Over to Celine's side.

  I was on my way back when I saw the message from the five kids that the Church was coming. If this happened before when I had not reached the Silver level, I might be a little cautious. But now, I have already reached the level of the highest combat effectiveness of the Church.

  Even if a Silver level were to be in that delegation, I would not need to worry even if they find out about the base and the organization. For now, the most important thing is to go back to base and to calcute the trophies that I have earned here on this trip.

  First of all, we had hunted down a Shadow Hunter, a rabbit with very good materials. By defeating them without damaging the strength of the materials, we now have the hide of the Shadow Hunter which can create a super stealth cloak that can also help the user slip into the shadow realm. There was also the horn that can be used to create a knife that can work well with the cloak and can pierce through most barriers.

  Although I can't use these materials, I can't watch them go to waste. If someone else had obtained these materials and made something bad out of it, I wouldn't be able stop wanting to disassemble it. Maybe it is my mom's side of the family affecting me.

  Next trophy would be the knowledge from that Predecessor base that helped me understand the Church of Light better. This information would help the current me more than just having the materials to create a good cloak and dagger. Especially since I don't have the means to craft these things.

  The final benefit on this trip is this girl the Beast Whisperer. Ravi has a rare talent that I think could be useful for my father. Since he has the Blood Oath technique and the fact that he is a tamer means that he could teach Ravi about being a tamer. Since I couldn't inherit any of my parent's blood techniques, I have been feeling bad for them. So, maybe the addition of someone like her could help with that? Either way, communicating with beasts will always be helpful as long as the future worlds I go to have them.

  With these benefits, it is no wonder people like going around on ruin expeditions in various worlds.

  Now that I was done with my exploration, it would be time for me to head back. The tree of us were heading over to the original base. Our pace was unhurried as we wandered over. On the way, I tried getting closer to Ravi when chatting and having meals and I could feel her warming up to my presence slowly.

  I guess it would be difficult to get used to someone the same race as your former oppressor. And there is the fact that her real owner is still out there that I have to deal with. This would, of course, be something we deal with after the delegation passes.

  Time passed as we were heading over.

  On the other side...

  I had gone back over to the others and the saint after my chat. They seemed to be as normal, but I could feel my teammates all giving me a hidden look. I give them a look of confidence and confirmation and they all seem to rex a little.

  Because the Saint is around, we can't casually reveal things from our base so they can't view their communicators until there is no one else present. And so the day passed as we rexed and had fun. Eventually, we headed back to the fortress to rest with my hands full of bags.

  When we had returned to the fortress, the Saintess had separated from us and went to the guest room allocated to the Church. We first went to William's office and when we saw that he was not there, we went to put our stuff in our room first.

  Sean: Man, it sure was a busy day today.

  The others nodded and quickly went to look at their communicators. Soon they all showed rexed expressions. Since we all now know that the leader is coming back and allows us free rein, we felt quite relieved. Now that we have been with the Saintess for a day, it was time to decide if we should remain close or stay away from the church and its delegation.

  Sean: So, have we all decided on how we should treat them?

  The others all nodded and we started with myself.

  Sean: I believe that we should not have to worry about the saint and the church. Since we have a legal identity as the students of the town mayor, we don't have to worry about ourselves. As long as we can hide anything reted to our organization, we can be fine and even get close to and find out more about the Church.

  As I finished my decision, I then turned to Kris for her decision. After a moment of stagnation, she responded.

  Kris: I think she is fine, but I can't trust the Church of Light. You know how many of us were treated before. Even when we prayed most devoutly, we found no salvation from them. We should keep our distance, even if staying close can help the organization.

  She then turned to Lily who responded simirly.

  Lily: If we think about it rationally, the fact that we were told to originally hide away from the Church should be an indicator. And, we have not been with the saintess long enough to make an informed enough decision. We should continue to observe till the time they leave.

  Then she hands the issue over to Millie. With a disgruntled expression, she reluctantly states her thoughts.

  Millie: ... I don't know these kinds of things. If I could, I would just do things with violence. Although, I think Marianne is a good person. It's your turn Mist!

  Mist: Eh?!

  He was a little confused about suddenly being called up, but then calmed down after a moment and thought.

  Mist: I think the situation is that we have to wait till we meet William right? What if we suddenly get called to join the dele-

  He gets cut off as Millie smacks him in the mouth.

