"Cyrus has proven himself in the trial by combat under the eyes of our Goddess. Thus he has proven himself innocent from the charges," Maxwell proclaimed.
Maxwell walked over to Cyrus and stretched out his hand. "On behalf of the church, we apologize for the misunderstanding. Please take this," Maxwell handed Cyrus a small pin that had the symbol of the church, a winged sword. "It should help with using amenities controlled by the church. The Wings of the Church welcome you."
Maxwell's smile was as fake as Cyrus' appearance. The apology was merely for appearances. With Cyrus' victory in their trial, the church had to do something.
"Don't worry, you're acting is great," Cyrus whispered in a mocking tone to Maxwell.
Maxwell was a little caught off guard but tried to keep his smile, "if you want to have a somewhat decent life here, I suggest you play along," Maxwell whispered back.
"Just don't pull anything like this again, and I'll play along to your little charade," Cyrus offered.
"Sounds like we have an agreement, Demi," Maxwell would then depart back to the church, as some people left, while others wanted to say and chat.
"How did you beat me so easily?" Angela asked, feeling powerless in front of him.
"You mean, beat you even with the enhancements you received," Cyrus whispered, seeing the magic fade away.
Angela's eyes became wide as she quickly glanced around, "how did you know?"
"When you were running, you just seemed faster than normal, and now you just admitted to my suspicions," Cyrus lied.
"So you had everything planned out even before our battle began?" Angela asked, feeling a little demoralized.
"Planned? Planning is pointless for the strong, you can't predict everything a person will do, but you can crush anything a person could do. But I don't mean just physical strength, as magic and skills are all a part of one's strength," Cyrus explained, as Angela was in disbelief. Even if all the enhancements the church gave her, she lost from his strength alone.
as Cyrus and Angela talked, Ezra stormed up to him. "What the hell are you!" she demanded.
"I'm Cyrus," he responded with amusement and sarcasm.
"Not your name Demi. Why are you using enhancement magic?" Ezra clarified, prompting Cyrus to become confused by the question.
"Because using a stronger sword in a fight is better?" Cyrus answered as best he could.
"The way you use a sword shows you have no experience with it, but you seem very proficient with magic. Why are you using enhancement magic instead of offensive?" Ezra explained.
Now that Cyrus understood the question, he carefully chose his words. "As I trained with magic, I learned that the Demon Lord has never lost to someone who used offensive magic. So if I had to fight such a being, I'd rather use a physical weapon, as many heroes fought and survived using them."
"What about Neriah the Martyr? She fought for days against the Demon Lord and killed him at the cost of her own life. She was a great wielder of magic equivalent to the Demon Lord," Angela pointed out, reciting what she heard back at church, loving the stories of great battles and adventures.
Those words gave Cyrus pause, the Neriah he fought was more of an alchemist than a mage, and she wasn't even the one who killed him. Before Cyrus could think about the past, Ezra's berating voice brought him back to reality.
"I wish you would pay more attention in magic studies than in historic battles, Angela. You could become a paladin if you learned magic," Ezra remarked. She only wished for Angela to reach her full potential, believing her friend could be the next hero.
As Angela and Ezra talked with each other, Cyrus tried to slip away, but Angela wouldn't let him go so quickly.
"Where are you going?" Angela asked.
"I'm sure you have lots to discuss with each other, so I'm going to the guild. I still need money for a lot of things, and thanks to this pin, maybe the blacksmiths will help me this time," Cyrus replied.
"I'll come too, I want to become stronger, and if I learn what you're capable of, perhaps I'll find a way to defeat you next time," Angela grinned.
"Wait, you're going with the Demi?" Ezra asked in disbelief.
"He's been approved by the church," Angela pointed out, unaware the support was just for appearances.
You can't learn much from me, you're better with the sword, and I use magic, something you seem uninterested in," Cyrus remarked.
"Well, with me around, you'll be able to go on harder missions since I am a silver rank," Angeal stated proudly.
"Ugh, I'm coming too. I ain't leaving Angela alone with you, Demi," Ezra hissed.
"If you're coming along, then don't call me Demi. My name is Cyrus, Cy-rus."
