Slayers - Volume 14 - Chapter 1

1: The World Is Never Free of Power Struggles

“Twilight—the witching hour,” I said poetically, looking out over the city where the last oranges of day were blending with the first purples of night. “I think I’ve heard it called that before. When the world is painted by sunset, dark forces find footholds where shadow meets light. They can sneak in through gaps in your heart and drive you mad.”

“So you’re saying...” my traveling companion, Gourry, began as he followed my gaze. My dude was handsome and an excellent swordsman, but tragically, he had stale pasta for gray matter. In the evening breeze and waning sunlight, his long blond hair looked like a flickering flame. “You’re saying it’s the twilight’s fault we’re lost, and not your whim to go exploring the city’s back alleys?”

“...”

“...”

A gust of wind filled the silence, and then...

“Gahhh! Fine, it’s my fault! It’s all my fault!” I was forced to apologize.

Selentia City in the Kingdom of Ralteague was known as the City of Temples. It served as a center of worship for Flare Dragon Ceifeed, with five great temples to him, making it a common pilgrimage destination for believers from all corners of the known world. Me and Gourry had been wandering through the area, so we’d decided to drop by when we realized we were close. And though we’d arrived in the early afternoon with the sun still high in the sky, well...

“But hold your horses, Gourry!” I said, pointing at him emphatically. “I object to you saying it was a whim! Inspired by the rundown appearance of downtown and seeking my fill of its quaint desolation, I made the conscious decision to go where my feet took me!”

“Um...” My words inspired a good think from the big lug. “So you’re basically saying ‘I wandered in’? That’s still basically a whim.”

Ah... c-crap! Warrior-slash-genius-sorcerer Lina Inverse’s patented obfuscate-with-equivocal-language technique works on most people, but it failed me against this jellyhead!

“Guh... You’re a formidable opponent, Gourry!”

“Uh, how so?” he asked, casually unaware of my inner monologue.

I flipped my cape back decisively. “Heh. I admit defeat... this time. Very well. I’ll use Levitation to get a better vantage point and scout out which way to go next.”

With that, I chanted my spell... and abruptly dismissed it.

“Lina,” Gourry called.

“I know,” I responded. I could hear it drifting on the wind from down the street—the clanging of metal against metal. Blades. Someone was dueling. And natch, I wasn’t eager to go sticking my nose into that someone’s fighty business. “Anyhoo... let’s beat it.”

“Yeah.”

We nodded to each other, turned away from the noise, and...

“It stopped,” Gourry remarked.

The sound of the swordplay had ceased. Is the fight over? Just as I wondered that... Crash! The wall of a nearby house collapsed with a roar!

What?! Rubble flew and dust spewed. The big lug and I leaped back just in time to avoid getting a faceful of it.

Was that... an attack spell?! I could sense someone in the debris cloud, which was tinged orange in the setting sun.

“Who goes there?!” bellowed a man’s voice.

As the dust settled, I spied two figures. One held a longsword and wore light mail. A warrior. The other was dressed all in black, with his entire face covered except for his eyes. Your archetypal assassin. He held a large dagger in his hand.

Guess they’re the ones fighting, huh?

It was the warrior who’d addressed us, and now he continued. “A sorcerer and a swordsman... Who sent you?!” he demanded.

Er, who “sent” us? Uh...

“We’re just passing through, actually,” I said, truthfully.

This reply caused the warrior to fall silent for a few moments, and then... “Aha. But of course. You wouldn’t be stupid enough to admit to it,” he whispered, seeming to draw some kind of conclusion.

Yeah, that was the honest truth, bud... Except I was getting the impression he wouldn’t believe me if I told him that.

The assassin just stood there silently—until he made a sudden leap! But he wasn’t coming at us. Dude was fleeing! Maybe he’d assumed we were enemies and wasn’t up to a three-on-one, or maybe he’d realized we were innocent and didn’t want to drag us into their conflict. One way or the other, he disappeared into the shadows in the blink of an eye, and his presence vanished thereafter.

“Hmm...” The warrior smirked in the direction the assassin had fled. “I guess he realized he couldn’t take me and ran. That only leaves...” He turned his glare on us. “You two!”

Ugh, this freakin’ guy...

“If you tell me who hired you and leave this city immediately, I’ll let you go! Understood?”

“Um, I think you’ve got the wrong idea here...” Gourry said, scratching his cheek.

