NoGift

ARGENT was on a black horse, riding on the street of the southern part of the city . There"s a place in the city where people could rent horses to use as transportation . Since public vehicles were not allowed inside the city, horses was the next best thing as transportation . And because not all people here, especially the guests, wanted to walk from one area to another, renting horses became quite popular .

She stealthily threw a very small camera towards the nearest wall, the one surrounding the city . She made sure that no one noticed what she did . When she saw the camera attaching to the wall, she continued riding on with her horse . With this, she already had attached three small cameras on three different locations here in the southern area .

Those three cameras would now serve as a surveillance tool for her to monitor everything that"s happening in this area . She planned to do the same at the northern, eastern, and western part of the city . Once she"s done, she"d have the whole city under surveillance . That would not only be helpful to them now, but it could also give an advantage once they left the city . Because that could mean that from here on out, she would be able to monitor this city . The city where the Pope lived and served as the headquarters of the Temple of Gaia .

In Argent"s estimation, she would be able to finish everything in another two or three days . It would be a challenge once she reached the northern area . Because aside from the fact that the area was teeming with priests and knights, it was also the place where the Pope"s palace was . She didn"t only need to look for the right place to put her cameras, she also needed to carefully put another device around the Holy Temple . It"s important that she managed to do the latter . Since a big part of her plan depended on that .

It"s noon now . She wondered if her sister and Clay were doing okay on their side .

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Aurum and Clay walked across the big plaza and towards the Holy Temple . According to many, this was the biggest church in the world . Seeing it in person, Aurum could only agree .

Before entering the church building, one could first see the huge, life-like statue of a woman . She had long, wavy hair that reached the ground . Wearing a loose long dress . Her whole body surrounded by carved leaves . Her eyes were closed and her hands were clasped together as if in deep prayer . No one could doubt that this beautiful statue was that of the G.o.ddess Gaia .

Behind it was a tall white building with a height that almost reached the wall surrounding the city . Its design was almost similar to a palace . The only difference was it only had a single building . Its windows were made up of stained gla.s.ses that just added character to its design .

The two walked inside and the first thing that Aurum noticed was the ceiling . It was painted with different images . A mural that told the story of how Gaia created everything in this world . There were dragons, elves, beastkins, and lastly, humans . The art was so life like that it almost felt like they would jumped out in any minute .
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She suddenly remembered Ruby while looking at this mural . That girl would certainly be ecstatic once she saw this beautiful art . She took her sPhone and decided to take a photo of the mural . She would send it to Ruby later . After that, she returned her sPhone back to her s.p.a.ce ring .

"How should we do this?" Clay asked .

Aurum looked around . There weren"t many people inside . There were a few locals, as evidence of the green crystals tied on their arms, praying . Two or three altar boys cleaning around and a young priest that seemed to be supervising them . She smiled when she saw the young priest .

"Wait here . Let me handle it . "

She didn"t wait for Clay"s answer and walked towards the direction where the young priest was standing . She acted like she just inadvertently walked there .

"What a beautiful church," she said .

The young priest turned to her . She also turned to the priest as if she just noticed his gaze . Then she smiled . This face might not be as beautiful as her original face, but she could still use it to her advantage . Because no matter what face she used, her smile would still be the same . A smile that could capture anyone"s heart .

As expected, the young priest suddenly blushed .

"I"m sorry . Did I disturb you?" Aurum apologized . "I"m just too excited being here . "

"There"s no need to apologize," the priest said then he noticed the red crystal on her arm, indicating that she"s a guest . "Is this your first time here?"

"Yes . My brother and I, he"s the one over there," Aurum paused to point to where Clay was standing, then she continued, "have been wanting to attend the Festival of Creation for a long time now . It"s only recently that we managed to get permission from our parents to go here . We arrived as early as we could so we can have the time to go around the city before the festival . Oh, I"m sorry for blabbering too much . Once I get excited, I just couldn"t seem to stop talking . "

"It"s okay, my lady," the young priest said calling the pretty young miss in front of him with a respectful t.i.tle . With her temperament and obvious wealth, she was undoubtedly a n.o.ble . "Have you been enjoying your stay so far?"

