Day of Satur, 7:13 p.m.
Vivian, Kara, Uliah and Samantha were walking down a street filled with different kinds of stalls and packed with people of all ages, but mostly young adults.
They were currently at the Northeast, Common Section of the Holy City.
The city had 3 walls.
The First or Outer Wall was the wall that surrounded the entire city.
Between the Outer and Second Wall housed the normal citizens.
Between the Second and Third Wall housed the rich citizens.
And within the Third Wall was where the Temple of Priests Palace was located. This is where the Light Saint lives and only high-ranking Priests and special guests are allowed to enter, similar to a king or emperor's palace.
The 4 women all wore the White Cloaks and their gold necklaces. And underneath their cloaks, they wore civilian attire. As for their weapons, Vivian carried a sword on her waist, Kara a short sword, Uliah also a sword, and Samantha a small mace.
"Too bad that Sister Sally and Sister Diane didn't join us," said Kara.
Everyone in their class or platoon went out and decided to meet later at a tavern called Night's Edge once they were done sightseeing or doing whatever they needed to do.
"Don't mind those 2. Even back at Heisen City, they're inseparable," said Uliah. "One time I accompanied them because I was curious what do they usually do. In the end, I only ended up feeling like a third wheel."
Kara chuckled.
Uliah turned to Samantha.
"Hey, Sister Samantha, are you sure you don't want to check or buy something and just follow us around?"
"Yes, Sister Samantha. We wouldn't mind accompanying you," said Kara.
"It's fine…Sister Uliah… Sister Kara…" Samantha replied with a small voice.
Out of all the female recruits in their class, Vivian, Kara and Uliah can be considered the beautiful ones. And between Sally, Diane and Samantha, although they weren't ugly, Samantha was the least attractive among them.
And right now, she felt so self-conscious.
Had it not been for Kara and Uliah who forced her to tag along, she would've preferred to just stay at the Training Camp.
Vivian turned to the 3 women.
"Sisters, you're going to help me smuggle food inside the camp, right?"
Back in the Training Camp, meal time was only between 6:00-7:00 a.m. and 6:00-7:00 p.m. and the meals were fixed. On top of that, the new recruits were not allowed to order food from outside. However, they were allowed to bring some light snacks from outside during the evening of the day of Satur.
And although Vivian's blood has now turned back to red, her insatiable hunger was still there she couldn't risk eating people every time she goes hungry.
"As long as you help me train my Physical Arts and pick me as one of your officers!" replied Uliah.
As far as Vivian knows, there were 3 ways how a person could level up their Physical Arts.
The first way is to kill an enemy.
The second way is to fight someone who is at least equally strong as them.
And the third one is to fight someone using Magic or Elemental Weapons.
"Yes, sister!" Kara replied with a bright smile.
Given that they weren't in the camp and Vivian herself told that she could just call her Sister Vivian in private, Kara took advantage of it.
"Yes… Sister Platoon Leader Vivian…" Samantha replied in a small voice.
"Okay," Vivian said and nodded in satisfaction before turning away and entering a shop.
***
Day of Satur, 8:32 p.m.
Zean, Crew and a couple of their male classmates were at the tavern called the Night's Edge.
According to the Training Camp's tradition, all new recruits should come here because this is where all of them can meet and interact with each other without worrying about the rules.
On top of that, it's only open for the Crusaders during the evening of the day of Satur.
"COME ON! GET HIM!
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DON'T LET HIM GET ANY MOMENTUM!!!"
"PUSH! PUSH!"
Crew was currently arm-wrestling with a Priest from another class or platoon and they were surrounded by other Priests who were chanting and holding mugs of beer on their hands.
"LOOK! HE'S USING PHYSICAL ARTS!!!" one of the Priests pointed at Crew's hand.
"HE'S NOT, YOU IDIOT! HIS SKIN WOULD'VE RIPPED INTO SHREDS ALREADY!!!" said another Priest.
