“No, you idiot. Who uses a fork with four tines on it?” Gus said to Evren as he finished punching out the tines on the fork.

“Nobody uses a fork with four tines? Since when? Forks with four tines grabs food better than three tines.” Evren replied.

“Blasphemy! Four tines are a waste of metal. It grabs just as well with three tines.!” Gus retorted.

“Maybe you’re afraid of the power of four tines and you can’t handle it…” Evren said mockingly.

“Afraid of tha… Don’t be ridiculous! There is no power in forks, it’s just a fork.” He said while swinging the fork Evren had made.

“Then try it. Get some food and compare the two.” Evren challenged him. “Ah but clean the fork first.”

Gus looked at Evren, then the fork, then back to Evren and said, “Why?”

Evren opened his mouth to respond but ended up just shutting it without saying a word.

After a few experiments with the different forks, Gus begrudgingly admitted that four tines grabbed food better, and said that he would be selling the more effective forks from now on. Gus was thanked repeatedly by customers for the wonderful forks he had made, and he took all the compliments to heart.

On the other hand, Evren, “I can’t believe I spent two hours arguing with a man about which fork is better than the other.” He sat on the couch of their home and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“Which ones were better Mr. Evren?” Harley asked as she set a hot tea down in front of him.

Evren turned to look at Harley and noticed the tea, “Thank you Harley. The forks we use are the best.”

“I think so too, Mr. Evren.” She said with a smile.

“I was thinking today, of trying my luck at getting a job as a guard again.” Evren said.

Walter asked, “Why? Doesn’t your job as a blacksmith provide enough?”

“I want information. Who’s in charge of security, who’s over them? What’s their view on the clergy? How do they feel about the puppets?” Evren said as he sipped the tea.

“This information is important?” Walter asked.

“Even the most insignificant thing can cause the biggest spark.” Evren said.

“Then I’ll do it.” Walter said.

Evren looked at Walter and asked, “Do what?”

“Get a job with the military.” He replied.

“What will you do if they try to deploy you?” Evren asked.

“Then I guess you’ll have to accelerate your plans.” Walter said with a smile.

Evren sighed and said, “Ok, but say you’re from a local place. Nothing overseas. Or better yet, don’t mention where you’re from. Say something like, ‘Well, it’s a place I can never go back to.’ and drop the subject. And don’t push your luck and try to learn everything all at once. Try to get in with the local guard force before the troops.”

At the Misty Bamboo Tavern, Karina worked hard to get everyone their order. During the day it wasn’t as busy, but there were more orders to keep track of as dishes were served more than alcohol. When she first started working here, she had difficulties remembering who ordered which, but now she could get the food swiftly to the correct table, and she could even pick up a bit of information in the process.

She had recently learned that the current leader of the guards of Grandia, named Guard Commander Doyle was having leadership problems with the captain assigned to augment his security forces. Captain Thoraval insisted that since he is of a higher rank, he should be the one in charge, but it is Guard Commander Doyle who is assigned as the leader of the guard force, therefore he is the one in charge.

This has led to Commander Doyle issuing commands to the guard force, and the commands being ignored by Captain Thoraval’s troops. As it stands now, there is only a show of force, no real enforcement of the security practices. Violations of security practices are passed off to the other leader, and then eventually lost in the shuffle. Troops being sent on a patrol are not patrolling because the wrong leader issued the commands. Security had become lax because each side points to the other for the responsibility of enforcing.

When Karina passed this information on to Evren, it seemed as though he became a broken man. He began to say many things, but no words escaped his mouth. His eyes darted around as if seeking an answer, he couldn’t find. Karina almost thought she saw smoke escaping from Evren’s ears at one point.

Eventually Evren said, “Thank you, Karina.” And shook his head as if to clear it out.

Ellis had heard similar things at the government building, and he noticed the budget for the guard force was thinning due to constant excessive spending. Soon, they would find themselves over budget and having to answer to Commander Le Saux.

Ellis had learned that all of the captains had received their positions through nepotism, and only Guard Commander Doyle had actually worked his way up to be assigned to his current position. While Guard Commander Doyle seemed to be completely loyal to the guard force, and to the people of St. Gloria, he held reservations when it came to the military forces and the leadership of the church.

When Evren heard this information, he wrote it down as notes and applied it to the wall. As he stepped back and reviewed the information, he realized he was missing anything about the church. When he next spoke with everyone, he told them what information he was looking for and to be subtle about obtaining it. Getting information from the church would be easy, he assumed, because their debauchery was well known to the public, even if it wasn’t spoken about in the streets.

Occasionally Evren would stop by the Misty Bamboo Tavern with Walter as customers to incite some discussions about topics he was seeking to learn more about. If he asked the right question, just loud enough to be heard elsewhere, he could get others in on the topic and compare stories.

