"We're finally here," Angela sighed with relief. Two and a half days of travelling was finally over as the tip of the castle came into view from the horizon. The highest tower glistened from afar caused by the sun's rays hitting the magically created glass.
"Welcome to Frelit, the capital of Frelidian!" Ezra announced as more of the castle came into view.
The next building they could see was the church; it was a large building near the castle with a silver sword and golden wings sitting at the top. Soon the walls surrounding the city came into view with two guards.
Their armour carried the winged sword on their chest, showing the connection to the church.
"So there isn't a separation between government and church," Cyrus noted. He wasn't surprised as his eyes looked at the city walls.
The last time Cyrus arrived at the capital was a hundred years ago, destroying the entire city in a fit of rage after his resurrection. Twice the church interfered with his duel with the hero, and in retaliation, Cyrus declared war against the church, destroying any city with church influence.
His war only increased the church's influence as the people rallied behind a surviving princess. The church dubbed her the princess of light and united the Demon Lord fell. So here he was again, travelling in a wagon owned by the church straight to the front gate.
Two guards stood at the gate; both seemed exhausted despite it still being morning. With the harvest festival approaching, many people travelled to the capital to partake in the event. Ezra noticed one of them yawn when he received the papers, the soldier's eyes scanning the documents, barely reading it. Since it was a church wagon, he wasn't even planning to inspect the wagons until something caught his eye.
Ezra noticed the soldier become lively as he looked to his partner then back at the documents, unable to believe what he read.
"I guess they've gotten to the part about you," Angela told Cyrus as she watched the expression of the soldier.
"Probably panicking that a demon-kin is involved with the church," Cyrus points out.
"No doubt, bet this made his day a lot more interesting," Angela jokes as the two soldiers make their way down, checking inside every wagon.
Arriving at the last wagon, the soldiers would look inside and see Cyrus sitting up against the wagon, their eyes starring at his white hair and horn.
"You look like you've never seen a demon-kin before," Cyrus states sarcastically.
"There really is a demi here," the guard muttered, his eyes glued to the demon-kin's white hair.
Angela would move to the back of the wagon "excuse me, could we continue onward? I think you're holding up others."
The guards would look back and see other wagons waiting to enter the capital, "alright, if you're with the church, I guess we have to allow it," the guard would walk back to the front as the wagons started moving again.
Heading through the gate and heading to the church, with how packed the streets were, the wagons were slow-moving until they neared the church. Finally stopping at their destination, everyone starts unloading the luggage from the wagons as Ezra turns to Cyrus.
"Sorry, you'll have to wait here," Ezra states.
"That's fine," Cyrus shrugs and slowly closes his eyes.
Angela would unload her things and start to head into the church, looking back at the wagon Cyrus was in before walking inside, walking past a few soldiers headed towards the caravan.
Cyrus would sense the soldiers heading his way and sigh as they looked into the back of the wagon and saw him. "I need you to come with us," One of them ordered.
"Alright, waiting around here was boring anyway," Cyrus shrugged.
"Please refrain from remarks that would jeopardize your precarious situation," the soldier harshly warned.
As Cyrus stepped out of the wagon, he got a good look at the megachurch. Sporting the five stained glass windows of the heroes and fenced-off areas that supervised children seem to be playing in. The building's exterior was stone, but the inside had marble and red rugs along the floor.
The soldiers led Cyrus to a room on the opposite side where the children stayed, hoping to keep him far away to avoid any unnecessary questions. The room was better than he expected since it had comfy-looking beds and no bars or chains. He honestly expected to be in prison or something equivalent. There were guards outside the door, which was understandable, but he had nothing to do.
Meanwhile, Angela and Ezra headed to the main hall, where a man dressed in white awaited them. He had short blonde hair and green eyes, while his face had a small goatee. The other members had other duties to attend to now that they arrived, hoping to encounter some old friends and teachers.
"Minister Brian?" Both Angela and Ezra gasped, but for different reasons. Having been gone for a few years to other churches.
Ezra usually got along with Brian, feeling that he was a fair teacher who always rewarded hard work. He was the person who taught Ezra the most about holy magic and found joy in being with the church.
Angela never got along with Brian, seeing him as an immovable rock. His lectures were boring and nothing he said ever stuck in her head. She would start dozing whenever he tried to teach, unable to keep her eyes awake. The punishments she would receive eventually led her to skip the class altogether; why go if your only going to get punished.
"I do hope you're staying for the Harvest Festival," Brian mentioned as he looked at the girls.
"I'm sure we can stay if you can convince the rest of our group too," Ezra eagerly suggested as Angela looked worried.
"We have a demon-kin with us; keeping him here the entire time wouldn't be good, so we should head back soon," Angela mentioned.
"It's just a demi so it won't matter, this festival will be grander than the last, and we could use any help we can get," Brian stated, trying to pressure them into helping.
"I could watch over the demon-kin during the event," Angela pointed out, trying her best to avoid the event.
"I appreciate the offer, but you're still young. You should be out there assisting those and feeling the joys of helping others during such a wonderful event," Brian countered, destroying what little chance Angela had of getting out of assisting the event.