Aitoshuri transmitted a diagram to Flora. It looked like something a conspiracy theorist would create. Icons with profile pictures and different colored arrows pointed to each other, but a blue circle dominated the image. It was labeled "Clan SwordofMichael" and all the chains of indicators ended on persons in the clan.
Flora raised her eyebrows when she spotted Sulfur Lyon in the corner of the picture. According to the label of the arrows, he posted comments in the thread of a priest of the clan SwordofMichael.
On the bottom of the page, the picture of Raffa Razo, the former pope, smirked at her, just one contact removed from the clan.
"Excellent work, Aito. Find out everything about this clan and its leader."
One of the profile pictures labeled NorthEagle Flight started to flash. It was a blond guy, maybe around thirty years old. Jonathan Inthewater, as well as HeavensChosen connected to him as sponsors and over another link, friendship, he related to SwordofMichael.
"Who is NorthEagle Flight?"
"That's the former Champion of the Catholics, which is a sub-faction of the Church of Christ, Milady. The Goddess Evailyn had loaned out your Champion spot to them until you joined the game."
"Oh, dear. They are bullying us because of revenge? No, look at their demand to delay the payments for one week. They want to deplete our resources and attention before the competition for the champion spot!" Flora shook her head. "And they succeeded. I'm lying on a roof instead of advancing and spent a ton of money for the quest to restore the shrines."
"Yes, Milady. Fortunately, our reserves are still plentiful."
"Hmm. Good point. I don't think they have anticipated me sponsoring the quest. So we have to expect another financial attack. But what could they do to make me spend money or concentration?"
"You invested a significant amount of time and funds into the training facility, Milady. The initial cause was the threat of Clan Riverstones' sponsors to abandon them. My prediction algorithm estimate a high chance that you would react with all of your avenues to a threat to your son."
"Holy Toaster! You are right!" Flora paled.
Thoughts raced through Flora's head. Were the sponsors even connected to Catholic Champion? Would Robby fault her for the threats? What could she do against them? 'I want to tear them to the ground and shred them to pieces!'
Flora closed her eyes and regulated her breathing. It took a while, but finally, her fists unclenched and her head cleared up.
"First, we inform all the relevant parties. Aidan, send Aito's information to all of the council members, Dave, the two clergy members with him, Mia, Eddie, Hub, Lana, Honey, and Robby. I'll draft a separate letter to explain the situation."
>>>
Dear leaders of Clan Riverstones,
On Sunday Two, I have a quest to enter a competition to defend my title as the Champion of the Church of Evailyn.
Forces associated with the Catholic sub-faction have conspired against me, and I assume they will escalate their attacks in the coming days.
To my utmost horror, I received hints that my personal business might have spilled over to the clan.
I'm ready to make any amends you deem appropriate and repay any losses to the clan.
Sincerely Flowing Flowers
<<<
"What do you think about the draft, Aidan?"
"It seems to be very impersonal, Milady. Additionally, you should emphasize that you need to concentrate on your preparation before the competition. It won't do you any good if you have to deal with clan politics atop of the external threat."
"Yes. The neutral approach is intentional. I acted how I would act in any organization I'm a member, aside from the unlimited reparations, of course. You have a point with your second suggestion. How do I formulate politely 'leave me alone until Sunday' … ?"
"How about 'In the next days, I will concentrate on my development to crush any opposition.'"
"Haha, I like it!" Flora sent the letter to Robby, Lana, and Hub, including Aidan's sentence.
Flora fell silent and played with the water of the brook.
"I want to do so many things at the same time." She mumbled, shaping the water in a vortex with her finger and a bit of magic. "A part of me wants to storm to the doors of the SwordOfMichael and raise hell. Another part wants to investigate the shit out of them and post every wrongdoing on social media. Yet another part wants to leave this stakeout and Deriga and everything behind and concentrate solely on training. And of course, there is always a part of me which just wants to build awesome toasters."
"I understand, Milady. My processing power is limited, as well. You could focus on the tasks that provide the most long term enjoyment or success."
"You're doing great in the empathy department." Flora smiled. "Let's identify what will lead to longterm enjoyment or success. Keeping the Champion class? It seems to be a lot of work, but I enjoy it. I want to lead the Cetviwos into a golden age of toasting!
