The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Is the Holy Light Divine Art growing stronger? Could it be related to your physical condition?"

Ye Xiao noticed a single hair sticking up on Alina's forehead and couldn't help but reach out and press it down.

But after a short while, that hair stood up stiffly again.

"I'm not quite sure either; this is the first time I've encountered this situation."

"Let's not say it's a bad thing."

Ye Xiao gave up on smoothing down the ahoge and waved his hand, "Let's put this debt on the Holy City's tab. The city has recently been renovated and many blocks have been restored, so finding them a house won't be a problem. Ella also had a plan to expand the city and bring in new residents, so let's just consider this an early implementation."

"Really, that's great!"

Alina, who had been worried about whether she had caused trouble, was immediately delighted upon hearing this.

"Well, what you did wasn't a bad thing. As long as you're helping people, we'll be your strong support."

Ye Xiao smiled.

However, the Holy City is currently facing a problem: a food shortage.

Although the confiscation of the three major families yielded a great deal of wealth and treasure, the empty treasury caused by the serious corruption of many high-ranking officials had accumulated over time and could not be filled in a short period of time.

Originally, those priests didn't care about the food situation in some of the lower and middle districts and the bay area with a large number of poor people, since to them, it didn't matter if these people starved to death.

But now that Ella has taken office, she certainly can't neglect the basic livelihood of ensuring that the residents in her jurisdiction have enough to eat.

While in the worst-case scenario everyone could survive by eating the tentacles that grow from the ground, it would still be better to let people eat something normal if possible.

Therefore, the Holy City is currently negotiating with officials of the Kingdom of Saint Ara to purchase reserve food, and the Morning Star Ridge is also mobilizing to reclaim wasteland and restore the soil damaged by the floods. Things will be much better after this period of time.

Ella initially planned to send the Holy City's army to support the front lines in Loren after taking power, but after becoming the Holy Temple Master, she realized that it would take a long time just to fill the gaps left by the three major families.

This is why, after ascending to the throne, Ella did not immediately launch an attack, but instead spent a month rebuilding the city.

However, now that the First and Fourth Knight Orders have recovered, they are indeed a force that can be mobilized. The Fourth Knight Order, in particular, has eaten tentacles more than once or twice. If there is a shortage of supplies on the battlefield, it is not impossible for everyone to make do with eating tentacle dumplings together. After all, the battlefield environment is not as good as usual, so it is acceptable to be a little harsh.

While Ye Xiao was pondering, Alina had already gone to tell Sister Margaret at the convent and a group of children the news of her new home.

This made the children dance with excitement. Sister Margaret was also happy, but she still asked with some concern, "Won't we cause any trouble for the adults in the church?"

"No, don't worry."

Alina puffed out her chest.

"By the way, Sister Alina,"

During the conversation, a little girl looked at Alina and timidly asked, "Are you... are you an angel? I saw you had wings spread out behind you like an angel's, they were so beautiful..."

"Uh, those are just the effects of some spells."

Alina put her hands behind her back, gave a sheepish laugh, and casually brushed it off.

"This is the first time I've ever seen such a high-level holy light spell,"

Sister Margaret covered her mouth and chuckled, "I was truly stunned at the time. Miss Alina is indeed a genius blessed by the Holy Light."

"It's not that exaggerated..."

Alina stuck out her tongue, looking rather ashamed.

"Not bad, it seems you've made quite a few new friends."

Just then, Ye Xiao walked over from the side and said, "The ships are ready at the port, and the children can board them now."

"Ok."

Alina nodded in response.

"Wow, what a cool knife!"

In the crowd, the little boy Burz inadvertently caught sight of the silver-white longsword hanging at Ye Xiao's waist, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"How rude of you, Burz! What have I been teaching you?!"

Sister Margaret immediately rebuked.

"Ah, greetings, Sir Knight!"

Burz hurriedly and tremblingly bowed to Ye Xiao.

But Ye Xiao immediately waved his hand, "Hey, there's no need. I'm just a traveler from another world, and I'm of common origin. I don't need so many formalities."

"An alien traveler?"

Some of the children didn't quite understand what this was.

Can someone of commoner origin become a Templar Knight?

Burz asked curiously.

"Of course you can. When you're a little older, you can sign up for trials at the sanctuary."

