather was expelled from the Holy Capital, no one in our family has ever set foot here again.”
Kaleni sighed softly and said nothing more.
“The Holy Capital of the Church is formally known as Saint Fanona City. It was commissioned by Fanona Facilis, the third Dawn Saintess, and was therefore named after her. It is a city-state built on a vast island in the middle of a lake, at the very center of the southern continent.”
Kaleni began telling Vanessa about the Holy Capital.
“The surrounding lands are dotted with Church city-states of various sizes that belong to the holy territory, such as Holy Fall City, Radiant Shield City, Everdawn City, and many others. Each city-state is administered by its own bishop and serves a different function, while the bishops answer to the grand archbishops.”
Vanessa nodded. She had at least heard of Radiant Shield City and Everdawn City. In her own world, the Church of the Dawn should have possessed those two city-states as well.
“Saint Fanona City stands on an island at the center of the Lake of Consecration.”
As she spoke, Kaleni took down the map hanging on the carriage wall. It was a detailed regional map showing the geography of the Church’s holy territory.
Her slender hand traced lightly across its very center.
“This island is Saint Fanona City.”
Vanessa followed her finger. Just as Kaleni had said, Saint Fanona City had been built on a vast island in the middle of the lake. The lake itself was also remarkably shaped. Perfectly symmetrical, it resembled either a heart or a pair of wings.
“Doesn’t it look like an angel’s wings?” Kaleni asked.
“It does,” Vanessa agreed with a nod.
“That is how the Lake of Consecration got its name.”
A refreshing breeze lifted the thin white curtain beside the window. Ripples spread across the glittering lake, as though the water itself had been renewed by the wind.
The carriage gradually slowed before coming to a stop.
“We’ve reached one of Saint Fanona City’s checkpoints. Right here.”
With the tip of a forefinger covered by her three-fingered glove, Kaleni pointed toward the island’s only access route—a perfectly straight causeway stretching from the mainland to the island.
It was difficult to decide whether one should marvel at the Creator’s design or nature’s uncanny craftsmanship. The entire lake resembled both a heart and a pair of angelic wings, yet had also left behind exactly one road leading to the island at its center.
“This may be an enlarged map, but the Isle of Consecration is enormous. It remains a very prominent landmark even on a map of the entire Tyrelis Continent,” Kaleni explained. “That is why this straight causeway is so long. There are several checkpoints along the way as well.”
“They form the defensive barriers protecting Saint Fanona City. The city is surrounded by the lake, while almost all of the island’s outer shoreline consists of sheer cliffs where landing is impossible. The island is also large enough to remain entirely self-sufficient. Even if an enemy managed to fight all the way to Saint Fanona City, taking it would be nearly impossible. The Holy Capital has never fallen in its entire history.”
Vanessa nodded earnestly, sitting obediently beside her and listening without interruption.
CLANK. CLANK.
Before long, the sound of a gate opening reached them. Vanessa saw the fortress ahead—constructed from neatly cut blocks of platinum mana stone—slowly raise its gate. The Radiant Cross Knights rode their tall warhorses inside one after another.
Vanessa glanced at both sides of the causeway and realized that it was only wide enough for two carriages to travel abreast.
No wonder the Holy Capital had never fallen in a thousand years. No matter how many troops an enemy brought, once they reached this place, all they could do was line up to be slaughtered. There was no room to deploy at all.
By dusk, the convoy had passed through the final checkpoint, and the gates of Saint Fanona City finally came into view.
The majestic city walls stretched beyond sight, as though they enclosed the entire island. The white walls, trimmed in gold, had been sculpted in deep relief like works of classical art. A pair of enormous wings had been carved into them, seemingly embracing the entire fortress-city.
As night approached, the lines tracing the wings’ contours began to shimmer faintly, revealing countless magical runes.
Most striking of all was the statue of the Goddess, her hands clasped in devout prayer. Six immense wings spread from her back as though sheltering the entire city-state.
