Chapter 222

Chapter 216: Rescue

Tivyán is the capital of the Prit Kingdom and the largest city in the kingdom. At its heart lies the Tivyán Royal Castle, which serves as the reference point from which the entire city can be roughly divided into five major regions: east, south, west, north, and central.

Among these, the Prayer Cathedral is situated at the edge of the northern region of Tivyán. It is the center of the Radiant Church’s Prit Province and is manned by the archbishop sent from Sacred Summit, making it the religious center for all of Prit.

At the edge of the northern region of Tivyán, there is the Church District, which is delineated around the Prayer Cathedral. This area hosts numerous ecclesiastical institutions, including monasteries, schools, consulates, tribunals, etc. Additionally, there is a specialized residential area where many church staff members live, among whom is Vania.

At night, the entire Church District is still enveloped in the sound of evening prayers. A faint choir resonates within the towering cathedral, and the sound of the organ drifts in the evening breeze, creating a tranquil and sacred atmosphere throughout the district.

Vania has just finished the evening prayer and exited the cathedral. At this moment, she is chatting and laughing with other nuns while walking down the steps of the church.

“Vania, Father Albert praised you for being increasingly serious and focused during your prayers recently. I remember you used to stutter a bit during the long chants, but now you’re so smooth! Do you have any secrets?”

As they descended the stairs, one of the nuns asked Vania, and she responded with a dry laugh.

“Haha… there’s no secret at all! It’s just that I’ve spent more time practicing lately, that’s all.”

“Is that so? Then Vania, you really seem more devout than before! It looks like witnessing Bishop Dict’s tomb has strengthened your faith even more.”

“Hmm… I guess so…”

Vania replied somewhat awkwardly, also thinking to herself that if she didn’t spend a large amount of time practicing her prayers and remained focused during them, she could easily mispronounce the prayers. If such an error occurred in public, it would be quite the embarrassment.

“Vania, there’s still a bit of time. Would you like to get some late-night snacks in the cafeteria?”

“I think I’ll pass. I need to go back and study. Next time I have time, I’ll join you all. Bye~”

Saying this, Vania waved goodbye to the other nuns and quickly ran off into the distance, leaving the remaining nuns behind, who curiously remarked.

“Vania… seems like she’s grown to love reading even more. Is she really that diligent?”

“Who cares? Since she’s not going, let’s go together. If we go late, there might not be any food left~”

……

After bidding farewell to her fellow nuns, Vania returned to her residence.

Unlike ordinary nuns, Vania’s residence is located in the apartment building within the residential area, where she has her own apartment, while most nuns live in collective dormitories. This is not only because Vania is an extraordinary being of the apprentice tier but also due to her position as a researcher at the Historical Records Office.

Climbing up to the apartment building, Vania entered her room. She didn’t wash up and sleep quickly like before; instead, she sat down at her desk and unlocked the drawer with her key. Inside the drawer were four books of varying thickness.

These books are secret transmissions, which Vania needs to study daily, including some heterodox classics.

Vania picked up the four secret transmissions from the drawer and examined them closely. Two of them are the “Cup” secret transmissions, titled “Adventure Log of the Voodoo Forest” and “Wolf Sacrifice.” These two secret transmissions were spoils from the battle she and Dorothy fought at the Field Villa. At that time, Dorothy and she agreed that they would each take one and then exchange them after reading.

In fact, at that time, Vania couldn’t carry the secret transmissions, so she temporarily left the books and other spoils with Dorothy. After reading both, Dorothy had returned Vania’s items to a safe address in Tivyán once she returned.

As a researcher at the Historical Records Office, Vania is quite interested in these secret transmissions, so once she got them, she began to study them while periodically praying to Akasha to clear the accumulated poison recognition. Being able to read the secret transmissions without worrying about poison recognition was a unique experience for Vania.

As of now, Vania has finished reading the two “Cup” secret transmissions obtained from Lu’e, and of the four secret transmissions, she still has two left unread. These two were the initial gifts given to her by Audric.

