This was the first time Sylvester was getting to see so much economic activity. The last time he went to the capital of Gracia Kingdom, he was a month old and slept most of the time. After that, he never entered the city and bypassed it to reach his destination.
The festival appeared to be something straight out of some fantasy. He just felt much more connected and comfortable walking around now.
There were shops selling souvenirs, robes, pendants, food, and books. There were also a few blacksmiths, but they were not allowed to sell weapons, but only household tools or any new inventions. There were also jewelers in neat silk-decorated shops.
The whole festival grounds were surrounded by a temporary wall erected by Earth wizards of the Holy Army, and security was their responsibility too.
The boys walked in the busy street while various loud hawkers shouted to sell their products.
"Come here, get yourself the best silk anywhere!"
"Tasty fresh spice milk!"
"Get your latest compilation of Bard's Hymns!"
"Wait a minute!" Sylvester stopped as soon as he heard the last hawker. "Is someone selling my hymns?"
He quickly went to the shop and found a clergy member selling it. It was a middle-aged man of Apprentice rank according to his rank plate.
"Can I get a copy of the hymns?" He asked the man.
The man noticed the rankplate of Sylvester and was shocked it was higher than his own, despite the latter being a kid. The clergyman happily passed a copy. "It costs 100 Gold Graces, but no price for the men of faith, here."
Sylvester was none to argue with and took the free booklet with him. He quickly opened it to see and soon confirmed that the hymns were his, from the first to the most recent one. But he noticed something. 'Holy Solis, are these people copying books by hand? Don't they have a magical way to do it?'
"I think he's satisfying his ego," Felix commented with Markus, loud enough that Sylvester could hear.
"Huh, I was just ensuring they wrote the hymns correctly." He scoffed and quickly stopped an old poor-looking pilgrim walking by. "May the holy light enlighten your paths. I do not need this book of hymns, for I remember them all. Please keep it."
The man happily took the book and kissed it as if it were some treasure. It was understandable, as books were too expensive since they were hand copied and hence, were too valuable and unaffordable by most.
Sylvester moved away, aiming to eat something as it was their lunch break. So they soon selected one clean-looking food shop with some tables outside and sat down to eat. It was too empty for some reason, but they didn't care and got themselves hot milk, two boiled eggs, and big, thick roasted chicken breasts.
"Romel, come here. Why sit so far away from us?" Sylvester called the now meek prince of Riveria. The poor boy had lost his security umbrella.
Romel silently walked over to Sylvester and sat beside him on a long wooden bench. "T-Thank you."
Sylvester read the boy's body language and sensed the chills of fear in his mouth. 'This boy, he needs to get comfortable before I can command him.'
"If you don't like what you eat, get something else to eat. It's my treat." He added.
Then they got to eating like madmen because being Deacons in training, especially as God's Favored, their classes were harsher and squeezed every ounce of energy from their bodies daily.
Yes, basking under sunlight did refill their bodies with Solarium, but they still needed protein, iron, and calcium from other food.
"Gabriel, please give me your written material from Incantation class. I think I made a mistake while writing," Markus asked.
"What's the matter with you? You make so many mistakes even when copying from the board." Gabriel annoyedly muttered while stuffing his mouth.
Markus sighed sadly. "I don't know. I was never good at writing, and I sometimes jumble up the words and inversed them. I think my brain is damaged."
'Dyslexia?' Sylvester thought of instantly. But sadly, he was in a world where they neither had the time nor the means to help something like this.
"It could be something related to the brain, but as long as you can memorize and read, it's okay. I will give you my notes after classes every day." Sylvester offered, as his memory was good enough to memorize what happens in class. "And try writing with your finger in the air to practice."
"My brother, you are the best. Here, take this egg then." Markus offered a boiled egg from his plate that Sylvester was paying for.
"Why do you sit here?! Move away. You are dirty!"
Out of nowhere, a red-haired boy appeared, about five years old, in fine silk clothing of an aristocrat. He pointed at Sylvester and the group.
"Is this boy talking to us?" Felix wondered as he looked left and right.
"Yes! I'm talking to you… my daddy says I must not sit with filthy lowlifes because I am heir to his cunt-y."
"..."
"..."
"You mean County?" Sylvester quickly corrected while holding his laughter. But the rest of the boys couldn't and burst into laughter.
"Pfft!"
"Bahaha… Cunt-y!"
"Hehe." Even Romel chuckled a little.
"Boy, I am the son of Count Sandwall, and all of us are God's Favored Candidates. You think you are nobler than us?" Felix barked back soon after.
"And I am the Crown Prince of Riveria Kingdom," Romel meekly added.