Seeing that the little boy seemed very interested in his sword "Shadow Chaser," Ye Xiao casually untied it and handed it to him, scabbard and all, saying, "Want to take a look?"

"Ah!!?? This...this..."

Upon hearing this, Burz seemed somewhat incredulous, his eyes widening and his voice stammering.

"My lord knight, this..."

Sister Margaret looked on with some concern.

"It's alright, just look at it from the scabbard. Don't pull it out, it's easy to get hurt."

Ye Xiao, on the other hand, was quite casual.

He recalled the same longing he felt when he saw those cool toy swords in shop windows as a child. Even though this was a real sword, its cold gleam was sheathed, and it wouldn't matter much if he showed it to the other person.

"Oh!!!"

With Ye Xiao's permission, Burz, his hands trembling, gently touched the scabbard.

With his eyes shining with excitement, it's easy to imagine that this scene will be unforgettable for him for the rest of his life.

But he only lightly touched the scabbard, and after feeling its cold touch, he obediently withdrew his hand, excitedly clenching his fist and raising it above his head, "Wow, that's so cool!!! I want to be a swordsman too!!!"

"I'm sorry, Sir Knight, this child is always a bit mischievous."

Margaret patted Burz on the head and bowed slightly.

"It's okay, she's actually quite well-behaved."

Ye Xiao smiled and hung the knife back on her waist.

He could see the longing in the little boy's eyes almost overflowing, but no matter how much he liked the knife, he still restrained himself and only touched it before withdrawing his hand. Such a young age and such a temperament; he always felt that he would achieve great things.

"Sir,"

During their casual conversation, the Templar squad leader in charge of searching the ruins walked past Ye Xiao and whispered, "We've found the remains of the monster. We discovered the clothing it was wearing..."

As Ye Xiao listened to the report, his gaze, which had been calm and lifeless, suddenly turned serious.

Chapter Four: Spring Offensive

Day two.

The first floor of the White Tower, the meeting room of the Fourth Knights of the Holy Temple.

Dozens of knights were whispering and discussing among themselves around a long table in the room.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Ye Xiao, tall and slender, strode in, the back of her trench coat fluttering lightly.

Augustus and Vice-Commander Ophelia followed behind him, one on each side. His eyes, hidden beneath his disheveled bangs, merely swept across the room, and the once noisy conference room instantly fell silent.

The dozens of Templar Commanders rose from their seats almost simultaneously and raised their hands in unison to salute him.

Ye Xiao nodded in response, and then everyone took their seats.

A guard stepped forward and spread a stack of parchment scrolls on the table.

"I'm sure everyone has already seen the report on the events in the Gulf region last night."

Ye Xiao's voice was calm, yet everyone present could hear it clearly.

“A month ago, we began investigating the missing former Cardinal Tobias William within the territory of Saint Ara, but we have yet to find his whereabouts.”

"But just last night, we found that the clothing on the remains of a monster that attacked the Anning Lane Monastery belonged to the standard uniform of the High Guard of the Holy Temple."

"Although we have made some speculations since we have not been able to find any results during this period, we can now be certain that Tobias and his accompanying officials have probably been attacked by the Dark Cult within the territory of Saint Ara."

"We notified the royal palace of the Kingdom of Saint Ara to order the mobilization of various regions to assist in the search, but their attitude was quite perfunctory. It is reasonable to suspect that there is already a cult infiltrating the royal family of the Kingdom of Saint Ara, which may hinder our subsequent actions."

"Therefore, the Holy Church will send an envoy to the Royal Palace of Saint Ara to negotiate a grain purchase agreement. I need you all to help collect evidence of the Royal Palace's collusion with the Dark Cult during the negotiations. If the evidence is sufficient, we will immediately launch a heretical trial against the members of the Royal Family of Saint Ara."

After Ye Xiao finished speaking, Augustus immediately chimed in, "Did everyone understand what Mr. Ye just said? If you have any questions, you can speak now."

After speaking, he paused for two seconds, and seeing the silent expressions of the Templar Knights, he nodded, "Alright, then let's begin the operational planning meeting."

……

Three days later, the delegation, carrying the banner of the Holy City, crossed the Inland Sea as scheduled and arrived in Concordia, the capital of the Kingdom of Saint Ararat, which faces the eastern part of Morning Star Ridge across the sea.

