I pushed opened the heavy doors apart. I always dreaded coming here in the past but things are different now. I no longer have to feast my eyes on the hated Queen's face, sitting on her throne looking at me with a disgusted face. Now it had been repurposed into a meeting room where members of the New Order conducts their weekly meetings. And I am going to interrogate one of the members here.
"You're here, Zen. Let us begin," said John.
I glanced around the members who were seated around the table. John and the Paladin Lord will be representing the guildmasters this time around. The remaining members were 3 elves and 3 humans. One of which is the Father from the Church of Imperatrix. The 6 members were supposedly renowned beings who were voted by the people of the city to become a member to lead this city. The members had already changed once before. 8 years is their limit, separated by two terms if the people decided they were worthy to lead. These members had only a year left before they have to give up their positions to new leaders.
"We heard you called for a meeting as you had something to discuss, Lord Zen. What is it pertaining?" asked one of the elf.
I walked closer to the round table and placed both my hands on it. I needed them to understand the gravity of the situation.
"I was recently assigned to head to the Northern continent on an assignment to check on the humans that were living there. There were.. questionable things that occured throughout my journey that I am certain anyone would find intriguing," I started.
"I'm sorry, Zen. But this topic should be discussed among us guildmasters rather than here," said John.
"I am not finished yet. I have met the humans that were residing there. Their claim that they were never attacked by demons or any other beings were.. skeptical, which was why I decided to spent a night there to uncover what secrets that they were hiding," I continued.
"But alas, it started snowing which is something that had never occured in that continent before. And I was forced to leave the settlement in the middle of the night as I was declared as a non-believer for causing the strange weather problems. To claim that me being there tampered the weather was beyond absurd but I am a calm and reasonable person so I decided to leave. But what was beyond my understanding was that the moment I sat foot on the dock of the Northern continent, the blizzard stopped immediately," I ended.
"I am sorry, Master Zen. But what has any of this got to do with us, really?" said one of the human member.
"You're right. It only has to do with one of you. Before I left, I uncovered a note stating that the recipient should stop the monster assaults on this city. That letter was signed and stamped by none other than.. you Father. Do you have something you would like to say?" I glared at him which made all the other members turned to stare at him.
"I beg your pardon, but do you happen to have the letter in question?" asked Father.
"I do not. Removing the letter would had aroused even more suspicion from Son, who was originally from YOUR flock," I said.
"Are we to take your word at face value then? Am I supposed to sit here being accused with no solid evidence?" he chuckled.
"Why are you being so defensive? All I'm asking is whether you sent him a letter. Will you say the same if Peter was here?" I questioned him.
"You are not Peter," he spat.
"Gentleman, let us keep things civilised in this discussion, shall we?" warned the Paladin Lord.
"You are right, I am not him. But might I remind you that I AM his direct pupil and also a member of the four great powers. And it was because of ME that this city had changed for the better. Do not be delusional in thinking that you will be safe inside your church when I literally dethroned a Demon Queen who sat a few metres away from where you are sitting right now," I warned him.
His face did not show any signs of fear but his body language betrayed him. He was starting to sweat more as sweat trails were dripping from his forehead. His hand was shaking ever so slightly as he sipped some tea before finally speaking.
"Yes, I did send a letter to Son regarding the attacks of the monsters on the city," he confessed softly.
'Why did you suspect that he might be the one orchestrating the monster attacks?" I asked.
"Call it a hunch. We were not in the best of terms when he decided to leave the church and I was just warning him. That was all my intention when I sent him that letter," he explained.
"Do you really think Son is capable of controlling demons into attacking the city? Would it be too far-fetched to think that he can control the weather too?" I asked him.
"Anything is possible when you put your mind into it, Mister Zen," he said.
"Likewise, I would say the same to you then. What if you are throwing us off with that letter but plotting those monster attacks yourself? A show of hands, those in favour that I commence an investigation on the church for the suspicion of soliciting the monster attacks on this city," I raised the question.
That caught Father off guard and he wanted to retaliate but everyone except him raised their hands. This certainly made him furious that everyone was suspicious about him.
"Even you two?!" he shouted to the two humans that were at the side of him.
"I'm sorry, Father. But the frequency of the monster attacks are getting out of hand right now. We need to find the reason why," explained one of them.
"And you think that I am behind these attacks. What would I even gain from these monster attacks in the first place?" he blabbered.
"If the church has nothing to hide and is not part of the attacks then I will personally declare that to the public myself. I take it that you have no objections seeing that the majority of members here had agreed, Father?" I asked him with a smirk.
"Do as you wish," he spat.
Oh, I intent to do so. I will rip apart that church of yours and unravel its darkest secrets for the world to see. One does not throw a snowball at my wife's face and gets away with it!
***
"Wow, I didn't even need to do anything at all," said John as we were walking out of the castle.
"Ho ho, someone has increased their speech skills I see," said the Paladin Lord.
"Huh? I never realised it at all. I was just determined to shake him down for more information. I was expecting him to retaliate more, to be honest," I confessed.
