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(City of Lunarian- Varion Temple)

(East Wing- The Statue Of The Faceless)

The former saintess Elisa and her guardian knight slowly walked through the main temple for the last time.

Whispers and strange looks were directed at them from the curious nuns and servants that crossed their path.

Claire\'s piercing blue eyes and the cold expression on her face was enough to scare the gossiping believers from staring for too long.

Elisa pretended not to see the actions of her guardian knight and focused on maintaining a steady walking pace.

She would occasionally stop and let out a series of coughs that shook her frail body.

Claire gave her a look of concern, but Elisa simply waved it off. She could not tell the young paladin the reason for her sickness.

Claire purposefully slowed down her pace and waited patiently while Elisa recovered from her coughing fit.

She was currently holding all the luggage which was surprisingly not as much as one would expect from the former saintess and the captain of her personal guard.

The body of a tier two knight was absurdly strong in fact they could even be considered as superhumans.

Claire easily held both of Elisa\'s bags with one hand and used the other to hold the bag that contained her belongings.

"Okay… I\'m good now…" Elisa hoarsely whispered as her body swayed from side to side.

Claire had seen enough and decided to hold all the bags in one hand in order to free up her right palm.

She tenderly looped her arm around the former saintess and made sure that her body had proper support.

Claire gently escorted Elisa through the main temple while taking great care to avoid the uneven stone tiles.

They soon arrived at an open-air plaza with a stone statue in the middle of the square.

There was a small moat of water around the base of the statue and several nuns were standing inside the canal.

The statue was over forty feet tall and portrayed a faceless man holding a golden spear and shield with the image of the sun painted in the middle.

This statue was supposed to represent the first paladin anointed by the God of Light himself to save humanity from the foreign races.

His name and appearance were missing from the surviving records written during the era of darkness.

The statue portrayed him as faceless to symbolize the fact that any paladin could become the next saviour of humanity.

Elisa looked up at the statue and for a brief moment it was possible to see the deep hatred in her eyes.

She instantly controlled her emotions and her face softened into an expression of reverence and respect for the mighty figure.

This change happened so quickly that Claire did not notice that anything was wrong.

"Saintess… lady Elisa…" one of the nuns called out.

"I have come to bless the water before I leave. I hope that you all will guide the new saintess and give her all the support and care that she needs," Elisa spoke calmly.

Claire loosened her arm and the former saintess easily slipped out. Elisa smiled gently at the nuns and then approached the base of the statue.

Elisa walked towards the water and placed one hand in the liquid.

She closed her eyes and muttered a few soft words of prayer. A holy beam of light erupted from her fingertips and entered the water.

Elisa continued to pray even as blood began to leak out from her nose due to channeling too much spiritual energy.

She stood up after a few minutes had passed and thanked the nuns for guarding the statue. Claire quickly opened up her bag and pulled out a clean rag.

Elisa smiled mischievously and brought her face closer before whispering quietly so that only the two of them could hear.

"Will you wipe it for me?" Elisa teased softly.

Claire\'s cold face melted away as a furious blush appeared on her cheeks and the tips of her ears turned red.

Elisa observed those changes with a satisfied grin.

The nuns were busy inspecting the quality of the holy water, so no one was staring in their direction.

"Are you serious my lady… I mean… Elisa," Claire stuttered as she spoke. Elisa did not reply but the grin on her face widened.

Claire brought the rag closer to Elisa\'s face and then with a deep breath she carefully wiped the area under nose.

The former saintess\' face was incredibly soft, and Claire could not help but linger a bit longer than necessary.

Elisa hummed in satisfaction and did not move as her guardian knight cleaned her face with nervous movements.

"Thank you Claire," Elisa spoke gently.

Claire did not trust herself to speak and just placed the dirty rag back in her bag.

Elisa took one final look at the statue of the faceless paladin before turning away. When she returned…

That statue would become little more than rubble.

The East Wing section of the temple was fairly close to the exit gate, so it only took the pair around ten minutes to arrive.

Unlike the main entrance to the temple, the exit gate was relatively deserted and only a few holy knights in charge of patrolling the area could be seen walking back and forth.

In front of the gate was a sturdy carriage with four healthy brown stallions attached to the ropes.

It appeared that the pope did not intend to let them suffer during the journey to the outer regions.

Claire felt a bit thankful since she wasn\'t sure if Elisa would be able to handle a long trip inside a poorly made carriage.

In fact, she already planned on going about the journey in an easygoing manner.

There was no need to rush to the city that was to be their new home.

There were four holy knights next to the carriage and the oldest one of the group appeared to be in his late fifties.

The elderly warrior walked over to the pair and gave a reluctant nod of acknowledgement before gesturing towards the horse drawn vehicle.

"Miss Elisa, your carriage has already been stocked with enough supplies for the journey," the elderly knight bluntly spoke.

"Excuse me but what about our escort? How many knights have been assigned to ensure the safety of Lady Elisa?" Claire questioned coldly.

"Knights? The pope was confident in your abilities so no one else will be joining your group… captain… I mean… Claire Blanlyn," the knight sneered with a mocking glint in his eyes.

That son of a bitch.

The brief feeling of goodwill that Claire had for the pope immediately disappeared as she heard what the knight just said.

Travelling to the outer regions was a perilous journey as the roads were not well maintained and bandit attacks were common.

It was standard for expeditions to the outer regions to include at least a full squadron of holy knights to escort a high priestess.

Just picturing Elisa hiding in fear while a horde of bandits attacked their carriage sent Claire into a silent rage.

The smug grin on the knight\'s elderly face did not help to calm her down and Claire decided to teach him a harsh lesson.

The aura around Claire\'s body intensified and the elderly knight found it hard to breathe under the spiritual pressure.

He looked at Claire with a mixture of shock and fear on his face as he felt his body start to tremble uncontrollably.

How could a mere tier two knight make him feel this way?!

Eventually the knight could not stand the pressure and his eyes rolled up in the back of his head.

He fell to the ground with a dull thump much to the surprise of the other knights near the carriage who did not experience the pressure.

"It seems as though he suffered from a heatstroke. Someone please carry him to a healer immediately for treatment," Claire ordered as she put her aura away.

The firm tone of authority in her voice made the other knights obey her words without hesitation.

The three remaining holy knights walked away from the carriage and made their way to the unconscious body on the ground.

They grabbed the collapsed elderly knight and lifted him up using their arms. Elisa watched the scene with a vicious smile on her face.

It seems that her cute little holy paladin had fangs and by the ancient goddess…

She wanted to see more of her cruelty.

But what Claire did to that elderly knight was not enough.

That arrogant knight dared to show disrespect towards her Claire and expected to get away with it.

No… he would pay for his insolence.

Elisa frowned and a faint wisp of black smoke left her palm and entered the unconscious knight\'s body.

What entered the knight\'s body was a particularly nasty curse that would reverse the effects of his training.

The more holy aura that he absorbed… the more his body would rot away until he died in pain and agony.

Wait…what was going on?

Elisa was startled to discover that it was getting harder to disguise her true personality around Claire.

She immediately fixed her expression and her lips curved upwards as she approached Claire who was still in a bad mood.

Elisa gently poked Claire\'s arm to get her attention and then leaned in closer until their lips were almost touching.

"It will be fine. The grace of Lord Varion will protect us and more importantly… I have complete faith in your abilities," Elisa spoke firmly.

"You will never let anything bad happen to me."