The man arched an eyebrow. “I see... You think I’d be at a disadvantage two-on-one! However—”

“Dug Wave.”

Whoooom!

“Gyeeeee!”

My spell sent the warrior flying.

Yech, what a jackass...

“Listen, Gourry. You don’t have to give guys like that the time of day. It’s a big waste of breath.”

“Sorry, wasn’t thinking. But what was that all about, anyway?” Gourry whispered.

“Dunno,” I replied. “But one thing’s for sure... We’ve gotten ourselves into another fine mess.”

“I see... So you saw that, did you?” The aged chairman sighed as I finished my story, but he didn’t look surprised.

Gourry and I had come to hit up the Selentia City sorcerers’ council the following day. We’d stopped by to say hello to the chairman while relaying to him the facts of the fight we witnessed... and that was the answer he gave.

“Wait... You know what that was all about?!” I asked.

The white-haired, white-bearded chairman nodded, his expression pained. “Are you aware that this town is also known as the City of Temples?”

“Yes, of course.”

“And are you aware that our central temple was burned to the ground two months ago?”

“I hadn’t heard that, I’m afraid.”

“That’s when it all started...” The chairman launched into a torrent of words.

Selentia City was known for its temples, but said temples were actually just multiple branches of a single complex. In other words, at the city’s center sat the main temple consecrated to Flare Dragon Ceifeed, and then at each of the cardinal directions stood a temple to his corresponding Dragon Lord avatars. Traditionally, the high priest ran both the main temple and the temple system in general, while four head priests handled the day-to-day business at each of the branch temples.

However, just two months ago, a mysterious fire had burned down the main temple, killing the high priest and several other priests working there. As for what happened afterward... Well, it was exactly what you’d expect. There was a feud for the position of high priest.

It’s a mistake to think clerics are inherently good people, see. Greed is a driving force for many humans, and clerics are nothing if not human. And in a place so high on religion that it earned the moniker “City of Temples,” being high priest essentially meant you ran the joint.

It was a matter of course, then, that such an upset would kick off a squabble between the head priests of the four temples. They’d never exactly gotten along to begin with, and now the only person with the power to keep them in check was gone. With all that, plus the brass ring of the high priest title in their sights... Frankly, it would’ve been weirder if they hadn’t started fighting.

The first formal discussion on the matter had quickly devolved into a mess of self-aggrandizing and mudslinging, which had then escalated to willy-nilly accusations of arson. If it hadn’t been for the moderator—the chairman of the sorcerers’ council, who was a friend of the late high priest—they might have come to blows on the spot. Though if you ask me, letting them settle things with a battle royale then and there might have made the following months a little more peaceful...

Instead, the unresolved discussion had sown the seeds of discord to come. The various priests began hiring thugs and mercenaries to antagonize, and then outright fight, the other temples. The duel we’d witnessed the night before was just a small part of the ongoing battle.

“Wow... pretty corrupt stuff, huh?” I remarked honestly.

“Please don’t say that,” the chairman responded with a wince.

“But aren’t these guys supposed to be holy men? We saw a bona fide assassin last night. Whatever the circumstances that led to it, it all seems a little much.”

“I agree with you, but unfortunately, they don’t. The issue remains that we still don’t know exactly what caused the original fire. Some believe it was set intentionally to kill the high priest and vacate his position, which makes the situation the perfect breeding ground for paranoia. Each priest fears they could be targeted next, and that the only way to survive is to kill the arsonist first.”

“Aha...”

It had started with one priest hiring a few thugs—just a light bodyguard detail. Then another priest, believing fair was fair, hired some goons of their own. This led yet another priest to get paranoid and hire trained warriors... And so on and so forth until we ended up here, with first-rate fighters tangling with genuine assassins.

“Now if I may, Lina Inverse...” the chairman began.

“Hard pass, thank you,” I said with a grin.

The chairman went silent for a time. “I hadn’t said anything yet.”

“Well, given how this conversation is going and the fact that you used my full name, I felt pretty sure that you were about to ask me to engage in some busywork I’m not really feeling.”

The chairman smiled brightly in response. “I’m always hearing good things about you, you see...”

Erk... He’s going with the ignore-objections-completely strategy.

“I said I’d have to pass,” I reiterated in my sweetest tones.

“I’ve done what I can to settle things down. I’ve even gotten them to agree to meet again in ten days’ time to talk things out and finally decide on a new high priest...”