Bam!
Crew slammed his opponent's arm down and won, causing the crowd around them to give different reactions.
"YEEEAAAAHHH!"
"NOOOOO!!!"
Zean and Earl wrapped their arms around Crew's neck and shook him.
"NICE ONE!!!"
"YEAH!!!"
Crew got up and grabbed his mug before leaving to go back to their table with Zean and Earl following from behind.
On another side of the tavern, a group of Priests and Priestesses were singing with 2 among them playing musical instruments -- one looked like a ukulele and the other looked like a flute.
When they got to their table, there were 4 people there.
It was their fellow classmates: Jeston from the same Chapter Temple as them, and Turd, Jeston, Roderick and Xander from the Heisen Chapter Temple.
Xander was already dead drunk and had his face planted on the table.
Turd was quietly sipping beer from his mug while eating some snacks with a fork.
Meanwhile, Jeston and Roderick were arguing quite animatedly about a topic.
Crew, Zean and Earl sat down.
"Oh great, you guys are finally here," said Turd.
"Why? They're still at it?" asked Earl.
"Unfortunately."
"Look, the best girl is Sister Kara. No doubt about that. Do we agree on that?" asked Roderick.
"Yes, but --" replied Jeston.
"Hold on, hold on! I'm not yet finished," said Roderick. "Sister Kara is the best girl because she's beautiful, sweet, thoughtful and very feminine. Right?"
To them, she was the kind of woman they could see themselves saving like a hero saving a damsel or princess in distress.
"I agree. But what I wanted to talk about is the second and third best girl," said Jeston.
"Okay, tell me who is the second girl," replied Roderick.
"The second best girl is Sister Uliah, because --" before Jeston could finish what he was about to say, someone cut him off.
"Hey, I thought Sister Vivian was the second-best girl?" asked Earl.
Both Jeston and Roderick turned to him.
"No," they replied.
"Upon further discussion, we've decided it's Sister Uliah," said Jeston.
"Then what are you 2 arguing about?" asked Earl.
Both Jeston and Roderick shook their heads.
"Pitiful fool…" said Roderick.
"Uncultured man…" said Jeston.
"Huh?" Earl asked with a confused look written all over his face.
"You see, we men of culture look and consider other things or attributes of a woman," Roderick said proudly.
"Oh, you're gonna love this," Turd muttered under his breath as he bit out a piece of food from his fork.
"Sister Uliah is the second best girl because although she's a tall brown beauty, her brashness stirs up a man's carnal imagination of unlawful and wild sex," said Roderick.
"Why do you have to say the words unlawful and wild sex?" Jeston protested. "It's too vulgar! The right words should be wild and passionate sex!"
Crew, Zean and Earl face-palmed.
"God of Light, please send out your divine judgment to fix the brains of our brothers…" Earl said a prayer.
"If Sister Uliah hears that, I won't help if she beats you both into a bloody pulp…" said Zean.
Crew, on the other hand, didn't say anything.
"You 2 idiots, move on to the third-best girl! Let your brothers hear it!" said Turd.
Roderick and Jeston let out a sigh before looking at each other.
"Agree to disagree for now?" asked Roderick.
"Agree," replied Jeston.
They shook hands and then turned to the rest of their brothers.
"Okay, for the third best girl, it's none other than Sister Vivian," said Jeston.
"Why?" asked Zean.
"Face-wise, Sister Vivian has the best face. And although she seems friendly and helpful, there's like this invisible wall against her," said Jeston.
"Maybe you're just intimidated by her status as our Platoon Leader, her Physical and Magic Force, her Affinities and her being a future administrator?" Earl said and then turned to the rest. "That's called sour-grapping, right?"
"No, not at all," said Jeston. "I mean, don't you guys notice it whenever she interacts with people? Also, when she interacts with men, it looks like she doesn't even see us because there is no reaction at all."
