Throne Of Steam

One was a middle-aged man wearing a vest imprinted with the logo of the Eternal Judge, below his armpit hung a holstered revolver. The other one was a blond young man with a thin nose, wearing a simple black leather vest and boots, unarmed as far as the eye could see.

Are they members of the clergy? Devouts of the Eternal Judge?

Garett"s heart sped up as it wasn"t uncommon to hear rumors of criminals being brutally interrogated by them. And even worse was the fact that he didn"t know if he was involved in something! He couldn"t remember a thing from before the fire!

"Good afternoon, Garett. The doctor was so kind as to tell us your name; if you were wondering about that. We are patrol members, or if you"d prefer to call us as the people here in the borough do, we are the police."

I already know that! It"s impossible not to know that if you take into question that large symbol of the Eternal Judge on your chest!

The middle-aged man took a step forward and sat on the same chair that was occupied by the doctor previously, leaving his companion standing. It was very apparent who called the shots between them.

"I"m Lurmon Kirth from the city of Mintra, and this lad here is the one who found you amidst the ruins." He pointed to the blond man who stood by his side.

"I"m Hilren Crold from the Crold Citadel, twelfth in the line of succession for the position of the family head. I"m so very much pleased to have been of service to the citizens of our kingdom."

He spoke with great pride as if being a member of his family was the n.o.blest of causes, his chest puffed up, and his voice loud.

You are clearly just some annoying guy! Twelfth in the line of succession!? Can you even be counted as a successor at all!? I know you helped me, but I didn"t really need any help! The book had already saved me!

"I-I"m thankful for your efforts, Hilren of Crold; I can"t remember much from before the fire honestly. I fear that I won"t be of much help to you sirs, even the subsequent events are a little foggy."

Yes! Dismiss me like an unlucky guy who lived through a fire and developed amnesia!

Lurmon kept silent, not even blinking as he stared at Garett. His eyes resembled those of a hungry wolf staring at his prey. Only after the atmosphere grew a little weird, he then opened his mouth.

"We expected as such, but there"s something even more intriguing that needs clarifying. Anyway, let"s first do the routine check, were you the resident of the house on 677 Bulwark Lane?"

It really wasn"t my house! It"s good that I still have a roof. But wait, now what? Will I be arrested for something I don"t even understand!?

"N-no... Are you saying that it wasn"t my home that got burned down?" Garett replied shakily, a thousand situations ran through his mind, giving life to the different scenarios that could happen, some of them ended with him arrested, or even worse, executed! If the house belonged to someone powerful, said person could ask for his life in payment for burning the house down! No one would burn itself for his sake!

I have to find a way to be exempted from suspicion!

"No, I can tell you that the house in question belonged to a professor of the Irmwrynn College, and the professor in question, Doctor Mirth, is missing since yesterday. Would you happen to know anything about that, sir?"

Doctor Mirth went missing!? B-but I remember that he attested, personally, to my qualifications in joining the College... Garett froze, his pupils shrinking to the size of pins! His mind tried, time and again, remembering what had happened when he noticed a problem!

Which day was it today!?

"I-I don"t know anything about that, sir; yesterday... my sense of time is very hazy at the moment, I can"t even remember the date!"

The Executor rose his eyebrows, a.n.a.lyzing every detail from the phrase"s contents to Garett"s corporal language, trying to determine whether he was speaking the truth or not. Then he slowly enunciated.

"We"re on the nineteenth day of the month, the third day of the week."

He was shocked! More than a week had pa.s.sed since he was remembered. Exactly eight days had pa.s.sed since his admittance into Irmwrynn College!

A period of full eight days is missing from my memory! A lot of things could have happened, what kind of predicament did I get myself into!?

"It remains to be seen if his disappearance is something you should be happy our unhappy about, as I can tell you openly that you"re currently a suspect. His current missing status can help you evade the charges of damage, as he didn"t have any family to claim the properties and we aren"t so bored as to follow up on the aftermath of Starfire. But now you also a suspect of his disappearance."

I have nothing to do with this!

"Uh, sir, I"m a student at the College. Doctor Mirth personally wrote my letter of acceptance! If anything, I"m very grateful to him, and have no reason to do anything untoward."

The young knight appeared to have bought my history, nodding his head as if he already expected this development. Sadly, his superior was way less understanding, and a lot more cautious.

"We have ways to ascertain the truth from your answers, the main reason we came here is to escort you to the diocese and proceed with the questioning there. All we did here was a standard questioning to avoid misunderstandings."

h.e.l.l, I have a lot of misunderstandings from your little briefing!

