In fact, Mike was fairly certain he'd already been here, but didn't think it was important at the time. Who could blame him, though? There were dozens of rooms in this building that had virtually the same layout.

With a shrug, he slipped into the office while using a combination of his stealth skill and Dark Magic to eliminate his presence. He even made sure to hide behind a simple wooden chair set in one corner, just to be on the safe side. After all, he had no way of knowing just how effective his skills would be on someone like the head of a religious order. Once there, he settled in to wait.

"Delivery, Your Holiness." The first of the two acolytes announced.

The Pontifex, who was kneeling in front of a small altar in another corner of the room, raised a hand and murmured. "Please wait until after I've finished the Benedictions of Flame. It is disheartening to see the youthful members of our order so flagrantly disobeying one of our most basic tenets. What reason do you have for doing so?"

She was an older woman, looking to be in her mid to late fifties, steel-grey hair pulled back into a bun. Her thin frame was clothed in a simple white robe that gave no indication of her rank or authority. Indeed, the only embellishment anywhere on her outfit was a plain bra.s.s necklace that carried a pendant in the shape of a solar disk.

"Oh! Ah, my apologies, Your Holiness." The acolyte replied while bowing low, he whispered to his fellow, loud enough for Mike to hear. "c.r.a.p, I totally forgot it was that time of day."

"Idiot! Give some kind of excuse! Like we were pulled away on a critical a.s.signment and couldn't take the time to pray. I really don't want to spend another week in the isolation cells."

"What should I say?"

"Anything!"

"Uhm...well...the thing is, Your Holiness...we weren't able to pray today for a simple reason…"

The Pontifex stood and faced them, one eyebrow c.o.c.ked in a skeptical manner. "Oh?"

"Yes, umm...we had...to...to respond to the call of nature!"

The other acolyte facepalmed.

"Are you suggesting that both of you were...indisposed for the duration of prayers, but somehow still had enough time and energy to carry this crate of ritual offerings from the Dispensary, all the way to my office immediately after they were done? I admit that I take a bit longer than most, since I recite the full pa.s.sage rather than the abbreviated one, but I find that hard to believe."

"Uhh...yes...I suppose so."

The Pontifex frowned, until the second man took over. "You see, Your Holiness, we've actually started praying a little before midday, since our duties as dispensers mean we often have to deliver materials during the traditional prayer times. Ordinarily, we would have been able to complete the Benedictions of Flame and still make our delivery with room to spare, however, things were different today."

"Oh?" That c.o.c.ked eyebrow was back.

"Yes, were you aware that the dining hall served Thurvanian omelettes this morning? No? Well, they did, Your Holiness. Unfortunately, it seems that my colleague and I got a bad batch. To make a long story short, we were forced to spend much of the rest of the morning responding to the call of nature, as he put it."

The Pontifex sighed. "Know this, a true member of the faithful would be willing to complete their prayers, regardless of the circ.u.mstances they find themselves in. That being said, the failings of our bodies are numerous, and not everyone has the will to overcome them, so I will forgive you your failings this time."

The two acolytes breathed a sigh of relief.

"However," the woman continued. "Praying outside of the established times is a privilege of full clergy members. It is not something that you in your novitiate position can do without permission? Did anyone give you that permission?"

"Ah...no, Your Holiness." The second acolyte murmured. "We weren't aware there was a restriction on that."

"Ignorance is no excuse, but you are still young, and there is much for you to learn. Perhaps a week performing penitence in the kitchens will teach you the importance of timing and proper procedure. Report to Jorn and tell him that I've sent you."

"As you will, Your Holiness." The pair intoned in harmony, before straightening and heading to the door.

Once they'd left the room, they began to whisper to each other once more.

"Call of nature? Really?"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it? And we got out of going to the isolation cells."

"By going to the kitchens instead. Well, whatever. At least we'll eat well for the next week."

Mike suppressed a chuckle. [It's good to see that even the church has people like that.]

While waiting for them to finish leaving, he took a moment to use Appraise on the Pontifex, in preparation for the conversation to follow.

-------------------------

Alaine Valakut

Age: 54

Race: Human

Cla.s.s: Hierophant

t.i.tle: Pontifex

-------------------------

[Hmm...I'm not sure, but I think that means she's some kind of Divine Mage. Well, no matter. So long as I prevent her from chanting, it should be alright.]

He went on to scan the rest of the room with Aerosense to make sure that there was nothing that would be surprising. Unfortunately, it wasn't great at seeing things inside of other things, so he had no way of knowing if there was any kind of hidden pa.s.sage or secret cache that might contain some kind of weapon. However, he doubted she was strong enough to really be a threat to him, so he decided to make his move anyway.

Once the coast was clear, he used a bit of Air Magic to softly close the door, and then stepped out with the hood of his robe raised. It didn't take long for the Pontifex to notice his presence.

