"…The Mechacore Silverheart, huh?"
"I think I can remember a bit about that God since I once encountered their Proxy as a mercenary." Nathan uttered, as he stood outside the High Admiral's office, before walking off, "The only God that vaguely interacts with humans, and calls those who garner its gaze their Proxies, which is equivalent to being referred to as a genius by a God."
"…Then, was the High Admiral a Proxy? I sorta doubt it as he would have much more influence otherwise, but it's quite likely…"
Nathan noticed a small crack in his body, that looked similar to a claw mark. This reminded him of something, or, more accurately, someone.
"I don't remember her name… but, I do remember someone called Sera… I wonder where she is. Or, where the others are." Nathan said, quietly reminiscing about his time in the Kalpas Empire.
"Also, I do find myself missing the guys on the spaceship. Like Aston, and most certainly Velvet. The other Mecha Knight, Akar, was quite a leader too."
Nathan chuckled.
"Though, I'm sure that they're still alive. Zoom, it may not be probable, but Velvet, Akar and the others are too strong to die that easily, I'm sure of that."
[…Humans.]
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Nathan asked, jokingly, "But, besides that, since I have the time, a whole week, I better see if I can buy a phone or something. I do have a lot of credits left over, let me see…"
His eyes turned strangely digital as he searched his cyber bank account for the amount of credits he had. Thankfully, he had acquired quite a lot from his time as a mercenary. 5.7 million credits in total.
"Good."
He stared around, almost admiring the view for a second, before locating a large, vibrant store, that sold all kinds of mechanical parts, tools and especially, phones. He entered.
"…Hm… any phone will do for now. I don't know of the latest models, since I lost my old phone a long time ago."
"I thought I wouldn't really need a phone as a higher-ranked mercenary, but look at me now…"
He chose a Dupli-Phone II from one of the shelves and brought it to the front counter to buy it. After having his eye scanned by an unusual machine, the payment was settled and ready to go.
"…This is unlike the phone that Aston had. He said that he had one of the latest models… oh well. I'll just change it later on."
He wandered through the pedestrian lane for a while, searching around for something to do. Yet, because of his large stature, he couldn't see the fact that people were staring at him, though he received fewer gazes than when he was escorted by an Admiral and Vice Admiral.
In an age of technology, news spread so quickly that even a small rumour could become "truth".
So, the many people who had taken images of him secretly had painted a rather grand picture of him, saying that, somehow, he was a Royal Inquisitor from the Inquisition Division of the [[Grand Imperial Alliance Army]], the gargantuan army of the Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds.
And so, you can imagine Nathan's stupefaction as a hooded man tripped onto him, and at the same time, an energy bomb strapped to that man activated, with the strength to obliterate multiple city blocks.
Or, that would've been the case if Nathan had not acted immediately, identifying the threat nearby with the help of Zoom, and slicing him, as well as the energy bomb, which was quite large and visible, into two pieces.
"What…?"
"Is that man… dead?!" Someone cried out, as they saw cirrenite fluid leak from the body.
"No... No, it was a lunatic from the [[Salvation Church]]! They tried to kill everyone with a bomb, right there, but he saved us!" Someone else blurted out.
"…He… he saved us!"
"The Inquisitor saved us! Praise to the Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds once more!"
"Praise to the Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds, for saving the planet, and praise to the inquisitor, for saving us once more!"
Meanwhile, Nathan looked intrigued.
Zoom, what is this Salvation Church they are talking about?
[According to my database, it is a religious organization, split into sub-factions that are spread across the galaxies, that worship the [[Old Gods]]. They seek to destroy not only the Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds but the Gods of the Cosmos themselves.]
"What?!" Nathan exclaimed, receiving expressions of fright and surprise after his act of heroism.
He quickly bowed his head towards them and retreated into a small, but surprisingly clean alleyway so that he could talk to Zoom more openly.
"What do you mean? How are they planning to destroy the Gods of the Cosmos?"
[According to logic, it is impossible to kill what cannot be understood. The Gods of the Cosmos cannot be understood. There is not even a single reason why they are so incomprehensible and abnormal, yet nonetheless, they still exist.]
"Right?" Nathan replied. Though he wasn't an avid believer in the Gods beforehand, after experiencing their power for the first time, it made him feel a feeling similar to fear, but a whole lot worse. That was a very well-known side effect of the Gods' remnant power.
[However, the Salvation Church, with its different sub-factions worshipping different groups of [[Old Gods]], may have more than just violent acts of protests up their sleeve. Up until now, not even an executive of the Salvation Church has appeared, despite the organization being incredibly massive for one that opposes the Imperial Alliance of Human Worlds.]
"Huh… I guess that's why I haven't heard of them before. Yet, somehow, people on this planet have. Has the Salvation Church been operating on this planet?" Nathan asked himself, "From what I've seen … that is very much likely, seeing as someone from the Salvation Church dared to do something so openly destructive."
"…Right. How about I help clean up some of the scum on the streets too then? I've never really been shy of helping people without payment anyway, and it'll be a useful way to pass the time."
Nathan left the alleyway, still receiving stares, and kept the symbol of the Salvation Church in his head, shards of broken glass surrounding a bright sun. What it represented was extremely vague.
"Hmm… but, where should I start?" Nathan muttered to himself, "It's not like an organization of that magnitude is suddenly going to reveal itself to me. I might not even find a single hint leading to them, but…"
Before his mind could even register, he turned around within a fraction of a second, and barely glimpsed a concealed figure standing on the rooftop of a towering techno building. This was not Zoom's doing, but his instinct as a human, combined with the natural processes of a cyborg alerting him of danger, stronger than even a Juvenile Sea Space Lord.
A drop of sweat rolled down Nathan's face, but instead of feeling defeated, his lips curled slightly.
"If this is a threat, you'll surely regret it."