Chapter 73 (continued)

... this...

I was shocked. So the Temple really selects people based on their looks? And not only looks, but hair color too?

Mel explained to me, "Because the public has a higher approval rating for blond-haired, blue-eyed paladins, probably because gold is more in line with the characteristics of the God of Light. For example, if a priest in the Shadow Moon Temple has blond hair, he has to dye it black or white."

Oh... thinking about it, it's true. Moli visited the Temple several times and took a lot of photos. Among the paladins and priests who were in charge of receiving tourists, the most common ones were those with flowing white robes and radiant blonde hair. I used to think that was Moli's preference.

"Yes," Goliath agreed. "Blonde or brown hair is more popular, and in the last two years, white hair has also received a lot of praise, because believers seem to think that white clothes and white hair look very... well, it's hard to explain. Anyway, the current high priest wears white clothes and has white hair, and if he were any whiter, he would almost blend into the walls of the Temple, making it difficult to find him in case of emergency... As for paladins, the trend of white hair is also expanding, and if they also have blue or green eyes, that would be even better."

... The so-called standard textbook paladin face and clerical color scheme?

Think about it, Luolan, a dark elf, bleached his hair white in public to fit the image of a priest of light. Goliath's pure black hair is far removed from the standard paladin color. Because when people think of the God of Light, they mainly think of colors like gold and white, and when they think of the Shadow Moon Lord and the followers of the dark god represented by the Shadow Moon Temple, they think of black, purple, or dark red. Even I am no exception. However, a black-robed priest with white hair doesn't look out of place; on the contrary, it has a strong visual impact... So it seems that white hair is a universally flattering color.

Moli seemed lost in thought, twirling her hair with her fingers. I heard her mutter, "Maybe I should dye my hair white when I get home..."

Goliath heard this too, and he said very seriously, "Hair dye damages hair!"

This is... your reason for refusing to dye your hair? You'd even give up the position of Holy Lord just to avoid damaging your hair? Looking at this paladin who missed out on the highest leadership position in the Faith of Light, I was speechless with admiration for him.

In just a few words, I gained a new impression of this Grand Commander of the Temple Knights.

Distracted like that, I finally remembered to ask the important question, "The enemy planes escaped, but didn't you just say some stones were stolen?"

"Dragon Crystals," Goliath said, glancing at Xuefeng, Xuefeng continued to fly steadily. Goliath then explained, "Dragons rely on dragon crystals within their bodies to maintain levitation. Even after a dragon dies, the crystal retains its Magic Power and essence, which is the main support for the dragon ship's stable levitation. The magic array in the dragon ship's engine room requires dragon crystals to operate."

I've learned something new. I had never really studied how dragons maintain their balance in the air before. After all, they can grow to the size of small mountains, and it's quite a sight to see them fly overhead. Because the Federation prohibits private flying, even private mages aren't allowed to fly, so private dragons are even less likely to be allowed to fly. Years ago, I was at the research institute, helping the old director receive a dragon exchange group that came to study and learn. They had all turned into human form, and apart from being a bit taller, they were indistinguishable from each other. They were even similar to Moli and the others, spending all their time glued to their phones.

Goliath paused for a moment, then continued, "If the dragon ship hadn't leaked all its fuel, the pilot could have made an emergency landing, and you wouldn't have needed to intervene, allowing the enemy to escape with the dragon crystal."

Mel's expression turned serious. "Dragon crystal? Isn't that something very precious to dragons? I remember dragons highly respect the remains of their ancestors, so why are they using it as a means of transportation?"

"Oh, that's why there aren't many dragon ships in total!" Goliath explained with a smile. "Just like we humans have body donation, the dragon race also has 'remains crystal donation.' Some progressive dragons are willing to sign donation agreements to support the country's infrastructure development. After all, we have to keep up with the times."

Mel seemed to have thought of something, because I sensed that Mel wasn't happy. He frowned, pursed his lips, and raised his eyebrows, which made Mel was always smiling in front of me, even more in line with the aura of the legendary "Evil Shadow Manipulator." However, before I could comfort him, he changed the subject himself.

He said, "We have our own missions, so we probably won't be able to go with you to retrieve the Dragon Crystal."

"Hmm." Goliath nodded. "It's alright. Although I'm on vacation now... sigh, a paladin commander on vacation is still a paladin commander. I can still catch a few robbers. Dragons are very sensitive to the aura of dragon crystals. Xuefeng has already memorized the aura of that dragon crystal, so Xuefeng and I can follow them at any time. Why don't we let them run ahead? Maybe we can even dig out their stronghold along the way."

He was very easygoing, unlike Lusien. Even though we were practically sworn brothers, he still addressed me as "Field" all the time. As he took out the other arm guard from his spatial ring and began to put it on, he continued chatting with us, "Because Xuefeng was with me at the Temple, we couldn't get rid of him no matter what. He was eating so much that I didn't get paid, and even overspent my salary for the next few decades. I was almost so poor that I had to perform on the streets! (I didn't expect the Temple's Grand Commander to be as poor as me... When he said this, Xuefeng yelled at him in dissatisfaction, but Goliath didn't care and continued talking to us.) He can't usually revert to his dragon form, so as soon as he had a vacation, we rushed to the Holy Dragon's airspace. We had only flown back and forth twice when we were attacked. It's God of Light wouldn't let me rest."

Because the dragon boat crashed, Goliath offered to take us to our destination, which wasn't far away. He said it would give the enemy more time to run around and lower their guard. Since the Xuefeng- capped peaks flew very fast, Mel and I didn't refuse. Being carried by a dragon was a novel experience for us. Dragons rarely carried anyone other than their knights, especially dragons like Goliath who had lived for hundreds of years and possessed exceptional strength and knowledge. So Mel and I admired Goliath even more.

"Almost there." Moli held her phone, with location services enabled. The screen displayed the coordinates sent by Madam Christine, the Speaker of the Federal Congress. These were the coordinates last transmitted by the tracker on Reynold. We planned to go there first and begin searching for Reynold. Although a mage has many tracking methods, if the distance is too far, such as across an entire continent, it becomes quite troublesome. Therefore, the closer we are to where he disappeared, the better.

Based on my past experience digging up mage towers and killing black mages, digging up a Reynold or two should be easy. The difficulty lies in digging him back intact, because I'm still a novice at this task and haven't tried it before. But luckily, I have Mel. Mel has a history of transforming into a beautiful woman to infiltrate enemy camps and rescue elves.

This location is on the outskirts of Kojinier City. The population and dragon mouth density of the Holy Dragon Empire are not as large as those of the Federation. Apart from the dense buildings in the cities, what I saw in other places was a very well-preserved natural landscape, and the scenery was incredibly beautiful.

The Reynold tracker disappeared at a lake, some distance from the city, and not along a highway or rail line. We didn't see anyone around.

But when we reached above the location where the signal had disappeared, Mel and I noticed that something was hidden on the seemingly calm lake.

Anna's keen elven eyesight immediately spotted the problem. With the added power of the Mage Eye, an elf's vision is ten times stronger than a human's. Even though our magical abilities surpass Anna's, we were still defeated by her natural talent. So Anna pointed at the lake and shouted, "There's someone there, hiding underwater! They're probably spying on us!"

Goliath placed his hand on the sword at his waist. Although he remained relaxed, I could sense that his aura had become sharper, which made me want to move our duel to the front of my schedule.

Our Mage Eye doesn't have the ability to see through water, but Mel trusted Anna's vision, so he used his Mage Hand to grab where Anna pointed.