The Whereabouts of the Holy Grail

"You two have made baseless accusations against the clergy of the Goddess of Freedom Temple. As the High Priest of the Castle Town Goddess of Freedom Temple, I will put you on trial!"

As High Priest Reed swung his Hammer of Judgment, the Silver Moon Elf watching gasped in astonishment.

High Priest Reed then walked up to the two of them and said:

"You two have been chasing after clergy members of the Goddess of Freedom Temple without cause. As the High Priest of the Castle Town Goddess of Freedom Temple, I will punish you!"

As a divine rune composed of holy light appeared before High Priest Reed, the holy light and the prayer vanished simultaneously...

Another hammer beam struck the two men. The two priests of the Moon God Temple were trying to get up from the ground when the two hammer beams flashed past, and they immediately screamed again and fell to the ground on the viewing platform.

High Priest Reed, unmoved by the indignant Silver Moon Elf around him, then spoke loudly:

"You two have been forcibly coercing the clergy of the Goddess of Freedom Temple. As the High Priest of the Castle Town Goddess of Freedom Temple, I will punish you!"

The two young priests were first beaten until they vomited blood, and then Holy Light Hammer. The third hammer was much smaller and more delicate. It was incredibly light, yet it hovered above the heads of the two priests of the Moon God Temple before finally striking them hard on the head.

The surrounding Silver Moon Elf instinctively shrank back, while the two young priests of the Moon God Temple simply lay flat on the stone floor, unconscious.

High Priest Reed put the ' Holy Prayer ' into his Magic Pouch, bent down and grabbed the collar of a Moon God Temple priest, then turned to look at Roy, who was standing there dumbfounded, and ordered, "What are you... standing there for? Come and help!"

"Oh, here it comes!"

Roy rushed over, grabbed the arms of another priest of the Moon God Temple, and, following High Priest Reed's example, dragged him to the front of a carriage.

High Priest Reed and Roy together lifted the two Moon God Temple priests onto the carriage. Then, the Half-Elf who had been wearing a sun hat drove the carriage quickly away from the Cliffside Avenue, heading towards the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

"His Your Excellency Mitchell once signed a pact between the two temples with the Great Sage of the Moon God Temple. Since the priests of the Moon God Temple have taken the initiative to attack us, we are in the right no matter what."

"Although the Moon God Temple is the largest religion on the Elf Continent, our Goddess of Freedom Temple is now preparing to withdraw from the Elf Continent entirely. The higher-ups of the Moon God Temple hope that we can leave quietly. Roy, do you know what they are most worried about us doing before we leave?"

Roy had never thought about these things, because he had never even considered leaving the Elf Continent and entering the Dark Land with the Holy War Army of the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

Now, just thinking about it casually, I can only say this with trepidation:

"Are they worried that we'll demolish all the temples and turn them into ruins before we leave?"

High Priest Reed shook his head slightly, indicating that it was not so.

Roy thought about it seriously for a moment, then tentatively said, "Won't they worry that we'll take away a large number of believers? The population of the Elven World isn't that big to begin with..."

High Priest Reed continued to shake his head, then stopped letting Roy guess and said directly, "They are worried that we will bury countless seeds of holy light on this Elf Continent. Even if we leave, five hundred years later, or even a thousand years later... one day the Holy Radiance will shine on this continent again, and at that time these seeds containing the power of faith will ignite the entire Elf Continent."

"They'd love for us to leave quickly and peacefully right now, so why would they bother us at this time..."

For Roy, High Priest Reed's words meant that the Goddess of Freedom Temple's departure from Castleton was only a matter of time.

"Teacher, thank goodness you arrived in time..."

Roy sat in the carriage, with two priests of the Moon God Temple standing on his feet.

Upon hearing Roy's words, High Priest Reed immediately burst into laughter:

"Haha, let me tell you another principle: there aren't actually that many coincidences in this world. So-called coincidences... are more like people who have made preparations in advance."

"Teacher, do you mean you've also made some preparations?" Roy asked High Priest Reed.

High Priest Reed nodded, and then said:

"I know you only have half a day of classes at the Elf Academy. This morning, the Guard Squad on Edward Street in the Lower District asked me to officiate at a funeral ceremony. After the ceremony, I thought I would take advantage of this opportunity..." High Priest Reed pointed to the carriage and continued, "To come to the Elf Academy and return to the temple with you. When we arrived at the temple, I saw you getting into a carriage, so I had the coachman follow you all the way."

Roy realized that he had gone to Samp Leather Shop in Heroes Square at noon, yet he hadn't noticed High Priest Reed following him the whole way.

"Teacher..."

Roy couldn't help but feel a little touched.

High Priest Reed shook his head and said to Roy, "You must study hard and improve your strength as soon as possible so that you can have the power to protect yourself."

Then, perhaps worried that Roy was feeling down, he encouraged him further:

"Actually, you've done very well. At least you used ' Strength Blessing ' quite skillfully..."

The two talked almost the entire way.

