Chapter 189: The Saint Wanted Permission to Purify Me

Raven couldn’t tell whether the slight change in Elise’s expression was doubt, recognition, or irritation.

"Maybe," she said.

That answer surprised him more than a denial would have.

Elise looked toward the dead Hound.

"But there are also people who wait too long because they’re afraid to act."

"True."

"Then you understand why I’m here."

"I understand your reasoning."

A faint trace of relief appeared in her expression.

"That’s something."

"It isn’t agreement."

The relief disappeared.

Valeria laughed softly.

Elise looked at her.

"What?"

"Nothing. I’m only realizing your reputation left out quite a lot."

Elise chose not to pursue that.

Instead, she pointed toward the Hound.

"Tell me how it died."

Raven did.

He gave her the relevant sequence without embellishment: the Hound’s speed, its ability to detect concentrated mana, the failed first rifle shot, and the pattern they eventually found in its evasive movement.

Then he explained the kill box.

Valeria forcing routes.

Roland manipulating its head and attention.

The rifle waiting for a space instead of tracking a target.

Finally, Penance Sanctuary.

Six seconds of complete suspension.

Valeria’s attack disappearing into the barrier.

The stored force.

The explosion.

Elise listened without interrupting.

When Raven finished, she looked toward the damaged walls visible beyond the inn.

"You understood what Sanctuary was doing during the first activation?"

"After Valeria gave it more energy."

Valeria folded her arms.

"We didn’t know it stored attacks."

"You survived discovering it," Elise said. "That’s fortunate. Penance Sanctuary converts incoming force during the suspension period and releases it when the state ends. Continuing to attack can multiply the discharge."

"We noticed."

"How much did you feed it?"

"Enough."

Elise looked at the crater.

"That explains the damage."

Raven watched her.

"You know Penance Hounds well."

"I do."

"How well?"

"I’ve worked with them before. Several Church orders use them for detection, pursuit, and containment."

Raven picked up the white collar from the table.

"And this one?"

Elise’s eyes moved to the gold plate.

"It was assigned to my investigation."

"That sounds different from belonging to you."

"It is."

Raven waited.

Elise understood what he wanted clarified.

"When the regional office approved my inquiry, the Hound was placed under my custodial authority. That means its deployment, examination targets, and use of a Penance Trial were supposed to require my authorization while this investigation remained active."

"You didn’t authorize any of those."

"No."

"Did you order it transported toward Bellcross?"

"Yes. Under seal and with a handler."

That was new.

Raven’s expression sharpened.

"So someone didn’t simply release a Church animal that happened to be nearby."

"No."

Elise’s voice became noticeably colder.

"They took a Hound assigned to my investigation, bypassed my authority, released it against the subject I had been ordered to examine, and allowed it to act on a corruption classification I had not confirmed."

Valeria straightened slightly.

Roland stopped looking amused.

Raven asked, "If it had killed me?"

Elise looked at him.

"Then whoever released it could argue that a consecrated detector identified corruption and responded according to its nature."

"Convenient."

"Yes."

"Would your name still be attached to it?"

A pause.

"Yes."

That mattered.

"So if I died, the record could make it look like your investigation escalated into a Penance Trial."

"It could."

"And if the Hound died instead?"

Elise looked at the corpse.

"Then I arrive to find a suspected corrupted Authority-user standing over a dead sacred beast assigned to my custody."

Raven nodded once.

"Also convenient."

Elise’s expression hardened.

"Yes."

For the first time since meeting her, Raven saw anger without having to search for it.

Not at him.

At whoever had arranged this.

Valeria watched Elise more carefully.

"You’re remarkably calm."

"I’m not calm."

Her voice remained soft.

That made the answer more convincing.

"I’m refusing to decide who is responsible before I see the release records. Someone already made one decision too early today."

Raven liked that answer more than he wanted to.

Not enough to trust her.

Enough to continue.

"Can you prove you didn’t authorize it?"

"I can prove what orders I issued. I can also request the custody ledger, handler seal, release authorization, and regional relay record."

"And if one of those says you did?"

"Then either I signed something I don’t remember signing, or someone falsified my authority."

"You’d consider the first possibility?"

Elise looked directly at him.

"If I’m asking you to submit to an investigation, I don’t get to exempt myself from one."

Raven was silent for a moment.

That was unexpectedly reasonable.

Then Elise ruined it.

"I still need to examine you."

"No."

The answer came immediately.

She blinked.

"I haven’t explained the procedure."

"You don’t need to."

"It isn’t invasive."

"That isn’t the relevant problem."

Elise frowned.

"What is?"

"You just explained that if your examination convinces you Predation has compromised my judgment, you may stop recognizing my refusal as valid."

"Yes, if—"

"And now you want me to voluntarily let you perform the test that gives you the authority to reach that conclusion."

Elise stopped.

Raven continued.

"You control the examination. You interpret the result. And if you decide I’m contaminated enough, you also decide whether I’m still allowed to disagree with you."

"When you put it that way—"

"That is the way."

Valeria’s mouth twitched.

Roland looked down.

Elise exhaled.

"I can explain exactly what the examination does."

"That tells me the mechanism. It doesn’t change who controls it."

