Seraphs of the Emperor’s Judgment

Chapter 109: Soms Nobles Academy

Outside the Soms Nobles Academy, thousands of people were lining up, waiting for the main gates to open.

Bahram had stepped into the queue heading for the Nobles Academy before dawn. Over the next three hours, he followed the crowd, shuffling forward bit by bit.

Every half hour, the great bells of the academy's chapel would toll together, praising the Master of Mankind and his perfect Angels.

Accompanied by the tolling bells, the people scrambled toward the academy along the clean streets. Among them, many were parents accompanying their sons; there was no lack of gorgeously dressed nobles and officials.

Only Bahram was entirely alone, and dressed like a laborer.

After being picked up from Greycliff Town, he never saw that Astartes again. He and Haomo were merely arranged to rest in a communal manor, and each was given a set of plain clothes.

When the day of the preliminary selection arrived, Haomo had departed a step earlier, so Bahram could only come by himself.

Over the past few days, he and the other boy hadn't gotten along very harmoniously. He also didn't ask Haomo why Vayu hadn't come with him.

The two of them spent these two days in near total silence.

Finally, it was his turn to enter the academy. When the gatekeeper at the academy's main entrance asked him why he had come here, he replied that he was here to participate in the screening and produced his credentials.Subsequently, the gatekeeping guards nodded and pointed toward the main thoroughfare, as if this was exactly the answer they were waiting for.

"Go to the feet of the Emperor. That is the land of selection, the place where you will take your trials. May the Emperor bless you with success."

This blessing was full of genuine sincerity. Bahram couldn't say a word; he could only stare at the gatekeeping official with his mouth slightly open as the man blessed him.

These gatekeepers all wore the crossed double-swords emblem of the Astral Knights embroidered on their shoulders. Evidently, they were all Human servants from the Chapter.

Perhaps the duration of his dumbfounded stare lasted far too long, causing the gatekeeper's attitude to gradually change, and ultimately forcing him to shoo the boy into the academy.

"The God-Emperor's grace is eternal! The God-Emperor's rule lasts for ten thousand generations! Praise the God-Emperor! Beware the heretic! An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded!"

Just as Bahram prepared to enter the academy, a string of people in tattered clothes suddenly walked past in front of him.

These people had their necks tethered to a single rope, with their left hands placed on the shoulder of the person in front of them. The leader recited precepts while shaking a bell in his hand.

He looked at this string of raggedly dressed people, finding it very strange. The people around them all made way to avoid them.

Suddenly, one of them lifted his head, frightening Bahram into backing up repeatedly—this person's lips and eyelids had been tightly sewn shut.

Although he had once heard his grandfather talk about the ascetics and zealots of the Ecclesiarchy, when he truly witnessed it with his own eyes, he couldn't help but marvel at the fanatical faith of these people.

He also felt a bit afraid.

After entering the academy, he found that the inside was completely beyond his imagination. This school was larger and cleaner than any town he had ever seen. It didn't look like a school at all, but rather like a city.

On both sides of the streets, various living and entertainment facilities were readily available. Fountains and courtyards could be seen everywhere.

Moreover, he had never seen so many people before. Students crowded the academy's main thoroughfares. Many people had sprinkled perfume on their bodies, and the scents they emitted made him feel dizzy.

Not only were there people from the Soms Hive here, but also outstanding boys from many other Hive Cities.

Occasionally, he would also see landing crafts descending from the sky onto the academy's modestly sized landing pad.

He only found out later that only the most prominent and distinguished Candidates possessed the qualifications to be approved for direct entry into the academy.

The resulting effect was that Bahram witnessed astonishing wealth within the academy—those noble scions from outside wore high-quality clothing and were followed by Servants. They were radiant with energy, and due to their comfortable lifestyles, they were very robust and fair-skinned.

This was the first time he realized just how impoverished his lower hive was.

As the road extended, he saw a Statue.

The Emperor's visage unfolded above them. His handsome face was not looking at this filthy place, but facing the flawless heavenly realm, as if He too founder His own subjects too unsightly to look at.

This statue was unimaginably massive, standing a full five hundred meters tall.

As the sun gradually flew overhead, the Statue of the Emperor cast its shadow across the town like a sundial.

Although the grandeur of the Statue made Bahram feel humble and pitiful, he was still very grateful for this shadow that shielded him from the sun.

He wandered around the academy for a while and suddenly felt stage fright—he believed he was definitely unworthy of being chosen.

It was said that there were five thousand people participating in the preliminary selection alone—almost the finest of Nathan IV's entire generation were included among them. As for how many would actually pass, no one knew.

The people talking around him all used elegant, pure High Gothic, while he could only speak broken High Gothic mixed with dialect. Furthermore, most of his peers were taller and more robust than him, and they eagerly debated about things he had never even heard of.

He originally thought he was excellent enough, but reality seemed to be otherwise.

There was still some food in his waist pouch, but he lost his appetite entirely.

Eventually, the flow of the crowd brought him to the front of that plaza.

From among a cluster of buildings, Bahram suddenly entered an open area. The ground was neatly paved with granite, and surrounded by buildings constructed from stone and metal.

Right in the middle of the plaza was a two-tiered platform. The white mottled marble forming its base did not look like local material.

The first-tier terrace was encircled by an ornate balustrade, which left a gap in front of a broad flight of stairs.

These stairs led all the way up to the second-tier platform, directly facing a pair of bronze double doors. Imprinted upon the doors was the crossed-swords symbol of the Astral Knights.

Generations of outstanding Soms Nobles Academy graduates had walked into this recruitment point used by the Astral Knights for hundreds of years, rushing towards the sea of stars to fight for the Emperor.

But today, it welcomed the largest batch of Candidates in history.

Ugly Servitors moved across the platform, using copious amounts of precious Rosewater to wash the dust off the platform—although there probably wasn't any dust at all.

These washers were followed by scrubbers, their hands having been replaced with soft polishing tools.

The base of the platform was an exquisite garden, irrigated by continuously trickling streams of water. Those brilliantly-colored flowers and branches appeared far too exotic in Bahram's eyes, perhaps even a bit frightening.

Gathered around the edges of the garden were all the Candidate boys.

Their skin colors varied, their statures differed, and the clothes they wore were all unalike.

Bahram hesitated over whether he should join them.

Among these boys, he saw a few who looked like locals branching among them. Their expressions were far more composed than most.

It was easy to guess that they were likely students of the Soms Nobles Academy.

Thinking of how they hadn't experienced the arduous obstacles he had gone through, yet still possessed the same equal opportunity as him simply because they were students here—Bahram's heart churned with indignance.

This was an unbearable injustice.

He involuntarily clenched his fists, wanting to fiercely hammer those arrogant faces of theirs.