"Nice fight, I knew you would win, so I bet on you." Markus entered their resting room and helped take off the armor.
"I bet on Max too." Gabriel followed in soon.
The lack of faith in him hurt Felix. "Why? We are both similarly ranked."
"Yes, but the same can't be said about the head. We all know Sylvester. He's a sly fox, slowly planning, waiting to strike, and you fall for it." Gabriel made an observation.
Felix sneered annoyedly. "Yeah yeah, our mighty Max, the schemer. And Gabriel, what the hell are you putting on your face? You already have a beard. I've been trying to grow one for a year now."
Sylvester shared the same pain as Felix, however. "Indeed, it seems Gabriel has been blessed in blood. I particularly wanted a beard because people would respect me more as a bard."
"What's that got to do with a beard? They are gross and smelly." Markus said, another one blessed, but one who dares chop that blessing every week.
Sylvester scoffed. "You need to maintain the beard, care for it like a baby. Only then it won't smell. And what does that have to do? Just imagine the Pope without the beard."
Everyone looked down as they imagined it, and soon, they nodded.
"Yeah, not as intimidating and wise," Felix muttered.
Gabriel, however, seemed tense all of a sudden. "Umm… by the way, Max and Felix… I needed some money for…"
"How much?" Sylvester asked without a second thought. To him, loyalty was the most important, and from the expressions of Gabriel, there was undoubtedly a problem, not that the odor of anxiety let him ignore it.
"Ugh… I need to buy a house." Gabriel replied nervously. "My sister has come to see me. I just found her this morning."
"Wait, wasn't she living with the healer? What happened?" Felix inquired.
With a sigh and tired face, Gabriel started. "I don't know too much, she seemed too traumatized, and when I asked, she revealed she was about to be sold as the healer she was staying with was moving to a different place and also because my sister was of marriage age."
"Did she not know you are a man of faith? The healer?" Sylvester asked.
"Well, since I dropped out of God's Favored class, they don't consider me anything special. That's why she tried this with Raven. Thankfully, she was able to run away and come here."
Sylvester agreed to help unconditionally. "What is the name of the healer that did this?"
"Umm, she is a Wizard, Cruella Lampart."
Sylvester took out a little notebook he made for himself and wrote down something on it using a strange stick. "Cruella Lampart? got it. If any of us see her, we will kill her."
"..."
Sylvester shrugged at their surprised faces. "Folks, that's the punishment for harming the family of a man of faith. She knowingly tried to sell Raven. Even if Gabriel is not one of God's Favored, he will still be a high-ranking clergy. That, in my book, is worth burning on the stakes."
Felix nodded. "I can't help but agree. She's not an asset anymore."
"Anyway, how much do you need?" Sylvester inquired.
Gabriel was confused. He did not know about the prices of houses outside, as they lived in the Holy Land their whole life. "I don't know. I have a few thousand Gold Graces saved. But, unfortunately, that healer took most of the money I used to send Raven, so I'm not quite rich anymore."
"Send her to Sandwall County. My brother came to see me graduate today. I will tell him to provide for her safety and boarding." Felix offered.
But Sylvester was quick to object. "No, Sandwall is under constant attack by Desert Cannibals and Mountain Tribes, not to mention you sit at the border with the Masan Empire. What if one day they attacked? Gabriel, I have a better plan. How old is your sister?"
"Same as me, seventeen."
"Great, my mum now runs one of the sick bays in the Guild Peninsula. It's the third safest Peninsula in the Holy Land. So I will ask her to hire your sister as a helping hand. This way, your sister gets to live here safely, and you can meet her now and then." Sylvester's offer was nothing less than a life-changing favor.
p
"Y-You would do that?" Gabriel beamed with joy.
"Why not? We're all brothers. We made a pact, did you all forget? We will take care of each other's families when we can. Heck, I say, Markus should bring his family here too." he suggested.
