Groggily awakening, there were slight cracking noises as the caked blood that bound me to the sheets broke. Flexing my limbs, I thought back to what happened, the floors of the Varansterm were much smoother than the outdoors. The blood soaked into my shoes must have caused me to slip. What a joke.

Oh, I almost forgot what I was supposed to do.

“*This ceiling seems so unfamiliar.*”

“What?” Ah, so a nurse was near my bedside and overheard me.

“No, it was an unintelligent thought, don't mind it.” Really, in retrospect it was a terrible trope for myself. Sleeping under unfamiliar ceilings and open skies were a regular occurrence for me. It might have worked well as a reference, but I didn't recall the lines, and it was too far gone at that point.

Happily, all my health and stamina had returned to previous levels. It seemed that my abstract regeneration from the game remained in play, so to speak. So barring crippling, curse, or disease effects, I would probably be able to recover from almost any injury.

“How long is it that I've been unconscious?”

“Only about an hour. Disciple Dann cast a healing verse after you slipped. I'll fetch him and inform Aide Helena.” The nurse turned and made her way out of the room.

Laying on the fairly soft cot, I noticed my feet were hanging off the other end of the bed. Wriggling them, they had been relieved of their shoes and socks; the Disciples also relieved me of my tunic, replacing it with a much softer one of cotton. Hoping they were only trying to clean the belongings, I decided to observe the room.

Curiously similar to a modern hospital room, only with pavestones instead of linoleum. Small and somewhat lacking in decor, it felt rather vacant. At least there was a window letting in some natural light. Sliding out of bed, I looked out the window. Second floor, it seemed.

“Are you feeling well enough to be up?” Dann asked, accompanied by the nurse and a woman I assumed to be Helena. Turning away from the window, I returned to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Yes, my physical state has been restored, thank you.”

“In that case, please tell us what happened.” Helena, spoke in a tone as sharp as her features. She would be most quickly described by referencing a Scottish witch that taught at a school for children.

Sometimes I will make you work to understand my references. Don't complain about such a small mental task!

It may have been the stern voice, or that arbitrary paranoia that surfaced on occasion, but I decided to activate . Indeed, my directionless suspicion paid off, revealing that I was now under some sort of spell. My magic was at far too low a level to discern what exactly the purpose was, but it didn’t appear malignant. I could only assume it was some sort of variation on a truth-sayer spell.

Ha! I would never have lied in the first place! Elaborate on unrelated matters and only emphasize parts that furthered my own plots perhaps, but never lie. Well, in this particular instance I never planned to lie.

Starting by informing the Aide of my foreign origins(another world), I said that I had been able to find residence in a nameless village for the past few weeks(two, which is still plural). I traveled to the city with a companion to buy materials for the village(Ria in particular) and learn more about the Church(Paladins, and how fast they could kill me). Bumping into Kella after exiting a conversation, I then accurately retold the following series of misfortune.

Garnering pitiable looks from the nurse and Dann, Aide Helena kept a stern face. Hopefully she showed some more empathy towards the wounded, or perhaps she was trying to frighten illness away. As she pondered, I wondered how much autonomy I had in this situation. Did I have to wait for one of them to discharge me? Though I could still gather information from the situation, I’d rather not wait for an extended period of time.

“You said that after she finished the healing incantation, there was backlash?” Her question was rhetorical, even though she paused for a moment before continuing. “That is not something that should have, or be able to occur. Though if it’s that child...even the Flow of Life can be misused, how shocking.

“Disciple Dann, stay by Alric’s side for the moment. Vara Lyssa, go find Disciple Kella and bring her to my office. As for you, young man, we’ll trouble you to stay a while longer.” With that, the old woman turned and made her way out. Dann and Lyssa bowed slightly to her as she left first, then Lyssa and Dann bowed to each other as the nurse, or Vara I suppose, departed.

