From Hogwarts to Strixhaven.

Chapter 626 Queen Gauffe's Experiences
The main reason why the Holy War Kingdom of Montevi was able to stand for a century next to the World's Tragedy without being destroyed was a series of guardian stones arranged along its border.

These guardian stones were established by Iomede, the successor, during the Second Holy War. Each stone contains several angels who were willing to sacrifice themselves to fight against the demons.

Thanks to these protective stone walls that radiate divine power, the people of Montive are able to live as neighbors with demons that constantly emerge from the world's tragedies.

Among this series of guardian stones, the one located in Cannabri is the most important. It was personally established by the goddess Iomede and is the first guardian stone. Its existence or non-existence determines the stability of the entire guardian stone defense line.

Therefore, upon receiving news that Kanaburi had been attacked by a demon lord, and that even the city's guardian, the silver dragon Terendilifer, had been beheaded, Queen Godfrey of Montevi, who had reigned for over a hundred years, was blessed by the goddess Iomede herself, and received the Sun Orchid Elixir supported by the church, thus maintaining her youthful vitality, personally led her army from Nerozion, the southern capital of Montevi, rushing towards Kanaburi through the night.

Although Queen Godfrey reacted swiftly, she was still a step too slow. By the time she led her army into the city, the citizens of Kanaburi, who had survived the disaster, had already begun to emerge from their hiding places and, under the organization of the Garuda Guards and the Crusaders, were clearing the streets and gradually restoring order to the city.

"Chief Hurren is indeed quite capable. It seems my appointment of him wasn't too bad..." Queen Godfrey breathed a sigh of relief and said to the knight beside her, "Notify the city that their queen has arrived."

Kanaburi was originally just a small town nestled in the middle of a valley. When Arelu tore apart the land of Sakoli and caused a world tragedy, the city was still just a border trading post with simple and honest people.

When tens of thousands of distraught refugees fled here, the housing available for them quickly became insufficient. The town had to expand its walls beyond the existing castle, and this action was repeated time and again with each holy war, making the town, which is located next to the valley, resemble half an onion standing on the edge of a cliff, with rings of walls forming its main appearance.

During the invasion of the demon lord Descari, the city was torn apart from the inside out. The old and new Kanaburi were no different before the Locust King; it suffered immense trauma and destruction. Therefore, when the Guardian Stone regained its power and drove out the demons from the city, the residents had to abandon the outermost walls, as they no longer had enough manpower to stand guard.

So the knight who was delivering the message to Queen Godfrey traveled through an entire city block before finally finding a guard under the half-collapsed gate of the inner city.

The guard was clearly startled by the knight's gleaming armor: "Where did you come from, knight?"

"He's the Queen's knight! I saw Queen Godfrey at the city gate!" shouted an excited citizen who was collecting building materials in the outer city. "Kannabri is saved!"

The messenger ignored the citizens' chatter, which saved him the trouble of introducing himself: "Where is the Lord of Kanaburi, Patriarch Hurren? The Queen's army will be responsible for the city's defense... It is getting late, and the Queen needs proper arrangements."

Yes, Hullen was not only the head priest of Kanaburi, but also the lord of the city—or more accurately, a theocratic lord. The authority of the church and the government of Kanaburi were concentrated in his hands, which explains the large scale of the witch hunt he initiated.

“Uh…” The Crusader guarding half of the city gate hesitated for a moment before telling the truth, “Kannabri no longer has Patriarch Hurren… We found his body near the large rift in Mayor’s Square. Judging from the wounds, the commander of the Divine Eagle Guard deduced that it was the rampant cultists in the city who did all this…”

"Patriarch Hurren is dead?" The messenger knight was taken aback. "Then who is maintaining order in the city now? To be honest, judging from the demeanor of the citizens, they don't look like they've just experienced a demonic invasion!"

"It's a long story, but no matter what, the living have to keep going..." The guard scratched his head.