  Millie: Stop it with your crow's mouth!

  The others all nod in agreement with Mist showing a reluctant expression.

  Mist: You don't really believe in stuff like that? Didn't I just say what was likely to happen a few times before they actually happened? Like that time I mentioned that we could be followed and a bandit group was actually following, or that time I joked that the Bear hunt was weird and how there could be a second one and another actually appeared and....

  It was at this time he began to slow down and count with his fingers. When it had surpassed the amount of fingers in one hand, he suddenly shook his head and yelled out.

  Mist: Anyways, I don't believe in superstitions like that! Anyways, shouldn't we go back to topic.

  Amidst the other's muffled ughter he tried to protect the little pride he had from shattering. Soon after, the others broke out into full ughing fits and he joined in on the ughs as well.

  Soon after the ughter subsided, everyone sat at their seats in more rexed positions. The ughter had helped calm down their nerves from the previous conversation.

  Sean: So, what should we decide on?

  We all chatted and decided that it did not matter much and that we should proceed as Mist said. We should go with the flow and see how William feels.

  Because we finished what we wanted to discuss, I went ahead and message Celine what our decision and after a few minutes of waiting I received a thumbs up symbol. Since we were done with the serious talk, we all rexed and moved around at our own pace. I went to meditate and calm my mind down. Lily and Kris looked through their study guides on how to further their abilities. Mist was sprawled out and rexing, having the time of his life. Millie was taking a nap on the sofa of our shared living space as we all stayed to ourselves.

  Soon the day turned to night as we went to our separate rooms to rex before bed. In a few minutes, all that we could hear was the sound of silent sleeping.

  Over on another side, the saintess Marianne was chatting with the Bishop Farrell.

  Marianne: How is it? Have you found any information?

  Farrell only gave a slight shake of the head. It turns out that the Church had secretly sent a group of people to the town ahead of time. Their goal was to find if there was any traces of the Dark Race Alliance in the town. Although they found a few suspicious points, they were all found to be red herrings in the end.

  Marianne showed a sigh of relief before standing straight again.

  Marianne: Thank you for following me on this mission Farrell.

  Farrell: The pleasure is yours Saintess.

  Marianne then turned to look outside the window. She then touched the papers on the table. On the top sheet was the personal information of Sean and the others. On it were witness reports and statements on where and when they were and especially the happenings recently.

  Farrell: How do you think of them?

  Marianne: I see that their abilities are quite up to my standards. I hope that they can become members of my faction and potentially become members of my Holy Knights.

  She then reminisced on the day that had passed and smiled. Her expression glimmered with a radiant light. The lights twinkled throughout the room before turning to silence.

  Marianne: If possible, ask them if they are willing to come with me. Even if they disagree, it would still be good to keep in touch with such talented people. Perhaps they could even keep up with me?

  She then shook her head and chuckled.

  Marianne: Maybe the day was so fun, I even imagined that they could keep up with me, the Silver Saint.

  Farrell just kept silent. Soon, Marianne shooed Farrell away. When the door closed behind her, Marianne was shrouded in silence as she stared out the window and into the bright moon. It was a rare full moon and the light of the moon suddenly shifted and shrouded her room with a silver glimmer. She closed her eyes and soon gave a bright smile.

  Marianne: The light of the moon agrees. Indeed, they are the ones that were prophesied to be at my side. No matter their identities, we can only be friends and not enemies.

  She then turned and flopped down on the bed.

  Marianne: I hope they agree to come with me, at least their presence would be welcome in comparison to the others.

  She then fell into a deep slumber.

  Soon the night turned to day and the perspective went back to Sean.

  Sean: Mmm is it daylight?

  I then sat up with my arms and stretched out. After feeling a nice pop, I went up and quickly washed up. After I finished brushing my teeth, I quickly knocked on everyones doors to wake them up before heading back to my room to change. When we first arrived here, William had asked if we wanted servants to help us up and we shook our heads. Although our lives had changed since we were saved by the organization and Celine, we couldn't get used to the feeling of being served.

  I finished changing and came out of the room in my casual clothes. Most of my clothes are from the base. For a while, the base has been making various materials like these and selling them through a store we had bought as an organization. So the clothes we were wearing were not too strange for the town since it was being sold.