The statue had not been built atop the city walls, but within the city itself. It was simply so enormous that it could be seen across the lake from the very first checkpoint on the opposite shore.
Vanessa thought of the statue of the Goddess at Carillian Academy. Magnificent as that one was, it was nowhere near as towering or awe-inspiring as this.
She had seen the elf lands and the elf sacred tree before. This statue gave her roughly the same visual impact as the sacred tree, though each radiated a completely different kind of sanctity.
It was almost as though this statue had truly received a divine consecration.
The Radiant Cross Knights stationed on the walls recognized their Saintess’s convoy and ordered the gates opened.
The convoy slowly entered the city, allowing Vanessa to see the Holy Capital’s flourishing prosperity.
White-stone roads gleamed beneath the lights, while buildings steeped in classical beauty filled the city. The statue of the Goddess standing at the city’s center drew closer and closer.
After passing through the city streets, the convoy entered the Temple of the Dawn.
“This must be your first time here as well, little Vanessa?” Kaleni asked. Vanessa had never even seen Saint Fanona City, much less the Temple of the Dawn.
“No. I’ve seen this place before.”
Vanessa’s answer was completely unexpected.
“Oh?”
“In a dream.” Vanessa stared out at the temple and murmured, “I dreamed about this place.”
“You dreamed of it? Even though you’ve never been here before?” Kaleni asked in surprise.
“That’s right.”
“You truly are remarkable, little Vanessa.” Kaleni smiled. “According to the records, no other Dawn Saintess has ever both seen the Dawn Goddess and dreamed of the Temple of the Dawn as you have.”
“Is that really such a remarkable thing?”
“Of course. Every Dawn Saintess who was summoned by the Goddess in a dream went on to accomplish great things. Each ranked among the foremost Saintesses in either contribution or strength.”
The carriage came to a stop, signaling that they had arrived.
“Your Eminence,” Rina called from outside.
“Rina, the journey has left me rather tired. You don’t need to help me down. Let everyone return and rest as well,” Kaleni told her.
“Understood.”
Rina immediately grasped Kaleni’s meaning. She dismissed the knights waiting beside the carriage door and sent them back to rest before leaving as well.
“Come, little Vanessa. It’s just the two of us now.”
Kaleni smiled, took Vanessa by the hand, and led her down from the platinum carriage.
Vanessa looked at the Holy Crystal Temple looming close before them. It was even grander than the temple she had seen in her dream.
So the place she had dreamed of truly had been the temple within the Holy Capital.
“Come along, little Vanessa. Since we have some time, I’ll take you somewhere.” Kaleni made no move to enter the temple ahead. Instead, she led Vanessa toward a corridor along its side.
“Where are we going?” Vanessa asked.
“To the Facilis Family’s treasure repository.”
“Treasure repository?”
“That’s right. It contains not only relics and handwritten journals left behind by generations of Dawn Saintesses, but also many forms of magic and Spirit Souls that have long since been lost. The largest collection consists of [Saint’s Envoy] Spirit Soul magic. That includes Dawn Enlightenment, which I mentioned before. You may read whatever you like.”
“Thank you, Kaleni.”
“Are you still thanking me?”
Kaleni gently rubbed Vanessa’s head.
“This is about all I can do for you. You may study any of the magic books in the Church’s treasure repository, including the journals left by past Saintesses and the various secret arts recorded there. I can personally teach you anything I know, but most of it will still depend on your own aptitude and comprehension.”
“Until we find a way to send you back, remain here and raise your strength as much as possible.”
“Mm. I understand.”
Vanessa nodded gratefully.
“Besides that, I am rather curious about what exactly your Virtue System is.” Kaleni’s eyes were filled with interest. “You said that performing good deeds allows you to accumulate [Virtue], and that [Virtue] can be spent to learn magic and advance your realm. But I have the feeling that this alone would not have been enough to let you reach high-tier Magus.”
“Are there other options that allow you to gain [Virtue]?”
“Well...”
Vanessa did not know how to answer.
