"Finally…" Elizabeth muttered, getting out of her carriage with many different emotions.

She didn't say goodbye to anyone, she wasn't seeing them in a good way after what they did. Her emotions were a result of knowing where she was right now.

Although she couldn't see it directly, she knew that she was standing in front of a giant gate. It was a gate that led to Celestia, the capital of the Holy Kingdom.

Unlike her, Fafnir could see everything clearly.

Unlike the cold, snow-covered Northern Region, the Central Region had a mild climate that was only a bit cold in winter and a bit hot in summer. It was considered the most perfect region to live.

The city was surrounded by walls made of shining white and golden materials, giving a sight that screamed of luxury and reflected the capital's power.

But what caught Fafnir's attention was the marks covering the walls. Some parts were cracked, shattered, damaged, and even sliced, and some people were trying to fix them with magical spells and tools. Apparently, a big fight between beings with high ranks caused all that, as Fafnir was sure that even his master couldn't scratch that wall.

Now, even the capital of the Holy Kingdom wasn't safe. He had to stay cautious all the time here.

'Was that from the day of kidnapping the king's daughter?'

That was the only event he had read in the newspapers that involved the capital. Only something big that involved the royal family could cause such destruction.

It had to be considered that the kidnapping was days ago. If that was the condition of the walls after all the magical repairs, then he didn't want to imagine how the walls looked like before.

Of course, he might be wrong. Dante didn't read any news for a long time, thus he didn't know anything about the latest events.

Using her detection spell, Elizabeth sensed a very low number of people moving toward the gate. She couldn't help but frown in sadness upon remembering the number of people who used to visit the capital daily.

The war affected them, and she didn't want to imagine the current economic state of her kingdom.

Remembering the shadow beneath her, she crouched and touched him lightly: "Won't you return to Dante? Are you going to follow me?"

An arm emerged from her shadow. It held her hand gently and used it to write the words "Yes" and "Protect" and "Exploring".

The corners of Elizabeth's lips curled upward softly: "I know I said that too much, but… thank you."

That was for both Dante and Fafnir. She knew that Dante could share some senses with his shadow, therefore he was likely hearing her.

Next, Elizabeth walked toward the gate. Because there were barely any people going to the capital, she quickly arrived before the guards, holding a small emblem.

It was a golden emblem that had an eye with four pairs of white wings engraved on it. It was called Candidate Qualification, one of the only two relics that Elizabeth had.

It was a relic made specifically for the saintess candidates, which worked like an identification card for them. It contained more safety mechanisms than the mercenary licence to prevent any kind of disguise. In simple terms, Elizabeth and only Elizabeth could hold that specific relic.

Obviously, Dante didn't fail to notice the fact that the Holy Kingdom knew someone who could make relics. He remembered that his own ring was made by someone who could make relics as well.

There were many guards surrounding the city, unlike Onyxsilk Town and Silverwood Town. And from what Fafnir could see, they were all as strong, if not stronger than Baron Ash, the demon that Dante had fought in the village.

"Oh, Eliza? Is that you?" One of the guards, a woman clad in golden armor, seemed to recognise Elizabeth, looking at Elizabeth's emblem with glowing eyes.

Elizabeth recognised her voice immediately: "Seraphina—!"

Before Elizabeth could continue, the guard, who was called Seraphina, lifted her up like a child, ignoring the weight of her large backpack and causing all the other guards to laugh.

"Hehe, our little saintess had returned, huh? It's been a while."

Elizabeth's face burned in embarrassment: "Please… please put me down…"

The guard smiled as she returned Elizabeth to the ground and patted her head lightly: "Are you here for the meeting? You can stay with us and tell us about your journey until it starts."

As Elizabeth regained her balance, she frowned instantly: "Wait, meeting? I started travelling the moment I heard about the war."

"Really?" The guard nodded in understanding: "Basically, the king will have a meeting with the saintesses, and the candidates, the holy knight trainees, and many others are asked to present themselves just in case they were needed. He made sure that the news would spread to all the kingdoms."