"Oh yes . It"s been wonderful . Your city is beautiful . It"s truly like a gift from Gaia . "

The young priest"s good will towards the young lady just increased exponentially when he heard that . "Thank you . We always strive to make Victoria City the best place for all the believers of our G.o.ddess Gaia . "

"Then you have my thanks . Because of dedicated priests like you that guests like me and my brother can have a wonderful time here," Aurum said smiling sweetly at the priest .

The priest blushed again . "I-if you have any questions, please feel free to ask . I"d be more than glad to give you an answer the best I could . "

"Thank you . " Aurum smiled again . "Come to think of it, I actually heard something while we"re having lunch earlier . Some people were talking about an auction? Is there going to be an auction during the festival?"

The young priest hesitated to answer . The young lady was probably talking about the Midnight Auction - a special auction that"s being held the eve before the Festival of Creation . But not all was allowed to go there . One needed a special invitation to at least be able to enter . He looked at the pretty young miss with her big innocent black eyes .

"It"s a special auction held on the eve of the Festival of Creation," the priest still answered in the end .

"That seems interesting . Is it possible for me and my brother to attend that auction?" Aurum asked, she made sure that nothing could be seen in her eyes but great interest .

The young priest hesitated again . But looking at the young miss and her expectant gaze, he couldn"t bear to refused her . "I- I could talk to Bishop Ernst and asked him if you and your brother could go . Y-You can meet me here again tomorrow and I"ll tell you if he agreed or not . "

"Really? You"ll do that?" Aurum reached for the young priest"s hand . "Thank you so much!"

The priest blushed ever fiercer . "I-it"s nothing . "

After a while, Aurum said her goodbye and walked back to where Clay was . She told him about the things she and the priest talked about .

Clay glanced back at the priest who was still staring longingly at Aurum then he took his gaze back and looked down at the girl walking beside him . It"s not even half an hour and she already got that priest under her spell . Poor sap . Seeing Aurum in action, he had almost forgotten how good she was at acting the sweet and kind young lady .

"So we"re going to go back here tomorrow? What if we didn"t get a positive reply?" Clay asked .

"That"s fine . We"ll just go directly to that Bishop he talked about . "

The both of them walked out of the Holy Temple .

"You know, seeing you work your magic on that guy was really kind of scary," Clay thought of saying . And also maybe a bit fascinating .

Aurum frowned at him . "It"s not magic . It"s just my charm . "

Clay only raised his brow at her . "Where did you learn to act like that anyway?"

"Sometimes, people needed to act a certain way so the people around them could like them . Having a likable att.i.tude and a perfect exterior is a surefire way to make that happen," Aurum vaguely answered . "That"s infinitely better than being ostracized or being treated like a monster . "

Clay stared at Aurum a second longer when he heard that answer . In those simple sentences, he suddenly understood that this seemingly perfect girl might not have had a perfect life . Maybe she even had a very painful experience that forced her to learn how to act like that in front of others .

"I"m not going to say that I understand . But I guess each one of us has their own way of surviving in this world . " He patted Aurum"s head . "You"re definitely a strong one . " Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www . webnovel . com for visiting .

Aurum swatted his hand . "Don"t touch my head!"

"Yes, yes . Though I must say that I"m glad you"re not doing that kind of act in front of me . "

"Why, afraid that you"ll succ.u.mb to my "magic"?"

"No . It"s tiring, right? Acting in a way that"s not truly you . " Clay looked at her . "Since you don"t have to be anything but you when you"re with me, then having me around won"t make you that tired . That"s why I"m glad . "

Aurum suddenly felt breathless, like something was squeezing inside her chest . She bit her lip and then scowled at Clay . It"s all this guy"s fault . "Who said it"s tiring? Stop making a.s.sumptions . Hmph!"

Then she stomped away from him . Stupid Clay .