Retaliation against people who attacked me? Hmm, I'm not big on revenge, but I'm totally for standing up for yourself. Let's take some shots at them when it's opportune, but not waste our time on revenge schemes. After all, the best revenge is a happy life.
I'm most torn about our current situation−whether I should involve myself personally in Deriga's rescue or not. I believe it would be disloyal to abandon her… even though she is a computer program, and I hired Dave to care for her. How would you feel if I would ignore your wellbeing for the greater good of succeeding in the champion quest?"
"It would be my pleasure, Milady!"
*farting beep*
"Can you elaborate, Aito?"
*beep beep* … *beep* … *farting beep* *beheheheheheep*
"You wouldn't like it, but you would forgive me if I bought you a bunch of books?"
*beep*!
"Somehow, I feel both of your opinions don't represent Deriga's…" Flora smiled. "We will see what we get out of Sulfur, and we are going to decide afterward. Meanwhile, let's prepare for my training regiment for the next days. I want to get the Animator class, that means spending time in the classroom. We can use that time more productively. Aidan, buy a community hub for me. It should be big enough to sleep and train and should be able to hold a lot of generators. Maybe we can stack them vertically if the hubs price is based on square meters and not cubic meters? Print out 150 generators. Aito, research my weaknesses and what I can do to make amends. You have two hours."
"Yes, Milady!"
Flora went back to her rune books−now, without being distracted by pangs of conscience.
"Milady, Sulfur Lyon is approaching," Aidan said.
Flora left the simulation grounds but remained in her workshop.
"Transmit visuals and audio, dear," Flora said while refreshing her buffs.
Aidan projected the video on the wall. His tentacles filmed a blond boy, Sulfur Lyon, a hulking goon, and a skittish girl entering the warehouse. Inside, the Ophree brothers and the shackled paladin Rictus waited.
"And another pretty one for my collection." Sulfur exclaimed cheerfully. "You have the best taste in capturing clergy, brothers."
"Yeah, yeah. It's a feisty one. Pay us for getting her, and we add a gift bow to the next." Reginald Ophree said. He received a card from Sulfur. In exchange, he pushed the paladin towards the blond boy.
"So, you are behind the abduction of my church colleagues! You won't get away with it!" Rictus said between clenched teeth.
"They act great!" Flora exclaimed before she logged out. She wouldn't have guessed that they staged the scene.
"We'll see, gorgeous. Meanwhile, I will have the pleasure of taming you." Sulfur cackled.
Dave Lupe to Party: "We have enough footage. Breach!"
The inspector activated a remote controller. As a nearby glass panel exploded, he threw himself through the remains, dropping into the warehouse. Flora and Aidan followed.
The Ophrees fled, and Rictus elbowed Sulfur's nose. The rest of his gang brandished their weapons. At the same time, the door of the warehouse opened, and Monk Kowalski and two more Riverstones of squad three-one entered the building.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, you are surrounded. Let's have a friendly chat to convince me that I won't send the footage of this transaction to the guards." Dave Lupin had landed directly in front of the pimp and his crew.
"Screw you!" Sulfur screamed, and both parties exploded into action.
Laser beams crossed the room, colorful magic effects exploded and yelled skill names echoed through the hall.
Shocked from the sensory impact, Flora just cast Bless and Condemn. Thankfully, Aito provided her with an arrow above Sulfur's head.
Name: Sulfur Lion
Clan: MyHorns
Class: Lover
Level: 3 (57)
Rating: S
Although Flora's group had six members and Sulfur's group only three, the fight wasn't the overwhelming takedown Flora had expected.
An Asian man and woman were engaging the hulking brute in melee. Just as Flora looked at them, the titan picked up the man and threw him at Monk Kowalski, who stood at the edge of the fight, chanting mantras.
Rictus fought against the Sulfur's female companion, who nimbly dodged every strike. However, her dodging skill was nothing against Sulfur's. The boy weaved around Dave, barely visible. The inspector had a gun in one hand, and a technological device encased his other arm. Bullets, nets, grenades, everything missed.
