Just another day as a guard to the holiest place on the continent. Although the job is uneventful, it’s guaranteed to keep you and your family fed as long as you don’t screw up your job. Be nice to pilgrims, collect the entrance fee, and be done with the day.
I lugged around a bag of coins towards the administrative office. I hated this part of the job. Every week, we choose a poor fellow to carry these heavy bags of coins to the office. What’s worse is that recently the wheelbarrow broke so we had to manually carry these up to the office itself as punishment for our tardiness.
I slammed a bag down on the table of the administrator sweating. “This...this is one of the bags...I’ll have to come back again,” I panted.
The lady who was standing by the window of the office room was clad in heavy, red-tinted silver armor. She was the Head of Guard of Aon, Lady Adrianna of Aon, so she was the one who punished us to carry the bag directly to her. Tsk. Damned Inquisitors. They’re so hot-headed. They should take a refreshing cold bath of the holy waters from time to time.
Although I said that, I have a lot of respect for her, as do many of the guardsmen of Aon. Lady Adrianna was said to be an orphan who lost her parents to heathens and demons. After that, an ever-growing fire of vengeance and holy pledges was born within her.
She was just the right candidate for the Inquisitors - She was both fanatically religious, and extremely hostile to corruption, which she apparently had a gift for. At just a very young age of 17, she managed to purge Aon of all unholy cultists conspiring against the holy city. She was deemed a hero by Aon, and all nations which followed the Path of Life, the only one true religion.
My daughter looked up not only to me, but also to Lady Adrianna as a role model. Although it was good that she has a goal, I would rather not have her become an Inquisitor, the most dangerous job in the path of righteousness. I’d rather she learn holy spells and stay a priestess, then marry a noble. I sighed as I rubbed my plump cheeks with a rag.
As I was about to leave, she called out to me. I did not even notice she turned around and was by the table already. “What’s that around your waist?” She asked. Her sharp red eyes which complimented her black hair gave me sharp daggers.
“Ah..this? This is the sword that’s for my duty. Oh, are you talking about this bag? Ah, yeah. I was about to head over to the accountancy to give them this.” I gave her the bag of foreign coins.
“This...this is….why do you have a bag of these?” She inquired me as she inspected the coins.
“Some pilgrims recently came by and gave me those. Like I said, I was going to the accountancy to have them checked,” I answered straightly.
“How long ago?”
“A few hours ago, I believe.”“Impossible," She snarked at me. She tapped her chest above the heart with her palm. A prayer begging for forgiveness from the Lords in the Heavens.
“Eh...eh? Excuse me? Did I do something wrong?” I nervously asked her. I really don’t want to lose this job. My wife was bugging me lately about a new dress and I really want to get her that dress so she would shut up about it.
“No. It’s not that you did something wrong. This should be my mistake. I could have never thought of this. Leave immediately,” She commanded me harshly. Well, I guess it wasn't my fault then? I sighed hard. Well, then. I still have to get those bags of coins.
As I closed the door, I heard her saying, “Coins with the symbols of the old unholy beacon of Aon..”.
By the second day of our tour of Aon, we had toured much of the outer layer of the city which boasted exotic places such as the Garden of Life, whose plants were seemingly moving by themselves, giving the expression that everything in the garden was living, breathing, and thinking. However, we had to cut our tour short because, for some reason, the largest plant in the garden attempted to attack us.We quickly escaped and let the guards handle the problem. I was sure it was trying to attack everyone in the vicinity and not just us. I mean, for what reason would a holy plant attack us?The Great Holy City of Aon hosted many types of people ranging from humans to elves, from fairies to lycans, and from beggars to nobles. It was a truly cosmopolitan city. I wondered if all the cities in this world were like this. I like being optimistic, at the very least.Throughout our tour, we learned many things about Aon, its religion, and its culture. From what I gathered from the priests and the h
I bowed before the Grand Cardinal Lexicas II, and tapped my chest above the heart. This act of prayer was said to symbolize Saint Geraldine tapping his chest every so and often, checking his beating heart, and begging for forgiveness from the Goddess as it is said that as long as you are alive, you still have not finished your task given by the Goddess.Similarly, I was praying for forgiveness as forces of Dark had intruded into the Holy City itself without us noticing, especially since I was the Head of Guards. The very Inquisitor group that should stand guard every day and night, watching every shadow and crack. And yet, we had failed in our holy task.“This is indeed...very troubling,” Lexicas II said as he inspected the coin. His delicate and frail hands moved about the coin, absorbing every detail of the piece of metal. Though old, Lexicas II was still wise, logical, and very devoted.The coin which he held was an ancient coin of significant history. Only the highest of the high