“Then let’s get straight to the point.” The knight glared at the guard. “I have participated in many battles against demons and know just how cruel they are. Even if the current commander of Kanaburi is just a sergeant major or a judge of the municipal court, I believe the Queen would accept it.”

When a commander falls in battle, command automatically transfers to the highest-ranking person in the command hierarchy—this is perfectly normal. However, in the fight against demons, the person commanding troops in resistance after a major battle might not even have a formal rank.

Because the devil never shows mercy, only the luckiest of the lucky survive a defeat.

"The commander of the Divine Eagle Guard spearheaded the formation of a council, and then obtained advice from a giant dragon on how to organize disaster relief..." The guard had no choice but to tell the truth.

"A dragon? Isn't Lady Terendiliver already..." The knight frowned, sensing that things were not so simple.

"Yes, our hero reclaimed the Guardian Stone and the Gray Army Camp, and even ripped off the roof of the Gray Army Camp to summon a giant dragon. Now everyone says she was sent by the goddess Iomede to save Kanaburi and Montive." The guard didn't know the truth, but the giant dragon that repaired the huge crack in the city square and then coiled there, radiating golden light, was real, not to mention that an angel in gleaming armor was always with the dragon. So he preferred to believe that it was all truly the arrangement of the goddess Iomede.

The messenger dared not delay any longer and immediately rode back to report to Queen Godfrey.

As a true chosen one of the gods, Queen Godfrey of Montevie had indeed had the privilege of witnessing Iomede's true form. It was precisely for this reason that she could not believe that the young woman who appeared immediately after the demon lord's attack and saved the place was also a chosen one of Iomede.

Imagine we're all Crusader warriors serving the goddess Iomede, and we all have the same superior. So why have I never received any divine pronouncements from the goddess? Not to mention that I, Godfrey, am the queen of Montevi, and have been fighting on the front lines against the Abyss for over a hundred years.

Queen Godfrey's prayers to Iomede went unanswered, which only fueled her suspicions.

If the hero who saved Kanaburi truly received the goddess's favor, why did she remain silent?

If the hero who saved Kanaburi was a disguised cultist or a demon, why did the goddess remain silent as well?

Unless, like me, the goddess is unaware of this "hero's" background. Queen Godfrey decided to set off immediately. Her first task was to take over the defenses of Kanaburi, especially the defenses of the Guardian Stone, and then go to the city's central square to meet this hero, as well as the wise golden dragon she had summoned to guard the square.

Dusk had completely enveloped Kanaburi, but the town square did not need to be lit by streetlights. The giant dragon coiled in front of the square radiated golden light, and its shimmering scales alone were enough to keep the large square as bright as day.

"A pleasure to meet you, Queen Godfrey of Montevideo." The majestic, deep voice evoked images of a magnificent imperial palace and a wise and shrewd ruler. Godfrey even felt a little shaken, perhaps because the goddess was not satisfied with the progress of her holy war and had sent another chosen one.

Godfrey removed her hood, revealing a resolute and moving face. However, everyone who saw the expression on her face could understand that before her identity as a woman was the King of Montevi, and before the King of Montevi were the warriors who fought against the abyss.

"As Queen Montevi, I thank you for all your contributions to Kanaburi and the Holy War, great golden dragon." Before stepping into the town square, Godfrey had already wiped all the dust off her armor and put on the golden crown that proclaimed her rule.

Jinlong smiled broadly and nodded slightly to Gao Furui.

Gophery took a deep breath, choosing to confront the oppressive aura emanating from the golden dragon's massive size: "Did you come here to save the city because you were summoned by the goddess Iomede?"

“You may be surprised, but my presence here is truly just a coincidence.” The golden dragon shook its head, its long beard swaying left and right in the air. “I have not accepted any divine summons; I have only come to find my student.”

