When stepping back onto the streets of Bright Light City, it was evident that the patrolling Knight Templars had become much more frequent.

Every distance traveled revealed numerous notices posted by the church, depicting the wanted poster of the black-and-white mask.

These were scenes not seen the day before.

Such a large-scale mobilization indicated that the real situation in Bright Light City last night was much more severe than the so-called rumors.

Perhaps due to the accurate depiction of the black-and-white mask this time, Miss Violet, wearing the 【Dominion of the Fox Mask】, still attracted many glances from passersby, especially the attention of the patrolling Knight Templars.

However, due to the significant difference between the two masks, no one actively confronted her today.

Smoothly, the fox girl made her way directly to her destination.

Bright Light City has nine districts, each with its own temple, but the central Bright Light District houses the largest and most magnificent Bright Light Temple, where the Saintess usually resides. Yesterday, someone had been escorted here for a visit, but this was her first time visiting proactively.

Walking past the bustling square with the towering statue of the Goddess of Light, with worshippers and pilgrims constantly flowing in, she arrived at the imposing and solemn entrance of the Bright Light Temple.

Despite the increased patrol and lockdown measures throughout the city, the area around the Bright Light District’s temple still seemed to retain the same harmonious atmosphere as yesterday.

The holy knights in white armor patrolled back and forth around the temple, while priests and nuns, providing various services including medical, administrative, and prayer services, sat behind counters in the spacious main hall. They listened to the grievances of the people standing in long lines and addressed their various issues.

These services were mostly free, especially for official followers of the Goddess. Only when certain relatively expensive and non-recoverable resources were needed did one have to report to higher bishops, request allocation and approval, and pay a portion of the amount.

Additionally, for followers of the Goddess, this amount often came with discounts and reductions, and in some specific cases, could even be completely free.

It was due to such extensive benefits that the number of followers of the Goddess among the over one billion inhabitants of the Holy Empire reached a staggering 80-90%.

In other words, as long as the conditions were met and one was of sound mind, local inhabitants of the Holy Empire rarely refused to officially join the church.

Of course, the overt reasons were never stated so plainly.

Not long after entering the main hall of the temple, a young female cleric, or nun, wearing a golden round hat, approached with a welcoming smile.

“Praise the Goddess. May the Light be with you. Welcome to the Bright Light Church. How can we assist you today?”

Although the young nun’s actions and smile seemed routine, and her gaze was clearly fixed on the fox mask worn by the young lady, perhaps the faint aura of light naturally emanating from a cleric, along with her delicate features and tidy clerical robes, gave a good first impression.

Overall, she managed to garner positive feelings on their first meeting.

In fact, aside from those who joined the church solely for personal gain, most of the genuinely devoted clerics that Violet had encountered so far, whether they were Knight Templars or those providing unpaid assistance and medical care, including the highest leader of the Western Capital, Saintess Yuna, seemed quite reliable.

These people truly appeared to have a sincere devotion to the light and faith, in simpler terms, they were good people.

If it were otherwise, the Goddess Church wouldn’t have been able to establish temples almost worldwide and attract a massive following that constitutes over one-third of the global population.

Though she was musing over various thoughts internally, the young lady, with her emotions fully concealed behind the fox mask, simply nodded calmly and said, “Hello, I’m Dawn. I’m looking for the person in charge here.”

There was no other way, she couldn’t just say, “I want to see your boss, the Saintess Yuna!”—that would likely get her kicked out as a troublemaker. So, she had to be a bit more tactful.

“Alright, if you want to… huh? Did you just say your name was…?!”

The young nun’s odd reaction caught her off guard. The white fox lady hesitated, but after the young nun stared at her for a moment and then said, “Sorry! Please wait here for a moment!” she quickly turned and hurried away, leaving Violet standing there, puzzled and expressionless behind her mask.

What on earth is going on?

Though confused, Violet couldn’t just turn and leave since the nun had specifically asked her to wait. So she stayed put, waiting for the young nun to return.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long. In under a minute, the nun returned with a middle-aged man dressed as another cleric, and they both hurried out from the inner hall.

This new arrival was clearly not just an ordinary cleric like the previous one.

The common method for identifying clerics in the Goddess Church was through the holy emblem they wore. Most basic-level adherents had emblems shaped like double wings, with different colors representing varying ranks and seniority: white, silver, and gold, in ascending order.

The white double-winged holy emblem represents the most basic level of clerics, which constitutes over half of the members in the Goddess Church. It is a rank that anyone can obtain simply by registering. Many who join the church for the benefits are in this category.

To advance to higher ranks, one needs to put in more effort and contributions, which are mostly unpaid, making it a case of “hard work with little reward.” Besides changing the color of the holy emblem, there is no significant difference in treatment.

The nun Violet encountered earlier wore the higher-level silver double-winged emblem, indicating she had been providing unpaid assistance in the temple for at least several years.

Even so, she was still just an ordinary cleric with a relatively low status in the temple. A qualitative change in status requires reaching the four-winged emblem level.

Achieving a four-winged emblem typically requires serving in the temple for ten to twenty years or more, or making significant contributions such as defeating heretics or major demons. This rank is usually at least equivalent to the bishop of a regional or town temple.

For example, the cleric brought by the nun appeared to be in his early thirties but wore the highest-level gold four-winged emblem. This suggests he is likely the highest-ranking administrator of the main hall of the Bright Light Temple, possibly a key figure in the inner circle of Saintess Yuna.

Moving up further, the highest level, the six-winged emblem, is reserved for extremely high-ranking individuals such as direct descendants of the three divine beings, Holy Council members, popes, or saints. Individuals like Edwina, and the Saintess Yuna, fall into this category.

At this level, the color of the holy emblem is entirely based on the purity of one’s faith, or more simply, the “light affinity” that Violet mentioned.

“Ha… ha… Are you… Miss Dawn?”

Without much small talk, the cleric, who seemed not very adept at physical labor, came gasping to Violet and got straight to the point.

“Yes, that’s me. It looks like Yuna isn’t here?”

“Uh, actually… Eh? How did you know?”

The bishop, initially surprised by Violet’s accurate deduction, was momentarily stunned but then shook his head helplessly.

“Your keen observation is truly deserving of her Highness the Saintess’s special message… Yes, as Miss Dawn guessed, her Highness the Saintess left the Bright Light Temple not long ago to handle important matters elsewhere.”

“Before leaving, her Highness the Saintess specifically instructed me to inform you—【Sorry, let’s meet at the old place. Something has come up here, so I’ve already gone ahead.】”

“Mm… is that all?”