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“This is the body of the Lord, sacrificed for us, you should partake of it.” The Archbishop’s voice echoed in the quiet and solemn church hall.

Vera respectfully took the sacrament (unleavened bread) handed to her by the Archbishop and put it in her mouth.

“This is the blood of the Lord, spilled for us, you should drink of it.” The Archbishop then handed Vera a cup of pure holy water.

Vera drank it all at once.

Standing among the crowd observing the ceremony, Colin suddenly had some new thoughts about these two familiar prayers.

He had heard these two prayers at his own coming-of-age ceremony, of course.

The story behind them was one all citizens of the Glorious Empire knew by heart.

Legend has it that thousands of years ago, humans were far from the dominant species they are now.

In those times, humans were not only oppressed and enslaved by various alien races but also targeted by numerous demons.

These demons coveted human souls and would resort to various means, deception, temptation, intimidation… to make humans surrender their souls.

In those days, humans lived in darkness.

Until the advent of the Lord of Glory.

According to The Divine Book of Glory, He offered His own body to save fallen humans.

His body transformed into the sacrament and His blood into holy water, descending from heaven.

Those who consumed the sacrament and drank the holy water could henceforth escape the clutches of the demons and gained divine powers to fight against them.

From then on, humans finally began their ascent to prominence.

To commemorate the Lord of Glory’s sacrifice, every coming-of-age ceremony officiated by the Church included a process of sharing the sacrament and holy water.

Watching Vera drink all the holy water, Colin, who was quite greedy, licked his lips.

He thought of the bottle of pure holy water that had once helped him to advance, and he secretly speculated – could that really be the blood of the Lord of Glory?

“Having eaten the Lord’s flesh and drunk the Lord’s blood, henceforth, the Lord of Glory will be with you!”

The Lord is with me!”

Vera’s coming-of-age ceremony continued.

The Duke’s adopted daughter today was dressed in a classic, elegantly understated white pear blossom dress with her golden hair falling straight down her shoulders.

She wasn’t overly dressed up today; she had no extra jewelry on, just a touch of makeup.

Even so, she was breathtakingly beautiful.

Also, she was not wearing any shoes.

Her fair jade-like feet were directly on the cold marble floor, which was both endearing and distressing to see.

The Archbishop finally finished his prayers and placed a circlet of thorns on

Vera’s head.

Watching all of this, Colin suddenly realized a problem.

Vera was a Mage, however, the noble younglings’ coming-of-age ceremonies were always led by priests of the Glorious Church.

This seemed to be an implicit acknowledgment that Vera had joined the Glorious Church!

Of course, the rite of passage does not specifically require the recipient to be a believer of the Church.

The reason for this is that there is certainly no noble child in the Glorious Empire who does not worship the Lord of Glory.

Except for an anomaly like Vera…

Oh no, Vera is no longer an anomaly.

After the battle on the Ben Liu River, she had told Colin that she had converted to the Lord of Glory.

However, she also mentioned that to avoid unnecessary troubles, she could not make this public for the time being.

Thus, as long as Vera does not admit it publicly, the Mages of Yevir can find a way out by explaining that the noble younglings’ coming-of-age ceremony only has this one form.

If they think of it this way, Vera accepting the rite of passage does not definitively mean she worships the Lord of Glory.

Unless Yevir wishes to have a fall out with the North Territory now, those Mages can only think this way for now.

After the Archbishop placed the circlet of thorns on Vera’s head, he bowed and stepped back.

Then Queen Midela stepped forward and handed a copy of The Divine Book of Glory to Vera.

Finally, Duke St. Hilde came forward and handed a knight’s sword to Vera.

The circlet of thorns, symbolizing responsibility and sacrifice;

The Holy Book of Glory symbolizes both wisdom and faith;

The Knight Sword, on the other hand, signifies courage and strength.

With that, this 18 -year-old girl finally completed her metamorphosis and officially opened a new chapter in her life.

Watching all this unfold, the first thought that popped into Colin’s mind was actually—

After the coming-of-age ceremony, she could get married…

The ceremony had essentially ended at this juncture, followed by the much-anticipated banquet for the nobles.

Of course, the banquet wouldn’t take place in the main hall of the church.

Under Duke St. Hilde’s leadership, everyone left the church and arrived at the courtyard of Lion Roar Castle.

There, the butler had prepared everything in advance.

Gourmet food, fine wine, music, dancing… In short, the real night had just begun.

Once Duke St. Hilde concluded his opening speech, the banquet officially commenced.

Just like the last banquet in Ice Rock City, plenty of unmarried male nobles immediately fixated their attention on the highlight of the night banquet— Vera.

Who would be able to invite her to the first dance?

A good many people cast their eyes toward Colin.

Last time, it was this inconspicuous son of a baron who successfully invited

Vera and he was the only one who succeeded!

And now, Colin had transformed into Viscount Angler.

It seemed like Colin’s chances were even greater this time.

So, the male nobles hesitated somewhat.

They wanted to see Colin’s next move first.

After all, he was the man most likely to share a dance with Vera in the entire field.

Nonetheless, Colin maintained his cool demeanor as if he hadn’t realized that a fierce competition was quietly unfolding.

While the male nobles hesitated, a Troll noble suddenly stepped forward.

Prince Okamoto approached Vera, performed a standard human noble salute, and uttered loudly:

“Beautiful Miss Vera, to commemorate your coming-of-age, I have prepared a small gift for you. I hope you will like it!”

After finishing his sentence, Okamoto took a parchment from his attendant behind him and slowly spread it out.

It was a map.

Colin raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself that this chap surely wouldn’t try and play out a scenario where an exposed map reveals a hidden dagger.

Soon thereafter, he shook his head to dismiss his speculation.

Even if the Troll Kingdom planned to send an assassin, it wouldn’t be Okamoto, but rather the northern prince who was said to have been freshly promoted to Holy Field.

The map was entirely spread out.

There was no dagger.

Just three large red circles.

Okamoto pointed to the three red circles on the map and said to Vera:

“Honorable Miss Vera, my gift to you is these three fortresses!”

Colin stepped closer and looked at the locations of those three fortresses.

They were all on the southern border of the Troll Kingdom!

What did this mean?

Were they offering their defense line to the enemy willingly?

Vera stared blankly at the map, appearing somewhat puzzled.

With her military acumen, she was likely still figuring out what this implied.

However, Duke St. Hilde spoke up, “Prince Okamoto, are you saying that these three fortresses will be manned by the North Territory army!?”

“Yes!”

It was at this moment that the nobles present realized the true value of this gift.

No, this was far more than merely valuable.

It was akin to the Troll Kingdom bowing to the North Territory!

It was as if Japan was offering Yokota Base to the U.S. military while licking its face as if to say—

Daddy, quickly, put the dog’s leash on me!