“Today must have been quite exhausting for you, it seems as though your luck has nearly depleted itself. I don’t see how you managed to survive.” I was almost worried that he had begun suspecting something about me, but the disbelief in his tone was more one of surprise at an unlikely event than of hostility. His words were just a manner of speaking.

“Indeed, these past few hours have had more suffering in them than most of my life. That is all behind me now, thanks to your own healing verse as Vara Lyssa tells it.” Ah, flattery. Dann didn’t actually look to be the kind whose head would inflate too much from praise, but it certainly couldn’t hurt. Best to sow karma when possible.

“Considering your injuries, even I am unsure as to how you are already standing. The first healing incantation can only channel a small portion of the Flow of Life, it should only have stopped your condition from growing worse. Instead you’ve fully recovered in but an hour, despite having been covered in blood.”

“Such wounds do not mean much from people of my country.”At least considering the state of our medical treatment, that level of injury wasn’t worthy of note “Our bodies must be able to be fixed to survive.”

“Yes, you said you were from outside of Derriad. Where do you come from?” Exactly as planned, Dann was curious as to lands outside his own. Truly inevitable, as there were so many nested layers of isolation between him and another country. Even the Brannish, who Castor purported to be the most widely travelled people, were few in numbers within Derriad. Apparently, the nature of the country did not lend itself to foreign exchanges.

“I have never considered one place my home, though I come from near Braan. I have traveled a great deal through my life. Though this is the first time I have come across a town this large in Derriad. It is a strange place.”

“A strange place? Wouldn’t it be you that’s the strange one? No matter where you hail from, I don’t see how that would change Kella’s reaction to you. The strange one in this situation is definitely you.” Dann seemed to possess a very...local worldview. How could you just use one person’s reactions as a gauge for otherness?

“Tell me what would be so inconsistent with her actions. She led a wounded man to a Varansterm, that is only the proper course.” Slowly I worked to move the dialogue towards the attitudes of Disciples and the members of the Church. At least it wasn’t so dull I wanted to hammer the X button, but a x2 speed would have been nice.

“You’re lucky that she decided to bring you in, she’s never brought anyone back with her in the past! To collide with a member of the Church, no matter what happened the responsibility would be yours to bear. Even a Disciple is under no obligation to help a commoner, not to mention Kella. Her kindness must have been stirred by your grievous wounds, and yet you sit here calling them light.” The disciple ranted for a short while, and I didn’t bother to point out the obvious doublethink in that statement. Going the riskier route of questioning the status of the Church members, it would be more likely to lead to the information needed.

“Is this not a church of Life? Power may let one fend off repercussions, but surely those of the Church have some duty to the people. Something must be done for those who grow food and build houses.”

“We already do a great deal for the common folk! Why do you think there are so few monsters in this region? You may possess great vitality, but you would be dead if you encountered any real threat. To treat every single misfortune...sacrifices must be made so that on whole Life may reach greater heights! Wherever you came from, you are now in Derriad, land of the Guardian of Man. You need to understand the true way of the world.”

I held up my hands and gestured for him to calm down. He was getting a bit more worked up over the matter than I had predicted. At least I was gaining a little more insight into how the Disciple, and likely the Church as a whole, saw things. Sacrifice and few feelings towards the smallfolk, dire tidings indeed.

Silence remained for a few seconds as Dann calmed down, before I started the conversation up again.

“Please, I mean no offense. It is just that I wonder how those who live here are treated. What is to happen during the harvest season in this country? The village which has sheltered me is not one of great means. Perhaps the Church is not obligated to help them further, but how much are they obligated to the Church?”

“Just because we do not see to every trouble of the people does not mean we leave them to starve. The amount we request from each village hardly amounts to three argents per household. Compared to the costs the Church takes on, that’s nothing. On top of that, we send out the greatest members of our order to bless them and their homes. Going that far is already a great boon to them.”

Blessing their homes? For some reason I doubted there were any concrete events that resulted from the ‘blessings’. Being in such a fantasy world, real blessings were no doubt available, but the likelihood that they would actually expend such effort on every village seemed vanishingly minute.

