Indeed, It Had Done So

"Of course, no problem!" "Also, regarding the three rooms for the other squad: if they don't order room service for in-room dining that day, just treat it as if they did. Convert the meal allowance into point coupons and give them to me. You can take a higher cut on this part. If they ever ask, push the blame onto me." How could those wealthy young masters be content with complimentary meals? They still preferred heading to the restaurant to order à la carte. "Understood. Rest assured, sir, I've got it. Do you have any other instructions?" "Hotels like this within the church—do you all know one another?" "Well, I do have a few acquaintances." "In the York City Region, at the Ankara Hotel, do you know anyone there?" "I really don't. That's just too far away." "Oh, all right." "But don't worry, sir. It's just a matter of a phone call—very simple. After all, everyone recognizes point coupons." "Good. Thank you for your trouble." "You're too kind, sir. I'll take my leave now." After the logistics director departed, Karen noticed that everyone at the table began eating noticeably faster, knowing they wouldn't get to eat like this starting tomorrow. Karen stretched lazily, raised his glass of iced water, and said, "To the future!" Everyone immediately picked up the glasses beside them and raised them, chiming in unison: "To the future!" ... That night, Karen read until the early hours of the morning before finally feeling drowsy. Setting down his book, he glanced toward the doorway. Ventura was fast asleep on a floor pallet there. Karen had told him to go upstairs and sleep in his own room, but Ventura adamantly refused, terrified that what had happened to his captain the previous night might occur again. Lying in bed and closing his eyes, Karen still harbored some lingering apprehension, fearful he might have the exact same dream again tonight. Once he drifted off, Karen found himself back in the same dreamscape as last night. The Scythe of War stood before him. Karen looked at it, then lowered his head to search for the abyss beneath his feet, but found none. *Whew...* It seemed that entity didn't have the strength to pound on the gate every single day. The Scythe of War swung down toward Karen. Instead of scrambling to dodge, Karen actually smiled. *Thwack!* As his dream self was sliced cleanly in two by the Scythe of War, Karen woke up in bed, rolled over, and peacefully fell back into a sweet slumber. He woke at four in the morning. He hadn't slept long, but the quality of his rest was exceptionally good. As the saying went, everything was relative. Compared to the nightmare from two nights ago, the dream of being cleaved in half last night felt as gentle and refreshing as frolicking on a green meadow with little fae. *Exhale...* The bedroom door was shut, but as soon as the sound of Karen getting out of bed stirred, Ventura gently pushed the door open to peek inside. The others were already seated out front. After washing up, Karen stepped out of the bedroom. He hadn't called a morning meeting for today, yet everyone had gathered at this hour anyway. Breakfast had already been delivered early upon request—plain bread and milk across the board, without a single sausage in sight. Karen wondered whether his "pep talk" from last night had worked a little too well. Cutting back on main meals was one thing, but were they skimping on breakfast now too? Still, he couldn't very well say anything at this juncture, so he sat down, grabbed a piece of bread, and began eating it with milk. During the meal, they began discussing teamwork and tactical coordination. Bart proposed an effective plan: using the monster beasts summoned by Aisli as targeting markers to help the others aim and attack. Bart left one detail unsaid, though the implication was unmistakable: *all the "intimate companions" you summon are useless anyway.* Aisli agreed with the plan herself, though she shot Bart a rather unfriendly glare. She was still young and lacked seniority, making it difficult to bind genuinely powerful monster beasts to fight for her, but that didn't mean it would always be so in the future. Blanche brought up another point: when using her priest star chain, she could clearly sense another force amplifying her—namely, the captain's power. She hoped they could calibrate a precise ratio moving forward so that the power channeled from the captain would account for a specific percentage of her own reserves. This was mainly to prevent one side from overdrawing power and ultimately exhausting the captain. To this, Karen replied, "You don't need to worry about this issue at our current stage. If there's a problem, I'll let you know in advance." Everyone nodded, understanding what their captain meant. Put bluntly: *You couldn't possibly drain me dry before I sense it coming.* At seven-thirty, everyone stood up and left the room to attend their final class. The venue for the final lecture was on the second floor of the base hotel, in the largest lecture hall. It could seat around eight hundred people, yet only twelve people were currently sitting below. Karen sat in the front row alongside Muri as usual. Muri leaned over and asked, "Did you have nightmares these past two nights?" "Yeah." Muri sighed. "Phew... dreaming of being decapitated by a scythe every night is agonizing." Karen sighed as well. He was truly envious. The instructors arrived. They were familiar old men. What was familiar was not their identities, but their white hair and beards. Right behind them, seven or eight priests wearing robes emblazoned with blue prisms walked in. Once they finished setting up their equipment, the screen behind the podium lowered, and the lights clicked off, making it feel like a movie screening. "Hello, everyone. I am one of your instructors for today's lecture. My name is McKinney." "Hello, everyone. I am also your instructor today. My name is Barat." After a brief introduction, Barat stepped back, sat down to the side, and began flipping through the documents in his hands. With a wave of McKinney's