Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 21 - Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Hardball Negotiations

THERE’S AN OLD SAYING: “When you swallow poison, don’t forget the plate.” In other words, if you’ve been poisoned you might as well eat the plate that came with it. This proverb was from an era where it was normal to use hard bread in place of a plate. You put meat—or whatever the main dish was—on top to give it flavor, then tore it up and dipped it in soup to soften it before you ate it. “Don’t forget the plate,” therefore, meant “finish your meal.” Eat everything you’re given, even if it’s poison. Everything’s a gift.

Yeah, I’m just bullshitting.

What it actually means is if you’re going to die anyway, you might as well get a little adventurous. It’s quite a positive message. You usually don’t eat plates, after all. The idea is that if the poison kills you or the porcelain shredding your stomach does it, it’s the same difference. Might as well live a little.

I made that up too, obviously.

Anyway! At that moment, I was in the building Aisha had set up as the mercenary office. It was in the Merchant District, underneath a closed-down bar. I was surrounded by barrels of preserved food and rows of black coats yet to be processed. The teleportation scroll had brought me here—a bidirectional teleportation circle I’d set up just in case something like this happened. 

Sitting in front of me was a woman. She always put on a cutesy little girl act, but in reality she was probably over twenty years old.

“This place has a lot of character, doesn’t it?” remarked the Blessed Child. She sat with her knees bent and her feet to her sides, right down on the dusty floor, even though I hadn’t bound her hands or feet or anything. I’d taken her from the garden to here.

“What were you thinking?” I asked.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Appearing at that critical moment, then not even trying to run away…” When I thought about it, the timing of her entrance had been perfect. It was like she’d been lying in wait so that she could politely cooperate with my kidnapping scheme.

“I happened to step out then, that’s all,” she replied. “No one told me about that terrible fight… When I came out and everything was all covered in mist it gave me quite the scare.”

You made up your mind pretty quick for someone who happened to step out then.

“You’re lying.”

“Oh, yes. The truth is, I looked into the memories of one of my minders and learned what Therese and the others were going to do to you. That’s why I came outside.”

“Huh… You were coming to rescue me?”

“That’s right. Then when I came out and looked into your eyes, I knew what had happened right away.” 

The moment she made eye contact with someone, she could see their memories. It was impressive that she’d found my eyes through the Magic Armor, but maybe that was a part of the power. It wasn’t like I understood Zanoba’s uncanny ability, either.

“I am on your side,” she said. “I want to help you.”

I didn’t reply. Instead, I pointed a finger at her.

When you swallow poison, don’t forget the plate. I’d already kidnapped her, so I was already screwed. No more plans. We’re doing this.

I had two cards left to play. Myself and this girl. Let’s imagine the worst-case scenario.

The pope, the cardinal, Therese, and Claire were all my enemies. Working as agents of the Man-God, they’d already taken Cliff, Aisha, and Geese prisoner. In the half-hour or so since I took the Blessed Child, the Temple Knights were already moving. My assumption that no one had seen me teleport was wrong—someone had seen me—and the Temple Knights were headed here now. I hadn’t had time to set up a transport circle for the Magic Armor Version One, so I’d cast Quagmire to bury it in the garden for the time being, but the Temple Knights had already dug it out and carted it away.

That would be about as bad as it could get. Bad enough that if things actually turned out that way, I’d be screwed… I had to find a way out of it with just two cards—my own fighting abilities and the Blessed Child.

“Blessed Child,” I said, “before I trust you, I have some questions.”

“Naturally,” she replied.

If I was going to make this work, I needed to question the Blessed Child. I could decide whether I could rely on her later—right now, I needed information.

“What is your power as a Blessed Child?”

“Don’t you already know?”

“I want to hear it from you.”

She might tell me something different from Orsted. I wanted to check.

“I can see the surface of people’s memories.”

“The surface?”

“Yes. Things that are on their mind, and the associated memories. Only a little, though.”

“What’s the difference between that and reading minds?”

