I slowly shuffled my way into the arena's chamber, the same one where I had been preparing for my duel just a while ago. After crudely putting my blade and shield in the racks, I collapsed onto a chair.

I imagine, if I was capable of it, I’d be feeling dizzy, uneasy, maybe even have some vomit reflexes after seeing what had happened to Rowan. Instead, eerily, my head felt cold and calm.

I...hated it!

I knew that I should be feeling something! That I should be either excited or frightened, but, all I felt was this dull sliver of… pleasure? No, it was more like content. It was another step on my path. Another milestone. Another notch under my belt. I ‘knew’ that for the Lions, this outcome was simply the best result out of all possibilities. Not only had I won, not only had the Foxes’ ‘cheats’ been exposed, not only had everyone knew I was fighting in a ‘disadvantageous’ situation, equipped with tools of the worse quality, but also that my enemy had ‘illegal’ body modifications - which had been exposed and ‘punished’... and yet I still won.

No doubt this was like a tale of a virtuous knight that bards loved to extoll. Full of valor, and tactics, and sacrifice, but for me it felt so...hollow?

Suddenly, I decided to get up, grab the chair I was sitting on and throw it across the room.

I SHOULD BE ANGRY! DISGUSTED! ANYTHING!

FEEL SOMETHING!

The chair smashed against the wall, shattering into a cascade of splinters.

I stared down at my hands, and looked into my mind for any vestige of what I knew I should be feeling. Again, nothing.

Few moments later, a knock on the door to my chamber resounded..

“Aster? It’s me, together with the Arbiter… do you feel like talking with us now?” I heard the voice of Leading-Commander Nicolai

He was asking if I was covering my face. He didn’t know that the ‘Arbiter’ was a god that made me the way I am now.

“Yes… Of course” I answered weakly.

The door opened, letting in Nicolai, Natasha… and a man I had never seen before. In his late forties, balding, with several scars and burn marks across his face.

“I believe we haven't been introduced…” the man started, stretching his hand to me “...You did hear my name at the beginning of the duel, but that’s it. Now, officially - I am Zdenek Egret. Ex-adventurer. It was an honor and pleasure to commentate on the first duel of a rising star… I must say it was a stupendous act I did notice how your movements changed later on - you were baiting him into more reckless attacks… To be able to fight like a fool in front of such a large audience, not caring about your own name, just to prevail over your foe, you, Sir, are one dangerous predator.” He seemed to positively radiate with energy describing my fight, likely why he was the Arbiter in the first place.

Calming himself down he firmly shook my hand.

… It wasn’t him though. Now, as I did have questions for him, he wasn’t here.

“N-no, the pleasure is mine.” I shook my head with slight embarrassment “... and I believe you are overestimating my skills, Sir, most of the time I really just tried to stay alive” “Modest, isn’t he, just like I told you?” Nicolas smirked.

Oh? I see. So the leading-commander decided to show me off, like a pretty show puppy, pointing at me and saying ‘See that, that’s mine’. Well, he wasn’t wrong. If he could earn something more by promoting my persona, then I don’t see a single reason to stop him. In the end, I owed him quite a lot. It just irked me how casually he was able to turn the conversation in order to best use my name and feats.

“I do believe it is true, Sir…” I continued “...Officer Natasha prepared me well, without her guidance over the past few days, I would have lost miserably.” “You indeed surround yourself with promising youth, Nic’.” The Arbiter smiled.

Never before had I heard anyone addressing him so casually.

“Ha well I learned from the best, right?” he answered with a cocky grin.

So, the two had some past between each other? Were they possibly instructors and trainees?... But that would mean that this man was one of his father’s knights…

No. Too much speculation. I would need to ask around and verify it. For now though…

Zdenek sighed loudly, his eyes darted towards the broken chair, but he didn’t comment on it beyond a slight rise of his eyebrows.

Taking another step towards me, he would put his hand on my shoulder.

“Tell me, son, what are your goals? Both big and small ones.”

