Chapter 800: State your business
[Eon's POV: ]
After walking and talking, sharing things that we don't usually talk about, after observing the city and getting familiar with the new elements of this city, they finally reached their destination.
[{ "It sure looks more amazing from up close." }]
[{ "Right? It's… humongous." }]
[{ "I've been here before so I've seen it before. It's not that amazing, truthfully.
The royal castles in the north, the palaces of the east, the Hanging gardens of the south… there are countless prettier places." }]
[{ "I've not travelled the world like Elle but, I don't think this place is that special either… like, it's amazing, yes, but there's a castle, there are walls and big gates, and there are also the same kind of guards and security that we see in various important castle structures.
Just that they use light and holy elements more. That's all." }]
In the world of magic, powers and secrets, Kaksha is an extraordinary educational institution located in the city of Shrudha, housed in a White Castle-like building.
The structure's white-gold walls gave it a majestic and almost otherworldly appearance. Intricate incantations and paintings adorn the walls, depicting the history, teachings, and spiritual significance of the Temple.
The entrance to Kaksha was marked by two towering gates adorned with special gems, each representing a different aspect of the institution's teachings and values.
These gems embedded on it were believed to be blessed by the Temple's elders- those possessing unique blessings or stigmas of their god- that imbued them with spiritual significance and protection.
Inside Kaksha, there was a large open area like what we have back in the academy's front yard and inside the structure, there are halls filled with classrooms, libraries, and meditation chambers.
The classrooms are where the chosen individuals, known as Prospects or Disciples, receive their education and training in various aspects of Temple service.
The libraries house ancient scrolls and books containing the accumulated knowledge of the gods that Temple followed. The meditation chambers provide a peaceful sanctuary for reflection and communion with the divine.
Kaksha is not just a place of learning but also a community where students live and work together, forming bonds that do not last a lifetime, they make all of them familiar with one another so that they could rely on others when they need in the future.
They are taught not only to serve the Temple but also to serve each other and the world around them.
"Halt! State the reason for your presence in this restricted area."
Overall, Kaksha is a place of beauty, wisdom, and spiritual growth, where the chosen ones are trained to fulfil their roles within the Temple with humility and grace… at least that's what the temple guys want everyone else to think.
'They are not a neutral power like the headmaster, a religious organisation could never be neutral in any sense.'
There are places like the empire where the Temple has more influence and authority while in places like Theocracy of Cross, one of the few places where the temple is basically the ruling power, they are the only main authority.
'The world balance also depends on their stand and if one of the promising figures of this organisation was a part of the demonic group that wanted to destroy the world, there is no way for it to be a small matter.'
The pope, the Cardinals, the Three saintesses of the current era, to even the few chosen Saints present in the current times… they were all individuals that even the headmaster could not take lightly.
"We will not repeat ourselves."
Standing before these giant gates and the two guards in a holy knight's armour was one thing, the pressure these knights expressed through only their voice was another.
'It was even more impactful than the voices of the imperial knights present at the palace.'
And since they were two of the select individuals with the duty of guarding the front gates, it was an obvious fact they would have to be at least of this level.
"Here."
The four of us were in a disguise, obviously. But we weren't using only the perfect disguise of Celes.
'We were using a combination of Celes' power, a few Powerful illusion spells, a few spells made with holy power, and lastly a few artifacts that disguised our disguised appearances.'
Which was a necessary element for what we were going to do from now on.
"Hmm? What is this?"
"A Holy Knight of Giolo should know how to read at least. One can not even do that much?" Rein criticised in a fake, deeper voice that somehow counted a sense of authority that the knights should be very much familiar with.
"…?"
And seeing the simple clothing that only someone of their level could tell was made up of a special Mana thread material holding light elemental powers on top of that authoritive voice or hers should have been enough to catch their attention.
"This…?!"
But we added some more flavour to it by not only writing the letter that the President had handed to the knight in a Secret language only a few could recognise and even among them, there were only select individuals within the temple who could actually read that certain text.
"Go show it to Kartz. That boy will understand the purpose of this visit." This time, she called the first name of the Knight captain that was one of the most influential people of this city and knew him for a long time.
And from the way she so casually called a [King] ranked knight a 'boy', they now knew we were no normal individuals.
There was something about us that they could not underestimate and they understood that much perfectly.
They already knew we were wearing a disguise as they possessed their own Appraisal skills, so they knew the hooded appearance we had at the moment was not our real identity.
"Yes miss! I'll be back right away!"
One of the knights bowed to us and vanished from his position in a flash of light along with the letter.
"And you. You aren't a sword user so there's no need to carry around useless weight. Talk with your superior and tell Her a true faithful warrior of a Divinity does not need formal punishments.
They would receive divine punishment if the one they serve had thought their mistakes to be a mistake."
"…?!"
This time, the one that had spoken was not Rein but President, and the voice he had was even deeper and more powerful than what Rein had used a moment ago.
Additionally, what he had said stunned the guard unlike anything that he might have wanted to hear on a normal day like this one.
There was not much that an outsider should have known about the internal situations of this place, especially not the fact that a knight had made a little mistake and their superior had punished them according to the rules of this institution.
'He was stunned right now and even had suspicions about us, but the way this whole situation was going on, he was also confused.'
He didn't know whether he should report them to their superiors right away or if he should be more careful of us.
"I… I will do so, Sir."
He was a knight that was trained by some of the finest of this world for more years than I had held a bow.
He was older and was a [Rank-5] holy knight possessing a powerful Aura and control over the weapon he used.
"You still have potential. Request for a closed training session, use the Mountain shattering Spear technique manual once more and refine your advanced skills.
Basics aren't always everything."
"…?! How do you-."
"You aren't qualified to be a door knight if you aren't even aware of that much, tsk." Cradle clicked her tongue in disappointment and shook her head at him this time.
And, though the voice she had used was not as deep or profound as the one the two of them had used until now, the way she said it so casually shattered the ego the knight before us possessed.
'How would it feel to be called unqualified for the position that you had dreamed of your whole life. A position for which you had trained your body, mind, and soul for almost all of your life, for which you had spent most of your time?'
He was humiliated even though his training had made him resistant to this kind of criticism.
He shouldn't have felt so bitter by the words of some stranger, so even he couldn't understand why he was feeling like this… just why he was feeling that sudden hollowness inside him.
"There's no need to be so harsh. He is still young. A few more years with someone more qualified, a little change of mindset, and one enlightenment. That should help him surpass his limitations."
On a side note, we weren't bullshitting.
'I had studied all the knights and people that worked here after the headmaster gave us this task and after careful study of this place and every individual currently present in this place, I had come up with some best strategies that we could follow this time.'
They were doing what I had told them and I was doing what I was supposed to with the help of Lucy and Celes.
The voices, the timings, the words, to the way this whole thing was going, as well as how everything would go from this point forth… we had already planned all of it.
'Everything was going according to plan.'
Until now, everything was going the way I had wanted it to be.
And if things go the way we have planned, we should be home by the end of tomorrow.