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(Outer Regions)

(City of Galrannor)

"Elisa… Elisa… wake up," Claire softly called out as she entered the carriage.

The former saintess was laying down on the soft bench with her eyes tightly closed.

Claire reached out her hand to shake Elisa awake but stopped when her fingers were mere inches away from her skin.

Claire\'s eyes softly glowed and Elisa\'s human appearance faded away to reveal a dark elf with a similar physique.

Why was everything so complicated?

Claire let out a heavy sigh and gently shook Elisa\'s shoulders until the dark elf stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

"Hmmm… what\'s wrong?" Elisa sleepily asked as she opened her mouth and yawned.

"The city is about five hundred meters away, but I don\'t think that it is a good idea to bring the dark elves inside," Claire explained calmly.

"Captain Brian suggested that we split up and his men will take the former slaves further north while the two of us enter the city."

"Yeah… that sounds great," Elisa replied with a gentle smile.

Her hands moved slightly, and Claire could see thin threads of shadowy magic gathering at her fingertips.

Claire glanced at Elisa\'s hand and then focused her attention on her face.

She could not react or give any hint that she could see the black magic that Elisa was casting.

Elisa\'s true purpose and identity were a mystery that Claire was not sure if she was ready to solve.

If Elisa was hostile to the Lord of Light, then Claire would be duty bound to stop her but if she was only hostile to the church then things were a bit murkier.

Paladins swore their allegiance to Lord Varion not to the believers who worshipped in his name.

It was an important distinction that sadly many holy knights did not pay attention to.

Claire touched the hilt of her sword and briefly imagined thrusting her blade into Elisa\'s heart.

She couldn\'t do it.

The very thought alone made her sick.

"Did you have a good rest?" Claire politely asked as she quietly observed Elisa\'s dark elf features.

There was an exotic beauty to Elisa\'s true form.

Those pointed ears, sharp cheekbones and cute button nose combined to create a breathtaking display.

And her crimson eyes were oddly hypnotic…

Elisa smiled warmly as she replied to Claire\'s question, "I had the most pleasant dream about serving the Lord of Light and becoming the next pope."

"Ruling over the continent and performing miracles in the name of Lord Varion and of course you were by my side as the Holy Commander of the Knights Order.

"That\'s quite the ambition. Do you wish to make it a reality?" Claire joked in a half serious tone.

"No… I\'m just kidding," Elisa teased as she stuck out her tongue and laughed.

For a brief moment, Claire almost forgot that Elisa was a dark elf and just enjoyed the company of the girl who she had gotten to know over the last few months.

But the silent gap that had formed between the pair still remained.

Claire pushed those negative thoughts to the back of her mind and focused on the current matter.

She spent another five minutes talking to Elisa about their plan to reorganise and see what the situation in the local temple was like.

They also discussed Captain Brian\'s offer and Elisa was a firm supporter of his idea.

If this was a normal situation, then Claire would have been worried about the possibility of the mercenaries stealing the former dark elf slaves but…

She knew better than anyone that Captain Brian and his men would lay down their lives for the dark elves.

"I\'ll let Captain Brian know about the decision and then we\'ll head for the city. Hopefully we can enter before the sun goes completely down," Claire spoke clearly.

Elisa nodded and then yawned again.

She tried to fight the urge to sleep but her eyes gradually closed.

Claire left the former saintess in the carriage and then walked outside with a few thoughts swirling around inside her head.

She spotted Captain Brian in the distance staring at a certain direction that was beyond the city walls.

Claire approached the mercenary captain and saw that the shadowy ball of flames inside his mind had gotten a bit smaller.

Was it possible that the mind control would eventually disappear?

How exactly did black magic work?

Claire coughed twice to get his attention and then opened her mouth to talk,

"I\'ve spoken to Elisa, and she has agreed to split up. We have no need for the caravans so you can feel free to take them once you have dropped off the dark elves in a safe location."

"I wish you all the best on your journey and I hope that we may one day meet again."

Although Claire wasn\'t sure if the mercenary captain would be grateful if they ever crossed paths again.

"Thank you for your kind words," Captain Brian replied politely as he respectfully bowed at the holy knight.

Claire returned to the carriage and stepped onto the driver\'s seat.

She gripped the reins and steered the horses towards the massive concrete walls in the distance.

The rest of the mercenary group gathered together and then headed off in the opposite direction.

Claire couldn\'t resist taking a look back and saw that the mercenaries were eerily silent as they moved forward with dazed expressions on their faces.

Only Captain Brian outwardly appeared normal, and he was the one barking out instructions for his men to follow.

Claire turned around and focused on the enormous concrete walls as the carriage got closer.

There was a single entrance leading into the city and only one poorly constructed dirt road led to it.

The carriage jostled slightly as the wheels bumped against the hard gravel stones in its path.

Claire observed several adventures and warriors wearing shoddy armour walking along the road while holding the corpses of monsters.

She could not help but notice that some of these warriors were painfully thin with their ribs clearly visible against their flesh.

There were even a few merchant caravans entering the city that were heavily guarded by teams of mercenaries.

The security in the outer regions was practically nonexistent so to do business here required the protection of one of the crime lords or a private army.

Five heavily armoured soldiers wearing different uniforms guarded the gates and occasionally inspected the goods and travellers that came in.

Claire remained quiet as she saw the soldiers receive small tokens of appreciation from those entering the city.

There was no need to cause trouble and besides there wasn\'t anyone who could deal with this rampant corruption.

Claire patiently steered her carriage in line and waited behind a merchant group that was transporting some type of cargo in wooden crates.

The process to enter the city was not particularly strict and soon it was Claire turn to face the soldiers.

"Next in line! Come on move it!" one of the soldiers guarding the gate roared.

Claire maintained a cold expression and leaked out a trace of killing intent.

The soldier that had just shouted loudly shuddered as he felt a terrifying chill come from the woman in front of him.

Claire reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag. She took two silver coins from the bag and handed them to the shivering guard.

"Yes… yes… no problem here!" the soldier stuttered as he spoke.

Claire entered the city without much fuss but what she saw next made her furrow her brows.

This city was basically a giant slum.

There were a few well-built mansions in the center of the city, but the majority of buildings were hastily constructed.

Roofs with broken tiles, cracked walls and broken doors were just some of the problems that Claire observed.

Filth and sewage could be seen along the sides of the street and an unpleasant scent of blood filled the air.

The people living inside the city were dirty with dust and soot covering their clothes and their eyes gleamed with savagery.

As Claire led the carriage towards the direction of the local temple, she saw fights break out randomly that usually ended with someone\'s bleeding corpse laying lifelessly on the ground.

This city was a hellhole.