A True Gift

The Moon God Temple in Castleton City is located on a hilltop in the Upper District.

The priests in the temple are responsible for the life and death of the Silver Moon Elf (delivering and burying them), as well as distributing the sap of the Tree of Life. They also guide lost Silver Moon Elf back to the embrace of the Moon Goddess Elune.

The priests of the Moon God Temple wielded even more influence than the elders of the Castleton Elder Council.

After all, every Silver Moon Elf in Castleton City goes to the Moon God Temple to collect a cup of Tree of Life Sap every week.

Furthermore, when the Silver Moon Elf fall ill, they come to the Moon God Temple to receive treatment from the priests.

In fact, the treatment process is extremely simple.

Sick Silver Moon Elf bathe in the Spring of Life, while priests pray to the Goddess Moon Goddess Elune, who then sends down a beam of moonlight. Unless the injury is too severe, the elves who enter the Spring of Life will be healed.

The Moon God Temple never shares the Tree of Life Sap with the Half-Elf of the Lower District, and Half-Elf are forbidden from entering the Spring of Life within the temple.

The priests of the Moon God Temple do not come forward to bury some Half-Elf who die unexpectedly.

These measures have given the Moon God Temple a very bad reputation in the Lower District.

Therefore, the Half-Elf preferred to abandon the Goddess and become a follower of the Statue of Goddess of Freedom...

This is why the Goddess of Freedom Temple was able to establish itself in Castleton City, but recently the Goddess of Freedom Temple has also encountered unprecedented difficulties...

For the past six months, no matter how fervently the believers prayed, they received no response from the Goddess of Freedom.

As a result, the number of worshippers at the Goddess of Freedom Temple dwindled by almost two-thirds in just six months.

Even so, the number of Goddess of Freedom devotees attending the weekly rallies continues to decline.

Roy knew that the priests in the Moon God Temple of the Moon God Temple were notoriously bad-tempered, but Roy was somewhat surprised that they had collectively voted to keep Countess Amelia out of the Divine Kingdom.

Countess Amelia sat down on a protruding root under the Bread Tree, the moonlight blocked by the Bread Tree and leaves, her figure appearing and disappearing in the shadows.

"Alright, it's getting late, you should go back..."

Countess Amelia gave Roy the order to leave.

Without hesitation, Roy stood up and said, "Thank you for your guidance."

To think that I, a Novice Priest, had actually spent half the night communicating with an elven spirit, and was even summoned and dismissed at will...

Roy couldn't help but sigh.

If Jasper and Abbott found out about this, they might be forever branded with shame.

Now that he could leave, Roy bowed to Countess Amelia and immediately prepared to run down the steps...

But just as he turned around, he found Countess Amelia sitting on the steps, blocking his way.

Countess Amelia stared at Roy, and seeing his eagerness to leave, Countess Amelia became less anxious.

She sat gracefully on the stone steps.

Divine Light floated on Roy's shoulders, illuminating Countess Amelia almost perfectly...

She exuded an air of superiority, completely ignoring the Divine Light emanating from Roy's shoulders. She stared at Roy for a while before saying, "This is the first time I've ever talked to a Half-Elf for so long."

"Oh! By the way, remember to keep this a secret for me."

After saying that, Countess Amelia seemed to realize something...

She continued, "Also... if you have free time, you can come here anytime to chat with me and tell me about the latest happenings in Castleton City."

"Of course, if you'd like, you can become my messenger and deliver news to Ellington Castle whenever something happens in Castleton City."

"... I see no human greed in you. Even in adversity, you can always stay clear-headed and calm. This courage is very rare."

Roy never expected that Countess Amelia would approve of him so much.

Then I heard her lower her head and grope around for a while before saying:

"Let me see, I'll give you this Magic Crystal!"

As she spoke, she held out her hand to Roy; it was a hexagonal Magic Crystal.

Roy held the crystal in his hand, not yet knowing what it was for.

Then Countess Amelia took out another crystal, which looked to be of higher quality than the Roy was holding, with more intricate patterns on its surface.