But Markus refused. "No, my family is good. The past eight years have been great. Although I dropped out of class last year, I still made enough money to buy them a large piece of land, build a big cottage, and live happily."
'Good to know.' Sylvester thought.
"That's brilliant then, Markus. But let's head back to school. Gabriel, bring your sister too. Families are allowed to see us graduate. And see us take the vow to let go of all our familial bonds, what a weird practice."
He muttered and cleaned his face, then put on the church robes and placed his rank plate on the chest.
There were many strange practices in the Holy Land. One of them was this school graduation. The families were allowed to come and see their loved ones renounce them. It probably reminded both parties that nothing is the same anymore, but the Church hardly implemented these rules. Otherwise, powerful Royal families would not have been able to place their pawns in the Church.
…
The large arena where spars used to take place today seemed like a festive ground, with various small decorations of colorful ribbons and flowers. A total of 400 Deacons were going to graduate today. Among them were six God's Favored Candidates. Their number has fallen from thirty.
Over the years, they faced many challenges and life-threatening situations, whether they wanted it or not. Their minds were forced to break. Hearts were made strong, so they'd never shake. Perhaps, that's why among all the graduating Deacons, only those six lacked a smile on their faces.
But, there was still an hour before they got their official Mitre as Priests. However, unlike the ranks of Bishops and above, a Priest is only allowed to wear the mitre on the head for a religious ceremony.
"Proceed to the booths! Get your Blood Inheritance Test done! Who knows if someone among you is related to one of the old Popes." The announcement echoed from the little stage where the Headmaster and the faculty stood.
'Finally! I will know my roots.' Sylvester was excited to get this thing done.
"Sylvester! Come with me, quick. I need to have a word with you." Just then, out of nowhere, Xavia appeared and pulled Sylvester along. Her face tried its best to look smiling, but there was some worry. He could see it. And he felt an extreme sensation of fear from her, making him go serious.
Xavia pulled him a good distance away into one of the empty classrooms. She then looked around first and closed the door carefully. "You can not participate in that test! Please!"
Sylvester saw the look of horror, the panic in her eyes as she said that. He knew there was something big for her to say. But he was not going to back down. "Why? I wish to know who my father is. And who knows, they might not even have his sample in their registry."
"They will! They have it!" She cried. "They will surround you and kill you the moment they see the result."
Her words rang in his ears as if ringing after an explosive. He stared at her face in confusion and a rising rage. "What do you mean? Who is my father? Why won't you tell me? Is it some heathen? a Mountain Tribesman?"
Xavia's face paled, conflicted between telling him or not. "Please don't do this. I tried my best to keep this a secret. The more people know, the more are the chances of us being… killed."
"Who is it?" Sylvester asked only once in a firm voice. He kept glaring into her eyes after that, deciding not to give up today. If he was going to do something like not take this exam, he needed a good enough reason. These vague warnings won't do anymore.
"H-He's… please."
But Sylvester did not respond anymore.
Xavia fought her mind, the secret she had kept with her for so long. She looked left and right in paranoia at first. "H-He's… Rathagun Xeek Eldaron."
"..."
"Who?" Sylvester squinted his eyes and was taken aback by this strange name. His mind quickly tried to remember all the names he had heard or read in this life to see if it was someone important.
Then it struck, and his eyes widened in shock.
"The elf king?!"
Millions of questions exploded in Sylvester's mind. He wondered about all his abilities, were they related to his blood? Why was his ordinary mother the wife of the elf king? Just because she was pretty? Was she even his wife?
"Yes, Max. So please, you can't take that blood test. They likely have his samples in the registry, which will match yours. They will never allow someone as strong as you and related to their mortal enemy to stay alive. We must take this secret to our graves."
Sylvester, however, was only thinking about how he would fool the blood inheritance examination. "But how will I…"
Bam!
Both their heads turned in the direction; it was the door of the classroom. Something hit it just now. Sylvester quickly rushed and opened it to see, and he noticed someone running away towards the arena.
