“Hmm…” Nicholas closed his weathered eyes for a moment. “I believe I can answer that. Captain, do you not feel it is natural to thank the ones who created the world? After all, it is the Gods’ and Goddesses’ love that granted you the blessing of life.” 

“With all due respect, my mother and father were the catalysts that jump-started my life,” Fisher replied. He didn’t expect to get into a conversation like this, but this back-and-forth gave him an excellent chance to learn more about the Bishop as a person.  

“That is true. Your parents’ parents gave birth to them, and so on and so on. However, if you trace back far enough, you will come to an end. Once you return to zero, where can you go from there? The Gods and Goddesses are abstract. Their existence defiles common sense, meaning that they can go beyond zero. Therefore, your blessing of life originated from them, and I can carefully say that without them, you wouldn’t be here. When that infernal beast and his flock showed up, I gave them a small sermon about the creation of our world and life. After hearing the ultimate truth, their hearts were touched by my holy words, which allowed them a chance to return to the Gods’ favor by devoting themselves to prayer and devotion.” 

That was certainly an odd way to phrase that. I scanned this man up and down, but I don’t see any kind of artifact that would grant him the ability to control minds. Unless it’s a skill… There isn’t a Warden-sanctioned skill that can do that, but if it’s imparted from a God… 

Fisher leaned up, adjusting his stance, and asked something that had been growing in the back of his mind. It was a small gnawing feeling concerning the truth of someone divine in nature, and it just so happens that it would momentarily be put to excellent use. “Speaking of the Gods and Goddesses, and I apologize if this is sacrilegious, but is there a list of their names? I’m sorry if it’s out of the blue.” 

“There is no need to apologize. Luckily for you, I do have a book that contains the entirety of the Divine Pantheon. Would you care to see it? I do not mind showing it to you.” Before hearing Fisher’s response, the bishop stood up and walked to the display case. Producing a pair of keys from his Dimensional Storage, he unlocked the glass panels, slid them to the side, and retrieved the only item that wasn’t a jewel-encrusted scepter. “While I have the time, I may as well explain a few things about the church to you. I hope I’m not offending you, but you don’t strike me as a man who is familiar with my faith.” 

Fisher stayed quiet, and Nicholas interpreted that as permission to continue. The wrinkled bishop locked the display case and returned to his seat. Both of his aging hands supported the thick book with as much tenderness as a mother would hold her newborn baby. “The symbol you see on the cover is called the Mantle. The diamond represents the border of our world—the absolute limit to our understanding as mortals. The interlinked circles are meant to be us. A circle, in theory, is never-ending. It is meant to be infinite, which signifies our faith in the Heavens Above. With that in mind, you can hazard a guess that the interlinked circles represent all of the mortal beings joining together to worship our creators. Items with the Mantle on them are only given out to the especially pious believers. 

“That is true most of the time, I should say. When I completed my advanced training, my instructor asked me if I wanted a gift to commemorate my ascension to bishophood. I mentioned something about wanting a personalized token of the Gods and Goddesses I would gladly die for, and he managed to convince the Cardinal to give me a holy relic. This book is inscribed with the names of every Divine Being, their classification, their blessing, and the skills they can impart. Please, you are free to look through it to your heart’s content, but I ask that you treat it with care and respect.” After placing the book down in front of his guest, Nicholas leaned back, crossing his legs, and watched as Fisher carefully scanned its content.  

It seems to be labeled in alphabetical order… There’s my God, Blethor… And I see my daughters’ Goddesses as well… But there isn’t an Itarr…  Fisher turned and flipped the pages, eventually reading the encyclopedia of divine knowledge from cover to cover, and he still hadn’t found anything relating to a particular goddess. Nicholas saw a small amount of frustration build on Fisher’s brow.  

“Is there something wrong?” he asked.  

“I’m looking for an ‘Itarr,’ but I can’t seem to find her name.” 

