<So, who do you think is the traitor? The peacetime hippie who probably has a face you can’t help but want to ride, or the wartime hero whose faith makes him strong and protective of his people? >

=I don’t know. It feels like a trap to say one or the other. Especially since the evidence seems so...flimsy. I mean, a membership ring and rough hands? That’s it? =

<To be fair, those sorts of details are still important in any mystery. Of course, we still need more clues until we can put together a better picture. >

=True...well, hopefully interrogating that little spy will help us get more information...=

...But before we start ripping nails for information...

"I think...I’ll be fine on both fronts," Serena answered after finishing her goblet of wine. "However, I get the feeling that you’re not going to let me go without at least having some form of assurance on my person?"

"That is correct," Zhen Liu agreed.

From his pockets, Zhen Liu produced a handful of zako marbles that were made of precious metals as opposed to the more mundane materials he would usually make zakos out of.

"I figure it would look quite odd for a woman of your standing to be carrying around bits of bone, wood, or stone in your pockets. Nobody ever seems to bat an eye when silver and gold are involved, though," Zhen Liu explained as he watched Serena become intrigued by the marbles. "And before you ask, these little baubles are indeed monsters like my kaijin. Albeit, a bit weaker. But they should still be strong enough to handle most of your church’s internal problems."

"I see...thank you."

Understanding the implications of Zhen Liu’s words, Serena pocketed the metal marbles and got ready to move.

However, before Zhen Liu could let Serena be on her merry way, he figured he might as well ask about a certain incident that had happened earlier that evening. After all, if he was going to be participating in someone else’s political game of bullshit and backstabbing, he might as well establish a baseline of what he was going to be dealing with.

"Odd question, but did you know that earlier in the evening that there was an attack on the perimeter of the city?" Zhen Liu asked as if he was making some small talk.

"There was?" Serena responded, genuine surprise in her voice.

"There was. Your temple guard proved themselves to be quite adept in leading the local factions in coordinating defenses, though," Zhen Liu commented. "They did it with such efficiency and fluidity, that I couldn’t help but to compare them to my own zako and kaijin. In fact, I think they were a little stronger."

"I...well...thank you for your high praise."

’Well that fucking confirm some things.’

And with that little interaction, Zhen Liu was now certain that some underhand shit was going on amongst the ruling Council of the Sacred Flame Theocracy. One that kept their supposed leader out of the loop.

The implication of this wasn’t good.

’Alright, so who is more likely to be fucking with corpses in such a clandestine manner, the kind man who believes in love and peace but willing to kill to maintain such states, or the honor bound man who doesn’t mind dirtying his hands with sin for the sake of others?’ Zhen Liu asked himself.

’Well... I’ll find out in the morning.’

After this short exchange and even shorter contemplation, Zhen Liu escorted Serena back to the streets of Emberona and the two went on their merry way.

Zhen Liu returned to the inn that he and his friends were temporarily calling home, while Serena returned to the central cathedral...the same cathedral that the Doll Twins had seen temple guards carted back a whole mess of corpses.

...Uh oh...

[I wonder if that Serena lady is aware that something uncouth is happening beneath her feet? Literally, no less,] Hurricroak asked.

[Judging from the surprise reaction she had about our lord’s statements...I don’t think she knows anything that might be going on in her own city,] Nepherage pointed out. [That or the people who would normally be in charge of informing her of all the city’s coming and goings have been purposefully withholding information from her.]

[That...seems...likely...] Frosttusk rumbled in agreement.

’Either way,’ Zhen Liu interjected. ’We should keep this particular mystery in the back of the mind for now. If anything, we’ll probably find a connection between that and one of the two councillors she mentioned as suspects.’

[We’ll be sure to inform you of something weird occurs,] Razorstella said in response to Zhen Liu’s open statement.

[Worse case scenario, maybe they’re both dirty,] Corpse Doll pointed out. [Then we could cause a revolution. Or is it an upheaval?]

[Reformation, sister. I think the term is reformation,] Porcelain Doll answered.

’Either way, we’ll see what the morning brings,’ Zhen Liu eventually concluded. ’I get the feeling that these guys are so confident in their ability to keep secrets, that they actively sleep at night like a bunch of chumps.’

[As you wish, milord.]

...And then the morning comes...

Like a repeat of yesterday, morning in Emberona was filled with noise.

The sound of a dozen different morning rituals overlapping one another did wonders in waking people, and Zhen Liu’s group was no exception.

Evidently, this was why the Zhen Clan scions, Lythero, Olstenna, and Antonio looked rather miserable as they ate their breakfast in the dining hall of their inn. As for the girls, they were able to sleep in for some reason.

It should be noted, though, they weren’t the only foreign visitors looking annoyed by the religious cacophony.

Looking over at the other tables, Zhen Liu could see the same grumpy expressions coming from multiple other parties.

"Huh...I just noticed something odd about our fellow visitors," Zhen Xing said after he had finished looking over the other people as well. "A lot of them appear to be with merchants or pilgrims."

"Why is that weird?" Antonio asked. "This is a religious city with conflicting sects that have all sorts of weird rituals. We saw at least three of them that required the parishoners to bathe in the fluids of various aether beasts."

"Oh yeah. Xiao Liu, we gotta figure out if we can come up with some more permanent trading contracts with some of the sects here," Zhen Tai said. "I am fairly certain these guys would buy a fuck ton of our family’s products."

"Way ahead of you," Zhen Liu concurred. "There’s a sect three streets over in need of tallow candles and another in need of great ape sweat. I don’t know why they need it, but I’m not exploring that for as long as possible."

"Amen."

"No, what I mean is that there’s a huge ass war going on between the Sacred Flame Theocracy and the Erupting Dawn Empire, right? How come there aren’t more mercenaries or soldiers running around?" Zhen Xing explained himself.

"That...huh."

Now that Zhen Xing had brought it up, Zhen Liu and Zhen Tai began to look around the room and noticed that there were indeed a lack of a warrior presence amongst their fellow travellers.

Zhen Liu actually did know the reason behind this discrepancy, due to a current ongoing feed he had from some of his kaijin, but he didn’t answer because it wasn’t really his place to explain.

Thankfully, Antonio and Olstenna were more than able to due to their background.

"You’re not seeing any mercenaries around here because most of them are at the recruitment camps on the other side of the city," Olstenna answered. "I have worked with religious groups before, and a lot of them don’t like having mercenary presences amongst their civilian populaces if they can help it. They think having such brutish influences are a bad influence on them."

"That or because they want to try and use their more aggressive missionaries to try and convert them," Antonio added. "That way they can avoid having to pay any fees."

"Huh..."

Zhen Xing and Zhen Tai couldn’t help but be doubtful of these words, namely because it sounded absolutely insane to try and use religion to avoid having to pay a bill, but Zhen Liu thought this logic tracked fairly well.

Well, that and his kaijin were actively confirming that this was indeed the case.

More specifically, he was seeing that that Mysticlassic had tracked down Abbot Ferroxa and were seeing on a firsthand basis how the man interacted with the more martially-inclined populace of the world.

...Mysticlassic, what are you doing?...

[You know, I always figured becoming religious would make one more mellow, all things considered,] Razorstella said.

[Why would you think that?] Screamira asked.

[I mean, think about it. Most people have anxiety over the uncertainty of life after death, right? But most religions assure them that there is something. Ergo, they no longer have one of their biggest sources of anxiety.]

[That...that logic makes sense but also doesn’t.] 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

[Right?!]

[Please stop commenting unless it’s relevant to the moment.]

[What’s the big deal? We’re just seeing a man flagellate another man.]