Loud and fast footsteps echoed as Pierre quickly went to rescue his men and finally end these commotion. The cold stone floors of the Cathedral emits a dim reflection of the moonlight above, making Pierre think that it really is a beautiful place to live. Then the face of the Pope Luther brushed pass his thoughts, making him irritated, but at the same time a little satisfied because he made the pathetic leader of the Papal Hall curl up just by his words.
Pierre reached the gates of the Cathedral and stopped for a moment to compliment its grandeur while thinking, "I can't believe this beautiful and peaceful-looking place hides a snake inside it. Even the people in the Papal Hall are now in Luther's grasp as he practices something that disobeys the Holy See's doctrines." After he finished sightseeing, he looked towards the massive gates in front of him that looked like a two-storey house fit through them.
"Lord Commander, we've been waiting for you. Quickly come with us and talk about the details after we reach the Monastery..." The Paladin leading the group of five, clad in white armor and bearing the insignia of the Holy See upon their breastplates, greeted Pierre and gracefully bowed, indicating that he was once or currently from a noble house. Pierre never saw a Paladin bowing and greeting him promptly like this one.
But Pierre didn't greet him back or even speak a word, as he waited for the Paladin that was completely different from the other ones behind him to say his name, "This person emits a powerful and pure aura around him. He may be a Paladin Division Captain or just a strong one under those guys." Pierre observed the person in front of him carefully and inspected his posture and movements, even his subordinates' expressions under their helmet.
After an awkward pause, the Paladin stood straight while chuckling awkwardly, "Uh, yes... Haha.. Where are my manners," he cleared his throat and place his right arm on his breastplate's insignia, his hands right under the big eye of the white dove, watching them all. The Paladin removed his helmet and quickly shocked Pierre from what he saw.
The Paladin in front him turned out to be a woman. Her voice was just obstructed by the helmet she was wearing. "I go by the name Lunaria Argent, the Second Division Captain of the Paladins, and the...," she started.
"First Princess of the Argent Kingdom." Pierre finished her greetings for her. He then strode his way towards her and elegantly took her right hand and kissed it even thought she was wearing a leather glove.
Lunaria's face turned pink in embarrassment and was flustered as she was kissed by the hand in front of her subordinates, "Y- you didn't need to do that here, Lord Commander as I'm the Second Division Captain here! I... I only accept this kind of greeting in my kingdom." She quickly take back her hand and kept it behind her hips while she shook her head.
Pierre watched her cute reaction with a courteous smile and also a glance at the Paladins behind Lunaria. The four Paladins were shaking and were clearly suppressing their emotions, but Pierre couldn't tell if they were laughing or angry at him.
"I was a Duke's son before I became the Lord Commander. Please just let my foolish deeds be as it is, as my courtesy will never leave me, Your Highness." Pierre bowed and apologized.
"I just told you to not treat me like a princess, Lord Commander. Please call me Second Captain or just Lady Luna." Lunaria said while shaking her head, her short cream blonde hair sways on her nape.
Pierre just laughed at her as they watched the four Paladins tell the guards to open the gates. They left the Cathedral with a warm atmosphere around them. The four Paladins followed Pierre and their captain towards the Monastery, which is located in the other side of Vider.
As they ran towards the streets of the holy city, Pierre realized that the people here have no idea what's going on and just continued their daily lives. There were no one left in the streets except for the street vendors and last minute shoppers, their way guided by the moonlight and the light posts with a five-meter distance between each one.
Pierre couldn't help but compare Vider to the capital of Regulus where street lights were always alive in the inner wall, while the outer wall was left with broken lights and candles to light their worlds. While the other was lively with brothels and bars on their side, the other half has slums and bandits roaming around.
It all started when Leopold sat on the throne and overused all his authority to double the tax that the citizens must pay. The poor will never disappear from the society as they are the borderline of standards of a society and an empire. But if left as it is, the empire might lose their trust on their ruler and everyone will never gain a win on either side.
Pierre was left in thought as they make it pass the plaza separating Vider like a pizza. Just the view from there left Pierre in awe, as he had never seen a city so organized like this one. "If my sister just stayed here..." He thought.
"Commander..!" Lunaria's voice pulled Pierre back to reality.
"Are you feeling unwell, Lord Commander? Maybe we can help, just tell us the problem." One of the Paladins said with a concerned tone.
Pierre was satisfied to here those words, but he can never tell his troubles to them. The Church of the Holy See may be letting them camp here, but they are not cleared of being an enemy of the empire. At least not yet.
