Back at the inn, Cain plopped down on his bed and coiled up in his blankets. He tried his best to take a small nap to make up for missed sleep. In his urgency to go back to sleep, he forgot to create sound canceling magic circles around his ears. Instead, he relied on the density of the blankets he laid in. He bundled himself up into a ball and attempted to take a nap for the next 30 minutes.
Right when his consciousness was starting to drift into the endless abyss of dreams, two priests walked up to his inn door. Cain vaguely detected their every movement with his mana zone. He was already ignoring most signals and movements it picked up due to its range and was just paying slightly more attention to these two priests due to their proximity.
One of them knocks on Cain's door, clearing his throat and calling out in Veronica's voice, "Cain, it's time to get up! We need to help with the dissecting event outside the gates right now!" The priests waited for a response while the half asleep Cain was questioning the meaning of life. How could this priest use Veronica's voice? It was then that he remembered this world had magic, to which he just plopped his head back down to take his nap.
"C'mon Cain! The sun is already up!" The priests' persistence on top of the uncomfortable feeling Cain got while listening to them using Veronica's voice annoyed him enough that he snapped back without his filter on. "And what do you want me to do? Photosynthesis? That's Dresil's job!" Cain yelled across the room then grabbed the nearby pillows to adjust his position, establishing sound canceling magic circles above his ears.
The two priests looked at each other, stunned from Cain's response. They didn't know Cain already knew that they were impersonating Veronica, and thus thought he snapped back at "her." The priest in white robes, with golden strands draped over it, looked at the other, in the same robes but with a white sash across it and no strands, confused.
"You sure the intel is correct, Deacon Smith?" The middle aged priest with the golden strands asked the other in a low voice, thoroughly confused as to why Cain had such a hostile reaction to the girl who supposedly had a crush on him. Deacon Smith pulls out a piece of paper and reads through it before replying.
"Yes, Father Kessler. The intel suggests that Cain may behave favorably to Veronica due to their relationship. He should still be in his room since the intel states he likes his sleep and the invasion ended quickly enough to not disturb him.
"My voice replication ability creates a nearly perfect copy of another's voice, so it is very unlikely he saw through us." Deacon Smith spoke in a whisper while folding the paper away into his pocket. Father Kessler taps his foot on the ground while trying to think of possible solutions to their conundrum.
He stops tapping for a moment and presses his ear against Cain's door. "Should we just kidnap him now? The bishop said he has no mana right now and it seems he went back to sleep." Deacon Smith presses his ear against the door, attempting to pick up something that may offer insight into what's going on inside. After a short moment, Deacon Smith nods then slowly opens Cain's door.
The two priests walk over to Cain and inspect his condition. After they confirm he is asleep, they slowly peel away each blanket then turn Cain onto his back. The priests silently leap back, expecting a reaction from Cain, yet he gives none. They looked at each other, then back at Cain.
With a tactical nod, they proceed to lift Cain out of his bed and carry him outside his room. They slowly carry him into the hallway, bonking Cain's head on the doorframe. They immediately stop in their tracks, cold sweat drenching their uniform. The priests stared at each other in silence, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, they continued to carry him into the inn office.
Another priest was sent ahead of the pair to clear out the hallways and lobby to make the kidnapping proceed smoothly. Thus, Cain was silently carried from his room and into the inn lobby. A third priest was waiting there for the pair at the entrance of the inn. He held the door open so they could load Cain into the carriage that was parked in front of the entrance in such a way that prevented bystanders from seeing what was going on.
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (8ms)
Dresil: Master… you're being kidnapped.
Cain: I know… these fuckers suck at carrying bodies, must be their first time.
Cain: Meh, I'm kind of interested to see what happens next yet also too lazy to do anything right now.
Dresil: …if you say so.
—---------
The two priests boarded the carriage after loading Cain and the third drove it away to the cathedral. The carriage arrives at a massive cathedral built into the inner wall, similar to the weapons shop Cain visited on his first day in the capital. The third priest drives the carriage to the side of the cathedral, greeting the guards that guarded the passageway into the inner wall directly next to it.