“Itarr?” said a confused Nicholas. He had studied the book for over a decade, memorized all of the Divine Beings’ names and abilities, but by no means did he ever recall reading about an ‘Itarr.’ He asked for it back and searched through it himself, then slightly frowned when the mysterious name wasn’t present. “Where did you hear this name from?”  

“Not from anywhere important. I was out on patrol when I heard someone talking a few meters away. I swore I picked up on ‘Itarr,’ but it’s such an odd-sounding name that I couldn’t help but investigate further. I don’t know why a part me thought it was a Goddess when it very well could have been a nickname for someone,” lied the captain.  

If I can believe the bishop, then that book can’t be wrong. Itarr claims to be a Goddess, yet she isn’t mentioned anywhere at all. She did lose her memories, but what if she’s something more? If there is a higher tier above God and Goddess, then is Itarr a member? No, it’s always possible for Itarr to be lower than them in terms of the scale of creation.  

But her power is astronomical. When I searched for her name in the book, not a single God or Goddess had anything remotely similar to her Absorption, True Immortality, or Skill Stacking. A very few number of Gods did have Mental Casting as a skill they could have imparted, but that just suggests she’s on the stronger side. Regardless, there wasn’t anything in there about controlling minds. I did see a few hypnosis-like skills, but what’s affecting Jeri and Sea is far more than that. I still can’t shake this feeling...but I can't act on just feelings. I have my instinct, and I need to trust it.

“Bishop, if you don’t mind me asking, is that scepter another holy relic of yours?” asked Fisher. Nicholas stood up and took his precious book back to the display case. He placed it inside while taking out the scepter.  

“It is. Before I found my calling as a priest, I was once an apprentice to a blacksmith.” He held in his weathered hands, his palms wrapped gently around the uneven shaft. A careful hand went up to the head while memory-filled eyes traveled to the past. Days of sweltering heat and arm-shattering hammering went into creating the flawed, lop-sided weapon he held. “This was to be my final exam, and I failed it. My instructor berated me for seven days and nights about the thousands of errors he saw. He wasn’t a good man, and he wasn’t a good teacher at all, but he was the first to take a chance on me. That’s why I haven’t thrown it away…” A soft sigh escaped Nicholas’s dry lips.  

“Then what about the jewel lodged in the scepter’s head? Where did that come from?” asked Fisher.  

“When I joined the faith, my superior was a collector of rare jewels. He was a rich man, and while most of his money went to the church, he always kept a few hundred thousand dupla in case anything caught his eye. Once he laid eyes on this interpretation of the Mantle, he just had to have it. Unfortunately, he was often sick and weak, and all of the apothecaries and doctors he went to told him he didn’t have long to live. I suppose he wanted to leave his apprentices a gift, and he turned it into a contest to test our faith. Through some miracle of luck, I emerged as the winner, and this jewel is what I chose. And since I wanted to combine the two parts of my life, I went back to that blacksmith and paid him to embed this beautiful piece of work onto my scepter.” 

“I see…” replied Fisher, who analyzed this new information. His mind worked overtime, trying to decipher what newly found knowledge could be thrown away and what must be kept. His eyes closely examined the jewel that definitely did not suit the weapon it was attached to, yet it just looked ordinary.  

If the church is behind it, then it might just be a misdirection. Then again, when the impossible is eliminated, whatever remains has to be the truth, and I could see it going a few ways. One: the church has nothing to do with Jeri and Sea, and they’ve turned into religious fanatics with no outside help. Two: the church is responsible, and they’ve hidden the method of mind control. If I hadn’t known an immortal girl and a Goddess walked amongst us, I never would have fathomed this… But until the church shows their hand, I can’t do anything. I don’t even think the governor could do anything because we just don’t have any proof.  

“Captain Fisher, would you let me pick your brain for a moment?” asked Nicholas. He had already returned his precious scepter to its rightful place and sat down in his rather expensive office chair.  