"Alright, alright, Cyrus," Ezra relented, causing Angela to smile.
"By the way, what are you capable of, Ezra?" Cyrus questioned.
"I'm a cleric, so healing and holy magic, with some experience handling a spear," Ezra replied.
"Wouldn't that make you a paladin?" Cyrus wondered.
"Huh? Do you think any holy magic user wielding a weapon makes them a paladin? You need to master multiple skills and magic for someone to consider you a paladin. I focus on magic, and the spear is just for my protection," Ezra retorted.
"Now now, Ezra, you shouldn't act like that when someone doesn't know something you see as common knowledge," Angela interjected.
When the three of them arrived at the guild, the guild master waved to them. "I'll be with you in a moment," he announced as he was talking with a blue-eyed male, he had short blonde spikey hair, wearing full plate armour and wielding a greatsword on his back. While the guild master discussed things with the blonde-haired person, the three of them went over to the quest board.
"Let's see, silver ranked quests," Angeal spoke, thinking out loud.
"If we just want money, just not the easier ones?" Ezra pointed out.
"They're no fun, and I wanna rank up," Angela complained.
"By the way, what rank are you?" Cyrus asked Ezra.
"Higher than you," Ezra proudly stated.
"She's a silver," Angela remarked, bursting Ezra's bubble.
"What about this one, large spider extermination," Angela asked, pointing to it.
Erza's face twisted in disgust. "No! Spiders are so creepy. I don't need to see bigger ones," Ezra cringed.
"How about gnolls, yes non-creepy simple gnolls," Ezra insisted, pointing at a different quest.
"So your afraid of spiders, but not afraid of creatures that have jaws capable of ripping through bones?" Cyrus joked before reading the quest himself. "Hmm, gnolls have started to appear in large numbers. Please find the reason and deal with the situation. Three days. Why only three days?"
"The three days is the length you have to complete it before they allow a different group to take over. They don't want people fighting each other over the prize, but they can't leave the quest vacant in case you're dead. You can complete the quest after three days, but you might run into someone else who took the quest, and problems usually arise from that," Angela explained.
The blonde-haired boy would turn to leave, stopping briefly, as he looked at Cyrus, "you're the one from the duel."
"Yes, and you're a person who watched. Is there something you wanted?" Cyrus asked, a bit confused with this person.
"No, just never seen a Demi before," The blonde spoke before turning and leaving the guild.
"If I recall, he's the son of Duke Escar, though I don't remember his name," Ezra stated, tapping her fingers against her head as she tried to remember.
"Well doesn't matter," Cyrus took the quest paper for the gnolls and brought it to the desk.
"Hey there, sorry I couldn't talk before. Duke Oscar wanted to be an adventurer, so I had to sign him up," The guild master explained.
"Oscar, that was the son's name," Ezra suddenly blurted out, causing everyone to glance her way for a moment.
"Anyway, good job winning that duel kid, that should keep the church off your back for a while. I'm surprised you're working with some of them though," The guild master stated, looking at Ezra and Angela.
"With me as the party leader, Cyrus can take harder quests, and since Cyrus is pretty strong, we can raise in the ranks. So we want to take this quest," Angela snatches the paper from Cyrus and gives it to the guild master.
"Gnolls huh, alright. Good to see you following the rules finally. So that's Angela, Cyrus, and...um, who are you again?" The guild master asked, turning to Ezra.
"It's Ezra," She pointed out.
"Right, your the girl who became a silver then quit coming here altogether. So the party is Angela, Cyrus, and Ezra. Well, good luck you, three," The guild master stated.
Once leaving the guild, Angeal would take a step in front of the team and turn to them, "Alright everyone, let's get ready and prepare for tomorrow,"
"Tomorrow, why not go now? We only have three days," Cyrus pointed out.
"The three days is the minimum amount for silver quests. A day to prepare, a day for the mission, and if needed, a day to return," Ezra stated.
"We also can't leave you dressed like that, you gotta make a positive impact on people. So we have to get you some gear to look the part of an adventurer. Don't worry, you'll be paying us back with the reward money," Angela smirked.