Hayh! Hyah!
Two holy candidates are swinging the swords they hold with all their might, with the long exercise they've done, sweat is pouring out from their bodies.
Nearby, a female knight stood, examining their every movement and correcting them if something was wrong.
"Breathe through your noses, not mouths. And maintain a good balance when swinging the sword. It might seem pointless, but when you're out there fighting in the real world, you'll see it's worth it. Now do it once again."
Obeying her words, the two holy candidates once again began their training.
"This is interesting."
However, before they began, they heard a fairy-like and sweet female voice. Looking at the source, they saw a woman dressed gorgeously.
"Saintess," the female holy knight knelt as soon as she saw the woman. She then looked at the two holy candidates, who were still standing, mesmerized by the Saintess's beauty. hitting them she urged them to kneel.
"No need to bother. I only need to talk to Alliyah."
The two candidates looked at each other before taking a few steps back, appropriately giving the Saintess and holy knight Alliyah space to discuss with each other.
"Didn't I say don't bother? It's not like we are strangers to each other." Despite the Saintess's words, Alliyah still stayed kneeling.
"But things are different now, Saintess. It's my duty to serve under you now, and it's a sin to disrespect you."
"Never have I ever heard that standing in front of others is a disrespect to them. So stand up."
Obeying her words, Alliyah finally stood up.
"Hyah! Hyah!"
In the background, the two holy knights began their training again.
"Don't you have patrolling duty today?" gazing at the two holy candidates saintess asked from Alliyah.
"Elian took that task for me. These days, I'm occupied with them," responded Alliyah, also gazing at the two holy candidates.
"Oh... what's this? Our icy cold Aliyah finally took interest in a male, and it's not one but two at once," the Saintess teased, to which Aliyah showed no reaction at all.
"It's nothing like that, Saintess. Those two... I feel like they're special."
"Mm-hmm, that's how everyone says it at first."
"....."
In truth, the Saintess already felt that the two candidates Aliyah was training were special in some way. When she saw one of them, she felt a warmth in her heart as if all her worries faded away.
"Saintess, you're looking at them way too long," after a few minutes of silence, Aliyah noticed the Saintess's actions.
"You're right, I do feel something special in them, especially that kid. What's his name?"
"Desire... Desire Ashborn, and the other one is Gibbin. They started training a few weeks ago and have shown extraordinary talent."
"They are indeed special."
"Saintess... that's what they all said at first."
Being teased back by her long-time friend, the Saintess regained her momentum.
"Don't worry, I won't steal them from you," with a smirk, she walked back to her own residence.
"Desire and Gibbin... should I keep an eye on them?"
. . .
After finishing her work for the day, Evelyn came back to her own room, which had been assigned to her by Vennesa.
Once inside, she locked the door tightly and took her clothes off one by one.
Taking off the clip that tied her hair, it fell upon her snowy face like a golden waterfall. Gazing at her otherworldly beauty through the mirror, she touched the cut mark that ran across all that beauty.
It was a deep cut mark that would stay with her for the rest of her life.
"It's painful, isn't it... to serve under the same man who gave you this scar?"
A blue, illusionary shadow-like woman appeared beside her, her voice like that of a fading echo.
"You're brave, Evelyn. If it were another woman, she would definitely slit his throat the moment she saw him standing like a proud lion in front of her."
Even her movements were like the wind. Passing through the mirror, she positioned herself face-to-face with Evelyn.
"But is that sorrow I see in your eyes? Are you that pitiful? Are you sad that after all this time, he didn't even bat an eye at you after all he had done to you?"
Phew!
With a blow of wind from Evelyn, the illusionary woman flew away like smoke.
"What's the matter? Can't talk to me... Oh right, the only person you ever talked to comfortably in your life is him, right?"
The woman's voice was full of mockery.
Evelyn turned around and walked through the illusionary body of the woman, stepping into the bathtub. She then lay in it carefully. Her fairy snow-like skin glistened as it got wet, and the cut marks and bruises across her body became more clearly exposed.
"Mordred will perish by the same beauty he once admired... but first, he has to suffer," Evelyn's voice was icy cold and sharply resounded through the room, and it completely resemble the voice of the illusionary woman.
"Are you planning on using your newly found ability for that?" The illusionary woman floated around her in the air, positioning herself in a comfortable way while floating.
"You know, we had to pay a price for that power. If you don't get the job done quickly, it will end in disaster."
Evelyn's eyes turned red at the illusionary woman's words, and from her hand grew flower petals. These flowers emitted a pleasant scent that made the atmosphere in the room joyful.
Evelyn closed her eyes, and with a calm breath, the petals were sucked back into her body, and the redness in her eyes disappeared.
"I know, but I'm sure it won't take too long. Once I'm closer to him, he will be at my feet like a dog."
Opening her eyes, her words resounded through the room. With a satisfying smile on her face, the illusionary figure dissipated like smoke. The room fell silent again. Although from the beginning, the only voice resounding through it was Evelyn's own.
. . . . . . .