"Ah! Robin!" Just then, a man with an adult face matching the boy appeared and caught the boy. He then apologized quickly before running away. "Forgive the child, respected clergy. I shall teach him better."
"He's not going to teach him, is he?" Markus muttered.
Romel nodded and scoffed. "He's Count Regalia from Riveria. That boy is his first son after 43 daughters from 8 wives. So the boy is spoiled and will never be taught anything, classic young lord."
"..."
Sylvester stopped eating and awkwardly glanced at Romel, the boy who was born from selective breeding the Riveria King did with a witch to make a strong boy.
"Buddy, that's some next-level projection. Let's just head back."
…
For the rest of the day, they studied Holy Magic and Exorcism's basics. As expected, runes were heavily involved in this study, which now made sense why they had to learn them in the first year.
But after the class, Sylvester had decided to meet the Headmaster to talk about learning metal manipulation, or at least finding someone who knew how to do it.
So he used his one-time token to meet the man. The office of the Headmaster was on the ninth floor at the end of one of the lobbies, which had no rooms on the sides. So he went all the way to the one closed door. It was large, five times his height, and was made of golden metal with beautiful engravings and carvings of flowers and vines.
"How do I call him now?" Sylvester found nothing to knock with, so he used his hands. However, something stopped him.
"Stop right there, little one. Do you wish to meet the Headmaster?"
"The door spoke?" Sylvester looked closely at the voice in front of him.
"I'm here!"
This time he noticed that the door appeared to have two eyes, one on each side. They blended well due to the same color, but now as they blinked, he noticed. "Headmaster?"
"No, I am but a door. Let me tell you the story of the holy father, the pope who installed me here to serve the headmasters…"
'How do I shut it up?' Sylvester wondered because as much as he may be interested in the gate, he was getting late for his short one-hour sessions of spear training with Sir Dolorem. Then he also had to return home since Xavia was going to cook honey-baked bread.
"I have a one-time token, so let me through… respected door."
"Ah! Are you not interested? Well, another time then. Now just put that token into my mouth, and then you may enter."
Just like how the eyes appeared, a carved mouth took form on the door and opened itself. Sylvester put the coin-like token in and saw it melt away.
Woosh!—the door automatically opened with that.
Sylvester entered curiously while looking around. But soon, he couldn't help but hold his jaw from dropping. The place was too big, as if he was not in a room on a floor but a castle. The ceiling was higher than it should be, and the windows were enormous compared to what they appeared from the outside. The whole room was decorated with various art pieces on the wall and in glass cases on short columns. The red carpet with golden embroidery covered all the space, with green plants here and there.
Then, at the end of the long hall was a single small shining wooden table, beyond which the Headmaster was sitting, smoking something with a pipe and reading something.
Sylvester quickly saluted in the Church's crossed arms style. "Headmaster Cardinal Brightson, I am Deacon Sylvester Maximilian."
"Come in, lad. I was waiting for when you'd use your token. Usually, all others would use it in the first week after getting it, and you kept me waiting for more than a year." The Headmaster chirped, not appearing like the man of authority that he should have been.
But Sylvester knew better not to believe what he saw. 'Powerful men often show themselves as someone humble. It's a classic trope.'
"I never felt stuck in my education, Headmaster… until now. But it's more of a favor than needing help with a concept." He respectfully stated.
The old man nodded and closed the book he was reading. "And that is?"
Sylvester did not bring the spear, but he reckoned the man knew he had received it. "Headmaster, I received the Spear of Infinity that once belonged to the late hero, Baron Elyot. I wish to learn how to use its abilities, but I need a mentor for Metal Manipulation. Unfortunately, I could not find anyone in the Holy Land with such mastery."
The old Headmaster rubbed his bead and smoked the pipe in silence. He appeared to recall the names of all the students during his tenure. "This one's going to be tough. Metal manipulation is too extreme and rare. If it were sand manipulation or lava manipulation, it would have been easy."
"So, is there nobody?" Sylvester inquired.
"I never said that, but if you must learn it, you might have to wait years because that man will not likely come here to teach you. I vividly remember him, what a cheerful lad. He is from the Highland Kingdom, currently the Viscount Gordon Mineworth."
Sylvester raised an eyebrow, a Viscount was just one rank above Baron, and the Church could even order kings around, so why not this. "Why can't he possibly bless me with his knowledge here?"
Headmaster sighed and looked out of the giant window at the landscape of the Pope's Peninsula, the view of Magna Sanctum clear from there.
"Well, besides his lordly duties of running the iron mines in his lands—he's a cripple."
CAN YOU BLESS ME WITH YOUR SEEDS? I MEAN STONES!
**1100 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**
APE TOGETHER STRONG!
