Leonidas leapt down from his horse just 20 meters from the entrance of Violet Waters. Unable to sustain itself any longer, it collapsed, breathing its last. Just to ensure they had made it back in time, Leonidas didn’t allow his steed even the slightest rest.
At the gates of Violet Waters, a special group of characters stood. Among them, there was the third Apostle who had given Leonidas a bad impression that night, a woman who went by Maw. When she saw that it was Leonidas who had returned first, especially considering the enormous saw blade resting on his shoulder and the bloody gash down his chest, her gaze couldn’t help but narrow.
Leonidas’ roar had shaken the whole town awake, no small number of individuals thought that another battle was coming. But, the Apostles had never expected to gear up and prepare just to witness this. It made it seem as though they were throwing a welcoming party for a young man who didn’t even have a last name. Those who were a bit worse at controlling their emotions couldn’t help but frown deeply.
Anabel’s horse collapsed not too long later. She quietly followed behind Leonidas, her head down and her features still flushed red. Leonidas’ words had agitated something deep within her. Though, to everyone else, there was a very different reason for her shy appearance and red expression. This sort of thought process only made the Apostles, Knights and Paladins even more unsatisfied.
“What is the meaning of this? Do you take my time as something you can waste as you please?”
The one who spoke was Maw. She was already dissatisfied to see that Leonidas had returned unharmed, and such a situation only compounded things.
Leonidas, who had been prepared to walk into the city without a word, paused.
His gaze passed over Lady Eve who had been brought out as well before it landed on Maw. Even facing a Level 3 Apostle like her, his gaze didn’t waver.
“Who are you that I owe you an explanation? Do I have to explain anything I do to you?”
Leonidas’ response was something that seemed to freeze the air. No one had expected the same person they had been calling a fool all this time to suddenly have such words to say.
“You…”
“On the way here, one of your Paladins disrespected me so I left his corpse in two pieces by the road for you to pick up. Do what you will with that information.”
Leonidas turned away to leave.
At that moment, Deacon Bruthers made his appearance. The man looked as though he was copied and pasted into the world. He didn’t look like a person who should be in such a small village, his scope was far beyond it and his momentum breathed thoughts of inferiority into existence.
With such a commotion, Deacon Bruthers couldn’t stand idly by. Even if he knew this matter wasn’t what it seemed, with so many Apostles gathering, it could quickly become something much more than what it had begun as.
Maw only seemed to register the words Leonidas had said after a moment. Once she did, her temper immediately flared.
“What did you just say to me, you son of a whore?!”
Maw shot forward, her Breath stirring within her like a raging flood dragon. The strength of her limbs was on a level that couldn’t be underestimated.
“Halt.”
A cold voice stopped Maw in her tracks, a formless pressure enveloping the entrance of Violet Waters. As though on cue, in the distance, the figures of Benet and the others rapidly approached, ugly expressions marring their features. They didn’t know why everyone had gathered like this, but all that mattered was that Leonidas was safe and sound. They had been played.
“You would do well to remember, Maw, that we are a single entity beneath Her Holiness, Yves.” Deacon Bruthers said slowly. “Fighting amongst Apostles is prohibited.”
Maw’s body felt frozen, a cold sweat permeating her back. She grit her teeth hard, taking a deep breath as she stared daggers at Leonidas.
“Lord Deacon, you heard his words. He killed one of our Paladins!”
Deacon Bruthers didn’t respond immediately, turning his attention to Leonidas instead. The pressure was absolutely suffocating, even with his sturdy bones, Leonidas felt his joints creaking. He realized at that moment that the gap between Level 3 and Level 4 wasn’t as simple as just one level. There was an enormous qualitative change.
“Did you kill a Paladin?”
“I did.” Leonidas responded.
“Are you aware of what that means?”
“The loss of a waste of space.”
Deacon Bruthers’ gaze narrowed, his pressure on Leonidas increasing by another measure. Just because he was in favor of the Rardin losing one of their supporting pillars, didn’t mean he would allow Leonidas to speak so casually to him, nor would he allow such casual killing to take place either.
There was internal fighting in their town, yes. However, these were ultimately small squabbles compared to those eyeing their territory. The Head of an Apostle as low as Level 1 was already worth so much, so what about a Deacon like Bruthers? Or, more importantly, what was the reward for taking down an entire Sub-Shrine?
