Elam left with just the tiniest hint of hesitation. 'I should just trust in his abilities, he clearly takes up to him. Let's see..'
Lucas had left him a list of things he should do while he was gone. One of which was to learn what the church was doing, speaking with Gilbert and his student, visiting a blacksmith..." Goddammit, did he have to make me do so many things?"
His desire to sleep and rest was nagging at him, but he promised to visit the blacksmith. All the other things he could forget about. Yet, at this point, he felt that if he didn't do what was asked for, he would be disappointing himself. 'If I complete all of these, it would be perfect if when he comes back.'
His eyes lost focus once more, what followed was a single deep sigh filled with emotion.
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Today was a day like any other, Micheal stood up and washed himself. He secluded himself in the church as this was his home. Some priests liked to live in expensive inns so that they could enjoy the luxuries it provided. And while everyone would support Micheal in doing exactly that, he would rather sleep on the benches in the church.
Putting on his Order's robes, he looked like a charming young man. It was still early in the morning, but some bakers and people were already on the benches praying. "Good morning everyone, I hope you've had a pleasant sleep.", his smile was so radiant it almost lit up the room.
"Good morning, Micheal, I'm glad I got to see you before going to work.", Micheal was becoming more and more popular among the people so he rarely had time for personal conversations. "Of course, sir Driot, I would always make time to speak to one of my fellow believers. How are you holding up with the store?"
The man took his hat off before conversing with Micheal, the others looked on and waited their turn. They weren't jealous, they felt safe knowing that Micheal was always there for them. They would wait for weeks if it meant they had a chance of talking to him. "I hope that you haven't been experiencing any more troubles with those thieves?"
"Yes, everything has been going fantastic. I used to always take losses due to robbery into account, but now I haven't seen or heard from them in quite some time.", the man was overjoyed, which pleased Micheal to his core.
"Hahaha, that's good to hear. In fact, I'll let you in on a little secret. Those thieves came by not too long ago, asking for forgiveness.", Micheal's smiled to mirror the splendid events. The man was confused at first, "Why did they suddenly change their ways?"
"It seems they were helped by one of our fellow believers, and they started to see what they were doing was wrong. I helped them on their way into our Order, and not long after they started anew. They're now working for a security company not far from your shop even."
"Oh, I didn't know, I should visit them once. Perhaps they can start protecting my store as well."
There was no bias between followers, everyone worked together to reach the same goals. Micheal was glad he was a follower and felt relief whenever he found someone to convert. The more people believed in the Order, the happier the world.
Not long after did Leo enter the church together with his retinue, Duma and Guriel. "Brother Micheal, we've been asked to investigate another incident at the Blue Fire Academy. Someone got killed, presumably by dark magic. We need to go there asap."
"But Brother Leo, I still haven't finished my duties here.", Micheal was genuinely concerned about missing out on his work. One of the nearby people stood up upon hearing that. "Don't worry about that, Micheal, we'll do it for you. We've seen you do it more than enough to know how it works. Please go help them out."
"Ah, I can't thank you enough, sir Moriarty.", but the man brushed it aside and said that it was only natural to help your saviors. With Micheal in tow, the group of priests moved towards the academy. On their way they were greeted by multiple people and even some nobles. Most only looked at Micheal, but that didn't upset Leo.
"Looks like your influence has grown significantly over the last weeks.", Leo said while slowing down his pace to match that of Micheal. Leo was the leader of the group, at least officially.
"Influence is the wrong word, I've been capable of helping a lot of people convert, yes. But I don't hold any power over them, they have become fellow believers, treading on the same path we are."
"Would it be possible to convert a few more nobles? Especially the higher ranking ones? With their help we can gain a massive amount of information.", his intent was so clear, even Micheal felt it.
"Brother Leo, I don't barge into someone's house to try and convert them. We are reasonable people, so please try to act as such. If they want to believe, I will gladly help them on their way. But I don't force anyone, that would be disrespectful to our Goddess."
Leo had to back off a bit, if Micheal was irritated by his statements, then he must've gone over the line. "Fine, but don't forget our initial goal. I know that you've found your reason to live, but don't bring the mission into jeopardy.", Micheal could only shake his head in disappointment.
Arriving at the school, they were met by a local teacher. "Hello there, messengers of the Order of Light. I humbly welcome you to our academy.", the teacher was very friendly and charming. "My name is Vires, I'm one of the teachers in this school. Let's walk while we talk shall we?"
Vires told the group of the incident before bringing them to the place of the murder. "One of my students found her like this. She immediately informed me and the other teachers. We want to apprehend the monster who would do this, but we couldn't find any groundbreaking clues. We know that dark magic was involved, but that's where it ends."
