2:43 p.m.
Temple of Priests Public Office building, Luxen City.
Vivian was inside one of the Meeting Rooms. And compared to the one at the Adventurers Guild building, this one was more refined.
There was a small private kitchen area on the corner, a rectangular table enough for 8 people to sit and hold meetings or dine, a private toilet room and private bathroom, and a lounging area with a triple-persons sofa, two single-person sofas and a coffee table facing a fireplace that was decorated with vases and whatnot. There were also two pieces of paintings decorated on the walls. One was a portrait of a Priest in his 40s with white long hair wearing a Gold Cloak and a gold necklace with a sun pendant, while the other was a painting of a lush and peaceful scenery near a lake.
She was alone and sitting on one of the single-person sofas. She was wearing a fresh set of clothes along with a brand new pair of gloves and a brand new Brown Cloak.
Fuck…!
I didn't expect things to reach this far…!
And that Brother named Gerald…!
I managed to convince him that I would wash his White Cloak before returning it to him…
But he said I don't need to return it if I don't want to...
However, I'm not sure if he noticed my blue blood…
Fuck…!
She swept her gaze around her surroundings.
I've been in here for more than half an hour already…
What's going on…?
Are there any peepholes…?
At least the room doesn't look like something they would interrogate a criminal…
Or torture someone…
Tap, tap, tap…
She began tapping her feet.
What if they figured out that I have Chaos…?
How will I escape…?
Knock, knock.
She heard a knock on the door and she quickly turned her head.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Joshua.
"Sister Vivian," he said and smiled as he made is way to her.
"Brother Joshua," Vivian said and smiled as she got up.
He held out his hand.
"No need to stand up, sister," he said with a smile as he continued to make his way over to her.
When he finally reached her, he sat on the other single-person sofa.
"How are you feeling, sister?"
"I'm fine, brother."
"That's good to hear," he said and nodded with a smile. "I've already talked to the other party and Brother Gerald. Do you mind if I ask you what happened?"
Vivian shook her head.
"Not at all, brother."
"And please tell me from the very beginning."
Vivian nodded.
"Of course.
"The first time I met Mrs. Belfair, it was around 2-3 weeks ago and I was still a member of the Temple of Thieves.
"I asked her helped to be one of the witnesses for a contract between me and an employee of the Adventurer's Guild named Pana. Pana had this friend named Madam Stonnia who owned this hostess club and was looking for waitresses to work at her hostess club.
"Although Pana and Madam Stonnia are women, and they promised me that the work doesn't involve any sex work, as a woman myself, I'm hesitant to just trust people blindly.
"But in the end, when I finally met Madam Stonnia, I was rejected. However, she still gave me 10 gold coins for visiting her.
"After receiving that 10 gold coins and parting ways with Pana, I decided to come here to the Temple of Priests and that's when I met you and joined the Temple of Priests."
Joshua nodded but didn't say anything.
"It was around 3 days ago when Mrs. Belfair started contacting me, asking me to return the favor for helping me. I met with her the next day at the Adventurers Guild, we had a meeting, and she told me that she wanted me to help train her grandson.
"At first, I asked her if she meant if it was for an Awakening Ceremony. But fortunately, she said no. In my mind, I know that some Temples are offering Awakening Ceremony services and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do that.
"However, she then told me that she wanted me to help her grandson train by providing healing magic. And of course, I immediately declined because I know that our Temple provides healing services and I don't want to disrupt our Temple's source of income.
"I then asked her to just ask something simple and explained to her that I'm very busy studying, trying to earn coins to spend for my training, training, and doing Holy Missions. She agreed and we decided to postpone our meeting.
"The next day, or today, when we met once again at the Adventurer's Guild, as I was trying to explain to her that I needed to postpone things because I wanted to focus on doing Holy Missions, specifically, hunting demon-worshippers, but she just wouldn't listen.