Towns were constantly competing. Internal struggle was inevitable, but it couldn’t be allowed to reach a point where they were crippling each other. If things followed down that path, the result would be an end where everyone would suffer.
“Paladins are an important fighting force no less than that of Apostles. It would be enough of a problem if you killed a Paladin of your own, but killing one of another not only weakens us as a whole, but it causes unnecessary strife. Give me one reason why I shouldn’t kill you now to prevent future trouble.”
The fiendish glint in Leonidas’ gaze had long since faded, replaced by the same dead look he usually displayed to the world.
Without a word, Leonidas reached toward his waist and brought out an odd-looking ball. No one could get a clear understanding of what it was as it was mostly covered by his fingers, but this wasn’t something they lingered on for long because their attention was soon diverted by the image of Zirel hopping onto his steed and raising his sword, the murderous intent in his gaze clear.
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Leonidas cut it off before the end of the recording, not allowing any of them to see how those matters ended. It was clear to everyone that he had done so on purpose, but what could they do about it? This was already enough to prove that Leonidas had been in the right, he had no need to prove anything to anyone.
Deacon Bruthers’ pressure receded like a tide. “It seems that I have wronged you. Apostle Maw, what do you have to say?”
Right then, Benet and the two that had followed him entered range. Their faces had darkened considerably as they understood now that they had lost a Paladin for nothing in return.
“… Zirel stepped out of line and deserved everything he got. If he was here, I would have killed him myself. He has dirtied the reputation of my Rardin family.”
Deacon Bruthers nodded. There wasn’t much else he could do if the Rardin family were insistent on using their Paladin as a scapegoat. But, he couldn’t help but give another deep look to Leonidas. He seemed to have entered this situation blindly, but was all of this really a coincidence? What better conditions were there to expose this matter than with so many witnesses to the truth? Even if the Rardin family wanted to twist the facts, they had already lost the initiative.
“I do have one matter I would like to ask you about, Deacon Bruthers, if it’s convenient.”
Deacon Bruthers’ gaze narrowed. It seemed that this nice little play Leonidas had set up wasn’t quite finished.
“Speak freely.”
“Ten months ago, my mother died under mysterious circumstances. Her life isn’t worth much to others as she was just a common whore, but she was the woman I love most in this world. In addition, though there aren’t many laws in this small town of ours, I am aware that one of them prohibits murder without cause or reason. I hope you will allow me to question House Lady Beccerth to investigate this matter.”
Though they were Apostles, they still had an obligation to protect the common citizens. In a small town like this, they were essentially the governing body and the responsibility fell onto their shoulders.
While Apostles had no need for common citizens as they could exchange for everything they needed in the Church, Her Holiness Yves was very different. Apostles might have been the core followers of Yves, but the common citizens were the foundation of Her Faith. Every God not only needed an upswell of loyal supporters, they also needed Apostles to protect them. This was where their strength came from.
How could Goddess Yves allow her worshippers to be casually killed? If she couldn’t protect them, who would follow her religion? It made it even worse that Leonidas’ mother wasn’t just a half Half-Beast like him, but was rather a full-blooded Half-Beast. Her life was even more valuable to Yves!
If Leonidas was another worthless commoner, this could just be swept under the rug. Unfortunately, it was clear that this couldn’t be done now. Anyone with half a brain could understand that there was something quite sinister going on here, and those involved most definitely had high standing.
There had been something bothering Leonidas for a long time now.
His mother was very beautiful, extraordinarily so, especially in her youth. What Leonidas had gained from her was as plain as day and had caused him his own share of problems. This might not sound like a large matter, but compared to the standards of the commoners of this town, she was leagues beyond. Even noble beauties like Anabel and the somewhat aged Lady Eve couldn’t hold a candle to her.
Yet, despite his mother’s beauty, she had spent her life in a brothel. Leonidas had seen many lesser women get chosen as concubines for common men. Some were lucky enough to become maids in noble households. But, his mother never gained the same benefit.
Leonidas wasn’t a fool. In fact, for a long time, his intelligence was his only redeeming quality. In the past, he had concluded that it was his and his so-called father’s fault. No matter how beautiful a woman, what man would want a concubine that had been with an Ogre? It only made it worse that she would also have a son that she would insist on dragging along.
