Despite knowing what they were talking about, he acted ignorant.
"Don't be an idiot." Elora scolded the young lady right there and didn't keep her voice down.
Even though Lambard acted as if he hadn't heard their discussion, Elora knew that he heard everything. Lambard was the person who even knew their names which no one here should've known. The only time she had addressed them by their names was when they were alone inside the city.
If he managed to know even that, it meant that Lambard could hear things that happened in the city. If he heard something that happened so far away, it wasn't impossible that he couldn't hear what was happening here.
She believed that Lambard heard the suggestion of Ruyi, and yet he wasn't phased as if this wasn't a threat to him. Elora also knew the stories about this city and what happened when the Church of Light tried to bring it down. She didn't want to test that theory.
It was better to just wait for the auction and bid through it. Even though it wasted a day of theirs, it was better than picking a fight with Lambard in his own home. Outside the city, it was a different matter, but inside the city, it was impossible to defeat him from what she heard.
Moreover, Ruyi was literally suggesting theft and robbery! They were from the Holy Church of Water. A theft wasn't something that they could do. Even if they succeeded, this was going to destroy their reputation if it came out that the Head of the Church of Water herself tried to steal someone else's belongings.
"Is something the matter, Lady Elora?" Lambard asked innocently.
"Nothing. Just some stupid suggestion that I was given. Don't worry about it. If you've already decided that you can't sell that map outside of auction, we will wait for the auction in that case."
Elora took care of the situation before it could deteriorate too much. Even Lambard was impressed at her actions. Even though she was young, she was more clever than the other two who followed her. She made the right decision at the right time.
She also wasn't stubborn or adamant on something. Unlike the Head Priestesses, she didn't look for a fight.
"I think it's time we take our leave. We also need to look for a hotel. We will see you at the auction." Elora stood up gracefully before she left.
The two Head Priestesses followed her after taking a subtle glance at Lambard. They didn't know why Elora didn't go with their plan, but they just went with it.
Elora stopped right at the exit. "Lord Lambard, as I told you before, that map will be mine. I don't care who bids for it. It's just too important for me, so please keep that with care."
Lambard kept the scroll back inside the Portal, which closed. "This map is important for many, it seems. After what happened to the last Head of the Church of Water, everyone has been looking for this map, not just you. I think it's not going to be that easy for you to buy it."
"We will see that."
Elora calmly departed without arguing, but when she was worried to some extent. If what Lambard said was true, that meant there were many sides that wanted the map, and they were all going to be in the auction.
She didn't know how high the bid was going to go, but she knew she couldn't let this map go. This map contained the secret as to what happened with the last Head of the Church of Water. At any cost, she needed to get this map!
****
After Elora left, Gabriel somewhat relaxed.
"I really thought you were going to throw us off a cliff to give this ring to Elora. Thank you for not breaking your promise." Lira thanked Lambard for not taking the ring. That gave them a chance to finish their quest in the Capital City.
"Don't worry about it. I promised you the ring for a week inside the Royal City. And counting the travel time, you have the ring for a total of two weeks. I can wait two weeks to get my hands on the letters. I'm really curious what the letter was about. Just what kind of Ancient Essence would be contained in that letter."
"If there is a decent amount of essence in the letter, I might be able to know some secrets with the help of Eye of Osiris that you both are supposed to get for me. So you better succeed. I'm making a really big investment on you with this ring."
"We don't intend to fail either. Our failure only means the loss of the Eye of Osiris for you. But for us, it meant our death," Gabriel explained. "So I don't plan on failing."
"That aside, what was that Map of City of Ruins that all the Churches are interested in? Why is that?" Gabriel was still wondering about the map. The lady was really eager to get it, and so were other Churches. The Map didn't seem like anything ordinary.
"It's a long story." Lambard scratched the back of his head. "In short, the City of Ruins is none other than the City of Gods. It's the city where the Seven Gods used to live once upon a time, as I told you before. Now there's nothing left in that place… Just ruins of an era long forgotten."
"That's also considered one of the most dangerous places in the world. No matter who went there, they didn't return."
"A few years ago, the Head of the Church of Water came to me. She bought a map from me... A copy similar to what I'm putting up for auction."
"She left the Church to explore that place since she wanted to find the origins of the Gods. She was also the first person to return alive from that place, but she wasn't the same as before when she came back. She was completely blank. Her eyes didn't have any focus on what I heard, and she couldn't speak. It was as if she had seen something she shouldn't have."
"Within a few days of return, she died. After her, Elora was selected by the Holy Grimoire of Water, and you know the rest."
"Elora probably wants to go to the city as well to uncover what her predecessor saw there."
"She's not the only one though. The other Churches are also interested in that place, so they also want to go there to explore that place, but without the map that I have, it's impossible for them to know what places to avoid."
"If it's just a map, can't you make more clones of it and give one to all the Churches at a heavy price?"
"I wish I could, but the maps can't be cloned anymore. I don't know what it's about the maps, but they just can't be. I've tried many times only to fail. It's like you see the map one moment, and when you try to draw it on another paper, you just forget what you saw entirely."
"There only exist three such maps. One was sold last time, which was left behind in the City of Ruins by Elora's predecessor. I have two left. I want one for myself, and I'm selling the other through auction. A man needs money after all."
"Do you want to bid on the map as well?" Lambard asked Gabriel and Elora.
"We have more important things to do than such expirations in death zones. I'll leave that to the other Heads. It would be great if more of them died in the exploration. Would make things easier for us," Lira refused. "Anyway, we should also leave. Best of luck with your auction."
