It had been a long while since Leonidas walked through Violet Waters, though it could be said that he rarely did so at all even before he became an Apostle. As weak as his crippled body had been, casual strolls weren’t really something he did.

There had been once Leonidas had tried to train his body. In the books he read, the heroes always had fanatical training regimens where they would push themselves to the limit. He had thought that if he pushed himself hard enough, he would eventually strengthen his body and push past his limits.

Reality was cruel, though. Without the support of Yves’ Blessing, Leonidas was essentially breaking down a body that had no way to rebuild itself back up. It also didn’t help that he lacked the proper nutrition and the support of Potions.

He was never going to succeed that way. It could be said that his becoming a Squire of Gauteron was a failing endeavor from the very beginning, something he should have known but stubbornly pressed through with anyway.

There were just certain things in life that couldn’t be accomplished without knowledge and resources. For Leonidas, it required the sacrifice of decades on his mother’s part to get his foot in the door. For others, they might never get this chance.

These were the kind of thoughts that flooded Leonidas’ mind as he walked toward the territory of nobles, a place he would have never thought to step foot into just months earlier.

The territory of nobles was located toward the back of Violet Waters. The cliff face found on Gauteron’s property was a staple of the nobles as Violet Waters was stationed with this natural phenomenon as the main fixture. All of the noble homes lined the outer edges of the town, facing the vast ocean.

Leonidas had never really thought about it, but it was quite amusing that things were designed in this way. Just to make it to the territory of nobles, you had to walk through the entirety of Violet Waters. These people had gained their wealth and status because they were bestowed strength by Goddess Yves for the sake of protecting those that worshiped Her, and yet rather than being front line and center, they were safely tucked away back here. Even the walls and gates here were higher and sturdier than one would find at the main Violet Waters entrance.

The transition from a land of peasants to a land of nobles was all too obvious. The buildings lost their wooden exteriors and gained stone. The roads were no longer paths of packed dirt and had become cobbled. There were hints of greenery and foliage that could usually only be found in the dangerous forests that only existed beyond the gates of the small town, and maybe by a trick of the mind, even the air smelt fresher.

The appearance of Leonidas didn’t go unnoticed. There was a sturdy wall, both literal and figurative, that separated the wider community and that of the nobles. When someone who wasn’t supposed to be here appeared, it was all too obvious. But, unlike the normal reception Leonidas would have received, this time, he gained nothing but glances of apprehension.

Leonidas didn’t pay attention to these glances. In fact, he used them to his favor to get directions to his destination. Soon, he stood before quite a large home, larger than any he would have stepped into before. It was three stories tall and had quite some depth and width to it. He had to follow a winding path for at least a few dozen meters before he could stand here.

Without having to knock on the door, it swung open. Leonidas found himself looming over the figures of a middle-aged man and woman. With just a glance, Leonidas could see some striking resemblance between the latter and Anabel, making it quite obvious to him who she was. As for the man, he would assume that he was her father.

“Ah… Sir Apostle, please come in.”

The man spoke with a somewhat nervous cadence to his voice. None of them had expected Leonidas to come here, but he had taken his time walking to their door so their servants had more than enough time to inform them all, causing them to scramble in this fashion.

Leonidas, though, didn’t take the man’s invitation.

“Anabel. Where is she?”

The duo froze, not knowing how to reply immediately.

“This…”

“I don’t want to hear your bullshit. Tell me.”

Leonidas had Anabel to thank for his current freedom. Though it couldn’t be entirely said that it was thanks to her, the ease with which it had happened definitely rested on her shoulders. Without her contacting Lady Eve, things wouldn’t have progressed so smoothly.

The truth was that there were many ways for Leonidas to prove that Beccerth hadn’t died by his hands, but each of them would have relied on him being at the scene. One of the many reconnaissance Blessings could easily pick up traces of a coercive-type Blessing. But, not only had two days passed, Leonidas wouldn’t have been there to observe the process to ensure that no one cheated him.

This became a massive grey area where Leonidas could easily fall. Proving any of it would have been difficult without Father Barat being biased to his side thanks to Lady Eve’s efforts.

Leonidas had thought that Anabel would return to his side given enough time as news spread of his release. But, a day had already passed and there was no news of her. Though it could be said that Lady Eve was more useful to him in every conceivable way, it wouldn’t sit right with him if he ignored the wellbeing of Anabel after she had helped him to the best of her abilities.

Now seeing how her supposed parents were acting, his expression couldn’t help but turn cold, the swaying of his tail becoming slower and more deliberate.

Anabel’s mother suddenly collapsed to her knees, tears spilling from her eyes.

“Get up, woman!” Her husband snapped, but Leonidas’ gaze halted any of his coming actions.

“S-she was taken by the Rardins!”

Leonidas didn’t say a word, listening to the story from start to end. When the woman was finished, he turned and walked away without another word.

During this cold war of sorts, many had been sent out to help clear as many Level 1 missions as possible. Though only Apostles and Paladins could complete missions, Leonidas had already experienced personally how outside help could still be taken along. Anabel had been sucked into one of these task forces, forced to be under the charge of a Rardin Paladin. It was obvious that she had been targeted and whether she could return alive or not was unknown.

Leonidas had yet to make Anabel his Paladin because he had lacked the Blessing Units, so the Rardins were well within their right. But this… had most definitely pissed Leonidas off again.

 

***

“Then I will go with you.”

