Chapter 192: Chapter 190: So This Is Southern Border City? Miss Hilia Has Arrived!

After saying goodbye to Melina, Hilia followed Vanessa back to the Divine Hall.

At this moment, the Sacrificial Institute from the Holy Court headquarters had sent people over, and a group of clergy were busy recording details around the Divine Hall.

The Sacrificial Institute is the Holy Court’s logistics department, responsible for aftercare and organizing various events; repairs and reconstruction of the Divine Hall also fall under their jurisdiction.

Upon seeing Vanessa arrive, the person in charge of evaluating the damage to the Divine Hall came forward to discuss the relevant matters with her.

Hilia wasn’t much interested in this—she couldn’t really help, so when consulted, she went on assisting Vanessa in rummaging for anything that could still be salvaged.

Although she kept denying that those heretics were brought by her, truth be told, what needed to happen had already happened. Further arguing was useless. She might as well be diligent and help recover a bit of loss for the Divine Hall.

Maybe not many treasures had been buried, but they were all Vanessa’s memories, and to her, they were priceless.

For several days straight, Hilia kept helping Vanessa clean up the ruins of the Divine Hall.

Meanwhile, Walter, the local lord, sent over plenty of supplies and arranged for someone to build a simple little house for them, free of charge, as a temporary residence.

Once the Sacrificial Institute people confirmed the situation in the Divine Hall, they quickly returned to the Holy Court headquarters. Upon learning it was the home of a Holy Daughter candidate, the Cardinal College acted fast too, soon allocating funds to the Sacrificial Institute, who quickly arranged for workers to start construction.

The restoration project was now out of Hilia’s hands. Watching the construction crew work, she gradually started feeling bored.

"Master Rose, how about we go on another adventure to the Star Spirit Forbidden Land?"

This day, bored out of her mind, Hilia offered a suggestion.

Rose thought for a moment, then shook his head. "There’s nothing particularly worth your time in the Forbidden Land right now—unless you’re in the mood for hunting."

"Hunting wouldn’t be bad... If we could catch demons above Tier Three, we could extract materials from them to replace parts for Tier Three magic puppets. That’s a nice exchange, isn’t it?"

"It’s just a hassle, having to switch puppet parts every time you go up a tier. Let me ask you—are there materials out there that can grow alongside mages?"

Hilia tilted her head and thought, then shook it. "Never heard of such a thing. I do know that many wealthy mages try to force high-level materials to lower their strength in various ways, so they can use them at low tiers.

"Just like Benovia’s magic puppets. But doing this makes the overall performance and defense of high-level materials almost the same as low-tier ones. For example, white whale bone—if you compress it to Tier One, before unsealing, any random hammer can smash it apart."

"That’s not bad though—skips the trouble of seeking out new materials or inscribing runes. Anyway, you’re still not strong enough to enter the Divine Realm. And lately, the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association might come over for revenge. What you need to do now isn’t hunt in the Forbidden Land—it’s to go to Southern Border City and purchase blank scrolls and scroll-making materials."

"What?" Hilia perked up. "They really want to come cause us trouble? Will they send Tier Five or Tier Six mages?"

Rose smiled faintly, "Possibly, which is why I’m telling you to be prepared."

Hilia: "...But I feel like, before Tier Five or Tier Six mages, any preparations I make are pretty much futile, right?"

"Exactly. That’s why they won’t send Tier Five or Tier Six mages."

Hilia: "?"

"Let’s not even consider whether they have such powerful mages—the ones they do have would surely be under surveillance by the Holy Court or other empires. Any movement would trigger an ambush. Sending even Tier Four would be overkill."

Sometimes, Hilia worried much, much too much.

Seeing her still anxious, Rose was speechless. "Just because you’ve encountered Tier Four mages twice, doesn’t mean you should forget that you’re still just a Tier Two mage."

"I may not be able to beat Tier Four, but most Tier Three mages can’t beat me!" Hilia declared.

Whether it’s spell affinity or proficiency, or magic power concentration and refinement, she was higher than most Tier Three mages, because the spells and meditation skills she learned all came from the Divine Magic Academy, one of the most prestigious magic schools of the Ista Empire.

And now, what she’s learning are even stronger, personally improved by the gods themselves—magic and meditation skills.

Magic puppets and magic staff were also crafted under the guidance of gods.

Plus Mage’s Hand, various scrolls—Hilia felt she should at least be able to escape from Tier Four mages.

So, she figured if the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association was cautious, they’d send Tier Five mages...

She totally forgot that she was only Tier Two—and the Association probably didn’t even know at Star Dust Divine Hall, she was fending off a group of Tier Three mages all by herself.

Even if they knew, realized those mages were heavily wounded, with five knocked out and fishing the floor at the start, only one Tier Three fought her, and she only won thanks to scrolls.

No matter how you looked at it, she wouldn’t have been able to escape from a Tier Four mage...

With these messy thoughts spinning in her head, Hilia gradually let go of her worries.

"Master Rose is right, I am just an ordinary Tier Two girl! But still, everyone in Star Ash Town... is a bit worried. What if Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association suddenly goes berserk and massacres the town?"

Rose replied calmly, "The Divine Hall’s already destroyed. Might as well head to Southern Border City and live there until Mutual Aid Association comes knocking."

"What if the Divine Hall in Southern Border City gets destroyed too?"

"You could go survive in the wild, but in Southern Border City there are protective arrays, and both the lord and the Divine Hall’s bishop have Tier Four or above strength—they can respond quickly. In the wild, you’d face everything alone..."

"I choose Southern Border City!"

Hilia made her decision.

Her drive was unstoppable; she immediately went to find Vanessa. "Vanessa Mama, I’m planning to go to Southern Border City for a few days."

Vanessa asked, "For what?"

"To make money!"

"Alright then, go. Take whatever I left on the table with you—it’ll be good for the road." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Okay!"

Hilia entered the temporary house and found cheese bread and caramel apples on the table. She grabbed two apples and a piece of bread. After bidding Vanessa goodbye again, Hilia left Star Ash Town.

On the road to Southern Border City, Hilia stopped in a deserted area to start disguising herself.

"I’m not sure if the Southern Border City Divine Hall has heard about me, but just in case, I’d better disguise myself—no need to give them extra trouble later."

Rose grinned, "What if you discover the city’s priests or even bishops breaking rules and laws—would you report them?"

"Of course I would!" Hilia answered without hesitation.

Rose simply chuckled.

Disguised as an ordinary girl, Hilia set out once again!

"Southern Border City, here I come!"