69novels Chapter 367: Do I Need to Offer My Loyalty Too?
Chapter 367: Do I Need to Offer My Loyalty Too?
"The loyalty you speak of offering—does that refer to yourself, or does it include her as well?"
This point was very important.
Setting aside the additional factor of Joan for now, this golden-haired young woman herself, in Lin Mo's estimation, was someone of extremely high status, very likely an imperial princess or even the Crown Prince!
If he could gain her support, the road ahead for Lin Mo would become much smoother.
Joan was momentarily stunned.
Because just moments ago, Lily, whose body she had temporarily borrowed, had asked the exact same question.
"Big Sister Joan, do I need to offer my loyalty too?"
"Correct!"
Now, facing Lin Mo's inquiry, Joan once again gave an affirmative answer: "Of course it includes Lily as well!"
Lin Mo was just about to say something more when Joan suddenly trembled all over. "S-sorry, Divine One, Joan may have to fall into a temporary slumber... Borrowing Lily's body consumes a fair amount of energy, so..."Before she could finish her sentence, the young woman suddenly went limp and fell straight towards Lin Mo.
Lin Mo hurriedly reached out to catch her. A few seconds later, the aura emanating from the young woman before him abruptly changed.
She slowly straightened up, looking at Lin Mo with a face full of embarrassment and nervousness. "H-hello..."
The atmosphere became exceptionally awkward for a moment.
Lin Mo could very well understand her feelings at this moment. It was just like how he himself had been tricked by Athena and forced into a situation he wasn't ready for.
So he patted her shoulder. "You've had it tough too."
"N-no, not at all..."
Lily waved her hand. She wasn't quite used to the fact that a companion she had journeyed with had suddenly become the deity she needed to serve.
It was really strange...
Although she didn't reject it—after all, as a believer in the Holy Light, in Athena-sama, since it was the Goddess Athena's decision, the successor she personally chose, then the one before her was the future new god.
"Anyway, let's leave this place quickly first..."
Everyone needed a bit of time to digest the information just received. After Lin Mo finished speaking, he walked towards the front.
At the end of the palace, the exit of this hidden secret realm could be seen.
But before that, they still had to clean up the battlefield and collect the spoils...
Low-tier Goblins had almost no usable materials on them, so they could only cut off their ears as proof of subjugation to exchange for rewards from the Association. But high-tier Goblins and even Gnomes were different.
Although the value of their materials still couldn't compare to magical beasts of the same level, at least they had some merit and could be sold for some money.
With sufficient space, handling these was very simple. In a short while, they were done and packed up, then left this place and returned to the spacious outer palace.
No Goblins could be seen nearby anymore.
Either they had long since entered the hidden secret realm and were also killed off, or they had been frightened away by the commotion Lin Mo and the others had caused earlier and fled.
In short, they hadn't encountered any Goblins along the way.
The group simply left the Gnome Palace directly and returned to the forest.
Not far away was a Teleportation node.
But before that, Lin Mo planned to have a good rest.
Even though they had experienced so much, the mission they had accepted on this trip wasn't finished yet. Lin Mo had no intention of delaying it until next time.
"Then let's rest first. We'll go to the 26th floor tomorrow to finish the remaining two missions."
"As you command!"
Lily was the first to respond. After some time to digest things, she seemed to have adjusted her mood. Hearing Lin Mo's "order," she immediately clenched a fist and knocked it against the armor on her chest, producing a crisp clanging sound.
Lin Mo turned his head to look at her, wanting to say something but holding back.
How to put it...
It felt a bit strange, but this heroic knightly appearance was actually quite dashing.
But that uncle-like, deep and dull voice was really a bit hard to take.
"Lily..."
During the journey just now, they had chatted briefly. Lin Mo had already learned her name—Lily Atorina.
Just as he had guessed, she was the Third Princess of the Violet Empire, though not the Crown Prince.
Even though she wasn't the Crown Prince, her current status and position were in no way inferior to the Crown Prince's, even surpassing it.
