“It says… Z… Zeke?” Dungface, now Zeke, announced his name to all.
Sylvester cheered instantly. “Yes! What a fine name! Zeke is amazing and fitting for you, my friend. It means ‘God Strengthens’. You truly are strengthened by God.”
“Ugh! My name was much better… it was Neo, which rhymes with new.” Felix spoke, but he also accepted the name Sylvester had suggested. “But who said the meaning of Zeke was God Strengthens?”
“I did.” Sylvester blurted.
“…” 𝚍ｎ𝚘ｖ𝚕．𝚘𝚛𝚐
“It’s fine, I guess,” Gabriel muttered since he had selected a pretty dumb name in comparison.
“Agreed! It’s a good name… Zeke.” Lady Aurora mumbled. “But my suggestion was still the best–Ragnar would have been amazing. But it may have been too long.”
“Zeke is good.” Bishop Lazark also agreed.
Sylvester, with that, won this little battle. “My friend, your name shall be Zeke from now on.”
The man blinked his eyes dumbly, not realising what a significant upgrade it was from Dungface. But, thankfully, it was easy to remember and sounded good, so he was happy. “Zeke is good… I will be Sir Zeke?”
“You are already a Sir Zeke. Just need to get you registered at Holy Land and have you assigned to me. After that, you will officially be called Sir Zeke.” Sylvester explained.
Clank!
Felix took out a bottle of orange juice since they could not drink alcohol. “For this occasion, let’s share a glass of juice and cheer for Sir Zeke.”
Sylvester, instead, took out a small bottle of Grandpa Monk’s Sunshine Nectar non-alcoholic but still effective drink. “No! This one needs a proper celebration. This drink does the same job as alcohol, but it has no alcohol. Grandpa Monk gave it to me.”
“This is from Grandpa Monk?!” Lady Aurora grabbed the bottle as if it was a treasure. “He told me that he made a new drink during the gathering at the announcement of the crusade. Pour me a glass, Archpriest Sylvester.”
Sylvester did so, but he poured not even half a glass. “Here, try this much first. Let me warn you, it’s very strong and was able to knock out Sir Dolorem in a single shot.”
“Really?” Lady Aurora excitedly gulped down while Sylvester poured some for others.
Bam!
“More!” Lady Aurora greedily eyed the bottle.
Sylvester relented and poured another one to her, but then he closed the lid and quickly handed it to Miraj behind him to hide it.
“For our new good friend, Zeke of Pitfall Town. May the lord enlighten his paths and help him reach the rank of Diamond Knight very soon.” Sylvester raised his glass.
“To Zeke!” Felix did the same.
The rest also followed, and at last was Zeke, who embarrassingly, but with a big happy smile, clanked his glass.
“Cheers!”
Cough!
Cough!
Cough!
Everyone except Lady Aurora and Sylvester started coughing, and instantly, everyone’s face took a slight hint of red. The drink made by Grandpa Monk was highly potent. There was no doubt about it.
“What is this crap!” Felix barked once his throat felt like burning.
Sylvester scoffed and japed. “Hmph, young boys. Can’t even handle a little bit of drink. It’s called being a man, Felix. If you complain, you ain’t one.”
Bishop Lazark shook his head. “Now I know why this is called the root of the devil. If a man gets addicted to it, he’s giving in to the demon that lives in one’s unconscious mind. No wonder I’ve encountered so many drunkard wife-beaters over the years.”
Sylvester agreed in that regard. “That’s why the church should also take over the production of alcohol. We can manage its sales and production as per the demand and control the supply as well, ensuring one region is not buying too much of it.”
Sylvester was all up for a free market and democracy, but those things were a joke in this world. Here, power speaks above everything and control grants you power, and control is synonymous with the church.
“They will riot. Don’t underestimate the local drunkards.” Lady Aurora spoke.
“Well, riots can be quenched, but when the madness of addiction spreads, they may worship the drink more than Solis–isn’t that heresy?” Sylvester argued.
“We can ala���” Felix stopped in the middle of speaking. “Why are we slowing down?”
In an instant, everyone took their weapons of choice in hand and looked out of the windows. They saw the front through the ventilation above the head of the reinsmen.
There appeared to be a blockade on the road as five men appeared on horses standing there. They were well armed and donned fabulously clean and shining armour of the Gracia Royal family.
“What’s Green City Knights doing here?” Sylvester mumbled and prepared to disembark as the carriage came to a halt.
“Felix and Gab, behind me. It seems we have some news from Green City. Be prepared to push them from information if they refuse.” Sylvester ordered quickly.
“Halt! Whose carriage is this?”
Bam!
“It’s mine!” Lady Aurora roared before Sylvester could even exit the carriage. She decided to take the lead here. “I am the Tenth Guardian of Light, Cardinal Aurora.”
Sylvester also introduced himself. “I am Lord’s Bard, Archpriest Sylvester Maximilian. Why do you block the way?”
The knights appeared flustered, as expected, since they were not prepared to deal with such a high-ranking clergyperson as Lady Aurora and someone as famous as Sylvester.
