At the end of every street, I looked up to catch a glimpse of the cross, which towered above the rest of the buildings within the walls of Bristol. Using the cross as the guiding light, I squeezed my way through the pedestrians until I finally stood in front of the church. I took a moment to marvel at the building. Bristol's church took up an entire block. Like St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, there was a set of double doors, made of bronze, at the center of the building. It was open, beckoning believers to enter for daily worship. The walls were lined with marble columns and stained glass windows. However, unlike the famous landmark, this building had one spire rather than two on the front side. And on top of the spire, rising above the entranceway, was the cross.

Commoners continuously entered and left the building, some brushing past me in doing so.

Finally jolted out of my reverie, I entered the building.

"I'll be waiting out here," Kalistra yelled out from behind.

I quickly turned around and nodded to her. As a non-human, the cat girl was magically prevented from entering the church grounds. I saw that she was across the street and leaning against a wall in front of a store.

Suddenly, someone jostled me again.

"Watch where you're going," the commoner said angrily and shook his head.

As I walked around, I realized that I had no idea how to find Archbishop Wilshire or make an appointment with him. My membership with the Church and then my appointment as Town Judge of Tregome were practically foisted on me by Bishop Canterbury and his divine co-conspirators, Bane and Musa. Frankly, I had no idea how I was supposed to act as a representative of the Church and I had been merely roleplaying as one during my various interactions with the common folk.

I saw a young page hurrying down the corridor and I quickly raised my hand to draw his attention. I looked at his caption and saw the boy's name was "Ethuot." "Pardon me, Ethuot," I began as I pulled out my truth stone from under my tunic. "Where can I borrow a church robe to wear? I was traveling and couldn't bring my robe with me. Second, how do I go about making an appointment to see Archbishop Wilshire? We spoke briefly at the Mayor's Office yesterday and he wanted to see me this morning," I explained.

The boy eyed the stone and then looked up to read my caption. He bowed deeply and said, "Please follow me, Brother Mulligan." He immediately turned around walked back the way he came.

"Uh, I'm sorry to pull you away from your task," I apologize.

Ethuot turned around and shook his head. "It's fine, Brother Mulligan. You need to be presentable to our Archbishop," he smiled wryly while looking at my well-worn clothing.

I grinned back. The Church robe I received back in Bristol was too torn and dirty to wear. Especially for a meeting with the archbishop himself.

The young boy led me to a side room that was lined with metal racks. White robes on wooden hangers hung on these racks. Ethuot quickly pulled a robe off a rack. "I think this robe will fit you," he said.

I took the robe and quickly put it on. I unbuckled my belt and re-tied it over my borrowed robe. My black scabbard remained at its normal location on my left hip. I also pulled out my truth stone over my white robe.

My guide looked down at my ankles and nodded. "Perfect fit. You can keep this robe." The hem of the robe ended just above the ankle.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

The boy nodded. When he saw my skepticism, he asked, "Do you make tithes to the Church?"

"Of course!" I answered with indignation. Did Ethuot think I would cheat the church out of its due?

My companion quickly held up his right hand to placate me. "I meant no offense, Brother Mulligan. I was merely seeking to make the point that your tithe to our Church supports our various missions including maintenance of this church building and the proper robes that our clergymen wear. Thus, you had already paid for this robe," he explained.

"I see," I nodded.

"Please walk this way, Brother," the boy said and quickly left the wardrobe room. He didn't want to linger and accidentally make me angry at him again. As a holder of a truth stone, I held a higher rank within the Church than Ethuot and therefore, I could set a penance as his punishment for insulting me. He led me up a staircase to another corridor. We continued walking until another cleric suddenly opened a door and entered the hallway. The man quietly closed the door behind him.

When the newcomer turned around and I saw the man's face, I realized that I had seen him somewhere before. He was a tall but lanky-looking, middle-aged man dressed in a red robe with a truth stone around his neck. His shoulder-length hair was gray and he wore a light-gray colored mustache which was neatly trimmed over his upper lip. He had a stern demeanor and my immediate impression was that this cleric was not to be trifled with.