“The difference is that I only see the past. Though if I maintain eye contact, I can go back as far as their memories extend.”

So it’s less that she sees into their memories than that she sees bits of their past that relate to whatever they’re thinking about.

“You only see it?” I confirmed.

“That is correct.”

“Say a person lost their mind. Could you bring them back to themselves?”

“No. I imagine it could be possible if I used my powers in conjunction with healing magic, though.”

She can’t bring Zenith back.

“Meaning…you can’t actually read minds.”

“No, but I can use what I see to guess,” she said. She couldn’t see what I was thinking right now, but it was impossible to carry on a conversation while constantly thinking about something else. If someone asks you, “What did you have for breakfast?” you’re not going to have scientific musings about why the sky is blue at the front of your mind.

“I see why no one with a guilty conscience wants to meet your eyes,” I said. She was a lie detector through and through. All she had to say was that your eyes had met, and that was enough to establish guilt. There was no way to tell if she herself was lying, but I guess nobody watches the watchmen. She could condemn anyone she didn’t like; that was how it worked for a Blessed Child. You only had to look at Zanoba to see how this kind of power made you an asset and an incredible threat. So long as someone with power backed you up, you’d be safe.

“You aren’t averting your eyes, Sir Rudeus,” the Blessed Child pointed out.

“I guess my conscience is clean.”

I’d kept my eyes on hers for a while now. Part of it was just that I didn’t give a damn anymore, but also, if she could see the past, maintaining eye contact would save me a lot of time explaining.

“Perhaps not, but are you sure you don’t mind me knowing everything else?”

I didn’t reply.

“Goodness, Sir Orsted has a curse like that…ah, the Man-God…their first words were…oh, dear!” The Blessed Child’s face suddenly turned red.

What, did you see something dirty? Don’t you see that stuff all the time in inquisitions? You must get a good look every time a Millis priest sleeps around.

“Two at once, dear me…two, yet still love…oh…oh, an altar…wait…oh!” She was sweating and out of breath.

Saw something you shouldn’t have, hmm?

“What did you see?” I inquired. 

“Heres—” She coughed. “Ah, I mean, I see those not of the Millis faith have rather extreme…that is to say, different rituals, to ours…”

“You just saw the core of my soul.”

“I-I see,” she said, flattening the hem of her skirt and drawing back from me a little.

Relax. Maybe the Roxy faith isn’t as pure as yours here in Millis, but it’s still a pretty nice shade of blue. You won’t find any ero doujin stuff here.

We both coughed. “Let’s get back to business,” I suggested.

“Yes, that sounds good,” she agreed.

The Blessed Child seeing all that wouldn’t cause me any problems, but it was a bit embarrassing having someone know about it. If she’d seen me doing it with both of them, she might know what I said then, too.

It’s not like that! I just got a bit overexcited and it slipped out. This never happens to me!

Anyway, back to our conversation.

“First, I want to know how this happened. Who do you think is pulling the strings here?”

“I imagine it’s either His Holiness the pope, or the cardinal who wants to depose him. I shouldn’t think that the Man-God is involved.”

So the top dogs of the Demon Expulsionists. But what about the Latrias…?

“You don’t think the Latrias are involved?”

“It is possible someone else is using them, but I don’t think they’re behind all of this.”

So Zenith’s abduction wasn’t related. Right now, we were down to the papalists, or the cardinalists. Both leaders were suspect.

“What makes you think the Man-God isn’t involved?”

“If His Holiness were to submit to the Man-God, it would bring disgrace upon the whole of the Millis Church. His Holiness may not be a good person, but I cannot fault his faith.”

“But how can you be sure?”

“When I look into his eyes, I shall know.”

Okay, stupid question: Could I trust her?

“If you don’t trust me, you’ll be best served using me as a hostage to get what you want.”