Maybe following him is really for the best, if he has ways to ascertain the truth, it would be a lot easier to prove my innocence. Besides, I still don"t know if he got any information about those ruins and the book; if they got their eyes on that, It would be best if they didn"t take it from me by force... Now sure of his reasoning, Garett nodded with his head and stood up, fully cooperative to the two officers.

"Please, I"m happy to oblige."

...

On the way out of the building, Garett saw the doctor"s apprentice again and politely smiled to him, he was then escorted to the front door by the two clergymen.

"I"ve rarely been to this part of town, I usually stay in the working district," I said after leaving the building, on the street in front, a horse-drawn coach could be seen, with its luxurious style being something I"ve never had the pleasure of riding. "I usually just walk everywhere I go; and if I need to go far, the train is not too expensive, the economy cla.s.s that is."

"Hum." Concurred the stone-faced executor, not bothering to speak with a possible criminal suspect. "Get in the carriage."

F**K, do I need to stay in this oppressive atmosphere the whole trip!?

"Do not bother with him," Whispered the young recruit. "he is a lot more talkative than you think. Now, please get in the carriage."

The interior of the coach was big enough to accommodate six people, the seats made out of red-leather where one of the comfiest he had ever seen.

"To the church, hurry."

And as soon as the Executor"s voice sounded, the coachmen started to guide them through the busy streets. Everything accounted for, it was an enjoyable ride.

...

The Eternal Judge"s church in Lhûn wasn"t too impressive, as the majority of the people in Lhûn put their faith in the Mist G.o.ddess; the city was built on a mountain slope, making it so that the nights were very dense and misty. Eventually, people started praying for her protection. Garett was among the devouts, even if he hadn"t prayed or gone to the ma.s.s in a long time.

"Follow me."

This brutish Executor didn"t look behind him to see if I was really following him, wasn"t he worried that I would run? Looking at the silly looking Hilren, I figured it should be because he trusted the young recruit to an extent. It is not like I was seriously thinking about running anyway.

The giant wooden doors were painted white, its iron hinges and holders painted gold, the Eternal Judge"s symbol hung above the door radiating solemnity.

"Every single one of the Lord"s cathedrals is a dozen times more majestic, believe me," Hilren added at my amazement, "I can see you hadn"t come here before, even if you live in the city?"

"The city is large, and the G.o.ddess"s Cathedral stands near the main gate, there"s not much reason for me to come here."

"You"re a believer of the G.o.ddess?" Hilren asked as a tinge of surprise could be heard from his voice, "As a scholar, I imagined you a devout believer of the G.o.d of Wisdom and Knowledge."

"I can"t be called a believer, as I only remember to pray when I need something. As for the G.o.d of Wisdom, that"s for scholars; I can barely pa.s.s as one." Regretfully, I"m not as smart as my sister.

He then started to walk quickly, following the brutish Executor lest he"d be left behind.

The church was kept in good condition, even if not a lot of people in town were devouts of the Judge. This is, after all the patrol quarters, thought Garett. The Judge clergy is responsible for the security of most cities in the kingdom, as the internal threat is mostly mutants. The king"s armies were preoccupied with other, more external threats.

At the end of their path, they arrived at a single, small room. The only thing inside was a table with a scale with a rose in one of its plates.

"Our method to find the truth can be said to be very simple, as we just need to ask the Lord for guidance." Said Lurmon, his hands scratching his beard. "A priest will accompany you, only matters related to the investigation will be inquired, so you can rest a.s.sured."

Why I"m suddenly feeling nervous? I"m feeling a very solemn aura coming out from that thing.

And then, alone, I entered the darkroom, the two patrolmen stayed outside, I could feel the expectancy on Hilren"s gaze. After the door closed, I finally could notice a white-haired old man standing with his back facing the scale.

"Please, young man; be seated."

I can"t see a chair... Am I to sit on the ground? Grumbling a little, Garett approached the scale, with each one of his steps, the aura coming off from the scale got stronger.

"Now, just let your mind rest. I"ll be doing the rest."

Suddenly, Garett felt as if his consciousness was leaving his body! I... can see myself!? His uncorporeal will was floating above his head!

I"m being dragged by that thing! What is going on!?

The scale was sucking him to it! Eventually, he stood on the empty plate while the rose on the other plate started to turn to dust!

He then started to see different images, all of them being things he remembered happening!

My memories are being weighted? Is the priest the judge? Or maybe the Lord Judge is really here, a.n.a.lyzing my memories!

Wait! the memories are starting to get closer to the time in which I approached the altar underground, if that book gets discovered it"ll be worse than heresy!

And just as the image was going to show the things that took place inside that ancient ruin, they vanished as quickly as they came and he saw himself in control of his body again.

"Hmm... that"s all you can remember? Interesting, you can leave for now."

The priest never opened his eyes from beginning to end.