Chapter 390 - 388: Mobilization
The second day’s exam passed without incident.
Without anyone noticing, second year just ended like that.
After a few days’ rest, all the students were called together and split into two groups.
One group would explore the ruins, and the other would head to the Holy Court, preparing to participate in a raid against the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association under the Holy Court’s lead.
Gathering at the Holy Court, Hilia looked around and found there were several hundred Tier Three Mages from the Divine Magic Academy, most of them fifth-years, with fourth-years being the next largest group.
The rest included a few dozen third-years and about ten second-years.
Excluding Hilia’s group of five, you could count them all on two hands.
This time, the overall leader wasn’t a school instructor, but Melina, the head of the Law Enforcement Knight Order from the Holy Court.
Only under Melina did the academy’s various instructors manage their own teams.
Naturally, Hilia was assigned to the same team as Benovia and the others.
And their leader happened to be Hilia’s instructor, Alina.
Watching Melina giving a speech, Hilia quietly asked Alina, "Ms. Alina, isn’t the principal or the Holy Master coming?"
"The Holy Master won’t go. The principal will, but won’t show up openly. The official leader this time is Ms. Melina," Alina replied.
"If none of them are going, what if we run into the enemy with a bunch of Tier Six Mages?" Doris asked.
Alina couldn’t help but laugh and cry: "If the heretics had that many Tier Six Mages, they could just found their own country. Why bother being a heretic group?"
She glanced at Melina on stage and said, "This time we’re going with Ms. Melina to broaden your horizons, but that doesn’t mean you have nothing to do. Around the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s main base that we’ve discovered, there are many smaller bases. Those are your main targets—clear out those bases, capture heretics, and rescue civilians. That’s your entire mission."
The girls nodded solemnly.
The rally ended quickly, with tasks handed out ahead of time.
Watching the busy Temple Square, Hilia couldn’t help but think: "We’re making such a big show here. Won’t the enemy get wind of it and run away?"
Alina smiled and said, "It’s not that easy to run. Before we act, a vanguard team has already gone ahead. They’ve been monitoring the area all this time. Mr. Blake also went."
"I see."
Hilia nodded and didn’t say anything else.
The pre-battle preparations proceeded smoothly with Melina and the other bishops making arrangements.
In the afternoon, everything was settled, and the Law Enforcement Knight Order began leading the many Divine Magic Academy students into Huijin Divine Hall’s Directional Teleporter, taking them in groups to the city near their destination—Letes City, also known as Lighthouse City.
This city was east of the Ista Empire, a coastal city named for the tall lighthouse near its port—thus, Lighthouse City.
Stepping out of the Teleportation Device and looking up, Hilia saw the towering lighthouse and exclaimed, "This lighthouse is way taller than that Lost Lighthouse!"
Doris said, "Yeah, it’s so huge. If it turned into a ruin, we’d probably never get through it."
Phil said, "Doris, turning into a ruin isn’t a good thing. Don’t say stuff like that."
Doris pouted, "Tch."
Alina walked over and said to everyone, "Where we’re going is about 300 kilometers from Letes City, close to the ocean. But the terrain there is really odd. It’s covered in pollution year-round. Back in the Era of Calamity, it was one of the Gods’ pollution disposal sites, where pollution from all over the world was moved."
Encore asked curiously, "A place that obvious, and nobody found out it was the heretic main base before?"
Alina said, "It’s a huge area, with a radius of seventy or eighty kilometers. Looking for heretic bases inside isn’t easy. We can only set up camps on the outskirts to monitor movement inside."
Benovia asked, "Is it that legendary Golden Apple Stone Forest?"
Alina glanced at Benovia in surprise and nodded, "Yes, it’s called the Golden Apple Stone Forest. Legend says it’s the battlefield the Moon God, Goddess of Destiny, and Goddess of Nature fought over the Golden Apple, so the land formed in that battle. It used to be filled with all kinds of destructive Magic Power that lingered for ages, so the Gods used it as a pollution dump."
As she spoke, Alina looked up at the other students and said loudly, "Second years, come with me. We’re not going out there today. We’ll rest up in Letes City first and set out tomorrow morning."
With that, she counted her people, brought her whole team, and took the train beside the Teleporter all the way to the city’s Divine Hall, booking into a hotel next door.
Hilia looked up to find all the hotels around the Divine Hall had been booked out.
Alina explained, "We were going to stay in the Divine Hall itself, but since there are so many Law Enforcement Knights and they’re the main force attacking the main base, we left the Divine Hall for them to rest and just took a hotel."
No one objected. The hotels around the Divine Hall were quite nice—no problem staying one night.
After putting her things down in her room, Hilia went to find Alina: "Ms. Alina, can I go out for a walk?"
Alina smiled and nodded, "Of course. We’re staying in Letes City for the night just for you all. Before the battle, you should get a feel for other cities’ scenery."
Hilia beamed, "Thank you, Ms. Alina!"
Hilia planned to visit Letes City’s Mage Guild to see if there were any special materials here, and to buy some blank scrolls and scroll-making supplies while she was at it.
She had a feeling that this trial wouldn’t end so easily.
With a radius of seventy or eighty kilometers, the whole area was covered in pollution. Fighting inside would not be easy; they’d need to keep using Magic Power to guard against the pollution at any time.
Most likely, they’d surround Golden Apple Stone Forest and take it slowly from there.
Maybe the main forces would attack the big base head-on, but the Tier Three students would definitely just clear out the small fry around the edges, little by little.
"The demand for scrolls will definitely be huge by then. I just wonder what kind of pollution it is, and why it hasn’t been purified after so long..."
What sells best in polluted zones?
Purification, obviously.
Even if you only purify a small area temporarily, it gives everyone a breath of relief.
"A region with a radius of seventy or eighty kilometers—just the Holy Court and academy folks probably won’t be enough. I wonder if there are any mercenaries. If not, I’ll just sell scrolls to the other students."
Recently, there hasn’t been a chance to make money—just spending. Even with the newly acquired Gold Coins, Hilia still felt strapped for cash.
The holiday trial is a great chance to make a fortune.
Hilia looked at Rose and asked, "Lord Rose, do you think if I customize Purification Skills for the specific pollution in the Golden Apple Stone Forest, I can make money?"
Rose replied, "The Golden Apple Stone Forest’s pollution carries the Divine Power of all three goddesses. Normal Purification Skills won’t be able to cleanse it."
Rose glanced at Ethel inside the Sealed Land.
If she remembered correctly, that old bloke Ethel was the one who sent the Golden Apple and made the three goddesses fight.
"Old man, who ended up with the Golden Apple?" Rose asked.
"No one got it."
"Then where did the Golden Apple go?"
"Don’t know."