The main city was called Proletto. As the lord city of the territory, it was naturally the largest. At its center stood the manor and castle of the Dotleivy family, an ancient complex built along a mountain ridge, with the castle at the peak, solid and severe, its dense outposts rising like fangs that cut into the endless northern wind.
Spire-like towers and chimneys spread outward in layers, extending to the towering inner ring wall and then to the outer wall beyond. There were indeed many people. But to be honest, Fei'er Li felt there was nothing worth strolling around for, as she had interest when she first arrived in this world, but that feeling had long faded, and she did not want to spend money in a place like this.
Dotleivy felt the same, because having something tied around the neck and being unable to speak was truly uncomfortable. Icelis was probably similar, but she might simply have wanted to come out, without caring what she actually did. Among the three, she was the only one who was happy.
A world where only Icelis was happy had been born. The person and the dog behind her played major roles in this shopping trip. Dotleivy used the thing around his neck to keep hold of Icelis's hand, making sure she did not get lost.
Fei'er Li followed behind, paying for anything Icelis wanted to eat and telling her which places she could not enter. For some reason, after the Ice Spirit learned many concepts of human society, she had gradually started to become a bit troublesome. The streets were crowded with refugees fleeing from other villages and cities attacked by monsters, calculating merchants, drifting adventurers, and even displaced nobles.
There were also groups of soldiers in iron armor, moving in neat formations. Far more people than usual were cramming into the city, but fortunately basic food needs could still be met. One reason was that the corpses of monsters killed in battle, or casually slain by some dragon, could be preserved a bit longer in this frozen weather.
From time to time, large numbers of monster corpses could also be found in the wild, shaken to death for unknown reasons or frozen solid into ice statues. In addition, Vann had taken action, beating up those who tried to loot or profiteer during the chaos. He also seized the assets of families colluding with the Abyss Church and used them to purchase large amounts of grain from safe rear areas.
Supplies poured into the city, ensuring its continued operation. Refugees were assigned to repair walls, houses, and monster defense facilities, with the lord directly providing work. As for the process in between, of course there were complaints, but anyone who dared to cause trouble was crushed by the biggest fist.
The biggest fist belonged to the Dotleivy family. In a world where extraordinary force truly existed, the gap in individual power could be immense. Several families and forces in the territory had objections to Vann's actions, and some even had other Gold Rank level experts.
But even combined, they might not be able to defeat Vann. After getting their teeth knocked out, they still had to smile and play nice. It was precisely this overwhelming force that maintained the current appearance of order.
Fei'er Li had heard that Vann was also trying to contact the royal court of the Rohn Empire, seeking support from there, ideally bringing in a few Gold Rank experts to hold the line. After all, a monster tide erupting in the north was indeed something that deserved attention. If the north fell, the capital would not be far away.
In the process, he first kicked out those he disliked, those who disliked him, those who took the chance to dislike him, and those he took the chance to dislike. Somehow, he actually managed to pull in some support. However, it seemed to fall into the usual pattern of high-level infighting, and Vann was clearly no match for those silver-tongued politicians.
His fists could not smash their spear-like words, so he apparently let his close wolf guard speak on his behalf. As for the final result, Fei'er Li had not heard. In the end, she could only say that it really lived up to the traditional high-level style unique to Otherworld.
Wait, maybe not just Otherworld. "Hm? A church, it looks like the Dawn faction. There is one here too?"
Holding a paper bag full of snacks, Fei'er Li turned a street corner and saw a white church with a small tower. The walls were set with colorful stained glass and carvings painted yellow, shaped like vivid stone flowers and leaves to symbolize golden branches of dawn. A bronze bell hung in the tower.
It belonged to the Holy Light Church, the Dawn faction. Speaking of Otherworld, a traditional church devoted to light was unavoidable. It existed here as well, with a very plain name, the Holy Light Church.
They worshiped the God of Light. Within the church, there were three branches, based on their beliefs. They believed that light was time itself, the visible future, and the most direct manifestation of divine miracles.
Thus, the endless radiant sun engraved upon the path of the sky was seen as the footprint of the god. People divided the god's three great aspects by the hours of the day and the colors of the sky. The Dawn faction was born from this belief.
It was said that one of the god's aspects appeared at dawn as a young woman in white cloth, her limbs entwined with branches dyed gold by light. Her duty was to let light break from its shell, but before that she had to endure a night colder and darker than anything else, choosing the right moment to shatter the shell and release the light.
At the first moment of daylight, between night and morning, she would ring the great bell at the highest and coldest peak of Snow Mountain to announce the end of darkness and the arrival of light. The name people gave her was Dawn. Therefore, people in this world generally set the time when the goddess rang the bell as the Hour of the Bell, around six in the morning, as the standard start of a new day.
Churches that worshiped this goddess usually had a large bell as well. Some diligent nuns rang the bell every morning at six without fail, but most people were lazy. Many Dawn churches treated the bell more as decoration.
"Uh… right, I wonder if I can learn Holy Light skills." Fei'er Li's eyes lit up.
The Holy Light Church possessed a unique sacred power, similar to Magic and not belonging to any element. Most importantly, Holy Light was extremely effective against the dark power of the Abyss Church. Considering that the Abyss Church was already causing trouble in the Northlands, and that decades later the Demon King would be born and the abyssal Rend would erupt, learning Holy Light would definitely not be a loss.
"But unfortunately, this is a Dawn church. If I get the chance, I should visit the Daylight Cathedral. There should be more people there who can use Holy Light." She had not seen any hints yet, which was a bit disappointing.
With her own cheat-like skill book, she felt there was a high chance she could learn Holy Light. As for learning Dawn now, it was better to wait. People who could wield Holy Light were not common at all, even within the vast Holy Light Church.
Those who awakened Holy Light on their own were even rarer. Most awakened it only after joining the church and through daily prayer and practice of its ideals. Fei'er Li did not believe that in the already scarce Dawn faction, in a small church like this in the Northlands, there would be some hidden master.
Although the main Dawn temple was in the Northlands, only heroes could enter that place, and she did not even know where it was. Due to differences in doctrine among the three branches, the way Holy Light was used, meaning Magic, also differed. Among the three branches, Dusk, Daylight, and Dawn, the Dawn faction had always had the fewest who awakened Holy Light.
Compared to the strongest and most widespread Daylight faction, Dawn was mixed and full of people just going through the motions. Dawn-type Holy Light Magic was also in an awkward position. It was weaker in offense than Daylight and worse in healing than Dusk, with purification as its only notable trait.
But what could purification do? It could help with insomnia, anxiety, and putting children to sleep. At least for now, that was about it, serving to soothe the mind.
Even higher-level purification Holy Light Magic did not show much impact. With so few awakened users and high requirements for aptitude, the Dawn faction's light had faded over hundreds of years. Compared to the blazing brilliance of Daylight, it was completely overshadowed, as if abandoned by the God of Light.
But Fei'er Li knew that Dawn Holy Light was the gentlest and purest of the three branches. Given a few more decades, purification Holy Light Magic would truly shine, because it was the most effective power against the abyss. Unfortunately, by then the light of Dawn had already gone out, and the last Dawn Saintess had long been swallowed by darkness.
"…I'll pass." Fei'er Li turned away.