However, as Leonidas matured and his scope of the world widened, he began to question this conclusion.
There was little men wouldn’t do for beauty. Even one tainted by an Ogre was worth taking a chance on. It wouldn’t be necessary to take her as a concubine, just a maid position would be enough. As for Leonidas, wouldn’t it be easy to just kill him? If this man was also interested in Leonidas’ mother not hating their guts, considering how sick Leonidas had been, it would have been easy to kill him ‘accidentally’. That way, they would have the best of both worlds, a beauty that was both beautiful and grieving, in need of a shoulder to cry on.
In addition to this, there was another matter to consider. Half-Beasts lived, on average, about 20 years more than normal humans. While a human might live 70 to 80 years, it wasn’t rare for a Half-Beast to live into their hundreds. As such, they also aged slower, something that Leonidas only learned in the previous months.
He had never known how old his mother was, it just wasn’t something he ever thought to ask. Instead, he had always assumed that she had him in her late teens to early 20’s. That would mean that she died while her youth was declining in her late 30’s to early 40’s. This timeline would make sense for a normal human woman.
Upon adjusting for a Half-Beast, though, it was more accurate that Leonidas’ mother would have conceived him in her 30’s to maybe even 40’s, and her decline only began in her 50’s to 60’s. In that case, the question to ask was obvious. How had so much time passed without anyone claiming his mother? A woman who could maintain the prime of her youth for so long was left in a brothel? How could this be possible?
Then there was the most glaring oddity… Leonidas’ heart surgery. How could his mother have ever afforded to call for a Healer? The more Leonidas learned about the world of Apostles, the more ridiculous he found his previous assertion to be.
All of this pointed toward someone powerful. Someone who could make sure his mother stayed in the brothel. Someone powerful enough that no one dared to have any ideas on her beauty. Someone with enough strength to make the House Lady and everyone else look the other way when the number one beauty of their town was wasted before being hounded to her death.
Knowing this, Leonidas used all of his senses to focus his observation of Deacon Bruthers, even to the point of activating Scholar’s Eye to the greatest degree.
This was a risk Leonidas would normally never take. Though the odds were small, it was possible that Deacon Bruthers was the person behind the scenes. By exposing these matters so openly and candidly admitting that he wanted to look into this, he was implying that he found something fishy.
If Deacon Bruthers was behind this, Leonidas was all but finished. Even if Deacon Bruthers couldn’t kill him now, finding a casual excuse to do so would be as easy as breathing, not to mention the fact the lives and deaths of all Apostles were almost entirely in his hands.
However, for the sake of his mother, all of Leonidas’ intelligence and caution went out the window. He had waited long enough. His mother’s corpse was still rotting on a cliff’s ledge and her murderer was still walking around freely and without consequences. If he held it down any longer, he would implode.
By the grace of luck shining down upon Leonidas for once, he didn’t catch even the slightest oddity in Deacon Bruthers’ reaction to his question. In fact, the response the Deacon gave was even more of a sigh of relief.
“For a matter like this, there’s no need to seek my permission. You are an Apostle and she is but the House Lady of a brothel. So long as you don’t unscrupulously kill without evidence, you are free to investigate at your leisure.”
Though Leonidas knew that Deacon Bruthers could just have methods capable of hiding his reactions away from a mere Level 1 Blessing like Scholar’s Eye, he still felt that there was a more than 90% probability that Deacon Bruthers was not who he was looking for.
“Thank you, your assurance leaves me at ease.”
Deacon Bruthers nodded, his internal thoughts unknown to everyone around him.
“Then, I will take my leave. Apostle Maw, Apostle Benet, Apostle Milon, your Rardin family will compensate Apostle Leonidas for the trouble your Paladin has caused to the tune of 100 Blessing Units. Relay this to your family elders.”
The faces of the three turned green, but they still bowed in response.
The Rardin family might be rich, but they also had many to support as well. It wasn’t difficult for them to accumulate 100 Blessing Units, but it was still a decent hit to them. It was clear that Deacon Bruthers would never miss a good opportunity to weaken their momentum.
“Good.”
With that, the Deacon disappeared into the distance, unaware that there was a storm brewing in their rival Lower Ogre town, Swallowing Tusk.