14xx/06/29 Johannes Calendar

59 days since arrival…

Iliasville at last! We reached it fairly early and without any trouble. Which is fine really, we have enough of that in our adventure. All we have to do now is rest, stock up and get ready for our trek into the Tartarus Rift.

The captain like always wanted to do some sightseeing and catching up with an old friend, the fucking Head Priest himself. And the best part is, today is some kind of a military exhibition plus graduation day. Apparently, they first do the exhibition in armour, then do the graduation afterward in the same armour they have. Apparently, the flashy display of Temple armour is enough to convince people to join up and be better.

So, it was done on the Temple Courtyard, right at the front of the temple which can be seen in full view by the intersection between the road leading to the village and the road leading outside the village. The higher ups were on hastily-built wooden seats covered in fine white cloth and jewellery, and the graduates were on the courtyard in armour and armed with spears and shields. I sat at the top rows with the rest of the boys, so we have a good look at the exhibition. From up here, I can notice an inherent feeling of dismissal from adventurers, despite them acting as if they're interested. And of course, I have to slap Natsuki from trying to blow Oskar out in the open like this as if we're in some bad 80s Western Cinema. Is the Temple Guard's reputation that bad that even Natsuki would prefer swallowing loads than watching this procession?

That makes me even more hyped to watch the procession. If this shit is as bad as I assumed it to be, it must've been absolutely hilarious.

And a few seconds in, I was proven wrong.

Their execution is sloppy, but their technique is solid. I'm not well-versed in melee weaponries, but I know enough that they know what they're doing with their shield and spear. Instead of using them like a weapon, they were mostly used as a crowd-control weapon, a mean to subdue and disarm rather than kill and harm. Their doctrine was also reflected in their hand-to-hand combat segment, where they displayed a solid understanding of rudimentary boxing, Greco-Roman Wrestling, and even some Jiu-Jitsu to boot. If you're looking for a reason why they sucked, bad technique isn't one of them.

I've heard the others harp about having no experience at all being the reason why they failed. But surely that can't be it, can it? In reality they weren't as bad as the others make them out to be. Sure, it's an exhibition, but even before that, I haven't seen a single soldier with a shoddy armour or rusty weapon on hand. So, payment isn't an issue here. Morale is not bad too. In theory, they should have everything needed to become a top-class fighting force. Was the gap of experience that much of a hindrance?

Then I looked again at the procession, the guards, everyone really. The existence of healing magic makes earning scars quite a feat, even more when simple prayers can heal some wounds. But when your faith is as useful as a condom in a Monster Girl's bed, you tend to collect scar. But I only saw scars on the few adventurers passing by, not anywhere near the guards.

I shared my opinion with Oskar, who looked at the exhibition with grim eyes. He told me that the reason lies not only on experience alone, but their mentality. Apparently being coddled in peace for so long makes them complacent, slothful, careless. Without a reason to be better, they stagnate when they serve in the guard, for what use of a spear, when your enemy cowers before you? Why bother to become the better you, when there's no incentive to be better? There's a reason why he left the moment he graduated and went straight to San Ilia.

Realising that he is an alumnus, I asked him if he knows any method that can improve the corps. He told me aside from a brewing war and a change in command, nothing will. When he was still training here, there is an incentive of better gears and armour if you perform well, but now that the coffers are full from the pilgrim and the nobility aiming for a favour from Ilias, there's no reason for that system to remain. After all, as one of the biggest churches in the continent, image is important, and there is nothing more damaging to image than the sight of rusty blade and dirty armour.

Looking back at it, Oskar seems to resent the church current state as a tourist spot than an actual bastion of faith.

The exhibition lasted for quite a while, an hour to be precise. Lots of it was just the temple priests singing hymn and other litanies, the exhibition was short, but packed with information. In a new world like this, every scrap of information is worth its weight in gold.

After some discussion with Latina, we figured out that on horseback we will reach the first Tartarus Rift within 2 days at least. From there, it will be at least a full week to Pornof if we hurry it up. 2 if the captain felt like being lazy again. And from there, another week to reach the Rostrum Cave on horseback. The area wasn't cleared out, so it would be difficult to move.

Much to our surprise, Kael was adamant that we will not make a stop at Pornof at any cost. He cited the infamous perversion of said city, but the captain seems to be more amused if anything, even telling him that his accusation merely solidifies his intention to visit said capital, much to his utter displeasure.

In the end, we agreed that we will not reveal his identity to anyone within the walls, not even death can unseal our lips.

With that said and done, the rest of the day went on a blur. I talked to the chief at Iliasville. We exchanged some pleasantries, but it seems that Luka hasn't set foot at least once ever since he left, much to the old man's worry.

Then I spent some time at the Temple listening to whatever the fuck adventurers harp on these days. Not much interesting things going on, aside from a very alarming rumours of some kind of succubus party roaming from each village sucking men dry. The rumours were baseless really, but it spooked the brass enough for them to hire more hands. After all, everyone and their grandma seems to believe that succubus can't throw a punch.

All those hands ain't gonna worth a damn if they can't keep it outta their pants once they saw one.

After that, I was escorted to room, which was provided by the temple. Apparently, the Captain has enough pull to not only get us some exclusive accommodation within the temple, but also have Latina joining in as well!

Albeit, in a whole new form.

You see, while Monster Girls are more accepted by the day, it is still a bad form for a xenophobic institution like the Temple to harbour any Monster Girl at all, hence why Latina always spent her time in the village instead at the temple ground. Yet, when I opened the door tonight, she was there, standing 7 feet tall as usual.

However, instead of her usual furry horse behind, she sports two muscle-bound human legs with long black pantyhose that somehow doesn't rip apart from the sheer bulk. But looking at all those muscles on her legs, abs bulging and solid like sculped marble…Safe to say every siren in my head sets off immediately.

Seems like Kael has found himself a new customer.

And of course, she's tired of blowjobs.