“What’s wrong?” I don’t know if I can get any more information, but I’ll try. I should look for a proper way to leave as well. I’m starting to get a headache… 

“When you think of the word ‘festival,’ what comes to your mind? Is it fun? Family? Experience? Food? Satisfaction? Tiresome? Loathness? Exhaustion? Devotion? Gods? Goddesses? Worship?” 

“I would say fun and family. My daughters love the summer festival. My wife enjoys it as well. And I can’t say I’m any different. One of my fondest memories is a family portrait I had commissioned at a festival some time ago. It was hard getting Mari and Meri to stand still long enough, but all it takes is just one look at it and I’m transported back in time to a day that’ll always remain in my heart. Are you not a fan of them?” Fisher asked. He spoke the truth when he answered Nicholas. Meri and Mari were two bundles of unlimited energy whenever it was time for a festival. They’d bounce from stall to stall, cheering and laughing as if it was the end of the world,  and a happy Marissa would join her daughters in the barrels of fun they would have. Unfortunately for Fisher, he’d always have to work most of the day, so it was rare he would actually spend more than a few hours with his family. 

Perhaps this year will be different...

“Hmm… It’s a good answer, and one I expected.” Nicholas crossed his legs and folded his hands on his lap. A smile crawled across his lips, and he began to speak. “I used to think like that. I still do, but it’s not as often. When I was younger, I couldn’t wait for the harvest festival, the summer festival, and the winter festival. When the fields had a good year, my village would even throw a New Year’s festival, but that was rare and in between. But as I grew older, I saw them for how they were. These ‘festivals’ lacked the purity they once had. Before my very eyes, they went from thanking the Heavens Above for a bountiful harvest to a harboring dastardly desire to profit off of everyone’s faith. And it wasn’t just in my village.  

“I became an apprentice of a blacksmith in the nearby town when I turned 15. I stayed there for half a decade, and the horrible disregard for faith allowed a myriad of sins to fester and bloom. Everything against the church’s teachings was allowed, even encouraged, if you had the money. That, my dear captain, is when I found my true calling to practice my faith. I’ve always felt that something was missing from life, and I realized it was up to me to bring the faith back to the forefront of our lives... My instructor… The one who taught me the ways of the church also shared my sentiment when I confessed to him the reason for my joining.  

“But back on the topic of festivals… The original meaning has been lost to time. That is why, between you and me, I absolutely despise this time of year because it’s a reminder that I haven’t accomplished my task. As a man of the cloth, all I do is for those that rule from a destiny I cannot perceive. Seeing faith pushed onto the sideline in exchange for some extra dupla sickens me. And I know what you’re about to say, captain. Or rather, I know two things. I’ll allow you to ask the first, and I’ll answer the second. The only reason I went to my blacksmithing instructor to fuse the jewel to my scepter is because he had packed up his shop and moved about 45 kilometers away to another town. He was as sinful as they come, but I cannot deny he took excellent care of me during that half-a-decade I spent under him.” 

“Then I’ll ask it. Your words and this church’s lavishness do not align at all. Why is that?” Fisher said. He straightened his posture and stared into the bishop’s eyes.  

“If I had it my way, I’d settle for something smaller. But the Cardinal in Adenaford is in control of every religious institution in the Kingdom of Lando. He was the one in charge of this church’s building plans, and he’s the one who’s constantly making changes. Did you know that before the late governor passed away, the Cardinal had sent in 9 alteration permits for various changes? I find it insulting, to be quite frank. That, and allowing a battle-hungry Kobold to obtain the position of priest… I know that embarrassing stain on our faith had to have bribed his way in… In what world is one of those things smart enough to even began to lead a flock of worshippers?” Nicholas's biased feelings emerged like a murky-headed beast from the depths of the ocean. Within seconds, the otherwise calm atmosphere was tainted by cruel breaths of racism and bigotry.  

