"Fried Tofu..."
Phoenix looked helplessly at the excited girl before her.
"We're not in Japan or China. There's no Fried Tofu here."
"No Fried Tofu? Then no tofu at all? Phoenix-nee, just buy regular tofu and make it yourself! I love your Fried Tofu the most!" Higokumaru's face fell momentarily, but she quickly brightened as she gazed at Phoenix with anticipation.
"Tofu... Let's see if we can find some! If it's available, no problem. If not, once we finish here, I'll take you to Japan and China."
This is the Vatican. How could they possibly sell tofu here?
Still, after completing the second main quest, Phoenix planned to check out the third. If nothing urgent came up, she intended to make a trip to China and Japan.
This was the Vatican—how could they possibly sell tofu here?
Still, after completing the second main quest, Phoenix planned to check out the third. If nothing urgent came up, she intended to visit China and Japan.
The trip to China was for the leader of the Holy Cult of the Five Mountains—Luo Hao, the Martial Arts King of Jiangnan.
Why seek her out? Besides wanting to temper that vile personality, Phoenix planned to make her a little brother... ah no, a little sister.
As the ruler of China, while her power might suffice in this world, her character was lacking! She needed to become a proper martial arts monarch.
After all, this was China's territory—even if not the China Phoenix guarded, it couldn't fall to others.
If she didn't properly educate Luo Hao, what would happen if the original events unfolded after Phoenix left?
Thus, she had to go—make her understand there are always greater heights beyond the heavens!
As for Japan, the purpose was naturally to find a certain miko. Yuri Mariya, a high-ranking miko within the spiritual group guarding the Kantō region, belonged to the sequence of rare high-ranking "hime-miko."
As for why she was chosen?
This wasn't due to Phoenix's sudden miko obsession acting up, but rather because she shared the same ambition as Marquis Voban—the eldest Campione among the current generation, possessing the most divine powers, and one who found amusement in slaying gods.
By using high-ranking mikos and witches to summon Heretic Gods, then slaughtering them to obtain divine powers and earn Crystals.
After all, while Heretic Gods freed from their mythologies were relatively common in this world, they remained a minority. Rather than slowly dispatching people to search for these entities, summoning them oneself was undoubtedly faster and more certain.
One might spend years failing to locate a single Heretic God, but with proper preparation, one could summon one within months.
Beyond this reason, Phoenix had no intention of overlooking the Heretic Gods in Japan either.
That hypocritical Susanoo, and the monkey caged on the island nation. (Phoenix refused to acknowledge it as Sun Wukong, let alone the "Great Sage, Heaven's Equal"—it was merely a fabricated, false monkey!)
Still, as a Heretic God of China, even if it was just a monkey, Phoenix wouldn't allow its existence to continue unchecked.
She felt compelled to grant it release, while conveniently earning some Crystals in the process.
Then she'd simply gather some miko from Japan to serve as maids!
Phoenix had to admit that because of Yae Sakura, Kikyō, Reimu Hakurei, and other adorable anime miko girls, she seemed to have developed a miko fetish.
Of course, this miko fetish only applied to those cute anime miko girls that existed solely in the two-dimensional world. Real-life old ladies could be left out of the equation.
In reality, professional miko must all be old ladies, right? Any younger ones would definitely just be apprentice miko.
Indeed, only the cute, beautiful, and sacred miko girls exist in the two-dimensional world.
"Higokumaru, do you like pretty clothes? Let's go out and buy you some later, okay?"
Shaking off her wandering thoughts, Phoenix looked at the adorable Higokumaru before her and asked in a low voice.
"Pretty clothes? Yes!"
Higokumaru nodded immediately at these words.
"Then it's settled!"
Phoenix put the book she was holding back on the shelf and prepared to take Higokumaru out for a stroll.
But at that moment, a priest dressed in what appeared to be high-ranking robes approached Phoenix cautiously. He bowed his head and addressed her in a deferential tone: "Your Holiness."
"What is it?"
Turning to look at the priest before her, Phoenix noticed he wore a scarlet cardinal's robe embroidered with silver crosses. The richly decorated garment was woven with golden and silver threads, adorned with mystical runes symbolizing Christianity. Delicately carved into its fabric were miniature scenes from biblical mythology, crafted with exquisite precision.
Having some knowledge of Christianity in this world, Phoenix recognized this as a Bishop.
The Bishops here differed from those in the Honkai World.
After all, in this world, Christianity had a Pope at its helm. In contrast, the Schicksal organization in the Honkai World's highest position was the Archbishop, who essentially served as their equivalent of a Pope.
Here, the Pope stood as the supreme authority of the earthly Church. Beneath the Pope... there existed several Archbishops.
Though not quite on par with the Pope, these bishops still wield supreme authority and power.
The fact that the Church of the Cross dispatched a bishop to come like an errand boy, rather than delegating the task to a subordinate, clearly demonstrated their high regard for Phoenix.
Thus, Phoenix remained quite satisfied.
"We've already notified the 'Seven Sisters' faction of the Mage Association in your name, O King," the bishop explained with utmost respect. "However, they require some time because... Italy is considered the domain of the King of Swords, though he's never officially acknowledged it."
The King of Swords, Salvatore Doni, was the sixth Campione. Apart from Phoenix, he was the most recently appointed.
Just a few years ago, he was merely a knight. After defeating the Celtic god-king "Nuada of the Silver Arm," he earned the right to be called a king.
He was hailed as Europe's strongest swordsman and revered by local mages as their leader. A heretical genius who excelled in swordsmanship but knew nothing else.
Luo Hao, the leader of the Luo Hao Cult, had this to say about him: "In terms of swordsmanship alone, his technique is comparable to mine. But in other martial arts, he's completely outmatched."
The King of Swords, however, had little interest in matters beyond combat, being a self-willed troublemaker par excellence.
The Bishop gazed at the Phoenix before him, feeling deeply satisfied.
When Doni became a Campione, all powers in Southern Europe had scrambled to pledge their allegiance.
Yet the King of Swords cared nothing for their overtures, acting entirely as he pleased. But because he was the king, none dared voice their discontent.
Now, the new king before him, though sharing origins with the leader of China's Holy Cult of the Five Mountains, found the church to be the first power to swear fealty.
As the first to pledge allegiance - whether through coercion or choice - this new king's position far surpassed that of subsequent followers.
"King of Swords, I see. Leave the rest to me. You needn't concern yourselves with it."
Phoenix nodded calmly at these words. A fool. Nothing to worry about.