Cheering could be heard from all around us. I couldn't make out any details of the entrance area besides that it seemed to be a large, flat open field that was built on top of the hill itself, the only thing that might have originally been part of the hill was the dirt path we were walking on right now, which was deeper than the rest, which meant that thousands of people were looking down on us, which made me uncomfortable. The path slowly led up towards a large open and paved area that was right in front of the entrance to the massive fort.

The prisoners reached it first and were taken by heavily armoured soldiers, all of which carried strange scrolls on their belts. I could feel mana coming from the scrolls but not from the soldiers.

Some kind of magic item then... interesting.

I followed Rudlpho up to the open area, the eyes of thousands following us, especially Rudolpho but I could feel some on me as well. A few people were even yelling his name.

"Rudolpho!"

"Rudolpho!"

"Rudolpho!"

"Rudolpho!"

"Rudolpho!"

It was annoying but I could somehow understand it. After having seen him beat up Ilaria as if it were nothing at all I had to say that I kind of respected him. Or at least his strength. When we reached the open area the cheering stopped and I could see the massive wooden-looking gate with beautiful metallic decorations swing open, slowly, making a loud noise that seemed to shake the ground we stood upon. As the gate opened I looked around and from here I could see that the entire entrance area seemed to be made up of a training area to our left while the area to our right was grassy and even had a pond in which some water fell from a small waterfall that emerged from an artificial, small mountain that had been built. There were also some tall trees and benches and the like. Both the training area and the... resting area, stretched all the way around the fort which stood in the middle and I assumed that they met behind it.

The gate was now finally open and two people stepped out of it. One was a person who was slightly familiar. It was a tall man wearing black metal armour with a golden throne and seven golden stars on the chest plate. Under his arm, he carried a black helmet with a golden crown stuck to it while a sword hung from his hip. This was the man that had led the attack on my village, the man apparently called: Lestul Rigarium. He was tall and had bright green eyes and fiery red hair, on his face I could also see some freckles. I could feel my head and neck twitch shortly before my entire body seemed to tense up. But I also felt fear. I hadn't noticed it all those years ago but this Lestul had massive amounts of mana, possibly rivalling even Rudolpho.

So this is the one... the one I must kill.

Next to him was a person clad in a hooded white robe with a red stripe going down from the overly large collar to the end of the robe which dragged across the floor. Their hands were completely hidden behind the overly long sleeves but I could see that they carried a book in one hand while holding an apple in the other. Their face was completely hidden but I still felt like they were piercing me with their eyes. But the strangest thing must have been what they were carrying on their back. On her back, she wore a metal contraption made up out of twenty or so metal rods. And from the end of each of those metal rods hung a cage, and in each cage were small creatures. Some were fairies, small humanoids with wings, others looked more like animals. There was a small nine-tailed fox for example and a monkey with a stick in his hand along with many more. All of these creatures were glowing in a different colour and from them, I could feel a truly massive amount of mana. I was sure that I would be incapable of moving if such an amount of mana had come from a human, but since it came from those creatures it was actually quite soothing and nice. What scared me about it was that the amount of mana would be able to rival, if not outclass even Elvia, who I had thought was close to the peak of strength.

I looked to my right where I saw Rudolpho's eyes widening for a moment before he whispered something.

"Lady Elsa," he whispered before he pushed down on my shoulder with one hand and pushed me to my knees.

He himself kneeled as well.

"Lady Elsa, what a joyous occasion, what brings the grand sorceress here?" Rudolpho asked, sounding far too respectfully for my tastes.

"Oh, you needn't kneel before me Paladin Rudolpho. I am here simply because my dear brother has asked me to help him with the teaching of the new recruits," this Lady Elsa said with a calm voice that had a strangely soothing effect.

While she spoke it felt like the mana around me was a little less disgusting. When both I and Rudolpho rose I noticed that she was right in front of us and that almost everyone, except Rudolpho, Lestul and me were still kneeling. When I stood up fully this Elsa barely even reached all the way to my chest with her head, but the contraption on her back was massive, the highest two cages hanging a good one or two metres above me.

I looked down and she looked up at me. I could see one bright blue and one bright green eye looking back.

"Rudolpho, who might this young one be?" she asked, even though I couldn't see her mouth I knew that she had a smile on her face, it was just something one could hear in her voice.

'Hey, no falling in love with the enemy!' Ira said loudly.

'What?' I asked, confused by her words.

'Don't think I can't feel how your heart rate has been going up every second!' she said loudly, screaming into my mind... or something like that.

'Oh shut it, as if I would fall in love with someone who appears to be related to that piece of living shit! But I might actually be able to use her to get close to him...' I said.

'Now that's what I want to hear!' Ira said.

"That is Altair Oberon Lyrius, a person of great importance. He is the one who managed to stall our number one prisoner until I arrived. He is also a new volunteer for the heretic hunters and the one who I think shows the most promise out of all of them," Rudolpho exclaimed proudly.

I could feel the angry stares from the other volunteers but disregarded them with a deadpan look.

"Oh my, now I am intriqued. Not only was he able to hold off a member of Penrgament but he is also a member of the Lyrius family?" Elsa asked, this question directed more at me than at Rudolpho, but I didn't really notice that.

When I didn't answer immediately Rudolpho hit me with his elbow.

"Right, that's me," I said.

I heard gasps from Rudolpho and from the crowd of people. At that point, I expected to be yelled at by Elsa because it seemed like I had just disrespected her but instead, she just chuckled.

"I look forward to seeing what you're capable of," she said before stepping back and then walking back to where the other volunteers stood.

She said something to them but I didn't bother listening.

"You should learn to address her with more respect. If I hadn't been the one to recommend you, you might be dead right now," Rudolpho whispered in my ear.

"Of course, I'll learn to be more respectful, don't worry," I said.

After a short while, Lestul invited Rudolpho inside and the paladin left my side, wishing me good luck. The gate began closing and Everyone except the volunteers, who had been told to wait outside, went away, some entering through the gate, others entering through much smaller doors beside it. Before the large gate closed I could swear that Elsa's eyes pierced me once more. When everyone left I let out a sigh, walked over to one of the benches and sat down.

This might be a bother... I hope shit gets easier because if it doesn't I might just suicide rush Lestul and try to run away.

"Hey, you!" someone yelled.

I looked up to see who was talking to who but apparently someone had yelled at me and not someone else.

A tall man, a good two metres tall approached me. He was a human but didn't have any mana. His leather armour looked cheap and the greatsword on his back was chipped.

Oh, how fun...