The guard at the gate meticulously wrote down the name "Irene," using his very best penmanship to craft what he considered his most elegant lettering, then held it out for Catherine to see.
"Lady Irene, would you check if I wrote your name correctly?"
Catherine remembered the background story she had created clearly and quickly nodded, indicating there was no issue.
"Irene—what a lovely name. It suits your temperament wonderfully, my lady. Ah, my name is Albert. Albert Olsen. Though I only recently joined the city guard, I'm already a private third class, entrusted with great responsibilities by my superiors..."
Catherine maintained a polite smile as she listened to the soldier named Albert introduce himself. Though a little awkward, she inwardly breathed a small sigh of relief.
Anbaixiu was truly clever to come up with the excuse of "just having swallowed an undead creature and not yet fully digesting it." Catherine deeply felt the gulf between herself and a veteran adventurer like Anbaixiu; her adaptability under pressure was simply no match for his.
Albert Olsen felt today was the luckiest day of his life, for he had actually experienced love at first sight. The more he looked at this human girl before him, the more pleasing she seemed. Her features might not be the most stunning, but her air and bearing matched the perfect companion from his dreams.
Surely the Lord of the Dawn had heard his prayers and sent this angel before him.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a figure suddenly came sliding across the ground on his knees at breakneck speed. The iron-clad knees skidded for some distance before stopping right in front of Catherine.
"Oh, beautiful lady! You are the most breathtaking sight I have ever beheld in my life. You may think me forward, but every word I utter comes from the bottom of my heart. Please allow me to introduce myself. I am—"
Enraged, Albert kicked the interloper flying with a boot and roared, "Get back to your post, Omos!"
The youth named Omos was not discouraged in the slightest. Bearing a clear bootprint on his face, he continued speaking to Catherine: "I am sincere! I can swear to the Lord of the Dawn that I will do everything in my power to bring you happiness!"
This scene... why did it feel so familiar?
Catherine recalled being surrounded by a band of orcs in the tavern earlier, when Anbaixiu's advice had been to beat them senseless.
Now, the situation seemed somewhat similar. Could she...?
Catherine clenched her fists, ready to draw on past experience to teach these Ryan men a stern lesson.
However, the mercury soul puppet hopped over and stood in front of Catherine, putting a timely stop to the impending altercation.
Hiding inside the mercury soul puppet, Anbaixiu broke into a cold sweat of lingering dread. If Catherine actually got into a fight, trouble would be immense. This wasn't a tavern full of adventurers; one couldn't handle things the adventurer way here.
Besides, these Ryan men were only making public confessions of love. It wasn't some capital offense. Catherine could simply reject them. The moment fists flew, the whole nature of the incident would change.
Seeing that this girl was utterly inexperienced, Anbaixiu had no choice but to hide inside the mercury soul puppet and speak on her behalf once more.
"Young soldiers, this is no divinely ordained encounter, but merely a fleeting glance in passing. My master already has a fiancé back in her hometown. Please allow us to enter the city; we still have important business to attend to."
Hearing Anbaixiu say this, Catherine immediately remembered her persona and blurted out, "B-but... I'm being forced into marriage!"
Anbaixiu: "..."
The moment those words were spoken, Albert and Omos instantly flared with righteous indignation.
Omos shouted, "By the Holy Light! How could such wickedness exist? Don't worry, Irene, I will definitely help you deal with this evil fiancé!"
Seeing the tide turn against him, Albert hurriedly chimed in, "Right, right, right! Me too! I'll protect you from any harm, I swear upon the Holy Light!"
Anbaixiu was truly exasperated by this girl. Next time they came up with backstories, he would definitely oversee it personally.
Catherine had to spend a long time explaining: although she disliked this fiancé, she was not looking to accept anyone else's courtship either—she intended to earn her own money through her own strength to break off the engagement!
Albert and Omos had never imagined Catherine's background was so "tragic" yet her character so resilient, and they fell for her even harder.
However, since Catherine had explicitly stated her refusal, they could not pester her any longer. According to the laws of Ryan, continuing to pursue a woman after she had explicitly refused was illegal.
Reluctantly, Albert processed Catherine's entry paperwork, then watched her walk into the city, only turning back once her figure had completely vanished from sight.
Albert fumed at his comrade, "It's all your fault, Omos! You were so reckless you scared my Irene away! Don't you know the first thing about restraint?"
Omos replied with resolute conviction, "What do you mean, 'your Irene'? Did she say yes to you? The pursuit of love is everyone's right. You have only yourself to blame for hesitating! Even though she rejected me, I won't give up... My shift ends in half an hour, and I will continue to pursue my goddess!"
"That's against the law!" Albert snapped in fury.
Omos retorted firmly, "It's only deemed a crime if the party presses charges. Irene isn't from Ryan; she probably doesn't even know the law. As long as she doesn't take it to the tribunal, I will keep pursuing her! And even if she does report me to the tribunal, I won't regret a thing!"
