"Sigh, I wonder how Edwina is doing now. Although she often does inexplicable things that raise everyone’s blood pressure, it feels a bit lonely without her.”

In the newly departed carriage, a young woman wearing a white fox mask sighed softly.

Not far away, Rene was meditating in a corner, emanating a faint magical aura, while her sister silently stood guard beside her.

On the other side, a dragon lady was intently focused on the chessboard, her black pieces making a clicking sound as she fidgeted with them. Only Theresa, who was engaged in the game, took a moment to respond.

“Miss Edwina should be in the Eastern Capital of the Holy Empire by now. I heard it’s one of the main strongholds of the Goddess Church, managed by the Lambert family, one of the three divine bloodline families. The highest decision-making body of the Holy Empire, the Holy Church, is also located there.”

“Speaking of which, I’ve been meaning to ask: why do the Lambert and Summerfield families, out of the three divine bloodlines, each control major cities like the Eastern and Western Capitals, while the Cecilia family seems to have no fixed residence? Doesn’t that make them seem quite weak?”

“Ha… The Cecilia family is not weak at all. From a certain perspective, Edwina is actually the true definition of a super heiress.”

Seeming to finally get a bit interested, Violet put down the seemingly never-ending book she was reading and raised a finger to explain.

“The Cecilia family, while being of divine bloodline, is also a commercial family. Although they don’t have a fixed base like the other two divine bloodlines, their hundreds of branches and trading firms are spread almost all over the world.”

“Not only within the Holy Empire, but also in the Human United Kingdom, the Austre Empire, and even in the northernmost frozen snowlands and many small countries, they have established outposts. Theresa, don’t you think this is far more impressive than merely occupying a single city?”

At this point, the young lady in the white fox mask presented a hypothesis.

“The Lambert and Summerfield families are both rooted in religion, sharing a mutually beneficial relationship with the Holy Empire. But the Cecilia family is different. Even if the Holy Empire undergoes a major upheaval and the political system led by the three divine bloodlines collapses, they can still continue to thrive steadily. That’s the advantage of being a commercial family.”

“Oh~”

The green-haired girl nodded as if understanding, then suddenly seemed to have a realization and exclaimed.

“Wait, does that mean Miss Edwina must be very wealthy!? But… I never really sensed that before…”

“Ahaha… Perhaps she, as a Holy Knight, is intentionally maintaining a frugal and economical lifestyle. After all, one of the doctrines of the Goddess Church is to avoid ‘pride, luxury, and indulgence.’”

“I see…”

“Hey, it’s your turn to make a move.”

The dragon lady’s slightly impatient voice came from behind. Theresa quickly turned around, apologizing awkwardly with her hands clasped together while resuming her observation of the game’s progress.

With no one to chat with, the white fox lady could only smile helplessly and began to review the information she had gathered recently, as well as the hidden details from their recent encounter on the 【Holy Spirit Trail】.

To be honest, since they entered Saint Star City and encountered Minglan, who claimed to be from the Spirit Veil Tribe and the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild, their journey within the Holy Empire had become increasingly enigmatic.

First, the other party knew her assumed name beforehand, casually mentioned the 【Dominion of the Fox Mask】, and claimed that “Dawn” was the 【Fox Spirit Shrine Maiden】 who had been missing from their clan for a long time. They also brought up the deity 【Divine Fox】, a god that Violet had never heard of before.

To verify, she later contacted the Goddess of Life Sethlin, who resides in the Azure Sky Kingdom, and confirmed that among the past deities, there was indeed no god named 【Divine Fox】. It was more likely some self-proclaimed “god” that only operated within a small scope, or perhaps an avatar of a deity, or a pseudonym.

As for the matter of 【Divine Fox】, that can be set aside for now. The origin of the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild is also shrouded in mystery. According to Minglan, the chamber was founded by someone who had traveled across the seas to Spirit Veil Island, and is now managed by their successor, with the Spirit Veil Tribe providing some assistance.

But the problem is, despite its immense wealth and size—comparable to the top global conglomerates—the Cecilia Merchant Guild has no records of its founders… None at all?

Yes, absolutely none.

Not only was this confirmed through civilian means, but Violet even took the effort to use the “Invisible Space Portal” to visit Queen Lilya in the Courage City.

However, even in the Human United Kingdom’s royal archives, there were no records of the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild’s founders, as if the chamber had appeared out of nowhere.

The most bizarre aspect is that no one seemed to question this astonishing reality. Even when Violet brought this up with Queen Lilya, the queen only suggested, “Perhaps they started as a little-known small chamber, so not many people paid attention,” as a hypothesis.

In fact, according to the records, by the time the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild began to rise to prominence, its president was already in the second generation.

Despite this, Violet did not believe that someone capable of undertaking such a monumental journey to find Spirit Veil could be an ordinary person who left no mark in history. There must be some hidden secret behind this.

To get to the bottom of this issue, it seems that visiting the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild’s headquarters in the Bright Light City in the West and meeting with their current leader is the only solution.

Aside from that, the actions of the Holy Knight of the Sacred Star City, Knight Clatius, who killed his comrades to rescue a demonized girl, and the rumors circulating within the Holy Empire, along with the unresolved demonic unrest in the East, all hint at some strange trend and information.

The sudden appearance of demons seems unlikely to be a coincidence, but rather a large-scale operation with organization and planning behind it.

What Violet is curious about is what role the Spirit Veil Merchant Guild and the Spirit Veil Tribe play in this matter. Are they merely unrelated third parties, or are they secretly involved?

There are also the ongoing mysteries surrounding the damaged official road between Sacred Star City and New Aster City due to battle aftermath, the seal obtained by Leila after her advancement, and the strange magical automaton and mechanical spheres hidden underground in the 【Holy Spirit Trail】 that they encountered recently.

These things seem unrelated, but Violet has an elusive feeling that there is an invisible and intangible thread connecting them all in some form, much like the fragments of the Goddess of Earth Seth’s divinity in the Azure Sky Kingdom.

“Ah… an invisible and intangible thread, huh…”