The guards open the gates to allow the carriage through. The third priest directs the carriage into the inner walls then takes a sharp right to park it behind the cathedral. The two priests immediately hop out of the carriage and unload Cain into the backdoor entrance of the cathedral. The third priest runs off into the clergy houses to fetch someone.
They drag him into the nave and set him down in the chancel, near the altar. The third priests come back, guiding a bishop to where the two priests were guarding Cain. The three priests make room for the bishop to confirm they got the right person.
The bishop walks over to Cain, kneeling down to examine him. "How the fuck can he look so peaceful even though he was just kidnapped…" The bishop commented then got up and faced the priests that were behind him. He abruptly stopped and turned around swiftly to kick Cain in his side.
The cracking of bones echoes across the walls of the cathedral. "Fuck! Is his side made of steel or something?" The bishop hops around on one food then uses a nearby pew to balance himself while healing the broken bones in his foot. "You may go now." The bishop orders the three priests who were standing near the pews, while holding back the pain. The three priests bowed to the bishop then fled the cathedral swiftly.
Once the priests exited the cathedral, the bishop fell to the floor unconscious. Cain sat up suddenly, like a dead man rising from his coffin. 'Let's see why this boi wanted to kidnap me…' Cain thinks to himself while stretching and yawning some. He walks over to a nearby pew to sit down on then spends the next 15 minutes reading through the bishop's memories. 'Oh… well that explains a lot.' Cain ponders the newfound information he acquired, resting his head on the back of the pews.
—Group Chat: Cain, Dresil, Bob, and Rex— (10180ms)
Rex: What explains a lot? Don't keep us hanging…
Cain: You could just look through my memories of looking through the bishop's memories.
Dresil: Memory-ception.
Rex: …nah. Give us a summary, I've got memes to look at.
Cain: Bob, did Rex improve or keep the conditions of the sun?
Bob: He did. It was slightly closer to normal when I arrived and took over.
Rex: hehe.
Cain: Fine, fine… let me type it out real quick.
Cain: So this bishop is someone summoned from a world similar to mine. There are some minor differences in our world histories, so it's not the same world. When he was summoned here a few years ago, he had a decent amount of mana, yet he didn't know how to use it.
Cain: When he first arrived here, he had the delusion that he was the main character due to being summoned. He kept trying to use magic and speak to the priests who summoned him, but he didn't know their language and vice versa. It was at this moment that the pope, who was present during the ceremony, offered to teach the bishop.. What was his name… ah yes, Draven.
Cain: The pope offered to teach Draven how to use magic and the language of the world and such as long as he served the church by showing him a contract. With no other option left, Draven accepted the pope's deal and used his memories of his previous world and its religion to climb the ranks until he got promoted to being a bishop roughly a month ago.
Cain: Once Draven was able to understand the contract he signed and with his delusional mindset, saw this as being tricked and constrained by the church, turning him into its slave. Thus he plotted to eventually overthrow the pope and get his "revenge." The pope left the capital roughly a week and a half ago after ordering Draven to summon another being to help them with the oncoming invasion.
Cain: His plan was to use the same method as the pope to enslave this summoned being and then use them to overthrow the pope. Draven used the absence of the pope to prepare the ceremony over the next few days. He took advantage of the yearly donation of mana from the citizens, starting it early and using the collected mana in the ceremony 6 days ago.
Cain: During the ceremony, a rogue priest killed the others who were involved. He was eventually caught by Draven and the surrounding guards and thrown into prison, but only after killing 8 of those who were present. The slain priest's blood flowed into the summoning circle, presumably amplifying it along with the remaining mana of the corpses and the donated mana.
Cain: Thus the summoning circle summoned me. According to Draven's memories, it's not clear why I appeared next to Dresil. It does explain why I kept phasing in and out though (due to the disturbance of the ceremony).
Bob: Indeed… The blood and the slain priest's mana, and possibly the immense amount of mana from the donations could have also served as a catalyst during the ceremony, greatly increasing the potency of it.
