Chapter 1 The Nantina Territory

The magic-powered railcar sped across the vast plains of the Nantina Territory. The open scenery on both sides—meadows of flowers and tranquil lakes—seemed even more profound and serene amidst the train's whistling roar.

Inside the carriage, the clock's hands pointed to just after five. The warm, yellow sunlight danced across the solid wood decor. Passengers sat quietly or chatted in low voices.

In an inconspicuous corner, four clergymen sat on either side of a table.

"The Nantina Territory has always had a populace with..."

Loren was speaking with the other three, who appeared younger, but he stopped abruptly, as if remembering someone.

Besides Loren, the investigative delegation of clergymen traveling from Icrete to the Nantina Territory consisted of three other members. The scout-functioned Shadow Priest usually acted alone, while the Guardian Knight and Healing Priest formed a pair.

These three could be considered his students. He often brought them along on missions as a form of training.

Although Loren could have flown to the Nantina Territory many times faster using magic, and he had permission to use high-speed movement spells within the kingdom, generally, eighth-tier powerhouses like them didn't use such methods unless it was an emergency.

"In any case, be extra cautious in the Nantina Territory. It's possible that the cardinal archbishop from the Northern Continent could brush past you or even speak to you without you realizing it."

Loren reminded them.

The main purpose of their trip to the Nantina Territory was to prepare for any schemes the new cardinal archbishop might bring.

Of course, they had also received a request from the United Council of Kingdoms to investigate clues about recent unexplained phenomena on the border between the Hutton Kingdom and the Krete Empire.

For the past two months, strange rumors had been swirling around the Krete Empire, making dozens of countries, large and small, in the Southern Continent's United Council of Kingdoms uneasy.

As the true behemoth and overlord of the Southern Continent, the Krete Empire was beyond the ability of any single kingdom to contend with.

And each of the empire's Twelve War Gods was a foe that even Loren would find extremely troublesome.

Once they unleashed their flames of war, nobles and commoners alike in every country would face true catastrophe.

"Haha, whenever I think about the Northern Continent, I want to laugh. I wonder what evidence the Cardinal of Dimensions actually presented to convince the Cardinal of Destruction that Mr. Loren wasn't in the Southern Continent."

The Healing Priest, a seemingly innocent girl in a white priestly robe, leaned back in her chair, showing no sign of Loren's sternness, and giggled.

Whenever she recalled the scene of Loren's appearance, covered in black lines, and how it had shocked the Destruction High Priests into doubting their very existence, she felt that Mr. Loren had the aura of a mastermind villain; it was too cool.

"It really had nothing to do with me. I was just as confused that day. The church was suddenly attacked, which made me very angry."

Loren's expression was one of a sigh as he answered, utterly helpless.

The most outrageous rumor now was that the Protos Empire was building a memorial to him in Imperial Square, and that the peace talks between the Estherland Kingdom and the Protos Empire were named the "Loren Crantel Accords." The northern countries of the Northern Continent, hearing of his deeds, had also begun to revere him, calling him the god who brought the winds of peace.

Why would the Revival Church believe such ridiculous things?

"Yes, if Teacher Loren could really secretly plot to traverse the North and South Continents in an instant, I'd find him a bit scary."

The Shadow Priest, a short-haired girl wearing light, flexible armor under her cotton coat, sat expressionlessly by the window and nodded.

Loren's usual pure and kind-hearted demeanor didn't seem like he was lying.

"Teacher Loren, if you slicked your hair back, changed your expression, and gave a meaningful smile—wow."

The Guardian Knight beside Loren, even on the train, still wore his orderly knight's attire. His hair color was similar to the Shadow Priest's; he was her younger brother, but he got along better with the Healing Priest and spent more time with her.

Listening to their jokes, Loren could only look out the window and sigh to himself.

Loren now found the concept of reputation utterly terrifying.

Some media outlets had believed the rumors coming from the Northern Continent and had begun to exaggerate, saying that they saw the shadow of the Holy Emperor in him and that if a chaotic era were to arrive, whether he wanted to be the leader or not, the people of the Northern Continent would want to push him into that position.

Fortunately, in the Southern Continent, his reputation was only at a "pretty good" level. Not to mention the non-allied Krete Empire, even in the allied United Council of Kingdoms, he was only being considered as a candidate for the next speaker, and his popularity ranked at the very bottom.

Previously, defeating the Destruction branch's attack had earned him some reputation among the countries of the United Council of Kingdoms, but such luck wouldn't happen a second time.

Loren always believed that luck had to be earned through good deeds.

He always told Michaia this.