“I should be able to finish this one tonight.”

Among these secret transmissions, Vania took out one with a yellow cover and placed it on the desk, putting away the others in the drawer. She opened the book on the desk, and from the page with the bookmark, it was evident that she was close to finishing it.

Vania has been reading this secret transmission for about a week now. The title is “Sun Wheel and Glimmer,” and it is a theoretical research secret transmission authored by Saint Amanda of the Radiant Church. This book details Amanda’s understanding of the spirituality of the “Lamp,” emphasizing the connection between the “Lamp” and the sun, arguing that all “Lamps” in the world originate from the sun, which is the source of all “Lamps.” She also analyzes the relationship between the Savior of Radiance and the sun, proposing several possibilities.

“Lady Amanda… truly has great courage. As a saint, she directly researches the deity she believes in. If such a book were written by a clergy member of a lower status, they would probably be sent straight to the tribunal…”

While looking at the secret transmission in front of her, Vania couldn’t help but think inwardly.

After flipping through a few more pages, Vania finally finished reading this third secret transmission. After closing the book, she sighed contentedly and, as usual, closed her eyes to pray, asking Akasha to cleanse her poison recognition.

This time, Vania could finally be relaxed during her prayer, sincere and at ease.

After finishing her prayer, Vania immediately felt a long-lost clarity in her mind. With this refreshing sensation, she stretched her limbs and prepared to get up to take a bath and sleep.

However, at that moment, a familiar voice echoed in her mind.

“Great Akasha, I have important matters to discuss with Vania. Please let her use the book and pen to communicate with me.”

Upon hearing this voice, Vania was momentarily taken aback and then realized in shock.

‘Is that… Miss Dorothy’s voice? She says she has important matters to discuss with me. Is she using Akasha to prompt me to pay attention to the sacred text?’

Realizing this, Vania quickly sat back in her chair and took out the sacred text she always carried with her, flipping it open, and sure enough, new words appeared on the page for contacting Dorothy, familiar characters saying, “Are you there?”

“Just as I thought…”

Looking at the characters before her, Vania swallowed hard. Generally, if Dorothy proactively reached out to her, it would usually be about some rather dangerous activities. Seeing Dorothy’s words again made her a little worried.

‘But Miss Dorothy is in Igewent, and I have already returned to Tivyán. There shouldn’t be anything urgent for her to contact me about…’

Thinking this, Vania took her pen and wrote in the sacred text.

“I’m here, Miss Dorothy.”

Soon, a reply appeared on the sacred text.

“That’s great! Sister Vania, right now in the King Campus of Crown University, an innocent female student is being threatened by cultists. She also believes in Akasha and is our comrade, so I’d like to ask if you could go to King Campus now and bring her to the city.”

Reading the new characters that appeared on the sacred text, Vania froze. She couldn’t help but grumble in her heart.

After realizing what was happening, she immediately wrote back.

“Miss Dorothy, aren’t you in Igewent?”

“I arrived in Tivyán about half a month ago due to a new task. I’m sorry for not coming to find you immediately because I’ve been quite busy. After this operation, I’ll treat you to a meal.”

‘Wait, I haven’t agreed yet!’ Looking at the words now appearing on the page, Vania inwardly shouted. She originally wanted to refuse, but seeing the mention of threatened cultists and the fellow believer in Akasha, she sighed and took her pen to write again in the sacred text.

“I’m relatively close to King Campus. It won’t take much time to get there. Where exactly is she at King Campus? There are taxis on the street now, and I’ll set off right away.”

“She will be waiting at the River Ditch Bridge. That area may be dangerous, so it’s best if you take a weapon with you.”

‘There could really be danger…’ Seeing Dorothy’s words, Vania’s heart tightened, but thinking it could just be a possibility, after hesitating for a moment, she still took her pen and wrote back.

“Understood. I’ll go prepare now.”