“A student? Could it be Ms. Terendilifer…” Godfrey breathed a sigh of relief, but then had more questions, about one of the heroes of Kanaburi. However, that hero was not present, so it was better to turn her attention back to the golden dragon. She vaguely remembered that the silver dragon Terendilifer seemed to have a golden dragon teacher.

“No, I have never met Lady Trendilifer,” the golden dragon explained further. “My student was teleported to Kanaburi due to a reckless magical accident, and it took me a long time to find him. But that’s another story. I guess your next question will be about the heroes of Kanaburi, won’t it?”

Gopher remained silent for a moment, then pursed her lips before saying, "The wisdom of the dragons is truly astounding. So, what is your answer...?"

"That hero was a songstress from Celias, a believer in the art goddess Sheryl, but not her priestess. Before reclaiming Kanaburi from the demons, she had never received any divine revelation. In my experience, she was just an ordinary person swept up by the tides of fate. But after that, her destiny became inextricably linked to the fate of this land. The powerful figures who could influence the situation in Grallion would probably be vying to extend olive branches to her."

“You mean…” Queen Montevie frowned, changing her mind halfway through her sentence, “I should at least meet this heroine first, and see what kind of person she really is…”

"She's at the Iron Guardian's Ambition Tavern, not far from here," Jinlong thoughtfully pointed out. "There's a victory celebration going on to celebrate Kanaburi's liberation from the demons."

“Thank you for showing me the way.” Godfrey smiled as well; at least she could now sense the dragon’s goodwill. “You should be able to move around in human form like Lady Trentilifer, right? Aren’t you going to the victory celebration?”

“I’m already there.” Jinlong lay down in the square, twisting his head to find a comfortable position. “What’s here is just an illusion, used to intimidate cultists hiding among the citizens. After a huge disaster, the most important thing is to restore order, and my massive body is enough to terrify those opportunists. So in fact, I didn’t provide much help; I just put an illusion to sleep in the square.”

Although Montevideo's Crusaders are an organization that fights against demons, in order to obtain sufficient manpower, the Crusaders usually do not carefully screen each participant.

Those who came to the northernmost part of the known world to participate in the holy war were half idealists who valued mission and ideals above all else, and the other half exiles who had nowhere to go and wanted to live in anonymity.

This is also one of the main reasons for corruption within the Crusades.

"Now that the city's master has returned, and brought with him an army strong enough to resist the demons, it's time for this spell to complete its mission." The golden dragon coiled in the square began to emit a dense mist of light, which vanished in moments, leaving only its fading voice echoing in the air. "I will not inform anyone in the tavern of Queen Godfrey's arrival, so you are free to act as you see fit..."

Queen Godfrey chuckled and silently removed the golden crown from her head, placing it in an inconspicuous silk pouch.

"Take your guards and follow me. I need you to replace the guards outside the Iron Guard Ambition Tavern." Gao Furui leaped onto a steed and galloped toward the tavern, where laughter and chatter echoed in the night.

The Iron Guardian's Ambition Tavern, which served as a temporary command post during the fall of Cannaburi, has been completely renovated. Wounded refugees have been resettled, and it has become one of the fastest businesses to reopen after the city's liberation.

It was here that Ivy met Illinika's other two companions: one was the young demon thief, Volgiev, and the other was the compassionate elf girl, Little Ember.

After returning to her room at Ironclad Ambition, Ilinica immediately shared the mythical power she had obtained from the Guardian Stone with her two teammates. Ivy offered no comment, as he too had benefited from this generosity.

"Chief Hurren is a good knight, he just can't tell who is the enemy and who is the friend..." Xiao Jin's voice was cheerful and gentle. If she wasn't talking about the man who tied himself and his father to the stake, it would probably be more pleasant.

“Good intentions are not an excuse for doing bad things,” the little elephant Kuntoli corrected, his eyes brimming with tears, as he scribbled furiously in his notebook. “What this city needs is order, not arrogant fanaticism.”

“On that point, I happen to have a different opinion…” a hooded stranger joined the conversation.

(End of this chapter)