Toga had to trudge all the way back to Fahragon, greatsword being dragged the entire way. Any time he encountered any demon, he slashed it immediately and accurately. If it was a level two demon or below, it was going down in one hit. As long as it wasn't level three, or a demon pack he was safe.
He'd finally made it back. The gates were wide open and the guards in their red and copper garbs came rushing out.
"Priest Dawnheart! We had gotten word from Cardinal Yotsuka that you've accomplished the mission with thorough completion. Congratulations sir. As expected of an inheritor of Igneous," One guard said.
Toga just kept trudging past them. He ignored them entirely, as if they weren't even there. The way his mindset was currently, he wasn't even sure he was all there. All he could remember seeing were bodies everywhere. Amongst a few, there were even signs of futile struggle. The only thing worse than the sight, was the smell. The smell of burnt flesh.
"Our shining spirit has returned!"
There was a clergy upon a podium speaking to the masses. Some of the civilians was simply enamored with what he said and looked at him with reverence. Other's screamed and cheered. There were even those who tried to approach him, ladies included.
None of that mattered to him in the slightest. What he noticed most, were the civilians shirking away. Hiding within the confines of their homes. Even avoiding eye contact in most cases, if not avoiding him entirely now.
He got it now. It was just like last time.
When he first came to Fahragon, he hadn't a clue why they did it. Now he knew. These people were the more enlightened ones about their situation. The Order was heavily corrupt, and these people were showing fear. They were afraid of him, because they had no way to discern whether he was a good guy or not. It was better to keep their heads down then to provoke his ire. Was this the real way of the Red Dogs? What about the Blue Pheasant's? The Yellow Monkeys? The White Dragon's…
A few days had past.
Toga marched with heavy footsteps all the way through the Central Island. There weren't many who would dare march in such a disrespectful manner in the Castle of the Edicts and expect to live. Seeing how young he is, he could only be a shining spirit.
Toga wanted to get to the bottom of it. If Shue was on such a covert mission with specifics to increase his prestige, then it could only come from High Edicts of the Grand Council. There's never any mission like that given from any of the pastors in Loil. If his shining spirit gave him such a standing, then he was going to use it to his full advantage. He marched up to the door in the hall.
"Hey! The council is hearing a report right now. Come back later!" A sentinel by the door said.
"BOOM!"
Toga knocked the door down. He had no time for their nonsense right now. Getting ever more irritated, he walked that long hall with renewed anger upon seeing their faces. As he got closer, there was another individual standing in audience with them.
"Priest Dawnheart. Can't you see we're in a mission's report with an individual?" Falas said.
The individual in question slowly turned his face and it turned out to be none other than the very man he was furious about to begin with.
"Shue… Yotsuka!" Toga growled.
"Hello there. Nice to see you again," He said.
Toga launched himself and tackled him to the ground in the blink of an eye. His anger reignited all over again.
"WHY'D YOU DO IT!" He screamed. He pulled back his fist and immediately ignited it with flames. He swung down with all his might and fury before just stopping short of his face.
He was immediately surrounded by Bond Guards belonging to the Grand Council. With low effort, his fist was held back by a Bond Guard dressed in yellow standing behind him pulling him by the elbow. A Bond Guard to the side of him dressed in red held a blade up to his neck, and a Bond Guard in blue dis-ignited the flame coming from his arm.
"Toga Dawnheart. I understand being a shining spirit comes with certain privileges, but please do remember that killing you is not completely off the table. There are limits to those privileges," A council member said.
"THIS FUCKER SLAUGHTERED EVERYONE! MEN, WOMAN, CHILDREN!" Toga yelled.
"Under our orders Priest Dawnheart. Is that not why you're here?" The council said.
Toga's anger caused him to give exasperated breaths. "Why… would you give an order like that!?"
"Can you get off of me before you ask that?" Shue asked.
Toga ignored him and looked at the council. "Being the incarnation of Igneous, I'd thought you'd understand. Dissent is like a plague. Once a group starts doing it, everyone would do it. Nothing more than a trend that needs to be rooted before it blooms,"
"They all had their circumstances. You didn't think to address that?" Toga argued.
"And in their circumstance, they chose to rebel as if they were living in the Rebble territory. If they had complaints about how Loil is being run, then they should have filed it with their local governor and patiently waited for our response. Instead, they chose to annex themselves within our own territory, and established a sovereign village,"
"And that warrants death?" Toga asked.
"Quite frankly… yes. When creating living spaces under one's own nation, that's what we call an invasion," The council said.
Toga scrunched his face. This was where his weakness showed. He did not know how to refute or defend the people after they were just massacred. {Fucking politics… They're playing with words. How does one invade a nation they were born in?}
He got off Shue. "Even so… I told them I was going to help fix the situation. I'd already won their trust in me,"
"So we've heard in the report young Toga. Now imagine if you did… imagine you solved all their problems and made them all happy. What sort of message does that send to the rest of the rabble down there? Kick up a fuss and the Dog of Loil will come save you every time? This sort of behavior spreads like a plague. There's a reason the Red Dogs govern the most loyal territory of the four areas.
{Because you kill everyone disloyal.}
"We… course correct undesirable behaviors before it gets outta hand," The council said.
Toga softened his whole demeanor. His anger was subsiding, but it wasn't that he was convinced they were right. How could slaughtering that many innocent people ever be considered right? It was that no matter what he said, they had an answer for everything as to why what they did was considered just. He looked downwards toward the ground.
{Say something… anything…} He couldn't find a single thing to say in the defense of the village.
"It is not your fault young Toga. Perhaps you have spent too much time in the Rebble Skylands. Their thinking is starting to rub off on you,"
Toga narrowed his eyes. "It's not that. I don't think I'll ever be convinced that slaughtering innocence is the correct thing to do," After he said that all the Bond Guards walked back behind their Edicts.
"Oh. You're in luck then," Shue got up off the ground and dusted himself off. "Nobody down there was innocent. Look here," He dug in his pockets and pulled out a familiar looking necklace.
It had the same contraption things Toga saw on Harrow's daughter.
"Big whoop! It's just a necklace," Toga said. {Seriously, what was the big deal?}
Though he said that, the wide expression on the faces of the Edicts told another story. That necklace meant something to them. One began grinding his teeth and squeezing his armrest. The disgust was clear on his face. Others had hidden their expressions better, but their faces darkened.
"The church of Arslan… they were practicing Holism down there," The council asked.
"Nahh… I found it on just one body. It's possible that it was just one person practicing it. That or they all followed the advice from one person,"
{That was it? A religion is what made them guilty?}
"A girl practicing a religion now warrants death. I've about heard it all," Toga said.
"Not just any religion. The church of Arslan. Otherwise known as Holism. A religion founded in the Rebble territory. A religion that's banned even in the Rebble territory. We've now witnessed our first practitioner in Loil territory," Shue said.
"Then by whatever means, slaughtering them all was the correct call. We cannot simply let their beliefs to take root,"
Toga snorted. "I've heard enough. I will not be present as you casually talk about killing people and what gains you got from it,"
Toga brushed past Shue, making sure to give him a glare for good measure. If there was anybody, he didn't like that managed to make it on to his shit list for life, Shue won the gold medal for it. He didn't want to see that man a second longer.