The clergyman was one of the arch-bishops in the kingdom, controlling a third of the church, and he had an unusual hobby.

He was a necrophiliac, who enjoyed corpses only when they were still warm.

He had a deal worked out with pimps through an intermediary, where they would bring him girls of his specification, freshly poisoned, and he would enjoy himself for upwards of two hours. However, he would have to arrange the pimp to be followed and killed to maintain silence, even after paying them extravagant amounts for the girls.

Of course, the other two arch-bishops would be bound to find out, so he used his own spies to make them think that he was doing the city a service by assassinating pimps while secretly liberating young girls. Even if they thought he was having sex with the girls, it was commonplace for all three of them, so they wouldn't be able to move against him with just that.

The only problem was that it was an expensive hobby with many compounded costs. Pimps had good protection, and contracting the assassin's guild was expensive. He couldn't afford for one of his own to be found killed in an attempt, after all. Pimps were also careful with their money, and he rarely recovered any of the amount her paid for the girls in the first place. The donations from the people and the extortion from the royals and nobles weren't enough to satiate his lust.

To fix this problem, he began slum-crawling. Madames were uneager to kill off their girls, but they were quick to jump on what may be a large earning and the chance to enjoy a high-level connection. They were fixed in one place, and easier to scare into secrecy than the pimps as well, so assassination was rarely necessary.

The arch-bishop was supposed to be currently engaged in the act right now, but the woman had woken up half-way through and bolted. Even though it was a high-class magic poison rarely used in the city, somehow she either survived it, or didn't drink enough of it. It was becoming a huge problem for him, to the point where he ordered his most trusted operative to find her.

He took about half an hour to locate her address and confirm she was inside, making preparations to flee.

She collapsed to the floor in surprise, still holding the boy's hand, as the arch-bishop burst through the door with his men. She had managed to cover the boy entirely with her body as they ran her through with daggers.

The arch-bishop, enraged at the fact that the girl had family and lied about it, pointed at the boy, who was now covered in blood. "BEHOLD, THE WRATH OF GOD PASSES JUDGMENT ON THE FILTHY WHORE AND HER BROOD."

The shadows in the room danced wildly, though the candles lighting the room never flickered.