Leonidas, who hadn’t been prepared for such a response, turned back. His expression was just as dull as ever, but an odd light danced in his eye as he looked toward Lady Eve. She, though, didn’t seem swayed by his look at all.

Just now, Leonidas had returned to his living quarters to explain matters to Lady Eve. He had expected some pushback as this matter was very clearly a trap to lure him out of the village once again. From Lady Eve’s perspective, this would not only be foolish, but it would also be making a waste of her investment.

“This is what a partnership represents,” Lady Eve explained. “There’s no point if I stay here and let you dive headfirst into danger. But, you’ll need to explain to me why you’re making this choice and also why you’re choosing not to become a Level 2 Apostle before leaving. I will help you, but I won’t help you be stupid.”

“Alright,” Leonidas nodded in acknowledgment. Taking a step, he continued to prep some things, using the Blessings they had to trade for them. “The first reason is simple. I owe Anabel and I don’t feel right leaving her to die once she’s outlasted her usefulness.”

“Is that all? I didn’t take you for this kind of person.” Lady Eve’s tone sounded somewhat disappointed.

A portion of the reason she had agreed to partner with Leonidas like this was that he had proven himself to be smart, patient and introspective.

This didn’t seem like something he would do.

“Human relations are important,” Leonidas responded. “Genius and talent alone aren’t enough to rise.

“Do you know why noble families are so powerful and can sustain that power throughout generations and even survive lulls in talent? It’s because they have networks of people, they have connections, they have foundations.”

“You’re not wrong, but you also need to invest in the right people.”

“It’s easy to say this, and by your words you seem to imply that you are one of these “right people”, correct?”

Leonidas looked up from the panel, his crimson eyes almost piercing Lady Eve’s soul.

“Are you saying that I’m not?”

Lady Eve’s expression didn’t waver. She had put in the work to achieve her station; she didn’t believe anyone put in more effort than she did.

“From the limited scope of Violet Waters, you are worth it. But, will you be in the main Shrine? Will you be able to keep up? You’ve already taken a path your talent doesn’t perfectly line up with, you’ll run into many roadblocks in the future as a result. It would be in my best interest to use you now and abandon you later, don’t you think?”

Leonidas’ words painted a very clear picture. If Lady Eve was a Healer, she would be worth it and remain to be so. If she managed to gain Yves’ Unique Promotion Class, then any investment would be more than worth it. However, Leonidas knew that if he even thought of asking Lady Eve to switch Classes, it would cause an irreparable fissure in their already fragile relationship.

“When you’re working from a position of inferiority, it seems that you should be picky and cutthroat. But, in my opinion, if you choose this route, you’ll lift your head one day and find that no one is left.

“In my youth, when my mother was still alive, I was far more social than I am now. In a brothel filled with women who had nothing else to do but talk during closing hours, I didn’t really have much of a choice. However, after my mother’s death, I closed myself off to the world, not bothering to form relationships even with those who tried with me.

“The result of that was my nearly being killed at your hands.”

Lady Eve’s gaze glittered, crossing her arms over her chest as she listened.

“With my intelligence, figuring out that something was wrong with this mission of yours should have been easy. However, I ignored the uneasiness of the atmosphere in the Clergymen’s Quarters because I didn’t want to get attached to anyone. It was a simple step I could have taken, but I ended up shooting myself in the foot.

“In my eyes, it’s alright to make mistakes. But, I won’t make the same mistake twice. Anabel doesn’t just represent the start of my foundation, and neither do you. She also represents a connection to a noble family with an aging Paladin who’s been around for a long time and just so happens to need a few strands of hope to grasp at.”

At these words, Lady Eve finally sat up slightly.

During Leonidas’ first talks with Anabel, he had made clear that he only needed the illusion of the Siris family’s backing. He knew the fact they sent just one Anabel, a young lady who was talented, but ultimately just a singular Knight, meant that they had only a single foot in their partnership. What Leonidas needed to do was prove that he was worth both.

The aged Paladin of the Siris family was the perfect target for Leonidas. Abandoned by the Rardin family due to his lack of usefulness, he likely knew a lot of things that couldn’t be said aloud. Once Leonidas made Anabel his Paladin, he would talk whether he wanted to or not.

“So you did think about this.”

“I think about everything I do. Likewise, the reason I won’t advance to Level 2 Apostle just yet despite you providing the Blessing Units I need to retrieve the proper catalyst is because of your brother.”

Lady Eve nodded. “It’s true that he will sense the change immediately, but what is the difference between him realizing now and a later date?”

“It’s related to what you’ve told me about Swallowing Tusk and their Deacon Ezor. I want to check the state of the battlefield and skirmishes that might be happening myself first before deciding.

“Deacon Ezor seems to want to use the facade of his rage to gain an upper hand. But, right now, we’re treating this like a normal war without any real stakes. There might be something to take advantage of.

“Regardless, once we return I’ll take the final step.”

Leonidas completed his purchases. He traded in the enormous saw blade that Anabel had delivered to Lady Eve in exchange for 62 Blessing Units, much more than he had initially been expecting. In exchange, he replaced his chipped and worn twin sabers with a new pair of Level 1 sabers at 22 Blessing Units each, for a total of 44 Blessings Units. With the remaining 18 Blessing Units, 5 Blessing Units went to a strong steed that reminded him a lot of Manfroi’s almost demonic horse, 10 Blessing Units went toward a total of 50 Level 1 and 2 consumable items, and the remaining 3 Blessing Units were saved for the future.

Then, the pair set off.