That's right, that's what paladins are like.

Melissa walked into an office building located behind the Cathedral of Light.

This building, which stands next to the reserve training ground, is actually Melissa's destination on her way back to church today.

It is the true core of the Church of Light in the city of Cedaver. The church also needs many clergy to run it, but it uses its own clergy.

"Captain Melissa."

A nun carrying a stack of documents stopped and gave Melissa a respectful nod as she hurried along.

As a powerful female paladin, Melissa held a high position in her church; ordinary nuns and priests could only bow to her.

If she hadn't been carrying so many documents, the nun would have bowed to Melissa like everyone else.

The nun, who had failed to perform the proper greeting, nervously pursed her lips. She lowered her head, looking helpless, seemingly afraid of upsetting Melissa for not performing the greeting.

"Um."

Fortunately, Melissa simply responded with a snort and walked past her without giving her a proper look.

The nun breathed a sigh of relief. She secretly glanced at Melissa's back, watching curiously as Melissa disappeared at the bottom of the stairs.

The church has always been a place of strict rules, and the paladins are the most loyal "upholders" of these "rules".

If Melissa hadn't been distracted by Rowan's matter, she would have used her gaze to make the nun put down the documents and bow to her again.

Melissa pushed open a door with a plaque that read "Bishop's Office," entered the room, and slammed the helmet she was carrying heavily onto a large desk.

Then she stared wide-eyed at a blonde, blue-eyed woman behind the desk.

The woman, who was still holding a quill pen, had already noticed Melissa's arrival.

But she didn't quite understand what Melissa was angry about, so she looked at Melissa as well.

Seeing the woman feign confusion, Melissa frowned, glared at her again, and then pointed to the practice field outside the window:

"Why did you let Rowan Mario join? Aren't you afraid of causing friction and conflict between the Steam Cult and us?"

So it really is because of that boy?

The blonde woman turned her head to look out the window, a faint smile appearing on her face.

She put down her pen and stood up.

This woman, who was about the same age and height as Melissa and even "younger and more beautiful" than Melissa, calmly straightened her wrinkled robes as a bishop of light in front of Melissa.

Then she stepped out of her desk, went to the window, and together with Melissa, who had moved over with her, looked at the figure of the boy still running on the practice field.

"Diego Mario... A few days ago, this archbishop of the Steam Cult personally delivered his son to me."

"What?!"

Melissa couldn't help but look astonished at the explanation from her close friend and direct superior, Anna Delis.

Anna turned her head and looked at the red-haired female paladin with her bright blue eyes.

The young and promising bishop reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair from her friend's hair that was caught in the seam of her armor. She smiled calmly at her friend:

"This is Rowan Mario's own choice..."

He chose to believe in the Holy Light, he chose to become a paladin...

His father expressed his support for his choice.

After all, a high-ranking archbishop of the Steam Cult couldn't possibly keep this child, who constantly calls for holy light, by his side, could he?

After hearing the explanation, Melissa's astonishment slowly faded, but her brows furrowed once again, deeper than ever before.

Suddenly, Melissa relaxed her brow.

She winked at Anna, took a step closer to her friend, and then whispered to Anna:

"Could it be... that we started it?"

In any case, Melissa could not believe that Rowan believed in the Holy Light on his own will.

This young man's status is just too high!

He was only a matter of time before he could be on equal footing with Anna, once his father was transferred to the Grand Council of the Steam Cult.

As one of the three archbishops of the Steam Cult, Diego Mario's title and status within the cult are several levels higher than Anna's, who nominally holds the same title.

Therefore, Melissa had to confirm with Anna whether the Church of Light had first tampered with the son of this heretical bishop.

For example, when Rowan Mario was a child... someone secretly contacted him to "preach" or something like that...

"This is the most interesting part, my dear Melissa."

Anna smiled at Melissa, then looked back at the boy's figure outside the window, her expression quickly becoming subtle.

"As far as I know... it seems 'we' haven't done anything."

This is reality. Not only does Melissa not believe it, but Anna herself doesn't believe it either!

But the reality is... the Church of Light, which is already on the verge of disappearing into a corner, simply does not have enough power to take action against the rising Steam Cult.

The son of an archbishop is indeed worth the Church of Light's efforts to win over and win over. Thanks to the popularity of the new steam engine across the continent, the power and status of the Steam God Cult are rapidly expanding.

Who would have thought that a church that has only existed for less than fifty years could squeeze out a host of established churches in less than half a century?

Thanks to Rowan's arrival, the situation of the Church of Light in Cedarville has actually improved considerably.

This can be seen from the significant reduction in the number of "problem files" on Anna's desk.

But the problem is, the Steam Cult has no reason to use a bishop's son as a "spy"!

Forcibly "educating" Rowan to believe in the Holy Light and sending him to the Church of Light is an investment that is seriously excessive and very unreasonable.

This is faith!

If it weren't for true "faith," the Holy Light would never respond to Rowan Mario.

Since Rowan received a response from the Holy Light, it also proves that he truly "believes" in the Holy Light, making it difficult for him to return to serving the Steam Cult.

Also... there's something that neither Anna nor Melissa mentioned.

So Rowan actually joined the Holy Knights division of the Church of Light?!

This is one of the Church of Light's main "combat departments." As everyone knows, paladins are the "knights" who charge into battle and are on the front lines, so...

This department also has the highest mortality rate in the Church of Light's fight against monsters and evil.

none of them!

It doesn't even touch on the core of the church... missionary work.

Who would send their own spies to the enemy front lines, letting them "shed blood and sacrifice their lives" for the enemy?

Based on Rowan's current performance, he should be able to be promoted to a full-fledged paladin soon, and he is very likely to "make great contributions" to the Church of Light in the future.