Since Ella's power has grown so much that even Ye Xiao rarely has the opportunity to personally engage in battle, dispatching squads under the Holy Knights is more than enough for general investigations and the elimination of the Dark Cult.

This trip to the Royal Palace of Saint Ararat was his first special operation in a month.

Unlike the Gulf ports in the western part of the Inland Sea, which were home to the poor, Concordia was clearly much more prosperous.

The port, teeming with ships, was bustling with traffic and people. The streets were decorated with lanterns and colorful ribbons that fluttered in the air like flower petals.

Waterways extending from the inland sea penetrate deep into the city, forming a dense network of canals that crisscross among the magnificent, towering marble skyscrapers.

Thanks to this unique water city structure, countless artistic bridge piers and ships form the main theme of the city's landscape.

Although the Kingdom of Saint Ara was nominally a vassal state of the Holy Temple, it was ultimately a cross-border negotiation. Therefore, this delegation was personally led by the newly appointed Holy Maiden of Light, Ella, while Ye Xiao accompanied her as a servant knight, as usual.

It wasn't that Elado valued the other party highly; it was just that the Holy City had executed too many corrupt priests the previous month. Although she had many capable military officers around her, such as Julius, Augustus, Decali, Orfindo, and so on, she had very few capable civil officials under her command.

As a result, many of her high-ranking priest positions are currently vacant. However, as the saying goes, "better to have none than to have bad ones," she would rather temporarily fill these positions by transferring people from the Loren Sanctuary than force herself to keep those with questionable character.

As the ferry from the Holy City docked at the port, the sampan lowered, and Ella, draped in a snow-white gown, slowly stepped out of the ship, surrounded by a group of envoys in holy robes and silver-armored Templar Knights.

Ye Xiao remained nonchalant, hands in his pockets, following Ella alongside several guards and knights.

The delegation appeared to consist of several hundred people. Since the Holy Maiden herself was present, the etiquette observed by the Kingdom of Saint Ara was quite thorough.

A line of lavishly decorated carriages had been waiting at the port for some time. The Santa Ararat Royal Guard rode tall horses with silver saddles, blue feathers on their helmets, and gleaming silver knight's swords at their waists.

"By the Holy Light, we await the arrival of the Holy Maiden in Concordia."

On the Saint Ara side, the person who met with the church was a man dressed in a magnificent silver-white suit. He led a group of accompanying officials forward, removed their hats, and bowed respectfully to Ella.

"On behalf of His Majesty the King of Saint Ara, I extend my sincere greetings and welcome to the Noble Saintess and all the dignitaries of the Holy Church."

"I am Foreign Minister Abec de Saint-Ara, His Majesty's personal envoy, and I am honored to serve as the representative of this diplomatic mission."

After the elaborate formalities and greetings, Ella and her entourage boarded a carriage and headed along the wide and grand avenue toward the majestic palace in the distance.

The sky was clear and bright along the way, with colorful ribbons fluttering in the air. Large parades dressed in brightly colored costumes could be seen performing along the route, carrying huge, colorful animal signs as they passed through the streets. The streets were filled with lively crowds, and the joyful music from the circus theaters could be heard continuously.

In the spacious carriage of the delegation, Ella leaned against the window and, seeing these sights, asked Abete, who was sitting diagonally across from her, with great interest.

Is your country holding some kind of celebration recently?

"Oh, the capital is currently holding a carnival. Every year in early April, the people of Concordia celebrate the passing of winter and the arrival of spring in this way."

Ella nodded slightly, seemingly understanding, but in reality, she was just asking a question she already knew the answer to.

This wasn't exactly private information, so she already knew the city was going to celebrate a festival before she even arrived.

As a result, many members of the Fourth Knights have disguised themselves as citizens participating in the carnival and infiltrated the city in the past few days.

People from the vicinity of Concordia were heading to the city for the festival, so their infiltration was difficult to detect due to the surge in crowds.

This is probably why some villainous organizations always like to cause trouble on holidays; crowds and chaos often present the best opportunities for infiltration.

Of course, Ella doesn't consider herself a villain, but her strategies are often universal.

Led by the Royal Guard, the magnificent motorcade slowly drove through the throngs of people. Along the roadside, many citizens could be seen forgetting their Templar attire and crossing their fingers in a gesture of worship.

As a vassal state of the Holy Temple, the majority of its people undoubtedly still hold the Holy Light in high esteem.

Chapter Five: Day of Carnival