The priest's white tunic had a red star with eight tips, representing the Earth's core. A circle which surrounded it represented the earth itself.

The tip of the star that was facing the ground was longer than the rest, representing the holy ground and the Church.

His grey almost white hair and black nails indicated he had officially been ordained as a priest.

All priests were required to take "medicine" to unify their image. It was mainly to remove any prejudice or discrimination against their appearance.

Not only outside but inside their circles as well. The past was meant to be left behind them and their new lives were to begin in the Church.

The priest went through the motions, checking to make sure none of Lucian's men were shackled in disguise.

"I'm sorry," Lucian apologized to his men, keeping his head lowered.

"Ugh," Cansan whined as the dull side of the staff was used to strike the back of his knee. He was forced to bow by the impact, his legs giving way beneath him, "Don't apologize, Boss. It's not your fault."

The priest moved on to the next one, doing the same to Jax. Then he moved to Fishbone. Roland, Leaf, Loreno and then Goblin.

Lucian got on his knees before the staff could touch him, and bowed his head.

The priest paused for a second before striking his back with his staff, forcing Lucian to bend his head even further down, making his forehead touch the ground.

Shackleds hated humans, so the more degrading the pose was, the better chance the shackled would lose its temper and reveal its true self.

The priest frowned, his eyes becoming even sharper, "You seem familiar with the process of inspection."

"Ah, yes," Lucian smiled, his face on the ground, remembering how he used to visit the church with his father, "In the name of security and safety of all, we must make sure we have no shackleds hiding among us. I'm a big supporter of that."

Another blow struck his spine. The priest was using more force against Lucian to check for his reaction.

"Where did you get that kind of thinking? What is your family background?"

"My parents..." Lucian repeated the story he was already used to telling the world.

He wished he could wipe the memories from his mind, but he was a slave to his past. He was forced to remember them, to relive them over and over again.

They priests loved to provoke him with their questions, to get him to reveal himself as a shackled. Or just to find him guilty of something. Anything.

He had to endure it. The less the priests liked him, the more thorough their inspection would be. The more they would find him innocent. The less they would bother him and his business later.

"Ugh!"

Groans of his crew followed after Lucian. The dull hits continued to land on their bodies as they were forced to bow down in a submissive position.

'I want to cry,' Lucian thought. He didn't know where the thought came from. But he felt like crying.

What was the point of wasting another treasure chest to advance to the bronze knight when he would still end up having to kneel before everyone?

Why bother to try to change your position in the world when the system would not change with it? When it would not bend in his favor, but rather snap his spine in the process?

"..." Lucian swallowed the words, not letting them out. Instead, he focused his attention on the present, on the priest's boots that were in front of him.

They couldn't force him to lick them. They were the good guys after all. They could not cross that line and still call themselves humanitarians.

"Please, don't hurt my men, they've done nothing wrong," Lucian begged the priest. That's all he could do. Beg. Even though it was the opposite of what he wanted to do. "Wronged you in no way. They are good men."

A hit to the back of his head was the priest's response. He didn't hit hard enough to break the skin or damage the skull, but it pressed his face against the floor, to remind him that his place was down here. On the floor. Below their boots. Below them. Forever.

"Sob...sob," Goblin sniffed, his tears falling to the ground. "Please, sir...sir priest, don't hurt Boss..."

The rest also joined in begging the priest.

It was a sad scene to watch, with grown men crying like children. They didn't cry to be spared from a whipping, but to save their Boss.

'Where did they learn to use the pity card?' Lucian smiled bitterly. 'It doesn't suit them at all.'

Acting all weak and submissive to gain sympathy only worked on women and kids, and these were all grown men. It was not a pretty sight to behold. It made his heart hurt even more to see them trying to save him with such methods.

They were on his ship for one reason only, and it was to make a living through honest ways. And for that same exact reason, they were being punished. If this was not injustice, Lucian didn't know what else would be.

A bucket of cold water was thrown over Lucian's head, waking him from his stupor.

He felt his hair being grabbed, and their strands being rubbed in between the priest's fingers, like he was feeling the fabric of a cloth to determine if it was worth buying or not.

Lucian kept his hair blond just so he could avoid this treatment. So why were they checking his hair for dye? Who would dye their hair blond to look weaker?

"Our boss is not a shackled! He doesn't have a heart of darkness!" Fishbone shouted, his face red as a tomato, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I swear on my father's grave."

"I swear on my father's grave too," Goblin echoed Fishbone, and then the rest joined in.

"We swear on our fathers' graves!"

It was Lucian's first time where he didn't have to defend his honor and good name by himself.

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