“I’m not holding enough cards to make that work. The Temple Knights are probably already moving in on me. Even if I demanded something in exchange for you, I’d still—”

“I am everything to the Temple Knights,” she said, cutting me off. She smiled dreamily at me. “The Temple Knights—no, the whole demon expulsionist faction—know that if I die, they lose their chance at victory.”

“Basically, whatever they try to tell me, if I go hardball and threaten to kill you, they’ll do anything I want?”

“I flatter myself to say that yes, I am that valuable.”

I wonder… Crap, I better not have to watch Aisha die in front of me because I trusted you.

“The Temple Knights aren’t dumb, and they’re not incompetent either,” I said. “For all I know they arrested Aisha and already got this location out of her. Hell, they wouldn’t even have to do that. If they were keeping an eye on me, they’ll come looking here right away. They could charge in and rescue you while I’m off making my demands at the church headquarters.”

“Then clearly you should take me with you when you make your demands.”

“Bold move, but if they ambush us on the way it could turn into an all-out battle.”

“Surely you could take down the lot of them? You held your own against the likes of Sir Orsted and Auber, did you not?”

She’d seen that too? Sure, it was possible that I could hold off the Temple Knights. Not to brag, but I’ve done my fair share of mowing down small-timers. You could call me Rudeus “camp the noobs” Greyrat. Back in the garden battle, I took care to hold myself back, but if I’d been fighting to kill, they wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“Besides,” she continued, “if we were attacked, it would be by papalists, not the Temple Knights.”

“How d’ya figure?”

“The Temple Knights won’t do anything that could risk my death. The pope, on the other hand, would be delighted if I just happened to die.”

If you asked them, of course the papalists protected the Blessed Child. If there happened to be a fight and she happened to get killed in the crossfire, however…that would only be good news for them.

“What if the Temple Knights use barrier magic or something to steal you back without risking you getting hurt?”

“You just defeated the best fighters in the Temple Knights. It’s not their style to repeat a failing strategy. They wouldn’t take the risk.”

The guys from before were their best fighters…? I mean they coordinated well, but seriously…? No come on, that’s not fair. They were good enough to keep firing magic at me even while dodging my Stone Cannons. And that guy didn’t hesitate when he tried to go up against my Magic Armor with a sword. 

Assuming they were, on average, Advanced-level Sword God Style and Advanced-level Water God Style, with intermediate attack magic, intermediate barrier magic, and intermediate healing magic, they were a seriously elite and versatile team. There was a bit of individual variation to account for, but their seamless coordination against me was a testament to their overall caliber. Okay, Therese was a class below the others, but she’d been a capable commander. I was pretty sure that I could have held my own even without the Version One, but they would’ve had a real shot. I’d still taken out their best guys, though, so maybe she was right…

Hold up, we’re only talking about the Temple Knights here.

“Aren’t there Missionary Knights and Sanctuary Knights as well?” I asked.

“Those orders serve the Holy Country of Millis,” replied the Blessed Child. “They don’t get involved in the petty quarrels of the church. Besides, the Missionary Knights are out of the country at present.”

They’re not even here? I was starting to feel like I might have a chance. I’d show them my hostage and engage them in fair and honest negotiations. 

After this sudden, violent attack I, the almighty Rudeus, follower of Orsted, have taken offense. Though I would be within my rights to draw and quarter the Blessed Child and cast down the light of the Holy Church of Millis, I shall be merciful. If you comply with my demands and apologize directly, I shall forgive you, and spare the Blessed Child’s life. 

Work in progress, we’ll go with that. While I negotiated, I’d get the Blessed Child to work out who’d betrayed me and the identities of the Man-God’s disciples. It was possible that some of this would come and bite me in the ass later, but assuming the negotiations themselves went smoothly, I was confident we could get out of the country unscathed. The mercenary band would probably have to wait. That was fine. I’d come back in a few years, once Cliff had established himself as a major player, and we’d talk then. I’d have to keep an eye on things, though. If, for example, it turned out that the pope was a disciple of the Man-God, I’d have no choice but to tear Cliff away from his ambitions in Millis. It wouldn’t be fair to him, but sometimes life is unfair.