High Priest Reed stopped encouraging Roy only when the carriage stopped at the entrance of the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

The two young priests of the Moon God Temple were taken back to the Goddess of Freedom Temple by High Priest Reed.

It was already afternoon. The two young priests had regained consciousness while in the carriage, but their bodies felt as if they had been smashed apart by an iron hammer, so they simply lay down in the carriage and pretended to be dead.

After the carriage stopped, the two young priests were forced off the carriage by High Priest Reed.

High Priest Reed pointed to a clean set of steps in the front courtyard and made the two of them kneel before the Goddess of Freedom Statue by the pool in the courtyard.

(The ranks in the Goddess of Freedom Temple are roughly arranged as follows: Novice Priest [not counting rank] — Priest [Ordinary 1-9] — High Priest [First Job Advancement 10-19] — Combat Priest /Priest [Second Rank 20-2] — Light Templar [Third Job Advancement 30-39].) (The ranks in the Moon God Temple are: Apprentice Priest [not counting rank] — Priest [1-9] — High Priest [10-19] — Elder [20-29] — Sage [30-39].) Therefore, the priests in the Moon God Temple are actually just ordinary Priest in the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

Jasper and Abbott were also surprised that High Priest Reed, after being away for half a day, would actually bring back two priests from the Moon God Temple, making them kneel in the courtyard as punishment...

Upon hearing Roy's account of being chased around the city by the two priests of the Moon God Temple for the past two days, he gave up on pleading for them. However, the two priests still brought the two Moon God Temple a cup of cool water every now and then to prevent them from getting heatstroke under the sun.

Roy spent the entire afternoon sitting quietly in the Study Room learning divine magic. Everyone waited all afternoon, but the Moon God Temple did not come to the Goddess of Freedom Temple to look for someone.

The two young priests were less fortunate. Under the scorching sun, their faces and necks turned bright red, like boiled shrimp, clearly sunburned.

Fortunately, they still had water to drink until the sun set. The two priests of the Moon God Temple were so exhausted that they sat on the ground, closing their eyes without saying a word.

Roy wasn't in a hurry to go home; everyone was waiting for the Moon God Temple to come and take the two priests away...

It wasn't until a crescent moon appeared on the sea and the daytime heat gradually dissipated under the sea breeze that three carriages bearing the emblem of the Moon God Temple slowly came to a stop at the entrance of the Goddess of Freedom Temple. A group of priests from the Moon God Temple jumped down from the carriages and lined up in two rows at the entrance of the Goddess of Freedom Temple.

Jasper pushed open the doors of the Goddess of Freedom Temple, and three priests emerged from the crowd, one of whom was Priest Sandike.

Priest Sandike walked in the middle of the three, his face gloomy and his eyes cold. When he reached the front courtyard, he saw two young priests slumped in front of the Goddess of Freedom Statue. Although they were listless and their faces were covered with sunburn, Priest Sandike strode up to them and kicked them hard in the shoulders.

With just two kicks, he knocked the two young priests to the ground.

It was probably the three carriages at the entrance of the Goddess of Freedom Temple that attracted many passing Half-Elf. They all stood obediently outside the temple courtyard, peering inside through the iron fence.

Upon hearing Jasper's report, High Priest Reed came out of the Main Hall.

He stood on the steps at the entrance of the Main Hall, looking across the pool at the three priests of the Moon God Temple in the courtyard.

"I am Sandaike, a priest of the Moon God Temple. Reed, you have detained our Moon God Temple without cause. Do you intend to provoke a war between the two temples?"

High Priest Reed took a few steps down the steps and rebuked Priest Sandike:

"Sandaike, I've heard of you. For you to talk about 'war between the two temples,' you certainly have a lot of nerve. Let me remind you... you can't just say things like that. Didn't Elder Sherwood of the Moon God Temple remind you recently to avoid any friction with the Goddess of Freedom Temple as much as possible during this period?"

"The fault lies not with us, but with you two young priests who have repeatedly Novice Priest the Goddess of Freedom Temple."

"Speaking of which... I'd like to ask you the opposite: you arrested Roy on the street, what crime did he commit?"

"... Or is it because he's been tracking down the Wisdom Holy Grail and found your weakness?"

"If I wanted to write a letter to the Gorfito Headquarters, I would say that your priests from the Moon God Temple are obstructing this..."

Priest Sandike dared not openly discuss these private matters with High Priest Reed in the courtyard again, as Elder Sherwood had explicitly forbidden it. Thinking of Elder Sherwood's demands from the Moon God Temple, sweat broke out on Priest Sandike's forehead once more.

"Enough, Reed, what do you want?" Priest Sandike's voice was hoarse and somewhat hysterical.

"Return the Wisdom Holy Grail that you took, and you can take these two Priest with you," High Priest Reed said coldly, pointing to the two young priests sitting in the courtyard.

Priest Sandike reminded High Priest Reed, "They are priests of the Moon God Temple!"

High Priest Reed said, "By the standards of the Goddess of Freedom Temple, they can only be called Priest."