hand, an image of a valley radiating the stench of death appeared on the large screen behind him. The trainees guessed what place it was, and murmurs broke out among them. "Does Samsara Valley look like this?" Muri whispered to Karen. "I should be asking you that," Karen replied. After all, you're the worldly young master here. "I don't know either. I thought it'd be a scenic valley, but I didn't expect it to look like the entrance to hell." Karen remarked, "To some extent, isn't Samsara Valley essentially the entrance to hell?" "Yeah, you're right." McKinney pointed behind him and spoke: "Everyone guessed correctly. The image you are looking at is indeed Samsara Valley. In truth, merely looking at an image doesn't give you a true sense of its atmosphere. "I have been to Samsara Valley, and I have stood close to the Gate of Samsara. I know what kind of place it is—a place you will never want to set foot in a second time as long as you live. "Although I know this is a sacred holy land in the hearts of countless believers of the Church of Samsara, I still have to say: "Pah! "It's a godforsaken dump where even birds wouldn't bother taking a shit!" McKinney spat on the floor. Karen massaged his temples. This instructor was certainly unabashed about airing his personal grievances. "The location of Samsara Valley is extremely complex. It sits at the intersection of several spatial rifts. Its unique geographic environment has created a unique ecosystem. I believe that is why the Church of Samsara chose this place as their true foundation, and why the God of Samsara chose to construct the Gate of Samsara here back then. "Samsara Valley covers a vast area. Although no one has accurately surveyed it, based on my past experience living there and the records left by some predecessors of the Church of Samsara, its actual area can be estimated to be roughly ten times the size of Saint Antis. "However, the area they have actually developed and utilized is about the size of Saint Antis—perhaps even less. "There are immense uninhabited zones within it. Take note: an uninhabited zone merely means there are no humans, not that there are no other beings. "There are numerous factions on the island, and the Church of Samsara is the largest among them. You might wonder: why would the Church of Samsara allow other factions to exist in such a vital place? "Because the Church of Samsara needs their tribute, and the cost of artificial cultivation is far too steep, leaving them no choice but to grant those factions a certain degree of autonomy. "Legend has it that families who lost internal power struggles within the Church of Samsara were once exiled to that area. Many years later, those families devolved into unique species. "All right, that is all you need to know about the general situation of Samsara Valley. You will not be setting foot in that zone. "The teleportation array will send you directly to the reception quarters of the Church of Samsara. When the appointed time comes, including all of you, candidates from the Church of Samsara, and the slots granted by the Church of Samsara to other churches—a total of thirty youths—will be arranged to enter the Gate of Samsara. "Here, there are two points I must emphasize to you in advance. "First, do not associate with internal factions of the Church of Samsara. Of course, they will certainly approach you. What I mean is, you must keep your heads clear. "Especially..." McKinney picked up the roster and read aloud: "Ventura, Karen. Stand up." Karen and Ventura stood up. "The two of you need to pay special attention. Because you have no family background, they will be much keener to approach you. I hope you keep your wits about you. Do not think some foreign family will sponsor you out of nowhere. Bear in mind: even if a pie really falls from the sky, it's bound to be poisoned. "All right, sit down." Ventura sat back down. Karen remained standing. McKinney set down the roster and pushed up his glasses. Seeing Karen still standing, he reminded him, "Sit down, Student Karen... or Ventura, whichever you are." Beside him, Barat looked at McKinney's figure on the podium and shook his head helplessly. *Sure, he has no family background, and his profile lists him as an orphan, but the boy has immense talent and the backbone to match.* *Idiot. You served as a stationed priest in the Church of Samsara for so long. Even though you returned cursing Samsara Valley as a garbage dump, your brain was still thoroughly brainwashed into adopting their obsession with family lineage.* *If you're so bold, why don't you say that in front of High Priest Norton? After all, the High Priest doesn't have a family either—does that mean he could be tempted to defect at any moment?* Evidently, McKinney did not belong to the inner circle of Piro and Liwen. "Sit down," McKinney repeated. Karen still stood motionless. Seeing this, Ventura, who had just sat down, instantly stood back up. "Sit down!" McKinney snapped. At that moment, Bart, Aisli, Blanche, and Mars, who were sitting behind Karen, all stood up as well. "I said, sit down!" Karen's squad remained standing as a collective unit; not a single one sat. Seeing this, Muri sighed and stood up as well. The teammates behind him rose to their feet too. "What is the meaning of this?" McKinney frowned. Muri spoke up: "Instructor, please retract your inappropriate remarks and apologize. Our Church of Order has always maintained that under Order, all are equal. If a believer's loyalty to Order is judged by their family background, I believe that is the greatest defilement of both that believer and Order itself!" "And what if I refuse to apologize?" McKinney countered. Muri smiled faintly. "Then we will refuse to attend your class and walk out together." "Hah, are you threatening your instructor?" Muri replied, "We are merely defending the honor of ourselves and our comrades." "Do you know the losses you'll suffer by skipping my class? Do you know how much trouble it will cause for your journey to Samsara Valley? Do you know why the church established these