Age of Adventure

In a room inside a luxurious mansion a man is reminding the woman of some etiquette she should not forget while dolling her up

"Remember the way you carry yourself will determine how you are treated. Act like a noble. Act like you are someone important and believe in that character...and other will believe it too." The man said to the woman.

The woman nodded annoyed but at the same time appreciate the preparation the man had done for her.

The man is none other than Vasco and the woman is Tatiana.

They are right now in the South. Land of the Holy Zun Empire.

Tatiana had decided to ask for the support of the Pope and the Holy Church to finance her expedition to the New World as Lyle had suggested to her

And for the past couple of weeks she has lived in this luxurious mansion fit for relative of royalty.

And it belongs to Vasco.

Who would have thought that he is rich?

She did not know that the explorer in her ship before was such an influential man in the South and also very rich at that.

He seems to have all sorts of connection with the noble of the South and also connected to the clergy and the Church

His mansion is big and beautiful, with carved stone chair, exquisite and exotic painting hanging in the great hall of his mansion, and he also have a beautiful garden with variety of flowers,

And to her surprise he even had servants all of them seems to be educated in the high society.

For a man of such influence, he easily crafted a new identity for her.

In the city of Arleans, she is known as Lady Leliana, a double identity that Vasco has created for her.

She is a lady of noble birth descended from old families that live here in Arleans.

If that is not enough to convince other people, Vasco also hire a Scribe to write a biography for her, describing her as not only from a noble birth but also descended from a famous general during the times of unrest of the Thirty-Four States.

Vasco has created an illustrious background for her to make sure this matter succeeds.

All of this is necessary to grant her audience with the mysterious leader of Faith of the new religion, the Pope.

The South had tear down all of the Gods of Olympus casting them as Old Gods and fake.

She looks at Vasco who is concentrating on evaluating her dress and she felt gratitude for the effort he has put in for her.

The biography that he created for her was spread around the city conspicuously, so secret that no one would suspect that it was forgery.

A lot of things have been done to make sure she is considered nobility and of the highest pedigree in the society

He come close to her and hold her waist and then he pulls the rope on her waist

"Remember" he said while tightening her corset

"I know; I know" she said while trying to suck up her stomach

"Today, we will meet the Pope. Remember your training" he said

"I learned only manners for two weeks!" she complained. Vasco ponder a bit and then he sighed.

"That had to do. Do you think it’s cheap to hire someone to teach you manners? I am not made of gold."

She chuckles and Vasco also crack a faint smile. She then looks back at the mirror.

She looked all dolled up, beautiful and elegant like all the noble ladies she used to see in the parades

She guesses it’s true what the people say. The clothes make the people. Vasco look at the reflection of Tatiana in the mirror and he nodded with satisfaction.

’I created Aphrodite with my own hands’ he said praising himself and Tatiana laugh before she felt the corset constricting her laughter and she stop laughing.

It felt that the dress the nobles wear is really constricting. She could not do anything in it.

"Remember, ask for the moon" Vasco reminded her again. She nodded annoyingly

"Yes, yes!"

Vasco in the Holy Zun Empire look like a different person then he was at the sea. Here, he is not only more confident, he also seems even more powerful.

Of course not in terms of physical strength but his influence.

A week living with him has shown her that Vasco seems to be a powerful man in the backdrop of the power struggle in the city.

That influence is shown in the fact that he managed to finagle a meeting with the Pope, from his connection with the Church.

To meet the religious leader of the Pope in the Papacy is a hard thing to do since he and his followers have taken the South

They even seem to be able to fight of the North that is mostly ruled by King Zeus and kept the pagan army of many combine kingdoms at bay

After all preparations are made, they departed from the mansion and heads to the Grand Church, the land of the holies, The Papacy.

As they entered the ground, they could see undeciphered gravel maze of roadways, marbled tiled streets, a city with so many fountains and churches, tabernacles, monasteries and religious institution

They could see the Priest Forum, the tall and sturdy columns, a place where the Priest would debate about their religion and their laws among other things.

And finally after almost half an hour they arrived at St Alex Basilica, a marble structure so beautiful and large.

Adorned with hundreds and hundreds of statues of angels that the Church of Light believes, the edifice stretched to about sixty acres.

The cavernous interior of the basilica had room for over seven hundred thousand worshippers.

It was built by thousands of builders, adventurers who labor under the name of the Church and Pope

And that is not all that made this basilica one of the most beautiful structure in all of Arleans.

There is countless work of arts in here.

The arts were created by many artist making it also a haven for art lovers, and many of the frescos in the inside was painted by the famous painter Leonardo, and a place where many artists migrate towards considering the Pope likes art and so does his followers.

His followers even called art, the nourishment of the soul. The piazza before her is an astounding sight by itself.

It is bigger than even the Basilica. St Alex Square is a staggering open space in the city.

Hundreds of columns swept outward in four concentric arcs of diminishing size, an architecture brilliance to heighten the piazza sense of grandeur.

As she looks at all this structure she could not help but express her admiration

"This is beautiful" she said in awe, slack jawed at the establishment around the city and its structure that seems to incorporate art in its creation

Vasco look at the structure and then he simply said.

"Yeah, the Pope really likes his building."

"This Pope lives like Kings" she said

"Some would say that a Pope should not live like Kings" he said sarcastically

"Why?"

He laughed

"I forgot that you don’t know about the Church of Light" he then just chuckles not explaining anything else.

There is silence inside the carriage as Vasco seems to be thinking of something. The towering stone bastion loomed ahead.

’The office of the Pope’ he said and Tatiana peered her head to look. She saw guards roam around it, an impenetrable fortification

Even if she is still the assassin of the Brotherhood she would find it hard to enter this place. She then saw a building that piqued her interest and she ask Vasco

"What is that building?" she pointed. Vasco lift the curtains of the carriage to get a better look and then he answers her

"It is The Gubernatorial. It houses the Papacy administration." Vasco explained. She nodded and as they travel forward and look at more building she come into one conclusion.

"This is a walled city" she said again, as she could not help expressing her amazement

Vasco nodded and then he said

"Yes, Arleans is a walled city holding a wealth that no other nation has. Not only that is also houses rare paintings from talented artist, sculpture made of gold and precious diamond that if it is sold it can fund a small country. And if that is not enough, it also has jewels of every kind, priceless artifacts from the Kings in the past Kingdom that the Empire crush, gold beyond counting, a nest egg of gold’

He smiles bitterly and then he added with a world laced with irony

’That is why this is a walled city. The Pope does not live like Kings, Tatiana. He lives like God." The feeling of hatred can be felt from his tone.

Tatiana went silence as Vasco look outside the carriage. They then climb out of their carriage and started walking.

As they walk Tatiana sneak a glance at Vasco. It seems Vasco doesn’t really like the Church. Not liking would probably be an understatement.

He must have his own story. After a few minutes of walking and greeting Bishops and priest they finally reached the Pope office.

As she walks to the Office of the Pope she can see people with robes inside the office talking with each other.

Who is this Pope?

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Part one of the Chapter