"Well, she is older. So maybe in her eyes we're just kids," said Earl. "But then again, there are some men who are into older women."
"I think she's a lesbian," said Roderick.
Everyone stared at Roderick with a deadpan expression.
"Now that's just downright sour-grapping," said Earl.
"Let's just say she's unapproachable. End of story," said Jeston.
"Hey! Just because you're too cowardly to talk to her, that doesn't mean she's unapproachable. You're in the same Chapter Temple yet you're afraid to talk to her," said Roderick.
"As if you've approached and talked with her."
"I can but I had no reason. I will approach and talk to her once I have a valid reason to."
"So you will only approach women if it's an important topic? Why not for small talk?"
"How about you? Why don't you have small talk with her?"
"Why would I? I'm not the one who said she's unattainable."
Crew, Zean and Earl looked at Turd.
"That's what I've been listening to since I came here," Turd said and took a sip from his mug of beer.
"But to be fair, I can see Sister Vivian being a very influential member of the Temple in the future," said Crew.
"Yeah, imagine having 4 Affinities. She's on the level of Brother Isaac and High Brother Lucius, and also Barons and Viscounts of the Aristocratic Noble Families," said Earl.
"There's also her Physical and Magic Force that's on par with a Priest that's in their early to mid-30s," said Zean.
"There's someone else better in our batch," said Turd.
They all turned to him.
"What do you mean?" asked Earl.
"You guys saw the new platoon this morning, right?"
"Yeah. I think it was the Iron Chapter Temple and the Verglas Chapter Temple?"
"There was a brother and a sister from the Iron Chapter Temple called Warren and Elise who has 5 Magic Art Affinities."
"5 Magic Art Affinities?!" they all exclaimed.
"Is it all True Affinities?" asked Crew.
"Apparently," said Turd.
"What's their Physical and Magic Force?" asked Earl.
"From what I heard, it's around Mithril," said Turd.
"So they're no different from us," said Jeston.
"But they have the highest number of Magic Art Affinities," said Earl.
"But we still have the strongest recruit. We would definitely be winning the Capture the Flag tournament against the other classes," said Roderick.
"How old are they?" asked Crew.
"Around the same age as us," said Turd.
"But is it wise to reveal that they 5 Magic Arts?" asked Zean.
"Yeah, Brother Zean has a point," said Earl. "There would be people a lot of people who want a piece of them. Some would even go as far as to kidnap and imprison them in order to create talented offsprings."
"That's right. I even heard that when the current Light Saint was still young, there were so many assassination and kidnapping attempts. A few were even successful but they managed to still save her in the end," said Jeston.
"True," Turd said and then took a sip from his mug. "That's why their group was escorted by 2 Red Cloaks and 4 Gray Cloaks on the way here."
"But still, wouldn't it be wiser to just reveal their Affinities once they're strong enough?" asked Zean.
"Beats me. That's a question that only they and the higher-ups can answer," Turd said and picked up a piece of food with a fork before biting it.
"Or maybe it's a diversion?" asked Crew.
"What do you mean?" asked Earl.
"Like what Brother Zean said, it would be smarter to just reveal their Affinities once they're strong enough."
No one spoke and waited for Crew to continue.
"Here's what I think.
"Maybe they really planned to hide those 2 while they were still growing. However, something happened and their information got leaked out.
"And those 2 right now at the Training Camp are fakes and were sent here as a diversion. Meanwhile, the actual Warren and Eliose have already been sent somewhere else and their identities changed.
"I mean, isn't that what happened to another Priest in the past who had 5 Affinities? I believe his name was Cardinal Brother Charles. He had to change his identity and location and only chose to reveal himself once he was old and powerful enough."
Outside the Holy Crusade and between the Light Saint and the Red and Gray Cloaks, there was a position called Cardinals. These are the Priests who applied to be a Light Saint but failed during the Light Saint election. However, once the current Light Saint would retire and another one would be chosen, the current Cardinals would also have to retire and be replaced by a new batch of Cardinals. And they all stay at the Temple of Priests Palace.
