Guilford remained at the bell tower. He looked down upon the knights under his command and to the people who volunteered any help they can give to the effort. A lot of movement down was in preparation of moving out the main force to act as a decoy. In the distance he could see a moonlit Palaugrim, can't say it was beautiful, not until they have rid this island of Sin. Just as he was beginning to relax, he heard the west defensive gate opening to grant refuge to a traveler by horseback. A traveler this time of night?<br/><br/>Gaze fixed on the horse and rider being escorted by a knight, Guilford realized that the traveler was to be taken to the town hall, a sign that it could be urgent...<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">___________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/>Alfrei had offered their guest to make herself comfortable while the knights searched for their captain. He gave her a warm cup of coffee and food which she gratefully accepted. There were still several knight commanders in the hall, plus Guilford's squad. Alfrei couldn't help but notice her discomfort around knights but flashed a smile when their glances met, she shied away in return.<br/><br/>"Lost your charm have you Lieutenant?" Georg teased, chuckling a little while elbowing Alfrei lightly.<br/><br/>"You got the wrong idea Georg. I was merely trying to make her feel comfortable." Alfrei retorted, a little annoyed by his squad mate's actions.<br/><br/>"Then, watch and learn." Georg confidently said and straightened himself, puffed his chest out and walked over to the woman who had just finished her meal.<br/><br/>Georg approached the woman who reacted by fidgeting in her seat. Flashing the most manly smile he could, he knelt before the woman gracefully. "You seem to hold great fear for knights. We don't bite milady."<br/><br/>"I-I know..." she spoke hesitantly, averting her eyes from Georg's brown ones.<br/><br/>Watching from a distance, Alfrei shook his head sideways and called for Joaquim. The way the woman kept answering Georg's questions with just two words, a nod or head shake was a clear indication that the older knight isn't having much success in his endeavor. "Get your buddy out of there please... he's making her feel worse!" Alfrei ordered a laughing Joaquim who happily complied.<br/><br/>"Up you go!" Joaquim said while forcefully pulling Georg's arm and soon, the rest of him up from kneeling. Joaquim knew how he looked (eye-patch and all) so he didn't bother trying to be overly polite. "Apologies milady, this old man doesn't know when to stop." he said with a hearty laugh. "But I guess a woman as fair as you does have that effect." he mindlessly mumbled and lightly punched Georg in the stomach, followed by a nod towards Alfrei's direction. "Our Lieutenant isn't pleased by your actions Georg, he might bust a nerve." Georg bowed and apologized to the guest and grudgingly left her in Joaquim's care.<br/><br/>"Apologies again for having to make you wait, but the Knight Commander you're looking for should be here soon milady." he informed with a light bow of the head.<br/><br/>Just as Joaquim was about to turn around, both his and the woman's gaze turned to the creaking of the town hall doors. Through it walked his Captain, always with that dignified stride and powerful presence. "Speak of the Light, he's here. He's the man you're looking for." Joaquim smiled at the lady and excused himself when he saw Guilford coming their way.<br/><br/>Bowing his head respectfully, Guilford looked at the woman with the most effortless smile he could muster (it wasn't much) to his lips.<span style="color: #0080FF">"My name is Guilford Rosenwulf, Seraph of the Pristine Knights. What can I do for you?"</span><br/><br/>"Uhmm... Seraph?" she asked, appearing to be lost in his words.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"My sincerest apologies. To a civilian, that would mean the highest ranked knight."</span><br/><br/>The look in the woman told Guilford that it will take more than a moment to sink in. It was probably because of his age that the woman had that gaze of disbelief in her eyes. Guilford could instantly tell what she had in mind, that he can't possibly be the highest knight commander here, that he's too young and all that. The smile that Guilford haphazardly plastered on his lips turned genuine.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"What's your name milady?"</span>he asked softly.<br/><br/>"O-oh! Oh I'm so sorry, I was..." Guilford's smile grew a little wider.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Yes, I could tell."</span>followed by a light chuckle. When the woman finally eased up in his company, she began to find more of her voice and introduced herself, "My name is Sierra Gram of the Gram family in Gramhold. I was told I would receive help if I went here by one of your knights. Here, this is for you sir..." she said and handed a message and an envelope to Guilford.<br/><br/>Dismissing the excessive 'Grams' he heard, Guilford reached out and took the items from Sierra.<span style="color: #0080FF">"A moment if I may?"</span>he asked politely and opened the message first, reading through it rapidly. He then turned to Alfrei and called for him, handing him the envelope.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Give this to Hyuga and tell him I need an analysis immediately. Also, I need a knight contingent to head to these coordinates, tell Abel to lead those knights."</span>he whispered and when his Lieutenant walked away, turned his attention back to Sierra.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"The knight you met, Lethe, is my fellow Seraph. She was right to have you come to us. You may rest assured that we will send aid to Gramhold as soon as we can. We will help you rebuild and I will also have squads posted in Gramhold for its defense. However, the aid will be sent at first light. I hope you understand that it's too risky to move supplies by night. For now, I just sent one of my best knights and several squads riding as fast as they can to take the impostors into custody and defend your village until the supplies arrive. I trust this should be a satisfactory arrangement?"</span><br/><br/>The woman seemed to be at a loss for words. Hope gleamed in her eyes that held numerous emotions. She reached out and took Guilford's hand between her own. "Thank you sir Guilford! This means a lot to us!"