The man's dark brown eyes stared at me for a moment before recognition hit him. "Ah yes, Brother Mulligan. We meet again," the cleric said and nodded slightly.

I looked up at his caption and his name read, "Yomat Yizfell." However, I couldn't remember where we encountered each other. "I'm sorry. I don't remember where we met before," I admitted and bowed deeply to the man as an apology.

The cleric's eyes smoldered for a moment and then his facial expression softened. The clergyman turned his attention to Ethuot. "Page, please return to your duties," he ordered.

"Yes, Deacon," the boy replied and bowed deeply. He offered me a slight nod and walked down the staircase. Ethuot prayed to the Gods of the Law and Order on my behalf.

"Please come with me, Brother Mulligan," Deacon Yizfell said and started walking down the corridor. He led me to a small study and closed the door behind me. "Please sit down," he said.

I took a seat in front of the desk and the deacon sat in his chair behind it. The room was sparsely furnished. In addition to the two chairs and the desk, there was a bookcase leaning against the left wall and a window behind my host's seat.

He looked at me for a moment and then started talking. "To answer your question, we met back in Tregome. You were cleaning the cage where my nephew, Mewaine, was killed as part of the public culling the previous night."

My eyes widened as I immediately remembered where I met the man! Deacon Yizfell had berated me for surviving the culling of town folk who had turned into wererats; I was the only one in the cage to be blessed by the Gods. Mewaine was one of the unfortunate; he was a fellow student at the Butterfly School of Swordsmanship.

The deacon held up his hand when he saw that I was beginning to panic. "I have made peace with Mewaine's death," he said. "The Gods of the Law and Order had favored you. As Their servant, it was not my place to question Them." He leaned forward and placed his hands on his desk. "Is it true that Lady Musa had assigned you a mission?" he asked. It was an unconfirmed rumor within the Church.

I nodded. I slowly pulled up my left sleeve and cast Unveil over her divine mark. When I showed Musa's brand to Yizfell, his jaw dropped.

To his credit, the man immediately regained his composure and cleared his throat. "I see that our Goddess has favored you, Brother Mulligan. Is there anything the Church branch of Bristol can do to assist you in your mission?"

I shook my head. "The mission has already been accomplished," I answered. Lady Musa had tasked me with contacting The Elven Nation and to convince them to fight against the drows causing mischief within the Kingdom of Merlin. I spoke to Roen, their secret ambassador, and his wife, Linemistress Valatea. Acting as a Gatekeeper, she provided me with passage through a secret gate in Tregome to meet the Greater Goddess of Life, Gaea. Gaea, in turn, agreed to assist me in exchange for becoming her servant and this led to my branding by Gaea, too. However, I did not wish to explain these matters to the man sitting across from me. After all, I remembered vividly the open hostility that Yizfell had exhibited towards me until a fellow brother managed to calm this nobleman down.

Seeing that I was not inclined to discuss Musa's mission any further, the deacon wisely dropped the topic. He leaned back into his chair and said, "As it so happens, I had just spoken with Archbishop Wilshire and left his office when I encountered you in the hallway. His Eminence has assigned me to be your instructor in Church matters during your stay in Bristol. When do you plan to leave?"

"I'm in the process of learning magic spells for my new profession as a Mage," I replied. "The mayor has also expressed interest in offering me quests. I may stay another day or two. But there are certain places I need to travel to shortly. I can't remain in Bristol for long."

Deacon Yizfell nodded. During his conversation with the archbishop, his superior had revealed that I was a Player Character and also a candidate for the crown. With these revelations, everything began to make sense. Especially why I had survived the culling back in Tregome when three others in my cage did not. The cleric was provided great latitude in offering whatever church assignments were suitable to me. The archbishop only required was that the tasks should push me further into the Lawful alignment in order to enhance my candidacy as a Champion of Order.

"Have you prayed this morning?" the deacon asked suddenly.

"Um, uh, no," I stammered. I cringed inwardly. The last time I prayed was during Thanksgiving dinner.

