I was really uncomfortable with the plan.
Under the circumstances, there was nothing else we could do. It was a last resort, and we had to do it, but I was still really uncomfortable with the plan.
As Saizo explained our roles in it, I could tell that something weighed down on him like he was reliving some unsavoury memories, but neither he nor the two men mentioned anything. Mobito was as stoic and flat-faced as he usually was, while Nato started to craft some explosives from ingredients that he seemed to keep in his Inventory "just in case".
I had a relatively simple role in the plan, but it all hinged on whether or not Kat will be convincingly bound as a prisoner. I would be the one in charge of "keeping her tied up, " so I would always be near her should something unexpected come up.
At first, understandably, Kat cried and rejected the traumatic idea of being tied up. I could feel the tension in the air coming from the three men as they prepared themselves and their arsenals for the plan, while I scrambled to calm Kat down.
After reaffirming that I would be with her the whole way through, that she would only look like she was tied up, and that she wouldn't be tied up at all, she finally trusted me enough to go along with the plan.
Even still, I was really uncomfortable with the plan.
***
We found ourselves on a little hilltop as we walked to the edge of the forest. It was dry, but we saw splotches of green dotted around the vista. The air tasted dusty as the wind blew past us, and in the middle distance, we saw our destination: The Crimson Tower.
We saw two camps that showed the white flags of the Church of the Demon, one near the entrance of the Crimson Tower, and a smaller one that was off a little bit to the right, which looked a little shabbier and newer. This was probably Katsumi's old camp that was taken over and made into a Church outpost. There was a big pillar of smoke coming up from a fire that we could see from where we were, and I shuddered at the thought of what the Churchgoers may have been burning. Luckily, the path went straight to the main camp, so we could avoid the traumatic location for Katsumi.
"We good on what we need to do?" Saizo said resolutely.
Nato grunted his answer, "yeah."
Mobito nodded and put on his Cloak of Hiding and disappeared literally from our sight. I saw Kat's unspoken wonder and smiled at her when she looked up at me.
I nodded at Saizo and knelt down next to Kat. I lifted up the bindings that were around her wrists, "are your hands comfortable? They're not too tight, are they?"
Kat shook her head.
"Remember what we talked about when we were preparing?" I asked her.
She nodded.
"One tug of the rope this way," I motioned with the bindings in my hand but didn't actually tug the rope, "and you're free. Once the distraction happens, we have to run as fast as we can towards the tower, okay?"
She looked at the tower and gulped. "We never went close to the tower. It was evil, they said."
I nodded understandingly, "I know that's what your family and other people might have said, but unfortunately, it's the only safe place that we can think of. As long as you stay with us, you'll be safe."
I held her hands softly in my hands to reassure her, "once we finish our Quest there, we'll take you back to the city where we came from and we can tell the authorities what happened to you and your family, okay?"
Kat looked back at the tower, and then at the ground before nodding softly.
I straightened up and turned to Saizo, "we're all good."
"Well, I think we gave Mobito a good enough head start. Let's go." Saizo said and he led the party out of the forest and down the hill towards the main Church camp.
***
The two Church camps obviously had lookouts on the area surrounding the camps and the tower, because as soon as we were within yelling distance of the main camp, a group of Churchgoers came out to receive us. They were clearly armed and tense, but they pretended to be friendly.
They approached us and one who seemed to be the leader of the group walked up to Saizo, who seemed to be the leader of our group.
"Greetings adventurers!" the Churchgoer merrily said, though their eyes were flat and unemotional, "how may we help you this fine day?"
"Hello!" Saizo returned the greeting. He turned to Nato and me, and we both waved towards the Churchgoer.
"As you said, we're adventurers on our way to complete the Crimson Tower Quest, and along the way in the forest, we seemed to have found a little wannabe thief," he paused to direct the attention of the leader Churchgoer to Kat, "who I believe might be someone you're looking for from the state we found her in."
The Churchgoer's eyes lit up when he saw Kat, "oh why yes, we seemed to have had an escapee a couple of nights ago. We've been looking for her. May I take a closer look?"
Kat snuck a worried look at me, and I made a subtle motion towards her to keep acting.
