Chapter 486: 446 "Maya Feit
"Huh?"
The priestess exclaimed in surprise.
For before her eyes, the man who had just posed like a demon, had suddenly sent back the rat swarm he had summoned.
The disappearance of the man-eating rats indeed allowed the priestess to breathe a sigh of relief, but the man’s unexpected retreat also surprised her.
What surprised the priestess even more was that he seemed to have even canceled the magic that paralyzed her, although he did not cancel the magic that drained her strength, at least she could move now.
"Stand up,"
Reiger spoke calmly as if he had done something very trivial.
"..."
The priestess couldn’t grasp the man’s attitude or thoughts, deeply looked at him, and then stood up.
"My name is Reiger Brillhaut," Reiger looked at the priestess and asked, "What is your name?"
The priestess did not answer immediately, but was silent for a while before speaking.
"Maya Feit."
That was how she introduced herself.
"Miss Feit, right?" Reiger nodded and said, "Although there are many things I still don’t understand, from the information you’ve revealed so far, we may not be enemies."
"Not enemies?" said the priestess who called herself Maya, "So, you’re not here for this city or for the temple in the city?"
"That’s not necessarily the case," Reiger shrugged, openly stating, "I won’t speak for others, but for myself, after discovering this city, I did have the idea of exploring here to see if there’s anything valuable."
"If that’s the case, we have nothing more to say," Maya stated coldly, "My mission is to protect this city, to guard the temple of the god, and since your goal is to take things from here, we are undoubtedly enemies."
"That’s okay," Reiger said indifferently, "Having different stances naturally leads to enmity; I can understand that. However, I do have some questions unanswered, and if you’re willing to answer them, I don’t necessarily have to offend this city."
"...I’ve told you, I no longer trust you outsiders," Maya had not relaxed her stance, still speaking with hostility, "Unless you leave immediately, I won’t tell you anything."
"Don’t speak too soon," Reiger’s tone remained indifferent, "Let’s set aside the matter of this city and that temple for now. Can you first tell me about those outsiders who deceived you, as you mentioned?"
"If it’s about them, that shouldn’t involve your mission, right?"
"Rather, since they deceived you, you and they are undoubtedly enemies. In that case, what does it matter if you leak their information to me?"
"Or do you prefer to keep their secrets?"
Reiger’s words deeply furrowed Maya’s brow.
Reiger did not hurry, quietly waiting for Maya to gather her thoughts.
After a while, Maya lifted her head and looked at Reiger again.
"Why are you so concerned about those despicable deceivers?"
With eyes beneath the mask staring intensely at Reiger, as if trying to see through his thoughts and discern any lies, Maya questioned.
Reiger was blunt.
"Because, they might be the masterminds who trapped me here and contrived against me in the shadows."
Yes, Reiger suspected that those who had deceived Maya, were the very ones controlling the magic puppeteers and the subterranean monster Yarakulon from behind the scenes.
The reason was simple.
Firstly, it was clear that they had acquired ancient magic civilization technology from somewhere, thereby manufacturing numerous magic puppeteers and peculiar artifacts.
This made one wonder where exactly did their technology to produce magic puppeteers and peculiar artifacts come from? Could it be from this very city?
Secondly, they were in some unknown relation with the subterranean monster Yarakulon, enabling it to coordinate with them, and even transport the magic puppeteers here to ambush Reiger.
If so, the party must be able to move freely inside Yarakulon and possess thorough understanding of Yarakulon, whom they referred to as the sacred beast Lord. Thus, knowing about this ancient city wouldn’t be surprising at all.
Based on these points, Reiger suspected that those masterminds acquired the technology of the ancient magic civilization from this ancient city, gaining knowledge to create magic puppeteers and peculiar artifacts.
For some reason, they could move freely inside the subterranean monster Yarakulon, and upon discovering this ancient city, aimed to take away valuable objects from it, thus they deceived Maya who guarded the city, leading her into the temple, where they discovered the technology to create magic puppeteers and peculiar artifacts.
