“The Lord has willed for these two to form a union, in mind and body, but above all, in the soul. The lord asks not for tributes, but only that the man and the woman never forget their roots.
“Ursala and Willfard, from this day on, you shall be the backbone of one another. When one falls, the other must lift them. In the eyes of the holy light and law—I pronounce you as one united soul.”
“May the holy light enlighten your paths and brighten your lives. May you bring forth many little sparks of lights—Amen!”
There were claps all around the big hall of the castle. But the groom appeared to lack all smiles. He was just moving around with a plain face, stiffly. But, there was another man sadder than the groom. There was a certain squire on the side, brooding over the fact that he probably can’t scam his liege anymore.
Sylvester felt awkward because he never expected things to go this far in the first place. Instead, he hoped the Knight would refuse to marry and run away. He reckoned this was just the fetish of the Knight. Otherwise, there was no explanation since the Count had a son who would become the next Count, not this girl. So there was no good side to this deal.
‘Thank you for your sacrifice, young man. I can finally take a breath of calm and plan for the next step. Sir Dolorem needs to hurry as well, or the war may resume with a little spark.’ Sylvester was, nonetheless, thankful for this unknown Knight. Because of him, the war got postponed.
“How long do you think they will last?” Felix wondered while drinking some lemonade.
Gabriel shook his head in pity. “I say, one of them will die in one way or another. Though the chances of the man dying here are more because one wrong step and she may just slip on him and kill him.”
“Agreed. The Count really played a big game here. He fixed the marriage in just a day—what a mad man.” Felix muttered.
“It’s not like he had any more options. He just found a pig and slaughtered it.” Gabriel added.
Sylvester was only confused and tried not to judge the two. “This chapter is over. You two need to return to the main job. Keep an eye on anything suspicious and…” He lowered his voice. “Especially keep an eye on Sir Walder and the Archbishop. There is something going on between them.”
“You better take care of yourself. Every time you fight a bloodling, you get beaten bloody.” Felix warned.
Sylvester nodded, but he was not too worried this time. “I will be heading to help the crusaders, so I will have a lot of support. At the same time, I will have Lady Aurora with me. By the time Sir Dolorem returns, I will be back as well. Then we can focus on finding the culprit.”
“What if the Shadow Knight appears?” Gabriel asked.
Sylvester’s shoulder fell in an instant. This was an entity he knew he couldn’t beat with his wits. Even worse was that it even refuses to talk. “If I feel cold rising, I run—that’s it. That’s all I can do. But, I am certain I can at least stall him for a whole night.”
“But if you’re already hurt, and he appears then…” Felix added.
“Then I may die… But I can’t allow the Shadow Knight to dictate my life. I can’t cower in fear and sit in one place. I would never grow if I did that. Anyway, I must first find out where Lady Aurora is and leave. She always vanishes for most of the day and randomly appears back.”
“I saw her in the town an hour ago. I thought she was coming here.” Felix remembered. “Could she be doing something unholy?”
Sylvester shook his head at that possibility. “She’s too proud to be impressed by anyone in this backwater county. She’s also very serious about her vows, not to mention, she’s very old, and most men are too young for her. While those her age look too old.”
Felix sighed in pity. “That’s why I need to find a good strong lady for myself. It’d be a shame if I were to remain a hunk, and she’d become an old hag.”
“May the lord bring you to the right path.” Gabriel quickly prayed as he always does when Felix talks about breaking his current vows of Deus servus.
“Hmph… Virgins.” Felix scoffed back.
Sylvester ignored them and decided to head out and find her. “Alright, I’m heading off. See you in a day or two.”
He went to Count Jartel first. The man seemed very happy tonight, unknown if it was because he felt relieved that the marriage would reduce the burden on him of his oversized daughter or because he caught a fool so easily.
“Count Jartel, I must take my leave to go and help the crusaders. Until I return, I hope you don’t break your word. Sir Dolorem has gone to the Green City, and we will eventually hear something from there. Until then, there is no reason to escalate.”
The big lord chuckled and sent waves down his quadruple chin. “Lord Bard, do not worry, I will not break this delightful festive atmosphere—My daughter has gotten married! I’m so happy! But I hope my wife was here to see this.”
“May her soul rest in peace.” Sylvester prayed.
“Raftel and I are very religious, and our mother taught us to always respect the laws, Archpriest. So we would never use any schemes or lies to make war or win them. Everything shall happen in the open—like real men.”
“That is a very honourable thinking you have, my lord. Well, then, I hope you stick by them. Give my congratulations to Lady Ursala and Sir Willfard; I’m happy for them both.” Sylvester lied as smoothly as a hot knife on butter and left the ceremony to find Lady Aurora. 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮
He went to the location Felix told him to find her. It was a busy street in a market full of shops, mainly those selling liquor or had taverns. Be it day or night, the business of booze was always booming. The economy of the County was also doing incredibly well.
‘What is she doing here?’ He wondered.