<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Just Guilford is fine Sierra. And should you have a need to thank anyone, it's not me but the one who gave you that necklace and sent you our way. Be sure to do so when you two meet again."</span>Guilford said with an easy smile and reached out for the necklace.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Now hold still, this should only take a moment."</span>he continued and imbued the necklace with his holy power.<span style="color: #0080FF">"There, I blessed it with enough holy power to keep you safe from Sin until we can establish Divine Light presence in your village."</span><br/><br/>"Thank you..." she replied almost as a whisper, tears of joy escaping from her eyes.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Rest for the night Sierra, you must be tired. Tomorrow you ride out with my knights along with the supplies to Gramhold."</span>with a simple hand gesture, another knight approached the two and offered to escort Sierra to the room prepared for her.<br/><br/>Guilford then looked at the message again, eyes focused on the words, Knight Impostors. He wondered just how many more villages like Gramhold would need their help.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;">_________________________________________________________________________________</div><br/><br/><br/>It was already a quarter til midnight and the activities of town died down to mere knight patrols lurking about. Aside from a few households that remained lit, the town hall was still the prominent light source in the center of town. Guilford's squad, along with several officers who exhausted themselves with helping prepare the aid for Gramhold were hunkered down the hall floors, draped in thick blankets. The Seraph was the only one left awake, quietly staring at his still smoking hot coffee.<br/><br/>"Cap...tain? You're... still awake?" asked a dreamy Natalia. She was wiping the snooze of her left eye while keeping her right looking at her Captain.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Did I wake you?"</span>he asked even knowing that he didn't.<br/><br/>Natalia shook her head, slowly got up, and fixed herself a cup of coffee as well. She soon joined Guilford at the table he was in. "I had a bad dream..." she trailed, sipped her coffee and stared at the black liquid.<br/><br/>Guilford soon realized what Natalia probably dreamed of judging from her expression.<span style="color: #0080FF">"Want me to knock you out cold?"</span>he joked, earning himself a dagger glare from the young knight. "Captain! Why else would I be drinking coffee?" she hissed.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"I don't want to dream too. I already know it's not going to be anything good."</span>he mumbled, facial expression falling into a mournful one.<br/><br/>Silence descended upon the two. Guilford knew that if he continued to let his thoughts slip any further, the other would no doubt break upon hearing them.<br/><br/>"Is that why you're trying to keep yourself preoccupied all the time since... that day?" she finally asked.<br/><br/>Guilford shifted his gaze over to Natalia who just entered a pensive state of mind.<span style="color: #0080FF">"I keep myself busy because my duty requires me to, not because I want to escape my thoughts. This is what I should have done long ago, that's the reason why I'm acting like this. I'll be fine Natalia."</span><br/><br/>Natalia couldn't answer. She barely knew much about her Captain other than the time he saved her and the two years she's been on his squad. Perhaps that is why she thinks he's overdoing things. If ever there's anyone better suited to keeping him in check, it would be Bryn or Master Lethe... not her.<br/><br/>Their awkward conversation got interrupted by the cooing of a carrier pigeon and its labored wing flaps that resounded in the town hall. The carrier pigeon was agitated, flying around over everyone's sleeping selves. It would appear that it can no longer discern who the message it held was for. The commotion done by the bird woke the sleeping knights.<br/><br/>"What is wrong with that pigeon?!" Natalia asked while trying to catch it. The rest of the annoyed knights attempted the same feat but the bird flew around wildly, cooing and losing a few feathers as it desperately circled the hall.<br/><br/><span style="color: #0080FF">"Let it be! Trying to catch it now will only agitate it more. It's really scared."</span>Guilford instructed and watched the bird fly around until it rested itself atop one of the ceiling beams. Now that it was still, Guilford was able to see what it carried, a message and... several Faiths?<br/><br/>Channeling his holy power gently, Guilford slowly expanded his holy presence inside the hall, allowing it to gently touch the bird. It tilted its head to the side and looked at Guilford for a few seconds. Raising his right arm and offering it to the bird, the carrier pigeon finally flew down from the beam and landed on his arm.<br/><br/>The other knights gathered around the bird in curiosity. Alfrei wondered out loud. "What could possibly scare a carrier pigeon to this extent? It's used to Sinner and Pure Sinner presences if I recall correctly."<br/><br/>Guilford's expression darkened at the sight of the Faith necklaces. Some of them were stained by blood and the message tied to the pigeon shared the same bloody stench. Plucking the message out of its leg, Guilford unfolded the piece of paper and read the only words written within, noting the symbol drawn. His eyes instantly turned fierce, simultaneously followed by a harsh burst of holy power. The burst sent the nearby furniture flying across the entire hall. Some of them managed to find their way out of a window.<br/><br/>The next thing the knights (that ducked out of harm's way) saw was Guilford's hand engulfed by non-holy based magic. He just burned the message with fire and he was gritting his teeth so hard that blood slowly trickled from the side of his lips.<br/><br/>"Hey Vlad... pinch me." Georg requested. The other knight obliged and saw Georg wince when he did. "Yep, you're awake Georg." he confirmed. Georg then turned to him. "Did I just see what I thought I saw?" he asked.<br/><br/>"Yeah." Alfrei answered, eyes still enlarged. "The Captain just used non-holy magic, he's really pissed."