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nIn the bustling streets of the capital in Berum.

nIn the area between where the middle class and the wealthy lived, there was a massive church with all kinds of people going in and out.

nThat was the church of the Sacred Cross, the main religion that was rooted in the whole kingdom of Berum that worshiped the Goddess of Life.

nIn that very church that the size alone resembled a small citadel, a man wearing armor made out of asherrim and steel with a sword in his left thigh walked that church.

nWalking inside the church the man was shortly greeted by women wearing noon clothing.

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"Oh, Sir Lewis. Welcome back.

"

nSeeing that, Lewis stared at them coldly before replying.

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"I am back.

"

nMoving past them, he felt multiple glares behind his back.

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"It has gotten worse...

"Ignoring the glares of the noons and other men having similar equipment as his, he stood in front of a massive door.

nGoing to his knees, he put the sword in front of him.

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"3th-Tier Paladin, Lewis Apollo request to speak to the brightest light.

" His firm yet not too loud-voiced echoed through the whole room.

nMany people stared at him with a hind of disgust and disapproval.

nIgnoring the gazes placed upon him, the door slowly opens by itself, and a sweet yet stern sounded from the other side of the room.

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"You are allowed to come.

"

nPicking his sword from the ground, he walked towards the other side of the door. To be more specific the main hall of the church.

nThe hall contained many roes of seats in which were illuminated by the sunlight that was coming from the glass windows at the top.

nWalking on the red carpet in the middle path, Lewis looked at the figure that was on a stage who was taking a praying poster.

nStopping three meters away from the stage, Lewis repeated the same action that he did in front of the door.

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"Lewis Apollo greeting the brightness light.

"

nAfter a short moment of silence, the figure raised from her knees and looked at the kneeling knight.

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"Lewis, I told you that such formalities are not needed in front of me.

" The figure said with the same tone as before.

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"I apologize towards the brightest light, but any less than that would be disrespectful towards the saintess.

" Lewis raised his head, looking at the woman at the stage with a face that left no room for disapproval.

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"Sigh... Good thing that you haven´t changed too, Lewi

" The woman sighed with a wry smile on her face.

nShe had the appearance of a beautiful woman in her early twenties. With a height of around 1.74 tall. The Saintess had wavy golden hair shoulder-length hair and a pair of two eyes similar to her hair.

nCompared to what the name suggests, she wore a long skirt with two tassets at top of the skirt, Protecting both sides of her legs. Her top piece was a silver-plated armor with strokes of golden lines which indicated the power of the blessings in the armor.

nHolding a claymore with her left gauntlet, she shook she looked like the role model of what every paladin strives to be.

nHoly and Mighty.

nLooking towards the hidden meaning behind her smile, Lewis hesitated before opening his mouth.

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"Saintess...Do she talk by any chance about the behavior of the fellow believers?

" Lewis asked.

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"So even you have noticed, huh...

" The saintess said as he put her finger in her limp, making a gesture that she was in her thoughts.

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"Though you mind not know this, Lewi. But the current situation of the Sacred Cross doesn´t seem good,

" she replied after making up her mind.

nOf course, that response though raised multiple red flags inside Lewis's head.

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"W-What!? Has a plague been discovered? Or did the war against the Arcana kingdom gone for the worse? D-Don´t tell me, that this dreaded council started to appearing in Berum!

" Lewi stood up from this knee position, realizing shortly after the disrespect he showed before going back to his knees.

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"Please forgive me for my manners, oh brightness light.

" Lewis stared at the ground as he said with a serious voice.

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"No need to apologize for such a small thing, Lewi. It was my mistake of being unclear with my words.

" The saintees said with a sweet smile on her face.

nWalking back to the stage, she looked at the statue of an angel with six wings. The statue was half-kneeling with one hand holding a staff whole the other holding a book.

nWith a bitter smile on her face, she started talking while looking at the statue.

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"What I mean was more of the political side of the church.

"

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"Political side?