  The clothes were already a step above our clothes before so even if there were better alternatives we had access to, I still chose these clothes. I went ahead and went outside of our shared dorm like room and asked the servants nearby for breakfast. Soon, our meals were sent over while the others were finishing up.

  While I waited, I simply took a portion for myself and poured a gss of fresh juice. The others slowly trickled in and when we were all seated we put our hands together and said our thanks for the meal before we dug in.

  Today, we had some nicely toasted toast as well as some scrambled eggs. There was also a patty of beast meat and a few tomato wedges and leaves of an unknown pnt. When we first ate a meal here, we couldn't really get used to the style of food that nobles ate so we asked for more 'commoner style' meals. This really helped us to be able to stay here comfortably.

  Soon we all finished our meals and rexed.

  Sean: I wonder what we will have to do today? I hope its not another shopping spree.

  Mist nodded in agreement while we Bothe received the gres from our other three companions.

  Kris: What, are you really so against a bit of team bonding? You should be grateful we were not found out by the saintess or something.

  The other two girls nodded in agreement. We just gave sighs of exhaustion and accepted this criticism through one ear and out the other.

  Soon when we were done with our banter and saw that we have mostly digested our meal, we headed over to our training ground to practice.

  I first went and took a practice sword and shield and practiced my stances and started shadow boxing while remembering the golem instructors from the base.

  Mist went and practiced his stealth by sneaking around sometimes poking the others while they were training. Every time he would succeed he would snicker at us while every fail of his would result in our slight mocking of him before he eventually tries again.

  The two mages, Lily and Kris, would practice together and train their cooperation. It is difficult for mages of opposite elements to work together after all. Soon the sound of fireballs and icicles would echo through the grounds.

  But, even their training would not be as noisy as Millie alone. As a berserker, she gains her power from her emotions and brute strength so her training was mostly in self control, but she sometimes goes a little too loose and smashes the ground with a heavy smash.

  We all would change to different movements so that we eventually train every aspect of ourselves. The morning passed and we headed on over to William's office.

  At the door, we were surprised that the Church's knights were at the door with Marianne and Farrell at the front.

  Before we could greet them, William opened the door and saw all of us here.

  William: Oh, since everyone is here, the seven of you can come in together.

  We looked at each other for a moment and we all took our steps first to enter the room. Marianne and Farrell followed us after.

  As we entered the room, I noticed that the room was properly organized. Not only were there seats for us all, the desk was moved to the side temporarily for this chat. Since we were in his office and not in a guest meeting room, I guess he needed to prepare his office for guests.

  William: Since we are all here, let us introduce ourselves. Firstly, I am William, I am the mayor of the Town of Lily Breath. You all should know me, obviously. Next would be you kids.

  He then patted my shoulder to signal me to start. And so, we introduced ourselves in sequence.

  Sean: I am the leader of our group, the Ptinum Stars, Sean. I am a Padin and my object of faith is personal for me.

  Although the Bishop was a little stiff from hearing my introduction, my teammates continued in sequence.

  Lily: I am the vice leader of our group, Lily a Ice element magician.

  She then gave a curtsy at the end of her introduction with our group doing a little dry cp in response. Next it was Kris's turn.

  Kris: Heh, I am Kris, the Fire magician of our little group, nice to meet you again.

  She ended with a wink and passed the baton over to Mist.

  Mist: Huh... I am Mist, a ranger type character who has to clean up everyone's mess. Nice to meet you.

  He then went to sit in what he thought was a cooler position that just seemed corny from my perspective.

  Millie: I am Millie! I like smashing things, especially enemies! I am a berserker!

  She shouted out loudly before striking a pose with a peace sign.

  We gave a sigh of exhaustion while Farrell and William merely sent a chuckle in response. Surprisingly, Marianne showed a positive reaction to the ordeal.

  With all of us introduced, it was time for the official introduction of the two on the other side.

  Farrell gave Marianne a gnce and after a moment of looking back and forth gave his introduction first.

  Farrell: I am Farrell, I am the one in charge of this delegation. Nice to meet you.

  Marianne: I am the saintess of the Church of Light, although I hope you can call me by name, Marianne. Nice to meet you all!

  She waved with an excited smile. Farrell quickly coughed to calm her down and we all were now seated and watching the other side. On our end was the five of us and William and the other had the two from the Church.