***
Catherine and Anbaixiu had already entered Sandshadow City. Realizing he had underestimated Catherine's charisma, Anbaixiu quickly instructed her to bundle up more tightly to avoid drawing more Ryan men making public declarations of love.
Following the directions given by the two guards at the gate, the pair soon located the continental teleportation circle. To their dismay, there was a line to use it. Normally, the costly continental teleportation circles could be used immediately upon arrival, as they were prepared specifically for high-ranking figures of the various nations. Yet the one in Sandshadow City seemed extraordinarily busy, with paladins coming and going constantly.
Anbaixiu deduced that they had run into a troop rotation in Sandshadow City.
The dwarves had fully retreated, and the war was drawing to a close. A frontline city like Sandshadow City naturally required a change of garrison once the fighting ended. The elite paladins had to return to the Ryan imperial capital to receive honors, while ordinary local forces would take over the city's defense.
This was a completely normal redeployment, but they had happened to run right into it.
Catherine submitted an application for the continental teleportation circle according to procedure, only to be told that they would have to wait at least six hours.
Left with no choice, the two found a small tavern in the city to wait.
This tavern in Sandshadow City was quite different from the ones in Sweetdew City. First of all, the patrons were entirely human, with no other races present. Furthermore, adventurers made up a very small percentage. The vast majority were Ryan locals—either off-duty paladins or lay worshipers of the Lord of the Dawn. Even the tavern's bards sang hymns praising the Lord of the Dawn.
Every corner of this place was suffused with the aura of the light.
Catherine found it quite novel. Neither in the City of Alchemy nor in the desert had she seen such a heavy religious atmosphere. Although the elves also worshipped their pantheon, they did not have such an intense religious ambiance.
All of Ryan seemed perpetually bathed in the Holy Light, with the tenets of the Lord of the Dawn woven into every facet of daily life.
Catherine murmured, "If the entire Ryan Empire shares this atmosphere, it's no wonder they are so powerful."
The proportion of paladins in the Ryan Empire had always been far above the norm, a fact that other nations on the continent found difficult to comprehend.
Yet anyone who took a walk through Ryan would realize that having so many paladins was not surprising at all; this place could already be called the Lord of the Dawn's divine kingdom on earth.
Anbaixiu whispered to Catherine, "Ryan's strength isn't just because of piety. Their understanding and study of the Holy Light's power is also the strongest on the continent."
The Supreme Arbiter of the Ryan Empire was the new editor-in-chief of Legendary Spells. Although Anbaixiu bore a grudge against him, putting the issue of racial discrimination aside, the man's caliber was certainly high enough to warrant the position.
The people of Ryan did not merely chant scriptures every day and call it a day. As seen from their replication of artifacts, they had never abandoned academic and technological progress.
Religious fanatics were not terrifying; self-disciplined, progressive religious fanatics were what was truly terrifying.
It was precisely because the Ryan Empire was thriving so vigorously that Anbaixiu sought to create a body unaffected by the Holy Light. He truly feared that one day, upon returning to the surface, he would find that all Nine Kingdoms had become Ryan territory, leaving him, an undead creature, without a single inch of land to stand upon.
Though Catherine agreed with Anbaixiu's words, she couldn't help but add, "Ryan is pious, but this country doesn't give me a good feeling. Sincere faith is a good thing, but if everyone is a fanatic, a nation can easily spiral into ruin. History has proven this conclusion time and again. Ryan looks increasingly mighty, but I have a feeling that trouble will arise for them before long."
Anbaixiu offered no opinion on that.
He knew little of politics and was in no position to debate such matters with Catherine. He merely cautioned her, "It's best not to discuss topics like that here. It's too easy to invite trouble."
Anbaixiu only wished to pass these few hours peacefully and then use the continental teleportation circle to head for the Emerald Dream Forest.
However, that tranquility came to an end two hours later.
An elderly paladin clad in silver-white armor walked into the tavern.
Anbaixiu felt a sudden jolt in his soul, accompanied by an intense premonition of danger. This paladin, so aged he seemed in the twilight of his years, gave him an impression of extreme peril.
Instinct told Anbaixiu that if he ran into this man outside the city, he might still be able to fight for his life; but if they came to blows inside the city, there was an eighty-percent chance he would end up resurrecting back at his phylactery.
Just who was this old man?
At that moment, the Ryan locals in the tavern also spotted the aged paladin. One after another, they rose to salute, respectfully calling out his name: "General Wright."
Hearing that address, a name immediately sprang into Anbaixiu's mind—Winston Wright. And he had another, even more famous title: the Empire's Silvermoon Knight.
The strongest paladin of the Ryan Empire, bar none.
Countless legends circulated across the continent about him. Almost everyone who heard them lamented that it was a blessing Winston Wright did not carry royal blood; had he been able to don the Dragon Tyrant Armament, only one empire would be left standing on this continent today.
How could such a legendary figure appear in a minor place like Sandshadow City?
Damn it—the old fellow was walking straight toward Catherine and Anbaixiu!
Chapter 157