Before this, Lily had already stood out among the princes and princesses due to her outstanding talent. However, because she was truly not adept at statecraft and political maneuvering, and she herself had no interest in it, she was unsuitable to be the Crown Prince.
Even so, the treatment she enjoyed among the princes was very high, second only to the Crown Prince.
And after unexpectedly encountering Joan, obtaining the Holy Light Power from her, and becoming a Paladin, Lily attracted even more attention and care from the Holy Light Church. Now, even the Crown Prince had to address her politely as "Imperial Sister" when meeting her.
"Your Highness, what are your orders?"
Hearing him speak, Lily immediately straightened her back and puffed out her chest, looking ready to go through fire and water.
However, her voice, which sounded like a weathered old uncle, really made it hard for Lin Mo to keep a straight face.
"Is that armor of yours equipped with a voice-changing function?"
Only then did Lily notice this point. When traveling and adventuring outside, to avoid trouble, she had simply asked a court mage from the palace to set up a small magic array on her helmet to change her voice.
She immediately deactivated the array. When she spoke again, her voice had returned to its original form.
"This magic array can be turned off."
Although it sounded slightly muffled due to the helmet's presence, this actually added a touch of authority to her originally somewhat youthful, crisp voice, giving a rather dashing female knight feel.
Not bad, not bad...
Lin Mo nodded with satisfaction. "Also, when not fighting, is it really necessary to keep the helmet on all the time?"
Lily was stunned for a moment, then slowly removed her helmet, revealing that somewhat heroic, youthful face.
Her medium-length golden hair was tied up into a bun at the back with a blue ribbon, appearing dignified and efficient. The hair on both sides fell naturally, her bangs were neat, and paired with a serious expression, it gave off a feeling of both cuteness and solemnity.
A very beautiful young woman.
Ellie and the others behind immediately sensed something was off and all looked over with scrutinizing gazes.
Lily felt somewhat uncomfortable under their stares but didn't understand why, tilting her head in confusion.
"Ahem—alright, let's go back and rest first. Lena is already cooking."
Go back?
Lily blinked, somewhat puzzled.
Back where? Weren't they going to the 26th floor tomorrow? Did they mean to leave the Dungeon first and come back in tomorrow?
She had just been about to start setting up camp...
Without explaining, Lin Mo directly walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Ellie and the others also gathered around. The next moment, the group simply vanished, leaving behind an empty patch of grass.
Lily looked at the suddenly changed scenery before her, her mind momentarily blank.
When she clearly saw the luxurious villa in front of her, she gradually came back to her senses. "Space Magic..."
As an Imperial Princess, her knowledge was naturally quite broad.
Those capable of mastering Space Magic were very rare, but not so rare that even a Princess of the Violet Empire would never see one.
Among the court mages of the Imperial Palace, there was more than one person who could use Space Magic.
However, Space Magic of this level was likely already Epic Level... If this were before, Lily might have been very surprised. But now, aside from the initial moment of surprise, she only found it natural, nothing strange about it.
"Mr. Lin Mo, you're back..."
Just at that moment, Lena walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of food. Ellie immediately stepped forward, took the plate from her hands, and placed it on the dining table.
"Mhm, thank you for your hard work, Lena."
Lin Mo walked over and patted the cat-eared girl's head. Lena immediately blushed slightly, secretly rubbing against his palm, then shook her head. "It's not hard... I can only help everyone with these little things."
"This is no small thing."
Lin Mo ruffled her cat ears more vigorously. "If we didn't have you, we'd all go hungry."
"It's not as exaggerated as Mr. Lin Mo says..."
As she spoke, Sherfilia had already entered the kitchen to help.
"Alright, I won't disturb your cooking anymore. We have a new friend today, so you can make a little extra."
Lin Mo pointed at Lily, who wasn't sitting on the sofa but was still standing straight with her hands at her sides, like a door god.
"Ah... okay."
