‘Interesting.’ Leonidas didn’t respond immediately, looking Anabel up and down. ‘Her good feelings toward her family should be because they’ve treated her well until now. I doubt that the women they’ve likely sacrificed at far younger ages would hesitate to jump at this opportunity like she would. But I like this hesitation. The fact she didn’t agree immediately means it’s more likely for her to stick to her word once she does finally nod her head.’
Anabel shifted beneath Leonidas’ gaze, closing her legs together firmly and wondering for the millionth time why it was she had chosen to wear something so short.
“If your family chooses to act against me, I won’t hold back. If I feel that you will stab me in the back for their sake, even if it’s only the faintest inkling, I will kill you. Do you understand?”
Anabel’s face drained of color. She took deep breaths, trying to slow the erratic breathing of her heart.
“… I understand, Your Lordship. It would be my honor to be by your side.”
Anabel stood. She wanted to kneel to a single knee as tradition would dictate, but she found that her short dress was a hindrance once more. She could only kneel to both, bowing her head and placing her arm across her chest.
“You may rise.”
Anabel looked up to find Leonidas running his finger across the small table that separated them. Everywhere it passed, a trail of blood would be left behind. Soon, a simple but ancient circle formation appeared, exuding a formless pressure.
In the large tome the spirit had left to Leonidas there was a well of information the latter couldn’t even begin to process. All he had come to understand was that it was a gateway to the world of Warlocks and had a value Leonidas couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
Within the tome, there were many things that Leonidas wouldn’t be able to use or implement for a long while, but this simple Blood Pact wasn’t difficult at all.
Blood Pacts came in many grades divided between Levels 1 and 20. The higher the level, the more involved the process. At these low Levels, just Leonidas’ blood and Vital Mana alone was enough of a foundation. But, at higher Levels, special auxiliary items and even a certain amount of Blessings might be necessary.
“This is a Blood Pact,” Leonidas began to explain. “It is a contract formed between two or more parties with a certain number of rules as a foundation. These rules are decided between ourselves. Should one of us break our word, the penalty is death.”
When Leonidas said this, he looked up to meet Anabel’s gaze as though to convey the seriousness of the matter.
Leonidas’ blood, still several tinges too violet for a human, reflected within Anabel’s irises. She didn’t have much of a choice but to trust Leonidas’ word as she had never seen such a thing. She knew of Binding Contracts, but they required an exchange of Blessings from Yves. Was it really possible to make something so binding with nothing more than blood?
Oddly enough, this made Anabel relax. Because of how simple the procedure seemed, it was unlikely that Leonidas would be able to trick her into anything too unseemly. Plus, at this point, what use was there in continuing to worry?
Anabel followed Leonidas’ instructions and closed the final line of the circle with her own blood. She immediately felt a subtle feeling rush through her. Whenever she focused on it, it would reflect like a loose chain around her heart, but it was neither violent nor menacing.
‘… There’s really such a thing…’
Even after concluding the ritual and agreeing to terms with Leonidas, she couldn’t quite believe it. When she looked toward Leonidas this time, she felt like she was looking at a whole different person. Much of her fear and nervousness came from the idea of doing something she had never done before, along with the prestige the title Apostle came with. It had little to do with Leonidas himself. But now she felt that she might have underestimated Leonidas.
“Now, we need to talk about a few things. I need a more solid understanding of the political structure and climate of Violet Waters. And, if you’re aware, anything related to its surrounding territory and potential enemies. Start with the Bruthers and Rardin, why is it that they’re considered equal when Deacon Bruthers exists?”
Stolen story; please report.
“This…” Anabel hadn’t expected the sudden shift, but she quickly composed herself. This was an opportunity to show her worth. Such easy merits didn’t come by often. “… The Bruthers family has the strongest Fighters, but the Rardin family controls all of the Healers. Or, more accurately, all the Healers of our town are members of the Rardin family.”
“Is the imbalance that causes enough to shift the balance? And why is it that the Bruthers haven’t just tasked one of their own to also become a Healer?”
“There are several factors. For one, being a Healer is very lucrative. Not only do the nobles in town pay them hefty sums for their services, but towns in the surroundings do so as well, so the Rardin are far wealthier than the Bruthers family is.