He started to check the taverns one after another. Thankfully, because of his earlier friendly visits to many shops, he was soon informed by one of the owners of where Lady Aurora was, so he went directly to that tavern—Westlandia, was the name. It was a big one, certainly for the wealthy class of the County. It didn’t even seem like a tavern, as everything was too pristine.
To his amazement, the tavern was strange. It appeared to be based on Masan Empire’s style, where people sit on the ground on padded carpets with bolster pillows there for comfort. In the middle of each carpet was a small table where drinks could be stacked.
The carpets were placed in symmetry. As such, the middle part of the hall was left empty. At that moment, the bard he heard singing the hymn about him some days ago was singing a traditional song to entertain the people. And not so surprised, he noticed Lady Aurora sitting alone on one of the carpets and listening to the song.
He sneaked close to her and took a seat. “What’s this? Do you have an interest in that man or something?”
“Wha!” She was startled until she looked.
“What? Ah! Archpriest. No, I am merely interested in his music. He’s very good at singing. His voice has a strange melody in it.” She spoke in praise.
Sylvester scoffed. “Is that so? You have not seen me sing then. With the violin and serious voice. This man is near the middle, I’d say.”
Lady Aurora smugly looked at him. “Oho? I think I smell something burning?”
“…”
“Well, I was just saying. But care to tell me why you come here every single day? Isn’t that too much… obsession?” Sylvester turned the cards around.
“I really like listening to the songs. In the holy land, all we get are religious hymns or those written by you. We rarely get songs about the summer, death, love or some other stories in the form of songs. Honestly, after living for so long, it starts getting boring.” She revealed her little struggles in life.
He also enjoyed the song in silence and agreed with her. If he lived for three hundred years, he’d also get bored with life. “I never thought you were into this kind of stuff. But, good grace, there are still some folks in the clergy who know how to relax.”
She chuckled and gave him a glass of coconut water. “You don’t have a choice, Archpriest. You have to learn new things and find a hobby to stay sane. I know the Lord Inquisitor likes to carve skull sculptures out of ivory. As for others, they must have something too.”
‘Grandpa Monk likes to run his illegal non-alcoholic alcohol distillery.’ Sylvester remembered the laughing face of that retired old man.
“I understand you, Lady Aurora. I created the violin for that reason itself. In our line of work, we come across so many stomach-churning, scalp-tingling things that any man would go insane. I guess in both our cases—music keeps us sane.” He reciprocated her feelings as he remembered the scenes of death and gore in life.
“Yes, that strange musical instrument of yours. It’s truly fascinating how you made it. Archpriest, be honest, how do you know all this? You’re just eighteen.” She asked.
“I have been singing hymns of the lord since I was a month old, Lady Aurora. I don’t think playing instruments or making them should be that shocking.”
She sighed and relaxed in her seat. “I envy your talents then. I wish I could also sing and play these instruments. But the only good thing I know is my sword… and how to chop the stings called veins of my enemies.”
Sylvester stood up. “Then let’s not waste time here, Lady Aurora. We have a bloodling to chop and return at the quickest. I can only hope that no new murder and breast mutilation will occur here.”
“At least the war has stopped.” She patted his shoulder and walked out of the tavern.
“But for how long?” He wondered.
…
They had taken a boat in half an hour and headed upstream towards the north, into the Duchy of Iceling. As they moved north, everything appeared white as the snow became more prevalent. Even the river would be frozen if they went too north.
Though they had one more person along, the owner of the boat. The man was a wizard and could use water elements. He was just an Acolyte Wizard-ranked man who got training under the monastery. In magical terms, he was a frail man, but he could earn a lot in this profession.
Sylvester had taken out a map of the region and discussed where they were headed with Lady Aurora, as it was his habit to learn about the terrain first. “So, not even the mountain tribes live here?”
“No. The region is full of dry mountains. Even the trees don’t grow on them, and hence, they make for terrible locations for starting a camp.” She taught him. But then she pointed at the section where the White River appears from the middle of the mountains. “A few centuries ago, a massive battle occurred in this region called River pass. The Elves from Bastaria wished to lay siege to the castle of Duke Iceling, take hold of the area and then let dwarves build a dam over the White River.
“With one move, the Elves could have brought drought to what is today’s Gracia Kingdom. But then the church got heavily involved, and in a ten-day-long battle, tens of thousands died. However, the battle ended not because of one side winning, but because of a massive blizzard that buried all the dead under thick sheets of snow.”
“That’s why bloodling has appeared?” Sylvester blurted. But he wondered how strong this one would be, and what its abilities would be like since dead bodies of elves and dwarves were also involved.
Sylvester fell into deep thinking, wondering what he would need to use and what protective runes he should put on his armour.
Lady Aurora interrupted him with a cough, however. “Archpriest Sylvester, may I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.” Sylvester allowed.
“Who is Chonky?”
“…”
Thud!
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APE TOGETHER STRONG!