“How many times must I say that I pass?!”

“...But there’s a good chance that someone will try something before then. We must prevent that at all costs!”

“Hahaha! But once again, hard pass!”

“And as I have utmost faith in your abilities...”

“I really should be going now.”

“Pleeease! I beg of yooou!”

“Graaah! Get your hands offa me!”

“So... we’ve got a job to do, Gourry.”

“Huh?” We’d left the sorcerers’ council behind and returned to the restaurant in the inn where we were staying. My leisurely comment earned a scowl from Gourry. “Hey... Didn’t you say you were gonna pass on work for a while and take it easy?”

“Nope,” I responded, firmly and without shame. I mean, yeah, I probably had said something like that just yesterday afternoon, but the present situation called for a little compromise.

Damn it. I really didn’t wanna take this job...

The chairman’s request was thus: “Make an appearance with each of the four head priests and see if that gets them to back down.” In other words, apply some silent pressure and let them know the sorcerers’ council was watching them.

But his plan wasn’t gonna work. That much was obvious. People who’d escalated to the point of hiring assassins weren’t gonna back off that easily, and the bloodthirsty lot might even see us as an obstacle between them and “justice.” In short, we were liable to end up with a target on our backs as well.

Still... after the elderly chairman had finished crying on my shoulder (not even exaggerating here), he offered up a reward of fifty gold—or a hundred if things worked out—and not even I’m so work-averse as to turn down an offer like that.

Now, I know what you might be wondering. Why is the sorcerers’ council so invested in temple drama? The answer’s obvious enough if you know the whole story. See, they usually keep it hush-hush, but the council and the priesthood are actually pretty cozy behind the scenes. They don’t go around telling people, but under the table—which makes it sound worse than it really is—the sorcerers’ council sells their developments in healing magic to the priesthood.

The priesthood has less organizational power than the sorcerers’ council, see, so they don’t have the means for a lot of their own magical research. But humans being the materialistic creatures they are, people will take a blatant scam religion that tells them what they want to hear and provides the miracles they want to see over the honest-but-miracle-free variety. The blunt truth was that no matter how grand and lofty their ideals, a church that couldn’t provide healing would quickly find itself without customers—er, followers. And that, in turn, would make it hard to keep the doors open.

So, at the end of the day, temples in various towns had to buy up the magical techniques developed by the sorcerers’ council to provide healing, antidotes, purification, and other “holy miracles,” while their clerics frequently took private lessons at the sorcerers’ council. In other words, temples were the council’s cash cow. Especially in a place like this, where temple tourism was the city’s main source of income, the funds the clergy invested in the council were significant. That relationship had fostered friendship between the local council chairman and the high priest, and was why the current squabbling among the branches pained him so dearly.

Anyhoo, I finished my lunch and left the inn, heading down the city’s main road to the north. I’d just given Gourry a quick rundown of the sitch.

“Huh. Guess this city’s got a lot going on, huh?” he said rather indifferently.

“Way to make it sound like it’s none of your business after we’ve been roped into things.”

“Okay, but now you’re making it sound like it just happened rather than you volunteering for it...”

“Erk! That’s an extremely rude thing to say to a girl, you know!”

“Um, I’m not sure your gender has anything to do with— Wait, Lina.”

“Huh?” I hummed as I followed Gourry’s gaze.

The avenue was lined with white stone buildings and merchant stalls. Children ran up and down the lane. But amidst these extremely ordinary sights, something stood out.

A massive burned-out cathedral.

It was made out of stone, so the basic structure remained intact, but its soot-covered spire peeked over the roofs of the houses around it.

“Guess that’s the temple that got toasted...”

“Want to check it out?”

“We can stop by there anytime. Our top priority today is the upcoming meeting between the head priests, so we should try to talk with all of them before the day is out.”

“Oh!” Gourry said, slapping his fist into his palm. “Is that where we’re going? To one of those priest guys?”

Splat! I tripped over my own feet and fell unceremoniously onto my face.

“Of all the— Where the heck did you think we were going?!”

“Well... I just figured we were taking an after-dinner stroll.”

“You know what... Okay, whatever. We’re currently heading to the Water Temple on the north side of town. It venerates Aqualord Ragradia, and it’s led by Head Priest Ceres. We’ll stop in on him and come back this way before—”

“Hang on a minute!” Gourry suddenly interrupted me.