After a moment, Saizo responded, "you may, as long as you don't do anything to our negotiation piece. You see, she stole some bandages and healing potions, we thought that you may be able to reimburse us for the recapture of your prisoner and our stolen goods?"
"Oh, I see, I was wondering about why she looked so healthy and undamaged," the Churchgoer laughed heartily.
Saizo only joined in on the laughter slightly to be polite, while Nato also heartily chuckled. I barely sported a convincing grin.
Once the Churchgoer's laughing died down, he noticed me, and commented: "ooh you have a serious one in your party, I see."
Saizo chuckled, "yeah, he's really focused on completing the Quest. You see, he's a late bloomer so this will be his first Quest ever."
"Oh my, I see I see," the Churchgoer looked surprised. He approached me and smiled with what I could only guess as his interpretation of kindness, "well, let's not waste too much more time. I'll bring you over to the head pastor of our branch and she will be able to sort out a deal with you about the reimbursement."
"If you would kindly follow me, I'll take you to her," The Churchgoer turned and motioned for everyone to follow him. The other two Churchgoers that came to meet us stepped to the side to allow our party to walk past before following behind us.
As we walked into the main Church camp, the first Churchgoer who never told us his name gave us a little tour of the camp, and it was the first time that the leader Churchgoer seemed to be genuinely proud and happy. It was a fully-fledged survival camp, complete with a farm and even a tiny barracks where they were training some of the younger men in the Church. The white tunic clothing that the Churchgoers wore was striking and bright to see, with the sun glaring down on all of us.
The tour finished when we reached the biggest tent in the camp. The upside-down five-pointed star with the horns emblazoned on a white background was printed on the two entrance flaps of the tent.
"And here we are," the leader Churchgoer said cheerily. He turned around and said to us, "just wait here a moment and I'll tell the head pastor your predicament, I won't take long," and to the two behind us, "thank you, lads, that'll be all."
The two Churchgoers nodded and walked back to the barracks tent.
While we waited outside the tent by ourselves and caught the gazes of multiple different groups of Churchgoers, Nato said in hushed tones, "come on Mobito..."
I smiled reassuringly at Kat in a quick glance and she nodded nearly imperceptibly.
"We have to trust that he's done his job," Saizo said quietly out of the corner of his mouth.
The Churchgoer made us all jump when he appeared all of a sudden from the flaps of the tent, "the head pastor is ready to see you now!"
Saizo nodded and motioned with the tilt of his head for us to follow him into the tent.
We stepped into a slightly darkened tent interior; the only light sources were coming from candles that were strategically placed so that the light level was equal inside the tent.
Behind the solitary desk in the tent, sat a middle-aged woman that was dressed in the Churchgoer white tunic clothing. Though the top was embroidered with patterned sleeves. She would have looked a lot younger if her face was not so wrinkled. In fact, the wrinkles were the only thing that made me think she was middle-aged. She had the energy of someone a lot younger, almost childlike.
She smiled big and bright when we walked in, "welcome! Mirou was telling me all about your troubles with the little one!"
I could feel Kat shiver and cower a little bit at the head pastor's voice.
"My name is Maru Honotome, the head pastor of this branch of the Church of the Demon, it is so nice to meet you, adventurers. It's been a long while since we've had new adventurers complete the Crimson Tower Quest." The woman continued introducing herself.
She stood up and made her way around her desk to shake her hand with Saizo.
"I was surprised when..." Saizo nodded in the direction of the Churchgoer who greeted us outside the camp, "...Mirou said that the head pastor was a woman. I haven't heard of many female head pastors for the Church of the Demon."
The woman laughed politely, "oh you know, the times are changing, and Paradigm is changing. It's true that the old guard of the Church was quite elitist and aggressive against the idea of a female head pastor, but there's been a new wave of head pastors coming into their calling recently, and if you ever travel to another region, you'll see more of us around."
She nodded towards Nato and me before she brought her gaze down on Kat, who was visibly shaking with fright now. Her tone was also noticeably different as she started speaking about our "prisoner".
"I hear that the little one has caused you some grief over some potions and bandage..."