Lena glanced at her curiously but didn't ask further, turning and walking back into the kitchen to continue cooking.
"No need to be so reserved, have a seat."
"N-no need..."
Lily immediately showed a somewhat flustered expression. For a devout knight, sitting beside the future new god, the divine child chosen by the deity, was really somewhat overstepping.
Lin Mo immediately knew this was a type similar to Sherfilia, so he didn't press further.
The spot beside him was quickly occupied by the quick-eyed Ellie and the conveniently placed Finnie.
Lily glanced at this scene out of the corner of her eye. Ever since she first encountered this adventuring team, she had suspected that these young ladies were most likely this youth's wives. But looking at it now, the meaning was completely different.
The deity's...partner?
After all, the former Goddess of Holy Light had no partner, nor did any person or deity dare to aspire to become her partner.
But as a believer, she was somewhat unsure of what position to place this divine child, the future deity's partner, in.
She was a knight. Her duty was to follow orders, to fight and protect.
"By the way, Lily, I have a question."
Lin Mo suddenly looked over.
Lily immediately assumed a serious expression. "Please ask, Your Highness."
This was the form of address they had temporarily agreed upon after discussion.
After all, calling him "Divine One" right off the bat was really a bit weird.
Switching to "Divine Child," "New God," "Quasi-God," or the like was even stranger.
Lin Mo had absolutely no desire to be any "divine child." To him, Athena was at most an irresponsible senior who dumped her responsibilities on him. How could she take advantage of him for no reason and try to be his mother?
So, after much thought, they settled on "Your Highness" for now, something both sides could accept.
"How old are you?"
Lily hadn't expected him to ask this question, but she quickly answered nonetheless. "Age-wise, I'm 18 now... But ever since meeting Big Sister Joan and obtaining the power of the Holy Light, my body's growth seems to have stagnated."
No wonder she looks so young, like a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl...
But doesn't that mean she went out adventuring shortly after becoming a Professional, then encountered Joan, encountered the "Dark Tide"?
"How old were you back then, and what was your level?"
Flora, who was nearby, also realized this point and asked curiously.
Lily turned to look at her, then answered very seriously. "When I met Big Sister Joan, there was one month left until my 17th birthday. My level at the time... was 15."
???
Everyone looked over with expressions of shock and confusion.
One can only officially receive profession blessings and become a Professional at the age of 16. Even if she became a Professional on her 16th birthday... that would mean she reached level 15 in less than a year?!
"Hiss—!"
Even considering the abundant resources an Imperial Princess could enjoy, this talent was still exaggerated to the extreme, completely comparable to those figures recorded in biographies and ancient texts.
At this rate, she would definitely reach the Transcendent Level before the age of 19. Fast, and she'd become a Heroic Realm Powerful Expert by 21 or 22; slow, and by around 23!
She would absolutely ascend to the Legendary Realm before the age of 30!
The former Saintess Joan, whose remnant soul now resided within her, was roughly the same back in the day.
But who was Joan?
She was the very definition of a Saintess, the person with the highest talent in the history of the Church. Even looking across the entire history of the Heavenly Continent, her talent was among the very peak, at least top three!
Lily's talent, said to be number one in the current era, was completely unquestionable.
Oh, of course, the premise is excluding Lin Mo, this outsider...
Once, she too was called a genius by people. But after witnessing the vastness of the world, her bit of talent seemed rather laughable...
Fortunately, now she didn't need to rely on talent, didn't need to rely on herself anymore.
So what if your talent is strong?
For someone as relatively young as Finnie, she might reach it before 20.
After all, it had only been a few months, and she'd already gone from zero to Transcendent Level. Wouldn't reaching the Heroic Realm in a few more months be perfectly reasonable?
Before Finnie turned 20, a year and a half was absolutely enough time for Lin Mo to reach the Legendary Level.
And once he reached the Legendary Level, if they worked hard, they would naturally catch up quickly.
This feeling—that hard work was certain to yield returns, and that the hard work itself was the reward—was truly wonderful.