The guard paused for a moment, letting Elizabeth's brain process the news, then her eyes suddenly widened: "Speaking about holy knights… where is Selena? Is she still in your carriage?"

Elizabeth's expression darkened immediately. She hesitated for a moment, her memories with her knights flashing through her mind, but eventually, tears formed in her eyes as she said in a low, depressed tone: "Max and Selena are dead…"

Seraphina froze instantly. She and the other guards couldn't help but look at her with either pity or empathy. Since the war started, a lot of them had also lost people close to them.

Seraphina lifted Elizabeth up again, pulling her into a consoling hug: "I know how it feels to lose someone close to you, you did good by surviving whatever caused this."

Due to the armor Seraphina was wearing, Elizabeth didn't feel any comfort in the hug, it was rather a bit painful. But she accepted the emotional support anyway as she really needed it.

Although it'd been so long since they died, it was still painful for her to remember them. How could she recover in a few weeks after all the memories she had shared with them?

"...!"

All of a sudden, the 'hug' became a bit tighter. Elizabeth could feel that Seraphina's muscles tensed suddenly.

Just then, Seraphina whispered: "If Maxwell died, then who is this."

BAM!

The moment she said that, she stomped Elizabeth's shadow. As though they all had the same suspicion, the other guards pointed their weapons at the shadow.

"Wait, don't harm him!" Elizabeth shouted, wiping her tears quickly: "T-There was a guy who helped me several times after Max and Selena died, we became friends and travelled together for some time. That's his shadow, he sent him with me to protect me. He doesn't have any evil intentions!"

"Huh?" Seraphina stared at Fafnir in confusion.

"It's real." One of the guards sighed: "It's a shadow being. It's either a wild shadow or a tamed one."

The guard had the Shadow Aspect, thus he was able to see that Fafnir was a real shadow being. Unknown to him, Fafnir wasn't just a shadow, but an abyssal existence that possessed half the power of a crowned demonic dragon.

"Hehe, Eliza, you're lucky." Seraphina laughed, trying to change the mood, and put Elizabeth down: "The tamers are so rare, and you've already found one who can tame shadows! Okay, I'm now more anticipated to hear your story."

Elizabeth nodded and started telling her about her journey. Some guards moved closer to them and listened, trying to push away the boredom of their job as guards.

Fafnir also listened closely, preparing himself to kill Elizabeth if he was ordered to.

He knew that Dante cared about her, and he himself was also seeing her as a valuable friend that could bring his master some happiness. But if she tried to expose Dante and Dante ordered him to kill her, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her.

Elizabeth simply told them about the start of her journey with the knights until they reached the Northern Region and were chased by an unknown beast. Because of it, they found themselves in a forest with no map to lead them.

She encountered Skylar, who gave her a rose before Maxwell and Selena started attacking him, thinking that he was trying to drink her blood.

Fortunately, once she reached the part where Dante appeared, she talked about his talent rather than the fact that he had a Crown of Existence.

'Seems like I won't need to kill her…'

Fafnir continued listening silently, still ready to kill her if it was needed.

For most of the story, Elizabeth only praised Dante, talking about his unbelievable talent despite having no one to learn from and despite getting his class only recently.

She also told them that he was the one who found out about the baron's demonic energy while he was helping the poor homeless villagers against the mist monsters.

After rapidly saying the part where her knights died, she talked about how Dante took care of her all the time until she had to go, only to find that he sent his shadow with her secretly.

"Oh, how generous of him." Seraphina smiled, feeling genuine happiness for Elizabeth: "You should try to make him your holy knight when you meet him again. With some luck and hard work, he might get the chance to receive an angel bloodline. I think the Kindness Bloodline would suit his nature."

"Or charity." A guard added, and all the others nodded to him.

Elizabeth didn't know how to react to their statements. After all, Dante couldn't become a holy knight or an angel, and his bloodline was greed, the opposite of charity.

'It's really a shame that he's a demon...'

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