"It wouldn’t harm you."

"According to you."

"Yes. According to me, because I’m the person who knows the technique."

"Which brings us back to the same problem."

For several seconds Elise said nothing.

Then she asked, "What would make you agree?"

That was better.

Raven considered the question seriously.

"Nothing today."

Her eyebrows rose.

"Nothing?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I met you less than half an hour ago. Your Church already told me my weapon might be heretical, circulated information about my abilities, ordered me to remain available, and somehow lost control of an Elite sacred tracker that tried to kill me before you arrived."

He glanced toward the Hound.

"I don’t think today is the ideal moment for trust exercises."

Roland coughed into his fist.

Valeria didn’t bother hiding her smile.

Elise looked between them, then back at Raven.

"That is a fair description."

"I know."

"I wasn’t complimenting you."

"Understood."

Elise rubbed one thumb against the edge of Mercy’s sheath.

"So what do you propose?"

"We talk."

"We’re already talking."

"More."

That caught her off guard.

"You want information."

"Yes. About predatory Authorities. About what your Church actually means by contamination. About the examination. About purification. And about whoever released the Hound."

"And after that?"

"I decide whether we keep talking."

Roland covered his mouth.

Elise looked at him.

"Something funny?"

"No, Saint."

"That looked like yes."

"I’m protecting my employment."

Valeria smiled.

Elise returned her attention to Raven.

"That isn’t enough."

"Then force me."

The atmosphere changed.

Raven didn’t move toward the Mk.I.

He didn’t activate Stonehide.

He simply stated the alternative.

Elise could take him by force.

He knew what the numbers looked like.

Level fifteen against a Champion.

A direct confrontation would be less a test of whether Raven could win and more a test of whether Penance Sanctuary worked as advertised.

He had no interest in learning that today.

Elise watched him for several seconds.

Then she shook her head.

"No."

Raven waited.

"I’m not forcing you."

"Today?"

Her mouth tightened slightly.

"Today."

Valeria’s posture eased by a fraction.

Raven noticed.

"Why?"

Elise looked at the Hound before answering.

"Because you knew I was coming and stayed anyway. Then a sacred beast assigned to my investigation attacked you, and instead of disappearing afterward, you dragged its body back into town and waited for me."

"That proves very little."

"It proves something."

"What?"

"That whatever Predation is doing to you, you’re still capable of making decisions that inconvenience it."

Raven considered that.

"You don’t know whether staying inconvenienced Predation."

"No."

"Then that’s a large assumption."

"Yes."

She almost smiled.

"Investigations contain those."

"That seems dangerous."

"That’s why they’re supposed to remain investigations until there’s enough evidence."

Raven looked at her.

There it was again.

That part he could work with.

Elise gestured toward the inn.

"Fine. We talk."

Raven didn’t move.

"One more thing."

She immediately looked suspicious.

"What?"

"Your Hound had an interesting ability."

Valeria closed her eyes.

Roland muttered, "No."

Elise looked from them to Raven.

"What did you do?"

"I studied it."

"I already know that."

"Then why ask?"

"Because the corpse is missing exactly the structures required for Penance Sanctuary."

Silence.

Raven’s opinion of her increased slightly.

She knew the anatomy.

Elise stepped closer to the table and examined the cuts.

"The lumen gland is damaged but partially removed. The thoracic channels are gone. So are sections of the preservation lattice and several carapace nodes."

She turned toward Raven.

"What did Predation do with them?"

That was a much better question.

Raven kept his face neutral.

"Now we’re getting somewhere."

"That wasn’t an answer."

"No."

"You consumed the structures."

"Yes."

"And something happened."

"Yes."

Elise stared at him.

Predator’s Instinct gave the faintest response.

Not killing intent.

Alarm.

"What did you gain?"

Raven decided the information was worth more unrevealed.

"I’ll tell you when I know more about what you know."

"That is deeply concerning."

"I’ve heard that."

Valeria laughed.

Elise looked at her.

"Is he always like this?"

Valeria thought about it.

"He’s getting better."

"That does not reassure me."

"It shouldn’t."

Raven started toward the inn.

Elise remained beside the table.

"Where are you going?"

"You said we were going to talk."

"Yes."

"I’d rather do it sitting down."

"That’s all?"

"There’s food."

Roland walked past him.

"Now I understand."

Elise frowned.

"What?"

"Why the two of you are going to hate each other."

Raven opened the door.

"I haven’t decided that."

Valeria passed Elise.

"Give him time."

Elise looked once more at the Hound before following them inside.

She had failed to secure an examination.

Raven had failed to determine exactly how much authority she was willing to use against him.

Neither had resolved the question of Predation.

But something useful had changed.

Elise was no longer approaching Raven as a problem with a predetermined solution.

Now she had questions.

Raven could work with questions.

Predator’s Instinct remained quiet as she followed him through the doorway.

That continued to bother him.

Elise didn’t want to kill him.

He believed that.

She also sincerely believed there might be circumstances where killing him would be the merciful choice.

Raven had dealt with assassins, fanatics, soldiers, and officials before. Most were easier to understand because their violence came with hatred, orders, money, fear, or indifference.

Elise’s came with compassion.

That might be worse.