She could naturally tell Kaleni everything about the Virtue System without hiding anything, but...
Saying, “I can gain [Virtue] by farming emotional-value points from the destined heroines,” wasn’t exactly easy.
First, explaining what a destined heroine even was would already be difficult, because that involved another world.
Second, deliberately making other women experience emotional fluctuations so she could farm [Virtue] from them sounded bizarre no matter how she put it, didn’t it??
“Ahem. There are other ways. Broadly speaking... helping other women,” Vanessa replied evasively.
“Oh~ Is that so?”
Kaleni gave Vanessa a smiling glance but did not pursue the subject.
*****
“You’re saying another Academy student has disappeared??”
Mirexia stared at the document that had been placed on her desk, exhaustion mingling with the astonishment in her eyes.
She had barely slept at all these past few days because of Vinny’s disappearance. Whenever she closed her eyes, she heard him saying, “The whole point of balancing work and rest is to work better, isn’t it?”
That only made it even harder for her to rest.
She still could not understand how Vinny had disappeared. From time to time, her thoughts strayed toward the worst possible outcome—that his disappearance was connected to a Demon Pillar artifact.
Historically, anyone who became involved with a Demon Pillar artifact either died or went mad.
If that was the case, Vinny’s safety could no longer be guaranteed. Perhaps he had already...
Whenever her thoughts reached that point, Mirexia would berate herself for being so weak-minded. Why did she always let her thoughts spiral toward the worst possible conclusion?
Vinny had been missing for several days. If it had merely been an unintentional oversight on his part, or if something had delayed him, he would surely have offered an explanation.
Yet even now, there had been no word from him.
Mirexia rubbed her temples. She had taken medical leave these past few days and had not attended classes. Instead, she spent every day pursuing one lead after another and searching for Vinny alongside the Academy’s investigation team.
By now, the investigators had reached a definitive conclusion: there was absolutely no hidden passage or teleportation array inside the mirror shop.
Moreover, the mirror-shop owner had vanished long ago. He had disappeared so completely that it was as though he had evaporated from the face of the earth. No matter where they searched, they could not find him.
One more missing person.
As though the mystery needed another loose end.
And now, a Student Council member had informed her that a second-year student had come forward that morning to report his roommate missing. The roommate had not returned to the dorm the previous night and had not appeared at all today. After searching everywhere and finding no trace of him, the student had finally reported the matter to the Student Council.
Mirexia stared at the file on her desk, her headache worsening.
The missing student was a second-year named Kero. A witness at the arena had seen him that night and said that Kero remained there training until shortly before closing, then left.
Mirexia had already forwarded the report to the Academy.
Kero’s disappearance was very likely connected to Vinny’s in some way. Two students disappearing within a single week had already become a major incident.
The Academy administration would probably begin full-scale security measures as soon as it received her report that afternoon.
Could this be connected to Demon Pillar cultists??
The idea of Demon Pillar cultists operating inside Carillian Academy sounded absurd. Yet after the series of incidents that had taken place last year, whenever anything happened—large or small—they were always the first possibility that came to Mirexia’s mind.
Why did it feel as though more had happened at Carillian Academy in the past year than in the previous several centuries combined? And every single incident somehow involved Demon Pillars.
“Vinny.”
Mirexia raised her eyes toward the doll sitting on her desk.
Vinny had given it to her before he enrolled at the Academy.
“Where are you?”
She stared blankly at his gift and murmured the question in confusion.
The weekend ended.
By the time it was over, the Academy’s upper administration had clearly sensed that something was wrong. The Academy publicly announced the recent incidents: two students had disappeared in succession.
The Academy entered a heightened state of alert. Combat instructors could now be seen patrolling its streets everywhere.
That morning, Shicodale woke from sleep as [N O V E L I G H T] usual and stared groggily at the pale light outside his window.
Was it morning already?
He listlessly slipped into his slippers and walked out of his room.
He had not slept well for days. Every night, a different nightmare startled him awake, only for him to drift back into another muddled sleep.