“If the other knight orders concern you, I suggest you act sooner rather than later. If they did arrest one of your friends, the longer we wait the more likely it is that something terrible will happen.”

“Agreed.”

Only an hour had passed since I’d kidnapped the Blessed Child. The worst-case scenario was that Aisha and Geese were already under arrest, but there was no way the knights had had time to find them both, arrest them, and torture them yet. Still, the longer I hid, the more desperate they would become. People do crazy things when they’re desperate.

Okay. The next bit is going to be a gamble. If this goes wrong, someone is going to die along with the Blessed Child. I have to be ready for that.

I wanted to feel ready, but I didn’t. What I wanted was a trump card to store up my sleeve.

“Hey,” I said.

“Yes?”

“Why are you helping me, anyway? How come you just stood by and let me kidnap you?”

The Blessed Child gazed at me, puzzled, then she smiled softly. Now that was a smile befitting the symbol of the Millis Church.

“I owe my life to you and the warrior of the Superd tribe,” she replied. 

Did she see that in my memories? Or did she look into Eris’s memories last time? Impossible to say, but it was Ruijerd and me who brought Eris to Millis last time. 

I was skeptical all the same—her answer was too much like what I wanted to hear.

“Does that not convince you? Then how about this: I was angry—angry to see my new friend and my most trusted servants forced to kill one another.”

Hm…

“I also wanted to thank you,” she went on, “for all the time you spent with me making me laugh, and for the picture you made for me. As Saint Millis says, ‘Thou shalt be gracious and repay that which thou receivest.’”

Hmmm…

“From the beginning, I intended to find a way to help you in secret when you came seeking assistance on your mother’s behalf…but you did not ask it of me.”

When I still didn’t say anything, the Blessed Child pouted, and said, “You only kidnapped me in the first place because a single glance told you that I wasn’t your enemy, isn’t that right?”

“I suppose,” I said.

Yeah, I suppose I had thought that. That was why I’d grabbed her right away, and how we ended up back here, having this conversation.

Right. Too late to have second thoughts. Ending up on the back foot is what got me into this mess, and thinking isn’t going to make it better.

When I went in next, I needed to make sure I was in a stronger position so I could get what I wanted. My goals were as follows:

One: Get Zenith back.

Two: Guarantee Aisha, Geese, and Cliff’s safety.

Three: Make sure I didn’t cause problems for Cliff down the road.

Four: Get the mercenary band up and running.

Five: Get permission to sell Ruijerd figures.

Six: Make Millis my ally.

My immediate objective was to tick off one and two. 

This time, I was going to make the first move. I’d drawn a good card—the Blessed Child. Not that I was a dud card myself, mind you. The thing to do now, then, was to take my turn first and without warning…before yet another idiot who didn’t understand what was going on could complicate things.

“If this all gets worked out, and I don’t make enemies…” I said at last, “I’ll bring Eris to visit next time.”

“Please do,” said the Blessed Child.

Off we go, then.

***

Back to the church we went.

It must have been two or three hours since my fight with Therese’s gang. There wasn’t a single Temple Knight out on the streets. It was almost eerie. That had to mean Geese and Cliff hadn’t informed on me. I’d gotten myself and the Blessed Child out of the garden with a teleportation scroll. Most of society didn’t even know that teleportation circles existed, never mind scrolls. The Temple Knights had sealed the entrance to the garden, so the logical assumption was that we were still inside. It would take whoever was in charge maybe an hour to deduce that we’d gotten out, and then they’d move on to the next step: calling in the rest of the Temple Knights to search the city. Tack on another hour to put together a search team. Finally I added an hour for delays and hold ups…by now, they might have locked the city gate, but they shouldn’t have mobilized quite yet. Mobilizing a sprawling outfit like that isn’t easy!