With her response written, Vania stood up and crouched down on the floor, taking out two items from under her bed: a rifle and a one-handed sword.

After wrapping the items in cloth, Vania opened her wardrobe, took out a long black robe, and draped it over herself. She secured the sword to her waist, strapped the rifle to her back, covered it with the black robe, picked up the sacred text from the desk, put on her hood, and exited her home.

Vania hurriedly walked out of the apartment building through a secluded path, leaving the Church District and stepping onto a sparsely populated street, where she hailed a taxi. After getting into the carriage, she explained the destination to the coachman.

Thus, Vania sat in the carriage, heading towards the distant King Campus.

Inside the carriage, Vania opened the sacred text, wanting to discuss more with Dorothy about this operation. However, when she opened the sacred text, she found new text already appearing.

“By the way, have you finished reading those secret transmissions you have on hand?”

Looking at the text on the sacred text, Vania didn’t think much and directly responded with her pen.

“I have finished reading the two ‘Cup’ secret transmissions you sent. I’ve completed one of the two secret transmissions authored by the esteemed Saint Amanda, given by that gentleman.”

‘You’ve finished those two “Cup” secret transmissions? That’s good! If I remember correctly, “Adventure Log of the Voodoo Forest” has 3 points of “Cup,” and “Wolf Sacrifice” has 7 points of “Cup.” That means I’ve helped Vania extract 10 points of “Cup,” which is more than enough for using bl**d-Eating. With Vania’s Laurens’s swordsmanship enhanced by bl**d-Eating, it would be difficult for an ordinary apprentice to contend against her.’

In her secret room, as she looked at the responses appearing on the sacred text, Dorothy reflected. Given Vania’s current situation, she was sufficient to handle apprentices. Unless ordinary people were all armed, even a group of ten wouldn’t pose a threat.

‘To hunt down Nephnis, an ordinary person typically requires only a few strong henchmen to do the job without needing apprentices.’

‘However, the Eight Pinnacle Nest doesn’t understand Neph’s strength. Due to the loss tonight, they may retaliate by dispatching excessive pursuit forces that could create scenarios where Vania won’t be able to manage alone. To prevent risks, I must ensure Vania has more chips to work with.’

In her secret room, Dorothy contemplated the situation laid out before her.

‘Now that Vania is an apprentice-level extraordinary being, her soul book capacity should still have some space left. A single set of swordsmanship shouldn’t fill her soul book entirely.’

Thinking this, Dorothy picked up her pen and began writing on Vania’s dialogue page.

“Vania, please pray to Akasha in the way I instructed.”

……

Royal Sacred Crown University, King Campus.

At night, in the girls’ dormitory, a window on one of the floors was pushed open, and a shadow crawled out. This shadow skillfully climbed down the surface of the dormitory building. In a short while, it finally reached the grass below and, after glancing around quickly, dashed into a nearby small forest.

There, several figures awaited him.

“Mr. Thistle, I have searched Boyle’s dorm room; she is not inside. Only her roommate is sleeping.”

The shadow reported. He was Eli, the most loyal devotee of Thistle from the former Secret Knowledge Society. Thus, Thistle granted him substantial resources, promoting him to an apprentice-level Shadow.

“Not there? Hmph… It seems she has sensed something and fled early.”

Upon hearing Eli’s reply, Thistle sneered, and Eli then worriedly spoke up.

“What should we do, Mr. Thistle? Are we just going to let that traitor Boyle escape like this?”

“She won’t get away. Since she has already ingested the ‘dry egg,’ she can’t escape.”

Saying this, Thistle took out a small box from his pocket and opened it. A fuzzy black spider crawled out from inside.

“Anyone who ingests the dry egg will be connected by invisible threads to the shadow spider that laid the egg, so she won’t escape from our grasp.”

With that, Thistle brought the spider close to his mouth, muttering something quietly before placing it on the ground.

The spider crawled out of Thistle’s palm, paused for a moment, and then quickly scuttled off in one direction as Thistle and the others immediately followed behind.