"Aw c'mon. You would expect a priest to not cover in fear by the hero who literally took down the Queen and her armies? You would need to be.. a demon? Zen, you're not suspecting.." John trailed off.
"I had my suspicion but after our meeting earlier, it would seemed that he is human alright. One thing I noticed is that demons rarely show fear even under pressure which makes Fear spell ineffective against them most of the time. It is their nature to be fearless, I suppose," I explained.
"When are you planning to raid the church then, Zen?" asked the Paladin Lord.
"Raid is a strong word, really. We won't be ransacking the church. That would bring down my name to those who worship them. I will be asking the guild members to spread out around the church while I allow Father to escort me around showing what he wishes me to see. Rose, the Dark Lord and other members will be sneaking around trying to find any suspicious activities while Father is escorting me. How fast can you get those members ready? I don't want to give him any time to hide things" I asked the Paladin Lord.
"Everything is already prepared. You were smart enough to come to us first before the meeting. To be honest, a lot of the things you told us were.. imaginary, that we thought you were having one of your common episodes or something. Having Rose vouching for you certainly brings some validity to your story. How can I doubt my most prized member, am I right?" asked the Paladin Lord.
"Is that supposed to make me feel any better? Do all of you guildmasters see me as someone who is delusional that live in my own fantasy? I know my curse comes out once a while but I am far from being removed from reality," I pouted.
"Well.. your story was definitely filled with craziness that all of us had trouble believing. To have dreams becoming reality is just so.. bizarre. Not to mention even affecting the weather? Out of this world indeed. I'm a bit worried the next time I go to sleep since dreams and illusions can become a reality," said John with a shrug.
"Why would you go to sleep when you have a beauty by your side every night? Planning on making another one?" I poked John with my elbow.
"It is not easy for an elf to conceive, I tell ya. You're lucky you chose Rose instead of Lily. Conceiving Aloe is no joke I tell ya man. Speaking of which, have you seen her recently?" chuckled John.
"Ah, to be young again. You youngsters certainly have a bright future ahead of you. Speaking of which, why does it feel like you barely aged at all? I might be old but you looked exactly like you were when you fought the Queen if my old brain serves me right," asked the Paladin Lord.
"Yeah brother, what are you smoking that keeps you young?" asked John as he smacked my back.
"I.. don't really know either. Things changed after my resurrection but I still don't know what Lily did to me. She won't tell me or Rose at all which is strange. Been wondering ever since whether resurrecting me broke some of her law or something. I've not seen her after she came to visit me around 5 years ago." I put on a thinking face.
"Been a while since I last saw her indeed. Wonder what's she been up to? She's not in this city for sure. Maybe she's avoiding you again," John shrugged.
Damn, a part of me worries for her as she had only met us once within these 15 years after I fought with Tom. Then she disappears again and barely even shows herself in the city. Where are you, Lily? What you're been up to? I hope you are not in a pinch or started avoiding me again. You promised you won't be doing that anymore.
As we were heading out of the castle, Rose stood by the main gate while swinging her pocket watch or constantly flipping it open. The only missing thing is a cigarette in her mouth and a cowboy hat. She seems to be uneasy by the way she acts. Did the preparation for the church went sideways or something?
"Rose, what's going on? Why are you acting so flustered? Did something happened to our plans?" I asked her.
"Onii-chan, don't get mad, okay? I think I might have.. accidentally broke my watch," she whimpered at me with teary eyes.
"D.. did you drop it or something?" I asked her with disbelieve.
"What? No. It just.. stopped moving all of a sudden. I'm not sure why but it just doesn't move anymore," said Rose as she handed her watch to me.
I inspected her watch and see no scratches or any cracked glass. It looks brand new to me. I took out my watch and gave it a check. It was still moving so at least one of us can still tell the time when we're in a pinch. I guess since I will be paying a visit to Stein, it wouldn't hurt to let him check on why the watch is no longer moving. Guess Stein's creation is not faulty proof after all.
"I'll ask Stein to check on it when I visit him. I'm sure he is eager to understand why the watch stops working when you didn't drop it or anything," I told her.
"Oh, can I come along? I am really curious as to what other invention he had made. And.. I also like to hear you talking all smartly, Mister Genius~" she whispered to me.
"Rose.. John and the Paladin Lord are here with us," I reminded her.
"What? I didn't say anything weird like "Hawk Tuah" or something," she shrugged.
"Rose! What the hell?! Just.. stop talking. You say weird things in public sometimes," I closed her mouth with my hand.
"Ahem.. if you two are done with your flirting, shall we proceed with the raid on the church? I am sure the members are itching for me to give the order," coughed John.
"Right. Go ahead then. I will meet them at the church. Let the raid commence. I look forward in seeing what their miracle cure and other dark secrets lie in there," I rubbed my hands together.
A place of worship filled with dirty secrets. Not the first time that had ever happened. I'm getting exciting in tearing that place apart if I so much as find a single demon hair or claw inside. As what Rose says, it is only a matter of time.