Chapter 96: The Florentia's Headquarter

If Avalon had Balaghar, as the place where they built their headquarters— Florentia had the state of Aetherna. In contrast to Balaghar which was built as a strong fortress—with located in the mountains with well-guarded access—Atherna has many coastal areas.

Aetherna was built on Florentia's vision of creating peace between humans and vampires. They made the country accessible and lively. Although there were still areas that were heavily guarded—there was no aura of fear and intimidation there.

Florentia's knights, consisting of humans and vampires, seemed to get along and talk intimately. They walk without a gap with civilians. The ocean atmosphere immediately greets visitors when they first enter the gate. There was a tall stone pillar with ancient carvings when the newcomers arrived. It may be as large as a hill or hundreds of years old sequoia trees. The carving was dominated by siren reliefs which were said to protect the sailors.

The smell of salt immediately wafted, as Valerie removed the scarf that was wrapped around her neck and part of her nose. She rode the horses with the jaguar team. Before reaching Aetherna they had to pass through the arid desert. Sandstorms were so frequent that they had to cover almost their entire bodies with cloth. Not only do sandstorms interfere with vision, they also have to be wary of the scorching sun.

Usually vampires travel at night. Their horses had been trained to adapt to the activities of the vampires. But horses were still not nocturnal animals so they needed to get plenty of rest. It took almost three days to get to Aetherna from Ithadurna by horse.

Beside bright terracotta buildings with square roofs, they were also greeted with streets made of yellow volcanic stone. Residents' houses were built side by side. The population of Aetherna was quite large, so not many houses have large yards. The multicolored vines of morning glory thrived on the window trellis and dangled all the way to the door.

This certainly was not the first time for her to visit there. Aetherna was one of her favorite states. In the past, her father and mother rarely took Jasper out of the house. So they brought in Valerie to take his place and introduced her to the nobles of Aetherna. Duke Dubois was a businessman. He was more often there for business transactions than political matters.

Unlike the modern Lapella who became the center of lifestyle and education in the Vampire world. Aetherna was a city of arts, whose citizens maintained its culture and history. Valerie felt like she was entering the passage of time and found herself in the past. She remembered her fondness for the literature of the Aetherna humans. Not infrequently, when reading it Valerie imagines life as a poor peasant girl who gets her happiness from being loved by a handsome and powerful prince.

In this city, human bars stood side by side with vampire bars and everything seemed to be bustling. The humans were used to seeing Florentian knights strolling around there. They didn't always patrol. The majority of knights wandered the shops because they wanted to have fun or socialize.

The land was familiar, and always gave her a nostalgic feeling. However, although Valerie visited Aetherna quite often, she never visited Florentia's main base.

"Are we also looking for lodging here?" Valerie asked, as she got off her horse and gave it to a human who runs a stables rental business. Local authorities forbid horses to roam in the shopping district. They all had to continue their journey on foot. Or take a steam train that passes every ten minutes.

Steam trains were nothing new. Some other states have longer rails reaching hundreds of kilometers in length. But specifically in Aetherna— Only knights and military people or people by invitation were allowed to board the carriage.

The carriage had only one destination, which was Florentia's main headquarters.

"Florentia's main base has rooms prepared for its knights, certainly not as bad as living in a war tent. Those rooms are in a dormitory with lodging facilities. There are bathrooms inside and a stable blood supply. I don't think we need to rent a room in the city. after all it takes time from downtown to headquarters," Raphael explained, taking his wife's hand.

"But, that carriage can only transport knights, I haven't —"

"I've brought a cover letter from headquarters for you, they sent this to Acheron two weeks after you left to train with Alex. Actually, I told them you were ready to be sworn in about two months..but since your training finished early, I guess they won't mind. Besides, I've made sure that your uniform and rank emblem are ready," Raphael explained again.

"Okay if you're so sure. I guess I was in too much of a hurry. Those knights are busy right..I feel bad for urging them to work faster."

"No, because you wield a cursed weapon. You are special. They should treat you with respect because Florentia needs you," Raphael confirmed.

"Oh, okay," Valerie sighed. She felt a little tense. She saw Edgar and Damian waiting on the platform and waved at them both to hurry. The clock indicated that their train would be arriving soon.

"But," Raphael spoke again.

"About you thinking about leaving the jaguar team, I haven't told them..So, I can't guarantee that they'll agree to it," Raphael continued. He was disappointed of course. In the first place, he and Valerie were supposed to stay together while in the military. They were blood partners so Florentia would usually keep the two of them on missions. But Valerie thought that she would not develop enough in the jaguar team.

"Oh, I see," Valerie nodded and smiled at him.

"Besides, will the Duke and Duchess Dubois agree to this? I promised to protect you while in Florentia,"

"Why should they know?" Valerie asked, confused.

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"You don't want to tell them?"

"I just need their blessing to marry you so I can join the military. They're not going to check. I mean, we don't need to be together all the time and you're not my nanny either, Raph," Valerie said again.

"Oh," Raphael responded dryly, then turned his eyes the other way. His heart was uncomfortable knowing that Valerie would join another unit. Raphael didn't think long. Of course Valerie would not be by his side forever. Especially since she was about to become a knight.

"Valerie, why do you carry such a big luggage?" Edgar asked.

"I have to bring a change of clothes," Valerie responded while carrying her bag.

"Headquarters has provided everything, they arrange the clothes we wear. Even our nightgowns will be uniform. Raphael, didn't you tell her?" Damian responded as well.

"No, sorry I should have said. Valerie wasn't a knight who joined through the military academy. So she doesn't know,"

"What? So it's really like a Dormitory? But didn't you say earlier we were going to be roommates? Or will there be separate rooms for male and females?"

"No, we are husband and wife, also blood partners. The rules allow us to sleep in the same room if there is no conflict with the mission,"

"Raphael's room is also different. He's the commander, Val..so he has more luxuries than us," Edgar said slightly sarcastically.

"I didn't manage the room."

"But, do you know what rank you will receive later?" Damian asked.

"I don't know, It's not even a year since I joined the war Against Avalon and my status as a knight isn't official yet. Maybe, my rank will be a 'private'?" Valerie responded doubtfully.

"That's only for knights recruited from among the humans or mixed blood vampires or those who recently joined without having been involved in a war before. Florentia assigns ranks according to their contribution to the war. Even Kyle is already a 2nd sergeant," Edgar explained.

"Yeah, I heard that after he reported in Lapella, the head of the 'Archery and long range attack' division immediately recruited him," Damian muttered.

"Eh, didn't he wish he could join the jaguar team?" Valerie asked.

"We're glad he joined, but that's not how Florentia manages its knights. Apart from the users of cursed weapons—the placement of knights is up to the high ranking knight. They think Kyle is more useful in the Archery division than with us."

"Too bad, even though he's my favorite donor," complained Valerie.

"You talk like that even though you also want to leave the jaguar team," said Edgar, a little disappointed.

"Even though we are happy that there will be women on our team," Damian added.

"But, no one would be more disappointed than Raphael..he must have imagined a lot of fun with you while on the mission together," Edgar teased, to which Raphael responded with a fist in his stomach.

"Stop talking nonsense, and Valerie, have you learned enough about the Florentian military? At least you should have sufficient knowledge before joining. Because being strong isn't enough if you want to be a good knight," Raphael advised.

"Of course I know, at least I've learned about the ranks of the Florentian military and the six divisions in the Florentian military," Valerie responded before she explained what she knew.

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