Church Of God (I)

Both Snow and Levian had entered the monastery as a guard for the Churches of the God of Light. Wearing simple blue and white clothes with blue pants, adorned with gold chains. Underneath her clothes, light armor was tightly fitted against her body. On the side of her hips were the standard sword that the guards must wear.

Snow couldn't help but wonder why such a simple outfit that barely covered her from head to shoulder was the standard outfit. It barely covered anything. If she didn't wear her own light armor underneath, she assumed that everything else was for decorations, which she found pointless. She had light freckles on her skin, her white hair was dyed black.

Even the sword was for decorations. The church was well funded, but the number of things given out to the new recruits were poor.

They have infiltrated a branch church, compared to the main church in another state. This was their first step. The church was a seven-story building, nothing compared to the regular churches that one would often see. It didn't have the spikey roofs or the arches and column that would hint any majestic and grandiose feel. It was a simple modernized building. On the inside of the windows were white blocks of light that went up and down the side, creating a giant sword symbol that the church was famous for.

Snow felt peace wash over her, walking through the grounds. She was learning under an older guard that was showing her the ropes. His name was James, a ten-year veteran, who joined when he was twenty-five.

James was a pretty tall man, towering over her about three inches. His scarred cheek, round eyes, and his strong chin made him quite manly. There was an air about him that screamed respect but was mixed in with a softness. For the past three days, James and her were going over the basic drills, the activities, and the religious prayers every morning.

Going to do morning prayers wasn't the problem; getting up early was something Snow wasn't very good with. An alarm clock had to ring out loudly, scaring her awake as she slugged herself through her morning routine.

Today was one of those days when she was half awake when James taught her a few things about the church. Almost most of it, she didn't pay much attention and shook her head to tell him that she was still with him.

They were on the ground floor, passing through a few security checkpoints with a few people coming in and out.

"Snow," James called out to her.

Snow yawned, covering her mouth. "Yes?"

"Were you listening to what I was saying?"

"Somewhat."

James sighed, shaking his head at her. "You know this is your probationary period. Don't you think you need to put more effort into it?"

Snow blinked. She shrugged. She honestly didn't want to be here. If it wasn't for the simple timeline of three months for their mission, she wouldn't really care if she got in or not.

"I can handle myself when it comes to danger." She waved her hand away. Her arrogant nonchalant words bothered James. This wasn't her usual persona, but this was what she hid herself by. A lazy, arrogant, rich kid sent in by her parents to learn the ropes before coming back to the company. It took a bit of effort to pull persona as she tended to go back to being herself.

"I have seen your files Snowbella Holland." James' voice was a bit strained, emphasizing her last name. "You have gone dungeon diving into three of the four major dungeons, came back alive in each one, and brought a hefty amount of treasures."

"Yep." Snow crossed her hand. "Worked closely in the group with the Saintess party." She threw out casually, pointing to her greatness of what she had done. Bringing up such false claims didn't bother her, even though she had heard that they have the same names. The name Saintess made her gag. She didn't like it as it sounded too corny.

"I have seen that, as well."

"Which, I assure you, wasn't an easy thing to do." Snow turned up her nose in the air.

"Your arrogance will get you killed."

"It's what everyone says all the time." She shrugged her shoulders, rolled her eyes.

James smacked his face, his shoulder slightly shaking. He glared and shook his head at her. "I could write you up and kick you out."

"I would appreciate it if you at least let me stay for another three months. Then you can kick me out." Snow bluntly spoke. Getting into character and spewing out such words made her cringe on the inside. She was a bit guilty at James for showing such an ugly side of her. "My parents are a big Patreon to this church, and I don't think the higher-ups would like to hear it that their daughter was kicked out too quickly."

An empty threat. Levian had donated a huge amount under a false company, which the head priest gladly welcomed them with open arms. She had met that sleazy priest, who only thought of money. She couldn't help but think that such a person ran this side branch, which put an ugly stain in her opinion.

James frowned even deeper, understanding what Snow meant. Not many knew about the ugly lust for money that the head priest had, and James was one of them who knew such information.

"You have balls to threaten me, kid," James observed her, trying to figure out what her thoughts were.

"It's what happened when you lived in the dungeon for the past two years." Even though Snow said that she had a lingering feeling that what she said was the truth. Her words' dedication didn't slip up with a hint of arrogance but had a veteran vibe to it.

James was a bit more cautious with his next few words. "You'll get your three months, but mark my words, you will get booted out faster if you fail your duties."

"Yes, sir." Snow lazily said.

"Now, let's go grab ourselves some breakfast, and after that, we will be going on our first detail."

James turned around, going back into the building. They made their way to the second floor, where the whole floor was a cafeteria. It wasn't just the employees that were sitting down and eating there.

Lining up, Snow picked up a tray and a glass of water. She walked by and was given a plate of food, dessert, and utensils.

They walked over toward an open table. Snow sat down, ready to devour the food before her. Her stomach grumbled, telling her that if she didn't eat now, she would have to starve herself until late afternoon.

Picking up her fork, she stabbed it a bit too viciously into the steamed vegetables. A crunch followed, and a few slipped off her plate. She then devoured it and went on to the meatloaf.

"Slow down," A chuckle could be heard from behind.

Snow tilted her head to see who it was and found Levian bringing his own tray of food. She gulped, reaching over to take a large sip of her drink.

"Any faster, and I wouldn't be surprised if you choke on it."

"Don't worry, it's how I eat. I'm used to it." Snow placed down her drink.

Levian sat next to her. He nodded, acknowledging James' presence.

"Levian. I thought you were with Sally."

"I was a moment ago."

A clatter of a tray could be heard as it was brought down. Sally was a short woman with frizzy red hair. Her dark brown skin gave her a very translucent look. Even her brown eyes gave off a very stunning look that would entrap anyone who stared for too long.

"You could have waited for me," Sally said, pouting. Annoyed that she was left behind.

"I could have, but I didn't," Levian smirked and winked.

Sally rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head. "You're such a bad flirt. I don't get why half of the girls like you."

"Because I'm just good like that."

"Right. Right." Sally didn't have it. She smacked him with the back of her metal spoon. "Just because you are with me doesn't mean that you go around and do stupid things and get me in trouble."

"I would never." Levian gasped. He looked at her with puppy dog eyes.

Sally smack him again.

"Ow, why do you always keep hitting me." Levian was rubbing his forehead. "At the rate that you keep smacking me, my forehead will have an indentation in it."

"Then stop acting like a fool."

"But-"

Sally raised up her spoon in a threatening manner.

With a sigh, Levian raised up his hand in defeat.

Placing her spoon down, Sally spoke, "Did you hear about the Saintess these days?"

"Isn't it the same old thing?" James had said with indifference, he ate the meatloaf into his mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"How she's missing and all that."

"No. Not that. She's supposedly found."

"So soon?" Levian had said with interest. He leaned forward on the table.

"I'm glad they found her. It would have been bad if the Saintess was missing. She is the only one that could use the famous skill Resurrection." James had placed his fork down. "Without her, the value of the city would go down. Plus, the High Priest has been on the move to get her to the church's side these days."

"Really?" asked Levian. He then grumbled something underneath his own breath, which nobody could catch.

"Yes.