Iver: You're the One Who'll Make Contact

Iver didn't have much luggage with him... after all, if Avalon sells something, the Theocracy will definitely sell it too.

The Theocracy has no regulations governing superhumans, and both ritual materials and Alchemy Potion are much easier to obtain there than in Avalon. Whatever you need, it's the same whether you buy it there or not.

As for Sherlock... despite Iver's advice, he only brought one set of clothes to change into. However, he carried quite a few books and notes with him, clearly indicating that he did not intend to stop studying and researching while traveling in the Theocracy.

They entrusted their Grimoire to Bishop Mathers' family, while Yulia was placed in the care of Isabel and Shafiya by Iver. Although Ligeia was the strongest in Avalon, her personality was clearly not a good match for the quiet Yulia.

Now, Iver only has a small suitcase, about the size of a first-aid kit, which is steadily carried by Lily behind him.

There is only one thing inside that is the most numerous and takes up the most space.

That's money.

The entire box was filled with money, about 70% of the space. And it was all paper money.

There are a total of 20,000 White Crown Coin, of which 10,000 are denominations of 10 white crown coins and 10,000 are denominations of 20 white crown coins—20 is already the largest denomination of White Crown Coin.

This totals 300,000 White Crown Coin... equivalent to twenty times the gift that the genius Albert received from Prince Heinrich, the Earl Leipzig.

Now, Hai Na has been promoted and transferred to the Arbitration Hall. But her annual salary is only three thousand White Coin... which is already twenty-five times that of an ordinary company employee.

She would need to go without food or drink for a hundred years to earn the money in Iver's box.

Although it's not even in the same league as the "six million Stibium Gold Coins" loan offered by Grandet, this is the most liquid capital Iver can currently obtain in a short period of time without affecting the Moriarty Family's business.

The reason why Iver brought so much money is quite simple.

That's shopping!

As the true center of the world, the Theocracy even hosts Fifth Level powerhouses from all over the world.

When Iver disembarked, he already sensed the Lu Li atmosphere.

The most obvious change is that the racial diversity has significantly increased.

"The most comprehensive Passage Manual, detailing travel advice, rules, and specialties for every level of the Theocracy! An essential for first-time Theocracy, costing only five gold coins or eight white crowns!"

"Authentic handmade elf clothing! Full range of sizes and reasonable prices, suitable for everyone from trolls to goblins! You should wear one when you come to the Theocracy, and buy a new one when you leave! The best gift for visiting relatives and friends!"

"Seasickness medicine, high-quality seasickness medicine, anyone want it? Made by Living Silver Workshop, it works instantly!"

Before Iver even left the port, he heard the goblins' shrill cries of vendors.

The noisy din made it hard to believe that this was the Eternal Theocracy, a place known for its tranquility and slow pace of life.

The goblins' hawking skills remained as clever as ever—they always managed to sell the right things to their customers at the right time and in the right place.

Iver reached out and took the suitcase, then whispered to Lily, "Go buy two outfits."

"What about mine?"

Upon hearing this, Sherlock immediately moved closer.

Although he was reserved and aloof towards outsiders, he was becoming increasingly shameless with Iver. I guess that's what it means to become familiar with someone.

"It's for the two of you."

Iver calmly replied, "I'm wearing Clerical Robe, so I don't need to change."

As he spoke, he opened his suitcase, took out two 20-yuan White Coin, and handed them to Lily.

This scene was clearly witnessed by passersby.

Three trolls in the distance saw this and began to whisper among themselves.

Sherlock's expression immediately tightened. His face instantly turned sharp and cold, and he tightened his grip on his cane with his right hand.

"—Didn't you prepare any change?"

He lowered his voice and spoke to Iver.

"No need."

Iver said indifferently, glancing at the three-headed troll from afar.

One of the trolls suddenly sensed something, reached out and quickly tugged at the shoulders of the other two trolls whose skin color was different from his, and nervously whispered something in their ears.

Their faces immediately showed fear. They bowed respectfully to Iver and then fled.

The smallest of the trolls—he was only about 2.2 or 2.3 meters tall, with no soft fat on his stomach—looked like a strong, blue-faced, fanged human, except for his oily green skin. Yet, he was the most terrified of Iver; had his friends not stopped him, he probably would have knelt down and kowtowed to Iver.

"... What happened?"

Sherlock frowned slightly, as if he had thought of something, "Is it because you Path of Transcendence?"

"That's right. These ignorant and uncivilized trolls have great awe for the Grand Wizard ... The chief elder of a large tribe is usually a Grand Wizard."

Iver nodded.

Trolls are born with an innate sensitivity to herbs, rituals, and curses. While they lose compatibility with most paths, they have a much higher compatibility with the paths of transcendence, love, and adaptation... and in the troll cultural hierarchy, ritualists are usually ranked higher than Hunter, who are usually ranked higher than Curse Master.