  Although I did not say it, the situation seemed a little tense. On our side, the five of us did not know how to treat them. On the other end, Marianne did not know how to bring up the topic of inviting us so it came to a standstill. It wasn't until we all heard impatient tapping that we turned and looked at William.

  William: Look, tell me why you needed to go out of your way to contact me further. This standstill isn't getting us anywhere.

  All of us nodded in agreement. We just came here because we wanted to ask William what he thought on whether we should get close to them or not. Before we could talk to him, we were already forced into this current situation.

  Since we were all here already, I guess we could get all of our answers all at once. And so we awaited for their response. After a moment, Marianne finally responded.

  Marianne: Umm, I will speak about our situation then. As you know, the Church of Light is one of the two forces that rule the world. Even if we are so strong, it doesn't mean that there are no dangers for them. The first and most pressing problem is the Dark Race Alliance. They are the sum of all of the dark attribute races in the world. If it were just them, it would be fine since those races are not fully united. There are even some life and death hatred among some of them.

  She then took a moment to breathe. During this time, some servants went ahead and poured tea and pced snacks on the table in the office before leaving again. She then took a sip of tea before continuing.

  Marianne: The main problem is the other forces that are lurking around. Specifically the various cults that are present in both our territory and theirs. These cults, while not as strong as our two main forces, are enough to tip the scales against us. They believe in different gods from us and usually do all kinds of evil deeds in order to 'satisfy their gods'.

  After this step, Farrell took over the conversation since Marianne herself did not know much about it.

  Farrell: Cultists are divided by their faith. According to our records, there are three levels of Cults that correspond to the three different levels that cultists under their church can reach. First are Low level gods, they can only barely help people easily reach the Bck Iron level. Although they are called cults, they aren't enough of an issue to be of any concern. What is truly distressing is the other two levels of cults. Middle Level cults can reach the Bronze level, so there are at least records of Bronze level combat power in the cult. Finally, there are the High level cults. According to our records, there have been three cults to reach this level.

  He took a moment for us to catch a breath and process the information we received before continuing.

  Farrell: The names of the three cults that have reached the High level are: The Abyssal Blood Cult, The Devouring Fang Cult and the Law of the Unknown. These are the names of these dangerous cults.

  When he finished saying these, he waited for us to take it all in and ask questions.

  Sean: How come I haven't heard of all of this before?

  Before Farrell could respond, William took the opportunity to educate us.

  William: These cults are kept hidden in order to keep the general public unaware of them. If they were to be known, those who have no talent may flock to them in the hopes to become extraordinary to better their own lives. Not every person is talented enough to go far as an extraordinary. If their existence remains hidden, it is harder for them to recruit others so they will slowly decline. At least, that is the original pn for them that I remember.

  He then turned to look at Farrell and nodded at him. Getting the message, he finished what he wanted to say.

  Farrell: Right now, the reason our Delegation is going to the border is nominally that there was strife on the border and that there needs to be a negotiation between the Church and the Alliance to make peace. From our spies intelligence, the real reason we are going there is that there were spotting of cult members communicating with the Dark Race Alliance. Because of this, the frontline could devolve into all out warfare at anytime. Thus, reinforcements are required to stay on standby until the fated day arrives.

  Marianne: With all of that said, would you be willing to follow us on our expedition?

  She looked at us with glowing eyes full of expectation. Not only were the five of us surprised, William was also shocked. Farrell and Marianne gave us a moment to compose ourselves. When we calmed down, we thought about whether we should accept this offer. Our leader has already told us that we have full authority and here reign when it comes to how we should treat the Church.

  Although most of us agree with Marianne from what we know about her. The problem is whether we should trust the Church in general because of Marianne. We had different opinions on this topic and so I think we need time to think it out in order to not cause any rifts in our retionship.

  Sean: I think we need more time to think about this, sorry Marianne.

  Marianne: It's fine. I understand that this is a massive decision for you all.

  Although she spoke calmly, I was able to sense a slight sense of disappointment. Although I felt bad, I knew that this was the right decision not only for us, but for the rest of the organization as well.

  So, the two from the Church left the office in order to give us the space and time to think about this decision. We bowed to William and left as well. We returned to our room to decide on what to do now.

  When we closed the door, the atmosphere felt a little weird. In order to break the suspense, I went and broke the ice first.

