Root Of The Problem

Save for the squad of Raymond and his wives, no one was allowed inside the Sacred Chamber for the moment— something Celestia learned the hard way as she tried to barge in through the door at night.

A branch appeared seemingly out of nowhere and pushed her away from the World Tree. "Mother, this is not fair," grumbled Celestia as she wanted to take a look at Raymond before going to sleep.

Ever since getting kicked out of the Sacred Chamber for misusing her powers, Celestia has had a hard time following her nightly routine of watching her lord for a good night of sleep. Celestia was essentially missing out on her beauty sleep and it worried her that Raymond might be unimpressed by her haggard look.

Sigh, things she had to do for love, Celestia groaned when her mother refused to let her in. So she tried the next best approach to see her lord by politely knocking on the door, but no matter how much she knocked, no one opened the door and Celestia went to her tree house fuming.

Her mother was being petty. She was not even letting them hear the knocking sound, otherwise, there was no reason why no one answered the door.

That night Celestia slept fitfully. Even after burying herself in the mountain of dolls that resembled her lord, she was barely able to sleep for an hour or less.

For a Martial Sovereign, not sleeping was nothing more than a slight annoyance and didn't hinder their daily life in the slightest. They could go on for months without any rest if they wanted, but Celestia wanted to sleep.

It was in the dreams while she slept, that she could be with her lord, doing things that she had yet to do in real life.

The next morning, even before the dawn broke, Celestia went to Elder Clearmoon's house and informed her about the deal she had made with Raymond.

Elder Clearmoon was, at first, reluctant to share the gravity spells that her ancestors had gathered from distant lands. However, a little bit of coaxing and a promise of more power in the Council from Celestia did the trick and she readily agreed.

And besides, she always bemoaned the fact that the gravity spells were left rotting in her library since no one had an affinity for them in their tribe. Finally, she found a student in the form of Jasmine. Even if said student was a human, Elder Clearmoon wasn't a racial supremacist, unlike other elders.

Celestia brought her along and knocked on the door of the Sacred Chamber again. This time though, the door opened, and Vivian was there to greet them.

"Uh? Ce-celes?" Vivian stuttered uncomfortably. There was no love lost between her and Celestia due to what happened in the past. She was deeply hurt by Celestia for not taking her side when she was caught sneaking into the Sacred Chamber and also for making her grandpa sacrifice his ears in exchange for her life.

Even though Vivian was aware of her wrongdoing, she still expected Celestia to take her side. She treated her like a real sister and Celestia had looked away when she needed her the most.

"Vivian," Celestia acknowledged coldly. Her inner self was screaming at her to throttle the bitch, but Celestia controlled her impulses. She was not here to fight with Vivian. Spending time with her lord alone was more important than fighting with her old friend.

"Ohh, you're here already?" It was at that time when both were awkwardly staring at each other, Raymond entered the scene and interrupted their staring contest. "So, where am I going to train? Do you have a special training room?" Raymond asked hopefully. He was highly impressed by the training ground of the Mercenary Guild back in the Capital City.

They had things like spatial runes to expand the size of the room from the inside so that people could train as much as they wanted. If he could have access to something like that, it would be pretty neat.

"Yes, Raymond. You're standing in that room right now." Celestia smiled faintly as the realisation dawned on his face.

The walls of the Sacred Chamber were filled with archaic runes; it wouldn't be surprising if it had a spatial rune to expand the space and act as a makeshift training ground. It might even be able to withstand his mana pressure and that way Raymond could avoid destroying the forest if something went wrong.

"So, does that mean we have to leave?" Vivian asked, glaring at Celestia. "Ray, I don't feel like leaving your side! I want to stay and see what she is going to teach you!"

All of this talk about training felt like an elaborate lie to get her and her sisters out of the Sacred Chamber. Vivian could take a guess that Celestia was up to something.

"Master! Who's there?" Jasmine and Lyla arrived at the door seeing as it was taking too long for him to return.

"Sure, stay here and see! Don't blame me if anything happens to you! I am saying this for your good. Dealing with his mana is no joke!" Celestia huffed. "If you don't have any desire to live longer, then please stay inside!"

"You! Who are you? Don't be rude to Vivi!" Jasmine snarled. As long as her master was nearby, she did not fear anyone much less tolerate anyone talking down to her sister.

"Hmph! I am the High Priestess. I own all the land as far as you can see from here."

Naturally, Celestia's haughty personality, which she had inherited from her forefathers, came to the surface as soon as she was questioned by a human.

"You should be thankful that I am letting you stay here!"

"What did you just say? Try and make me leave, I will see what you can do!" Jasmine barked and slightly hid behind Raymond for extra protection.

Raymond snickered at her antics. She was just trying to rile up the High Priestess. "All of you just shut up!" He bellowed, putting a stop to their senseless bickering.

"Lyla, get these two out of here and keep an eye on them!" Raymond ordered and Lyla pulled back Vivian and Jasmine by the hands to keep them in line.

After that, Raymond's eyes landed on the duo of elven ladies standing at the door, especially his eyes lingered on Elder Clearmoon as he warned:

"I suppose you will be with my wives for the time being? If something even ruffles their hair, bear in mind that I have your leader as my hostage!" Raymond uttered with a vindictive glint in his eyes. "I will not hesitate to destroy your tribe!"

"My Lady, he is threaten—"

"You heard him, Elder. Please look after his wives! I will provide more leaves for you as a payment. Thank you!" Celestia quickly cut off her before the situation devolved into another unwanted dispute.

"Go ahead, ladies! Jasmine, don't annoy Elder Clearmoon and pay attention to her teachings!" said Raymond gently. "I am counting on you to protect your sisters."

"Hehe, sure, Master." Jasmine lowered her head shyly and squeaked out a reply. Her master had spent so much money to give her an opportunity to progress, if she didn't improve and became strong enough for him to not to worry about her, Jasmine wouldn't be able to forgive herself.

Lyla, Vivian, and Jasmine left with Elder Clearmoon and Celestia didn't forget to shoot a smug grin at Vivian who was glaring at her fiercely.

Raymond shook his head. What was up with this weird woman? Yesterday, she acted all cool and collected, but today, she was behaving like a petty teenage girl. Raymond, for the life of him, couldn't understand these strange creatures known as women.

As far as he understood, Vivian and Celestia were friends a long time ago. After Celestia was selected as the High Priestess, their friendship fell apart when Vivian was caught hurling a spear at the stone statue inside the Sacred Chamber and justly got punished for it.

He could understand Vivian being angry with Celestia for banishing her from the Inner Sanctum, why was Celesta acting like she held a grudge?

'Arghh! Fuck it! I am going to ask her directly!'

"You! What do you have with Vivi? Why are you angry with her? She is under my protection. If you do anything to her, there will be hell to pay!" Raymond threatened.

'Damn! She is blushing?'

For some reason, Celestia started to blush and squirm in her spot when he threatened her.

This woman! She was destroying his image of her in real time!

She was crazier than Lyla! Raymond thought Lyla was crazy for hearing a voice in her head, but this! This was something else.

"Eh? Do you hear voices in your head?"

"Huh?" Celestia muttered intelligently as she was still feeling rather weak in the knees. "No, but I see visions!"

"Great!" Raymond deadpanned, having lost all his hope of befriending a normal girl in his life.

Oh, he missed Sasha. Except for her thirst for blood and battle, she was the sanest of them all.

"Shall we go inside?" Raymond asked. He had a hunch that something was going to happen between them by the end of it all. Raymond decided to let nature take its course.

At this point, Raymond was ready to accept that he was the real problem! Wherever he went, he attracted troubled women or vice versa.