Maru lowered her hand and grabbed onto Kat's chin and forced her to look up at the woman. "Not only did she cause problems escaping, but she's also been a nuisance to random strangers. That won't do, that won't do."
She let go of Kat's chin in an almost-dismissive motion and walked back towards her seat at the desk. She sat down and waved at another Churchgoer to come closer as she spoke, "Yamato, come and bring the little one back where she belongs."
As the man named Yamato stepped closer to me and Kat, I stepped forward and growled, "I'm gonna be holding onto her until we get the goods."
Saizo turned to me and admonished, "Ryuu!"
Maru's piercing giggle made everyone jump in their skin a little bit and Yamato paused and waited for her instructions.
"I like this young one," she turned to Mirou, "he's the late-bloomer?"
Mirou nodded.
Saizo turned back to the woman, "I'm sorry about him, he's very serious and eager about everything and doesn't know his place."
"No matter, no matter," Maru focussed her piercing eyes on me, and I struggled to keep my cool, "young one, how do you want this to go down? I'll let you dictate everything."
Both Mirou and Yamato voiced their disagreement but Maru waved them away and they were quick to stop arguing.
I stammered as I looked at her then at Saizo, "I — 'm in charge?"
She nodded, "you've caught me in a good mood, and the first Quest is a big deal for everybody, so yes, you are in charge. How do you want this transaction to happen?"
"Well...I — I'm in charge of making sure she's tied up, so if possible," I paused and acted like I'm a little bit overwhelmed, "just in case you're trying to trick us or anything, I'll keep an eye on her until we leave for the Crimson Tower."
She leaned back and rested her crossed fingers on her lap, "I see, you're a cautious one, young one. Do you think we're going to cheat you adventurers on your reward?"
"I, I don't know, b—but better be safe than sorry." I stammered meekly.
There was a tense moment as I felt the glares of the two Churchgoers that were in the tent with us before the tension fizzled out with Maru's genuine laughter. The two Churchgoers looked at their head pastor and then loosened up.
"Oh, I like you, young one. I think you'll be a great adventurer someday..." she paused and breathed in, "so let's not hold up your first Quest for any longer than necessary so that that day may come sooner."
She stood up from her chair and walked past the party and parted the tent flaps, "come along and follow me."
We followed Maru out of her tent with the two men following behind us. As we walked through the camp once more, the other Churchgoers who were watching us subtly and quietly stopped in the middle of what they were doing and bowed and greeted their head pastor as she walked in front of us. She seemed very well-respected.
Maru greeted most of her followers as we walked, but she also talked about their camp and how self-sufficient they are at making sure that the lands around this specific Crimson Tower were safe and sound for adventurers and believers from the "heretics". She emphasized the word and glanced quickly in the direction of Kat who was walking in front of me in her bindings.
I gritted my teeth at the tense situation, but I made sure that I acted like I was supposed to act for the plan.
Maru's comments about the camp almost sounded like she was trying to convert Nato, Saizo and I to her religion and it made me feel disgusted since I knew what this particular branch of the Church had done to Kat's people, seemingly for no reason.
We stopped near a shaded bench that was located near another exit in the camp that was a straight shot to the entrance of the Crimson Tower. An old woman, covered in dusty Churchgoer white tunics, sat there and Maru introduced herself to the other woman.
The old woman did a little jump as she looked up in the direction of Maru's voice (and our direction), and I could see that her eyes were completely clouded over.
"As you know, we, at the Church of the Demon, await the day when the Demon is reborn into our world to bring its order upon the peoples of the world," Maru started to explain to the party.
She motioned towards the old woman sitting on the bench who was smiling blindly at us, "meet Konoko, the Great Seer," at that, the old woman greeted in our general direction, "being so close to the supernatural realms has meant that Konoko's eyesight is now gone on our physical realm, but has been replaced by a deep connection to the spiritual realm of our saviour, the Great Demon."
We all but Kat greeted the old woman who smiled brighter towards us.
Maru straightened to do something on Paradigm, and swiped something towards Saizo. Saizo looked at a Paradigm screen and nodded.
