The silence was suffocating. Even the paladins no longer had the presence of mind to continue pressing Leonel. They could all only wait for Pope Margrave's response.
"… You're a very intelligent boy." Pope Margrave finally said.
Margrave's face practically read like 'I know you're spewing bullshit, but I like it'.
When Spirit Pressure reaches a certain level, it becomes capable of forming many elements. Of course, the efficiency to which it's done is far less than one's main element, but this is true nonetheless.
How could Margrave believe that Leonel took a minute to form a mere One Star Apprentice Art? That was nothing but bullshit.
But, despite the fact it was bullshit, it was bullshit the Pope happened to like.. As long as Leonel continued to be this 'intelligent', there wouldn't have to be any problems between them.
"Camelot is truly blessed to have another Childe, and such a powerful one at that. This Seat just wanted to see the future generation today. Now that I've seen, it's truly as the old say. The young will eventually surpass us all."
Pope Margrave gave Leonel a deep look. Then, he waved a hand, his eyes returning to their half closed position.
A familiar paladin separated from his position against the wall, leading Leonel and Lionus out.
Leonel's eyes narrowed when the large double doors closed behind, blocking out those blinding lights.
'What a cunning man…'
Let alone sighing a breath of relief, Leonel was several levels more cautious.
Though he had held back, he hadn't exposed his Spirit Pressure without cause. In this world, Leonel had learned that sometimes logic wasn't more important than one's strength. It wasn't until Leonel exposed his power that Margrave's treatment of him truly changed. If he wasn't as strong as he was now, there was no telling whether Pope Margrave would have accepted his reasonings.
Leonel made a note in his heart. Mordred might not be his only enemy in this place.
…
"You know him?"
Not long after Leonel left, Margrave suddenly spoke to seemingly empty air. The paladins didn't react at all, but Little Nana felt somewhat flustered by this line of questioning.
"No, no!" Nana quickly answered.
She wasn't worried her flustered appearance would give away anything. After all, this was her normal state. Plus, Leonel looked toward her first before she reacted, so it could be said that she was just shocked by the sudden attention Leonel gave her.
"Hm, is that so…?"
Margrave didn't say anything for a long while before he continued to speak.
"It seems that this boy is quite lustful. This could be used…"
Nana flushed red with embarrassment.
Margrave chuckled. "Don't worry, you are among my precious Holy Daughters and God has bestowed upon you a heaven sent ability. How could I pass down such a debasing job to you? You must remain pure beneath the scrutiny of God. There will of course be others to take on this task…"
After he finished saying this, Margrave didn't speak again.
If Leonel was here, maybe he wouldn't be able to hold back his rage any longer.
It might be normal for a young girl like Nana to marry and even birth children in this world, but Leonel had no such thoughts about the little girl.
**
"So the mission sets off in at dusk, will you be ready?"
After leaving The Church, Lionus pretended as though nothing had happened and began to speak with Leonel about the mission once again.
Leonel gave him a sidelong look.
This prince had brought up this trip to The Church as though it was any other day. In fact, they way he spoke about it initially, he made it sound like this had something to do with the mission he had taken up. Not only that, but he had even made it seem like he had some involvement with The Church.
If Leonel remembered correctly, Lionus spoke about this visit as though it was something every Holy Son did, when this very clearly wasn't the case.
Lionus smiled shamelessly beneath Leonel's gaze. He was clearly saying that he took no responsibility for his previous actions.
"You're pretty good, Your Highness." Leonel said with a tinge of sarcasm.
Lionus chuckled. "I'm not sure what you mean, Leonel."
"Mm." Leonel mumbled but didn't say much else.
It was true that it wouldn't have helped even if the prince had said something. Though it would have been nice to know, it would have also been akin to the prince making a decision for Leonel.
By keeping his hands off the sequence entirely, not only was Lionus able to gain an understanding of where Leonel's loyalties lied, he was also able to test Leonel.
However, never had he expected Leonel to be so capable. Even he couldn't have thought of a better solution to the situation.
Leonel shoook his head and decided to forget it.
"What is this mission about?"
Hearing this question, Lionus finally grew serious.
"It's a border mission."
Seeing that Leonel didn't have a particular reaction, Lionus almost smacked his own forehead. He had forgotten that Leonel had never been on a mission before, so how could he know just how damning the two words 'border mission' were?
Lionus sighed and began to explain.
"Camelot has a 'Ring of Safety' system. The safest place is the core of the Kingdom. This encompasses Camelot and the surround hundred or so mile radius. Beyond that is the Yellow Mission Ring. This encompasses between a hundred to five hundred miles.
"Normally, those missions are taken up be Apprentice Mages. They deal with small beast hordes, bandits, small rebellions and the like.
"Beyond the Yellow Mission Ring is the Red Mission Ring. This is between 500 miles and 600 miles away from the core of the Kingdom. These missions can only be touched by Official Mages. The rebellions that happen here are much fiercer and the bandits form Clans and small fiefs of their own, making them much more dangerous.
"Beyond the Red Mission Ring is the Black Mission Ring. This is between 600 and 800 miles away from the core of the Kingdom. Only elite Official Mages and weaker Magi can take missions in this region.
"The Black Mission Ring are where the first instances of Demons and black magic can be found. Some of the worst criminals of Camelot are hiding away in this region. The death toll is high enough to surpass 20%."
Leonel frowned. It was this serious?
"Beyond the Black Mission Ring… is the Border Mission Ring. It goes by another name… The Demon Mission Ring. It's between 800 to 1000 miles from the core of the Kingdom. This region is the no man's land between Camelot and the Demon Kingdom. There are constant clashes between us and Mordred's Demon Army there.
"That is where our mission lies."
Leonel sucked in a cold breath. But, he knew he had to go.
He knew that the side missions weren't meaningless. This was a Zone, not a video game. Since side missions existed, they served a purpose. They acted like a guiding light to how to complete the main mission.
Since he was going to the Demon Mission Ring, it was a good chance to see whether or not he could kill Mordred in one sweep.