"Thank you for the introduction, we'll take it from here. If we have any questions we'll direct them to you.", Leo said before investigating the scene with his retinue. Micheal stayed behind and looked intently at Vires.
"Is there anything I can do for you?", his smile was bright, but not nearly as dazzling as Micheal's. Micheal looked around for a moment. He could see some students pass by in the distance. 'It seems like they forbade the students from coming too close to the body. Hopefully, no one gets scarred by this. If children were to run away from school out of fright it would carry immense consequences in the future.'
"I was just wondering, you said that besides the fact that dark magic was involved you knew nothing, right?", he posed his question with the calm of a lake. His posture was relaxed.
"That's correct, sir Micheal. We've found dark magicules in the body, but nothing else came up. The body is naked, yet we haven't found the clothes but it could be that the dark magic obliterated the clothes. Still, we don't have any definitive proof of what happened to it."
"I see, now would you mind if I asked a more personal question?", the surrounding air was around the typical room temperature, but that was artificially made by a bubble of warmth. Vires stood in the center of that bubble, but the other priests were also enjoying the benefit of the warmth.
"Sure, if it could result in progress of this investigation, I wouldn't mind answering dozens of questions."
"Ah, that's great. Your cooperation will be very useful. Now, might I ask why you're lying to us?", Vires heart stopped for a single second. Leo and the other overhead Micheal's question and rushed over to stand beside him. "Are you certain, Brother Micheal?"
"Of course, the Goddess wouldn't lie to me, she can only speak with light."
"Then there's a lot of explaining to do, sir Vires.", Leo backed Micheal's speculation without a second thought. Leo was someone who only trusted verified information and wanted objective proof.
Vires was confronted by a group of priest with high combative skills, fighting would be useless. Only diplomacy could wring him out of the situation. "I don't know what you're talking about, I haven't told any lies.", he pulled a sheepish face.
"Brother Micheal has the power to read the flow of the world. He can tell if you've spoken the truth or not. If he says you're lying, then you're lying.", Leo was very upfront in his questioning, leaving no space for Vires.
"Then what have I lied about, sir Micheal?", Vires said while he was thinking a few steps ahead. If he kept refusing, they would become a lot more aggressive, which would only lead him down a darker path, but they could also just leave him alone. Would they take him in just because one person thinks he lied?
"When it came to evidence and clues, you said that besides the dark magicules there was nothing else. That was a lie, so I want to know about the other evidence you've found."
"Is that true, Micheal?! Are you actually halting an ongoing investigation in your own school grounds? Tell me everything you know right now!"
Vires was stunned, he didn't know how this priest could see through lies. 'There's no way for me to come clean or I'll become the main suspect which would ruin my reputation. Not giving it would also result in problems with the church and the school. Playing ignorant will only get me so far it seems.'
"Calm down sir Leo, we never wanted to halt the investigation in the first place. I'm speaking the very truth right now. All we know is that there were dark magicules in the body and a few fire magicules in the air. We decided not to mention this because we didn't know the importance since it could've been a student playing around for all we know."
Leo turned to look at Micheal for verification. "He is speaking the truth, although twisted, it is still the truth."
"Huh, next time speak the truth from the start or we won't be as nice as we were today. Now, the fire magicules in the air would suggest something being burned."
"That's correct Brother Leo, but I don't sense nearly enough to be capable of burning the entire outfit of someone. This amount should be used for something small, like a pouch or a book, no, not a whole book, like a few pages max."
"Sister Duma, we can't be speculating with this little. Let's start with closing the space off."
Duma raised her hands before a bubble seemed to surround the surroundings. It was a magic spell used mostly for keeping a space in a certain condition without being influenced by the outside. For a crime scene where magicules played a part, they might have been too late. But there was no harm in securing it now, even though most of the magicules could have already been displaced.
Micheal wasn't interested in the investigation, he was never one to research something. Talking with Vires didn't reveal anything new as well. So, he went out in search of people he could help out. Standing around and doing nothing made him feel useless. If he could help a few people on the way of Light, he will have fulfilled his own life's goal.
The other priests let free to do whatever he wanted, as they trusted Micheal with their lives. Walking around, he eventually encountered some students, but they left as soon as they recognized his religion. At a certain point, he heard something.
A long sigh, "Why do I have to do this, he's really abusing our deal..."
'Aha, perhaps this man could use my help!', Micheal quickly went to the place where the sound originated from. What he encountered was a tall man with closed eyes and a posture that seemed to say he wanted nothing to do here.