“What now?”

“Lina, are you about to list off all the guys we’re gonna meet with today?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Ha! You fool!” Gourry declared with a triumphant expression. “You really think I’ll remember the skinny on all four of them in one go?!”

“Don’t sound proud of that! Though you’re totally right, of course... Wait. Are you suggesting that if I introduce them individually as we meet them, you will remember?”

“...”

“Come on.”

“Some things in this world just aren’t meant to be.”

“Don’t sound proud of that either!”

Wham! I delivered a hard chop to the back of Gourry’s head.

Only quite some time later did we arrive at our destination.

Boy, this city is... huge...

Before us stood a grand temple. It had a refined design in blue tones—probably a nod to Aqualord—and the grounds were vast. But perhaps due to the recent chaos, the gardens and such seemed neglected, and there were a number of real roughneck types loitering around the entrance as we approached.

Hmm... looks like they’re really letting the place go. Still, I wouldn’t learn anything until I talked to the man in charge here, Ceres.

“Is the head priest around?” I called to the goonish gaggle.

“Huh? What’s that?” The guy who spoke up had to be their leader. He was sitting with his back to us, but slowly stood up when I hailed the group. “What do you want with the head pr—”

He turned our way, and... Hang on a dang minute! 

“You!” he shouted when he laid eyes on us.

I had the same reaction. “Hey, goon! I mean Luke! What brings you here?!”

“That’s what I was gonna ask— Hang on, walk that back! Did you just sneak in somethin’ to piss me off there?!” he asked, one eyebrow raised.

A tall but slightly shifty-looking guy sporting short black hair and light mail armor... There was no question. Treasure hunter in name, lovestruck clown by game... this was Luke the spellsword. We’d run into each other a few times in the past, and we’d actually just finished a little collaborative project. We’d gone our separate ways after the fact, but...

Here we meet again. Yeesh.

“Just your imagination. Totally,” I insisted without flinching. It was then I realized that his usual companion—rather, the lady he was always tagging along with—was nowhere in sight. “Say, where’s Mileena? She finally get sick of you and give you the slip?”

“Pfft! No freakin’ way! The ties of love and trust between Mileena an’ me are as strong and thick as a climbin’ rope!”

“Yeah, I’ve heard of stronger...”

“Shut up! We both took the security job here! Mileena’s just standin’ guard inside!”

“Hmm... Sounds like she didn’t want to take the same post as you.”

“That ain’t what’s goin’ on, darn it! But anyhow... Tell me what you want already!”

“Ah... Right, right. This is no time to be getting my rocks off teasing you.”

“Then why’re you tryin’ to start somethin’?!”

I ignored that one and explained, “Like I said, I’m here to see the head priest... Ceres Laurencio, I believe.”

“Oh?” At this, Luke’s expression changed. Though a blithering fool on the subject of Mileena, he was actually a damn good fighter. “Since I’m still part of the outer guard here, I’d better ask... What’s your business? Or rather, whose side are you on?”

“The side of the mediators, the sorcerers’ council,” I replied without hesitation.

“Hmm...” Luke fell silent for a moment. “All right. I trust you. If you were lyin’, your buddy there woulda started lookin’ confused.”

“Wait a minute! Are you suggesting Gourry’s my personal lie detector?!”

“Well, ain’t he? Anyway, I hear ya. Follow me,” he said, then turned around and started walking.

There were a few things that didn’t sit right with me, but picking at them right now wouldn’t benefit anyone. My goal at the time was to meet the high priest, after all. And so, me and Gourry passed through the group of—roughnecks? Mercenaries? I couldn’t be sure—hanging around the entrance on our way inside.

“This way.” Luke guided us through the grand entrance hall and into the corridors further in.

For a supposed tourist destination, there weren’t many tourists—er, worshippers—inside the temple complex. Of course, given the situation and all those shifty-looking characters hanging around out front, it was understandable that people were giving the place a wide berth. There were clerics here and there, but they seemed vastly outnumbered by the mercenaries/goons/what-have-you. No sight of dudes in assassin garb, but of course, there wouldn’t be.

Eventually...

“Right here.” Luke stopped at a room deep within the temple, then gave the door a few firm knocks. “Luke here, sir. You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” replied the voice of a young man.

“She’s with the sorcerers’ council.”

“Let her in.”