"And how were they able to pass the Registration?" asked Roderick.
"What makes you think they can't fake it with Magic Items or the Temple decides to go along with it?" Jeston retorted.
"And what about the face?"
"Anyhow, to have 5 Affinities, that's on the level of Brother Samuel," said Earl.
"Brother Turd, your Temple Chapter also has someone who has 5 Affinities, right?" asked Zean.
"I'm not sure if he's still active because he's in his 60s. But his name is Brother Quan."
"I heard about him. Brother Isaac told us stories about him," said Crew.
"What about the current Light Saint? How many Affinities does he have?" asked Roderick.
Everyone looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"You're a Priest and you don't know how many Affinities the current Light Saint has?" said Jeston.
"Hey, it's not like everyone here knows everything," Roderick said before looking away and taking a sip from his mug.
"You and Brother Radford kept having the lowest scores."
"The Light Saint has 6 Magic Art Affinities. But he's already about to step into his 90s so the next election is coming sooner or later," said Turd.
"Are there candidates with 6 Affinities?" asked Earl.
"Beats me," Turd said and shrugged. "And even if there is, I doubt if they would even reveal themselves before the election for the next Light Saint appears."
They all nodded in agreement.
"Hey, what do you think will happen to Brother Radford?" asked Crew.
Ever since Gars took Radford to the office after the incident, they haven't seen or heard from him ever since. However, his things were still at the male dormitory when they left around 6:00 p.m. after practicing drills.
Tch!
Turd clicked his tongue.
"That bloody idiot!"
He picked up a piece of food with his fork and placed it inside his mouth.
"Hopefully, he doesn't lose his license as a Priest…" said Earl.
"Yeah, he's a great fighter. He was one of my toughest opponents at the Ranking Match," said Zean.
It was then Sally and Diane arrived and were holding mugs of beer.
"Brothers," they greeted and smiled.
"Sister Sally, Sister Diane, glad the both of you could make it," said the Priests.
"Please have a seat," Roderick and Jeston said and offered their seats.
They also stopped talking about the best girl topic.
"Have you heard about the news that a Priestess from the Orion Chapter Temple went missing?" asked Sally.
"Missing? I thought she quit?" replied Turd.
"They're still investigating it," said Diane.
"Yes," said Sally. "But she didn't take her belongings with her."
The rest of the men from their platoon arrived as well.
"What did we miss?" asked one of them.
"Nothing, but Xander is already dead drunk," Jeston said and grinned.
Everyone looked at Xander who was asleep on his chair.
"Someone cast [Cleanse] on him," said Sally.
"We would if we had," Turd said and took a sip from his mug.
"Maybe Sister Platoon Leader Vivian has [Cleanse]?" asked Roderick.
"Someone called my name?" a female voice suddenly asked.
They turned around and saw Vivian, Kara, Uliah and Samantha.
"A… A… A…" Roderick couldn't speak.
"Good evening, brothers and sisters!" Kara said and flashed a bright smile.
"What are you all doing?" asked Uliah.
"Good evening to you all…" Samantha said in a small voice and bowed.
"Good evening, sisters and Sister Platoon Leader!" the rest replied.
"Hey, why is Brother Xander sleeping?!" Uliah said before heading over to him.
She then began waking up him by shaking him and offering him more beer. And as Vivian was watching the whole scene, something unexpected happened.
Ding!
'Unlocked Lore Magic [Belle of the Training Camp]!'
A dark expression appeared on her face.
********************
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
By the way, I posted some Chapter Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n. And to view them, you can read them at…
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There, you will have access to the Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when those said Chapter Drafts will be published here, there will be some edits. They also involve a few secret outline notes/details that I won't publish here because they contain spoilers or dispel some of the mysteries. And at the moment, Chapter Drafts 247-252 are posted there.
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