Noah couldn’t believe what met his gaze.

  He expected weakness from the new Squires.

  Yet, such a lackluster performance bordered on disgrace.

  “How could you possibly deny those heretics when you can’t even deny yourselves?” the Paladin shouted, sending a wave of unease down the training ground.

  The court had about 30, but most were inexperienced recruits. Still, they had to work with what they had, lest toppling the heretics become a distant dream.

  Sadly, the Order edged ever closer to such a fate.

  While the remnants of the orthodox faith scattered across the Atlantic, seeking refuge, the witch Morgan LeFay grew ever more powerful. Even as far as outmatching a dozen “Saints.”

  And that’s without mentioning the other dozen ‘Saints’ under her wing.

  The Order of Orthodoxy wasn’t a weak one, not by any stretch of the imagination. They could even go to war against a minor country if the need arose.

  But that wasn’t the mentality of an organization aiming for the top.

  Especially not when the top was taken from them by force.

  The drills Noah oversaw weren’t much to speak of. Sparring, exercising, things intended to weed out the unworthy.

  What he didn’t expect, however, was how most fit the label.

  Should we perhaps lower the requirements?

  It was a natural conclusion, wasn’t it? The heretics made use of everyone, as long as they served a purpose. Yet, here the real Church was, being picky to a fault.

  Not all hope was lost, however, as some Squires were rather promising.

  Especially her.

  “Good job, Eleanor!” Noah shouted as the woman dropped her third adversary.

  Initially, he didn’t think much of her when she got recruited.

  But after learning that she had a Fragment to her name, things changed immensely.

  “This is not fair, sir!” one of the Squires said. “She’s already using those cursed powers.”

  “They’re only cursed if you let them be so,” Noah reprimanded. “You remember our motto, do you not?”

  The Squire’s face changed. “I… suppose I do.”

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  “You suppose?” Noah replied flatly.

  “I do!”

  “Recite it then.”

  The young man might have gotten away with lying had it been any other Paladin.

  But Noah wasn’t any other Paladin.

  The Order dubbed him the Bane of Venerables for a reason. And he wasn’t going to forsake such a reputation anytime soon.

  “Sorry, sir!” the recruit broke down crying. “I don’t.”

  Noah simply sighed at that before refreshing the lad’s memory. “Malum in arma vertimus, sed ei non succumbimus.”

  The boy’s confusion didn’t lift, however.

  “You haven’t been taking your Latin classes seriously, have you?” Noah asked, as disappointed as he sounded.

  The boy remained silent for a while before shaking his head at last.

  “I thought as much,” Noah said with a sigh. “Eleanor, could you translate the motto?”

  “We weaponize evil, but we don’t succumb to it,” the woman replied without missing a beat.

  “That’s more like it,” Noah nodded in approval. “Please continue humbling this lot. They need it.”

  The promising Squire simply nodded before terrorizing a new target.

  “You take glee in bullying children, I see,” a feminine voice said from beside him.

  The abrupt appearance nearly caused the armored man to jump, but he had to maintain decorum.

  A glance later, all fear left his heart. “Sister Agnes! When did you come here?”

  “Just now,” the woman replied, monotone as ever.

  It couldn’t be said that Noah respected many, especially among his peers. Sister Agnes, on the other hand, was an exception.

  A brilliant exception.

  “I’m as unimpressed with them as you are with me, Sister,” Noah said reverently. “But someone has to guide them.”

  “That was a joke, Noah,” Sister Agnes replied. “I know that you take no glee in this.”

  “How could I? It pains me more than anything.”

  “No Divination needed,” Sister Agnes said, reminding him of her capabilities.

  The woman can read his mind. She already did so on multiple occasions.

  And proven that she could keep a secret time and time again.

  “So,” Noah said, putting pleasantries aside. “What brings you to our hideout, Sister?”

  Agnes stood on no ceremony. “Not long ago, a direct subordinate of mine vanished. I want him found.”

  “Vanished?” Noah replied in confusion. Sister Agnes never lost anyone. Much less a direct subordinate.

  “Yes,” she confirmed. “Vanished.”

  The sounds of Eleanor humbling the other deadbeat Squires would’ve usually been music to his ears. But in that instance, terror overwrote all.

  “Do you have any theories?” Noah asked, treading lightly.

  “I do, but it matters not,” Sister Agnes replied. “I just want him found.”

  The woman then handed him a portrait containing the face of a young man.

  Not long ago, the face would’ve been unassuming. Noah might have even forgotten about it in seconds.

  Alas, times change, and so do people.

  “Sister, are you trying to prank me?” Noah asked, dumbfounded.

  “Why would I?” Sister Agnes replied flatly.

  “That’s… Yves Saint Agnes,” Noah said, putting it into words at last. “He killed Warlord Read weeks ago.”

  The woman must have felt a wave of emotions. But to her credit, her face remained calm.

  Too calm.

  “Where was he last sighted?” the Sister simply asked.

  “Orange Town,” Noah replied. “Both he and Read were never seen again after their fight.”

  “Huh,” Sister Agnes said, a faint smile drawn across her flawless face. “Looks like he’s doing far better than I thought.”

  Noah expected her to let go. Alas, it was Sister Agnes he was talking to. “Such a development doesn’t change your mission, Noah. I want him found.”

  Noah nearly asked about compensation, but he didn’t dare to. Not when the woman was on par with Morgan LeFay herself.

  “Oh, right,” Sister Agnes said abruptly. “This should serve as enough compensation.”

  The woman then unearthed a brown leather bag.

  Noah opened it and was met with a wealth of silver and golden jewelry, each shinier than the last.

  “The details surrounding the artifacts are attached to them,” Sister Agnes added. “They range from Supplicant to Venerable.”

  How on earth did she get all of this?

  Noah didn’t have the opportunity to ask, however, as the woman was nowhere to be seen.