RNP Page 194
Page 194
He took out his baggage, poked the head of the petite Ate, and amidst a ripple of blue light, Ate's joyful voice echoed from the stone sculpture:
"Big brother? Have you settled in yet?"
"Hey, everything's been smooth sailing so far, nothing's happened. Now it's time to get back to the hard labor of mining! Tsk, I should have asked Yashutia to make me an excavator, what a blunder." Latis stroked the stone sculpture's cheek, chattering on and on:
"Anyway, this Magic Network quest should be fine. Arte, how's it going on your end?"
"Are you sure it's okay?" For some reason, Ate's voice carried a hint of suppressed laughter. She paused, seemingly touching her cheek in unison, and said in a muffled voice:
“I’ve only been away from Crown Stake City for a short time, and I’m almost at Hard Stem City. Perhaps I can enter the territory of Dragonhorn Territory tomorrow… Looking at this familiar road, I can’t help but think of all the things I’ve experienced with you, brother! Like the hot springs…”
"Hey, hey, hey, let's not bring up that embarrassing thing! Hmph!"
Latis roared twice in impotent rage, then sighed and said with a smile:
"Silly elf, we'll experience so many more things together in the future..."
……
……
In the middle of the night, Latis suddenly woke up from a light sleep.
He woke up the simulation panel and found that the 24-hour countdown had just ended, and all the functions of the panel had returned to normal.
"It seems to be just a temporary lockdown. Hmm... Although my desire to know the truth is strong, I still need to make sure the simulator isn't affected..."
Latis pondered for a moment, then asked:
"Why is the simulator panel locked? Will it affect you? What kind of being are you? Are you a god, a system, or a higher civilization?"
"Last time you mentioned that the simulated events were all real. What exactly did you mean? Parallel universes? Is the world I live in real, or a virtual illusion?"
He leaned against the headboard, looking up at the unmoving simulation panel, unsure if it would respond this time.
The feeling that the answer was both within reach and yet like a dream made Latis somewhat dazed. He shook his head, came back to his senses, and asked a question he had been wanting to know ever since he transmigrated.
“Simulator.”
Latis, overwhelmed by inexplicable emotions, straightened up uncontrollably.
"Did I die in my past life, or was I truly reincarnated, as is the case in countless isekai anime?"
Chapter 209 Who taught you to cut the chapter off like that?
"Sir, are those few incomprehensible words really the only clues to the target?"
Torso sat cross-legged on the mat, gazing at the crescent moon obscured by the gaps between the floating islands in the far distance. After waiting a moment, as if he had received a disappointing answer, he rubbed his temples, took a deep breath, and asked again:
"Understood. Please notify me immediately if there is any new information."
He paused, tapped his fingers slowly a few times on his knee, then lowered his head slightly and asked in a deep voice:
"If I find this target, what stance should I take towards him?"
Upon hearing the gentleman's reply, Torso's fingers paused for a few seconds before he spoke:
"Okay, I understand. I haven't met anyone noteworthy today. I'll stay out here for a few more days. Good day, sir."
After a moment of silence, Torso straightened up and landed on the mat. He walked to the window with his hands behind his back, tapped aimlessly on the small square table by the window, and looked up for a while, searching for the moon, which was now obscured by some floating island.
He then shook his head and reached out to close the wooden window.
The faint moonlight shone through the cracks in the window onto his back as he turned to leave. A sigh came from behind, and his figure disappeared into the deep room, leaving only a magical artifact resembling a large mobile phone still swaying slightly on the table.
……
……
In the early hours of the morning in the holy city of Promea, as the sun was just rising above the horizon, many prospective knights were already conducting long-distance running and combat drills outside the city.
"Hey, Leafa!" In the armored long-distance running group, a girl slowed her pace slightly, moved closer to her companion behind her, and whispered:
"I remember you're from that valley village in the northwest, right? The seasons are almost over, aren't you going back to help harvest the wheat?"
"Good morning, Miss Gita," the thin girl named Leafa said, her breathing labored and halting.
"If nothing unexpected happens, it will be more than a week before it gets cold... Whew... Staying here, I can still get a subsidy of two silver coins, Whew..."
"The annual subsidy is only one gold white dollar, what's the point of taking it?"
Geeta shook her head, lightly leaping over the stones on the ground. Her divine power surged, and she continued speaking to Leafa, stepping along the edge of the mountain path:
"Once you become a Holy Knight, you'll be able to carry out missions for the Church. At that point, making as much money as you want will be a piece of cake. If you're lucky enough to find the traces of pure light like Lady Jennifer and become a Knight of Light, or like Lady Tina..."
"I...I didn't think about it." Leafa coughed twice, slowed down to catch her breath, and then started running again, saying:
"I just want to earn some silver coins to help support my family before I can work..."
"You've come all the way to the Church of Light, don't you have any lofty ideals at all!" Geeta retorted, raising her eyebrows. Before Leafa could reply, she suddenly turned her head and looked at the eagle-horse galloping towards the city gate, her eyes lighting up.
"Look, it's Lady Jennifer!" Geeta grabbed Leafa's arm and stopped in her tracks, speaking rapidly:
"Leaf, Lady Jennifer's hurried return must mean something big has happened. Come with me to see!"
Leafa shook her head, panting, and said with difficulty:
"But the combat training later will result in a deduction from our allowance if we miss it..."
