Sylvester could already feel the smell of happiness and excitement from the men, so he already knew he had done well.

Saint Wazir spoke this time from his middle seat. "Priest Sylvester, I will be honest. I initially had no confidence in you for this profession—yet I sit here, humbled by your responses. We were under the belief that a man without any experience can not be suitable for this work. But, your responses seem like you've been an inspector your whole life, knowing all the nuances—which is brilliant in our eyes."

Saint Wazir stood up and walked to Sylvester with a paper bag. "After reviewing everything, we deem you more than worthy of this job. And for your first assignment as Sanctum Inspector, you are to catch and kill the heathen."

"Who?"

"The murderer and r*pist of Bright Mothers, he has claimed 24 lives and yet remains at large. Take this packet. It has all the information we have collected until now. The target is not deemed stronger than an Adept Wizard, but all previous inspectors have failed to find major clues."

Sylvester took the paper bag and noticed the name of the case on it. "Dark Hunter?"

"Named because he only strikes at night and has hunter-like tendencies. Like the way he cut the limbs of his victims." Sain Wazir explained.

"Are there no other better-qualified inspectors?" He inquired because he imagined he'd not get any important cases at the start. But it seemed he had underestimated his own status.

"There are, but you have been the first to speak about finding a pattern from day one. Most other inspectors reach this conclusion after rushing to the last crime location and wasting time on pointless manhunts. So we believe having a new—young mind, in this case, might work."

Since the interview was over, they dismissed him next. "Find him and kill him. If anyone tries to protect him, kill them. You may head out and pick up the assignment slip and permanent identification document."

Believing his interview was over, he walked out thinking about this assignment.

'Catching a rapist murderer? It's a noble task, but finding one man in this backward world will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.' He took a long breath and noticed Felix entering the interview room. 'I hope he's not as dumb as I think he is.'

…

Priest Felix Sandwall was known to be a cheerful man who usually kept a positive outlook on everything. But he was somewhat of a brute, which was made clear in his interview.

"A gang of thieves is responsible for periodically stealing supplies sent to various Monasteries. How would you deal with them without revealing who did it?" the interviewer asked.

Felix thought about it for a second. "Hmm, I will ask my uncle to take care of them. Oh, my uncle is one of the 13 commanders of the Headless Order."

The interviewers felt confused about how to take that answer. It was definitely not what they expected, but it was not wrong either.

"You are sent to investigate an Unidentified Supernatural Phenomenon sighting. When you arrive, you find out it was fake, and a man terrorized the town for personal reasons. Suppose you didn't know it was a man. How would you investigate a phantom?"

Felix nodded as he closed his eyes. "Hmm… Easy! I shall throw a stone at the thing. If it goes through, then it's a phantom. If it strikes, the creature will screech; if it's a man, it will cry in pain."

The interviewers frowned. The answers were very unconventional, as most would say they would lay a trap or try to exorcize it with a light crystal. But here Felix was, saying he'd just stone the thing.

"What if the phantom is a hundred meters away?" Saint Wazir asked.

Felix smirked with confidence oozing, and showed a thumbs up. "No worries, respected seniors, I can throw a ten kilo stone five hundred meters away as of now."

"..."

The five old men looked at each other's faces with a frown. They missed Sylvester's answers immediately, but they could not say what Felix was saying was wrong. It was just a very simplistic approach."Priest Felix, please wait outside. We shall announce the results shortly." Saint Wazir ordered.

"Thank you for giving me your time, seniors." Felix saluted and left.

Once the door closed, the five erupted in the discussion, wondering if they should allow Felix or not.

"Does he even have the mental capacity to be an inspector? He appears more of a warrior to me than a thinker," one of them said.

"But we cannot deny that he is indeed very resourceful. He's the son of Count Sandwall, the strongest county in the Gracia Kingdom in terms of power. Priest Felix can be an asset to the cause of Sanctum Inspectors." Another added.

Saint Wazir, however, stayed silent as he had already received the instructions from the Holy Father and those decisions were absolute. He could have a say in it, but he could never decide on his own.

"We shall allow him. Let us not forget that Priest Felix is paired with Priest Sylvester. The bard and the sword, that's the goal. Priest Sylvester can be both the brain and the muscle, while Priest Felix can protect the back. The two are under-experienced and underpowered for this work, so we can not separate them. At the same time, Priest Felix has shown he can indeed solve problems. Our personal biases should not hinder our judgment."