Iver pointed at them and whispered to Sherlock, "Look, that green-skinned troll is the Hunter, because they smear a kind of herbal juice on their skin for a long time. This allows them to become invisible in the jungle and leave no scent. The other one should be the apothecary or the Curse Master... His skin is red and fragile, which is proof that he has been smearing cursed blood for a long time."

"Cursed blood?" Sherlock, somewhat puzzled.

"... Ah, just think of it as a kind of addictive shit."

Iver didn't want to go into details, so he simply summarized it as follows. "Trolls don't have many materials they can use, and Curse Master can only use simple materials. The slightly more expensive materials have all been sold to goblins by the elders... Therefore, the most common general-purpose materials are blood, excrement, and urine."

"So I don't recommend you buy any medicine from trolls. No matter how good the price, you'll regret it."

"... I understand, there's no need to say more."

Sherlock's expression immediately turned ugly.

Seeing his expression, Iver was somewhat surprised. "Wait... you bought it?"

"... Let's talk about another one."

Sherlock coughed twice, forcibly changing the subject. "That's a ritual master, right? His skin is dark brown... these should be raw marks from when nothing was applied."

"Yes, at most they applied some oil. Palm oil, coconut oil, shea butter—they used oil instead of water to cleanse their bodies, and the highest-ranking Grand Wizard would use a mixture of baby's blood and Olive to ensure the purity of their souls."

Iver calmly watched their retreating figures. "These must be the children of some Grand Wizard, who came to the Theocracy with two guards... Otherwise, given their troll status, they would never have been able to reach the Theocracy."

Whether as human beings or as commodities, the Theocracy does not allow the sale of trolls.

"We should still be careful with them."

Sherlock kept his voice low and said softly, "After all, from their position, they can see exactly how much money is in your box... They might just report your information to the authorities."

"... To be honest, this amount of money is nothing in the Theocracy."

Iver said in a normal voice, "And a local will come to pick us up— Lu Lu told me that she has already made contact."

When the Crescent Moon Manor was built, Bayard had already lent them more than that amount of money.

This amount of money might be considered a large sum in Avalon, but compared to these people... Avalon is just a rural area.

While they were talking, Lily returned with two packages.

Sherlock noticed that the two bags containing clothes had exquisite outer packaging—the intricate and delicate patterns resembled those of a hand-knitted scarf with Iris that had become popular in recent years.

"This bag can be disassembled and made into a scarf. It's called the ' Elf Pocket,' and the Iris People have a scarf pattern that's modeled after it."

As if guessing what Sherlock was thinking, Iver explained from the side.

"... You've never been to the Theocracy before, have you?"

Sherlock looked suspicious. "How do you know so much about this?"

"I am a pastor."

Iver said with a smile, without giving a direct answer.

Just then.

A gasp followed by a sudden silence came from the most surging part of the crowd.

The feeling was like a homeroom teacher silently sneaking into the back door of a chaotic classroom. Without any communication, the noise in the classroom was suddenly extinguished.

They were a group of seven beautiful and graceful elves.

Even if you don't recognize their clothes or appearance, you can tell who they are just by looking at their mounts.

The six figures wore elven silver armor that covered only about half their bodies, long white cloaks, and rode winged white horses. They were of different genders, but all wore silver-white metal Eye Mask —symbolizing the core principle of the Pope Guard: "Ignorance."

The leader was entirely pure white, without any other color, and his whole body shimmered in the sunlight.

She wore white stockings and white silk gloves. A white ribbon adorned her eyes, and a silver veil covered her white hair. Her white robe resembled a wedding dress... and her ears were the longest and most pointed of any elf Iver had ever seen. Compared to humans with round or square faces, her chin was noticeably more pointed, and her skin was whiter—also characteristics of Pure-Blood Elf.

She rode a unicorn, a symbol of the highest authority in the Theocracy —the unicorn's status in the Theocracy was equivalent to, or even higher than, that of a full suit of knight's armor in Avalon.

Already over two meters tall, the addition of the towering unicorn made the silent girl appear as majestic as a white sculpture.

Oh no, why is she here?

Iver felt a jolt in his heart.

Isabel, how did you contact her?! He didn't know many people in the Theocracy, after all, the Cardinal Bishop in the game were almost all exaggerated facial expressions, and the bishops of lower ranks were basically all the same model... but he did know this person. Or rather, no player wouldn't know her.

It's not only extremely popular on the forum, but also very popular in the doujinshi (books/anime series).

This was the Eternal Saintess "Pure White," who would soon trigger chaos in the Theocracy. The "Pure White" I had seen during my Promotion Ritual must be her.

Thinking of this, Iver took two steps forward and bowed to the beautiful, noble, yet quiet and silent elf, placing his hand on his chest and kneeling in respect.

"May the candlelight illuminate your path, Saintess Highness. It's been a long time."

Upon hearing this, the Saintess tilted her head in slight confusion.

But she replied, "It's been a long time."