Luke opened the door into a modestly sized room. Inside were three unfamiliar faces and one I knew well. The latter was a beautiful platinum blonde with leather pauldrons—Luke’s traveling companion, Mileena. Her eyebrow inched up slightly at the sight of me and Gourry, but that was the extent of her reaction.

Two of the remaining three people in the room were a man and woman who also looked like mercenaries, while the last guy was sitting at a desk laid out with documents. He looked about twenty-five and was rather attractive, with dark hair and an overall vibe erring slightly on the wrong side of the line between “affable” and “spineless.” Given his garb, I took him for the head priest.

“You’re from... the sorcerers’ council?” he asked in a reserved—timid, rather—tone as he stood up. “I’m Ceres Laurencio... the one in charge here.”

“I’m Lina Inverse, here by request of the head of the sorcerers’ council on a matter of city security. This is my companion, Gourry.”

“City... security?”

“Yes.” I smiled brightly. “I’m told there’s been a bit of trouble lately. I’m here to keep an eye on things, to make sure nobody does anything foolishly rash.” I’d meant the line to come off as a nasty insinuation, but...

“That’s right! There has been a lot of trouble lately!” Ceres nodded in firm agreement, either good at playing dumb or genuinely ignorant. “Everyone’s been so on edge since the fire! They’ve all just been poking and prodding at each other—someone’s even been sending hired goons after me! I’m terrified! I’ve been forced to hire security of my own, but I still can’t get a wink of sleep. And that’s to say nothing of the expenses they’re racking up...” he rattled off in a single breath.

“Um... er...”

“The late high priest put me in charge of this temple which, as you can see, venerates the great Aqualord. You probably know that the old stories claim Aqualord was defeated by the revived Dark Lord in the Kataart Mountains a thousand years ago. Ah, of course, that’s merely legend. I personally believe that the great Aqualord is hale and hearty and watching over us even now! But there are those who don’t share that faith, which makes things difficult for us.”

“Um... er...”

“So to be perfectly honest, our temple isn’t nearly as popular as the others, which means, well... to be blunt, we receive only a fraction of the offerings the others do. When the main temple was around, they helped us manage, so we still had plenty to work with. But ever since it burned down, each of the temples has been acting independently, which has made our inferior position very clear. And now, on top of that, I have to fund security...”

“Yeah, meant to give you a heads-up before...” Luke said quietly, standing beside me as Head Priest Ceres went on and on and on. “This guy’s a nonstop river of complaints. You see why I wanted to be stationed outside now, even if it meant leavin’ Mileena behind?”

Yeah, you really coulda warned me about this one, man... I thought grumpily at Luke as the head priest droned on.

As night fell on the town...

“Wait, how is it night already?!”

“Probably because that guy talked for so long...” Gourry said in exhaustion as he walked alongside me.

Darn it... I’d set out first thing in the afternoon in hopes of getting around to all four temples today, but we only managed a single one! It was way too late to hit any of the other branches now, plus I was exhausted from listening to that guy gripe, so I decided to just head back to the inn for the night.

We’ll just have to drop in on the other temples tomorrow...

“Grrr! This is all Head Priest Ceres’s fault!”

“But if you didn’t want to hear him talk, why didn’t you stop him?” Gourry offered.

I wagged a scolding finger at his shallow objection. “Don’t be so naive. Gossip and complaints frequently hold the keys to mystery!”

“Mystery? What mystery? I thought this was about us trying to stop the four priests from fighting.”

“Ohoho. But there is a mystery! Look, man, this all started when the main temple burned down and the high priest perished, right? The real root of the trouble is the fact that we don’t know what caused the fire. There’s a rumor it was arson, so now the priesthood is all paranoid, hence the feuding. Now let me ask you this... How’d the fire start? Was it an accident? Or was it intentional? If the latter, who was behind it? If we can solve that mystery, we can put the whole thing to bed!”

“I see. So you decided to listen to his whole rant in case it gave you a clue.”

“Right!” I nodded firmly.

“So, did it?”

“It did not, hence my annoyance.”

“I see...”

As we walked and talked, we caught sight of the seared spire once again. Hmm...

“Gourry, let’s check out the remains from the fire.”

“Sure, if you want.”

Taking a slight detour from our path back to our inn, we set a course for the main temple. There was no fear of getting lost. It was such a popular tourist trap that we could follow the big avenue straight to it without thinking.

