Penelope still felt troubled and anxious, unfulfilled, like something was wrong, even after the officer had promised them they’d find Amelia and bring the black mages to justice. Perhaps it was because she felt like she wasn’t doing enough. True, she’d reported it to the officers, but… she should do something else. She couldn’t just sit around while her friend was possibly suffering.

“Should we… tell the cathedral about this too?” Penelope turned to Jack and asked.

Jack blinked. “The cathedral?”

“Yeah, the cathedral.” Penelope nodded. She’d never visited a cathedral before, especially since she had no money or no items to donate. The healers would only help those who were truly devout to the Inheritor of Light, after all. And she didn’t have enough money to be devout.

However, she’d heard that the healers and members of the cathedrals hated black mages with passion. They’d hunt them down if they ever got to know the location of a black mage.

True, the officers were already working on it and searching for her friend, but… the more the merrier, right? She was sure the officers would be pleased to have the help of the cathedral too. Which, they were probably already approaching a cathedral to ask for their assistance with this.

She might as well tell some healers and members of the cathedral too… She couldn’t just sit idly.

And she didn’t want to return to the orphanage, not… with the matron dead. It was very selfish of her, but she did not want to. She didn’t want to confront that reality. She could… She had to help her friend first. The other older kids could manage on their own. It wasn’t like Penelope or Jack could do much even if they returned.

What would their presence at the orphanage even change?

Jack hummed under his breath, seemingly thinking through what she said for a few seconds, before nodding. “Sure, we could go, but would a healer or a priest of the cathedral even listen to us? The city guards, at least, have some minor obligation to listen to us… A healer wouldn’t.”

“We can try,” Penelope muttered, and Jack nodded once more.

—

William chanted under his breath as he walked to the cathedral. The cathedral he was a healer at wasn’t a big one. It was close to the slums and near the poorer districts, so it didn’t make a lot of money. Naturally, it was far more minimal than the other cathedrals. But well, he didn’t mind.

With his mana capabilities, it wasn’t like he could do much besides heal minor injuries anyway, so… Really, even being taken in in this cathedral was purely because of how devout he was. He’d memorized the entire holy book filled with chants, and one of the higher priests was impressed with him.

But that did make him wonder, what was the higher priest so busy with that he needed to call him to the cathedral? The messenger, a lower priest just like William, had said that the higher priest had to go to the palace ‘because of some work’, so they needed people to manage the cathedral. William was better than nothing, in the end. Even if he couldn’t heal big injuries, he could at least minimize their pain and soothe them using his light mana.

Letting out a sigh, he continued chanting from the holy book, when a kid’s screams broke him out of his reverie. Turning, he saw two kids being dragged by two city guards. They were both screaming, saying incoherent and unconnected things—

“Arresting us—”

“Liars—”

“Help—”

“Black mages—”

William paused, his eyes narrowing. Black mages? Did he hear that right? What were they talking about? 

Instinctively, he knew something was wrong here. Very, very wrong. He walked towards the guards, his expression stern and his eyes burning. He stepped in front of the city guards, making both the kids stop screaming and the city guards stop walking. Normally, the city guards wouldn’t have cared, simply pushing anyone who stopped them out of the way or walking around them, but they stopped because of the chain on William’s neck.

The chain that only priests wore.

“Priest,” one of the guards addressed him. “Please, move out of the way. We must take these kids to the station—”

“Why?” William asked, and the guard paused, seemingly caught off guard. 

The guard sputtered for a few seconds before replying, “Well, they’ve been a public nuisance, some of the residents near the cathedral put forth a complaint!”

“N-no!” the girl protested, her expression one of pure fear. “We didn’t make any nui—”

The other guard slapped her hard enough that the girl’s face snapped to the side. The boy’s eyes widened, and he lunged, trying to escape out of the guard’s grip, but he couldn’t. He was a malnourished, skinny kid, in the end, being held by a bulky, trained guard. 

William’s eyes widened at this scene, and he barked, “How dare you?!”

The guards looked at him, not even bothering to explain themselves now. They were about to simply pass by him, when William grabbed one of the guard’s shoulders—the one who’d slapped the girl. Before the guard could simply shake away his hand, however, William threatened, “I am a priest, guard. I can use mana. Do you want me to?”

The guard grit his teeth at William’s words before stopping, looking at him with a gaze that could burn buildings. “What. Do. You. Want. Honored. Priest?” He forced out each word like they were poisonous, like it was hurting him to even try and speak them.

“Why are you arresting them, honored city guard?” William asked, similarly vicious in his tone.

The guard paused and took a deep breath. “As city guards, we have the right to arrest suspicious individuals, even without a complaint, dear priest.” The guard held onto William’s wrist and, with surprising gentleness, pulled it off. “Not to mention, we did get a complaint about these mongrels. Even as a priest, you have no right to stop nor question us.”

William narrowed his eyes. “Then what were they screaming about? Black mages, was that right?”

The other guard’s eyes widened briefly. Very momentarily, but William still caught it. Before they could try to cover it up with some argument or ‘reasonable’ statements, William continued, “As a priest, I have the authority to investigate anything related to black mages. You know this too, don’t you, dear guards?”