This speculation was the reason why Reiger was concerned about those outsiders who had deceived Maya.
After all, Reiger didn’t believe that others, who like himself had entered inside Yarakulon and discovered this ancient city, entering earlier than him, would walk away empty-handed after deceiving Maya.
"You came here because of those despicable people’s scheming?" Unaware of all this, Maya initially stared blankly at Reiger’s statement, then exclaimed in astonishment, "Weren’t you accidentally swallowed by Yarakulon and ended up here?"
"No," Reiger shook his head and said, "I was deliberately plotted against and fell in here."
Reiger briefly explained his own ordeal.
"Impossible," Maya expressed some disbelief and said, "How could anyone possibly manipulate Yarakulon?"
Reiger really wanted to ask Maya why the Ancient City was inside Yarakulon and why she claimed to be the guardian of this city.
But given the hostile attitude she had previously shown, it was highly likely that she wouldn’t answer honestly.
Therefore, Reiger could only focus the conversation on the despicable people Maya mentioned.
"Whether you believe it or not, that’s the truth," Reiger said. "Anyway, I want to know about those people. If you don’t want to talk about it, then forget it."
This tactic is known as retreating to advance.
With no choice left, since Maya was impervious to both persuasion and magic manipulation, Reiger was at a loss if she didn’t want to speak.
Of course, if it really became necessary, Reiger thought he still might consider which "dishonorable means" to use to get her to cooperate.
Fortunately, after pondering with a frown for a while, Maya finally loosened up.
"You’re right; I have no need to keep secrets for those despicable people," Maya snorted and said. "Since you want to know about them, I’ll tell you."
With that, Maya began her story.
The story was actually very simple, so simple that, at first, Maya really thought it was just a chance encounter.
"When I found them, they were in the midst of a fierce battle with the giant gate guardians," Maya said.
"There weren’t many of them, about six or seven, but they were formidable. Not only could some fight against two of the giant gate guardians simultaneously, but others emitted a dangerous aura that made me feel outmatched."
"When they saw me, although they were quite surprised, they kept stating that they had no hostile intentions."
"They claimed that they were swallowed by Yarakulon which had suddenly appeared from beneath the earth during their travels, and had been fending off magical beasts, looking for a way out, without realizing they had ended up here," Maya said.
"I believed their words, and so I invited them into the city and spent some time with them," Maya continued.
Clearly, it was during this time that these outsiders gained Maya’s trust.
After believing their words, Maya gradually trusted them and let her guard down.
"They said they had nowhere to go, that outside there were magical beasts everywhere, and asked if I could shelter them until they found a way to leave."
"I agreed."
"They said they wanted to find a place to settle down and asked me to show them around the city."
"I agreed."
"Later, they expressed a strong curiosity about the temple and wanted to go in and take a look."
"After much hesitation, I finally agreed."
"I thought, the temple had not been prayed in for a long time, and the gods might feel lonely. It also saddened me that there were no more believers here, so I thought since people were visiting, even if it was just to offer one prayer, it would be a joyous matter."
"Who knew that they would take advantage of my unpreparedness, knock me out, and by the time I woke up, many treasures in the temple had been taken away," Maya recounted.
At this point, Maya’s tone carried a strong anger.
"I wanted to chase after them, dismantle them piece by piece, to make them repent for desecrating the gods and this city, but because of my duty, I couldn’t leave the city for long, nor could I venture too far," Maya said furiously, "Those deceitful villains just disappeared without a trace! It’s infuriating! Outrageous!"
"Really?" Reiger didn’t empathize, but merely asked, "When did this happen?"
This question received an unexpected answer.
"I don’t know."
Maya answered decisively.
"Huh?"
Reiger was taken aback.
"That’s why I say, I don’t know," Maya stated confidently. "I only wake up when the giant gate guardians activate, and the giant gate guardians only activate when someone approaches the city. Other than that, I’m always sleeping, so I really have no idea how much time has passed."
Hearing this, Reiger finally understood why the priestess seemed puzzled by the term "ancient magical civilization."