Ba-dumn!
A golden goblet on a table.
A holy object that was almost neglected by the Church. It wasn’t that important.
The priest of the Holy Fire Church was silent for a long time. Then his mouth slowly opened.
“What happened to the one who stole it?”
The apprentice priest who had taken the relic from the ranger bowed his head.
“The rangers told me he was beheaded on the spot.”
The priest was silent again for a moment, then spoke slowly.
“As for the body–what did you do with it?”
“They said they didn’t have the means to retrieve the body, so they only recovered the holy object.”
A blue goblet was placed in the apprentice priest’s hand.
“Priestess?”
“Why don’t you take it with you, I’m about to go on a ‘pilgrimage’.”
“A pilgrimage out of the blue?”
“Yes.”
The mouth of the priest of the Church of the Divine Flame, opened slowly.
“By the way, did you happen to hear from the rangers exactly where they killed that thief?”
***
Ten years ago, an oracle descended upon all the Orders.
– The Apocalypse would fall upon the land, stripping it of its shell of life.
There was a brief period of great chaos, but curiously, nothing has happened in the last ten years, leading some to claim that the oracle refers to the distant future, and others to see it as a sign from God to focus on the life in front of them.
***
A dark night. The moon shone and the snow welcomed its light.
In the silence and beauty of the night, I stood.
In one hand I held the rope that bound the heads of eight men, and in the other I was supporting a man who had been unconscious from an injury.
“It is indeed a serene atmosphere, isn’t it, mother?”
“Murder!
“You should have looted the corpse for equipment and money. If you really did take all that, you’re surely a priest after all, Mother. I’ll settle for this sword, which you made sure I didn’t forget.”
“Murder!
“Yes. I would have been fine with some money, as my mother said, she is very thrifty indeed. But.”
I opened my mouth slowly, trudging through the soft snow.
“I’m a little short on money right now, but I’m not short on heart, because I have my mother by my side.”
“Murder—!
While the Mother of Corruption was still in a deeply emotional state, I arrived back in Guise. I had traveled steadily without sleep.
As I approached the gates of Gwyth, the guards, sensing my presence, bustled about.
Raising his blazing torch, a guard shouted.
“The gates are closed, it is late at night, if you wish to enter Guise, come back tomorrow morning!”
I walked a little further and revealed myself. The light of the red torch shone on my crisp white priestly robes, completely free of battle marks.
“I am Priest Marnak, one of the mercenaries who left this morning at your lordship’s request, and I am free to enter tomorrow morning, but this fellow on my shoulder needs medical attention right now. Would it be possible for you to let this fellow in now?”
At my polite words, the two guards spoke quickly to each other. The man who appeared to be the senior of the two spoke.
“You mean the party of mercenaries that set out this morning, Priest?”
“Yes.”
“Then what happened to the others, and only you two returned?”
I lifted my braided hair.
“Do you see this?”
An apparent junior guard said in a trembling voice.
“That’s a head, a human head!”
The senior one, on the other hand, was calm.
“I’d like you to explain yourself, priest.”
I explained to the guard that these heads belonged to bandits, and that of the mercenaries who had set out in the morning, the only survivors were me and Pierre on my shoulder.
The senior thought for a moment, then told the junior that he was a moor and sent him away.
“You will only have to wait a moment. I’ve sent word inside, but is the man on your shoulder in much trouble?”
“He’s a bit wounded, but the Goddess of Preservation is watching over him, so he’ll be okay to wait a while.”
Indeed, it was the Mother of Corruption’s protection that kept Pierre alive.
After a few moments passed, a red-haired woman bundled up in a thick coat with two long papers walked over, muttering under her breath. She was the receptionist of the Mercenary Guild.
The woman blinked her light green eyes and gave quick instructions.
“Quickly pick up the patient and take him to the clinic.”
“Yes.”
I handed her the bag of puree and cautioned her.
“It might be a little heavy.”
The two big men smirked at my warning. Apparently they didn’t think it would be too heavy, since I was holding it with one hand.
But their expressions quickly changed as soon as they took the foie gras from me. True, I had carried it casually, but he was as heavy as a man of his size.
“Please be careful and take him with you.”
“Yes.”
The two more polite guards picked up the pouches and hurried off into the city.
Left alone with me, the redheaded receptionist said.
” Priest Marnak, you may enter as well, I’ve already asked the guards for permission.”
“Thank you.”
The receptionist began to chatter away as we passed through the front door and into Guise.
“By the way, I didn’t see that about you, Priest, but you’re quite a strong man, aren’t you?”
“I’m a bit of a powerful man.”
“I’ve heard that those heads you’re holding in your hand are the ones responsible for this incident, and it would be much better for our mercenary guild to store them than for the priest to keep them himself.”
