Chapter 293: Miss Miscommunication (2/2)
”Then I don't know. Even if we ask, I doubt they'd be willing to let us in.”
Julia tapped her lip as a sudden thought came to her. ”That's not exactly the case, now that I think about it.”
”Huh?”
”Ugh..don't let it bother you. Just don't wander away from me, and I'll take care of everything.”
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Far away in a divine realm, the sun goddess sneezed again. This time there was no flour involved, and in fact nothing that should have caused it. However, because she was still busy with her baking exploits, she ignored it.
Which was something she would come to regret in the following days.
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Mike watched the council of religious leaders gather in the Pontifex's office, waiting until there was a small crowd fighting for space in the chamber before sneaking in himself. He made sure to keep his stealth skill active and remained on the outskirts of the group, but otherwise trusted his disguise to keep him from being noticed.
Thankfully, the clergy members were a little distracted by the worrying nature of their gathering. Judging based on the whispers he could overhear, they were clueless to the reason for it, but were concerned that something serious had happened.
He began scanning the members of the crowd with Appraise, and quickly determined that these were mostly high level functionaries of the church. They almost universally had the Priest or Priestess class, with some even having the high variations. However, there was one other person who shared the Pontifex's Hierophant class, and her status was interesting.
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Grace
Age: 92
Race: Human
Class: Hierophant
Title: Living Saint
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[I feel like that title is implying that other types of Saints are usually dead. Does that mean my title is an unusual one?]
By all appearances, she was an unassuming, wizened, old woman who was still in fairly good health despite her advanced age. Thanks to a slightly crooked back, she was forced to rest the majority of her weight on a simple cane. Nevertheless, she carried herself with a confidence that could only have come from a lifetime of power and influence.
The other members of the group seemed to be paying her a rather extreme amount of deference. In fact, they almost appeared afraid of the woman.
[Maybe she's some kind of specialist leader or advisor. I'm guessing that anyone referred to as a Saint is probably fairly influential...well, at least in cases besides mine.]
Finally, after more than thirty people of varying races, but almost uniformly in the later stages of life, enter the room, Alaine told her receptionist to close the door and keep all other visitors out until they were done.
”It has come to my attention that the Anathema have once more taken root in the heart of our organization.” The Pontifex announced.
An astonished silence filled the room. Eventually, one man, looking to be close to his seventies spoke up. ”How could such a thing have come to pass? They were supposed to have been destroyed during the Purge.”
”I do not know, Xavier. Truth be told, I only found out a few minutes ago that they even still existed. However, I have received information that suggests at least one of the senior priests has not only become an inquisitor, but achieved the title as well.”
A sun elven woman with a tattoo of a sunburst on the center of her forehead spoke up, ”That's quite troubling. Out of curiosity, Your Holiness, how did you find out about this?”
The Pontifex gave the woman a hard stare before answering, ”A representative of the Hero of Almir paid me a visit just a little while ago. Apparently, the Anathema have decided to label the Dragonknight as an Apostate, and sent a kill team to deliver judgement.”
”Good Goddess! Are they insane?!” The old man named Xavier exclaimed while clutching his chest. His face had paled so much that Mike was mildly concerned that he was having a heart attack. Of course, being in a room with this many Divine Mages, he was likely not in any danger of dying.
”Why they thought it was a good idea to assault a Tier 4 mage with their numbers and skills, I do not know. This does, however, create two problems for us.” The Pontifex continued.
The older Hierophant, who'd said nothing up to this point, chose this moment to finally speak up, silencing everyone else with the firmness of her voice. ”What have they demanded as recompense?”
Alaine replied respectfully, as if to someone of a higher rank. ”Astute observation as always, Master. The Dragonknight's representative asked only for a token monetary gesture to cover both the trouble of the attack itself, and the effort of returning the members of the kill team to us. Considering the prize he's been awarded by the kingdom already, I had intended picking a few items from the treasury for that purpose.”
[Token monetary gesture. I guess I really should have asked for more…]
”Then he is not yet an enemy of the church. Good.” The old woman stared off into the distance for a few seconds before continuing. ”I suspect that means you are focusing on the inquisitors at this juncture. What progress have you made in identifying the senior members responsible for sending the kill team?”
”That leads me to the second problem. Once the Dragonknight delivers the prisoners-” The Pontifex started.
”There's no time for interrogation. Besides, I doubt anything short of complete Soul-Shriving will succeed in freeing any information from someone with the Divine Scourge title, and we definitely can't sit around until the summer solstice. No, this requires more extreme measures.”
”I have already taken the liberty of securing the two members of the high clergy that were most likely to be involved in a resurgence of the Anathema. If we dig into their past actions, I suspect...”
Grace clicked her tongue, causing the younger woman to trail off. ”Not an unexpected leap in logic, but I'm afraid it won't do you much good. When I was dealing with them during my time as Pontifex, they proved quite adept at creating scapegoats among their colleagues. Oftentimes, the most obvious suspects were the ones with the least connection to the enemy.”
”Then who is responsible for this?” Xavier asked, having listened to the exchange with increasing hopelessness.
The old Hierophant smiled. ”Based on my experience, the culprits have more than likely infiltrated the highest level of our order.”
The current Pontifex grimaced, ”Then you are saying…”
Before she could finish, Grace slammed the tip of her cane in the ground, creating a shockwave of force that swept over the room. The energy passed harmlessly through the group before concentrating on the doors and windows, creating shimmering barriers of light.
”I have sealed the exits.” She announced, a hint of fatigue in her voice. ”Now, let us find the traitors among us.”
[Hmm...this might be problematic.]