My superior shook his head. "This will not do! Close your eyes," he ordered immediately. Once I obeyed, Yizfell closed his eyes and offered a prayer. "Dear Goddess Musa, please bless us, protect us, and guide us as we continue our daily devotions in your name. Amen."

"Amen," I repeated.

Deacon Yizfell looked directly into my eyes. "A simple daily prayer to our Goddess is a reminder that we are Her servants," he lectured. "As men of the robe, we constantly face temptation from Chaos to lose our faith and devotion. As such, this prayer is helpful if you ever find yourself being tempted by the forces of Chaos to turn away from our Goddess."

The cleric's eyes lingered on my truth stone. "Have you learned to take truth oaths with your stone?" he asked.

I nodded. Bishop Canterbury had taught me how.

My answer forced a slight smile on his face. The deacon rapped his knuckles on the table. "I'm going to assign you to The Watch today. Your task will be to administer truth oaths at their Investigative Office. A cleric will assist you in writing down the testimonials. You will be allotted two hours to this task and then you may visit the Mayor's Office," he said.

I raised my hand. "I have a companion waiting for me across the street," I said.

Yizfell's eyebrows rose. His eyes were drawn to the sword hilt at my left hip. "It's your instructor in swordsmanship." It was a statement rather than a question.

I nodded.

"I will ask a page to inform her. You two can meet up at the Watch Headquarters in two hours," the deacon replied. "We need to leave now," he ordered.

I got up from my seat and followed him out of his study. We walked down the staircase and saw several pages milling about in the hallway.

True to his word, Deacon Yizfell asked one of the boys to run across the street to inform Kalistra of my assignment. He then asked another page to take me to the Investigative Office.

I followed Miaqhus as he led us out of the Church and into the street. We made a left turn and walked along the street and crossed over to the next block, where the Watch Headquarters was located. Frankly, the Watch HQ was far less impressive than the Church building. If anything, the exterior of the building was similar to The Mayor's Office: Very lowkey and non-descript. The Watch Headquarters was a four-story building with multiple entrances. We took the main entrance at the center of the building. A flag with the official emblem of Bristol hung over the entrance.

Once we stepped inside, Miaqhus took me to the reception desk. Seated behind the desk was a middle-aged man with shortly cropped light brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a wide jaw.

I peeked at his caption and read his name as "Lieutenant Yarslo."

Yarslo looked at both of us and asked, "Yes?" His voice was surprisingly deep.

The boy bowed and said, "Deacon Yizfell has assigned Brother Mulligan to assist in administering the truth oath in the Investigative Office. The assignment is to last for two hours."

The Watchman's eyes narrowed on the truth stone on my chest. "The Watch could use another oath taker," he grunted, "even for only two hours." Yarslo turned his attention back to Miaqhus. "Dismissed."

The boy quickly left me behind and exited the building.

The Lieutenant raised his right hand and a runner came over. "The Church has provided us with an extra oath taker for two hours. Please escort Brother Mulligan to the Investigative Office," he ordered.

The newcomer saluted and turned toward me. "Please follow me."

I followed Aarkeon through a door on the right. The room was full of small tables and chairs. The Watchman spoke to a man in a white robe, who stared at my truth stone for a moment and nodded. The man was past his prime and his back was bent slightly forward. He walked with a wooden cane. His hair was several wisps of gray.

The man greeted me with a warm smile. "Welcome, Brother Mulligan. My name is Winlev and I'm the Head Investigator. I appreciate your services in administering the oath. Are you comfortable with writing down testimonials? Or should I assign a clerk to this task instead?" he asked.

"I would prefer someone else writing the testimonials," I answered honestly.

Winlev nodded. "Okay. Let's get you settled at a desk. I will ask a clerk to come to your table in a moment." He looked around the room and settled on my assigned seat. He walked across the room until we reached an empty desk.

Once I was settled down, another cleric joined me at the table soon after.

"Hi, I'm Brother Cyms," the young man introduced himself with a deep bow. He placed a stack of parchment, a quill and an inkwell on the table; he then took a seat to my left.