Actually, sending out the greatest members of the church sounded suspiciously like strong-arming the populace into compliance. An argent wasn't as small a sum as Dann thought; his position as a Disciple must have shot his sense of value. With such high taxes, without a strong presence the villages would likely hand over goods worth far less than expected.

Outside of large towns like Glaucen, the lands were mostly comprised of farmers and other laborer a who produced food, for little profit. A family with a good plot of land would take in 12 silvers a year, and while that accounted for standard expenses, it usually ended up much lower due to repairs or bad harvest. Eight was a more reasonable figure.

That’s a third! A third of the peasant’s value siphoned away each year, and Derriad wasn't exactly filled with social works. As for Salt Village who was undergoing hard times, according to Castor they were hardly breaking even. The collective gains of the entire village usually only amounted to half a dozen silver, and when the catch wasn't good would have to dig into their savings. A pitiable situation, but at least the abundance of salt kept them from starving.

“Who are the greatest of your order? As a religious order it makes little sense to rank the members by strength, yet I do not believe you mean to say you send the most pious members to the villages.” Finally reaching the topic I wished to ask about, the Disciple’s expression lightened considerably. His outlook on the group felt naive to me, or perhaps I was just too ready to find the Evil Oppressive Organization. Either way, Dann painted a rather worrying depiction for Ria in tones of admiration.

Paladins were not so much a class of their own as much as a title bestowed upon certain clerics. Not every disciple who showed promise could find themselves leading services, and plenty possessed a penchant for battle(or as Dann phrased it, a dedication to ridding the world of evil). Since advancing their ability in incantations revolved around ‘engraving the scriptures into their hearts’(rote memorization) and ‘growing closer to the divine’(as far as I could tell, endless repetition), unlike stereotypical wizards, they had plenty of time to devote to training the body.

So many disciples and Clerics were sent out to dispatch rogue monsters; conveniently monopolizing most resources that came from such beasts. After undertaking so many tasks successfully and passing a certain level of strength, the church would find other missions for them.

The details grew murky, as Dann’s position in the hierarchy was low. However the missions the Clerics needed to complete were rumored to be on par with exterminating entire bands of orcs or goblins with only a few companions. Only after several such missions would they be promoted to Paladin. Many would not return from such excursions, but Dann made it clear that no Cleric would think of declining.

The only thing clear to me was that while the advancement to Paladin weeded out all but the elite, they were still rather expendable. As far as I could tell, power ascended the ranks, and Paladins were far from the top. In fact, despite almost even odds of dying, the Church seemed to mass produce them.

Not to say they were weak by any means. Capable of bending iron with their hands, able to run for days in full armor, along with their varying degrees of talent in incantations, many of which revolved around healing and protecting themselves.

As an ex-cleric of sorts myself, going by the tales Dann told they would be around 200 if monsters here were of comparable strength to the ones I knew. Objectively a low level, it was just my misfortune to be lower still. My chances in a fight were slim to none, and would rely solely on striking vital points. Of course since they would travel in squads of six, my chances were nil.

Fighting them was the last thing I wished to do in any case, the inquiry was only in case they began pursuing us for some reason. Bah, already my confidence in healing Ria before the harvest season had vanished. Being prepared was necessary in the situation though, not only did I have a few reservations about the young crone, but the Paladins stopped at each village for several days. Turns out that with incantations to help preserve food, they weren't in any rush to hurry back to the nearest temple with the offerings. There was also the possibility I could be counted as an extra household.

The more he talked, the less I took in. All his words were merely solidifying the fact that Ria could not stay in the village, and that there was little possibility in temporarily hiding her away. Paladins would actually begin passing through even before the date when goods would be collected from the village, so less time still to get Ria into a travel ready state.

Ridiculous, the magnitude of my task seemed to be ever higher as I saw more and more of what it entailed. Dann chatted aimlessly about the heroes of the church, as I tried finding a way through the situation.