Chapter 51 The Fallen Saintess (47)
(Outer Regions- City of Galrannor)
(The Walls)
Beyond the forest was an enormous city surrounded by massive concrete walls that stretched out towards the heavens.
There was a single entrance leading to the city and one could spot travellers waiting patiently to be let inside.
Most were adventurers who carried the corpses of monsters or even their companions on their shoulders.
Only a few merchant caravans could be seen slowly approaching the gates while being escorted by teams of heavily armed mercenaries.
Claire adjusted her hood and double checked her cloak to make sure that her figure was fully concealed.
She had stored her conspicuous white armour inside a large canvas bag which she loosely carried with one hand.
The letter that Queen Bracieth had written was tucked away safely inside a small pocket sown into the fabric of her clothes.
Claire let out a heavy sigh as she glanced upwards at the sky. The warm afternoon rays of light softly washed the forest in a dull orange glow.
The holy knight walked over to a nearby tree and sat down. Claire yawned sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.
She lazily watched the guards accept bribes and allow visitors to enter the city without being checked for any dangerous goods or weapons.
Claire\'s appearance resembled that of a non-descript villager girl since her body was mostly covered by a brown cloak.
Unfortunately, there was one trait that she could not hide.
Ever since reading that letter, Claire\'s golden eyes had refused to calm down.
They glowed eerily and would definitely attract attention if she walked up to the entrance and tried to talk to the guards.
Claire\'s initial plan was to enter the city in the afternoon but now it seemed as though she would have to wait until nightfall.
"Arghh…" Claire hissed softly in pain as she gripped the sides of her head.
A face briefly flashed across her mind that was both familiar and strange.
It was an image that quickly disappeared before Claire could get a better look, but she could vaguely recall seeing silvery hair.
Silvery hair…
Claire furrowed her brows as two names popped up in her mind. Elisa and the current Saintess Marie were the only ones who possessed hair of that colour.
Although in Elisa\'s case, her true dark elf appearance did not posses silver streaks in her black hair.
Why would she suddenly get that vision?
"Oy! Keep on moving you sacks of shit!" a loud voice called out.
"We don\'t have all day… make sure that we aren\'t being followed by that bastard Margot and his gang of rats!"
Claire hurriedly hid her body behind the trunk of the nearest tree as a party of five adventurers walked towards her location.
Damn it! Damn it!
That vision had messed with Claire\'s mind and caused her to be temporarily distracted so she didn\'t notice the incoming group before it was too late.
"Fuck… I should have been more vigilant…" Claire muttered quietly as her hand subconsciously reached for the hilt of her longsword.
She could not make a scene so close to the entrance.
At least the golden threads surrounding her body were not reacting so Claire did not feel the urge to kill them.
As the adventurers stepped closer, Claire could get a better look at their appearances. They were a team consisting of three men and two women.
The women held longbows with a quiver of arrows slung across their shoulders while the men carried hunting knives or swords.
The leader of the pack was a middle-aged man with a messy appearance. His beard was long and scraggly, and his eyes shifted sluggishly from side to side.
"Mark… for god\'s sake man… this is a waste of time," one of the men suddenly complained.
"That old drunken fool at the tavern probably couldn\'t tell the difference between a baby dragon and a fucking crow!"
"Shut up! Once we find that youngling… we\'ll be rich! Wealth, power, fame! We will become the only dragon slayers on the continent!" the leader happily shouted.
A greedy expression flashed across his face and the rest of his party exchanged looks of resignation.
Claire held her breath and waited until the group had passed her location and ventured deeper into the forest.
Dragons?
They were once the rulers of the continent in the ancient era before the arrival of Lord Varion.
But now… there were no more.
Their species were not known for their reproductive capabilities and the losses that they suffered during the war against humanity could not be replenished.
The last dragon had been slain a long time ago. At least that\'s what the texts in the church\'s library said…
Claire was briefly struck with the urge to follow the party and see if they actually found a supposedly extinct dragon but decided against it.
There was already too much on her plate without adding in the additional stress of dealing with a dragon.
She could only silently wish the group of adventurers the best of luck since even young dragons could easily slaughter an entire village.
Claire gently inhaled as she felt the golden threads surrounding her body stir as more people arrived at the gates.
In a place like the outer regions, there was no shortage of sinners who committed crimes that deserved death.
Faint translucent wings briefly sprouted out of her back as Claire struggled desperately to get her powers back under control.
Eventually after counting to ten several times over, Claire was able to temporarily rein in her powers.
Time slowly passed as the minutes turned to hours and the sun eventually sank into the horizon.
The shadows lengthened as night descended onto the forest.
Claire\'s golden eyes shone in the darkness as she observed the guards walking inside the city and calling out to their companions to close the metallic gates.
The holy knight waited until the gates dropped to the ground with a heavy thud and then begun to move forward.
She crept along the forest floor and sneakily blended in with the shadows so that her figure could not be easily seen.
Claire\'s stealthiness and her careful steps made her bear a striking resemblance to a sneaky assassin.
The holy knight silently approached one of the walls connected to the western side of the city that bordered the slums.
Fortunately, there were no guards on the ramparts, so Claire stretched out her palm and used her enhanced strength to dig her fingers into the concrete wall.
The concrete easily crumbled as her fingers sank deeply into the hardened material.
Claire was not the most skilled climber, so she had no choice but to brute force her ascent.
She bit down on the canvas bag using her teeth so that both of her hands were freed up. The holy knight climbed up the wall leaving behind a trail of palm-shaped holes in her wake.
After about fifteen minutes of climbing, Claire finally hoisted her body over the ramparts and landed quietly on the other side of the walls surrounding the city.
She was back!