“This isn’t related to black mages—”

“Yes, it is, black mages!” the boy shouted, and the city guard bit his lip at this.

“If you attack the boy or try to silence him,” William said before the city guard could do anything, “I will assume you are accomplices to a black mage. Now, honorable men such as you would not want that, yes?”

Very, very unwillingly, the two guards nodded, and then let them go.

William smiled victoriously.

—

“My, my. What a mess this has become,” Neol whispered as he listened to what the guards told him. Not only did two kids try and complain about black mages, they then went to a cathedral and, before the guards could arrest them, were helped by a passing priest.

He licked his lips as he leaned back into his chair, thoughts passing through his mind rapidly.

Then, within a few seconds, he came to a decision.

Something had happened in the palace, so all the higher priests were not present. Light mana was weak offensively. The cathedral would only have lower tiered priests and those specializing in light mana. The cathedral was present in a poorer district. The members that were present in the cathedral would either be there to seek medical attention or to pray.

Killing them would not pose any problem.

He could hardly let news about his dear customer leak to the higher priests, could he? Not when he was a very close accomplice to the amazingly rich black mage. Not when it meant he would undoubtedly be hanged for even daring to do what he’d done.

The solution was simple, then.

Neol smiled.

—

Neol wore the skull mask, before drawing the hood onto his face. He looked at the members of the information guild who’d readily volunteered themselves for what they were about to do. Many of them were the leaders—the leaders who were in on everything already anyway. The others were highly trusted members, the kind that would ask ‘how high?’ if he asked them to jump.

However, even they wouldn’t have casually agreed to murder if not for the gold coins Neol had thrown at them. All of a sudden, murder seemed so easy, so palatable, so fun to all of the people present here.

All of them wore the same skull mask as him. Only their eyes could be seen, two small holes present for them to breathe from. 

“You understand what to do, yes?” Neol asked, slightly muffled. “Make sure to leave behind the trinket.”

—

“Oh my Inheritor,” William gasped, cupping his mouth.

This was an insanely big matter. Black mages taking orphans, presumably for experiments, the city guards being in on this and trying to assist them, a matron killing herself due to the guilt…

This…

This was not something he could handle.

He had to tell a higher priest and pass the information on to other cathedrals. If the top healers or priests got to know about it…

Yes, they could deal with it. They could deal with this matter.

The higher priest would return soon, probably, as soon as he finished with business in the imperial palace. Then William could take the kids to him, tell him what had and was happening, and then he would inform the other higher priests.

Yes.

Right.

Everything was in control. He just needed to wait. The guards would not dare do anything or try to take the kids away from the cathedral, so all he had to do was wait.

William didn’t even bother considering that the black mages would do something before the higher priest arrived. Even if the guards informed the black mages about what happened, they wouldn’t dare attack a cathedral. That would be the same as declaring war against the entire church of the Inheritor of Light.

That would be insanity.

No black mage would dare do that. It would be simpler to flee.

Hands trembling, he looked at the two kids in front of him. These poor, poor kids…

He couldn’t even imagine how they must be feeling right now, if William felt so panicked. Not even mentioning the other kid who’d been taken by the black mages. He found himself praying to the Inheritor of Light, hoping she was safe. Hoping that she could still be helped.

Feeling a pang of sympathy, William asked, “Want something to drink, Penelope, Jack? We only have water at the cathedral, but I’m sure I can find an apple or mix some sugar into the water—”

Suddenly, screams tore out from outside their room.

The small chamber they were sitting in was used for confessions and was tucked away at the front of the cathedral. The screams were coming from the entrance, the main hall, the place of prayer.

William felt his eyes widen at the screams as he stood up, running to the door.

He opened it, and what he saw was pandemonium.

Men donned in pitch black robes and wearing skull masks rampaged through the hall with machetes in hand. Whoever they could get their hands on, they swung it at.

No bias. 

No hesitation. 

Nothing.

Anyone and everyone.

Kids, women, men…

Blood began dying the floors, walls, benches, and even the Inheritor of Light’s statue red as they chopped at the people. Some repeatedly chopped the same person.

William watched on with wide eyes as heads rolled, bodies were thrown, and then, one of them spotted him.

They ran at him, machete in hand.

Perhaps William was so caught off guard or he simply couldn’t process what was happening at all, but he didn’t run, didn’t move. Perhaps a part of him hoped he was hallucinating the entire thing. Perhaps it was some odd nightmare. 

Either way, he simply stood there as the man leapt at him and chopped. He fell onto the ground as the machete swung at him. 

He tried to do something, anything!

Yes, he could call upon his mana!

Though what he’d do with it was beyond him too, but he could do something. He summoned as much mana as he could, which was more than he thought he could, and let it flow, flow out of his hands.

But all it did was shine and temporarily blind the man.

And ease William’s pain.

That split second was enough for William as he pushed the man, even though his body screamed at that action.

But the man didn’t budge.

Perhaps it was because William was lying on the floor and the man had already gotten a good spot over him…

Or perhaps it was because William was far too weak, even when he was fine, let alone when chunks of his body were missing—

But either way, his light only stopped the man from seeing.

Not chopping.

William’s death wasn’t pleasant.