As I stepped back from Grym, I did my best to appear as if this fight had been a piece of cake. Gracefully... Confident... Don’t mess this up now...

I felt like this had been my first true fight in this world. So far, almost every beast had been a one-hit-kill and almost every encounter with a guard ended with them unconscious after one or two hits. Captain Lera had been an exception, but he was also said to be one of the best fighters in Alarna, and I didn’t have nearly as many scripts at my disposable back when we tried to escape from him in Cerus. Not to mention that we still needed blue stones back then. I had been confident that I wouldn’t have any issues beating even a capable guard anymore.

Grym didn’t appear like a very capable Fighter at first, but he definitely was. Even though he didn’t seem to really believe in my abilities, he didn’t underestimate me for even a second. He evaded an invisible attack he didn’t know, he immediately recognized what it would’ve done, and he decided to distract me in an instant, to be able to close the distance. If I hadn’t used a mana wave in time, he would’ve won.

I didn’t know what the fight had looked like to the onlookers, but the people around us started cheering for me once it was over, and they looked happy enough. If it had seemed like I had struggled, they would’ve most likely reacted differently, which made me let out a silent breath of relief.

“Girly,” Grym said as he got back up. “We need to repeat this some time.”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” I said, though I wasn’t actually so sure about it. Technically, I was up for it. This fight had been a valuable experience after all. However, this guy would definitely figure out a way to win against me in due time. Why isn’t he a captain or something...?

“I will back off for now, as per our agreement,” he said and then saluted me. “Until then, Lilly.”

My eyes widened ever so slightly as I watched him leave without another word, the other guard quickly following him. A show of respect... This ended up working out well. Challenging a guard I knew nothing about was reckless, but you can’t argue about results.

While the citizens were still discussing the fight with excitement, I headed for the prison, to get away from the crowd and relax for a moment. The others followed me, and as we walked, Tomar stepped up to me and whispered “That snap came just in time, good job.”

“Right...” I whispered back. “Did I actually snap though...?”

“Hm? What do you mean?”

“I was overwhelmed there for a moment, I don’t remember snapping... Lilana, what about you?”

‘I’m not sure, I was focused on that sheath almost hitting us in the face.’

“She doesn’t know either,” I said.

“What’s the alternative though?” Tomar asked.

“I’m not sure yet... but I believe Aelene can control her mana somehow. Maybe... I did it by force of will...?”

I would have to look into this more later, and maybe Aelene would be willing to talk to us, in which case I might learn a few things that way. With this in mind, we entered the prison and headed for the cells.

***

We entered the dark building in the south east of the main square as free people for the first time. Looking at everything in more detail, now that we weren’t fleeing for our lives, it didn’t look quite as menacing anymore. They had still built the entire building from dark stone, and the atmosphere was a little eerie, but not being scared for your life made quite the difference.

We had barely entered and started walking down a hallway that led to the cells when we came across two guards who actually had stayed back to guard the prisoners. Unlike Grym, these two seemed very happy to see me.

“Lilly!” one of them said when he saw us. “May I thank you for all you’ve done? Me and my family have never felt this safe! I’m often stationed on the walls and I haven’t seen a beast out there in weeks! It’s a miracle!”

“You’re very welcome,” I said with a smile. This middle-aged man was the total opposite of Grym. Instead of doubting me, he had passed well into “devotee” territory and was bending over backwards to tell me about the prisoners, who had been placed where, what the status was, and he offered to help me in any way he could.

I hadn’t even thought about the logistics when I asked them to arrest everyone, but apparently they had decided to split up the royals and the priests. Additionally, they had split these groups up further into smaller ones, putting them in six cells in total. That way, the rooms wouldn’t be so crowded.

“How is everyone?” I asked the guard.

“Physically they are well, but most seem worried about what will happen to them. The High Priest and the king were quite aggressive though.”

“Hm, alright. We’ll leave them be for now then, and they should be isolated. Could you also bring the priests Oryn and Aelene to a separate room for questioning, please?”

“Certainly, Lilly!” “Of course!” the two guards said and disappeared to get the prisoners and prepare a room.

Oryn and Aelene were presumably the ones who knew the most about Omega, and we couldn’t have them running around explaining it to people. Even if we could do things they couldn’t, our abilities weren’t different enough that one might not wonder whether they were just variations of each other, which they were of course. The High Priest might’ve received reports about what Oryn was up to, but I doubted that he was directly involved, and he presumably wouldn’t have passed the general information on to anyone else.

After a few minutes, the guards returned and then led us to the prepared interrogation room, though it ended up being just another cell, with the two priests kneeling on the floor, their hands bound with handcuffs. Aelene looked absolutely miserable, while Oryn had a surprisingly apathetic expression on his face. At least until he saw me and Tomar that was.

“Lilana! And Mr. Remor!” he said and started shuffling in our direction a little bit. “Please let me be a part of this! And please tell me how you’re using the scripture in this way! Oh, there’s so much I must ask you!”

