Chapter 96 - The Hundred People Who Were Late (2/2)

Veronica looked intently at them after using the Holy Light to strengthen her vision. Her heart instantly trembled; her calm mind, which was usually immersed in the Holy Light, stirred uncontrollably and even almost affected her expression.

Those were actually blood-red skeletons that seemed like the remains of numerous titans. They laid in a heap by the riverbank. These huge skeletons were lined up for at least a few hundred meters along the river. A hazy, dark-red mist drifted from those skeletons, and they seemed to be disintegrating every minute and every second. With just a sweeping glance, she’d spotted several propped up skeletons that were already severely deformed and weathered, as if they would dissolve in fine sand anytime.

Evidently, those skeletons had been intentionally displayed there, just like spoils of war to show off one’s brilliant achievements in battle.

Veronica controlled her emotions very well, but the middle-aged man beside her could not stifle his surprise. This guard who wore the emblem of the Order of Knights muttered several incantations softly after noticing the items beside the campsite. Following that, the glow of arcane energy emerged in his eyes. He looked in the direction of the camp using Eagle Vision and instantly could not help but exclaim, “In the name of the king! What monster’s bones are those?!”

“More than two months ago, Duke Gawain Cecil had warned my father of the aberrations from the Dark Wave reemerging in this world. However, the way I see it, this warning did not stir up enough attention.” Veronica spoke up indifferently; there was an ‘almost estranged from the mortal world’ and pure rhythm in her voice. “Without a doubt, those monsters truly exist, and that ancient hero had defeated them once more.”

The middle-aged man concluded in a solemn tone, “This matter needs to be reported to His Majesty!”

“Yes, Vice Commander Cohen,” Veronica said quietly. “But in doing so, the overall situation becomes even tougher.”

“You’re referring to the east…” The Vice Commander of the Order of Knights, Cohen, could only sigh. “It’s a natural calamity and a man-made disaster…”

White Oak finally docked.

Gawain watched as the winsome big white ship steadily reduced speed. Its sails had been completely retracted, and some unnatural waves with magical power surged by the two sides of the ship and precisely pushed the ship to the front of the pier. Many people stood on the deck, curiously looking in the direction of camp. Meanwhile, several sailors walked out from behind the crowd. They pushed the gangplank out and set it between the deck and the jetty.

The crowd on the ship parted to two sides. A squad of soldiers ran down the gangplank to form two rows by the jetty. Following that, three people appeared on the deck. The first two were an expressionless woman dressed in priest robes and a middle-aged man wearing the uniform of the Order of Knights who looked refined and not unlike a general. Between these two people was a young lady clothed in plain white robes, with pale blond hair, soft and sweet looks, and an impressive aura.

Gawain confirmed with one look that the person standing in the middle was the legendary Saint Princess Veronica — because he had seen portraits of her when he was in the capital.

“Damn, so beautiful.” Amber could not help but murmur. “She looks even more beautiful in person than in the portraits… What did she eat growing up…?”

While mumbling softly, she glanced at Gawain but saw that Gawain’s gaze did not linger on that beautifully unreal Saint Princess at all. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the ordinary-looking woman beside the Princess. This had her puzzled. “Hey, hey, hey— what are you looking at? Could there… be a problem with your aesthetic standards?”

Gawain was jolted from his daze all at once. He looked at Amber confusedly. “Aesthetic standards? What about aesthetic standards?”

“Why are you staring at the person beside her instead of looking at the beautifully unreal Princess there?”

Gawain casually gave a perfunctory reply. “Come on, she just looks like someone I knew during my old life, so I looked longer.”

While they conversed, the three people who disembarked the ship had walked to the ground. Gawain decisively ended the chat with Amber and strode over. “Welcome, welcome, your arrival has been the best news in recent days.”

“It is also my greatest honor to be able to meet the legendary hero from seven hundred years ago.” Veronica bowed slightly. Her unique ethereal and pure disposition and the inhuman-seeming rhythm mixed in her tone made Gawain falter slightly, but he promptly returned to normal.

Then Veronica smiled. “Should I converse with you in the manner of speaking to an elder?”

With this question, the unique aura which she had revealed by accident was quickly restrained; her entire person also became more ‘alive’.

“No need to be a stickler for formalities. Conversing with an old fellow like me who crawled out of his grave, if we were to be truly particular about formalities, both of us would become extremely tired very quickly.” Now, Gawain was already very used to his identity of the ‘old ancestor who arose from his coffin’. With some brief comments, he’d turned the atmosphere into one familiar to him. “Let’s converse as equals. Have everyone aboard the ship come ashore and rest. Though we don’t have anything too good here, standing on flat ground will always be more comfortable than standing on a ship. Afterward, I’ll give you all a tour around this camp…”

While he spoke, his eyes thoughtlessly swept past the ordinary-looking short-haired woman beside Veronica.

Everything he had told Amber about her being an ‘acquaintance’ was naturally fake.

Because he had no way of explaining the real situation to anyone.

In his eyes, the one standing beside Veronica wasn’t any woman wearing priest robes. —Instead, it was a ball of translucent light with the facial features of a human!