Somewhere in the north, in the middle of a giant lake...
"Riandle, A spirit creature belonging to the third hierarchy of the spirit realm. Also known as the mind-sucking leech. To catch a Riandle, the most suitable bait is the giant fish that live in deep lakes, especially the ones that eat meat."
"Hmm..."
In this lake, on a peacefully floating boat, Mordred lay on a reclining chair. An umbrella was beside him, shading him from the shining sun.
To attract a spirit creature into a contract, one must possess a powerful soul strong enough to control the beast. It's common knowledge that someone needs to be at least in the same rank as the creature to subdue it to their will. But, other than that, there are other ways—hence why I'm currently fishing.
O god please… if you're rooting for me, let one of those large fish catch onto my bait.
Hamp! Hyah!
Hearing the sound, Mordred looked back at the riverside to see Knight Remiar, who was training some moves belonging to the Holy Knights.
As Knight Remiar swung his sword, sparks of light could sometimes be seen at the edge of the blade.
Does Knight Remiar have an affinity with light attributes? Or could it be a holy attribute? Come to think of it, he is not someone evil by nature. It's possible that the original Knight Remiar is someone with justice in his heart who served one of the crowned gods.
"It's surprising that he's doing every evil deed I'm saying."
Ting!
Suddenly, he heard the sound of a bell. Jumping from his seat, he hurried to the fishing rod. Just as he got there, something emerged from the water, gasping for breath.
It was a male human, and around his body was a rope binding him tightly.
"Oh... it's just my bait, and he's... running away."
"Let me get him for you, boss."
Departing from Mordred's shadow, the shadow assassin jumped into the water and quickly caught Mordred's bait.
"Please... pleeease let me go… oop... Ah!" the man cried like a baby in the assassin's grasp.
"Should I bind him back, sir?"
"You should. How else am I gonna catch fish without bait?"
Let's see... according to this book, those fish are in the deep depths of the lake, so my bait should reach deep enough to attract them.
After the assassin tightly bound the ropes and secured the man back to the fishing hook, he also tied a huge rock to the man's feet before throwing him back into the water.
With bubbles of air rising through the water, the man sank back in.
A few moments passed, and the sun shone brightly at the center of the sky.
Hyah!
Knight Remiar was still training, while Mordred was close to falling asleep on his reclining chair.
Ting!
Just before Mordred succumbed to sleep, he heard the sound of his fishing pole again.
"If it's my bait trying to escape again, I will end him."
Looking at the lake, he saw the man once again on the surface of the water and swimming around wildly.
"Shadow, get rid of him..."
However, Mordred noticed that the water beneath the man's feet was getting darker and darker. Suddenly, a giant fish erupted from the lake, swallowing the man in one bite before sliding back into the depths and disappearing from sight.
It all happened in an instant that no one had time to react.
"Are you okay?" After a moment, Mordred heard Remair's voice.
The boat rode back to the port, where Mordred stepped out.
Vennesa, who had been staying under the shade of a tree all this time, ran up to him.
"Master, did you succeed?"
"I did suck at fishing, that's all I did. Maybe I should dive in with Remiar to catch one... No, bad idea. It's not like those fish don't have protection methods. And I don't think Remiar would perform well underwater."
In the spot where Vennesa had been waiting, there was a little picnic-like setup. Food and drinks were all prepared by her for her master's fishing trip.
To ease his bitter mood, Mordred ate a few of the sweets.
It wasn't like he didn't have a way to catch that damned fish. If he opened his inventory, he had countless methods. But all of them were one-time-use items, and Mordred, who had a deep love for his items, would never use them unless absolutely necessary.
The item catalog he had was more of a memorial slot where he stored his most memorable and hard-to-get items as trophies. So, it wasn't surprising that a some among them were one-time-use items he refused to part with.
"If it's hard, my lord, how about calling someone experienced in the field for help?" Vennesa suggested as she handed a glass of juice to Mordred.
"Do you know anyone like that?"
"No, but we could put out a task at the Adventurer's Guild."
Slurp!
While drinking, Mordred fell into thought. He needed to do things secretly, but it seemed that catching this fish was not something he could do alone.
"Proceed in your way then, and catch a few fish if possible."
Boom!
Suddenly, a giant pillar of light rose to the sky. Mordred hurriedly reacted and saw it came from Knight Remair's body.
After swinging his sword, the light faded away, and Remiar walked toward Mordred.
"Thanks to the aptitude my true self had, I managed to achieve some skills in the holy light path."
Mordred was truly surprised by this. Even though he had guessed it, it wasn't something he saw as a real possibility.
"So, you have a sense of heroism and justice in your heart?" Mordred inquired.
"Fortunately not. This is just my imitation of the original form," understanding what Mordred meant, Remiar quickly answered.
After finishing his drink, Mordred ended his fishing session. Getting back into his carriage, he rode back to the Arclore residence, where his mother had been waiting for him.
"This way, young master."
Guided by the butler, Mordred arrived in front of a giant hall where he saw his mother dressed in a long blue dress.