Aratas helped me up and said:

"You have overexerted yourself after this stunt. It's better to get you someplace to rest before we continue."

I followed Aratas out of the catacombs as we got back into the Church, then we exited and left towards the back of the Church, where multiple small houses sat there quietly, quite a lot of young men and women could be seen either praying, training with their swords, or meditating.

They were all squires in training for the other paladins of the Church, who were now out on combat missions.

Aratas waved his hand towards one of the male squires and said:

"Make sure this young man gets an appropriate accommodation, he had been training very hard, and he needs a good rest."

The young man nodded, but it was obvious from his gaze that he had ill will towards me.

If I guess correctly, Mirato must have told them about my peculiarity, which in turn made them hostile towards me.

Being a cannibal meant that I was going to be ostracized even though Aratas approved of me, and I was his direct Squire.

The young squire-in-training looked at me up and down before he snorted and waved his hand, meaning that I should follow him over.

We went further into the small squire village until we reached a dilapidated house with a broken roof. There, the young man gave me a dirty glance before he left me alone, not even bothering to talk with me at all.

I sighed and shook my head. I was ready for this type of behavior since I ate that squire, but I couldn't help but be a little bit annoyed by it as well. However, what else could I do but endure? Not like they would be courageous enough to do something to me. Behind that layer of disgust and superiority, there was a shroud of fear hidden in his eyes, and I could see that through every person's eyes that looked at me.

I clutched my chest and entered the dilapidated house, I still needed to rest, and it didn't matter how broken the house was because it was still summer.

******************

While Minato was resting, Aratas went back into the Church and met with Mirato.

The young red-haired woman was glaring at Aratas with all her might, but she couldn't help but curse under her breath as she said:

"The cardinal approved of your plan. And he said that you can meet him directly in the hidden room."

Aratas didn't feel any surprise at her words as he said:

"Ladies first."

Mirato snorted as she took off a book from a nearby bookshelf, opening it before reciting the first paragraph:

"Might the lord of fire light our path into the darkness."

The bookshelf turned to the side, revealing an opening in which Mirato entered, followed closely by Aratas.

After a long while of walking along the corridor they entered, they finally arrived in a well-lit library full of books that smelled of lavender.

Atop a huge chair sat a middle-aged man with a fair complexion. He had black eyes and dark-red hair. He also had a pair of small glasses on his nose that made him look somewhat cultured.

He wore a red robe with the symbol of the church on it, and he had a black book in his hands which he was reading attentively.

He slightly looked up from the book and said:

"Mirato, Aratas."

Aratas nodded and dropped to one knee, while Mirato dropped to both.

"3rd Cardinal, you have asked to meet me?"

The 3rd Cardinal nodded a bit then he asked:

"What have you found out about the particular abilities you get when you cannibalize someone? The ability of devouring isn't foreign to us, but since it's forbidden and looked down upon to cannibalize someone, we are in the unknown of the benefits of doing so."

Aratas continued to stay on one knee as he said:

"From what I understand from my observations, devouring is way more efficient if it's done with people of the same race, from my senses I understood that the young man I met was able to absorb 90% to 95% of the strengths of those he devoured, among with getting some of their memories or abilities. From what I know, devouring can only get you up to 10% to 35%, but this only applies when we eat foreign races. From my understanding, it looks like the compatibility between people of the same race is what leads to the almost perfect power absorption."

The 3rd Cardinal nodded at the explanation before he asked:

"Do you think we can make a squad of cannibals? We can make it our death squad and put it on the battlefield as soon as we can create one that reaches the level of basic soldiers, they should be able to strengthen themselves on the battlefield as corpses are everywhere, and if they die, it shouldn't matter that much either."

Aratas bowed and responded:

"This can be done shortly. I already got the captain, so we only need to find some youths down on their luck who want to serve our god of fire to make up for the numbers of the squad."

The 3rd Cardinal nodded before his eyes went to the still Mirato and said:

"Aratas, you have already done a great service to our Church, so I shall not impose the recruiting of those youths on you, Mirato, this task shall fall on your shoulders."

Mirato's body trembled shortly before she got up, bowed, and nodded before leaving as quickly as possible, Aratas wanted to say something, but the Cardinal stopped him and said:

"Leave her alone, it's rude for her to leave without my permission, but I understand her point of view."

The 3rd Cardinal sighed before continuing:

"You should do your best to train those new youths that she will come with, and don't forget to feed them all at the same time, I want the squad to be finished as soon as possible, there are movements from the other Churches on the main battlefield, and I'm sure they are going to reveal their cannibals soon. I'm not sure if this will be the tipping point in our long-standing war, but it surely will be an evolution of our combat."

Aratas bowed once again before the Cardinal waved his hand, indicating that he was able to leave.

Aratas chuckled to himself on the way out of the corridor that lead to the library before he shook his head and said:

"This infighting will surely end sooner or later, but what do we do about the dark future ahead of us?"

Aratas couldn't help but chuckle once again as he put his hand on the hammer on his back before tightening his grip on it, then he shook his head when he left the corridor as the bookshelf that lead to it went back to its proper place.

"Only time will tell what will happen in the future, but for now, I will have to focus on what's ahead of me."

Aratas's words were cryptic, and only he knew what they meant.