"Don't you admire Jennifer's achievements at all?" Geeta pulled a gold white coin from her pocket, shoved it into Leafa's hand, and shouted, "We're out of change, here you go!"
Leafa squeezed the cold Kim White, gritted her teeth, and stuffed it into her pocket before stumbling and running after Geeta.
……
"Pope!"
Led by the priest, Jennifer arrived at the church's backyard and saw the Pope doing his morning exercises.
"Don't worry, Jennifer."
The Pope performed chest-expanding exercises, stretching his body very effectively. Amidst the cracking sounds of his muscles loosening, he spoke steadily:
"Have you eaten yet? Young people should remember to eat breakfast so that their bodies will get hungry on time and they won't sleep in every day off."
"Your Holiness, you're wrong! I didn't sleep in!" Jennifer coughed guiltily, put down the sword at her waist, took the white bread and milk from the priest beside her, and leaned against the wall to eat quickly.
"Really? The Londian Knights sent me a letter saying they can't get in touch with you, their captain, on their days off."
The Pope stood on one leg, holding the knee of his other leg upright and stretching it out, and said calmly:
"I know, you must be playing that illusion game 'Destiny God'."
"What…" Jennifer was shocked and coughed violently. She quickly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her mouth and cried out in grief and indignation:
"This is a lie! Pope, you can't slander me like this before the God of Light!"
"Then why do you send 'Yuan Shen' merchandise to the cult every day?" The Pope frowned, bent over to form a bridge, then groaned and tightened his core to lift his legs up, starting to do handstand push-ups.
“That’s a different matter!” Jennifer guiltily looked away, swallowed the last bit of bread in her hand, clapped her hands, and said:
"Let's get down to business first."
She organized her thoughts, and looking at the Pope who had begun to do a single-leg squat, she said:
“I have a friend, well, the same friend who gave me the Pure Light Fragment last time, who has encountered a mage who may be an enemy.”
"My friend needed an identity to make contact and investigate the secrets behind that sorcerer. He first impersonated a priest of the Church of the Goddess, but he wasn't sure if the sorcerer could access the list of priests. I thought you might be able to help with this, Pope, so I came back to you."
"I knew you'd come back again." The Pope finished his morning exercises, let out a sigh, straightened his clothes, nodded to Jennifer, and walked toward the chapel.
“Your friend… hey, friend.” The Pope couldn’t help but chuckle, then shook his head and muttered, “A priest pretending to be a goddess, huh? That’s not easy…”
He pushed open the chapel door, led Jennifer inside, and stopped in front of the statue of the God of Light.
The tall stone statue of a deity stood silently on the altar, draped in a long turban, making it impossible to tell whether it was male or female.
Looking up, the statue seemed to be gently nodding with a compassionate smile, its hands cupped in front of it as if offering something, as if holding the most essential light of this world.
The Pope examined the statue for a moment, took a rag from its hand, wiped the statue's head, then walked a few steps outside, sat on a prayer bench, and said:
"God, please give some guidance to your faithful follower Jennifer; she will make offerings for you."
Seeing the intense power of light surging from the Pope, Jennifer thought for a moment, then took out a photo of herself with Latis that she always carried with her. Guiding the Pope's power of light, she placed the photo and a small ball of pure light into the statue's hand.
“God, this is my friend. He brought pure light to the religion, and now he needs help. Please guide your faithful follower Jennifer to a viable path…”
Suddenly, a great light shone in the chapel, lasting for several minutes before slowly dissipating.
Jennifer curiously took the photo back from the God of Light, then picked up the item bestowed upon her by the God of Light and was immediately stunned.
“I didn’t do it.” Facing Jennifer’s suspicious gaze, the Pope calmly shook his head, then coughed lightly and turned his head to say:
"The God of Light did it too."
……
Geeta and Leafa's faces were flushed by the stained glass windows on the side of the chapel. They looked at each other and then leaned softly against the wall.
"So, it turns out that Lady Jennifer already has someone she likes." Geeta murmured to herself, "A powerful lady like her, the one she likes must be a great hero."
"So even a senior like Jennifer needs to seek help from the gods..." Leafa subconsciously touched the gold white in her pocket, and for some reason felt a little relieved.
"Jennifer, have a safe trip."
"Understood, Your Holiness. Go back and rest!"
The hurried footsteps gradually faded into the distance. The two girls huddled against the wall, afraid of being discovered by the Pope. Fortunately, after seeing Jennifer off, the Pope turned around and did not return to the chapel, but went straight to the library where he studied and practiced self-cultivation.
The two girls peeked out cautiously and breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that there were no priests around for the time being.
"Fortunately, the priests of the Church don't need to be bothered with tedious chores." Gita shook her head and couldn't help but complain, "They're much better than the adults in my house who are always walking around!"
"Miss Geeta, let's hurry," Leafa said weakly. "If we go back now, we should still be able to make it to roll call for combat training..."
"Fine, fine, you..." Geeta stood up, about to pull Leafa away, when she suddenly looked at the chapel door and paused.
"...Miss Geeta?"
"Leafia!" Geeta snapped out of her daze and exclaimed excitedly, "Let's... let's go make a wish to the gods!"
"Huh??" Leafa was shocked.
……
The two girls sneaked into the chapel and tiptoed to the altar.