Cliff and Geese were both aware of teleportation circles. Geese was there when I set this one up as an emergency escape route, and Cliff helped when I drew the teleportation circle in the basement of our office in Sharia. More to the point: if Cliff or Geese had turned on me, the Temple Knights would have known where the teleportation circle led to. I could rule them out right now as snitches. But the pope and the cardinal should have guessed I was getting around using teleportation circles. They’d collected enough intel on me. The same went if the Man-God was pulling the strings from behind the scenes.

I’d ruled out every suspect. Weird. Just a few hours had passed, but surely my opponent was back footed. There was no way Therese had actually been acting alone. Right?

We arrived at the church headquarters while I mused on the matter. As we approached, a procession of dudes in blue armor came filing out, one after another.

“It’s the Blessed Child…”

“Rudeus brought the Blessed Child!”

“Call for reinforcements!”

More and more and more of them emerged from the church, and from the city around us. In a moment, we were surrounded. How was I gonna pull this off?

“Sir Rudeus,” said the Blessed Child, “whatever you do, don’t let go of me.”

I didn’t reply. She was my lifeline. I kept my grip on her arms.

None of the Temple Knights had their swords out, but they sounded pretty upset. They weren’t gonna risk hurting her. Just like the Blessed Child had said.

“How could you treat her with such violence!”

“By taking the Blessed Child hostage you bring shame upon all believers in Millis! You won’t get away with this!”

“Rudeus, you bastard…even I’ve never laid hands on the Blessed Child…”

That’s um, an interesting thing to be mad about, I thought. Before I could even get a word in, everyone had assumed that the Blessed Child was my hostage. Okay, well, not wrong. After knocking out her guard and spiriting her away, what else were they supposed to think? Maybe whoever was behind all this knew how it’d look.

“Captain, let’s get him! After his fight with the Keepers of Anastasia he can’t have much magic left,” said one knight.

“Not yet—he must have enough in reserve to kill the Blessed Child,” cautioned another.

The first replied, “No problem. If we all attack together, he’ll save his own skin before he tries to harm her.” That one kept trying to rile the others up. Was this the mastermind’s agent?

“Who does he serve?” I asked, keeping my voice low. “The Man-God?”

“No,” the Blessed Child whispered back. “He works for His Holiness, the pope. He has no connection to the Man-God, and I don’t think he knows the details of what’s happened.”

Okay, yeah. Maybe I’m getting paranoid. Right. Time to get the ball rolling.

“I demand to speak to the pope about today’s events! Out of my way!” I bellowed in the loudest, most imperious voice I could manage. In response, the Temple Knights got rowdier.

“How dare you!”

“You think the pope will grant an audience to a worm like you?”

“Release the Blessed Child at once and face judgment!”

A few even began to draw their swords.

When the Blessed Child twitched in my arms though, all of them begrudgingly returned their swords to their scabbards.

Hot damn, they’re totally powerless against her. I got the picture after the Keepers of Anastasia, but she’s literally an idol to them.

Here goes… I cleared my throat.

“My name is Rudeus Greyrat! I represent the Dragon God Orsted! I swear upon his mighty name that I do not wish to harm the Blessed Child!”

I raised my left hand, showing them the glittering bracelet Orsted had given me. It wasn’t the strongest proof of identity, but it made for a decent bluff.

“However!” I continued. “If my request to speak with the pope is denied, I cannot guarantee her safety! Know that by making an enemy of Rudeus Greyrat, the Church of Millis will be the enemy of the Dragon God and all his followers!”

I was playing hardball here. I’d even memorized a little speech. I was using Orsted’s name without permission, but that should be fine. Also, he didn’t actually have that many followers. Details.

The Temple Knights recoiled a step away from me. With just a few words, I’d made them see me not as a petty Child-nabber, but a big deal with organizational backing.

I had my cards lined up. Great.

“I demand an explanation from His Holiness himself for the disgraceful assault I suffered earlier today! Why was an attempt made on the life of the Dragon God’s representative? Why is my mother being held captive? The answers to these questions will decide whether your Blessed Child lives or dies!”