What? Is he like that Kobold? They both have their preferred ideology they want to follow. One wants to help people, and the other is relentless in the idea of pure worship and changing the meaning of ‘festival’ back to what it was before…  

But his words… How could he talk that rudely about one of his priests in front of me? Does he think I won’t care? Does he think I’m on his side? It’s pretty disrespectful of him, but now I have an inkling of Nicholas’s true worth as a man. It almost sounds to me like he’s vying for the Cardinal's position. But I’m sure he isn’t thinking of stopping there… I can see the desire for power hidden within his withered eyes… It says to me that he won’t stop until he’s standing at the top… In any other man, I’d respect it the determination, but I can’t respect him…  

“Ah, I apologize for my words, Captain Fisher,” said Nicholas. The sleeves of his bishop robe had skidded up his arms until elbows were showing, and a fierce, passionate sweat had accumulated on his collar. The salty liquid had already started discoloring his clothes, meaning he would have to change before the next service. “I’ve seemed to have gotten quite heated.” 

“Please, don’t mind me at all,” Fisher lied, then he used this moment to satisfy a curious urge of his. It was a hint that might lead to a dead-end, but it was something to follow up on now that Nicholas had revealed his true feelings. “But just from hearing you speak, I take it you’re a core believer in the church’s tenets? It is ashamed for me to say this because of my position, I should have been far more knowledgeable about it, but I regret to say that I only know the basics.” The captain said all of that to alter the course of the conversation into something he could probably use.

He still felt the truth of Jeri and Sea’s drastic alternation lay in the church. If Nicholas’s distaste for same-sex, interracial best friends holding hands was just as fierce, then he could probably work with that.  

Nicholas re-crossed his legs and began to verbally speak the core tenets of the church. 

“The one thing you should know is that we do not approve of any intimate relations between those of the same sex. Those of our faith believe that a man should lay with a woman, and a woman should only lay with a man. In addition to that, we forbid any interracial relationships that have a foundation built on romance and list. The furry-tailed Singi should only stay with their fellow beasts, the wrathful Kobold deserves to be with the other brutes of their kind, and so on. Wouldn’t you agree that this would be for the best? The Gods rely on us to keep their beautiful world populated with newborn blessings…  

“Ah, before I continue, I should clear up a common misconception about us. Recently, as in the past few years, a particular unsavory rumor has been the source of many of my headaches. It proclaims that we preach that only Humans have the right to serve our Gods and Goddesses after death. That could not be further from the truth.  Anyone, and I do mean anyone, will find comfort in the arms of our creators as long as they are a firm believer in our faith.” 

Fisher remained quiet, yet Nicholas took that to mean he agreed with him. By all accounts, the Captain of the Guard did not agree with what his ears were forced to endure.  

“Do you know why the church requires anyone, even those heathens who don’t believe in our faith, to be licensed if they wish to provide healing?  It’s to teach the value of hard work and effort. We cannot give handouts to those who refuse to better their lives. 

“Riddle me this, captain.  Let’s say you and I grew up together. The village elder decided that you and I would receive a full day’s worth of food. You will be given it for nothing, but I would have to work all day in the fields to get a token to cash in for food. That isn’t fair, yes? It’s the same with the healer’s tax. Why should some people receive it for free, thereby benefitting from it, when others have to work to pay for it?  

“Speaking of that, Captain Fisher, I hope you remember to send in your tax. It might be a good idea to remind those under your command to confirm their licenses are in good standing. Still, it is certainly a difficult thing to enforce, especially when there is word of illegal medics operating in every town, village, or city. I suppose that just means we of the faith have to work that much harder to make sure our rules are followed to the tee. It will be rewarding work, mind you.” 

Those were the main rules of the church, but Fisher didn’t see a reason why they felt so strongly about those two subjects in particular. It wasn’t any of his business if two women were to get married, and he didn’t care if a noble had to pay 10 dupla to get healed while a beggar received it for free. Some people in life were born with a rotten spoon in their mouths, and due to a dragon-sized list of terrible occurrences and bad luck, they often stayed within poverty’s foul reaches. And yes, it was true that when the stars aligned just right, a poor man could rise to the top and become a noble.  

