"[i]Seems like that's the last of you. Cel, seal the doors please, we can't have anyone outside listening in on us.[/i]"

"[i]Yes sir.[/i]"

The white-robed girl stepped away from her fellow robed colleagues, making her way down the cathedral and towards the great doors of the church. On her way she waved at the armored soldiers known as the Jaegers, the white-haired girl who seemed a bit distant, Lady Esther sitting on the bench, the Grand Master Savaniel who appeared in a strange way, and finally, as she reached the end to the foreign man by the door. With a snap of her fingers, a faint blue glow resonated from the entrance, humming with mana and causing the face of the church to briefly vibrate.

"[i]Doors are sealed sir.[/i]"

"[i]Thank you Cel. Now to business, the reason you're all here.. Is of course...[/i]"

"[i]You're taking too long.[/i]"

"[i]Oh Roza, I'm glad you're here.. I was worried that no 'actual' women would be here.[/i]"

"[i]Save it Alex.. Now, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... More than I expected.[/i]

"[i]Quite a diverse bunch as well.[/i]" as Alex said this he shot a questioning look towards the Thao in the near the entrance.

The gruff man sat upon the bench near the font of the cathedral, pulling from a leather bag at his side a paper which bore the seal of Doniaeth, Thao, and Kaien. Uncrumbling the less-than well kept paper he cleared his throat and began to read from the script.

"[i]In two days, each nation will send volunteers to the dormant battlefield. While the ceasefire that has been established is active, none of the voluntary parties, regardless of background, may harm one another throughout the duration of this period. The sole enemy will be the unknown monsters that have appeared, one is solely the main priority, being the large creature that appeared within the active warzone and caused discord for each of the nations while in combat. There are no special conditions for those who partake in this venture, the rate in which you annihilate this threat is advised to be quick and thus the quicker you return, the larger the reward's sum will be.[/i]"

Alex then rolled the script back into it's proper form, pressing it's seal closed and returning it to his bag. He looked to the group before him, and then to Roza who seemed to be giving a concerned look to those who had arrived. Flipping some stray hairs from her face, she paced towards her old friend nodding at him in a ploy for attention.

Two days. If they had the strongest of the Kaien military, they could probably clean up all those unknown monsters in the same amount of days. But for some reason, he didn't see anyone that was noticeably stronger than himself. Curious. During a ceasefire, it wasn't like those other knights had anything better to do, nor was it much of a secret that there was such a mission. So why the secrecy? A little curious. A little pointless. But he didn't ask about that, because he didn't care in the end. There were only nine volunteers in the end, fighting for a reward that wasn't previously advertised.

Catching Roza's expression as she nodded towards him, Savaniel asked, as he sat down on one of the pews of the church, [b]"Worried about that monster? Some have said that it's stronger than your summons."[/b]

"[i]Worried? I'm a bit concerned with this group's well-being. And whoever told you that is thick, Theia and Hyperion are not on the same level as these monsters, nor are they similar in any way.[/i]"

Directing his gaze towards the mercenary and white-haired woman nearby the entrance, the Grand Master shrugged, "Surprised that you didn't issue an 'unofficial' request for the Priestess's Guard to participate though. Would have avoided depending on those nationless independents and Paladins."

"[i]What was that about Paladins?[/i]" Esther rose from her seat, the plate armor clanking against the marble as she stepped towards the two who had been speaking to eachother.

"[i]Ah, Lady Esther Umholtz.. Didn't notice you over there, did your head get bigger?[/i]" Shot Roza as she offered the woman a sinister look, squinting her eyes and averting her vision from the woman who clearly wanted to announce her presence.

Umholtz? Another noble family, as expected of a Paladin. Her armor was well crafted, and her spear had the feeling of a virtue. But said armor was also TOO unmarked, as if it had never been in a massive battle before. Made sense. Esther was a young lady, legible for marriage. Probably just working as a Paladin to up her 'pedigree'. Probably just partaking in this job to get a better reputation amongst potential suitors. Roza though, seemed to have some history with that Paladin.

"[i]Paladins are elite soldiers that are only elite because they are nobles, no? A rather unproven group of knights, if I say so myself. But if you may, list off your accomplishments, Lady Umholtz. It would be helpful to assess whether you are stronger or weaker than me.[/i]"

Most likely the latter, but Savaniel had enough restraint to keep quiet about that.

"[i]Hey Roza... Is he an inbred? Or is he just looking to get his teeth knocked in?[/i]" asked the female paladin, who's habit of turning red-faced when getting 'pissed off' came to light on all of those partaking in this conversation.

"[i]Neither, he's one of my own.. And I'd rather you not threaten my guards Esther. For both of our sake.[/i]" Roza giggled after this remark, looking at Esther as she shook in anger, the vein again visible on her forehead.

"[i]Oh, that reminds me. You two haven't met- Sav, my knight, this is Esther Umholtz.. A friend of mine, or rather, the younger sister of an equal. Essie, this is Savaniel Volduriaz, a Grand Master of our military and should be respected as such. Though in defense of her... Sav, Esther isn't your ordinary paladin, she's the 2nd ranked Valiant in their order, which puts her directly below her sister.[/i]" Roza seemed to hide some venom in the last words of her speech, muffling a snicker into her robe's sleeve and darting her eyes at Esther.

"[i]Yeah-yeah, second is close enough to where I want to be. Speaking of, you know she's planning on retiring soon? Sis wants to settle down and have a family, while she can, so she can have a different lifestyle other than war... I don't blame her to be honest, and grandma scolds her about finding a man as much as me.[/i]" The tone of the girl seemed more somber than before, almost sad at the reality she spoke of.

Second ranked Valiant...it was an acceptable rank. Perhaps actually useful? He never really bothered to understand the convulted ranking system of Paladins anyways. Too many double standards related to your lineage and prestige. Presumably, it was good though. At least, if one assumed that Esther's older sister was also equal to Roza in strength. Bowing slightly in a show partly of respect and apology, Savaniel said, "My apologies, Lady Umholtz. It appears that you are an exception in the ranks of the Paladins."

"[i]That said, I'm surprised that the Umholtz family allows their daughters to find their own husbands. Is it not an accepted practice for noble families to arrange profitable marriages?[/i]"

"[i]Yeah, it's supposed to.."[/i] Laughed Roza, her shroud falling from her head as she grasped her stomache letting a numerous amount of loud cackles.

"[i]Yeah, the last guy my dad had arranged left our estate with a broken nose and a swollen eye. Noble men aren't very chivalrous, regardless of name and title. Anyway, I overheard my captain speaking about the monsters, or I think I did, probably was half asleep or something. He said that it was a lot bigg-.[/i]"

"[i]It was not bigger than my summons.. Enough, Alex, wrap this up.[/i]"

"[i]Ah-yes... Alright, before the sealed doors are unbound, does anyone have questions?[/i]"