"At first, it caught me off-guard and I was so confused because she was literally stopping me, a Priestess, a devout follower of the God of Light, from doing Holy Missions. But then I suddenly remembered my experience with the demon-worshipper bandits and that's when I started to wonder: Why is this person trying to stop me from focusing on Holy Missions? Is this person related to the demon-worshipper bandits? I mean, her sons are Adventurers. On top of that, not long ago, there was this news about Supreme Captain Ronaldo who associated himself with demon-worshippers and tried to start a rebellion. Furthermore, from what I heard, he also used to be an Adventurer. I don't know if people would consider it so far-fetched, a strawman argument or I'm just reaching, but no matter how much I tried to think about it, it doesn't make any sense unless that was the actual reason. I mean, why would anyone try to prevent a Priest or Priestess from doing Holy Missions when the purpose of all Holy Missions is to ease the pain and suffering of people?
"I'm sorry, brother, if I don't make any sense. As you already know, I'm still new in being a Priestess. And the demon-worshippers I encountered yesterday, that was my first time encountering one. And after experiencing that, and also seeing how thankful that family I met, that's when I realized that I could save and help more people by dedicating myself to doing Holy Missions.
"And to be honest, I don't know if I'm being a good Priestess or if this is the right thing to do. I simply, seriously, just want to save and help more people as much as I can. And I believe -- or I hope -- that I can achieve that by dedicating myself in doing Holy Missions."
Joshua nodded.
"I understand what you're trying to say, sister. But I need you to stick with the question I asked you."
Vivian scratched the side of her head and let out an awkward smile.
"Oh… Right… Sorry about that…
"As I was saying earlier, as I started to wonder why Mrs. Belfair couldn't or refuse to understand that I wanted to postpone helping her and focus on doing Holy Missions, that's when it dawned on me that maybe she's a demon-worshipper or a heretic.
"I tried asking her to tell me what was her reason for refusing to understand but she refused and wanted to leave. I then asked her to come with me here, but she still refused. So that's when I decided to arrest her.
"And of course, as I was on my way bringing her here, her sons came along and began attacking me.
"I tried explaining to them that I arrested Mrs. Belfair because I suspect her of being a demon-worshipper or a heretic. But they refused to listen, which I can understand because it's their mother. And given that I was all alone -- it was basically 3 versus 1 with all of them grown men, two of them were Gold Rank I Adventurers and I'm just a young woman, I had no choice but to defend myself.
"But luckily, as I was about to get killed by one of Mrs. Belfair's sons, Brother Gerald came and saved me, and then he helped me escort Mrs. Belfair and her sons here."
Vivian raised her gloved hands and stared at her trembling palms.
"Just between you and me, brother, I was really afraid at that time when I faced Mrs. Belfair's sons and I'm still afraid to face them...!"
She covered her face with her face with her hands and then cried but no tears came out.
"How did things come to do...?! I don't know what to do...! All I wanted was to dedicate myself to serving the God of Light to ease the pain and suffering of people...!"
Joshua didn't say anything and waited for Vivian to calm down.
After almost a minute, Vivian finally calmed down. She rubbed the tears in her eyes with her finger and sniffled a couple of times.
She managed to produce a couple of tears by shutting her tears tightly a couple of times while covering her face.
"I'm sorry, brother, I didn't mean to be so emotional... It's just that... As a woman... It's just so hard to contain my emotions... especially when people try to hurt you despite you doing your best to help people..."
She sniffled one last time, cleared her throat and then sat straight.
"Anyhow... That's what happened, brother. If I am to be punished, then I will gladly accept it."
Joshua stared at Vivian for a moment before answering.
"Your story more or less coincides with what the others said. However, there's one part that's a bit different."
"Which one, brother?"
"According to you, you said that when you met Mrs. Belfair today, you tried explaining to her that you wanted to postpone to return the favor that you owe her because you wanted to focus on studying, earning more coins for training, training and doing Holy Missions. However, from Mrs. Belfair's story, she said that you suddenly started attacking her out of nowhere."
A shocked and confused appeared on Vivian's face.
"I suddenly started attacking her out of nowhere…? Brother, that doesn't make any sense..."
Joshua raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"If what she said is true that I suddenly started attacking her out of nowhere, why would I even bother to agree to meet her when she first started contacting me? Wouldn't it be more beneficial for me to just ignore her right from the beginning?
"But okay, let's say I figured out that I couldn't ignore her because she could simply go to the Adventurers Guild or here, the Temple of Priest, to repay the favor that I owe her. Wouldn't it be smarter for me to play along with her and then set her up?"
"Haven't you been doing that, sister?" Joshua said with a warm and friendly smile.