I gave him an angry look, because the door was still open and the guards might’ve heard, but he didn’t seem to care at all. “We’ll be alright in here,” I said to the guards and closed the door behind us, as they nodded and took position in the hallway.

Turning back to our prisoners, Oryn was practically groveling now, so we would let him play with us. This creep had essentially tortured Riala and Tomar, he would’ve done the same thing to Lilana, he had experimented with Omega without understanding anything about it, and he had risked killing Aelene and others. Now he was in one room with the people he had hurt and apparently the only thing on his mind was still to learn more about Omega. In a way, this was to be expected though. He had not only risked our lives, but also his own at least twice. He was most definitely a lunatic, without any respect for his own or other people’s lives, but he was dedicating his all to learning more about Omega, and I had to admit, to some degree, I could respect that.

“Don’t you think it would be more appropriate to start with an apology?” I asked him.

“An... apology...?” he said in total confusion. “Surely you understand that it’s necessary to cross some lines to advance the scripture sigil research! There is nothing more important, both to improve the lives of the people and to protect them! You are proof of that, Lilana!”

“For sake of argument, let’s say I were to accept that line of thinking. You still just recognized that you crossed some lines. Do you really believe that we would work with you? That we would teach you anything?”

“So... you won’t...?” he asked, crestfallen.

This guy, seriously... I thought. Glancing over at Tomar, I could see him look at Oryn with an icy stare I had never seen on him before. I felt like he wouldn’t object if I were to propose to execute this priest right now, but that certainly wasn’t how we planned to rule. When we decided that we wanted to change how things worked in this world, I had brought forth the suggestion that even criminals shouldn’t just be executed, and the others had agreed. For one, this would make us look more benevolent and fall in line with the idea that the gods despise violence. It would also make the previous administration look bad, because they killed people despite the gods’ will. However, more importantly, just because someone committed a few petty crimes, didn’t mean that they couldn’t still contribute to society down the line. The question was just how and when. Oryn had apparently not thought very hard about what would happen to him yet though.

“You don’t seem to understand what kind of position you’re in. You are a danger to yourself and others, and you have hurt people who are important to me. Do you believe anyone would mind if I executed you right now?”

Oryn’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked back and forth between me and Tomar. Aelene meanwhile had yet to say a single word, and aside from a short glance when we had come in, she hadn’t even looked at us.

“But... I can be helpful! I have researched the sigils all my life!”

“Yet you’re asking us to teach you. What could you even do for us?”

At this, he became quiet. Thinking back to when he had come to test Lilana in that temple cell, he had trusted me and my new script immediately, saying something along the lines of how he would naturally help out a fellow researcher. He seemed to see anyone who was working with Omega as a like-minded person, who would see things just the way he did. And in his mind, these people would naturally help each other. The realization that this was not necessarily the case seemed to hit him hard. However, we could use this. We weren’t actually planning to execute him, and even if it was unlikely that he could be of actual use to us, I didn’t rule it out either. After all, he had indeed studied the sigils for a long time, and who knew what kind of knowledge was hidden inside the temple.

He was desperate to work with us, and now he was also realizing that his life was on the line. He would most definitely stay in prison for a little while for what he had done, and all we wanted for the moment was that these two didn’t tell people anything about mana and Omega. Convincing him to stay quiet seemed like a relatively simple task now.

“I’ll make you two a deal,” I said. “You’re going to stay in prison for the moment, as punishment for your crimes, and you will not speak to anyone about these abilities or the scripture sigils. In turn, you will live and be allowed to return to the temple in time.”

‘Wait, what!?’ Lilana blurted out inside my mind.

“You will allow me to work under you!?” Oryn said with a bright smile, doing a complete one eighty from the worried expression he had had just a few seconds ago. “Deal!”

‘They are criminals and blasphemers! You can’t just let them come back!’

We talked about not killing anyone if we could avoid it. What did you think was going to happen here, Lilana...?

“Good. What about you, Aelene?”

She didn’t respond verbally, she didn’t even look up, but she nodded, presumably agreeing to the deal. I wasn’t sure what was up with her. It seemed like her entire world had fallen apart, but I had now repeatedly said that we would let them live, and even welcome them back at the temple. Maybe people would be miffed about her pretending to be a divine messenger, but it’s not like this was the end. Still, they had agreed to the deal, and we would hopefully be safe for the time being.

“Very well. We’ll see you again soon,” I said, and we turned around to leave the room. I had wanted to talk a little more with Aelene, but she was clearly not in the right state of mind, so that could wait.

Next up, Lilana’s uncle, to talk about rituals and the white stones. Then a few members of the royals, to talk about the administration. And then we’ve got to get back to see what Reurig learned, so we can coordinate with the guards.

We didn’t know how much time we had before these beasts might come here, and we not only had to make sure the guards were on our side, but also prepare them for what was to come. The next couple of days will be hectic... I thought, as we stepped into the hallway and a guard closed the door behind us.