While Haruto was dealing with the GoldenAge members, elsewhere in the kingdom, Sylvie was visiting her sister's place. Being a Vanguard member, her sister Danity was entitled to a luxurious condo-like home provided on the Kingdom's dime.
These homes were scattered throughout Mordell, covering specific sectors. If anything were to happen that required a Vanguard member's attention, they would be dispatched depending on the area and severity. Sylvie walked up to the familiar door, and before she could knock, it swung open, almost hitting her. Her sister stood in the doorway, shocked by her appearance. "Oh, Sylvie! My adorable little sister! Just the person I was coming to see."
Sylvie immediately looked at her sister slyly. What was she up to? "I was just heading out to do a bit of shopping. Come join me," Danity said in a cheerfully demanding tone with a hint of underlying devilish intent.
As they walked through the capital, Sylvie could only pout. She knew her sister was up to something. Her sister basically guilt-tripped her into paying for most of her things. They stopped at several high-end places, and with every stop, Sylvie's demeanor became more and more exhausted.
"Oh, this place! There's a magical necklace I've been dying to get my hands on!" Danity exclaimed.
"Do you have no shame?" Sylvie shouted playfully. "You're a Vanguard Member; you should be paying for my things." Danity giggled.
"But baby sister, healing so many left me so exhausted. How can you treat your dear old sister like this?"
Sylvie nearly coughed up blood from her sister's coy act. "Treat your head!" Just as Sylvie was about to scold her sister, someone came up for an autograph and mentioned the Initiation. Immediately, Sylvie remembered the little girl.
After walking a bit more, Danity noticed Sylvie had become quiet and could tell something was eating at her. She wanted to break the silence, but she didn't really know how. Once she had enough, she stopped and grabbed Sylvie. "Okay, what is it? You've been quiet since that mention about the Initiation. Usually, I can't get you to shut up. What's eating you?" She asked with a caring and gentle smile. Sylvie just looked up as if pondering how to say what was on her mind.
"How did you do it for your initiation? I know people die during them, but I can't seem to get that girl out of my head. She was a healer like you… yet she was discarded like trash by those… those… FUCKING BASTARDS!!"
The last part she shouted, causing a few citizens passing by to avoid her. "I just don't get it… I" Danity immediately cut her off.
"Stop. Don't do that to yourself. The minute she decided to become a Warlord, she took the risk upon herself. Let me tell you a story: When I did my initiation, I met another girl named Rita beforehand. We became close and made a pact to be the best we could be. Well, we were pitted against each other in the tournament. I learned fast about the risks involved."
Sylvie had never heard this story before. As she thought more, she realized her sister never talked about her initiation. Danity continued.
"I thought we would duel, give it our all, and hopefully score high enough to make it. That didn't happen. She almost killed me. Had I not been so talented in healing magic… I wouldn't be here. When it came down to friendship or Warlords, she chose, so I killed her instead."
Sylvie was shocked. She had never known her sister to intentionally harm someone, let alone kill them. Danity could see her sister's reaction and wasn't surprised. Sylvie wasn't old enough to remember her initiation.
"You see, Sylvie, that girl's death wasn't on you. Tragic as it was, it's part of the risk. The risk we take to walk this path." Sylvie thought it over and realized she was right. They all knew the risks as soon as they went into the initiation.
"I understand. I guess it really didn't hit me until just now that I'm now a Warlord." Danity smiled with pride as she looked at her little sister. She had grown so quickly. She then thought of something and slapped herself on the forehead. "Oh, I almost forgot! Do you have an idea of what guild you're going to choose?" Sylvie stopped in her tracks.
"Wait, what do you mean?"
Before she could answer, someone they knew all too well chimed in. "Danity, don't mention any more. They will find out in a few days." They both turned around to see none other than Vanguard Serena.
Serena stood there in an all-red armor set and was sporting a giant battle axe this time. Sylvie noticed she never seemed to carry the same weapon consecutive days. "You know the drill. New Warlords must wait until the meeting." She then looked at Sylvie with annoyance. "If it were up to me, you all would be going through processing. But the extra days were a direct request from the King."
Danity was quite surprised at this. From what she had known about the king, he didn't really interfere in the initiation process due to that being a direct task he assigned to the Warmaster. Since Serena was the current one, she figured the decision couldn't have come lightly as she knew how much the King trusted her.
"But I didn't come here for you, Danity. I came here for your sister. I'm gonna borrow her."