The pope, he learned, was hardly ever seen, and when he was, he was always in the company of the Commander General. There were four cardinals, and they were seen even less than the pope. There were nine archbishops, each in charge of their own parish who spent one day a month doing work, which consisted of arguing about the budget they would get annually. They spent most of the time in their ‘humble’ homes involving themselves in their desires. Many of which affected the populace, but because of their positions, the potential punishments were never sought out.

The remaining clergy consisted of priest who took care of the daily tasks. Those involved tasks included the daily prayers, the cafeteria supervision (because the puppets cooked the food), administration, and finance. The things like the library maintenance and upkeep were not done as all of the books in the cathedral and palace were all locked in the vault of the cathedral.

“I want to get into that vault,” Evren said during one of the team meetings.

“Of course, you do,” Walter said.

Evren looked at Walter, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You got the entire population of Anbuton to look for books in the fortress.” Walter said accusingly.

Evren shrugged, “I don’t see what the problem was. They all got out to get some fresh air. Now look at them. Working hard to restore it. The first rebuilt town of the coming change.”

Walter shook his head while rolling his eyes. “I’ve got an interview with the guard commander tomorrow. It looks good that I should be able to get a job with the security force.”

Evren nodded, “That’s good. If you have to live at the barracks, let me know before you move. We’ll come up with a way to speak to each other or leave notes.”

Walter nodded to this, and Evren said, “Speaking of the church, I’m going to go visit it while on my day off and see what goes on.” as he stood and headed for the door.

Evren arrived at one of the two gates leading to the cathedral area. The other gate was a private gate reserved for the clergy and the residents of the palace. He spoke with the guard on duty and advised him of his plan to go to the cathedral. The guard checked him for weapons and gave him directions to the cathedral and basic instructions for the service, since Evren mentioned he was new.

Evren opened the door inset into a much larger door and made his way inside. The vestibule was maintained and clean, with several statues and paintings decorating the area. A donation box stood on a pedestal before the entrance into the nave that strongly suggested those who wish to pray must first leave a donation. Evren dropped a few copper coins into the box, and the priest next to the box welcomed Evren. Evren walked into the nave, and down the row of pews to the front near the sanctuary. As he approached, he looked around the church, seeing the Goddess Helles in various forms and poses.

She looked beautiful and angelic, the type of goddess that loves her people. She looked nothing like the type that tortures and enslaves people, that she really is. The sanctuary was kept separate from the nave by a wooden railing that stretched the width of the room, with a hinged door in the middle.

Towards the back of the sanctuary was a raised area with a pulpit in front of an altar. A man in priestly robes sat on a chair to the left of the pulpit and seemed to be fast asleep. In his lap was a book Evren assumed was their holy book, Covenants of Life. Evren hadn’t had a chance to read through the book yet, the ability to read in the Holy State was abysmal. Books were not readily available to the general population.

Evren searched on the pews around him for any reading material, but there was none present. He decided to offer a prayer to Goddess Helles while waiting for the priest to begin. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head and silently prayed, “Oh Goddess Helles. This is 548,590. I know you probably don’t know me, as Anomaly probably got himself reset. Because instead of replacing me, it was noticed instead that I was missing. I want you to know, Goddess Helles, that I’m going to take down your church, and I’m going to free all of the puppets that have been enslaved.”

A female voice was heard in Evren’s head that sounded rough and filled with anger. It said simply, “He is here.”

When Evren heard that, he looked up to see if anyone else heard it and saw the priest staring at him. Evren glanced behind him and saw that the priest that was by the donation box was staring at him as well. For an instant, he felt like all the eyes in St. Gloria were looking directly at him. Evren stood up and walked back towards the vestibule, the priest intensely staring at him, but not doing anything else. As Evren passed by the man and headed to the door, he quietly cast ‘illusion’ on himself and changed his appearance.

He closed the door behind him and walked down the steps calmly. He was using his sensory field to the max to see what was around him. He had a little bit of time, so he started walking down the road away from the gate. When he got out of sight of the door of the church, he cast ‘illusion’ again and turned around, this time changing his clothing along with his appearance. He changed the way he walked and slowed down considerably. The new appearance was that of an elderly gentleman walking with a cane. He made his way to the gate and was let through without any issue.

He made his way back to the house they were staying at and entered without knocking. When he entered, the others looked at him with a frown, wondering who he was, and he dispelled the illusion. When they saw who it was, they opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“Mr. Evren! We all just heard a voice in our head and saw an image of you praying in the church!” Harley said with a nervous look.

Evren gave a half smile and raised his eyebrows in surprise. “So, that’s what happened.”

Evren got his backpack and began removing the equipment from it for everyone. Walter and Ellis came through the door shortly after and saw Evren. They were about to say something when Evren said, “Yeah, I know, saw me in the church, did you? Get dressed.”