"Fuck! Wonderful timing to reveal this, mum. Now stay there! And Chonky! Where the fuck are you?!" Sylvester roared at her and chased after the person.
Xavia cried frantically. "I had planned it... I was to draw your blood to..."
But Sylvester had already rushed away to neutralize the threat.
"I didn't hear anything, Sylvester!" the runner cried.
"Why did you follow me? What are you planning, Romel?" Sylvester ran after the last person he could afford to let his secret be known. It was game over for him otherwise, he won't only be excommunicated but also killed. There was no way he could escape the Holy Land alive.
Seeing Romel had a good enough lead, Sylvester had to use Magic. He aimed his hand and sent out a strong gust of wind, so hard that Romel could not turn left from the corridor corner and instead slammed his head right into the wall.
That was enough time for him. He pulled Romel back by the hair and dragged him away from the corner.
"H-Hel…"
Sylvester quickly put him in a chokehold between his elbows and fell back, also locking Romel's arms. "Calm down, Romel. Aren't we friends? Now tell me, did anyone else know about your peeping activities?"
But Romel was panicking. He was like a slave to Sylvester and had faced enough mental subjugation. Enough to be aware and scared of what Sylvester was capable of doing.
"I... I... no, Syl- Nobody knows... I'm sorry, I just want to be free again. I didn't mean to-"
Sylvester clutched him tighter as he gritted his teeth. "You're not going to tell that to anyone."
Romel nodded. "I-I won't! I heard nothing, Sylvester. Please trust m-me ugh… plea… I can't breathe…"
Sylvester kept pressing Romel's neck harder as he lay on the floor on his back, Romel in his arms. He gritted his teeth as it was hard to kill an Adept Wizard with just brutal physical force. But there was no hesitation in Sylvester's actions.
"I can't let you live. I'm sorry, Romel, you were a good servant while you lived."
Romel's eyes teared up in an instant as he slowly felt his face turning red and eyes drying up, breathing becoming harder. He kicked his feet and tried to free himself but couldn't. "P-p-lease…"
The smell of hate, anger, death, fear, and sadness hit Sylvester hard. He pitied the boy to some degree, as he was not born to be loved but to be used as a tool by his father. But, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Sylvester had already thought of the scenario of leaving him alive and ensuring he stayed loyal. But, if not today, then tomorrow, Romel will become a mighty king, and then… What if he uses this secret to blackmail him instead?
What was happening now was of Romel's own doing. Nobody asked him to follow Sylvester; nobody told him to eavesdrop. You reap what you sow, and this was Romel's fruit to swallow.
'There can never be loose ends, especially not in this case.'
Sylvester did not say anything anymore and looked away. He felt he was hallucinating as he noticed the translucent form of a woman that was immortal in his memory. As beautiful as ever… looking at him with a loving gaze, saying something but her words were silent.
He stared at that form for a few seconds, then shook his head vigorously. "Whatever it takes! Whatever the hindrance! I will not die—Not again!"
"Ummm… No…"
SNAP!
Sylvester let loose as Romel's body felt lifeless, his arms and head falling back.
Sylvester was breathing hard, for this was not the end of this miserable day. He still had to get rid of the body and ensure nobody found out because there would soon be an uproar throughout, as Romel was not just a surviving God's Favored Candidate but also the Crown Prince of Riveria.
"Chonky! Come here, quick!" He finally saw the cat rushing to him. So he ordered, wishing to take care of the scene before anyone arrives. He was not in a very good situation, and he knew it.
However, fate had something else in mind.
"Max?" A familiar voice came from the side.
Sylvester's heart jumped in panic. He looked up at the known voice in exhaustion—his eyes full of caution.
"Gabriel?!… why are y…"
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PLOT THICKENS! SO GIVE THIS THICC GORILLA YOUR STONES!
**669 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**
APE TOGETHER STRONG!