"Order the troops to camp on the spot and guard the area, no one will be allowed to enter the ruins until I come out." Bertram gently slammed the scepter forged in gold in his hand into the snow as he gestured for the holy women and paladins to rise, "The wizards and demons of Krogothia have recently traveled through the Dunnau Mountains, so in addition to guarding against the ambush of the beastmen and greenskins in the jungles, beware of the Necrotic raids."
"As you wish, Holy Throne." Grevia and the knights behind her chorused.
The young girl slowly stood up, she reached up and gently patted down the snowy foam that clung to her knees, and gave a slight tug on the white silk pantyhose that wrapped around her slender legs in order to adjust them to a comfortable position before she fastened her clean white plush cloak around her chest.
"You should have dressed more heavily before you came out, the Virgin's dress robes, while holy may not be able to withstand the cold winds from the North." Bertram lowered his voice as he glanced at the white-gold heels and slender calves underneath Grevia's cloak, only a single layer of stockings was responsible for keeping out the cold in the far below freezing winds, "Loyalty to the Goddess is certainly important, but surely she wouldn't wish for her devotees to endure freezing and starvation either."
"Lady Vatitaya's blessings guard me, this cold is nothing." Grevia did not smile, her expression did not change too much, she only shook her head gently.
The corner of Bertram's mouth twitched quite inconspicuously as he was mentally spitting on the fervent follower of Vatitaya in front of him.
『Obsidian Goddess』Vatitaya was considered to be the most powerful god in the Order camp, but like the other Order gods, she was just an empty shell without a soul or self-awareness.
When the "Final Twilight" came, the gods stared coldly at the coming catastrophe and the destruction of all things, they said nothing, they did nothing.
The blessing of Grevia is a lone example of something that could never have happened, and she is presumably the last and only divine choice of Vatitaya.
Players don't get to meet Grevia in the game, as the character dies before the game begins, and what is written about her appears only in a passage of the backstory.
In the year 1741 of the Imperial Calendar, the Bloods who lurked in the Empire disguised as humans sensed the coming of Vatitaya's Blessing before the Church did, and at the risk of being driven to extinction by the Demon Hunters, they took off their disguises and attacked a thinly-guarded village in the Yak Territory.
By the time the demon hunters of Yak's domain and the paladins of the religious domain of Sarenz arrived on the scene, all they could see was the village burning in a blaze of fire, with shriveled and withered corpses piled up in the square - the vile blood-eaters had hosted a feast here, and not a single survivor had been left behind.
The legendary god-chosen of Vatitaya died in the background.
Players often discuss just how many percent of the winnings she could have pulled back for the Empire as the only Divine Chosen in the Order camp if Grevia hadn't died at the hands of those Blood Pretenders.
It's now 1753 in the Imperial Calendar, and with Grevia still alive and even becoming the Virgin of the Church of the Scorched Sun, history has changed.
The one person who can change all that is obviously Bertram, who twelve years ago crouched in the Yak Territory and rescued Gravia from the fangs of the Blood Eaters, where she almost died.
Unfortunately, there are still regrets about this rescue.
The Blood Clan disguising humans is a gift, more subtle and difficult to detect than any kind of illusion magic, which is why the Blood Clan's inner circle during the 『The Final Twilight』 period was quite a headache for the Empire.
In addition, the game's backstory only vaguely skimmed over Grevia, not even explaining which village she lived in.
So Bertram waited until after the Blood Masquerade attacked and caused chaos to finally identify the location, and he was unable to save all the villagers, including Gravia's parents.
The young Griswold watched her loved ones being drained of all their blood by the Blood Eaters, withering and drying up a little, which may be the reason why Her Highness always has an ice-cold face and a cold tone nowadays.
In the Church of the Scorched Sun, the person who serves as the spiritual mentor and protector for the minor child during the baptism ceremony is called the godfather.
Bertram was Grevia's godfather, the de facto guardian.
He brought Gravia, who had lost both parents, to the church for baptism, toured her around the three religious lords to give lectures to reveal her special status as the chosen one of Vatitia, and ultimately secured Gravia's position as a holy woman.
This was one of Bertram's efforts to prepare for the 『Final Twilight』 that would eventually come.
Supporting and cultivating those key figures who might become important combatants in the future and exert significant influence, removing threats and clearing obstacles for them, as well as preventing them from repeating the same mistakes in the final battle to change their tragic or sad endings.
But just as it took him twelve years to train a single Grevia in the Religious Territory of Sarenz, the other future Legendary Lords, Heroes and Generals couldn't have waited for Bertram to patronize each of them in order, so he used phantasmagorical magic to create doppelgangers to change their appearance and travel around the world in different identities to get close to the key figures he remembered as his squires, teachers, nurturers, or family members.
The future Elector of the Aiel Territory now the eldest daughter of the Earl, the future Valkyrie of the Leiden Territory now the Princess of the Princess, the future Czarina of Snowy Novaroth now the daughter of the male bear these legendary lords who were big names in the game were all his targets for cultivation, as well as the High Elves, the Sacred Dragons, and the High Ridge Dwarves these non-human order races were also in his plans, and even the Bloods, Dark Elves, and other Chaos camps he made attempted to poach.
This year was the thirtieth year since Bertram crossed over to the continent of Nokatia, and the doppelgangers were still accompanying these future heroes at this time.
Less than half a year before the opening of the game's first source material 『Shadow of Obscurity』, on the other side of the towering Dunnau Mountains, Krogtia's long-dormant Witch Demon has been unable to hold back its desire to invade, his vanguard batch by batch through the canyons and tunnels invaded the empire's northern Nos territory, this is a sign of the rise of the undead kingdom.
"The Final Twilight is the inescapable end of Nokatia, the pawns of the Chaos Gods are on the move, and the wheels of history are rolling forward, with each passing dataset one step closer to the end.
Until then, Bertram must utilize every means to grow his power and strength, even the 'developer props' that are considered to be cheats.
The paladins began to order their squires and soldiers to carry supplies to set up camp, and the sounds of the forest became noisy and busy.
"Where's Edith? Why haven't we seen her today?" Bertram probed and searched.
"She stayed in town." Grevia followed his line of sight and looked back as well, "I heard that the road to Rokan was infested with beastmen and that someone had been attacked, and Edith wanted to help the townspeople tend to the wounded."
"Then let her." Bertram nodded.
He took out a silver necklace adorned with dark blue gems and handed it over to Grevia, "It can withstand the effects caused by magic once, it might come in handy when fighting against the Witch Demons, protect yourself."
Grevia's eyes flickered slightly, but quickly returned to their flat indifference.
"Be careful on your journey, and may the radiance of Lady Vatitaya always shine upon you as well, my godfather." She gripped the necklace tightly and pressed it to her chest to close her eyes, then offered a blessing and prayer for Bertram.