The Holy Kingdom, Celestia City.

After spending some time with the knights at the gate, Elizabeth was led by Seraphina to the meeting location.

It was one of the king's manors. It had a large garden and was less luxurious and smaller than the castle.

It was meant for small events like balls and banquets, but today, there was an urgent meeting with the saintesses of the Holy Council.

The Holy Council included all the people who were responsible for the matters related to the kingdom's relationship with the angels. The main three roles in the Holy Council were the Holy Knights, the Saintesses, and the High Priest.

Below them were some minor roles like the saintess candidates, the holy knight trainees, and other normal workers.

"Thank you for your help, Seraphina."

"Take care of yourself, and don't walk into the wall."

Seraphina waved to Elizabeth before remembering that she couldn't see and moved away awkwardly.

Unaware of that, Elizabeth turned around and walked toward the manor while holding her backpack.

There were only a few guards surrounding the manor. The king himself would be present, so the guards were needed only to protect the candidates and the others.

In this world, the king wasn't just a political figure, but also a being with immense power who didn't need any source of protection. In a sense, the guards were the one who would need the king's protection, not the other way around.

At the entrance of the manor, the guards confirmed Elizabeth's identity before one of them led her to a big hall.

The hall showed a high level of luxury, looking as though it were fully made of gold.

There was a large gate at the end of the hall, which seemed to be leading to the meeting room. Of course, Elizabeth couldn't go there.

'Someday, I'll be qualified to attend such meetings.'

In the middle of the hall, there was a very long table filled with all kinds of food and drinks. The table was surrounded by hundreds of chairs, all looking comfortable to sit on.

Sitting on the chairs were…

"Is the Eastern Region really that good?"

"Don't listen to her, our ship was attacked by pirates the moment we went there…"

"Look at this artifact I bought on my journey."

"I miss my house already…"

There were hundreds of people busy in their own conversation, talking about their journeys and showing some interesting things to each other.

They were the other candidates and their holy knight trainees, and some members from other small roles.

Elizabeth found herself a seat and listened to them silently.

Some of them were like her, young-looking and beautiful, smiling and speaking happily.

Some of them seemed to be in their middle age, having the physical features of mature women.

And some of them were… old. They were so old that smiling seemed to be a struggle for them. They were the candidates who Elizabeth respected the most.

In this world, the Vitality stat helped to increase the lifespan of all beings. With high vitality, a woman would look like an 18-year-old girl while being in her mid-thirties. Not to mention the magical herbs and the potions that help keep the youthful appearance.

In other words, the youngest among those old candidates was at the very least 100 years old.

There was no privilege for the candidates other than some meaningless respect from the commoners and some nobles. The only purpose of being a candidate was trying to become a real saintess. Until then, they had nothing.

Of course, no one was forcing them to become saintesses. There was no penalty for giving up, so it was up to them to stay as candidates.

In other words, those old candidates had been trying to become saintesses for at least a hundred years and still didn't give up. They deserved every ounce of respect they were receiving from Elizabeth and the other young candidates.

'Oh, I forgot to ask Seraphina for the latest news.'

Elizabeth suddenly remembered that she didn't know much about her kingdom's current situation. Fortunately, there was no better place than here to know.

Elizabeth stood up and sat beside a candidate before asking: "Excuse me, I was travelling in a trade convoy for around a month and couldn't receive any kind of news. Can you…"

The candidate behind her stopped eating and raised an eyebrow: "Oh, sure. I have been here since the first day, so my information is all accurate."

"Thank you." Elizabeth smiled and listened to her. Even some nearby people decided to lean toward them to hear that candidate as well.

Elizabeth wasn't the only person who was far away when the war started and had to spend a lot of time to reach the kingdom. In fact, many people were either still on their way or didn't know yet that there was a meeting.

As Elizabeth listened, she started by hearing a few things that she already knew, like some small fights and famous people who had died.

But eventually, she learned what truly started the war.

"Why does that half-titan want the king's Crown of Existence? He earned it!" One of the candidates who listened to this complained, furious at the barbarian behaviour of the king of the giants.

"He has an abyssal bloodline, what did you expect?"

"He's no different than demons!"

"In the literal meaning! Don't forget that he's allowing demons to live in his kingdom."

"If only the kingdoms could unite and fight the abyssal beings together…"

Elizabeth listened to the candidates blaming the abyssal bloodline with a grim expression.

'An abyssal bloodline doesn't automatically mean that the person is evil…'

Unfortunately, she couldn't say her thoughts out loud. They wouldn't listen to her and they might even start hating her.

As Elizabeth continued listening, the thought of exposing Dante for the sake of the kingdom didn't even cross her mind. If she asked her kingdom to take the Crown of Dante by force, then what would be the difference between her and King Valor?

Unknown to her, the shadow beneath her sighed in relief silently. Once again, Fafnir didn't have to kill her. And he hoped that his master wouldn't be forced to ask for it.

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