Looking up from the crate that appeared to be filled with several cloth bundles, she fixed him with an intense stare. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"That's not really important at the moment." He replied while casually taking a seat in the chair he'd been hiding behind. "Suffice it to say that I am here on critical business, and you'd do well to listen carefully. After all, the cause of this little visit is the actions of some of your followers."

Her eyes hardened, and she shot a glance over at her desk, before standing up and slowly making her way in that direction. The action almost looked natural, but it didn't escape Mike's high tier senses. "You'll have to be more specific. I have many followers, and I do not control all of their actions."

"Stop there. If you think I will let you freely use the thing in your desk, you have another thing coming."

The Pontifex grimaced, but stopped walking. "What do you want?"

"As I said, I am here to discuss the actions of some of your followers. Specifically, some of your inquisitors."

Her nostrils flared, "I have no idea what you are talking about. The church of Aminatrea eliminated their Inquisitorial branch decades ago."

"That's unusual. According to one Harold Greyson, they are still very much active, and are currently taking missions." He shot back, making sure to keep a careful watch over her expression.

At Harold's name, there was a flicker of recognition, followed by confusion that was quickly pulled under the mantle of steely calm. "The man you speak of is a member of our clergy. Although he is somewhat radical in his beliefs, he is not, nor ever been, an inquisitor."

[Either she's an excellent actor, or she didn't know about this. Is there perhaps a secret faction in the church?]

"You say that, but not only does he hold the High Inquisitor cla.s.s, but the Divine Scourge t.i.tle as well. Are you absolutely certain of his affiliation?"

"A Divine Scourge, you say?" The Pontifex asked, rage dripping off every syllable. "They dare bring back the Anathema?! Tell me, where are those fools? Who sent them on this mission?"

"A colleague of mine currently has them under guard after they attempted to attack the Hero Almir." Mike had to take a moment to school himself after that statement. The embarra.s.sment of calling himself that was almost too much to bear. "As to your second question, short of torture, there was little we could do to get a straight answer out of the man. Since we didn't want to make an enemy of your church...yet...we decided to go straight to the source, and hear your side of things."

"Those idiots tried to attack one a Tier 4 in broad daylight?" The woman asked while rubbing her temples with one hand, suddenly looking very tired. After a few moments, she added in a much more respectful tone. "I take it that means you represent the Hero of Almir?"

"You can say I'm affiliated with him, yes."

"So one of his followers, then. Very well. Please take a message back to your master. We of the Aminatrean Church sincerely apologize for any difficulty that might have arisen from our members' actions. If you would be so kind as to return the guilty parties, we will make sure to have them thoroughly punished."

[Well, that would take care of one of my problems, but simply giving them the inquisitors would be letting them off too easily. Hmm...should I try to extort them a bit? Even if they did attack me, I'm not really interested in being the enemy of one of the largest religions in the world...Then again, a little shouldn't hurt.]

"That's all well and good, but it seems to me that you are forgetting something."

"Oh?"

"Regardless of the reasons, members of your church attacked the Hero of Almir. Are you really planning on denying any responsibility in this matter?"

The Pontifex favored him with a long, hard stare. Finally, after a few minutes, she sighed. "Although this is clearly the action of a rogue element within our order, I suppose it doesn't change our culpability for allowing them to act in the first place. Very well, once the guilty parties are delivered, we will make sure to pay you reparations for the trouble."

Mike took that moment to stand, using a bit of Air Magic to push the door open again. "I will leave the amount or contents of said reparations to your discretion. Expect your 'rogue elements' to be delivered to the roof of this building within the hour."

He began to leave, but stopped as the Pontifex spoke up one more time. "You are fairly young, are you not? Yet you managed to sneak in here, one of the more well guarded locations in our little complex, without any trouble. That the Hero of Almir has such capable people in his employ is surprising. Perhaps even a little concerning. Tell me, what does your master plan on doing from now on?"

[Fis.h.i.+ng for information, is it? Does she think that I am an easy target or something? Maybe a little rea.s.surance will keep her from doing anything extreme.]

"My a.s.sociate's plans are his own, but I can a.s.sure you he has no intention of harming this country, nor seizing power for himself. Indeed, if you recall, he spent a good deal of time fighting to save it. What sort of sense would it make to ruin it now?" He shot back, and then paused for a few seconds to see if she had something else to say. Once it was clear that she was waiting on him, he added, "If there is nothing else, then I will be taking my leave."

The Pontifex remained silent as he walked out the door and into the hallway, bypa.s.sing a distracted receptionist in the process. The man appeared to be pouring over a ledger of some kind with almost fanatical zeal.

Checking to make sure that the woman hadn't followed him out, he doubled back and reactivated his stealth skills, positioning himself in the hallway across from her office.

[Now, let's see how this all plays out.]