Chapter 604 – Angels and Candy

After Miliel realized the importance of emotions, she began looking for ways to suppress her own growth rate.

Unfortunately, angels were destined to walk the path of collecting faith.

Even though Miliel was a mixed-feather angel discriminated against by other angels, she was still a pureblood angel. The angelic power in her bloodline would naturally grow with age, and her emotions would weaken as her angelic power increased.

Once her angelic power reached a certain threshold and her emotions were completely lost, the Ring of Faith would coalesce.

She would then naturally become a cold, unfeeling High-Ranking Angel.

Unless she consumed candy, which could increase an angel’s positive emotional fluctuations and thereby suppress the growth of angelic power.

And so Luwen chose to settle in the Sacred Cemetery — the only place in the Holy City with a large area of plantable land. He then went into the Sacred Mountains to gather various sweet plants, which he planted and used to boil syrup and make candy, helping Miliel hold on to her emotions.

Miliel, in turn, used holy light magic to protect Luwen, preventing the Holy Light radiated by other angels from stripping away his emotions and assimilating him into a zealot. She also procured magical notes from human light-element mages for him, allowing him to become a mage apprentice.

One person and one angel, striving for each other’s lucidity, gradually built a bond that transcended friendship.

But as time passed, Miliel’s demand for candy grew ever higher.

The candy that Luwen could grow and make on his own was no longer enough to meet Miliel’s needs.

Later, a newcomer to the Holy City brought news of the Dawn Society. Luwen and Miliel heard that by joining the Dawn Society, they could exchange one-time-use magical energy for all kinds of candy.

So they joined the Dawn Society.

Luwen’s daily psychic power as a mage apprentice and Miliel’s angelic power were all converted into Gem Coins to buy candy.

Angelic power had a relatively high energy grade, so the exchange rate with Gem Coins was quite favorable.

It was only thanks to the candy cards in the Dawn Society that they managed to hold on for several more years.

But now, Miliel’s angelic power was once again on the verge of becoming uncontainable.

Candy not made from light-attribute ingredients had virtually no effect on her anymore. Even eating a huge pile every day could only slightly slow the growth of her angelic power.

After Mo Lan told Luwen about the magic candy shop that day, he had kept it in mind and deliberately saved up several days’ worth of Gem Coins, planning to buy a batch for Miliel to try.

Today, Luwen and Miliel had come together.

While Luwen was waiting in line outside, Miliel grew bored and quietly slipped into the shop by traveling along a beam of light.

She witnessed with her own eyes a Light-Shadow Sprite that had tried to sneak into the Candy Coin exchange being caught red-handed and instantly burned into light elemental force.

Light-Shadow Sprites were created by low-ranking angels from a portion of angelic power essence separated from their own bodies, carefully nurtured to play in the mortal world — an existence similar to a clone.

Losing one was no small loss.

That was why she hadn’t followed Luwen into the Candy Coin exchange afterward.

Luwen’s memories cut off at the point when he entered the candy exchange and took out his Gem Coin Card.

After reading through everything, Mo Lan had gained a much deeper understanding of the angel race. However, truly useful information about angel holy light magic and faith magic was still scarce in Luwen’s memories.

It couldn’t be helped — Miliel had given up becoming a High-Ranking Angel in order to preserve her emotions, and faith magic was something only High-Ranking Angels had access to.

Furthermore, to avoid exposing her relationship with Luwen, she had never visited him in the Holy City in her true form. She had always stayed by his side in the form of a Light-Shadow Sprite.

Light-Shadow Sprites had no combat ability whatsoever. The only holy light magic Luwen had ever heard Miliel mention was one she had imbued into an angel figurine pendant — a spell that protected him from being assimilated by the Holy Light within the Holy City while simultaneously disguising him as a Hermit. It was called “Holy Light Mark.”

Mo Lan compiled everything she had found in Luwen’s memories and posted it in the Eight-Times-Speed Gossip Alliance group chat.

【Garona: So Luwen really isn’t a Hermit after all!】

【Bella: He hid it so well. We’ve been in the Holy City for years and never noticed.】

【Camilla: Luwen lives alone in a cemetery, rarely going out. It’s normal that no one noticed anything unusual about him.】

【Agnes: So the romance gossip is real too! A mage apprentice and a low-ranking angel, tsk tsk…】

【Melinda: This is the first time I’ve heard that the price of an angel advancing and coalescing a Ring of Faith is losing the emotions of a normal living being. Luwen was right — without emotions, you’re no longer yourself.】

【Evelyn: No wonder the angels recorded in history books always come across as cold and hypocritical, as if they aren’t real people. Turns out they lost their emotions long ago and became slaves to faith.】

【Camilla: I actually feel a bit sorry for them!】

【Euphemia: More than that, I’m more concerned about whether the angels have actually given up on the faith power of Valen’s living beings. Why are they still secretly releasing their Holy Light beyond the Gate of Heaven?】

【Garona: The High-Ranking Angels probably look down on it, but those who have just coalesced their Ring of Faith and haven’t collected any faith power yet — it’s entirely possible they’re using the people in the Holy City for practice.】

【Bella: How strange. Isn’t the magical energy that angels command angelic power? What are Holy Light and faith power, then?】

【Moira: We still need to get our hands on an angel’s memories to figure out the angel magic system.】

【Garona: Luwen’s memories mentioned that candy made from light-attribute materials works better for Miliel. She’ll probably come find you in person soon, right?】

【Moira: Hopefully!】

……

The next morning at nine o’clock, the magic candy shop opened on schedule.

Business was just as good as the day before — people were already waiting outside the shop first thing in the morning.

Unfortunately, when Mo Lan peered through the crystal glass window, there still wasn’t a single winged figure among them.

She sighed, rang the bell on her desk, and began receiving customers.

After exchanging Candy Coins for a dozen or so customers, Mo Lan saw Luwen walk into the Candy Coin exchange again.

“Is there really no way to exchange more Candy Coins at once? I’m willing to pay double — even triple — the Gem Coins.

“I can see that your candy inventory is still quite large, and you witches have magic that makes tools work on their own, don’t you? Making this candy shouldn’t cost you much effort!”

Having been turned away by other Hermits, Luwen had no choice but to come to her, the shop owner, to try to negotiate.

Mo Lan shook her head. “Not yet.”

She understood Luwen and Miliel’s predicament very well, but she was currently “fishing,” and the fish hadn’t taken the bait yet. There was no way she could dump the entire bucket of bait into the water all at once.

The reason she said “not yet” was to give them a sliver of hope.