I quickly look towards Nicolai, seeking his approval. A quick nod told me it was ok to proceed.

“Sir, I don’t want to bother you with boring details… But, long story short, I seek justice…” I didn’t lie. “... you could say it’s revenge, but, really, I just want to stop certain people from repeating the same crimes they did to me, and saving others from my fate… and, during my journey, I honestly hope to help as many people as possible.” I strung together, in likely too many words, what boiled down to the essence of my goal.

Same story. Repeated over and over. Even though it was true, I felt dirty covering my real reasoning behind this beautiful story.

It felt like lying.

It felt like rationalizations.

It felt like covering your crime with a higher, more false ideal,… Just like someone who I was hunting right now.

“Dear heavens…” the man muttered, after staring at me for a bit, and then turned back to the commander “... You were right. He really believes in what he is saying!” “Right? It feels as if I picked up a Hero from stories off the road. I am telling you, this ‘kid’ is going to go high.” “...” the man became quiet for a few moments, seeming to reaffirm himself “...Very well, Nic. The thing you asked of me… Consider it done.”

Nicolai brightened up. In these three minutes he had shown me more expressions than I’d seen on him in the past several weeks.

“I am indebted to you!” He said, clasping his hand on his chest and bowing slightly. “No, no need for that. If you asked me to lie or cover things up, I would straight up decline. But, you basically asked me to reduce the possible backlash that this ‘Tiny Hero’ would have suffered from his ‘dirty’ fighting. And, seeing how the Foxes spiked their man…” he shook his head with detest. “... feuds weren’t like this back in my day at least.” “S-speaking about which…” I allowed myself to cut into their conversation, for which Nicolai gave me a thunderous gaze - in the end, you should remain quiet when the mightier than you are talking or something “... what about him? His condition? Will he… be able to return to his old self?”

Nicolai’s gaze softened. Apparently, by showing concern about my enemy I just earned him a few more ‘affection points’. I didn’t care about that though. I cared about Rowan.

As much as I ‘hated him’, he became like this because of the gods involvement, and the gods were involved in a roundabout way because of me.

This was not right.

“What awaits him now is a painful surgery… and quite an expensive one too.” “But, will the Foxes pay for it? They have a reputation for… not caring about the people that they can’t use anymore.” “I wouldn’t worry about that, they took quite a blow to their reputation. The crowd at least knows his name and house. If they left their man in that condition, well, it would be a nail to their coffin, and that’d be the start.”

My shoulders dropped, the tension I was carrying before this being released.

Good. Despite his personality, if it was possible, I wanted to fight with him again, this time on equal terms. In the end, this battle left a foul taste in my mouth.

The conversation eventually ended, and Natasha left, leading the Arbiter out of the room. As soon as the door closed, Nicolai’s happiness all vanished, his cold, proud, face returning.

“Great fight, even though it lacked… style and form, you did what we asked you to do. And, with this, you did us a great favor, Aster. So, we prepared a small reward for you.” “With all due respect, sir, I don’t need…” I tried to interject, but he barreled past me. “We will reduce some requirements for you to become a regular Lion, and joining our ranks. You will be, most likely, the first graduate from the current cadet batch. No, not an official one - you still need to finish enough quests via the guild. But, all other legal processes? Consider them done. You have two days off, cadet. After that, I would insist on you visiting the guild... “ he turned around and started moving towards the door “...Ah, one more thing. When you walk over Lion’s headquarters, or take a stroll over the city, keep your head high. You have a good reason to.”

Saying that, he left.

I remained in the room for several more moments, thinking over and over about what I had just witnessed.

Eventually, I slowly got up and left, heading towards the barracks, doing my best to avoid people. I didn’t want to talk with anyone.

...Something was bothering me though. Something just at the back of my mind. This uneasy feeling, that I was missing something obvious.

In the city’s Boltward Cathedral, a priest - one of the Lion’s captains - Adam, was sitting inside a side-alcove, a place where you could pray in peace while still remaining close to the ‘center of city’s faith’. He was supposed to have a meeting with the bishop, but that was in an hour or two.