But just because someone managed to break free, did it mean it was morally right to hold everyone to that standard? Was it right for society to write the exception into law, punishing those that did not or could not follow it, for any number of reasons? 

“Whoops! I suppose I should have started off with the biggest one, and that is the church’s belief that it is correct to own slaves, whether it be Humans or Demi-Humans. That’s a right we believe in, and it’s one we will protect. And it all goes back to what I talked about before. Why would you get a full day’s worth of food for doing nothing? The obvious solution, and keep in mind this is all a theoretical example, was to use your laziness to my advantage.  

“In this example, I’ve been working all day for many days. It wouldn't take much for me to overpower you, who received food for free. I could then force you to work the field to receive a token, which would then be taken by me. If I worked as well, that would mean two tokens for me. That will give me two days' worth of food for me, and you will only receive a day’s worth.  

“Ah, but here’s the thing. Since you’ve would have worked for it, you would get a feeling of pride and accomplishment, and you would therefore feel better about yourself. Perhaps you would have eventually gained the strength to fight me for your freedom. But since you’ve chosen the lazy path at first, it proved to me that you don’t care about your self-worth as a person, which means your worship wouldn’t have helped the Gods and Goddesses in any conceivable way. 

“Admittedly, I could have used a better example because there are clear-cut rules that prevent someone from dominating a person walking down the road and dragging them to a slave master.  However, do you get the gist of what I’m trying to say?” 

“In your words, are you saying slavery is a punishment meant for the weak? It’s for those that didn’t put in the effort to do something with their lives?” 

“You hit it right on the nail, captain. If someone is enslaved in the first place, it just means that they were just too weak. The world can’t revolve around the pathetic. What would the Gods and Goddesses think if they found out just how unworthy their worshipers were? Such a disgrace would shame me into slitting my throat since I could not handle their sad gazes. To be frank, when Canary was attacked by those freedom fighters and freed the slaves, I was destitute. An influx of the weak was released back into the world, poisoning the strength gained with their enslavement… I wallowed in a murky pit of sadness and prayed for their hasty and quick capture… ” 

That justification for slavery is paper-thin. It’s obvious it’s just an excuse to obtain a workforce that doesn’t need to be paid. With the right argument, anyone could call anyone weak, and within the church’s eyes, have the legal right to enslave them. Hell, even I could overpower him and take him as a slave. …Not that I would do that, however… But in accordance with what he told me, he'll have no choice but to accept it.  

The rule he mentioned about laws forbidding that very thing is real, and it does exist. But like most things, it can be circumvented as long as one has enough money. Because let’s face it… The world revolves around dupla.   

And it’s the same paper-thin justification with the church’s rules about same-sex and interracial relationships… Why would they care if two women were to get married? Or if those two women were a Singi and a Human? Wait a minute… 

Really, if I think about it critically, having rules forbidding those two things will pander to those that are naturally bigoted and hateful. If they had the backing of a large organization like the church, they’d be less likely to open their mind and think from the other side. And the church is a massive organization with a ton of influence. I bet that if someone did the math and realized the church would make more money by promoting equality and fairness for all, they’d start preaching it in a heartbeat.  

But that’s a far cry from happening. What about Itarr, though? She’s a Goddess, but her name isn’t the book he showed me. Even if it was, would the church even believe her? They’d probably claim she was a false idol sent to poison the minds of their believers.  

The words Fisher heard from the bishop rubbed him all the wrong way. He really wanted to leave right then and there—to head back to the headquarters to examine the pile of reports that needed to be tackled. That was going to be a long pain, but he was forced to listen to Nicholas rabble on about the other sinful things the church has a distaste for. Such examples were things like theft and murder—the common elements that most people would agree weren’t good. And there was even a small rule about honoring parents and grandparents, which would have been right at home in a Sunday School setting.  

If only they taught and promoted this…