"By attacking her in a public place? And brother, don't we have [Halo]?"
"You want me to use [Halo] on you?"
"I'm not asking you to use [Halo] on me. But given that I'm a Priestess and I know about [Halo], wouldn't that make me stupid to commit a crime despite knowing about [Halo]?"
"Oh, you would be surprised, sister. When people commit crimes, it's usually out of emotion, not logic. And there are times that emotions can be so powerful that it can overwhelm even the wisest."
Vivian didn't say anything.
"Sister, I will be frank with you. All of you are at fault -- you, Mrs. Belfair and her sons.
"But considering that you have 3 Magic Art Affinities, you killed and captured demon-worshippers, saved a family from a group of demon-worshippers, and you're participating in Holy Missions, I will overlook this incident.
"However, in exchange, your feud with Mrs. Belfair and her sons ends here. You will not bother them or any of their family members and they will not bother you. And also, the next time you try to arrest heretics, try to avoid violence as much as possible unless they attacked first, they pose a real threat to the people around their surroundings, or you have actual and solid proof that they're demon-worshippers or a member of the Cult of Infinity.
"Always keep this in mind: Although our Temple is quite influential, one of the most important things that make it influential is because our Brothers and Sisters have sacrificed and worked so hard to make sure that our Temple has a good image and reputation. No matter what anyone says, there are some things in this world that cannot be bought through force or coins, and one of that is trust. Remember that, sister."
Vivian nodded.
"I will remember that. Thank you, brother. And thank you also for the advice."
A serious expression appeared on Joshua's face.
"And if you continue to commit the same mistake, I believe you already know what's going to happen, right? I promise you, I will not hold back."
Vivian swallowed and then nodded.
"Yes, brother, I swear that this would never happen again."
Joshua returned to his usual kind and friendly demeanor.
"Good," he said and nodded. "By the way, sister. There's something I've always been meaning to ask."
Vivian's heart began racing but she summoned all of her strength to maintain a calm expression.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Why do you still continue being an Adventurer?"
He already called my bluff earlier…
I don't think he would give me a second chance…
"To earn coins so that I can spend it on equipment and training."
"That's it?"
Vivian nodded.
"That's the most honest answer I can give. Which is why, when I received the 80 gold coins from killing and capturing demon-worshippers, I was truly thankful and it greatly inspired me to focus more on doing Holy Missions."
"Let's say the Adventurer's Guild decides to offer you higher rewards compared to what our Temple is giving you. What would you do?"
Vivian thought about it for a moment.
"First of all, looking at it from a social and political standpoint, I honestly believe that being a Priestess is better. An Adventurer could never match it.
"However, my ultimate goal is to master all of my Masteries as soon as possible.
"Call me arrogant, paranoid, crazy or whatever, but I'm a beautiful woman. Every day, I get approached by people regardless if I want it or not. And every day I carry this fear in me that one day, someone powerful will come and force themselves on me. And the only way I could think of to suppress or forget about that fear is to become powerful as soon as possible. However, that would require a lot of coins to buy things like equipment and Mana Potions.
"At this moment, doing Holy Missions is what gives me the most benefit. But if doing Adventurer Quests would offer me more coins, although I would focus more on doing Adventurer Quests, I still wouldn't give up being a Priestess because being a Priestess holds a lot of social and political power.
"And just like you said earlier, there are some things that can't be bought with force and coins."
"One last question, sister," Joshua said.
"What is it?"
"Where did you learn how to speak like this?"
In Joshua's head, the first time he met Vivian, her clothes and equipment didn't strike him as someone from a rich background. However, when it came to her knowledge, although there were some strange gaps in her general knowledge for her age, the words she uses and also the way she carried herself or her mannerisms weren't things that someone from a poor background would do.
Basically, there was just something off or mismatched about her.
"Ever since Sister Marie taught me how to read and write, I've been spending a lot of time reading and researching about the quickest and most efficient way to train."
Joshua stared at her for a moment before finally answering.
"I see. That will be all, sister," he said and then got up from his seat. "Unfortunately, I still have other matters to attend to. May the God of Light watch over you," he said and smiled.
Vivian got up from her seat and gave a slight bow.
"May the God of Light watch over you as well, brother," she said and smiled.