"Greetings, I'm Brother Mulligan," I replied with a polite nod. I saw a young man in his early twenties with neatly cropped blonde hair, blue eyes, and cheeks marred by freckles.

A few minutes later, a Watchman brought two commoners to our table.

Looking at their attire, I assumed that the two were merchants. One man was tall, thin and dressed in bright green clothes and an oversized hat. The other man was short and dressed in a black doublet over a white tunic. The vest did a poor job in hiding the man's big belly.

The two noticed the truth stone around my neck and bowed deeply to me before taking their seats across from us.

I held the stone and said, "Please give your truth oath and then your testimony," I ordered.

The man in green immediately replied and held up his right hand. "I, Qinjoje, do swear by the Law and Order, to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth upon penalty of death." A beam of light burst from the stone and struck the man in the chest.

"Please proceed," I prodded as Cyms held the quill in his hand.

"Five days ago, this man, named Wyroett, entered my tailor shop and gave an order to deliver a customized doublet. After I personally measured his size, we discussed the adornments that he wanted the doublet to have. Specifically, he asked for a moon on the left side and a star on the right side. The black doublet was to be lined with fur on the inside. After some haggling, we finalized on a price of five gold pieces with delivery by noon in three days. Unfortunately, my usual source of fur had sold out and I had to pay a premium to another fur trader to obtain the material. I personally went to this man's house to ensure the delivery was on time. Before handing over the doublet, I asked for an additional twenty silver pieces to cover the unexpected cost of the fur. Wyroett rejected my demand and declared that the agreement was null and void. Henceforth, I am petitioning a judge to declare Wyroett in breach of our agreement and to make him pay five gold and twenty silver pieces," Qinjoje testified.

I waited a moment for my truth stone to react but it remained inert. I turned my attention to the man seated to the tailor's left.

The short man held up his hand and said, "I, Wyroett, do swear by the Law and Order, to tell the truth, and nothing but the truth upon penalty of death." A beam of light struck his chest.

"Please proceed," I ordered.

"I confirm the testimony of this tailor. I did enter Qinjoje's tailor shop on Mulberry Street five days ago and ordered a customized black doublet with a star and moon adornment on the front and lined with fur on the inside. We settled on a price of five gold pieces and delivery within three days at noon. Qinjoje did appear at my estate by the designated time and presented me with the custom order. However, his demand for an extra twenty silver pieces was not something I ever agreed to. Thus, I treated his demand for additional money as a breach of our agreement and declared it null and void. I seek a confirmation of this breach by the judge and a declaration that the tailor is entitled to no compensation from me," Wyroett testified.

I waited for my truth stone to react but it did not. "A judge will review your petition and testimonies shortly. Once a determination has been made, the Watch will contact you."

Both men rose from their seats, bowed deeply, and then left the office.

Cyms rolled up the pieces of parchment and carefully placed them inside a scroll holder. He labeled it as "Qinjoje Vs. Wyroett." Once finished with his task, he turned toward me. "How would you decide this petition?"

I took a moment to think about the case and then replied. "Both men made unreasonable demands. The agreement specified a price and there were no provisions allowing the tailor to charge extra. If he wanted to add a provision for unexpected costs of materials, it should have been part of the agreement. On the other hand, the buyer did not dispute that a timely delivery was attempted. Nor did he suggest the doublet failed to meet his specifications. He wasn't entitled to void the agreement either. If I was the official judge for this petition, I would enforce the original agreement for 5 gold."

Before Cyms could respond, a Watchman brought the next set of petitioners to our table. And we continued taking oath sworn testimonials during the allotted two hours.

When the last group of petitioners left our table, Winlev approached us. "Thank you for your service," the man nodded.

Cyms reciprocated the nod to his superior and then to me.

I nodded back to both men and then left the office. When I finally exited the Watch Headquarters, I received a pop-up notification which read, "Minor faction quest COMPLETED. +250 XP, +100 Reputation, +200 XP."

The church bell, located just across the street, rung loudly. It was ten in the morning.

"About time you got out of there," Kalistra grumbled from behind me.