From the about two hundred damned that had been with Nestor at the plaza, now only up to thirty had followed Captain Cole through the hallways of the academy.

Green light emanated from the chandeliers hanging on the ceiling of the corridors, as a column of quick humanoid figures hurried their steps. They weren't really sure about their destination, yet silence reigned over the group.

Finally, they reached an open area. The last corridor led them to what resembled a little internal garden, with a wide fountain in the center. For Nestor's older standards was indeed extremely spacious, as its size rivaled that of a football field.

The garden was well kept, as only a few well-kept green bushes could be seen, as well as some more groups of what, Nestor, guessed to be aromatic plants. Since they were exuding a pleasing smell.

He couldn't identify precisely what kind of plants these were, as he couldn't even in the gardens around the plaza, yet he still noticed some resemblances from Earth.

Rosemary, thyme, and sage were common aromatic plants from where he came, they were also quite different and easily distinguished between one another. Yet from the same bushes, he saw different types of leaves coming from the branches of the same plant. Some resemble the shapes of the three he just remembered, while he failed to recognize some others.

"What strange biology this is, it's almost as if the branches had been put together by someone. Also, if the white sun isn't radiating light how are these plants even surviving? Is it, perhaps, thanks to this strange green light? "

While such thoughts might seem either boring or useless, Nestor was a monk in his previous life. He often had to help in maintaining the monastery's garden, but he also had frequent dealings with various medicinal herbs and studied various books about them.

Knight Cole had just led them in front of the fountain in the center of the gardens, here a crouching angelic figure, water was gushing out of its mouth. Then he suddenly stopped, straightened his position, and shouted out a brief speech.

"This was our group's final destination. From now on I won't be responsible for your safety anymore. Head inside the first room on my right side of the garden, where you'll find a reception that will fill you in about the contracts.

Proceed in an orderly manner, do not cause any trouble. Don't worry, they'll explain everything you need to know.

Oh! I almost forgot, welcome to Ceres, the cursed citadel. I hope you'll have a 'pleasant' stay here, at least as much as I do."

Nestor was tired of running in circles, once again waiting for someone to explain to him what was this place all about. Yet he knew that all he could do was to patiently wait, as this place was completely alien to him. Was this still Earth? Now Nestor was almost entirely sure that it wasn't.

Cole's final words did bring a bell to Nestor's mind. Their tone was similar to that of Mr. Domino. He could almost feel the emotions hidden in between them, a vague sense of misery, unreachable happiness that you won't ever be able to touch.

Only by attentively listening and thinking about it, had Nestor understood Cole's grieving. It was deeply rooted as if he wanted them not only to understand his suffering but also to experience it themselves.

By normal means it wasn't easy to perceive, however as a former monk, this wasn't the first time he witnessed such twisted thoughts. He often visited psychiatric asylums, places where people with mental issues were being kept.

Many of them weren't as crazy as they were being credited for, maybe they had been sent there unjustly. Yet the truly crazy could still be found, one had to be careful not to get scarred by their foul and twisted words.

Nestor had always found the field of psychology quite interesting and complex. The human mind was still a biological mystery, after all, however, he had never delved deep into the subject.

Nonetheless, the crazy patients and their shenanigans were still fresh in his mind.

'I need to be wary around such people. Even if Cole seems to be a well-trained knight, you never know when he might suddenly snap.'

Then, together with Linneo, Nestor quietly made his way to the reception room.

The light brown wooden door leading inside was slightly open, above the door was an inscription sculpted into stone. It said 'Humanoid acceptance room Number 34'.

To Nestor, it made perfect sense, as Cole already mentioned that his group came from a gate specialized in summoning humanoids. However, another question just arose in his mind.

'How am I able to read all these strange characters, if I focus on them individually I cannot tell their meaning. Yet if seen as a whole I can instinctively understand their true meaning.

How strange and... fascinating, in a certain way.'

A few hurried steps sounded from behind the door, and a few seconds later the figure of a young lady in her mid-twenties opened the door.

She had fiery red hair, freely dancing behind her. They were continuously changing the tone of their color ever so slightly. From a brighter orange to a more deep shade of red that made Nestor wonder if she came out of a fairytale.

Her facial feature wasn't as mesmerizing, they were pretty common for the standards of nobility back on earth. She was pretty tall for a woman, as she almost reached 1,8 meters of height.

She was wearing a simple red dress that lightly exposed her shoulders, she also sported a pair of ancient styled sandals.

However, what caught Nestor's attention was her strangely cracked skin. These long, thin cracks were commonly seen all over her. Strangely enough, Nestor had seen flickering flames of fire dancing in between them.

For a moment she remembered him of his tragic death, burned at the stake only the day before.

His gaze didn't linger on the lady for more than a couple of seconds, as his was of pure curiosity without any more lascivious thoughts. He wasn't that kind of monk after all.

Then HE took a few steps, grabbed the golden handle of the door, and hurried inside.

Two chairs were orderly placed one in front of the other, as Nestor found the room empty of life, he looked over the various bookshelves placed around the square-shaped room.

Many books and thick volumes were being held there. Thus he thought that probably a scholar was using the room as his workplace.

Another door was on the opposite side of the one that Nestor used earlier, near it there were two large tables with various stacks of papers lying upon them.

Suddenly a figure came busting into the room, his heavy breathing indicating that he had run quite the distance.

Nestor took a rapid glance at him, he was wearing a long white coat and was barefooted, he also had long brown hair and deep bags under his eyes. From Nestor's perspective, this man was the embodiment of a crazy scholar.

"I hope our welcome has been kind enough to you Mr. Nestor, as our forces are spread thin around the citadel we can't provide such services for every damned soul."

Even if Nestor guessed his general age to be not over his early forties, this man's voice sounded exceptionally aged. Without being asked twice, Nestor spitted out his thoughts, hopefully, this time he'll receive some answers.