It was a big open space with fountains, gardens, benches... and the husk of the massive burned-out building. There were a number of flowers laid in front of the door and two listless-looking guards at the entrance, perhaps stationed there to keep people from messing around inside.

Hmm... Will they let us in?

Needless to say, I could always use a flight spell to slip in through one of the blown-out windows. But if anyone caught me, I’d get pegged for a suspicious intruder on sight... Was the risk worth it when there was no guarantee I’d find anything useful inside?

Well, while I was mulling that over...

“Hey, Lina! They say we can go in,” came Gourry’s voice.

“...Huh?!” I jerked my head up and saw him standing with the guards and grinning at me.

“H-Hey!”

As I ran over, one of the guards said affably, “I’ll show you around.”

“Um... okay. Could you show us to the high priest’s room?”

“Of course. Follow me, if you would.” With that, he entered the building.

“What exactly did you tell them, Gourry?” I asked quietly as we followed a few steps behind.

“The truth, of course. That we’re working for the sorcerers’ council and we wanted to see inside.”

And they just let us in? Talk about lax security... which doesn’t really bode well for whatever investigation they conducted.

“Could you share the results of the investigation?” I prodded as we followed the guard up the stairs.

“It was just an accidental fire,” he said with a strained smile as he glanced back at me over his shoulder. “I know there are nasty rumors going around, that it was a hit job or arson... But there always are, aren’t there? That doesn’t mean anything.”

We reached the top of the stairs, passed through a hall, and headed for another stairway. The white temple walls were scorched and dingy with soot from the fire, and the floor was covered with a sort of crunchy charcoal... most likely the former carpet.

“The high priest liked to use candles rather than magical light in the cathedral, and he also burned incense. We think one of them caught the tapestries or the carpet and spread from there. All right, here’s the high priest’s room...”

The quarters the guard indicated were smaller than I expected. I could see the sky through the broken window. There was no furniture left, just ash on the empty room’s floor. The walls seemed to have warped from the heat, and there were footprints in the ash—probably from the people who’d investigated before us.

Guhhhhh...

“I’m not sure there’s anything here that could help you, of course. Is there anywhere else you’d like to see?” the guard asked.

“Hey, is anyone else here besides us?” Gourry, who had been quiet up until now, spoke up suddenly.

“No, not that I know of...”

“Lina,” Gourry said, looking at me seriously. “I think... someone’s watching us.”

Huh? I hadn’t sensed anything. Gourry’s instincts were leagues better, however, so that wasn’t anything to go by.

“I’m sure it’s just your imagination. It always feels a little eerie, standing around in a place where someone died,” the guard said casually.

But between our laid-back guide’s assurances and Gourry’s animal instinct, I’d trust Gourry any day of the week.

“You know where they are?” I asked him.

“Think so.”

“Let’s go.”

With that, Gourry left the room, and I ran after him!

“Ah! Wait!” We ignored the call of the guard behind us, darted down the stairs, and ran down the hall.

“They’re on the move!” Gourry shouted, changing direction.

We ended up in a long corridor. The ceiling... probably used to be stained glass or something, but it, too, was now broken and the orange of the setting sun painted the ruined walls and floor below.

“Over here!” Gourry said as he dashed through one of the hallway doors. I was one step behind him.

The room was empty. The only way in or out was the way we’d come, and the only furnishing was a scorched chandelier hanging from the ceiling. But that was it. There was nothing—and nobody—else there.

“They disappeared?” Gourry whispered softly.

“Excuse me! I can’t just have you running off on your own...” the outranged guard scolded us as he caught up from behind, then looked past us into the empty room. “See? I told you there was nobody here!”

Nevertheless, an uneasy feeling rose in my chest.

“One of them definitely did it!” the head priest of Flarelord Vrabazard’s temple, Francis Dmitri, insisted in annoyance.

We’d wasted all of yesterday listening to Head Priest Ceres’s griping, so Gourry and I had set out first thing this morning to the branch temple on the east edge of the city. Once again we were escorted in by one of the bodyguards and/or roughnecks hanging around the temple, and that was Head Priest Francis’s rage-cracked response the second we finished introducing ourselves. He was a man of about forty, with short blond hair and a wine-red robe hanging on his broad-shouldered frame.

“We felt the loss of High Priest Joshua very keenly. He was a fair-minded, generous man. God would never take such a man in a pointless accident! Which means it must have been a malicious assassination!” he continued, offering a theory based more in ideology than logic.