She handed the Magic Crystal to Roy and said to him, "Oh, by the way, take this crystal to my little Edith. Don't tell her about me for now. Every time I see her, it reminds me of myself when I was young..."

The next moment, Countess Amelia's tone turned somewhat melancholic as she gazed at the dark mountains opposite the castle and murmured to herself, "... That really is a very distant memory!"

Roy stood in front of the steps, put both Magic Crystal into his pocket, and agreed:

"Please rest assured, I will deliver this Magic Crystal to Ms. Edith."

Countess Amelia nodded, her figure slowly fading until it disappeared.

Roy then walked down the stairs.

When she returned to the tent, Klayr was still fast asleep in the next tent, completely unaware of Roy's return...

Roy and Klayr stayed at Ellington Castle for three days. By noon on the third day, the two had toured the entire Ellington Castle with the expedition team, and Klayr even went up to the fourth floor of the castle again.

He stood in front of the mural and captured Countess Amelia's appearance in his sketchbook from various angles.

"Roy, are we leaving today?"

Klayr closed the sketchbook in her hand and asked Roy, who looked sleepy.

"If you didn't sleep well last night, we could have stayed here for the night."

"There's still a lot to do. Now that we've finished our exploration of the castle, let's move on to the next task!" Roy replied immediately.

At noon, Iris and the expedition members prepared a lot of food at the armory.

However, Roy and Klayr could only eat Breadfruit and Black Berry Black Berry, which were picked in the castle's back garden.

Unfortunately, apart from Roy, no one in Group Sixteen had taken the Elementary Martial Arts Training.

Therefore, the elf girls did not need to undergo wilderness survival training while enduring hunger and cold, and they no longer traveled with Roy and Klayr on the rest of the journey.

"Roy, have you finished your research report on Ellington Castle?"

The Silver Moon Elf girl sitting opposite Roy suddenly asked curiously.

"It's almost all written!" Roy said, patting his bag vigorously.

"Aren't you two coming with us anymore?"

After saying that, Edith gracefully peeled open a Zhu Fruit with her slender fingers, sucked the bright red flesh into her mouth, and made Klayr secretly swallow a mouthful of saliva.

"Next, we're going to traverse the Malaga Jungle to complete the task assigned by Master Harper," Roy replied.

"Understood. Although there aren't many magical beasts in this jungle, you two still need to be extra careful when you're moving around. If you encounter danger, ask for help if necessary. Don't try to be brave and push yourself too hard," Edith instructed the two.

"We'll be extra careful," Klayr said.

After lunch, Roy and Klayr went to dismantle the tent.

Edith and several other Silver Moon Elf girls came to help, and together they folded up the tent and re-tied it into a backpack for Roy to carry.

Before leaving the castle, Roy took the opportunity to call Edith aside by himself.

Edith's blue eyes held a smile, yet she maintained a distance of one meter between them at all times.

"What do you want?" Edith asked Roy, adopting the demeanor of a captain.

Roy took the exquisite Magic Crystal out of his pocket and handed it to Edith.

"A gift for me?" Edith asked in surprise instead of reaching out to take it.

Roy stepped forward and nodded, saying, "Yes, someone asked me to give you this Magic Crystal."

"Someone asked you to give me this Magic Crystal? Who was that person?" Edith asked, staring at Roy.

Roy tossed the Magic Crystal to Edith and casually said, "It's not convenient to say now, but maybe you'll find out later."

Edith caught the Magic Crystal and glanced suspiciously at Klayr standing beside her.

Klayr cautiously took a half-step back, making it clear that it wasn't him who sent it.

Edith turned to look at Roy suspiciously...

Roy didn't know how to explain, so he waved to Edith and quickly left Ellington Castle with Klayr.

"You actually gave Edith a Magic Crystal! Tell me quickly, what's written inside?" Klayr asked curiously.

Roy spread his hands and explained softly, "Actually, I haven't opened it either, so I don't know what's inside..."

The two left Ellington Castle, chatting as they walked.

As Roy passed through a grove of trees outside the castle, he saw Countess Amelia's figure appear on the trunk of a large tree.

She was waving at them...