“I will do so.”
I had no grudges against these heads in the first place. All I had to do was give them away and collect twenty-nine silver coins.
The receptionist glanced at my face and smiled wryly.
“Then can you take me to the mercenary guild? I’m a little scared to go there alone because it’s dark.”
There was not a hint of fear anywhere on her fair face.
“I will.”
“Murder!
I patted my mother’s trembling hand gently and started walking away.
***
The receptionist, who introduced herself as Erin, had been talking to me the whole way. How good are you with a sword, what happened today, what’s going on with you, maybe we can get an extra bounty if we check the heads against the wanted list, and so on.
My red cheeks flushed with cold. The Mother of Corruption wriggled in my breast pocket, unrelenting.
” Murder! Murder!
“Thank you for taking me, Priest Marnak!”
Erin smiled brightly and took the braid from me. A fair maiden and braided hair. It felt grotesque, but in this world, it was not a strange sight.
Where am I sleeping tonight, by the way? I hope there’s an empty room where I slept last night.
“Priest.”
“Yes?”
“Do you happen to have a place to sleep?”
“I’m going to start looking now. Surely there’s an empty room for me in this big city?”
Such a room could be had within a budget of a fairy tale ninety denarii.
“It must be very hard for you to go around looking for a room at this late hour of the night.”
Erin said to me with a twinkle in her eye.
“So, if you don’t mind, would you like to sleep over?”
My heart pounded.
My heart was pounding.
“Murder!!!
My mother’s hands shook violently.
***]
‘Murder!
“I knew it all. I knew it all, and that’s why I said yes, Mother. I don’t have a single black heart for that red-headed receptionist, I really don’t.”
Alas, Erin’s invitation had been innocent enough. The mercenary guild had a few rooms set aside for guests, and Erin had lent me one of them.
I pulled out all the tricks in my arsenal to calm my cranky mother.
Cuckoo. Thud.
I took out my mother’s withered hands and massaged them vigorously, and the voice I heard melted into weariness.
‘M…U…R…D…E…R…’
Smart.
A knock at the door, a sudden visit. I quickly took my mother’s hand in mine and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was Erin, the receptionist.
“What can I help you with—?”
Erin’s eyes slowly narrowed and she held out the basket she was carrying.
“I thought you might be uncomfortable sleeping in your priestly robes, so I brought you some spare clothes. Did I wake you up when you were trying to sleep?”
I smiled as I accepted the basket.
“No, I’m sure you’ll be able to sleep comfortably.”
“Good, then get a good night’s sleep and get up and help me fill out some paperwork about this. Since you’re the only one who’s alive and well, there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be explained to you.”
“I will.”
Erin bowed and left, closing the door behind her. I took off my priestly robes and put on the men’s clothes she had given me, which were very large and baggy.
I folded it neatly and placed it on my bedside table. The reason this robe bore no signs of battle was quite simple.
It was a robe that was truly blessed by the Goddess of Maintenance, and it was, in short, a self-repairing garment. Normally, this garment would not trigger the protection of a non-priest who believed in the Goddess of Maintenance, but I was an exception.
As a Priest of Corruption, I have access to items that are favored by other gods, allowing me to disguise myself as any priest. All courtesy of the Mother of Corruption.
“Murder!
“Do not worry. Mother, I haven’t forgotten that I was rubbing your hand.”
I squeezed her hand once more, and her voice melted away.
‘M…U…R…D…E…R…’
***
Ding.
I woke up to a knock on the door. I opened the door and was greeted by a head of rich red hair. Erin looked at me with a slightly apologetic expression.
“I was hoping to get you a good night’s sleep, but something came up that required you to get up.”
It was time to get up soon anyway. His body didn’t need that much sleep right now.
“I’m fine, but what’s going on?”
“The lord wants to see the priest.”
A lord? Out of the blue? I have no ties to this place?
“You mean the lord?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have any idea what it might be about?”
“It’s—.”
Erin’s explanation was simple. This dead Galad was the illegitimate son of the previous lord, which was the same as saying that he was the half-brother of Tredon Filian, the lord who now ruled Gwyth.
“I don’t know the details, but that’s the only thing that comes to mind, and it’s strange, because I know the lord treats Mr. Galad as if he doesn’t exist.”
“Well, I’m going to go change my clothes first.”
“Yes.”
Dressed in my priestly robes, I headed out to the lord’s mansion with the guards who were already waiting for me.
***.
A slender figure. A dull-looking face.
The cold-faced middle-aged man sitting in front of me now was Tredon Filian, the lord of Guise.
And I’d forgotten the many ways I’d planned to react.
My mother, in a pocket in my chest, drew a large ‘X’ with her index finger as soon as she saw him.
There was only one creature that could have taken human form.