Stigma Effect

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The dirt floor of the training ground, which had been frozen all winter, was softened by the arrival of spring. The sun rose early, so it was possible to train without turning on the lights in the training ground.

Even when running at the training ground at dawn, there was less chance of getting caught in the frozen ground. After the winter rain or snow, the ground was soft, it was also a time when it was hard to run on the slippery and bumpy ground.

Every time she ran, the moment when dust gently rose, she realized that spring had arrived.

Yuriel continued training in a lighter outfit. The lighter the clothes, the lighter the body.

After completing all the training in the corner of the training ground, Yuriel wiped the sweat from her forehead and breathed in the fresh morning air. It was refreshing to feel the cold air filling her lungs.

The eyes of the knights were on Yuriel, who was warming up. Yuriel’s physical strength improved day by day, so the knights were secretly watching Yuriel’s training.

Even though she only worked out for an hour or two in the morning, her physical strength was improving as if she was exercising six hours a day. As much as the knights devoted themselves to training, they were wondering how she would develop further if she trained.

Yuriel now runs at a high speed and does not fall to the floor even if she shoots in succession.

The slender body seen under the light clothes was firm. When Yuriel reached out her hand over her head and did gymnastics, a flat belly with no fat was revealed through the lifted shirt.

The knights who were watching Yuriel quickly turned their eyes.

Yuriel, who made eye contact with some of the knights while doing gymnastics, smiled lightly as she greeted them.

There was no one who rushed to avert their eyes.

Yuriel, who was smiling at the knights, naturally turned to Raphlet.

Raphlet looked a little dissatisfied as their eyes met, probably because he had been watching Yuriel smiling the whole time. He shut his mouth and scanned Yuriel’s whole body.

The gaze that scanned Yuriel’s body was vivid.

He sighed as he looked at her lively cheeks and her exposed neck with eyes full of desire.

Suppressed and repressed, a dull voice turned towards Yuriel.

“When you’re done training, put on your coat before your body cools down. The morning air is cold.”

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“Yes, Lord Raphlet.”

Raphlet seemed to want to say something more, but he did not speak and turned his gaze to his knights. He resumed training while looking at the knights with a cold attitude.

The knights devoted themselves to training without even having time to look at Yuriel. Some knights, who could not keep up with the sudden increase in training intensity, ran into a corner and vomited.

Yuriel thought as she put on the coat she had taken off in the corner of the training room.

Perhaps because of the thin clothes, some knights seemed to be uncomfortable. It looked like she was trying not to show off, but Raphlet seemed to be on his nerves.

The corners of Yuriel’s lips slowly moved upwards when she saw Raphlet, who took special care of the knights she had made eye contact with.

His jealousy was terrific, but she couldn’t make Raphlet and his knights feel uncomfortable when using the training ground, so from tomorrow onwards, it seemed that she would have to wear something with more coverage.

As Raphlet said, after putting on her coat and checking the gun, Yuriel put the gun in her bag and got up.

Morning training was over, it wass time to go inside and practice disassembling and assembling the gun. Baraha was teaching Yuriel more on how to handle a gun.

The other knights did not know how to do it, so he had asked her not to disassemble the gun in the public eye. It was said that it was possible to secretly possess a gun if disassembled, and he only informed Yuriel.

He murmured that it was important to hide and carry weapons.

She wasn’t an assassin who infiltrated by hiding, but why would a paladin want to hide his weapon?

Yuriel smirked as she recalled Baraha’s words.

She wondered if it would be necessary to hide the gun secretly to deal with the monsters, but Yuriel practiced disassembling and assembling by herself as Baraha instructed.

Of course, Raphlet knew this.

It didn’t matter since Baraha too would not have expected to hide the practice from Raphlet.

“I will go back first and prepare the schedule. Lord Raphlet.”

“Do it.”

When she greeted Raphlet, he responded bluntly.

The moment they left the training ground, an unfamiliar bell began to ring at six in the morning.

Yuriel heard the bell and moved quickly. Not long after the news that the repair work on the Clock Tower that had halted due to the terrorist attack had resumed and completed, the Clock Tower began to move. It was an unfamiliar sound to Yuriel.

The wide-ranging sound of the bells in the Temple gave an eerie feeling like the cry of a ghost at dawn.