“Well, either way... In about ten days, there’ll be a summit to choose the next high priest. I’m sure this goes without saying, but please don’t do anything thoughtless before then,” I implored him.

“Thoughtless?!” he scoffed, his eyebrows jumping. “Holding these slapdash talks to choose a new high priest when the old one was just murdered is thoughtless! I’ve agreed to participate out of respect for the head of the sorcerers’ council, but if one of the other head priests is behind the assassination, I’ll see to it that he pays! And I certainly can’t have him becoming the next high priest! I’ll do whatever it takes to stop that from happening!”

“Even if it means you can’t become high priest as a result?”

“I don’t care about that!” Head Priest Francis responded immediately.

Ohhh! Oh nooo! You sometimes meet priests and shrine maidens like this, willing to rush head-first into self-sacrifice to foil a given “evildoer.” One of my old traveling companions was exactly the type. The main difference between her and Francis here was that this old man was totally lacking in charm.

Well, I guess it would be creepy if he were charming like her, but y’know.

“Hahh.” I let out a sigh. “That’s very reassuring, but... Even if it turns out that the fire was arson and one of your three fellow head priests is the killer, the other two are still totally innocent. Don’t forget that, okay? Anyway, we should be going.”

“Hmph. Well, I hope you can learn the identity of the killer before the summit. Before things really get out of control.”

Spoken like someone who’s about to let things get out of control...

“This is bad news,” I whispered grumpily. We were walking the road to our next destination, the temple to Airlord on the west side of the city. “That Francis guy seems raring to cause trouble.”

“And it’s still possible there is no ‘killer.’ The fire really could have been an accident,” Gourry added.

At this, I shook my head and lowered my voice. “That was no accident. I know the authorities are passing around that stupid story... But it was definitely murder.”

“Really?!”

“We saw the high priest’s room yesterday, remember? The tapestries and carpet in the hallway leading up to it were charred crunchy... while the priest’s room was but ash. Plus, the walls were deformed. That means his room alone was exposed to heat high enough to warp the place and incinerate everything inside. It’d be one thing if he had kindling or oil stored in his room, but no unassisted fire would melt the walls like that. I think someone used an attack spell to roast the priest in his room, then set other fires around the building to make it look like an accident.”

“So... one of the head priests?”

“I can’t say that for sure yet, but—”

“Well, if it isn’t Mistress Lina and Master Gourry!” came a familiar voice from nearby all of a sudden. I looked to see... Head Priest Ceres, escorted by Luke and Mileena!

Guh... Not good! I can’t afford to get swept up in another bitchfest!

“Um—”

“Oh, Master Luke and Mistress Mileena informed me after our meeting that you’ve known each other for some time. But fate is a funny thing, isn’t it? For us to meet again so soon...”

I can’t get a word in edgewise! This guy is the wooorst!

“Truth be told, I visit the main temple every day to leave flowers in the high priest’s honor. I just happen to be on my way back now. Master Luke and Mistress Mileena tell me to limit my time outside because of the danger, but the high priest was such a help to me when he was alive. I thought flowers were the least I could offer. And I figured I could rest easy with these two by my side—”

“Well, well. Is that a head priest lookin’ for converts in the middle of the city? He’s got passion for his work, at least.”

It wasn’t me who interrupted Ceres’s monologue, but a group of about ten roughnecks loitering on a street not too far off. Most likely someone’s hired goons.

Great job, thugs! You stopped him! As a reward, I’ll show a teeny-tiny bit of mercy when I cream you!

They sauntered up to us with the kind of swagger that just screams, “I’m an uncouth piece of shit!”

“’Course, the priest of a crummy god like Aqualord’s gotta go the extra mile, right?”

“But doin’ something like this in the middle of a city? Pretty scummy. Really ruins the atmosphere for innocent civilians like us.”

“Innocent civilians?! If anything’s ruining the atmosphere here, it’s your ugly mugs!” I blew up.

Twitch! My honest opinion turned things frosty real quick.

“Ahhh! Mistress Lina, what are you saying?!” the head priest cried. I ignored him, of course.

“What was that, girlie?!” one of the punks said threateningly.

I put on my best timid little girl act. “O-Oh, nothing, really... I just, you know, feel like your breath pollutes the very air around you... That’s all.”

“Why... you stupid bitch!”

“You’ll pay for that!”

“You think you can take us?!” they jeered, all charging at me together.

