Flora immediately realized what was happening when she heard the conversation. She stopped her steps and stood quietly on the stairs, taking advantage of the fact that no one downstairs could see her, she listened to the conversation below.

"Oh? What kind of blonde girl?" The voice of the Paladin was muffled and resonant, as if he was wearing a helmet.

"Well... I didn't have a deep impression, but she looked very lively, and she was quite beautiful," the shopkeeper's voice carried a hint of hesitation. "She was accompanied by a man... but I was quite tired at that time, so I didn't remember his appearance clearly..."

"No need to remember, take us up," the Paladin commanded.

"That's inappropriate," the shopkeeper immediately rejected. "Our inn is a high-end hotel. If we disturb the guests carelessly and word gets out, it will affect our business."

"Very well, then imagine your whole family being tied to a stake for burning in a week," the Paladin's voice started to sound dangerous, "Use your pig brain to think, fool. Don't forget what the Holy See is. The Holy See is not a servant for the likes of you, we are God's spokespersons! I cannot tell you who we are looking for, you just need to know that those two people are enemies of God. If you don't cooperate, it means disrespecting God's will, and we don't like people who disrespect God to live in this world."

The shopkeeper fell silent for a moment. "Sir Knight, I apologize, I was impolite. I will take you to find them immediately."

"That's more like it. If you dare to waste our time with nonsense again, I will personally tear your dog mouth apart."

Upon hearing this, Flora quickly ran up the stairs. She was very light, so her running made no sound and did not attract the attention of people downstairs.

Entering the room, she immediately saw Abis wiping his face with a damp towel. She quickly said, "Abis! The Holy See's people are secretly looking for us! They're coming up!"

Abis raised his head. "What's wrong? There's nothing to be afraid of. I couldn't sense even a half-Spirit among the people who came."

"Huh? Are you sure we don't need to be afraid?" Flora was taken aback.

"Just wait a moment. I had some soup on my face last night. I need to clean it off," Abis didn't care at all about the sound of the armored knights coming upstairs. He used the hotel's window as a mirror and patiently wiped his chin.

Bang!

The door was kicked open, and a group of fully armed Paladins rushed in, followed by a resentful shopkeeper.

"Paladins of the Holy See, searching by order! Come and submit to inspection!" The leading Paladin shouted loudly. He wore a suit of armor adorned with exquisite patterns, carried a slim double-handed sword on his back, and his whole body burned with fierce Fighting Spirit flames, showing his high proficiency in Fighting Spirit and his high rank in the Holy See.

"Get lost," Abis didn't even glance at him, and said indifferently. An imperceptible wave of Magic quietly spread.

All the Paladins trembled simultaneously. The leading Paladin suddenly turned around and gave orders, "We have checked, the people we're looking for are not here. Let's go!"

"Yes!" The rest of the Paladins didn't care about the guests still sleeping in the inn. They answered loudly and without hesitation, then turned and left. In the blink of an eye, they had left the hotel, their footsteps gone unheard.

"Boss, don't leave yet. Return our deposit to us, we're leaving," Abis finally finished wiping his face and said to the bewildered shopkeeper standing at the door.

The expression on the shopkeeper's face was complex. On one hand, he was surprised that Abis had managed to drive away the Paladins with just one sentence, and on the other hand, he felt relieved because Abis had directly driven away the Paladins.

"Your deposit is ten Empire Coins. I will give it to you now," the shopkeeper nodded and walked over, putting a coin with a ten Empire Coin face value on the table. "Thank you for driving away the Paladins for me. Although I don't know who you are, I won't mention it to anyone."

"Why have the Paladins become so arrogant these days?" Flora suddenly asked. "I remember the Paladins used to call themselves the protectors of the righteous and wouldn't easily resort to punishment against believers.""That was all a long time ago," the shopkeeper listened to the noise downstairs and confirmed that there were no more holy knights before speaking angrily, "when that holy knight wouldn't harm a hair on anyone, I was still a child. At that time, Pope Hendrik III was in power. He allocated the funds of the Holy See to education, establishing schools in major cities of the Western Empire, providing free education to children in the cities, and financially assisting artisans and small merchants who had gone bankrupt due to accidents. Everyone loved him. There were no such holy knights back then, where could you find them?"

"What happened after that?" Flora's voice sounded a little disappointed.

The shopkeeper sneered, "Then the holy maiden of that time died shortly after because her body was too weak and she caught a sudden illness. Pope Hendrik III had raised her since she was a child and treated her like his own daughter. After the holy maiden's death, he had an accident due to mental confusion and died."

"It's such a tragedy," Abis said beside them.

"Who can deny that, the next pope, immediately cancelled the construction of schools throughout the country. The schools that had already been built started charging exorbitant fees. Children from ordinary families couldn't afford it at all," the shopkeeper said angrily, "The money that was once given to the people couldn't be recovered, so they imposed a tax on all merchants in their jurisdiction, called the homage tax. They claimed that the previous pope had disrespected the gods, and this money would be used to build new statues to make up for the previous pope's mistake. Merchants who didn't pay the tax were tied to the stake, and no one dared to defy their orders. I don't know if this money was eventually used for the gods, but the equipment of the Holy Knights of the Holy See suddenly became magnificent, and their numbers quickly increased."

"I understand... thank you," Flora's voice became even more subdued. She bit her lower lip and put the money from the table into her pocket.

"You better leave the city quickly. These holy knights are going mad and we don't know what their purpose is for capturing a girl like you," the shopkeeper said, "since the new pope took office, the selection of holy knights has become arbitrary. Some of them are even just thugs who have transformed themselves. They rely on the will of the gods and act arrogantly, especially in cities with stronger influence of the Holy See like ours. If you don't leave soon, you might end up being rounded up by them."

"We'll leave, Flora," Abis stood up, "I'll say it again, you can tell me your wish anytime."

"Well..." Flora wanted to say something, but she tightly sealed her lips.

"Go buy some clothes. The princess is still waiting for us to come back," Abis held Flora's hand and pulled her along.