It was said that the power that moved the Clock Tower was also the core of the monster.

Yuriel hurried into the building, rubbing her arms with goosebumps as if she felt danger.

＊＊＊

With less than a week left before the festival, the temple began to become noticeably busier. Yuriel, too, was excited at the elevated atmosphere.

Yuriel, who followed Shudmuel from the knight building in Albraka to the new building where the priests live, looked around with a curious face and said,

“I see a lot of faces for the first time. I see a lot of unfamiliar faces in the Order these days, but I guess they all came to help with the festival preparations.”

“Right. We couldn’t hire servants of the knights to prepare for the festival, so we brought in workers from outside.”

“I think it would be fun to prepare for the festival, but it’s a bit disappointing.”

She wondered what the festival of the Imperial Capital was going to be like.

The meaning of the festival, what food the people prepared for the festival, who visits the Temple, how the streets outside the Temple would be decorated, Yuriel, who came up from the Mogris Estate, was full of questions.

“We’re not going down that hallway, it’s this way, Yuriel.”

It was the first time that she had entered the building where the priests lived, so Yuriel, who was looking around eagerly, turned her head in all directions. Shudmuel, who was ahead, raised his hand to Yuriel.

She was far away from Shudmuel while she opened her eyes. Shudmuel stopped and waited for Yuriel before she turned the corner.

Yuriel hurriedly ran and stuck to his side.

Embarrassed that she had her eyes somewhere else, she humbly smiled. Shudmuel moved on to make sure Yuriel was following him.

His steps were slow. Yuriel quickly noticed that Shudmuel had slowed down as she looked around.

He never showed a smile and had a cold tone of voice, but he was a kind person.

At the time of his first meeting, the appearance of the medical officer who was afraid to see Shudmuel had long since disappeared from Yuriel’s memory.

It was thanks to Shudmuel’s brainwashing that it worked, but Yuriel was unaware of that fact.

She just felt that he was a trustworthy person and that he had a human likeness.

It couldn’t compare to being with Raphlet, but she also felt very comfortable with Shudmuel.

Yuriel spoke to him, revealing her fondness for him.

“Why are we here? This is the building where the priests live.”

“I have something I need to keep before the festival. I’m on my way to get it from the high priest.”

Yuriel, who had asked a minor question, blinked in bewilderment at the answer.

She did not know why she was accompanying him, who was on his way to see the High Priest.

Several questions ran through her head. Yuriel, who was contemplating which question to ask first, asked the most curious question first.

“What do you have to keep before the festival?”

“The core of the monster.”

“Ugh. Why… .”

Yuriel frowned unknowingly. The negative perception she has towards the monster core was almost exposed.

Paladins, alchemists, and the people of the imperial palace to the princess. They all viewed monster cores positively.

The knights were proud that the entire city was moving with the monster cores obtained from subjugations.

Yuriel could not erase the idea that the Imperial Capital was like a city of monsters, but she did not make the mistake of divulging such thoughts to anyone except Baraha.

Thinking that Commander Shudmuel also didn’t have bad feelings for monster cores, Yuriel restrained her disgusted expression. She thought they got pretty close over the winter, but it wasn’t enough to openly confide this.

There was only one group in this city that hated the monster cores.

A gang that commits terrorism that targets monster cores.

She hates being treated like a terrorist.

Yuriel looked at Shudmuel’s face and thought. The gray eyes under the glasses were staring coldly.

She was worried he had seen the disgusted expression she had put on, but fortunately he was looking into the hallway, not her.

Shudmuel explained in an indifferent tone.

“During the festival, there is an order in which a monster core is awarded to a selected person. It’s an event that the Albraka’s leaders take turns doing every year, and this year it’s my turn. It’s a core that has enough power to move the drawbridge. Everyone will roll their eyes and run to get it.”

The explanation that followed indifferently ended in a bittersweet way.

Yuriel looked at his face, which showed an expression of disgust.

From what he just said, Shudmuel seems to have a negative view of monster cores… ?

As Yuriel frowned as she pondered how best to answer, he added more poignantly.

“It’s like they don’t even know how dangerous the monster core is…. It is no different from a fire moth flying into a fire.”

Yuriel had to put up with the desire to nod her head vigorously.

His voice was so loud that the priests walking around were glaring at Shudmuel.