Leonidas didn’t know what to say. He was one part confused, another part disoriented, and a final part pissed off. How had he ruined a schedule if he had just gotten here not even a couple of hours earlier? You would think by the words of this Head Clergyman that Leonidas had been with them for years already and was slipping up on his duty.

When Leonidas’ vision cleared completely after he used his hand to wipe his eyes, he got a good look at this Head Clergyman.

The Head Clergyman wasn’t a young man as one might expect. He was already nearing his middle ages and his thick beard even had some sparse white hairs. He played the part of drill sergeant well, but Leonidas was truly confused about why someone so old would still be a Clergyman.

That said, the reason for that might be part of the reason why he was so irritable.

Without a word, completely soaked through, Leonidas climbed out of bed.

The Head Clergyman paused when he realized that Leonidas actually hadn’t snapped. This obviously wasn’t his first time doing such a thing to a new recruit, but Leonidas’ eyes seemed completely dead.

The way their deep crimson locked gazes with him made him involuntarily shudder somewhat.

Who among those who came here weren't from well-off families? Usually, a spray of water and some yelling was all it took for them to rage. But, by the time that happened, they’d be breaking the rules of the Clergymen and would be forced to pay adequate compensation if they didn’t want the Father finding out.

But, Leonidas didn’t say a word.

He stood, water drizzling down from his long crimson hair and slouched body. Some of the dried blood still caked onto his skin began to liquefy, dripping the wooden floors through with an eerie ruby color.

The Head Clergyman looked Leonidas up and down, but didn’t say a word. He didn’t seem to be too scared by the sight of Leonidas at all. Rather, he was more intrigued by the bump hidden beneath the back of Leonidas’ clothes.

Leonidas found his change of clothes on the top bunk, luckily not soaked through.

“Where are the stables?” Leonidas asked.

The Head Clergyman blinked before grinning a toothy grin.

“You must have lived in this town for so long yet you don’t know the answer to this? I don’t like stupid questions, brat.”

Leonidas only nodded. “And is there a place for me to clean myself?”

“Out the door and to the right.” The Head Clergyman replied.

Taking his clothes off of the top bunk, Leonidas trudged away, his heavy steps leaving the floors creaking once again.

“Hoho, looks like your ploy didn’t work this time, Alfan!”

A chuckling voice sounded after Leonidas had already left.

Many of the Clergymen had already woken up, but this was just a habit they had ingrained. Leonidas technically hadn’t been late, he just hadn’t been as early as the others.

Everyone had been eager to watch the show, but apparently there was no show to watch this time. So, they could only make fun of Alfan for striking out.

“Tch.” Alfan clicked his tongue before chuckling.

“You should be careful though. That kid’s the first Half-Beast we’ve gotten. Who knows, he might snatch your Head position if you aren’t careful.”

Alfan’s expression froze, his gaze solidifying into a glare as he looked toward the origin of the voice.

Even under Alfan’s discontent, the young man continued to chuckle. He was clearly much younger than Alfan and had an arrogant air to him. Well, at least his dark hair made him seem that way, swaying about his face and partially obstructing his shrewd visage.

“Watch your mouth, Kyzer.”

“Or what?” Kyzer burst into another fit of laughter.

The worst Alfan could do was assign him worse chores, but he had already given Leonidas the worst job. As for the rest? They were all about the same anyway.

Alfan’s gaze flashed as Kyzer walked away. But, in the end, he said nothing.

…

Leonidas soon found the shower room. He was quite shocked that there was such a place as the only way he had been able to clean himself was in a river or in a wooden tub. But, he was even more surprised after he actually walked in.

Washing her hair in a shower stall at the end of the shower room, a young woman thoroughly shampooed her hair, her alluring silhouette swaying as she hummed a small tune. Her skin had a deep tan to it, scars that were much lighter in tone running across her body as though she had been whipped more times than she cared to count.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Somehow, these scars didn’t detract from her beauty and even gave her a somewhat wild and exotic appeal.

The truth was that Leonidas wasn’t surprised at seeing a naked woman. After growing up in and around a brothel all his life, he had seen far worse – or greater, in some aspect – so he had long since been desensitized.

What shocked him is that the Church actually didn’t provide separate accommodations for men and women. And, despite there being a curtain right there the woman could use, she apparently hadn’t bothered.

The woman, hearing someone come in, turned back. She was surprised to see Leonidas at first, only because she didn’t recognize him. But, soon after she gave a light smile.

With her hands still up in her hair and her body partially turned back like that, Leonidas could see a nice half of her perky breasts. Though it too was coated in scars, it was still a gorgeous sight to behold.

Leonidas nodded in greeting before choosing a shower stall of his own. To him, this matter was only a small surprise and nothing more. He had already seen his fair share of bold women. In a world like this one, shy and reserved women often didn’t last very long. Unless, that is, she came from a family capable of protecting her. But, from what Leonidas had seen, there was always a stronger family and a taller mountain out there somewhere. No one was safe.