"I'm fine, I was just amazed how well-built this city is," Pierre truthfully said. Then he headed straight towards the Monastery on the hill in front of him, that was filled with the soldiers of the empire. The soldiers that he ordered did a great job on telling the others of their Lord Commander's words.
"Yeah... I was also amazed by the beauty of Vider the first I came here. I was just a child back then, with no one to rely on, as my father wanted to test me. He said, 'To rule a kingdom, you have to know your people first', and I ended up in here." She also stared at the distant lit streets of the city, smiling with a melancholy mood on her face.
Despite the sounds of clamor in the gates of Monastery being loud that they could be heard from where Pierre and the others were, there was a moment of peace between Pierre's brows for the first time. "I will totally make the empire flourish and be peaceful as this, no matter what! So that my sister and her son will live without distractions," Pierre sweared in his mind.
He then turned to walk towards his men that were blocking the gates from the outside, their eyes full of determination and anger. Some of them even wanted to charge in, but all afraid that their Lord Commander will punish them for insubordination. The army has strict rules that was always implemented by an iron hand, and the soldiers knew that Pierre was the strictest and most hot-tempered superior that they've met.
"Where's the Lord Commander? Is he coming soon or not?"
"We need to get justice for our generals!"
"Yeah! Let's charge in there and break their gates, right now!"
"Wait! The Lord Commander might come here by the second! What if he hears you guys."
"Argh! I even stopped having fun with my bitch for this?!"
The soldiers spouted different opinions and protest, but that's all the things they could amount to do. Even if they charge in now, the Paladins guarding the gates were emitting more killing intent than them, as if they could slay one of them if someone makes a move.
The soldiers that Pierre took inside the city were the infantries with their ranks varying from [Expert] and [Heroic]. Even though there's almost five hundred of them, the Paladin's ranks is [Heroic Rank] as their weakest fighter. And there's also the Paladin Division Captains that were all born monsters, that were said to be talented at fighting since birth and has been trained and nurtured by the Church to defend against hostile armies significantly larger than them.
Currently, there are twelve division captains, a vice-chief, and their Chief Paladin. The twelve captains and vice-commander were always seen in public, with their jobs being separated in categories; attack force, logistics, guardians, and infiltrators. No one has ever seen the Chief Paladin except the higher ups of the Church of the Holy See and the division captains under him.
It was rumored that the own division members of the Chief Paladin's group were the vice-chief and the division captains themselves. Their overall power could take on a kingdom's whole army if they were ordered to, but the Church don't like wars as they cannot disobey the doctrines of the Church, personally written by the first Saintess that had a connection with the God of Truth, Hesiod.
The doctrines are the law here in Vider, and they would not diminish even with time. And there's that artifact of the Holy See that can enact a divine punishment for someone who will disobey the god's doctrines. They must not tell a lie in front of someone, and must not be greedy for power.
PIerre tried to exploit that flaw on the Church's doctrines by provoking the Pope, but it didn't work as he seemed it will be. Luther is a man that will make calculations and strike at the right time he sees a weakness. Pierre knew that he couldn't lie earlier and could not answer his questions so Luther let him go as he had no choice.
"The Zodiacs are still inside the Monastery at this moment. They could probably tell by now that there's something wrong from just the sound of the soldiers outside the gates. It's pity that they are not all here as the others had to stay in the conquered territories that will be part of Regulus later and are organizing the things there," Pierre shoved away a soldier's face as he passed by while thinking. He looked behind the Paladins behind him and saw the four Paladins under Lunaria making a worried face under their helmets, not because they in danger, but because the soldiers started stare at their Second Division Captain with lustful eyes.
"Make way! The Lord Commander is here! Make way!" A centurion that recognized his commander's face shouted while shoving the soldiers in front of him away from his commander and quickly made a proper formation.
"Your soldiers are not bad, Lord Commander. It's rare to see these many [Heroic Rank] masters in one army. I would to know how you train them to make them strong like this." Lunaria said with a smile, keeping her pace similar to Pierre.
"There will be nothing remaining from the rear if the front collapses. A wall without a strong foundation will yield while a wall with a full support underneath will stand still. This is just common sense for someone like me, who became the Legion Commander. This is how we do it on the North, where the most attacks happen every time you think it's peaceful." Pierre talked as they walked towards the gate, the soldiers were now formed in two lines, while holding their shield and spears, they looked like a wall with pointed tips on the top.