Rex: Dang… doesn't that mean someone could have been behind that rogue priest?
Cain: Inded… Looks like the conspiracy behind my summoning is all tangled up.
Cain: At least we know why I had so much mana and the purity of it along with the lack of impurities in my body.
Bob: Veritably. Although I'm confused as to why Draven thought you had no mana left over.
Rex: Same. Didn't some of the priests say you should have none left over?
Cain: Sec, let me check his memories.
<10 seconds later>
Cain: So the boi thought I only had roughly 3 million mana, the original amount the ceremony was supposed to give me. Between the duel and taking care of the invasion, Draven assumed I used it all and that I'd be similar to him and lack a technique to replenish or even use it properly.
Rex: So he stupid.
Cain: Basically. Oh, also the pope got word of the bishop's actions a few days ago and is on his way back. He should be here tomorrow or the day after.
Rex: wait… wait a minute…
Rex: :Pain:
Rex: Didn't Draven's stupidity in collecting and using the mana donations early for the summoning cause the abnormally large invasion?
Bob: Dang… and I thought Rex was getting smarter.
Cain: You're just figuring this out now? Although it is more likely that it just amplified it since they were already expecting a big one, otherwise they wouldn't need to summon someone to help with it.
Cain: Unless the invasion was just a side quest.
Rex: :cry_pain:
--------------------------
Cain let out a hefty sigh and transitioned into laying on the pews. 'Looks like today and tomorrow are going to be busy… Man, heck this.' Cain closes his eyes and starts organizing his thoughts and calculating the minimum amount of work he needs to do in order to pass by the next few days without causing too much trouble, and therefore more work. A few minutes pass by with him just laying there, until he suddenly remembers the bishop who is still unconscious on the floor.
'Oh… right. Well I can just leave him to the pope I guess… but leaving him conscious also isn't an option. If I did… I guess he would recover then be akin to a mid-boss? Meh, let's just wrap this present up and present it to the pope. Heh… the pun though.' A slight smirk surfaces on Cain's face as he reluctantly sits up, swinging his body forward to sit hunched over on the pew, elbows on his thighs.
Cain uses the mana within his mana zone to move the bishop's limp body into the same position Dresil put the assassins from two days ago. He navigates his mana throughout the bishop's brain, focusing on the medulla and the hippocampus. Using what he inferred from destroying parts of the monster's nebula, Cain forces Draven's body into a limbo state between a coma and a deep sleep.
'Heck… I was just trying to put him into a coma but got something mixed up instead… I also need to yeet the boi into a suggestive state… but idk how to do that, heck.'
—Dms: Cain and Dresil— (11ms)
Cain: Dresil, do you know how to force someone into a suggestive state?
Dresil: Nope.
Cain: Well, heck… Guess I'll figure something else out instead.
Cain: Can you correct the boi's body condition so he's in a coma and doesn't wake up for a while?
Dresil: Hmm.. It won't be perfect, but yep.
Cain: That's good enough. You have more experience in this field anyways.
--------------------------
'Hmm… guess this will work instead.' Cain relaxes his back on the pew while copy and pasting his digital storage coding onto Draven's skin. He disguises it as much as possible then exports Draven's memories into the storage. A few terminals pop up upon the completion of the export and Cain uses them to program the interface between speech and the memories.
He makes it so that when the pope asks a question, a terminal will pop up with the answer or "This knowledge is too advanced right now." This allows the pope to still have access to Draven's advanced knowledge from the other world without progressing the country's technology too far ahead that it disturbs the balance between its neighbors. The identification of the pope is done through Cain's tagging system, although he has yet to meet the pope.
Cain spends the next quarter hour completing the program and organizing Draven's memories. He creates a magic circle on Draven's forehead, disguising every part of it from view except for certain areas, creating his signature symbol on Draven's forehead. Cain programs the magic circle containing the symbol to also display a terminal on Draven's chest with instructions on how to use the program. Dresil is on constant watch during this time, ensuring no one enters the cathedral while Cain is working.