As a result, Michaia would always scare Hyperion when she was young, saying that not accumulating good deeds would lead to bad luck. Of course, sometimes, when Hyperion was naughty, Michaia would use tricks to "control" Hyperion's luck to tease her, eventually making Hyperion deeply believe that "luck is linked to good deeds," making her more mature than all the other children around her from a young age.

Actually, thinking about it carefully, Michaia's behavior was detrimental to her own good deeds, and he himself was someone who didn't care about good deeds...

"Although the Cardinal of Destruction has stayed away from the Hutton Kingdom after his last failure, the Destruction Saint Salomon may still be stationed there."

In his thoughts, the discussion of the three clergymen interrupted Loren's train of thought.

They seemed to be discussing new intelligence from the United Council of Kingdoms regarding the Destruction branch.

The Cardinal of Destruction, Ivanos, had always been the type who couldn't tolerate things. Even if he did, it only meant that he would unleash an even more cruel retaliation with interest in the future.

"When you three see Salomon, don't hesitate; run with all your might."

Loren's tone became much more serious, causing goosebumps to rise on the other three.

"That guy is completely different from the Destruction Saintess. If he fights the three of you, you'll all be finished in a minute or two."

Loren continued to warn them.

It wasn't that the three sixth-tier clergymen he had painstakingly trained weren't strong, but that the seventh-tier Salomon was definitely not an enemy that a light and agile team could contend with.

Even with someone tanking damage, someone healing, and someone dealing damage, it still wouldn't be enough.

"We also want to win glory for you, Teacher Loren, like Junior Brother Lancy."

The Guardian Knight sighed.

"The Destruction Saintess is the Destruction Saintess, and the Destruction Saint is the Destruction Saint. In my heart, you're already great. No matter how outrageous Lancy is, he couldn't possibly kill the Destruction Saint as well. Don't overthink it."

Whenever Loren thought of Lancy, his heart was filled with mixed feelings.

"If the Destruction Saint really died one day, and it was at Lancy's hands, do you think the Cardinal of Dimensions would actually pay up?"

"I think he was joking."

"Don't say that. If the Cardinal of Dimensions really transfers 20,000 pounds, then I don't know if the Cardinal of Destruction would go crazy, or whether the Cardinal of Destruction would kill the Cardinal of Dimensions or Lancy first."

Listening to his three students' discussion, Loren covered his forehead again.

"Ivanos might even come to fight me to the death first. I don't want to fight that madwoman."

Although Loren had never interacted with Toliado, the Cardinal of Dimensions, he always felt that this guy was a super bastard. Originally, after Lancy killed the Destruction Saintess, the Cardinal of Destruction, Ivanos, had grudgingly accepted the bet and wouldn't have personally killed Lancy, but after being provoked by the Cardinal of Dimensions and reported by the various media outlets of the United Council of Kingdoms, all the countries knew about this joke, and Ivanos might really flip the table.

Hearing this, the three clergymen all became a little tense.

Ivanos, who was at the peak of the eighth tier and the holder of the Primordial Tablet - Fire, might recreate the legendary disaster that destroyed a country if he really went insane.

And they, at their level, would instantly turn to ashes under that world-destroying fire.

"But don't worry, even if Ivanos is strong, he can't attack the Hutton Kingdom alone."

Seeing this, Loren realized that he had scared them too much, so he explained gently.

The Nantina Territory had border defense barriers and city defense barriers. Even if a cardinal archbishop infiltrated, any rash action would immediately trigger an alarm that went straight to the royal capital and suppressive negative effects within the barrier's range.

"Speaking of which, are there times when the barriers fail?"

The Shadow Priest suddenly asked.

"It used to happen before, so they later added permission restrictions. To interfere with the border territory's barrier, unless you can simultaneously obtain the key from the royal capital and the key from the Nantina Territory Lord's Mansion, shut down the barrier in an emergency, and then attack the energy station to prevent it from restarting, it's possible to stop the barrier."

Loren responded, and for some reason, a sense of unease began to rise in his heart.

If someone had infiltration abilities far surpassing the Shadow Priest, it couldn't be ruled out that they could obtain the Nantina Territory Lord's Mansion key, but the one in the royal capital was almost impossible to steal.

The atmosphere on the train was warm and welcoming, with the occasional sounds of passengers chatting and laughing. Looking into the distance, the main city of the Nantina Territory was getting closer and closer.

Loren looked at the round moon that had risen early and was emitting a faint red glow outside the window. Aside from the fact that the moon phase was a bit strange tonight, it didn't feel like anything was about to happen.

(End of this chapter)