Crowley lamented the fact that Caesar somehow managed to make enemies with the deplorable church. However, at the very least, they were a faction that greatly cared about their appearance and reputation. As such, Crowley highly doubted that they would commit any atrocities that the populace would deem to be unfit or evil.Thus, he could only recede back into his chair and continue to eat the delicacies laid out on the table while the paladins conversed amongst themselves. The red-haired man was not lying when he a.s.serted that the crusaders were in dire need of rest. They had marched all the way from their "holy" continent without stopping once.
Although they had packed plenty of food and other supplies, the crusaders were still exhausted from walking such a long distance adorned with heavy armor. As they needed to constantly uphold the reputation of the church, they were not allowed to rid themselves of their armor when marching.
Not to mention the fact that they were forced to leave their friends and family to go on this long expedition. They were in serious need of recuperating somewhere, whether it was with ale or women, even if they were men of the church, they were not saints.
However, Crowley was a king who loved his people and would not be stepped on without a fight, "I do not mind letting your men rest in my kingdom, however, they must abide by my laws, just like everyone else" Crowley said with an adamant tone as he glanced at the red-haired man, a.s.suming he was the leader.
Silence suddenly descended upon the throne-room as the paladins immediately stopped using their utensils, all of them glancing at Crowley curiously. "Surely you jest, our men of G.o.d would never breaky any laws" the red-haired man replied with a smile as he elegantly bit into a piece of succulent steak.
"I would hope so… a decently large branch of the merchants guild resides in my kingdom, news and information would spread like wild-fire if something were to happen" Crowley commented as he also bit into a piece of steak, slyly threatening the paladins.
The group of five didn"t respond straight away and finished their plates full of food in relative silence. Once they were finished eating and drinking, they wiped their mouths, stood up from their chairs, and looked toward Crowley.
"Thank you for magnanimously hosting this grand banquet, if you would please excuse us, we have some errands to complete," The red-haired man said with a hint of graciousness as he bowed down ever so slightly.
Crowley wasn"t blind, thus he folded his legs and smiled in response, "please do make yourself at home, it would be a pity if any mishaps were to occur on your luxurious vacation" Crowley announced from his throne and waved his hands for a few advisors to approach.
"Please prepare a few rooms for our guests, they should be staying with us for about a…" As Crowley spoke to here, he glanced toward the group of five paladins, "how long will you be staying with us?" he asked.
The red-haired man stroked his pointy chin for a few moments, "about three days, nothing too prolonged…" he said with a chuckle and thanked Crowley for the rooms before leaving the s.p.a.cious halls with the others.
As they were escorted by a few guards and butlers out, they couldn"t help but secretly converse with each other. "Do you believe that man is lying, Thaddeus?" the blonde woman with voluptuous b.r.e.a.s.t.s asked the red-haired man.
Before Thaddeus replied, he glanced at the other members of his group. A white-haired woman with yellow eyes named Sylvi, a bulky man with short blonde hair and blue eyes named Thomas, another red-haired woman with a very small stature and flat chest named Ginger, and, of course, the blonde woman named Scylla.
"We can"t be too sure, however, he doesn"t seem to be a push-over. Thus, we can only ask around town and fish for rumors" Thaddeus spoke after scrutinizing his fellow group of paladins. He wasn"t an evil man, nor was he unjust, he truly wanted to achieve vengeance for his friend Richard.
Ginger pouted at his words, "we won"t be able to solve anything in three days, how about one of us stay here while the rest split up and venture further into the continent…" she suggested with a sneer as she glanced at Thaddeus.
Contrary to the others, the short red-haired girl with golden eyes didn"t seem to follow Thaddeus"s orders. Instead, she appeared to loathe him and everything he did, a sharp contrast to the rest of the group.
Without getting angry, Thaddeus meekly nodded his head, "your words make sense, I"ll leave this kingdom to you then Ginger… I"ll travel north, Syclla will go east, Sylvi will go west, and Thomas will go south. Deal? He suggested to which the group of five reluctantly nodded their heads and Ginger"s smile widened.
"Hehe, I"ll go inform that old man that only one room needs to be prepared, and besides, my army is mostly made up of women, so they aren"t as needy as your pitiful troops. The fact that their s.e.xual desires are so rampant they stoop to prost.i.tutes is disgusting" She said smugly and turned around to skip back toward the throne room.
Sylvi, Thomas, Scylla, and Thaddeus could only smile wryly and head back to the main gates. Their plans had been completely derailed by the adamant Ginger. As such, she would stay while they went to go and travel to other places.
"This kingdom doesn"t have an evil appearance within it, as such, It should be safe for Ginger to stay here. I"d rather that be the case then encounter that so-called "demon" when she is with us. Her rash behavior is quite dangerous when fighting together" Thaddeus said after a few moments of thought and quickened his pace.
"Haha, I just hope that little twerp finds a friend here… she"s been ostracized by the church and introverted her entire life, I don"t think she even has one companion" Thomas laughed loudly and they soon made it out of the gates, relaying their commands to the troops.
The next morning, four-fifths of the tired crusaders departed from Rahvin kingdom and an army full of stern and powerful women entered. They were a group of shield maides and were highly trained, not to be looked down upon, even by the strongest of men.
Their leader, of course, being Ginger, the rash girl with red hair. Her talent was so high that the church didn"t hesitate to appoint her to the position of paladin at the tender age of 10. As such, she possessed a ton of holy energy but didn"t know how to use it correctly.
However, no matter how mature she tried to appear outwardly, she was still a young and curious girl. Traveling around different restaurants and jewelry stores with silly excuse of "investigation" she soon got used to Rahvin kingdoms hospitality.
***
On the other hand, Caesar was currently moving through the dark continents thick forest. Once his group had reached the border, he planned to knock the human guards unconscious and pa.s.s through the gates relatively inconspicuously.
To do this, he had called Edward forward and ordered him to make an early trip to the border, handing him the coin he had acquired the last time they pa.s.sed by the gates. Edward nodded solemnly and set off with a lone, black horse.
Seeing his departing back, Caesar truly hoped that he would be capable of finding his destination. The last time he let Edward lead the way, his mind was boggled at his striking incompetency.
Thinking to here, Caesar was once again reminded by the human he had imprisoned named Ronny. He couldn"t help but furrow his brows and scratch the side of his head, he remembered evacuating everyone in the fox-kin stronghold, including the prisoners. However, he didn"t remember seeing a human.
Unfortunately, Caesar stopping caring about such an insignificant figure and pulled Ahri closer, she was quietly resting and her violet hair rested on his body. Her beautiful earring and necklace glistened brightly within the night and Cesar once again inwardly vowed that he would find a ring that fitted her.