But the man in the middle of them, who appeared to be a Golden Knight, spoke. “May the holy light enlighten us, people of faith. We are here blocking the way to the Green City because the city has gone into lockdown. We are not allowing anyone to go on this path–so I humbly ask you to take the side route.”
Sylvester smelled lies from the scent released by the man. “I want the truth and only the truth. So tell me, why are you blocking this road? As for your suggestion, it’s humbly rejected! Even your royal family has no authority to dictate where the holy land’s carriages go.”
The golden Knight blankly looked at Sylvester and took on a more nervous stance. “I-I didn’t mean to offend you, famed Lord Bard. I am merely following the orders. We have been told that a murderer is on the loose. He is likely hiding somewhere behind us, and if a carriage goes through, he may attack the civilians.”
‘He’s speaking the truth this time. Hmm… What’s behind all this? Did they start a manhunt for the murderer?’ He wondered.
“Then step aside and let us through. Your little murderer can’t even come close to our carriage, let alone attack it. We are in a hurry to the Holy Land.” He ordered them and started walking back to the carriage without waiting for a reply. It was essential to show these knights their place this time, so he acted overbearing with them.
Lady Aurora also nodded and got into the carriage. The Knights soon discussed what they should do and finally decided to let them go. Nobody could fight Lady Aurora, they knew.
Soon, the carriage entered the area the knights had set up. The closer they got closer to the Green City, Sylvester felt something was wrong. He had not gotten any news from Sir Dolorem all this time, and now he was hearing such news.
‘This does not add up. They can’t be so weak that they must go to such lengths to catch a murderer.’
He sat beside the ventilator that allowed him to look at the front while they travelled. On the way, Sylvester noticed a few knights on horses on the road or off it, looking for something. They were randomly stabbing heaps of grass with spears or burning them outright.
‘Who are they trying to find? Is it Sir Kenworth? The murderer?’ He wondered.
Clank!
‘What was that?’
All of a sudden, his ears noticed a distant sound of swords striking something. But it was not a clash of a sword hitting a sword.
Alerted, he walked around the carriage to see which direction it was coming from.
“What are you doing?” Felix annoyedly asked as Sylvester stepped around near the various windows.
“Shh… something suspicious is happening. Get ready to fight if the need arrives.” He ordered.
Clank!
“Ah! On the left!” He quickly jumped to the left side of the carriage and looked out the window. There, in the distant grasslands, he noticed a single man, covered in mud, fighting with his bare hands against three knights in shining Gracia Royal armour.
‘Who is he?’
“Sylvester! I’m here!”
Boom!
As soon as the voice touched Sylvester’s ears, he clenched onto his spear resting at one end of the carriage and, without warning, exploded out of the door, shattering it apart.
He sprinted faster than a commoner’s eyes could see, using all his knightly talents over his body.
“Sir Dolorem! Is that you!” He shouted aloud.
“H-Here…S-Syl… Ugh!”
A faint voice came, this time with occasional grunts.
Sylvester rushed faster and prepared his spear for the throw. But since he was in the middle of tall grasslands, he created light steps for himself that appeared as he took steps forward. Up and up, he kept climbing high, and once he had a clear view, he released the spear with a force he had never done before.
Boom!
Breaking the sound buried, the spear spiralled towards the Knight about to strike at Sir Dolorem’s arm. Shining in red light, the spear was covered with fire magic–enough to melt steel and bring the mightiest to the heel.
Woosh!
It made no loud sound at all when it struck. Instead, the sound resembled a gust of air. But the Knight, about to hit Sir Dolorem, stopped moving. His sword hand stuck in the air in preparation.
Bam!
Without warning, the Knight fell forward, face first. But, there was no face anymore–just a hole. The spear, so fiery and fast, thrust into the Knight’s head like a hot butter knife, melting the helmet and the brain away.
Everything happened so fast that the remaining two attacking Knights were left in flusters as they jumped away from the falling body with an ugly burning hole in the head, big enough to see the grass underneath on the other side.
“Your fates have been sealed!”
Sylvester had not stopped, however. Like a lion, he leapt from the sky, landed in front of Sir Dolorem and faced the two knights.
He gave no second thought as claws of hardened light appeared on his two hands. “Haaa!”
Sylvester plunged his burning, white, shining claws into the chests of the two knights.
“Aaargh!
“No!”
The strength was overwhelming, but Sylvester had no mercy.
“Ha!” Sylvester roared and pulled back the claws he had dug deep into the two Knights’ chests.
Splash!
The two Knights went limp in an instant as their eyes turned hazy, staring at the claws Sylvester had pulled out–for in the two claws rested two hearts, bleeding and bursting apart under the great strength–It was theirs, they had no doubt.
The last thing they saw before falling to their death was the blood-covered face of Sylvester. Today, he was merely the shining light that burned the heathens–Yet, to the eyes of the dead, he appeared like a demon.
Thud! Thud!
Two bodies fell back–dead!
Thud!
But a third one also fell, prompting Sylvester to turn back and rush, only to find more blood oozing from the man and the scent of death overpowering all senses. “Sir Dolorem!…”
_______________________
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APE TOGETHER STRONG!