Clementine walked with short and firm steps into the hall of the Sacred Temple. She was wearing a white robe with golden details on it, the cloth of that robe seemed quite thin and comfy, something similar to silk. Since there were several layers, her body didn't appear through the nearly transparent robe.
Her steps were as light as a feather as if her body wasn't exerting any weight downward at all. It rather looked like she was floating as she walked on the light blue carpet of that temple.
She couldn't help but look amazed at the pure white marble of that place, so clean that it reflected her body as she passed from between the tall and large columns beside the blue carpet.
On the roof of the temple, several draws and unreadable letters were painted. Although Clementine couldn't understand all of them, some were known by her. She could tell that the roof above her head told a lot about history, about the collision of two different worlds, two different races, both sides trying to pursue an objective in common, that for some seemed so ordinary but for them meant everything.
Clementine, more than anyone else both in the demon race side and angel race side, was aware of how cruel and harmful that war was, dragging itself across the centuries, in a never-ending slaughter where both sides had lost too much for something that they couldn't even take for granted. After all, no matter which side won, the other would always rise again and come to take what they believed was theirs for right.
'In the end... we are two sides of the same coin in this endless carnage. Weak-willed puppets going to the battlefield and dirtying our hands with the blood of other race as if it was the right thing to do.'
Clementine didn't have any feeling inside her heart other than faith for what she did... or so she hoped. Since she was a kid, she always asked everything. Plenty were the times when she doubted her own faith, plenty were the times when she looked at herself in the mirror and wondered whether she was truthfully righteous.
Due to this questioning nature of hers, she looked at that war from different perspectives. She could understand the pain of her enemy, much more the pain of her allies. And every time she closed her eyes and thought about all of it, she could only conclude that everything was pointless.
Of course, she never said it out loud to anyone and probably never would.
Finishing her rambling, she got to the end of the blue carpet, her soul shook slightly inside her body. She could feel that the person sitting on the crystal throne in front of her was gazing at her face as if she was trying to see her very essence.
Slowly but steadily she kneeled before the throne, lowering her head as she bowed.
"Here is your servant, my mistress. I am hearing you, so tell me whatever you may want to ask. I will answer you with all the honesty that the Sacred Temple put on me after all these years of learning and training," Clementine's voice echoed throughout the Sacred Temple. She had a solemn and respectful tone, very different from the usual sweet and sympathetic one that she reserved to her "grandson".
"It's always a pleasure to receive such a competent, exceptional servant as you in front of my throne, Clementine. In the name of God, I bless you," a soft but clear voice echoed, overlapping Clementine's voice. A normal human surely would have his heart racing at that point by hearing such an angelic voice. It was way more beautiful than any other melody of the human world. Even to the Paladin kneeling before the mistress, the beauty of her voice was nearly unbearable.
"Thank you, mistress."
The woman adjusted herself on her throne with slow and patient movements. Clementine could only see her feet, and she surely wouldn't dare to look more than that. The first reason was due to her profound respect and humbleness towards her mistress; the second was that she wouldn't be able to withstand the pressure of that gaze.
"Unfortunately for me, for God, and for this whole Sacred Temple, a good servant like you, Clementine, is also the most rebel one. You always accomplish your tasks, you always do what I order, you act proficiently in the name of God; however, I don't feel virtue coming from you. In truth, I barely can feel your faith. You do what you do for a mere sense of duty.
"While your competence surely is something admirable and worth of appraisal, this rebel and heretic side of yours really bothers me at times. So much that I want to punish you whenever you get to my presence."
Clementine felt all her body trembling as she swallowed saliva and bit her lower lip.
"What's it, that is bothering you so much, my mistress? Talk to your servant, and she will engage in solving this problem."
The mistress didn't say anything for a while.
The Paladin woman couldn't see, though she clearly felt that she was raising one of her hands with her finger pointing at her as if touching her very soul.
"First of all, start by correcting your posture!" she scolded, lowering her index finger with a fluid movement.
In the next moment, Clementine's head smashed against the ground, making blood gush out of her forehead and dye the blue color of the carpet with crimson red.
"A servant that is also considered heretic such as you can't look even to the tip of my fingers, let alone my feet," her soft and calm voice was back after that single moment of wrath.
"The next thing that is bothering me may come off as just a supposition, though I am sure that it is not. However, let's leave it at this and continue as if my certainty isn't real at all. I will spare you this time if you be honest with me as you usually are."
Clementine gritted her teeth for some seconds to avoid yelling in pain, then answered: "Yes, mistress."
"That demon I trusted you to be one of the closest people, always taking care of him and looking after him, how could you let him run away?" she asked with an inquisitive look that seemed like a spear piercing through Clementine's neck.
"H-He was just as strong as we thought that he would be, mistress. Even without training a single day of his life, he was able to summon his Soul Mirror during his very first battle against Paladins. His physical prowess was quite impressive as well, which lead us to lose him in the middle of our pursuit. The weather wasn't favorable to us at that night, too."
A moment of sheer silence befell them as the mistress kept gazing at her knelt and bowed figure.
"You were on the battlefield. Knowing how powerful you are, you should have enough strength to deal with him, don't you?"
"It was nothing but a mistake, my mistress. Also, the circumstances in which he awakened his demon form were quite unfavorable as well. At the time, my granddaughter was near us. You know that I cannot harm her in any way since she is so important to m... to the Sacred Temple and our objective."
Another moment of silence. However, this time, Clementine felt that the pressure in her back was higher. It looked like someone put a bag of 50 kilograms on top of her as she bowed.
"How about the fact that you called such a weak troop of Paladins? They are, at most, novices. Obviously, they wouldn't have the strength to pursue such a high-grade demon!"
"I can't deny this fact, my mistress. However, with such a quick and unexpected situation unfolding in front of me, I needed to act as quick as possible. D-grade to S-grade Paladins are always on missions hunting demons and going to the frontline of the war. My only and quickest option at the time was to call E to F-grade Paladins."
Clementine coughed blood after that last sentence. The pressure on her back was such that she felt her organs being smashed.
"Do that demon develop a human side?" the mistress asked solemnly.
"W-What?"
"Did he!?" she yelled, not wanting to lose time.
Clementine bit her lips, feeling desperate. However, she couldn't lie entirely when she was inside the Sacred Temple.
"Yes... Yes, he did, my mistress!" she shouted, tears running down her face.
Finally, the pressure got released.
"That's enough. Although your reasons and justifications are reasonable, I am still wary of you, Clementine. I know well your personality. I know how little faith and willpower you have, despite being so competent and talented. The truth may not be entirely expressed now, but I will make sure to investigate more. For now, get out of here and go find that demon! A potentially S-grade demon can't be walking in this city with his powers awakened."
Clementine got launched away by a wave of the mistress's hands, knocking her back on one of those columns and falling to the ground.
Without a word of protest or moan of pain, she got up, adjusting her clothes and walking towards the exit of the hall.
"Clementine," she stopped immediately after hearing her mistress' words, nodding her head to show that she was listening. "You better not fail again. Your soul is on the line. You know well what I am capable of doing."
Clementine nodded again.
"Excuse me, my mistress," she said with the same respectful and humble tone, but she had a grim expression as she walked away, her eyes glittering with anger.