"Now, I've transferred some health potions and a few bandages and hope that they would be enough to repay the damages that the little one has made."
Saizo nodded again and said, "it is more than enough Head Pastor Honotome, thank you."
"Oh, you can just call me Maru, I'm only Head Pastor Honotome if you join the Church," she laughed at her own comment, and Saizo joined politely.
"Now," Maru said, "before we can let you go, we have to get all of you — except for the little one — to come and hold Konoko's hand for a little bit as she contacts the supernatural realm to see if any of you are the One we have been waiting for."
Saizo nodded understandingly and looked behind him at Nato and me, "no problem, no problem at all. I guess I'll go first, but, this is part of your faith, yes?"
"Exactly," Maru stepped back to let Saizo sit next to Konoko who had her hand out waiting patiently. Saizo handed her his hand and waited as she breathed in deeply and chanted something unintelligible under her breath.
"Our scriptures talk of the day that a reincarnation of the Great Demon will infiltrate through the barriers of Paradigm to bring Hell's reign over the world. However, the Crimson Tower is said to be the site of the first of Paradigm's many seals to be broken."
Her attention went back to Konoko who shook her head slowly and let go of Saizo's hand. He stood up and laughed uncomfortably, "I guess I'm not the One?"
Maru smiled politely, "do not worry, we've been waiting for the Breaking of the First Seal for many years now, and the scriptures never specified which particular Crimson Tower the Breaking would take place. Next please."
Nato grunted and sat heavily next to the old woman, his great sword resting on his side as he handed her his free hand. She chanted once more.
"Is this where the poem comes in?" I asked the Head Pastor.
"You know of the ancient poem? Yes, the poem is one of the many prophecies given to all of us, though nobody knows who actually created it. Though, we interpret the prophecies as a saviour coming back to reign in the world that is rightfully his, while they," Maru looked disgusted and glared at Kat, "while the others believe it to be the first sign of the Apocalypse."
Once again, she turned to the old woman who shook her head once more. Nato grunted as he stood up from the seat and joined Saizo.
Maru turned to me and smiled, "next please."
As I made my way over, "how do you stay faithful to your saviour if nothing's come of the prophecies after so many years?"
Maru laughed politely, "I guess you don't believe in any faith?"
"No," I said as I sat down next to the old woman. I swapped my hand holding Kat's bindings to the other hand, "and if you're against Paradigm's creation as it sealed away your saviour, does that mean the Church does not use the System?"
"We deem it as a necessary evil that will be rectified under the rule of the saviour once he breaks through the seals of Paradigm — hold out your hand to Konoko, please." Maru directed.
I apologised and allowed the old woman to grab onto my left hand. As she placed her other hand on top of mine, she started to squeeze tightly and before she could say anything to Maru—BOOM!
A large explosion rang through the air, it was big enough to make the ground underneath us shake.
"That sounds like it came from the outpost," Mirou said as he looked behind him at another pillar of smoke that was forming its way up into the sky.
Another explosion rocked the ground and sounded like it was closer, before a third and a fourth.
"Assemble the warriors, we need to see what's going on," Maru commanded the two men who were with us.
"Epinoe?" I asked Saizo.
He nodded, "Epinoe."
Konoko started to wail as her grip on my hand tightened. Maru looked at the old woman and then at me, "no, it can't be—"
"Go Kat, run!" I yelled as I yanked my hand out of the old woman's talons. The force made the old woman fall over on her face.
Nato grunted as he swung his great sword as a warning at Maru who easily dodged out of the way.
Kat had tugged on the rope I showed her before and bolted with Saizo towards the entrance of the Crimson Tower.
"What's happening?" Maru mumbled under her breath as I jumped over the bench and followed.
"Sorry, but we're not interested." Nato grinned mischievously at the Head Pastor and dropped a small explosive he had prepared before we exited the forest, and the head pastor's scream was so loud and shrill that it made me turn around to see her scurrying to move the old blind woman to safety before Nato's explosive blew up.
"Run kid!" Nato screamed at me as he caught up and we heard the head pastor's voice behind us.
"Gather everyone! We have to capture those adventurers!"