Chapter 24
Chapter 24
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 24
Chapter Title: On the Road to the East (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Her blonde hair was so light it bordered on white, her skin as clear and pure as a baby's, her features delicately and neatly arranged.
Unless someone had truly peculiar tastes, the vast majority would agree she was stunningly beautiful.
But few would dare say so to her face.
The coat hung nearly to her ankles, fastened neatly down the front with dozens of hidden buttons beneath the outer fabric, cinched at the waist with a wide sash. It was church garb known as vestments.
Monastics wore gray, but her vestments were spotless pure white—a mark that she had formally entered the clergy.
The church wielded influence across society here, much like in medieval Earth, so few had the guts to comment on a full-fledged priest's appearance right in front of them. The moment she took it as mockery, things could end very badly.
What caught Galen's eye wasn't how pretty her face was, but the age it suggested.
...She doesn't look a day over twenty.
Priests advanced from deacon to priest, bishop, archbishop. Only from priest onward could they roam freely. Deacons were like apprentices stuck shadowing their mentors, heavily restricted.
Yet this woman looked more like a girl than a beauty—innocent and youthful. Even being generous, she didn't seem past twenty.
A priest was equivalent to a silver-rank mercenary, a rare talent. At that age already? She couldn't be a runaway deacon slumming it in guilds, so was she just incredibly youthful-looking?
"Brother, are you listening to me?"
She tilted her head. Galen halted his deductions and nodded.
"I am."
"Then answer me."
"You asked if I'm a mage?"
"Yes!"
"Why ask out of the blue?"
"Because anyone reading the mage recruitment notice has to be a mage!"
...Could just be browsing.
"Non-mages bail after the first line. Mages read the whole thing. Hmm, and...
"And?"
"You don't look like a warrior!"
"Ah, right."
It was a disarmingly simple reason, but it hit the nail on the head.
Civilians didn't wander into guilds to read boards. Warriors skipped mage requests. Galen carried no weapons. Logically, he screamed "mercenary mage."
Whether she'd reasoned it all out in her head was another question. Their brief chat hadn't exactly screamed sharp-witted. Still.
Galen nodded obligingly anyway.
"I'm a mage, yes."
"I knew it!"
She clenched her fist in triumph.
"You're heading to the frontier, right?"
"That's right."
"Then how about teaming up with me on this request?"
"Teaming up?"
"Yes! I posted it!"
Her eyes sparkled as she jabbed at the church notice. Galen reread it carefully. His first impression held—no change.
"But... since you're the poster, mind if I ask something?"
"What're you curious about?"
"The details are way too vague. It's long-winded, sure, but zero real info. No deadline, no pay—nothing basic."
"Oh, that varies case by case."
"Pardon?"
"Church business can't follow secular rules!"
No, what is she even saying? Galen nearly blurted it out.
Hiring mercenaries—the most secular thing ever—and they skipped secular standards? Even for the church, that crossed a line.
As Galen mulled his words in silence—
"Sister Lilia."
A third voice called from nearby. She reacted—was it her name? Galen turned too.
"Ah, Sister Jenny!"
Lilia beamed at the newcomer, who also wore vestments. She looked five or six years older.
"Finished your business?"
"Yup, just came out. You found something else to do in the meantime?"
The woman named Jenny clacked over in her shoes, glanced at Galen, then the board. That seemed enough to grasp it.
"Sister Lilia, were you roping in another clueless mage for your request?"
"I'm not roping anyone!"
"We call it roping when you keep pitching after they say no."
Jenny cut her off sharply, turned to Galen with a light bow, and said,
"Sorry about that. Ignore everything she said."
"So it's a joke request?"
"No, brother!"
Lilia yelped. Jenny sighed and continued.
"Not a joke. No ill intent either. But it's hardly a proper request compared to normal ones."
"Hey, what's wrong with my—"
"Quiet. Anyway, if it tempted you, think it over carefully after digging deeper."
With another bow, Jenny dragged a protesting Lilia away. As they went—
"Contact me if you're interested!"
"Dream on."
The two priests bickered out of sight.
Galen chuckled at the anticlimactic end, shook his head, and headed to the counter.
The board was just curiosity. Real requests needed staff chats.
"I'd like to see the request list."
"Right away, sir. Are you a mage?"
She'd seen his chat with Lilia. Galen nodded, set his mercenary tag on the desk.
"Just the best ones, condition-wise."
"Whoa! Y-yes, sir!"
Her eyes widened at the Nijerte silver rank. Even in fiend-heavy Abaka, most were bronze or below. Rare silver—and a mage? Instant respect.
"Here you go. And this is a rough frontier map. Reference it if locations are unclear."
"Thanks."
Galen cross-checked the stack against the map, reading slowly.
As suspected from the board skim, nothing stood out. All near-identical.
Mostly defend areas from fiend incursions. A few clear fiends to expand frontiers.
Without client names, indistinguishable. Map showed no hotspots. Tough choice.
'Consult Doris Traders? Might get intel.'
He recalled Lilia mid-thought.
Sloppy format aside, it stuck out amid the cookie-cutter requests.
Galen asked the staff,
"The woman I was talking to earlier. Know her?"
"Priestess Lilia? Of course—Abaka's most famous cleric."
"A priestess, huh?"
"Shocked she looks so young? She's really just eighteen this year."
"Eighteen?"
Galen was genuinely stunned.
Not youthful-looking—actually that age? Church treated eighteen as adult; no clergy before. Priest at eighteen?
"Not deacon—full priest?"
"Haha, everyone new asks that. Yes, priest. Ordained straight to priest after adulthood, skipping deacon."
"Must be... insanely talented?"
"That's why she's famous. Word is she might hit bishop before twenty. Already wields the fifth miracle freely."
"Wait, what."
Miracles were special powers drawn from holy power, exclusive to clergy.
Magic resembled personal skills. Oceanis kin specialized in water only; Redna in fire as spirits.
Miracles were universal skills any priest could use—identical results, no flair.
Ten miracles, sequential. Priest rank required the fourth; eighteenth-year wielding it was historic. Fifth freely? Bishops needed the sixth.
Beyond genius—calamitous prodigy. No wonder the church stamped her sloppy request. They'd indulge worse.
Galen let out a hollow laugh.
"So, what's this super-genius priestess's request really about? Notice was gibberish."
"Well... separate from her brilliance, it's a bit problematic."
The staff smiled wryly.
"Content's simple: hunt fiends together. She's just overly aggressive about it."
"Aggressive?"
"You've seen the others—defend frontiers, expand new ones. Hers? Roam nonstop, kill fiends nonstop."
"Just like that? No reason?"
"It's in the notice."
"That 'purify fiends, spread salvation's light' bit?"
"Secular translation: kill fiends before they harm people...
...Yeah."
Best defense is a dead enemy—twisted volunteer style.
Whatever her ideals, it suited Galen fine. He'd come to slaughter fiends maximally. A fiend-obsessed partner? Ideal.
Bonus: buddy up with future archbishop material. Jenny's reaction suggested no takers—hard worker might earn quick favor.
"Nonstop fiend-hunting's exhausting. Warriors tire; mages more so. No clear pay either. A few tried, swore off. Avoidance request now."
"Got it."
As expected. Galen grinned.
"Who do I consult?"