"Clementine, if it's just a casual contact, a handshake should be fine, right?"
Gelos was still bothered by being pointed at by passersby in the center of town earlier. After all, four men suddenly appearing out of thin air and embracing each other would make any normal villager find it extremely strange!
"A handshake is fine too!" Iri tilted her head, revealing a look of confusion.
"Then to…" Before Gelos could finish his sentence, Iri immediately used her interruption spell.
"But wasn't it your group that requested the embrace? Uh… wait? I seem to remember? Maybe? Approximately? Uh…" Iri held her forehead, speaking with a confused expression.
"…" Gelos was speechless. He didn't want to provoke Clementine anymore. If he provoked her too much and made her remember something, that wouldn't be good.
Uh… is this how Blue Rose performs teleportation? Although Blue Rose is a team composed of women, do they really need to embrace so intimately for teleportation?
Unimaginable…
"My sister! You just used High-Tier Teleportation Magic, didn't you! You used that!!" Queen Aeseth, very inappropriately, leaned in directly and asked excitedly.
"I guess so? Huh?" Iri looked at Queen Aeseth with suspicion, wondering if this guy was here to mess things up.
If you say it like that, aren't you basically telling me that you didn't even know I could use High-Tier Teleportation Magic? Teammates? Sister? You don't even know what your sister can do?
Leaving aside the fact that I'm fully conscious now, even if I were truly brainwashed by Falling Beauty of a Nation, if you kept asking me questions like that, it would be strange if I didn't become suspicious.
"Cough!!" Gelos naturally noticed Queen Aeseth's slip of the tongue and quickly reminded him to shut up.
Forget it, I'd better cooperate proactively. It's not good if they become too wary of me, is it? What if, after returning to Theocracy's base, those leaders decide that I'm too dangerous in this state, then it would be bad.
They might secretly look for someone to hit me with another Falling Beauty of a Nation, and then I'd really be finished, Iri thought to herself.
"Maybe? I just learned it recently, I guess? I don't know, I just suddenly remembered that I seemed to know teleportation magic just now." Iri said, seeing Gelos also let out a sigh of relief.
"This… this is! High-Tier Telepor…" Queen Aeseth hadn't finished speaking when he was once again interrupted by Iri's topic disruption spell.
"Let's not talk about that for now? So, where are we going now?" Iri was too lazy to argue with him anymore, so she directly threw the question to Gelos.
Iri also understood why Queen Aeseth was so surprised. Not many people knew teleportation magic, let alone High-Tier Teleportation Magic.
Let me explain the difference between the two here. It was briefly mentioned before that Irubyue's teleportation magic requires a teleportation plate to be set up beforehand, and the further the distance, the longer it takes to activate and the more MP it consumes.
Not only that, but there's also a rather annoying drawback, which is the maintenance of the teleportation plate. Don't think you can just throw it in a hidden place and be done with it.
This thing also requires magic power to maintain its operation, so Irubyue often has to run around to replenish the MP of the teleportation plates installed in various places.
High-Tier Teleportation doesn't have such troublesome settings. When teleporting, you just need to keep thinking about where you want to teleport, and there's no activation time drawback.
Although it looks very convenient, it also has its drawbacks. The setting of consuming MP based on distance hasn't been improved, but Iri used a scroll, so there's no MP problem. Also, the limit on the number of people teleported is very strict. If you don't count yourself, you can only bring five people at a time.
It's pure luck that Blue Rose's number of members is just right. If it were a higher-tier teleportation gate, there wouldn't be such a problem. As long as the teleportation gate is maintained open, thousands of people can pass through.
Unfortunately, teleportation gate scrolls cannot be created. If they could, it would be fun. If anyone angered Iri, she could just throw out a teleportation gate scroll, snap her fingers, and in minutes, an army of Nazarick's countless small skeletons would pile up and kill you!
"We're going to the church in town." Gelos replied, while also glaring fiercely at Queen Aeseth.
From the moment they first teleported to the town center, Iri had simply followed them. Iri didn't know where they were going. So, it was to the church?
After all, it was Theocracy. Churches were basically directly controlled by Theocracy's central government, unlike in the Kingdom and Empire where the church and central government were separate. That's why the Blood Emperor was so wary of his little black and little white, and there was a reason for them to enter the city together.
After walking for a while, they finally arrived at the church Gelos mentioned… Iri was a little speechless when she saw the church's chapel.
One can only say… As expected of Theocracy? The residential buildings and architecture of the entire town weren't bad, but at least they gave off a feeling of, "Ah! This is a border town."
However, what's with this overly grand church? Compared to the other residences, it's completely out of place, isn't it? This is a border town! Not to mention that it's already rare for such a small town to have a church, but to make it so exaggerated? It's almost on par with the church in the Kingdom's Capital. You guys in Theocracy really know how to play.
Not only that, there were also guards at the entrance.
Uh… those should be temple guards!
Uh… I see. Iri had been wondering why this town, at least, was on the border, unlike Karn Village. It was a town of some scale, yet she hadn't seen any defensive forces. So, the defensive forces were here!
Indeed, she had seen many people dressed as priests patrolling the streets earlier. Iri hadn't thought of this point at first, so she hadn't paid attention.
Gelos led everyone directly inside. The temple guards at the gate didn't even stop them. It seemed that commoners were also entering and exiting, probably for worship or requesting healing, etc. So why did they need temple guards at the gate? Iri was starting to feel that Theocracy was also an unreliable country.
Upon entering the inner hall, someone did stop them. Gelos silently showed the temple guards who stopped them the crest in his hand. The temple guard immediately bowed and moved aside as if he had seen a superior.
I remember Black Scripture is Theocracy's direct ace unit, right? And they boast about being the ace of humanity or something. Does that mean Black Scripture is the nation's public servants?
Uh… in such a religiously centralized country, public servants can really do whatever they want.
However, Iri still underestimated Black Scripture's influence within Theocracy. Not only were the minor subordinates respectful to them, but even the high-ranking priests within the church, who looked like big shots, all spoke in hushed tones to the Black Scripture members. Gelos hadn't even made any requests yet, and they immediately arranged the best resting room and served delicious food and so on.
This treatment… Iri recalled her visit to the Golden Princess in the Kingdom. Although it wasn't an official visit, even the Old King came! Yet, they only offered tea, not even snacks. Truly stingy.
Now look at Theocracy! They treat their own public servants so well. What would happen if I visited as a princess of Nazarick?
Uh… I'd probably get hit with another Falling Beauty of a Nation, Iri thought to herself.
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