Flora chose ice for its slowing effect but missed too, as did Aidan, who fired at his legs.
'Oh well, an AoE will do the trick.'
While she could have placed to hit all three of their opponents, it seemed more important to make sure Sulfur had no easy way out, so he was in the center of the volley. Only a few ice pellets hit the agile girl before she stepped out of the AoE.
"Milady, you have two hands." Aidan transmitted.
"Right! Thank you, dear." Flora felt foolish and used her left hand to cast Tempest. She placed the AoE to hit all three opponents.
Suddenly, Rictus ran towards her, with her sword raised.
"What are you doing?" Flora exclaimed.
The blade hit her flank. Then Rictus' shield crashed against her torso, and Flora's spells faltered.
The paladin flew away, but Flora was still confused. "Has she changed sides? In the middle of the fight? That makes no sense!"
"Rictus is under the influence of a mind-control spell, Milady."
Flora hoped that the secondary effect would help the paladin to regain her sense of self. However, Rictus was running towards her again.
"I don't want to kill her! What should I do? I know!"
As the warehouse lit up, the paladin stopped, cursed, and turned around to find the nimble girl.
"Puh!"
Flora calmed herself and assessed the bars above her allies' heads. The Asian Riverstones had half of their life left, Kowalski's health bar was nearly full, as was Rictus, but Dave was in bad shape. Sulfur and the girl had bound him in thick ropes and pelted him with all they had.
"What was that masochist Paladin spell again?"
"Center of Attention - All enemy STS will be partially redirected to the caster, including healing spells, Milady."
While channeling the prayer with her right, Flora pulled Dave to her with her left hand.
The pimp pointed his gun at Flora's direction, but the shot hit Dave and smashed him into Flora. At the same time, a barrage of throwing knives from the girl hit both.
As Flora fought to keep her balance, more shots and knives arrived. Each shot hammered Flora like a truck.
Meanwhile, Aidan had cut the ropes around Dave.
Flora jumped over David and landed where Sulfur stood a second ago. Then, pain erupted in her side.
'That pimp is too fast!'
Flora whirled around.
A cloud of frozen particles spread from Flora's hand. Although Sulfur ducked, the cone was wide enough to hit him.
In a snakelike motion, he spun his leg around and kicked Flora's knee. It buckled, but Flora stayed upright.
Even from point-blank, the slippery guy managed to avoid the spell. Again, he slunk into Flora's blind spot. This time he shot her head.
The crack was loud enough to rupture Flora's eardrums. Her vision blurred while the floor surged and heaved under her.
All she could do was spread her arms and concentrate on staying on her feet−and, of course, Bless and Condemn.
As the bile rose in her throat, another shot hit her head. Flora tumbled to the floor, but she was able to turn the pratfall into a crooked safety roll. Thankfully, the auto-mode on I bow to You and roll with it was still enabled, and the prayer activated and took the sting out of the next shot.
Flora laid on the floor and looked at the muzzle of Sulfur's gun. As the pimp's weapon went off, a laser beam hit his hand and jerked it away.
"Retribution," flashed on her HUD, still blurry but readable.
As Flora jumped to her feet, Sulfur realigned his weapon and fired.
"Reground" replaced the Retribution.
'Brilliant, this version of Re-Generate has a secondary effect that raises my stability.' Flora thought as Sulfur's shot jerked her again.
"Why won't you die?" The pimp yelled and fired.
"Smite" appeared on Flora's HUD.
"*bleep*, that hurt!" Sulfur cursed.
Flora dodged his next shot partly and smote him again.
Sulfur raised both arms. First, Flora thought he wanted to surrender, but then pink smoke billowed from his feet. "Adore me!" He yelled.
Flora stopped mid-motion. Her gaze fixated on Sulfur, who had red hearts surrounding him.
"Burned toast and stale jam! Am I healing them?" Flora felt magic strings holding her gaze and arms locked.
"Yes, Milady. All of you are under a mind control spell and healing him."
"Break!" Flora screamed and flooded her body with mana, then pressed it against the shackles. She felt something give away and stopped channeling the Mantra but wasn't free yet.
The three enemies ran towards the door.