Hey, I’m just a visitor here. One day, without warning, I was accused of plotting a kidnapping, and an attempt was made on my life. Now I’m mad. Really, I’m furious. I want an apology, and compensation. And while I’m here, I’m making Zenith the Holy Millis Church’s problem, too.

There was a pause.

“What do we do…?”

“What are we supposed to do? He’s got the Blessed Child as his hostage…”

The Temple Knights still didn’t let me through. They kept dithering. I guess a bunch of grunts didn’t want to make the call themselves.

Maybe if I waited, their commander would come out. At least, that’s what I was thinking, when–

“Let him through!”

“Get out of the way!”

“Are you going to let the Blessed Child be killed in front of us?”

All of a sudden, there was a minor commotion at the back of the group. Four men and women pushed their way through. I knew three of them. They were from the Keepers of Anastasia. It hurt to look at the dents in their armor. One of the three was Therese. She saw me, then looked down in shame. 

The fourth person was a man in his late fifties with a white beard. His face was covered in deep wrinkles, but his gaze was sharp and youthful. Who was he? I’d never seen him before. He wore blue armor, the Temple Knight uniform, but his armor was a little more elaborate than the others. A level up from Therese’s.

If the dudes around us were normal temple knights, and the Keepers of Anastasia were grunt temple knights, and Therese was elite, then this guy was the King of the Temple Knights.

“I am the commander of the Sword Company of the Temple Knights. My name is Carlisle Latria.”

Oh. So this is Carlisle. Grandpa.

“I’m sorry we have to meet under such circumstances,” I replied promptly. “I am Rudeus Greyrat, son of Zenith Greyrat.” Carlisle eyed me like a hawk. His eyes were even more piercing than Claire’s. On that point, husband and wife resembled each other. I didn’t want to fall into a verbal tug-of-war with this guy.

“Is that all?” he said.

“…No.” It took me a moment to work out what he meant, but then I remembered my exchange with Claire, and shook my head. Here, I was Orsted’s follower. I was still Zenith’s son, of course, but that wasn’t the role I was assuming here. There couldn’t be fair negotiations unless we saw each other as equals.

“I am Rudeus Greyrat, representative of the Dragon God Orsted,” I said, puffing up my chest and sticking out my chin, like I’d seen Eris do. “I have come to demand an audience with his Holiness the pope.” 

After I was finished, Carlisle’s face softened for a brief moment. “Hm,” he said. Then, his expression closed off again. “I’ll take you. Come.”

With that hard look fixed on his face, he turned and marched away. Therese and the others followed, looking troubled.

“What do you think?” I asked the Blessed Child quietly. 

“It appears that Therese was merely following the orders of the Cardinal,” she replied. “Carlisle wouldn’t meet my eyes, so for him, I cannot say.”

That’s a handy trick. So Carlisle was a mystery. He didn’t feel like an enemy, but I didn’t trust him. Best to stay on guard. Leaving behind the Temple Knights who stood back, watching us from a safe distance, I went after Carlisle and the others.

He led me directly to the inner sanctum. As we walked, the other members of the Keepers of Anastasia formed up around us. They weren’t wearing their helmets this time. All of them were up and on their own feet, probably thanks to healing magic. I wasn’t letting my guard down, but their plan wasn’t to attack me, clearly.

In a head-on battle, I’d broken through their precious King-tier barrier and soundly beat every last one of them to a pulp. While they hadn’t been fighting to kill either, I’d gone easy on them. They knew it. We were all very clear on who was stronger here, and by how much. On top of that, I had the Blessed Child. They weren’t about to pick a fight with the guy who’d KO’d them only hours ago when her life was on the line. Why did everyone look so awkward, anyway? Mr. Dust was the worst. He’d been avoiding my eyes the whole time. 

I wasn’t feeling hostility, though. That wasn’t the vibe. They didn’t seem wary of me at all, actually. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they were guarding me.

