Even if Arad wasn’t serious, Mira did fare well. And with what she intends to make, she won’t be easy to kidnap again.
Arad carried Mira in his arms after sucking the hammer into his stomach. Jack collected her tools and followed them to the castle’s church.
The tiny church was only meant for use by the soldiers and workers around the castle as the royal family had one made for them inside the inner quarters.
Arad approached the church’s door, releasing a faint wave of his gravity magic and exerting a force between him and the door to force it open. BANG! As the door smacked open, the head priest stared out of his cabinet with a scared face. “How many times I told you fools to be gentle with the door!” He yelled. 𝒃𝙚𝙤𝙫𝒆𝒍．𝙘𝒐𝙢
Arad glared at him, “You were asleep. You won’t even open it if I knock.”
“I wasn’t asleep!” The priest growled.
Arad stared at him. It appeared on his messed face that he had just woken up. “And why is the door locked?” He growled.
“That’s because…” The priest growled.
“You were asleep, I know.” Arad sighed, “Forget about that. We need healing,”
“Let me down,
walk!” Mira gasped again in Arad’s arms, but he wasn’t letting go of her.
Thud! A large man stood at the church door, “Priest, what’s going on?” The strange man growled, staring at Arad and Mira.
Arad glared back at the man with glowing purple eyes, “We need healing,”
The strange man glared at the door, “The lock is broken and the hinges are twisted. Did you break in?” He pulled his sword.
“Why is he sleeping on duty?” Arad stared at the priest.
The strange man stared at the priest and then sheathed his sword, “His face speaks. He was indeed asleep.” The strange man sighed, “Please don’t break the door next time,”
“No, next time. I will break it beyond repair and kick him in the face,” He growled, glaring at the priest, “Mira’s life might not be in danger, but what if someone else came? Someone at death door?”
The strange man scratched his head, “You speak…Ah!” He growled, “A healer can’t sleep on duty. This might be a peaceful place, but no one knows when a disaster might happen,”
The priest rushed forward, “Bring her here, I will cast a healing spell, and you can go,”
The strange man approached Arad, “I will report this to the inner sanctum. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, knight,”
Arad nodded as the strange man left. From his appearance and the oozing magic, he was a paladin.
The priest cast a healing spell at Mira as Arad stood watching at their heads. Jack reached the church’s door, panting as he carried a heavy box full of Mira’s tools. He saw the paladin leave and stared at him, noting that he had gone inside the castle.
The priest stood with a sigh, “It’s done, she is fine now,” He said with a smile, “Just, what happened, this doesn’t seem like an everyday injury,”
“I was testing an explosive hammer,” Mira replied with a smile, and he stared at her, puzzled, “I don’t know what that is, but don’t get close to it again. Continuous damage to the head is known to get people insane.”
Mira stood beside Arad, “We should head out.”
***
Inside the castle, the paladin walked into the inner sanctum of the quarter’s church to meet the high priest there. “Sir Robin, are you available?” He knocked on the door.
CLICK! The church’s door opened, and the head priest stared at the paladin with a smile, “What brought you here at this time?”
“Sir Alor was asleep on duty, and a patient had to break the door to wake him up. We need someone to fix that,” The paladin replied with a stern face.
The priest scratched his head, “And who is this patient who broke a
“That doesn’t matter. What matters is that he wasn’t ready to fulfill the duty entrusted to him by god,” The paladin’s eyes gleamed golden, divine magic crackling from his shoulders.
“Calm down, calm down,” The head priest sighed, “No need to get agitated over it. The castle is a calm place, and he rarely gets any work. You can’t fault him for taking a nap every now and then,” He smiled. “I will send someone to fix the door immediately and make sure he gets in line.”
The paladin nodded the high priest’s words with a smile, “Then so be it, by the light of god follows you.” He turned around to leave, and the priest stared at him at the paladin’s back.
The priest stared with a puzzled look, ^The castle’s church door is reinforced with iron bars so the soldier won’t break with how mannerless they are. For someone to break it, it can’t be one of them.^ He walked back into the inner church and stared at the tall status before him.
The statue was of a woman wearing a strange set of clothes, standing tall with a sun on her right hand, and an eclipsed sun on her left hand.
The priest smiled, ^He must be the new guest at the royal court, Arad Orion was his name, right?^
The priest closed his eyes and his palms, praying, ^My your light dawn on this country, Mistress of the blazing sun and the dreadful eclipse, Amaterasu.^
As Arad walked with Mira inside the castle, his first stop was the bath, “We should get cleaned a bit, should we?” He smiled.
Mira stared at him and then at her arms. Her shirt still had some drops of her blood, sweat, and soot from the forge. “You’re right,”
Arad looked left and right, “Follow me,” He started walking toward the nearest maid.
Belma walked through the hallway, exhausted from a long day of cleaning the castle’s inner halls. But even with that, there were some parts she didn’t manage to finish. “Headmaid Kin will yell at me again, why I’m the only one who can’t finish cleaning on their shift.”
As she walked. Thud! Something hit her face. She fell back on her but and stared up, “Who’s there? Look in front of you!” She growled, but the shadow before her caused her to gasp.
A tall man standing like a mountain, glaring her down with glowing eyes and a stern face. She could feel her soul stuck in her throat, his arms were thicker than her thighs by a lot.
“Arad Orion,” Arad replied, “And I was standing still, you bumped into me,” He bent down to glare at her face.
As their eyes met, the maid was about to cry. “What do you want?”
Arad smiled, extending his hand to help her stand, “I wanted to ask if the bath is available.”
Belma stared at Arad’s palm. It was almost as big as her forearm. She gulped down, “It’s empty, but isn’t prepared for anyone to use,” She slowly lifted her hand, and Arad pulled her back on her legs.
“Can you get someone to get it ready?” Arad asked with a smile, and the maid nodded with tears polling in her eyes.
Belma stood, ready to bolt it away when Arad called her back, “Tell Kin you were preparing my bath, she won’t nag you on the cleaning,”
She stopped, staring back at Arad. “Wait, how did you?” She gasped.
Arad smiled, his eyes glowing purple as he tilted his head, “Don’t get scared in front of me, I can read your mind.”
Belma was both confused and terrified, but she also felt hopeful, that telling Kin what he said could get her a peaceful night. “Thank you, sir,” She bowed and ran away as fast as she could.