" Lewis asked while several question marks were going inside his head.

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"Yes, though I know that you believe is strong among our Sacred Cross, that doesn´t go for all believers, unfortunately.

"

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"Currently there are two factions that are hidden from the sight of normal people. Those two sides are from the true believers and the nobles.

"

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"True believers such as yourself, follow the correct path that the Goddess had show us while the other faction wants to bend his path to their will for the pure purpose of profit.

"

nTurning around, she looked directly at Lewis eyes, her eyes glowing with golden light.

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"The faction prioritize the material wealth is being led by the pope and the nobles.

"

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"While the faction that prioritizes the goddess path is being led by me.

" She said while still staring at Lewis silently.

nLewis was shocked by what he heard, and a feeling of disbelieve, anger, and confusion came all at once inside his mind.

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"H-How could his be...

" Lewis said with shaking eyes.

nStaring at the shock, the glow in her eyes faded, with a sweet smile appearing on her face.

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"Through our Sacred cross might look peaceful to the outside, the internal conflict will soon flare up...

"

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"When that time comes, I will look like a traitor who needs to be killed.

"

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"I-Impossible! Saintess-same is the brightness light of our church! S-Such a thing...

" Lewis stood up, his eyes bloodshot staring at the Saintess, wishing at what she said would be a lie.

nBut the silence that followed was enough for him to see that she was serious.

nHe fell to both of his knees, feeling defeated he stared at the saintess and asked.

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"Saintess...why are you telling me all that...

" Lewis asked.

nHe wasn´t stupid, he knew the value of such information.

nThough other minds know the conflict and the existences of the two factions. The information that could result from the death of the Sacred Cross brightness light, the Saintess itself was worth enough to throw the citizens into chaos if realized to the public.

nAnd such chaos at the times of war might effect the war itself against Berum.

nHe stared at the saintness, looking for an answer.

nWith a sweet smile and a bright face, her replied made him falter.

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"Cause I trust you.

"

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"Ah...

"

nThose few words touched Lewis to the point he fell to both of his knees and using his hands to support himself. He become so emotional that his eyelids became watery.

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"Please...tell me how I can help you Saintess-Sama. Please...

"

nLooking at the shook Lewis, she knew that he earnestly tried to support her.

nAfter staring at him in silence, her tone became firm.

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"There have been reports of multiple kidnappings and even murder his early morning. We suspect that those were made by some old adventures who joined a group of assassins. Their base according to our information is in the slums ...

"

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"As the Saintess of the Sacred Cross, I command thee 3th-tier Paladin Lewis Apollo to investigate that matter and if necessary eliminate them if proven guilty.

"

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"Can you do that?

"

nGrabbing his sword tightly, he stands up and faced the Saintess.

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"I, 3th-tier Paladin Lewis Apollo will follow the command of the brightness light!

" Turning around, he left through the door where he came from with flames inside his eyes.

nStaring at the closed door, the Saintess had a smile on her face.

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"Silly, it´s too late for me...

" Looking back at the statue she continued her prayer of before.

n`You will become a great paladin, Lewi Apollo.´

n****

nCurrently in the slums of Bernes.

nA man with dark gray plate armor walked beside a man who was shaking from fear.

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"H-Here it is, sir knight.

" The man pointed at a large building that looked like a warehouse.

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"So this place is where are you keeping Gerak, huh?

" Danzel said while gazing at the building.

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"Yes! I would never lie to you! So please, spare m-

"

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"Thanks for showing me the way.

"

nPulling Veren out from this sheath, he pierced the mans heart without letting him finish his plea.

nThe runes of Veren lighten up with crimson light, slowly sucking the man's blood directly from his heart and repairing the Veren sword of all this previous damage.

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"I guess continuous maintenance is indeed needed...

"

nAfter Veren sucked enough blood to repair itself to this peak state, Danzel walked towards the warehouse.

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"Let´s wreck this place...

" He said with a cold voice.

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