"I wish I could see the North sometime. I think I'm going to have a good time there." Lunaria said after a soft chuckle.
"Firebornes are not easy to get with, you know. You should just stay here and be the 'Lady of the Moonlight' of the Paladins. It suits you better here than the cold north." Pierre said.
Lunaria shrugged, "Well, that's it for trying to go to the north, then. Even it's future lord don't permit to go there. How harsh... We could've been good comrades, I always wanted to fight with the Lord Commander, but I think that will never happen, huh."
The five Paladins then made their way to the gates together with Pierre and met with the guards there. Seeing the Second Division Captain, the guards quickly opened the gates of the Monastery and let the five of them in. The soldiers where left astonished by what they glimpsed at the yard of the building, as it seemed like there were some people fighting there, seeing the protruded ground and broken walls.
But they had no time react as the gates of the Monastery suddenly shutted and barred their vision, away from the commotion inside! Their Lord Commander was separated from them and they had nothing to do except to just watch as the atmosphere became heavy and the gazes of the Paladins guarding the gates became even more hostile.
"What's in there?!"
"Someone..! Let's save the Lord Commander immediately!"
"Don't push! We will be crushed by your advance, the gates are still shut!"
"Centurions! Platoon leaders, calm your soldiers and standby! We don't know what's going to happen next!"
The Regulus army turned chaotic as they clearly saw their commander being apprehended and separated from them. Especially the infantry and footmen, that will be the vanguard and the ones who will lead the charge. But that is not what they truly feared, rather they were turning blue as they thought about what will happen to them if they were met with the attacks of the Paladins a mile stronger than them.
Their enemies are now in different league than the ones that they used to kill and conquered. Now, limbs and heads will surely fly as they choose to charge. Doubts and regrets filled the soldiers at the front, watching the guards atop of the gates saluting into someone that was clearly way stronger and more dangerous than them.
"We greet Sir Ralf! Good job guarding the Saintess, sir!" The Paladins greeted, as the empire's solders watched. Due to the moonlight basking the gates and the people on top of it, they saw the man who the Paladin guards were saluting and almost laughed as they could not believe their eyes.
Sir Ralf wore the Paladin's armor and its colors, but the thin, skinny limbs of his, that made him look like he was a newly-appointed squire and was barely standing because of his armor's weight, gave the soldiers courage to ridicule him.
"Pft!! That's a Division Captain? Even my grandmother can beat him at that state!" Some soldier at the back blurted out while laughing. His laughter echoed and reached the other soldiers.
Then later, the sound of the soldiers laughing out of their stomachs filled the streets all the way to the back of their ranks. Mockery and jokes came out of their mouths as they ridiculed Sir Ralf staring at them at the top of the gates.
"What his name again... Sir Ralf? You should be called Sir Twig. Hahaha!!"
"I almost died comparing him to a withered tree! Are you sure he is strong?"
"I bet fifty coppers he will snap into two if you pat his back!"
"Be careful up there, brat! You might get blown away by the wind if you don't put your hands on the balustrades! Hahahaha!!"
Sir Ralf frowned by the sight of them mocking him and laughing at his appearance. He then unconsciously looked at his exposed arms and wondered if they're really thin as the soldier said.
Seeing that, the soldiers paused for a moment, and started to laughing again, this time, much louder than the last. But the Paladins at the gates would not tolerate their insults anymore and prepared to attack.
"How dare they insult our captain like that! You think you can all get away after mocking him!" One of the Paladins released his aura and shouted while enhancing his voice.
Although he did not intimidate all of them, the soldiers in front felt the pressure and stopped laughing, while the others still chuckled, and enjoyed their time ridiculing a Paladin Division Captain.
"These soldiers... So annoying." Sir Ralf mumbled, then released his first star core.
[FIRST STAR CORE : AIR WHIP]
With just a grunt, his right arm instantly turned bulgy and he threw a jab in the air, its movement imitated that of a whip, and a deafening sound of whip hitting something while breaking the speed of light.
For the soldiers, it was like they were hit with an unseen attack that came like lightning and left a shockwave louder than a thunder. Shock as they were, no one even made a sound after Sir Ralf used an ability to shut them. Nobody had the courage to fix their hair or their scratch their noses at all.
"Finally... Some peace!", Sir Ralf huffed and said. Then a sword went straight to his back and pierced right through his breastplate, staining the white armor he was wearing.