Guardian Saints, Part One

The Saintess of Yulan was recruiting twelve Guardian Saints.

Requirements: no restrictions on background, gender, or strength; under twenty years old; only the talented would be accepted. Recruitment would be held at Yulan Empire Magic Academy.

The news spread like wildfire through every street and alley of the imperial capital.

People throughout the Yulan Empire flocked to apply.

"Your child is talented and meets the requirements. Why aren't you hurrying over to apply as a Guardian Saint?"

"You're so talented. Why haven't you applied as a Guardian Saint?"

Whenever people of the Yulan Imperial Capital met, those were the two lines they discussed most.

Countless people were stirred into action and prepared to take part in the selection.

Saga was one of them.

Saga: born a commoner, just fifteen years old, cultivated thunder-element battle qi, a fifth-level warrior.

Both his parents had been mercenaries and died during a mission. They left behind him, a younger brother, and a younger sister. He had been only ten that year, having just become a first-level warrior, and from then on, the burden of supporting the family fell entirely upon his shoulders.

Mercenary work was an extremely dangerous profession. They risked their lives constantly and could die at any moment; injuries were commonplace.

During a mission escorting a wealthy merchant, they encountered bandits. Saga was severely wounded, and his companions brought him to the imperial capital. His injuries were too serious and required at least a seventh-level light-element mage to treat. Hiring such a mage cost an enormous sum—at least several hundred gold coins—so he could only wait for death.

At the time, he had thought that his own death did not matter, but what would happen to his younger brother and sister afterward?

"Go ask the Saintess of Yulan. It might be worth a try," someone told him then. "Though the Saintess of Yulan is young and only a fourth-level mage, she can heal even the most serious wounds. Her fees are very low, and she may not charge anything at all."

With a try-it-and-see attitude, he sought out the Saintess of Yulan.

He met Victoria: a girl of around ten, radiating a sacred, life-giving aura. Noble, kind, and beautiful, she was like a goddess.

The Saintess of Yulan examined his injuries and quickly healed him. After learning his story, she ultimately charged him nothing.

From that day onward, the Saintess of Yulan had been the goddess in his heart.

When he heard that the Saintess of Yulan was recruiting a guard force, Saga felt that he had to take part and had to succeed, so that he could protect the goddess in his heart from then on.

Yulan Magic Academy.

Sophie and Jessica, along with Victoria's elder brother Hank, were all there. Victoria had dragged them over to serve as interviewers.

According to Victoria's plan, they would conduct an initial round of interviews first. Catherine and Olivier would then carry out the final assessment.

"Two Masters, it's been so long, and we still haven't found many suitable candidates. When will I ever recruit my Twelve Gold Saints?"

Ever since Olivier had told her the story of Athena and the Twelve Guardian Saints, Victoria had regarded herself as Athena and begun planning to recruit Gold Saints.

According to the plan, they would first find twenty-four people, after which Catherine and Olivier would choose twelve from among them.

"Don't worry. I think several of them are quite good. We looked through them and found ten who generally meet your requirements," Sophie said. Sophie and Jessica practically overflowed with motherly affection toward Victoria; they treated her even better than a mother would treat her own daughter.

"Most of those princes and young masters are a bunch of useless fools. They call themselves geniuses, but they aren't even as good as idiots." Victoria had strong opinions about the noble circles. Over the past two years, only a small number of nobles had earned her approval.

"How can they compare to you? You're already an eighth-level mage, while we're only seventh-level." Sophie and Jessica had advanced from the sixth level to the seventh, while Victoria was already at the eighth.

Hank remained silent at the side, laughing bitterly to himself.

Heavens, I'm only fourth-level, all right? Could you at least spare a thought for my feelings?

Meanwhile, Olivier's thoughts were in turmoil.

Athena and the Twelve Saints.

Olivier did not know the details of that story very well; he only knew the names. But he could make something up.

So he had concocted a story about a goddess leading Guardian Saints to fight monsters, about how the Guardian Saints vowed to protect the goddess to the death. It was meant as an entertaining way to teach Victoria how to be a goddess and how to conduct herself.

Originally, he had planned to send Victoria and relatives such as Blumer to the secret chamber in the Baruch Empire once the Graveyard of the Gods opened.

It would be safe there.

Now that Victoria had Guardian Saints, however, it clearly would not be good to bring everyone over there.

In that case, I'll protect the Yulan Empire, Olivier thought.

Although he could not possibly break the Boshu Dike and release the gods of the Gorba Plane, who knew what kind of people might emerge from the place where Dylin had come out? If they attacked the Yulan Empire, Victoria would certainly be the first to bear the brunt.

This was Catherine's homeland, and he himself had lived here for so long. Protecting it was only proper.

By now, he regarded this place as his home. His family, friends, and disciple were here.

The recruitment of Guardian Saints proceeded in full swing.

After two months of screening, character investigations, and martial contests, they finally selected twenty-four candidates for the Saintess Guard. They were then informed that the final selection would be overseen by two god-level experts: the High Priest and Olivier.

Those lucky fellows immediately became tense, worried, frightened, and generally miserable.

Olivier carefully reviewed the personal information on the list in his hand.

"Based on the records, this Nick seems quite good. He's a member of your royal family, only thirteen years old, and already a fourth-level mage. His character is good too. It's rare for a royal descendant to be willing to serve as a guard."

"And this Saga—fifteen years old, a fifth-level warrior. He learned everything on his own, without formal guidance. At such a young age, he still has to support an entire family. That isn't easy. He can be nurtured."

"And this girl Annie. She's from the direct line of a duke's family, fourteen years old and also a fourth-level mage. Clever and quick-witted. Not bad."

Olivier picked out several candidates whose introductions looked promising.

"These are the elites selected from the entire Yulan Empire. Of course they're good," Catherine said. Ever since the guard selection began, Victoria had released word that those who became Guardian Saints might have an opportunity to meet the High Priest and receive her guidance.

Thus, everyone qualified began to make their move.

One had to know that only a handful of Saint-level experts and the High Priest's personal disciples had the chance to meet the High Priest. Even many emperors had never seen her in their entire lives. In the Yulan Empire, meeting the High Priest was the highest honor.

Otherwise, Victoria's status alone would not have attracted those truly talented noble youths. After all, they lacked nothing and were usually the ones being guarded, not the ones guarding others.

Who would be foolish enough to do that?

On the Yulan Continent, true geniuses were trained from childhood. Commoner geniuses were not nonexistent, but the odds were far too low.

For example, the High Priest, the War God, Cesar, Linley, Dixie, Olivier, and people like them all came from noble backgrounds, though their statuses varied.

"Then tomorrow, we'll meet these geniuses."

Olivier was not particularly interested in Victoria's Guardian Saints. It would already be remarkable if these people could become Saint-level experts; their chances of becoming god-level were very low.

Then again, even becoming god-level would not make Olivier view them any differently.

At night.

Saga watched his younger brother and sister sleeping soundly, yet he himself could not fall asleep for a long time. He knew that his standing out from the crowd was not because his talent surpassed everyone else's. There were at least a hundred people like him in this selection.

He felt that his selection had been a gift from Her Holiness the Saintess.

He recalled meeting Her Holiness the Saintess. She had even remembered him, and he felt deeply moved and filled with reverence.

His heart could not calm down for a long while.

Tomorrow, he would meet Her Holiness the Saintess's mentors: the guardian deity of the Yulan Empire, the High Priest, and Lady Victoria.

Excited. So excited.

Then came nervousness, unease, and fear.

But whenever he thought of his younger brother and sister, and of Her Holiness the Saintess of Yulan, Saga's heart filled with confidence.

"I will definitely be selected."