But that was also contributing to the "Church of Light"!

Anna couldn't fathom what benefits the Steam Cult could gain from joining the Church of Light through Rowan.

"Could it be... that it's really just his personal opinion?"

Melissa, who also couldn't think of any "benefits," could only come to the same conclusion as Anna after pondering.

"Does he truly want to believe in the Holy Light and become a paladin?"

Anna was silent for a few seconds, silently watching the boy running outside the window, but she said to Melissa:

"Tomorrow... take them to Linbian Town for a 'trial'."

"Forest Edge Town? Wasn't that just captured...? They..."

Melissa's face showed surprise, which quickly turned into reluctance.

Forest Edge Town is a small village on the outskirts of Cedarville City that recently fell to monsters, and many powerful monsters are now lurking there.

...and a massive number of low-level monsters!

Going to similar places for "trials" is a necessary experience for all prospective paladins.

But the current reserves have only been training for a week, and Melissa feels that these reserves are not ready to face the challenge at all.

Moreover, the high-level monsters in the edge of the forest have not yet left, and even Melissa herself has to be extra careful in order to barely get close to the core area of ​​the edge of the forest.

As for driving away those rampaging monsters and reclaiming the town from them...

Unless the Church of Light mobilizes its entire force, and the Mercenary Guild and Demon Hunter Association of Cedarville cooperate, there is only a 50% chance of success.

But... Melissa knew very well that the church had long lost that kind of leadership that commanded widespread obedience.

...and they would never do something so "laborious and thankless".

As times "progress," people praise the leapfrog development of industry brought about by the advent of the steam engine. However, traditional churches like the Church of Light, swept along by the tide of the times, have gradually begun to consider the "pros and cons."

Of course, this is simply human nature. At the beginning of the disaster, Melissa did lead a team to provide assistance to Linbian Town.

Unfortunately... they didn't save many people, nor were they able to defeat the evil...

"It's a bit early, but if we can find out whether he truly believes in the Holy Light... it's worth it."

Even the outer perimeter is equally dangerous. Melissa's expression turned solemn, because she could already sense Anna's high regard for Rowan.

Just to test whether Rowan truly believed in the Holy Light, Anna decided to prepare to sacrifice the other paladin trainees in the worst-case scenario!

Although Melissa felt somewhat reluctant, the decision rested with Bishop Anna; she was merely an executor.

So she could only silently accompany Anna as they looked out the window at the figure of the boy who had just finished running and stopped again in the weightlifting area.

……

"call……"

Rowan threw down the dumbbells in his hand, stretched his slightly sore fingers, then lifted his shirt and wiped the sweat from his face.

His abs, as strong as if cast in bronze and iron, were exposed to the air. Although Rowan was not the tallest boy among the reserves, he was certainly the one with the most well-proportioned and perfect physique.

This is not only because he trains hard, but also because...

[Strength/Stamina training successful! Ground bonus +10%, Job bonus +10%!]

Your strength has increased by 1.2! Your stamina has increased by 1.2!

[Current Attributes: Strength 18.8, Stamina 20.0, Agility 15.5, Spirit 16.0]

[Stamina upgrade rewards have been distributed...]

Seeing the words appear before his eyes, a satisfied smile appeared on Luo Wen's face.

These words are visible only to Rowan himself; they are feedback information from the [Holy Knight System] within Rowan's body.

Rowan, who possesses the "system," is certainly not a "native" of this world.

Or rather, his body is, but his soul is that of a transmigrator from Earth!

You have obtained 1 [Partial Vitality Restoration Potion]!

[Partially Rejuvenating Potion]

[Effect: After consumption, removes all negative status effects and unconditionally restores 30% of all status effects.]

[Note: Death was a third of a step behind me!]

Rowan's smile widened as he touched the tiny bottle, no bigger than a fingernail, that had recently appeared in his pocket.

This is a life-saving item! I never expected that the first "stage" reward for meeting the stamina attribute requirement would give me such a great item!

Luo Wen looked at his hands, clenched his fists, and felt the power surging through his body and the strength he had regained.

Unfortunately, the effect of each attribute training can only be obtained once a day.

Otherwise, by increasing your strength by "1.2", you can obtain the stage-by-stage increase reward for your strength attribute.

Thankfully... there's still time... no rush!

Today is only the tenth day since I transmigrated... I should still have plenty of time to improve myself.

【Paladin System - Ultimate Quest】

[Mission Requirement: Survive for 10 out of 1000 days.]

[Mission Reward: Return to your original world.]

After looking at the "ultimate mission" for what felt like the umpteenth time, Rowan's smile faded, and he sighed softly to himself.

If it weren't for the pressure of this "ultimate survival mission," Rowan, a top science student, would have already made a name for himself in the Steam Cult and enjoyed the wonderful life in this other world.

It's nothing like now, where people come to the Church of Light to practice self-discipline just for a total of 20% venue and profession bonuses.

Luo Wen didn't know how other transmigrators experienced their new worlds.

All he knew was that the world he was experiencing was a "survival world" where "survival" was the top priority!

Even though the system hadn't yet told Luo Wen what he would face in the future, its ultimate task of simply requiring him to survive for a thousand days was enough to make him realize the seriousness of the problem.

The terrifying question of "survival" weighed heavily on Rowan's shoulders like a leech, forcing him to keep moving forward and do his best to become stronger in the process!

Ugh……

Unfortunately... it's still too "slow".

Having just caught his breath, Luo Wen pursed his lips. Perhaps in other people's eyes, his speed of doubling the basic physical fitness of an average person every five days was already unbelievably fast.

Rowan still felt it was too slow. For Rowan, who was used to prioritizing "efficiency," this level of improvement was far from satisfying his "appetite."

System, system, can't you give me a quest that rewards attribute points?