My mind hadn’t felt this relaxed since a thousand years ago. I stretched my bony body as I put on my clothes once more. I got out of the large bathroom and complimented the monks on their hot spring.“Hot spring? The bath springs of Aon are known to be really cold...why is there steam coming out of the bathroom you just got out of?”My companions and I ignored the ramblings of the priests as we left to tour more around. It had been a few days since we left the stronghold, but we’ve already felt like it’s been a year.Although our bodies didn’t tire, we still enjoyed the mortal pleasures of enjoying a comfy bed and lying around, not doing anything for a while, every so and often.“Should we enjoy some fresh beds in a tavern?” I asked my companions. The group agreed in unison so we decided to head to the market district of Aon.Although not as busy as the Great Cathedral, the market district still boasted a great number of people. As the types of shops varied, from simple food shops to
“Hold on, we’re not here to preach or something. We’re here to find good weapons and armor. We have money to pay, I think,” I explained.“Is that so? Then come in and browse, I’ll just be at my forge. My shop specializes in taking in requests that’s why my door wasn’t open.”We entered the building and saw a typical shop with a large door going to a forge. There were tables lined with high-quality weapons and armor on display cases at the front of the shop. There were some various armors on stands with intricate poses. Beyond the door was a workshop containing a large forge and tools.The little girl went to her forge and started smithing as we browsed through her displays. I picked up a sword from a case and examined it. Compared to the old sword, this weapon was very sharp and well-balanced and it was overall sturdy. I could also feel a hint of enchantment, giving the sword a magical property. It was also blessed by some kind of force that I’m not familiar with.“This sword...other
I clenched the dagger that I held tightly. It was found by one of the Inquisitors in our search. The dagger had the mark of the beacon of Aon, it’s metal was of high-quality mithril. Its clean blade suggested that someone had maintained it meticulously daily. The sheath was covered with leather of unknown origins, but its hardness suggests that it came from a very strong beast.“With this, it means the forces of Dark had even penetrated the Great Cathedral…” an Inquisitor said with shame.“How did they manage to get past without us noticing? We should have detected their essence of death,” Another one cried.“The only explanation is that they’re not even the undead or a demon. Start searching for more clues,” I ordered the Inquisitors. They bowed before disappearing into the shadows again.There were signs of the owner of the coins everywhere. From the Great Cathedral to the market district. What was his agenda? What does he achieve by leaving trails for us to follow? Was he mocking u
“Hmmm…” I hummed to myself, echoing in the dry, stale room. My fingers tapped onto the arms of my throne. I looked over my bony hand. Literally, bony. With no flesh within sight on my hand, it was a wonder how one could even move it. I moved my eye onto my palm; a slightly luminescent metal lay there. Though long decayed, my body had parts of it plated with an ancient metal whose name was even forgotten in the annals of history.The room in which I sat was dark and decaying. The walls, once smooth and decorated, now lay scratched and falling. Cobwebs were common among the furniture as tables and chairs lay around disorganized.Even with the apparent lack of a nose, I still had a sense of smell, just as I could perceive sight without eyes. The room smelled an unmistakable stench of decay. I was probably used to the smell or didn’t notice it until now. Either way, the lack of ventilation in the general area was part of the blame.Amidst my thoughts, I could hear light stomping and metal
“Boss, Boss, Boss. We should rethink this.” Uno was trying to keep pace as I rushed through the stronghold. I went around the place, supervising my companions in packing and gathering luggage.“What should we rethink about this? We’ve been here for a thousand years! Nothing is keeping us in here anyway. In the first place, the only reason we stayed here is because we didn’t know what would happen if we had this power for long.” I shrugged Uno off. I stepped into the treasury room and watched the mindless minions gather chests of gold at the stronghold’s entrance.“You may have a point, but we don’t know what’s out there! Although no one has attacked us for a long time, people would, without a doubt, still hate the undead! Which, by sheer coincidence, we are!” UNo was trying to stop me, but I was insistent.“Yes, yes. The risk. But life is a gamble!” I chuckled as I helped one of my companions carry a chest. It was the master chef of the stronghold; though she was skilled in knife work
After a few days of walking, we eventually stumbled upon the road Uno was discussing. Although he called it a road, it was more of a dirt path. This road was probably used frequently in the past and was now deserted.We started following a direction as suggested by Uno since it would inevitably lead us to a city. I got excited as I started seeing more animals and different types of trees around. The forest surrounding the mountain stronghold didn’t have many animals because of, obviously, the large presence of undead.But as we move further from the stronghold, life reappears. We had not seen any animals for at least a few centuries, so we enjoyed the scenery more than we thought. However, the master chef in my group was thinking something else since she hadn’t gotten fresh ingredients for a long time.Although I sent countless numbers of scouts through the years we spent inside the stronghold, the information they could gather was limited. After all, most of the scouts were mindless