Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 72 Come to the door
Claire had just finished the set of movements Gawain had requested and was listening to Gawain's understanding of the Abbott style when someone rang the doorbell from afar.

Gawain turned to look.

Claire also shifted her gaze over there.

I saw a woman standing outside the iron gate, her slender shadow cast in the evening sun.

The woman looked to be in her thirties. Her face was not beautiful but very gentle and attractive. She was dressed elegantly and appropriately. Her eyes were bright and clear, but there was a hint of fatigue between her brows.

When Gao Wen saw the woman, he turned around, took out a small bag from the house, and walked towards the woman.

From a distance, Claire watched Gawain take out all the money from his bag. There were notes of various denominations, scattered here and there. He took out two 5-solier notes and stuffed the rest into the woman's handbag.

One gold pound equals 1 soli. Five soli is equivalent to more than 20 yuan.

Gao Wen only kept four or five hundred yuan and gave tens of thousands of yuan to the woman.

The age difference is quite big.

Teacher Gao Wen’s daughter?
Judging from the dilapidated residence, Claire thought Gawain was single.

But judging by the money Gawain took out of his bag, he's quite wealthy...

Leonard had mentioned on the way that the Police Department gave Gawain a retirement allowance of 2 pounds per week, and for every additional police officer he helped train, he would receive an additional 1 pound per week in salary and 5 soli in logistics allowance.

By this calculation, Gawain can live a relatively decent life.

Before, Claire had wondered where Gawain's money had gone—not only did he live in a remote, cheap suburb of the North District, but he also lived like an ascetic.

So he saves all his weekly allowance and salary for his daughter?
The woman took the money and left. A hired carriage was waiting in the distance.

Claire smiled at Gao Wen who was walking back and said, "Teacher Gao Wen has a beautiful daughter."

Gao Wen was stunned after hearing this, and shook his head stiffly and said, "That's not my daughter. I don't have any family."

Claire was stunned. "The woman just now—"

Before she could finish her words, seeing Gawain frowning and unwilling to talk about it, Claire took the initiative to stop the topic: "Teacher Gawain, are we going to practice sparring next?"

Gao Wen said, "My physical strength is no longer able to support long-term sparring with you. Remember what I said before about the place that would help you master fighting skills quickly? What do you think?"

The place Gao Wen was talking about was an underground arena.

He said there were all kinds of fighting masters who relied on defeating their opponents in exchange for high rewards.

Honestly, it was hard for Claire to connect Gawain, a knight who valued honor more than his life, with the bloody, violent, and dirty underground arena.

But after learning about her strength and her desire to become stronger, Gao Wen took the initiative to suggest that she go to the underground arena for training.

"no problem."

Claire readily agreed. She was quite curious about the underground ring.

Seeing Claire agree, Gawain breathed a sigh of relief with a complicated expression.

Claire continued, "You said those underground fighting arenas are held late at night. I'm very interested in the fighting masters you mentioned. How about taking me to see them tonight?"

Gao Wen hesitated for a moment and said, "You need to change your clothes first. You can't wear a police uniform there."

"Can't I wear my knight training suit?" Claire really liked this simple black and white outfit. It was easy to move around in and the fabric was sturdy.

I heard that Gao Wen had them custom-made by someone at the police department’s cooperative clothing factory, and they were all prepared for his students.

Gawain was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, "This knight's uniform..."

But halfway through, Gao Wen sighed and said slowly: "Okay."

This transformation made Claire feel like Gawain had given up on something deep down in his heart. Perhaps it was his insistence on the word "knight"?
Speculating like this, Claire took the initiative to change her words and said, "I'd better change my clothes."

Gao Wen said firmly at this time: "Let's take this one. The design of the training clothes is very suitable for fighting. We don't have time to slowly look for clothes suitable for fighting now."

"Since you chose to go to the underground arena tonight, you should adjust your condition now."

While waiting for the carriage driven by Sharon, Claire adjusted her state under Gawain's guidance.

When Sharon, dressed in men's clothing, drove to pick up Claire, she asked in surprise after hearing the destination, "The dock area, my dear Claire, what are you doing there? It's unruly there at night."

Claire whispered, "I heard from Teacher Gao Wen that there's an underground fighting scene there. I'm going with him to see the world. You can drop us off at the bus stop and then go home."

Sharon showed an excited expression, "Oh? An underground arena? Then I want to go too! Tingen actually has an interesting place that I didn't even know about?"

Claire looked at Sharon, who showed great interest in violent fighting. How could she find any trace of the little white rabbit she once was in her blushing face?

Is this gradually revealing his true nature?

However, considering Sharon's depressing dreams, it is not surprising that she is so interested in this kind of underground place that stimulates the senses.

After arriving at the dock area, Gawain found that the place where he stored his carriage was the Dragon Bar.

"You're not talking about this kind of bar fight, are you?"

Claire was quite familiar with the Dragon Bar. She had been to the underground exchange several times and had seen competitions on the arena in the center of the bar. The level of the competitions was just entertaining.

Gawain led the way silently, and with the bartender's tacit consent, he familiarly went into a compartment.

"Brother Gao Wen." The curly-haired young man who was chatting with his companions inside stood up and greeted him.

When Gao Wen lifted the curtain and tried to get into the hidden door, the curly-haired young man quickly stopped him and said, "Brother Gao Wen, the boss won't let you in."

Gawain's pale green eyes scanned the young man indifferently, "I'm not here to ask to go on stage this time. I'm here to watch the game."

The young man said with a bitter face, "Brother Gao Wen, stop teasing me. Everyone knows you don't watch or bet on fights, you just want to make money. The boss said that you're too old and in too poor a physical condition to fight on stage anymore."

Gao Wen didn't make things difficult for this gatekeeper and said, "Call your boss out. I'll wait for him here."

Although the young man still had a bitter look on his face, he agreed to go in and make the report.

The young man didn't find anyone else to block the door, and it seemed that he trusted Gao Wen's promise.

After a while, accompanied by a strong smell of alcohol, a tall figure walked out from the secret door.

Claire raised an eyebrow when she saw it.

The boss the young man was talking about was indeed Swain!

The former captain of the "Manufactured Punisher" of the Church of the Storm!
Swain, or the Church of Storms behind him, not only has an underground black market selling extraordinary materials, but also a black arena with a booming business?
Swain, reeking of alcohol, stood in front of the secret door and said in a gruff voice:

"Gao Wen, my attitude won't change. If you go up to the ring again, you'll be courting death. Because of our long-standing friendship, I won't watch you die in my ring. As for the money, I can lend you some money first, and the interest rate can be kept to the lowest possible level."

"I can't afford it," Gao Wen said calmly. "I didn't come here to compete. I brought you a new competitor. According to your rules, as the recommender, I can get a quarter of the reward if the opponent wins."

Gawain stepped aside, allowing Swain to focus his attention on Claire, who was shrouded in a black robe.

"Just this little kid?" The tall Swain sneered.

Claire raised her hand and took off her hood.

Swain was stunned when he saw Claire's face, then turned and angrily cursed at Gawain:
"Gao Wen! You're recommending a police officer to mess up my business?"

(End of this chapter)