Taking a deep breath, Leonidas shed all of his clothing, revealing a hollow, pale body with skin stuck to the bone. As handsome as his face was, there was not a single ounce of attraction to be found in his body’s shape.

Blood, dirt and grime pooled at Leonidas’ feet, the foul smells making his nose wrinkle. His sharp nose was another thing he gained from his parents. But, the water seemed to make all the smells worse before they got better.

Leonidas took his time to clean his body properly. Being dirty was something he hated with an absolute passion, but he didn’t have a choice oftentimes. Water was a valuable resource in this town as well.

Though they were close to the ocean and had many techniques to turn salt water into fresh water, if there was one thing the rich were good at, it was turning a plentiful resource into a scarce one.

Leonidas’ delicate skin couldn’t take being washed in the ocean, so he didn’t get to clean himself as often as he wanted. This shower alone, as dingy and unkempt as it was, made him feel that the ten silvers were worth it.

“You’re new?”

At that moment, a voice drifted in from the outside of Leonidas’ stall. Being quite tall, even with his slouched back, Leonidas could easily peek over and just barely see the drenched brunette hair of the young woman.

“Yes.”

“Oh, your voice is quite nice.” The young woman giggled. “You can call me Daisy, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Leonidas.”

Daisy’s light laughter drifted to Leonidas’ ears again.

“Next time, don’t be so shy. I’ll be off now!”

Leonidas shook his head. Shy? It wasn’t that at all.

Looking down at himself, Leonidas caught sight of the monstrosity between his legs. Why this was the only piece of flesh he had inherited from his ‘father’ was beyond him.

But, as most things in Leonidas’ life went, it didn’t work properly either.

Without his two hearts, he couldn’t even pump enough blood into the damned thing. Even when he was aroused, it would lift to half-mast at best. How was he supposed to use it in that state?

Even back when he had both of his hearts, the pressure was so great that he felt his skin might rip apart down there completely, leaving him without a cock.

In his experience, Leonidas knew it was better to just not let women see what he had below. To some of them, it was more enticing than even his pretty face. But, there’d always be disappointment at the end of that excitement when they realized just how useless it was.

Leonidas was attracted to women. But, what good did that do him if he couldn’t do anything about it?

Leonidas finished cleaning himself up and wiped himself dry.

Looking at his ribcage sticking to his skin, he sighed. If he wanted to get stronger, he would definitely have to eat. Luckily, the Clergymen should also provide three meals a day.

With that thought, Leonidas put on his clothing. It looked similar to the Father’s except he was given grey robes instead of black.

There was a pair of loose grey pants and a long tunic that stretched down to his knees overtop. Finally, there was Yves’ wooden emblem on his left chest.

For the first time, rather than having to make a hole for his tail personally, the tunic and pants accounted for it. To Leonidas, this was probably his first true run-in with luxury.

After sliding on a pair of simple unlaced shoes, Leonidas used his old clothing to wrap up his shovel and Lacroix’s knife, along with his mother’s pouch of coins. Finally, he slipped his mother’s letter into his chest pocket as he always did and left for the stables.

…

As Alfan had said, Leonidas had known where the stable was all his life.

This small town was known as Violet Waters. It had just a single barracks which housed all its Knights and Paladins. These barracks were located not far from the Church and seemed to have been placed in close proximity on purpose.

The stables were obviously where the horses of the Knights were kept. Those who had their own land like Gauteron were quite rare.

The store that Leonidas had been thrown out of the day before was one of Gauteron’s many family properties. So, he came from wealth even before he became a Knight. It seemed that the Gods didn’t account for character when they decided who would be born with luck and who wouldn’t.

This, though, was good news for Leonidas. At the very least, the chance of running into Gauteron here was lessened by a few notches.

The work Leonidas had to do was indeed terrible. His only job was to clean the endless piles of horse shit, but that was the problem… they were endless.

Leonidas couldn’t fathom why there was this much work. Didn’t they clean the stables every day? So why was it in such a state?

He would find out very quickly, though, that things would be exactly this bad every day. All these purebreds did when there wasn’t a battle to attend to was eat, exercise and shit. They would always be primed and ready for Leonidas.

For a town of only just under a thousand, the Knights numbered at not even 50. Yet, each of them had three or four horses, making Leonidas’ life a living hell.

By the time Leonidas dragged himself back to the church, he stunk terribly and he had long since missed the second meal of the day after already missing the first. Due to Alfan’s rant that morning, Leonidas really had thought he was late, so he missed breakfast entirely.

It was only after thoroughly washing himself again that Leonidas finally managed to find the small dining room reserved for the Clergymen.

The food had long since gone cold and there were only scraps left, but the dishes of hardy potatoes and veggie sausages made Leonidas almost lose control of himself for a moment.

His teeth bared a slight bit, his long canines almost dripping with saliva.

Even these mere ‘scraps’ were more than Leonidas had ever eaten in just one sitting. Greedily filling his plate, he found a quiet table to himself and began to gorge himself for the first time in his life.

“Oh! Little Shy Leo!”

Daisy strolled into the room, her smile blooming when she laid eyes on a familiar head of fiery red hair.