Hmm…

We kept walking through the inner sanctum for a while. Before I knew it, I’d lost all sense of direction. Blame it on the slight curve in the passage combined with however many seventy-degree corners we’d turned…

Last time I was here I thought this twisty maze of passages were too alike.

“This is like a labyrinth,” I remarked.

“Indeed. It was built this way so the pope and I can make a quick escape if necessary,” the Blessed Child informed me. So it wasn’t barrier magic or something of that nature then. I didn’t need to worry about suddenly being put to sleep or tripping a booby trap.

“That’s right!” The fanboys started proudly chattering around us.

“The Blessed Child knows every inch of these passageways!”

“She always used to get away from us when we played tag!” 

So it was designed like this to let the important people get out. Standard security. But I was starting to lose track of where I was. If I were ambushed from behind, there was no way out… Wait, no, I could just smash through the ceiling and get out that way. Or the walls… Well, they probably had barrier magic on them, but the stone of absorption should take care of that.

Okay. I should probably have thought this through a bit more before I dove in, but everything’s gonna be fine.

“Are we almost there? I’d rather not go too far in…”

“Just a little further,” said Carlisle, without looking back. 

Really? You’d better not be leading me into a trap. I turned a wary eye to the other guys behind us. They all flinched, then started protesting.

“Lord Carlisle! You mustn’t be rude! At least turn around when you address him!”

“Who knows what he might do to the Blessed Child if he gets upset!”

“My lord, look at these dents! Do you see what he did to my Temple Knight Armor? He wields incredible power!”

“Imagine the horrible mark he might leave on the Blessed Child if we offended him…”

“Silence, all of you!” roared Therese, and the otaku shut up. Carlisle stopped walking, then turned. Slowly, to face me.

“Just a little further.”

“…Thank you,” I said with a nod, and we continued on.

We only took another ten steps or so, then Carlisle stopped in front of a door and knocked.

“I have brought Rudeus Greyrat to see you, Your Holiness,” he announced.

It really was just a little further. I felt kinda bad for rushing him. Now I thought about it, I didn’t know which direction I was facing anymore but we’d only actually turned two corners. If I needed an escape route, I had one.

“Enter,” came the pope’s voice. Carlisle faced the door, said a brief prayer, then opened it. He held the door and gestured for me to enter.

“Go ahead,” he said. Keeping my grip firmly on the Blessed Child, I went into the room. Part of me thought surely now I could let go of her…but no. I couldn’t let my guard down yet.

I found myself in what looked like a meeting room. There was a long table at which ten people sat facing each other. One of them was the pope. Cliff was there too, and an old man wearing a luxurious vestment similar to the pope’s. That had to be the cardinal. There was also a man clad in white armor. In the back of the room, seven knights stood with their hands clasped behind their backs. Two of them I recognized as the pope’s guards. Everyone was looking at me. It looked like my entrance had interrupted a fierce debate. They stared wordlessly toward us.

At the far end of the table sat two more people. One was an old lady, her lips set in a hard line as she glared at me. Claire Latria. And beside her…

She’s here, I thought. I finally found her. Seated beside Claire, a woman gazed up at the ceiling with empty eyes. She was close to forty, but she looked younger. The woman my father had loved more than anyone in the world.

It was my mother. Zenith.

Wait, I thought. Why are they here?

What was going on? I hadn’t made any demands yet. I hadn’t told anyone to bring Zenith to me.

Bang.

The door slamming shut behind me shattered the silence. The Temple Knights moved into position in front of it, standing in a row as though to face down the knights in the back of the room. Therese alone took a position at the table.

“Now that all the pieces are on the board,” the pope said from his seat at the far end, “let’s talk, shall we?” Apparently, a lot had happened in the last few hours. So much for making the first move. I was a pawn in someone else’s plan. Again.

“Ugh,” I sighed through clenched teeth.

“Rudeus, Blessed Child,” the pope went on, “won’t you both take your seats?”

It looked like I had a talent for getting caught off guard. But I hadn’t lost yet.

Let’s see where this goes.