  Sean: Alright, we have two options right now. The first option is that we join the Church. That would mean that we would likely remain on the Church's side to secretly help our organization while still on Marianne's side. Or, we can decline which will likely cause a rift between our retion with the Church as well as with Marianne. Does anyone have any objections to what I think our options are?

  The others shook their heads. They all roughly understood what I was talking about. We learned it back in base when we were just starting out. This was weighing our options and knowing the consequences of our choices.

  We were more than just ourselves, we were also the heads of the Light Branch of the organization so our choices will absolutely impact the organization in big ways. Since the leader and her caretaker Lu saved us, we all decided to help them to our best abilities. Before, most of us were all orphans who no one would care about. Now we have been graciously given not only knowledge, but also an opportunity for growth.

  All of these were given to us by our leader and so we shall fight for them who helped us at our lowest.

  That is what we all think. So, when all of us fight for a simir goal we can fight harder and stronger as a group. The only problem is that we are all different people in the end. We can't always unite together in mind and body so in order to help mediate various problems, the csses at base introduced a very serious position for every team, the Leader.

  Leaders not only have to stay at the lead of the team, they must also mediate the team to make sure everyone is united in thought. Otherwise, the team could fall apart when we least expect. Now is the first moment I have been tested as a leader.

  Mist: We should not follow them! We have been doing well before, and the Light branch should remain neutral to other forces. We represent the face of the organization, so we should maintain neutrality to all forces that come our way. Otherwise if we suddenly do actions that go against the church in order to help the organization, they might find that something is wrong with us and it would jeopardize us!

  Millie: You know Marianne already, we should be on her side! Just because we are joining on her expedition doesn't mean we are joining the Church. As long as we remain only allies with Marianne herself we should be fine. You worry too much. She would not reject and deal with us for a little disagreement.

  Surprisingly, Kris was agreeing with Millie. I thought that she would be rejecting Marianne as a love rival or something. When I mentioned this to her she gave me a scoff in return.

  Kris: We were all with her and so we know more about her than you two boys would, right Lily?

  Lily's next response was so surprising that we all reacted in various ways.

  Lily: I actually agree more with Mist on this topic.

  We all went silent for a moment before the room exploded in cmor.

  Millie: WHAT!? You agree with him?

  Kris: I thought you were going to back me up...

  Mist: Eh? I thought you would be the same as the other girls since you were with her the whole day?

  I was equally fbbergasted. Now the room had a feeling of tension. The decision among my four teammates was getting tense. There were now two people on each side. It was now my turn to add my input to the table. I guess this is why we all were grouped in pairs of odd numbers? Since the decision is left on my hands, I had to truly take my time to think about the options avaible to me.

  With all of the options weighed before me, I finally chose to join the delegation/expedition. Before Mist and Lily could explode at me, I quickly began to expin my thoughts.

  Sean: To be honest, I don't know much about the Dark race alliance. We have never had any interaction with them. So I want to join in on this expedition as this is likely the best chance to get into contact with them. When we officially come into contact with them we can finally decide on which side we belong to. Is that ok with you all.

  Millie and Kris both nodded as expected. They both really care about our retionship with Marianne so it is to be expected that they would agree with my option. The most important thing is how Lily and Mist would think of my decision.

  After some contemption, they finally compromised.

  Lily: I don't trust Marianne that much, I always have a feeling she is hiding something. But, I guess that we do indeed need to meet with the Dark Race Alliance to know whether we should remain neutral or to truly take a side.

  Mist: Like Lily said. And the fact that the majority has already chosen to side with Marianne. I will still remain neutral and vigint before she can truly prove her trustworthiness before us.

  With everyone in agreement, we all nodded and shook hands and went back to being close. The only difference was how we looked at Lily. Before I only thought of her as a follower who always went along with Kris. I guess that my initial thoughts on her were a little mistaken. I guess I will need to pay attention to her opinions when we discuss things moving forward.

  Since all of our decisions were decided, I went and told our leader of our decision first. Even if we have decided things on her permission, we should at least inform her of everything before we make any decision. After a few minutes I received her response.

  Celine: You don't have to worry about anything. You have me behind you. Even if the organization becomes an enemy of the whole world then I will fight with you. Of course, don't actually antagonize the entire world okay?

  I gave out a chuckle and responded back with a nod.

  Announcement I made a Ko-fi account. If you are willing to support me you can on https://ko-fi.com/vvulf Although I don't need it, it is really appreciated. Thanks for reading my story.