“The second issue is that offending a Healer is troublesome. Even the powerful will eventually need the help of a Healer. In addition, in terms of hierarchy, Healers are of the highest standing beneath Goddess Yves. Fighters are the most abundant, but Goddess Yves has a Unique Promotion for Healers upon reaching the Deacon Level. As such, those with the talent to be Healers receive an extra boost from Her Holiness and added protection.
“And, due to this Unique Promotion, the threshold for becoming a Healer under Her Holiness is a step more difficult. The Rardins seem to either have a special method or a treasure that has allowed them to produce useful Healers, or maybe they are just lucky. Regardless, it gives them a status that even His Lordship Deacon Bruthers cannot ignore.
“Finally, due to all of these factors, gathering Blessings as a Healer is by far the easiest under Her Holiness’ wing. As such, the Rardin family have far more Paladins under their charge, effectively giving both families equivalent battle strength.”
“I see… Continue.”
“Beneath the two large families are the Paladin families. This includes my Siris family, the Creed family, the Baud family, the Dove family and the Moss family. My family’s Paladin was once beneath the Rardin, but he has grown old and his Apostle unfortunately passed. Other than this, the Creed and Baud families are beneath the Rardin and the Dove and Moss families are beneath the Bruthers…”
Anabel proceeded to inform Leonidas about a myriad of things. There were some matters she couldn’t know about, but Leonidas was still able to get a general understanding and no longer felt as ignorant.
“Just one more matter. Lady Eve, why has she fallen out with the Bruthers family.”
Anabel, who had been slowly regaining her normal disposition as she began to relax, almost went into a full-blown panic once again. It was only after she realized that there were only the two of them and no one could eavesdrop on an Apostle’s home that she relaxed.
“… I … am not sure of the details. But, from what I understand, when Deacon Bruthers and Lady Eve were young, their father and the Head of the family died in an invasion of Lower Ogres. The Bruthers family was shaken by it as Deacon Bruthers had been very young back then and not quite ready to take the reins of the family. Or, that was at least what many others believed.
“However, he showed his decisiveness very soon. After the grieving period for their father ended and many began to eye the assets of their family, Deacon Bruthers married off Lady Eve to the Deacon of the time and the man who had replaced their father. From my understanding, Lady Eve and Deacon Bruthers had been very close in their childhood, and Lady Eve was also the most talented youth of their family and had the potential to become a Healer.
“When the Bruthers family was on top of the world, they had no need to hide this fact, so Lady Eve’s talent became known to all. However, the moment the former Head died, everything fell apart.
“In order to ease the pressure, Deacon Bruthers married Lady Eve off against her wishes. There was said to be an enormous falling out between them, but whatever the ending, Lady Eve still had no choice but to follow through…”
“And then?”
“Well… There once were three Apostle families, sharing the quotas somewhat evenly. The other was the Peyton family. Lady Eve disappeared from public view after that day and remained as such for over a decade. The Bruthers family also seemed to fall into obscurity, slowly becoming weaker. Until… Until one day Deacon Peyton suddenly died of mysterious causes. Not only did he die, but all of the Apostles of the Peyton family died not long after.
“Before anyone could react, the Bruthers stepped into all the now-empty quotas. On top of this, Deacon Bruthers took the now vacant Deacon position for himself…
“What the Bruthers family hadn’t expected, though, was for Lady Eve who was known to have great talent and potential to become a Healer, had actually chosen to become a Fighter instead.”
Leonidas’ irises flickered. From what he could gather, it was either that Lady Eve was never meant to get one of those quotas for herself, or if she was, she was meant to be the counter the Bruthers had prepared for the Rardin by becoming their Healer. But, clearly, the trust Lady Eve had had in the Bruthers family had long since shattered. She didn’t want to rely on anyone else. She wanted to protect herself.
Falling into silence for a long while, Leonidas’ mind organized and went through the information he had just learned.
With a deep breath, he finally stood.
“We will go to train now. Also,” Leonidas paused his steps and looked back toward Anabel, “I prefer the you of last night. There’s no need to do all of this, it feels a bit fake.”
Anabel blushed down to her collarbone and didn’t dare to look Leonidas in the eye. After a moment, though, she suddenly recognized a problem.
‘… I only brought short dresses and lingerie. What am I going to train in?’
She felt like a failure of a Knight.