courses and brought you here for training? Do you know what expectations the church has of you? "Or perhaps, do you intend to turn your backs on the church?" Muri smiled again. "Instructor, you hold our roster and dossiers in your hands. If someone with my family name were to betray the church, or if the companions behind me were to betray the church, do you honestly think that's possible? "According to your logic, instructor, if your family is inferior to ours, then whenever a conflict arises, doesn't that prove *you* are the one betraying the church?" "You..." Barat spoke up in warning: "McKinney, if you want this to escalate into a formal teaching grievance that goes all the way to the higher-ups, fine, you may continue." McKinney took a deep breath. In the end, he looked at Karen and spoke: "I retract what I said earlier, and I apologize for my inappropriate phrasing." Karen bowed slightly to McKinney. "I accept your apology." With that, he sat down. Ventura followed Karen's lead, giving a slight bow. "I accept your apology too." Everyone returned to their seats. Karen leaned toward Muri and whispered, "Thanks." "Heh, don't mention it." Sitting behind them next to Bart, Paxio muttered quietly, "If my grandfather were here, he'd probably have marched up there and punched him in the face." "My grandfather probably would have too." "My grandfather is in the Special Array Division. What about yours?" "First Knights." "All right, my respects to your grandfather." ... McKinney carried on with the lecture. As soon as class ended, he grabbed his lesson plans and walked straight out of the lecture hall without looking back. Barat spoke: "It seems Instructor McKinney has no desire to join us for lunch. Well, does anyone care to treat this instructor to a meal?" Karen kept a polite smile. Muri stood up and waved. "Let's go, to the restaurant!" ... The restaurant was on the sixth floor, arranged with two tables. Everyone tacitly split into two groups: Karen, Muri, and Barat shared one table, while the rest took the other. However, the dishes on the two tables were different; Karen's table was simpler, while the other table was far more lavish. Barat did not speak while dining, so Karen and Muri remained silent as well, eating quietly. Once Barat finished his meal, he picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and smiled. "I know Wien cuisine has always been famous. Karen, you're from Wien—what do you think of it?" Karen replied, "Sometimes, even in my nightmares, I shudder in lingering dread." Muri chimed in, "Dread about what?" "That I actually managed to grow up eating Wien food." "Hahaha!" "Hahaha!" "Don't take what happened with McKinney to heart," Barat said. "Inviting him here was purely because he served as an envoy priest in Samsara Valley for a long time and knows the terrain quite well. In truth, most of what he lectured was rubbish. After all, you won't be staying in Samsara Valley for long." "Instructor McKinney has already apologized, and I've forgiven him," Karen said. "Mm." Muri said, "So the real core of the material is what you'll be teaching this afternoon, Instructor?" "Yes, exactly." "Then we have something to look forward to," Karen said. "You carry a heavy burden this time. Finished eating? Let's head back and resume class." Muri stood up to settle the bill. ... The group returned to the lecture hall, and Barat took his place at the podium. The staff projected a mural onto the large screen. In the mural stood a man with a human face and a lion's body, towering amidst roaring flames. Barat began: "Gaitanbert. His father was once a bishop in our Church of Order, while his mother was a monster beast. He was the fruit of their love." Hearing the favorable phrase "fruit of their love," one could readily discern Gaitanbert's standing within the Church of Order. "Gaitanbert possessed the powerful physique of a monster beast alongside the ability to wield the power of Order. Toward the end of the last era, he served as Captain of the Guard at the Gates of the Temple of Order." The large screen changed, displaying a new mural. In it was a woman of graceful stature, yet her hair was composed entirely of venomous vipers. "Furnites, former princess of the Tanshin Serpentine Race, possessing royal Tanshin bloodline. Near the end of the last era, she led her entire race to embrace our Church of Order and participated in founding our Church of Order's Monster Beast Breeding Facility." Aisli whispered, "I've seen murals of her." Barat continued: "Toward the end of the last era, Gaitanbert was ordered to assemble an escort unit to protect Furnites as she ventured into a secret realm in search of relics. From that point on, they vanished without a trace. "Then, late one night eight years ago, "the Spirit Visionary Department, responsible for preserving and maintaining ancient totems and arrays, discovered that a sealed communication array passed down from the last era had received a soul message. "The message read: *Gaitanbert, Furnites, Gate of Samsara.*" "They're actually still alive?" "How is that possible? They're still alive?" "After living for so long?" Murmurs broke out among the crowd. "Living this long—even for a soul, that should be nearly impossible, right?" Muri looked toward Karen. Karen replied, "They might still be alive, but what's alive might not be them." "You wouldn't be speaking nonsense. Does that mean you have intel on the interior of the Gate of Samsara?" "Yeah." "Then how about sharing it over dinner tonight?" "Sure." Barat raised his hand, signaling for silence, and said: "We currently suspect that the souls of Gaitanbert and Furnites were cast into the Gate of Samsara. "Certain records allow us to speculate that an evil god previously judged by our church once specifically assisted the God of Samsara in delivering souls into the Gate of Samsara. "Of course, whether these records are factual, whether our speculations are accurate, and whether that evil god truly did such a thing remains unknown for now." Karen let out a soft sigh. Indeed, it had done so.