Chapter 946: By Imperial Order

By the time the priests finished sealing the idol, Vlad had stopped thinking about bandits. The little statue now rested beneath several layers of blessed cloth, wrapped tightly enough that neither its horns nor its folded wings pressed against the leather pouch. The priest carrying it still held the thing away from his body.

Soldiers continued searching the ruined houses while the mercenaries examined the roads leading out of the village. Every few minutes, someone called for a mage or a priest to inspect something beneath the rubble. Nobody had found anything that made the situation easier to understand.

Vlad had brought enough men to hunt down a bandit company. Against ordinary criminals, six mounted knights, trained infantry, battlemages, and several priests would have been more than sufficient. Demon worshippers required different preparations, particularly if they had already sacrificed the inhabitants of more than one settlement.

He needed to know what they worshipped, what they were trying to accomplish, and whether anything had answered them. He would also have appreciated knowing those things before meeting whatever waited at the end of their apparent route north.

The reports from Solania had made that much clear. The Demon King had not even descended with his full strength, yet the Holy Order had failed to contain the disaster. Fortifications, holy wards, experienced knights, and a summoned Hero had offered considerably less protection than everyone had expected.

Vlad glanced toward Vask. The young man stood beside Father Pedri with his hand resting well away from the old sword at his hip. He watched the soldiers work without asking questions or appearing particularly interested in the weapons they carried.

A strand of divinity, according to the priest. Vlad had no idea what that meant in practical terms, but he had seen the light beneath the rust. If the boy possessed a useful blessing, perhaps the Holy Order could make something of him. Their Hero apparently needed all the help he could get.

That was another matter requiring proper investigation. Vlad approached Father Pedri while the old man brushed dirt from the lower edge of his robes.

"You’ll have to come with us."

Pedri stopped brushing his clothes. He took a slow breath, then placed both hands over the top of his staff. Whatever patience had allowed him to accept Vlad’s earlier declaration appeared to have reached its limit.

"I did not wish to argue when you mentioned that earlier, Captain. We were standing over the dead, and there were more immediate concerns. However, I must put my foot down on this. I cannot go with you."

"That is not up for debate. You are the only witnesses we have. You found the bodies, you buried them, and you believe this attack is connected to two others. You will come to the garrison and explain everything properly."

"You mean interrogation."

Vask had spoken without raising his voice. Harven turned toward him immediately, his irritation finding a convenient target.

"Quiet, kid. You don’t know what you’re talking about. Let your elders finish speaking."

Vlad did not look at the boy or answer him. His attention remained on Pedri, who appeared much less intimidated by the soldiers surrounding him than an elderly village priest should have been. Losing a church might do that to a man. So might burying another village before midday.

"The law of the land is quite clear, Captain. In matters concerning demons, demonic entities, and their followers, the Holy Order takes precedence over local military command."

"Given the current state of the Holy Order, I doubt that arrangement is particularly feasible. My men are here. Your superiors are not. You will still accompany us."

"Then you will have to explain your decision to Titania. I have already sent word to the Holy Order concerning this village, the idol, and the possible connection between the attacks. I expect the Holy Maiden will take an interest."

Vlad stared at him for several seconds. Pedri returned the look with the calm expression of a man who had just placed a much larger problem between himself and the captain’s orders.

The three garrison priests suddenly found reasons to look elsewhere. That alone told Vlad how much support he could expect from them.

He sighed.

"You really got us good this time, didn’t you?"

Harven looked between them, apparently failing to understand why the conversation had changed.

"What do you mean? We can still take them with us." ⅇℓ.

"No, we cannot. Once that report reaches Titania, she may decide to come here herself. The Holy Order has enough trouble after that motherfucker of a pope turned out to be a traitor following demons. She will want answers, and I would rather not explain why we detained the priest who tried to provide them."

Father Pedri’s brows drew together for a fraction of a second. The movement disappeared before anyone looked his way. Harven was still watching his captain, while the nearest soldiers had become far more interested in the possibility of Titania arriving.

Pedri adjusted his grip on the staff before answering.

"The Holy Order has certainly suffered from misguided leadership. That does not mean the entire institution is rotten."

Harven snorted.

"Only someone from the Holy Order would call that misguided leadership. Most of you are rotten to the core. Titania might be the exception, but she has spent years protecting the Empire. The rest of you stand behind altars, talk about piety, and collect money from people who can barely afford bread."

One of the garrison priests stopped tightening the cord around the sealed idol. Harven either failed to notice the look directed at him or had decided he was already committed to the argument.

"You tell them holiness requires sacrifice, then somehow you’re the ones getting richer."

Pedri looked down at his robes. Dust covered the hem, one sleeve had been repaired with thread of the wrong color, and the cloak over his shoulders looked as though several winters had tried unsuccessfully to finish it.

"Well, if there was money being made, I certainly wasn’t receiving any of it."

Harven laughed despite himself. The sound eased some of the tension, though it did nothing to improve his opinion of the institution.

"That’s because you weren’t high enough on the ladder. Climb a few more steps and your pockets will get heavier, your clothes will get cleaner, and your belly will get fuller. I’ve seen enough visiting priests to recognize the pattern."

Vlad allowed the exchange to continue. Harven talked too much when something troubled him, and apparently discovering a demonic idol beneath a ruined shrine had troubled him considerably. Pedri, meanwhile, was handling the accusations with more composure than most officers Vlad knew.

The young knight turned his attention back to Vask. His eyes passed over the patched clothes and returned to the sword at the boy’s side.

"And you should understand something before letting them drag you into whatever this is. Hero, candidate, someone touched by divinity, whatever you call yourself, it means very little unless somebody important in the Holy Order takes an interest."

Vask watched him without responding. Harven gestured toward Pedri, making an unsuccessful attempt to soften what followed.

"No offense, Father, but you don’t look important enough to make anyone in Solania listen. And the boy doesn’t look strong enough to do anything particularly heroic."

Pedri’s expression remained patient. Vask’s was harder to read, although Vlad suspected the young man was making a considerable effort to remain quiet.

"Trust me. I’ve seen the Hero, and I’ve seen what he could do. I’ve also seen the Demon King. A little holy light isn’t going to impress me after that."

Pedri’s attention sharpened. He studied Harven more closely, allowing a moment to pass before asking the question.

"You were at Solania that day?"

Vlad looked toward his subordinate. Harven’s amusement disappeared, and the hand resting against his sword belt tightened before he seemed to notice what it was doing.

"Unfortunately, yes. I was sent there for the Hero’s reception. The guard captain needed additional patrol officers with so many people arriving, so I spent several days watching that bastard parade around."

His gaze shifted toward the broken shrine. Vlad had read the reports and heard accounts from men who had returned from Solania, but there was always a difference between the official explanation and what someone remembered when they stopped choosing their words carefully.

"He liked having people look at him. Enjoyed it when they bowed, when they called him their savior, when everyone moved aside because the gods had supposedly sent him to protect us. You would have thought the Demon King already belonged beneath his boot."

Harven paused to swallow. Nearby, two soldiers had stopped pretending they were occupied with checking the remains of a cart.

"Then something actually came for us."

Pedri said nothing. Even Vask’s attention remained fixed on the knight now, though the boy’s expression gave away very little.

"If it hadn’t been for Ludwig Hart, not one of us would have survived that day. He fought the damn thing to a standstill and drove it out. The Hero arrived late, and when he finally faced something worth being afraid of, he ended up on the ground."