Yeah, I do, actually.

“Dimil Arwen!”

Bah-bwoosh!

“Graaaaaaaah!” My spell sent the roughnecks flying.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” I said as I looked down at them twitching on the flagstones. “I’m here on behalf of the sorcerers’ council to keep the peace in these parts. There’re lots of dangerous folks in the city in light of recent events, and I’m supposed to stop ’em from making a scene.”

“B-But... you’re the one who just made a scene,” one of them argued while still twitching.

I snorted in response. “Hah. No one ever told me I couldn’t make a scene!”

“Now you’re just splitting hairs...”

“A valid strategy, but never mind that! What matters is that I prevented you lot from starting something! Now get talking already! Who hired you?”

“And if I don’t say?”

“Burst Rondo.” Kerfwoom! “That’s what happens. Hey, are you listening?!”

“I... am...”

“Sooo, who hired you?” I grinned.

“Master Bran... of the west...”

“Oho! Thank you so very much for the help!”

“This just seems... How should I put it?” Head Priest Ceres started muttering.

I waved my hand dismissively. “C’mon, it’s fine! Think of it as an act of god and leave it be!”

“An act of which god, exactly?”

“Well, anyway... I can understand wanting to lay down flowers, but you really ought to avoid going out if you can help it. Roving goons might set their sights on you to pick a fight, and that’ll spell all kinds of trouble,” I explained.

Gourry nodded firmly beside me. “What she said. We don’t know who assassinated the high priest yet. You shouldn’t wander around so much or they might come after you too!”

Erk! Everyone froze when he said that. You, you... mayobrain!

“Ah! Assassinated?!” Ceres repeated hoarsely. “Then... someone really did kill the high priest?!”

“Yeah. Lina just said so. Something to do with how bad the high priest’s room was burned... Right?” he said as he patted me on the head.

You...! You...!

“So you should probably stay inside as much as possible.”

“R-Right! I understand! Master Luke, Mistress Mileena, let’s go!” The priest then scampered away, looking white as a sheet.

“Sure! Take care!” Gourry waved as he watched them go.

“You... worms-for-brains!”

Crash!

“Guh?!” My full-power flying kick hit the big lug square in the back. “Hey! What was that for, Lina?!”

“That’s my line! What were you thinking, Gourry?!”

“Huh?” he replied with a scowl.

I leaned in, my voice hushed. “Come on! Why’d you up and tell him that the high priest was murdered?!”

“Huh? I thought that would be the best way to get him to back off...”

“Yeah, but as far as anyone else knows, it still could have all been an unfortunate accident!”

“But we know, so it’s a good thing, right?”

“It is not! I mean, it is a good thing that we know, but we can’t go around telling people yet!”

“How come?”

This friggin’ birdbrain!

“Because! The only reason the four priests have kept the kid gloves on thus far is because there was a chance this wasn’t a conspiracy. If it gets around that it really was a hit job, they’re all gonna freakin’ lose it! Especially that Head Priest Francis jerk we just met! He’ll take it as vindication and go ballistic on the other three! Plus, there’s still a chance that one of the four head priests is the killer! Maybe they’ll think, ‘If I’m gonna be outed as a murderer anyway, what’s a few more bodies on the pile?’ They might decide to ice the other three before they can do anything... but not before they make a move on the investigators! Us!”

“Ohh.”

“Don’t ‘ohh’ me! We don’t have a choice now. We’ve gotta find the culprit before the enemy gets serious, even if we have to play a little rough to do it.”

“Then... what do we do?”

“For now, we continue on. We’ll go see Head Priest Bran at the western temple dedicated to Airlord Valwin.”

Of course... this is going to change up my strategy a little, I thought to myself.

The western temple was painted white and cyan to mimic the sky and surrounded by large, neatly tended gardens. Color aside, though, the building was exactly the same shape as the northern and eastern temples (the latter of which had been brick red). Here too, perhaps because of the recent chaos, I didn’t see any worshippers around. But what was different was the absence of roughnecks on the lawn. I figured the guys I busted up in town earlier were originally posted to defend the place. They’d probably caught wind of Head Priest Ceres offering flowers every day and gone to heckle him, only to get beat up by me.

At any rate, no flunkies hanging around just made it easier to get inside. Gourry and I reached for the door, pushed it in, and...

“Geh!”

We both gagged at the choking scent of blood from within.