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(Outer Regions- City of Galrannor)

(Local Temple Of The Varion Church)

"Don\'t just stand there," Elisa teased as she held out her hand and gestured for Claire to walk over.

The former saintess sat on her bed and stared at the holy knight with a hungry glint in her eyes that Claire did not detect.

Claire walked over and stood a few feet away from the mattress.

There was a brief moment of silence in the room as both girls stared at each other.

The tips of Elisa\'s ears were red as she unashamedly watched Claire\'s beautiful face and her gorgeous muscular arms.

The relationship between the pair had now reached a delicate stage after Elisa\'s confession.

Claire was certainly now more aware of Elisa\'s feeling but something seemed to be holding her back from fully reciprocating.

However, the former saintess was not worried…. they would be spending months if not years together in the outer regions.

This loyal paladin of the church would be hers eventually.

Elisa smiled warmly at Claire and then decided to break the silence. She cleared her throat twice and then opened her mouth.

"I have received word from my spy network that a team of slave hunters will be arriving in two week\'s time," Elisa whispered softly.

"They were sent by a powerful noble family called House Carter. The team has a mission to enter the outer regions and capture several dark elves or foreign races."

"Rumors say that Duke Carter has personally dispatched one tier two knight to oversee the operation."

"Is the information reliable?" Claire asked as a cold expression flashed across her face.

"Yes. This is not the first time that human strike teams have entered the outer regions to find dark elves to capture," Elisa seriously replied.

The former saintess\' fingers curled up into a fist as a certain bad memory flashed across her mind.

Claire furrowed her brows as she gave the matter some more thought.

The hunting team would need to visit the city in order to replenish their supplies but attacking them there would be unwise.

It was not that she couldn\'t, but rather it was because the news would definitely reach the duke\'s ears.

Claire\'s actions so far had not made any waves outside of the city since a paladin cleaning up several underworld organisations was not surprising news.

News also took a long time to travel since there was no internet, so letters were the main form of communication.

But a paladin attacking an envoy sent by a duke would most certainly attract attention which was not what Claire wanted at the moment.

"Do you know any magic that can create illusions?" Claire softly asked as her hand subconsciously touched the hilt of her long sword.

"Got a plan?" Elisa smiled gently as she spoke.

"The outer region of the continent is a dangerous place… if the envoy somehow disappears in the wilderness… who can say what happened," Claire whispered darkly.

Claire\'s eyes shone eerily for a moment and the golden threads surrounding her body squirmed happily.

The dark elf princess was startled for a moment and soon a look of appreciation flashed across her face.

As expected of her future consort!

Elisa had a similar plan to deal with the group, but Claire\'s suggestion would certainly be the most effective method.

The former saintess stretched out her right palm and pointed it at a wall behind Claire.

She whispered a few incomprehensible words and tiny specks of black light danced around her fingertips.

"Clonierus Nerth Illusr!" Elisa roared as she felt the dark mana coursing through her veins.

The shadows on the wall wriggled and twisted as if they were alive. A figure stepped out of the shadows who had an identical appearance to Claire.

It was uncanny how similar the two were.

From Claire\'s short, cropped hair to even the callouses on her palm, there was no difference.

Claire stepped towards the figure who made the same movement. She raised up her right hand and the mirror image copied her.

The holy knight couldn\'t resist trying to touch her identical clone, but her hand passed right through her copy\'s body.

"I can maintain it for about two hours at a time… it doesn\'t hold up at close distance so I will only hold sermons in the temple," Elisa explained quietly.

She snapped her fingers and the figure disappeared back into the shadows as if it had never been in the room.

"Dark magic truly is fascinating," Claire sighed appreciatively as she stared at the wall.

"Oh? A paladin praising the dark arts? How scandalous!" Elisa exclaimed in mock surprise as she brought a hand to her lips.

She exaggeratedly pretended to faint in shock as she stared at Claire with an expression of complete disbelief.

"My apologies my lady," Claire followed her lead and played along.

"I seem to have been tempted by the seductive pull of magic. It is clear that I must personally hunt down the practitioners of that wicked art!"

The dark elf princess chuckled merrily, and her bell-like laughter echoed through the room and captivated Claire\'s attention.

The former saintess was pretty but that was not the only reason why a subtle blush spread across Claire\'s cheeks.

Elisa was… Elisa.

It may sound stupid but there was no other way to put it.

There was something about the dark elf princess that made Claire\'s heart beat faster and faster.

Finally, Elisa stopped laughing and she yawned sleepily. The cost of performing miracles for most of the morning had drained her.

Using too much holy magic placed a tremendous amount of strain on her mana pathways so she needed some time to rest.

The former saintess felt a wave of exhaustion slam into her body and she could not help closing her eyes.

Claire noticed her tired state and stepped forward to help Elisa lie down comfortably on the mattress.

The holy paladin gently covered Elisa\'s body with a blanket and left the room when the former saintess finally fell asleep.

"Good night," Claire softly whispered as she closed the door. Elisa briefly stirred at the sound of her voice but did not wake.

The holy knight wandered through the corridors of the church while absentmindedly thinking about her next course of action.

The hunter team scheduled to arrive in the next few weeks would not be the last.

Claire was not naive enough to assume that the death of one hunter group would lead to the abandonment of the slave trade.

An example had to be made out of those who kept the foreign races as pets, and it had to be done on a high-profile house.

Killing the chicken to warn the monkeys was an effective tactic since ancient times.

But Claire could not do it alone. She needed allies or at least the authority of the church behind her actions.

Wait a minute…

An idea flashed across Claire\'s mind, and she quickly accessed the original Claire\'s memories to find the relevant information.

That was it!

The inquisitor branch of the Varion Church was completely independent and known as fierce lunatics.

Not even the pope had the authority to stop them once a crusade was declared.

In fact, in the original Claire\'s memories this subgroup of the church would eventually be strengthened under the order of Saintess Marie.

If she could gather sufficient evidence against the various noble houses, then it would be easy to get them on her side.

While corruption was rampant among the upper-level members of the church, from Claire\'s experience interacting with the lower rank holy knights and priests…

Most still genuinely believed in Lord Varion\'s teachings especially the knights.