Bha! He hated his position! He was given the title of captain because of ‘tight connections’ with the bishop, and his position in church was granted only because of his ‘influence’ in the Lion’s House.

Basically, he was a double agent. He was reporting to the bishop on the Lion’s actions, and he was telling Nicolai what plans the bishop was cooking.

Which side was he truly on? His own, in truth. He was truly a man of faith - he did worship the three goddesses, and did all his best to live according to their codex. This is why he hated both of his organizations - the Church and Lions. He learned that none of them were what they were pretending to be.

The Church? Far too preoccupied with politics.

Lions? Far too preoccupied with their own good name and wealth.

Clasping his hands with growing anxiety he screamed internally “THAT’S NOT WHY EITHER OF THESE ORGANIZATION WERE RAISED!”

Lions were supposed to be defenders of the innocent, not parading around the palace, and getting dragged into tavern brawls! The Church was meant to teach! To lead! Not to threaten and manipulate!

“...Mothers, sweet mothers, to whom I pray. Mothers, sweet mothers, whom only I serve… What should I do? Give me a sign, lead my hammer and mind in the right direc…” “Father?...” One of the acolytes entered the alcove after following the murmuring that had been growing louder.

Adam almost bursted in rage for having his concentration disturbed, but slowly tried calming himself down. This was but an errand boy, possibly still naive, as every young man aspiring to be a priest tended to be.

“What is it, Fred?” He won’t raise his voice on this poor boy. He won’t be like the others at least. “...We managed to identify this spell’s structure.” The man reported. “And?” The Priest-Captain squinted his eyes at the acolyte. “It was a neutral-domain spell - dispell, but it was not a ‘cleansing light’ nor even ‘untangle’. It wasn’t ‘undoing’ either…” “Then?” Priest was losing his calmness. “Accelerate. Undoing a spell by aging its structure. Black magic, sire. It also carried a taint of sacrificial magic, so the mana that was consumed from the destroyed spell had been redirected somewhere else… we don’t know where to go. It wasn't The Spider-Lady, nor the Pale-Lady, not any other registered Goddess nor devil. Hopefully, it landed in the void.” “You are far too optimistic. Offerings aren’t made into nothingness. Something is always there to accept.” “I...See.. S-sir, can you please tell me where you had seen this spell structure?”

Adam turned around.

“This, my son. Is no concern of yours.” “I am sorry for asking.” The man took a hurried step back while bowing. “Don’t be. Curiosity is only natural. Though, please do me a favor. Don’t mention it to anyone. I need to do a careful investigation, and some of our brothers are too…” he was looking for the right word. “Zealous when dealing with dark-arts?” Suggested the acolyte with a timid smile. “Wanted to say - crazy, but, yes. Yours sounds better.” he gave the boy a warm smile, calming his nerves “...You are dismissed, Thank you for your assistance in this.”

The man bowed and speed walked away, leaving Adam with his thoughts.

Ha. He was more than sure that the boy would tell it to all the higher ranks before supper. It didn't matter though. No bishop would waste their time with mere curse-word investigation, considering it far beneath them.

Problem remained somewhere else though…

This damn undead. This damn undead tainiting the holy remaments of our once prideful order! CURSE HIM! Why did Nicolai allow an actual skeleton among his men!? HOW DARE HE DO THAT!

This skeleton can lie all he wants, he can cheat the lie-detecting-crystal all he wants!

Adam knew.

Adam knew the true nature of undead. And now, knowing that he openly used a curse-word against another human, for the sake of victory, even though he himself would not have died in this battle - now he was sure.

This undead was not foolish. He was calculating. Cold. Always chasing after his own goal and victories. Arrogant, but careful.

Adam will have to deal with him.

And the Lions.

And the Church.

This world shall be fixed, cleansed, righted.

“...Three mothers, please, give me a sign…”

He prayed again.

And just like that, it seemed as if on his face fell a ray of light and his eyes bulged in shoc