Well, now that Saint Wazir had spoken, others' opinions didn't matter anyway, so they all shut up and ticked the right places on the evaluation chart.

Soon, Felix was called back and informed he had passed and should regroup with Sylvester.

Felix was thrilled and ran out to find Sylvester and hugged his best friend. "Your plan worked, Max. Acting dumb and giving simple answers was enough for them."

Sylvester chuckled and started walking. He had devised the plan after taking a mock interview of Felix in which the guy failed miserably. It was understandable that Felix had no experience in the real world as an investigator. He had never looked for or caught a murderer.

He knew they would pass Felix as long as he was not outright bad. Hence the acting operation dumb was planned.

"Let's go now; we're going to leave tomorrow. So it's time we do some shopping."

"What's the assignment?" Felix excitedly asked.

Sylvester passed him the papers and let him read. The two headed straight to the dorms to pick up Gabriel, Markus, and Sir Dolorem. All of them needed to select a horse and a carriage, and also some clothes.

"This bastard!" Felix cursed after reading the crime report. "We have to find and kill him."

"Don't let your hate blind your balanced mind, Felix. That's what fools do, and it gets you killed. " Sylvester warned quickly. But he was not angered. Felix was 17, and such anger was common in boys of such age.

"I thought people were smart enough to know they should never hurt Bright Mothers. They are the kindest of all people," Felix growled.

As true as it may be, Sylvester knew why some folks would do this. "Some people are just mad. They think doing something otherwise unattainable by the common masses is an achievement. For this, they do deserve death."

"I will plop that man's head like a melon if I get to him."

As they spoke, they arrived at the School of Dawn and found their three companions waiting. Sir Dolorem was already in his armor, but when was he not?

"You passed?"

Sylvester and Felix showed their identification."Not only have we passed, but we have our first assignment. It's to hunt and kill a heathen who harms bright mothers." Sylvester handed the papers to Sir Dolorem. "Let's go and check our allotted equipment. We will be getting one horse each."

"I hope it's a big mighty stallion, befitting my might." Felix demandingly wished as he was always proud of his height and muscles.

"I'd say a pony would suit better." Markus mocked.

Felix walked beside Markus and wrapped his arm around the guy's shoulder. "Says the guy who got kicked by a horse in training."

"That was just one time, Felix. And it didn't even hurt me." Marcus defended his honor.

Sylvester and the rest ignored their bickering and arrived at the stables as per the plan. Horses were roaming around there or eating, appearing wild. The whole place was located in the Guild's Peninsula, as most of the business in the Holy Land happened from there. However, this stable was assigned for Church services only.

When they arrived, they found a stable master, an ordinary man of the lowest clergy rank.

Sylvester showed the man appropriate request documents. "We will need five horses and a horse carriage."

"Of course, respected priests. Before I take you to the horses, I shall show you the carriage. It is the last remaining piece, but I assure you, it's the finest among them all. It's durable and has a waterproof roof."

Sylvester felt there was something wrong with the tone of the man. It didn't feel as if he was genuinely praising the carriage but rather trying to fool them. 'You can lie with words, but not smells.'

"Here, just behind this storage." The stable master opened a wide wooden door of an outhouse and entered. He walked to a piece of cloth covering something large and stood beside it. "Here it is, the beauty. I'm sure it will help you in your many future endeavors."

Woosh!—

"This carriage is assigned to all of you, respected holy men." The stable master lifted off the cloth.

"Is this it?" Felix exclaimed after seeing the carriage.

"This is a bit… lacking," Gabriel muttered.

'Is this some sort of a joke?' Sylvester wondered and went ahead to check the carriage.

He looked at its wheels, they were made of wood, and the nails were already squeezing out. There were also some cracks, while the roof cover was made of a piece of white cloth as it was torn from different parts. Even the floor in the back had holes in it, and the wood was rotting in some places. The thing was just newly polished to look good.

Then, finally, the seats. They were made of hardwood and looked uncomfortable to sit on.

He looked at the stable master with an annoyed face. "Why must you make our journey tougher and have us suffer? At least tell me you have good horses."

The stable master looked away and instantly gave four heart attacks.

"I have three horses in trained condition. One more is under training. However, a new batch just arrived a month ago. But they need time."

"So we lack two horses?" Gabriel asked.

"One!" Sir Dolorem interjected. "I have my own horse."

Sylvester sighed and rubbed his face. "Fine, when life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade. Show us the horses."

___________________

SWEET SWEET STONE?

**669 Stones = Bonus Chapter!**

APE TOGETHER STRONG!