Chapter 1 – JUDGEMENT
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“Please Sir Reus, have some mercy! We only requested to have an extra thousand, nothing much!”
“I’m sorry, Seer Charo. The Public Accounts Committee can no longer afford special interest groups.”
Reus quickly shot down the old man’s plea for none was worth it. It was the cold and hard truth of which Reus had repeated for the umpteenth time since last week. It had taken a toll on his body; his previous stature was no longer chiseled and his blue eyes had turned for the worst. How many people have begged him today? The grey-haired man in front him was probably the fifth or so.
At the end of the equation, the Committee was losing money fast; it sent most of its sane accountants and many more aspirants packing away. Reus was the seventh accountant to take office, one that was either brave or insane or both to grab the bull by its horns. And for that, he recognized the clergy man in front of him was nothing more than a leech on taxpayers’ hard earned credits. An obstacle to keep the Committee balances in the green.
The clergyman shed tears in attempt to coax him, “Sir Reus! Please! Don’t the Accounts Committee have been supporting our church all these while?!!”
“Seer Charo, I request you to unhand me this instant.” Even if Reus wanted to help, the Committee’s finances barred him so. He can only push the old man away.
The old man then got on all fours and begging him still, “Please! I beg you! What a thousand compares to salvation?!! It is only a paltry sum!”
“Seer Charo, you need to understand that we can’t afford ‘extra’ expenses!” Reus threw his papers straight to the door, hinting that the clergy man was persona non grata to this office.
“Reus, are you in?”
The door creaked open, revealing another man flush in suit. It was Beck, the superior of Reus. Beck showing up in person can only mean one thing; Reus had made a grave mistake or something similar. Indeed, for the overtaxed Committee personnel they rarely mingle with each other unless necessary. Beck calmly stepped in, avoiding the papers strewn on the floor. It was full of red circles, a handiwork of Reus no doubt.
“Oh Lord! Sir Beck! Can I ask for remittance?” The clergyman immediately wiped his crocodile tears and brandished the best smile he could manage.
“Why hello Seer Charo.” Beck gave him an unassuming glance, stopping on the left side of Reus’s desk “Umm…what did Reus say about it?”
Reus had already lifted the phone whilst frowning at the clergyman, “I said that we can’t pay them. Now Seer Charo, please leave before I call the security.”
The clergyman rapidly became dejected, “Uhh….okay. May His Immaculate save your soul…”
“Thank you.” Reus slammed his phone as the door in front of him closed.
Beck swiveled a chair in front of Reus, making peace with the creaky device. “Now now Reus, what happened to you? You look…..angry.”
“What can you expect? When these religious nutjobs just come to our office and expect to get paid. For what? For an imaginary guy up in the wazoo?” The reddish rays from an adjacent window only served to accent Reus’s fury.
“Reus Veith, don’t you think you need a little break?”
What an unexpected question from Beck, one that Reus didn’t want to hear. He had heard stories from his fellow colleagues that if Beck asked such, something went terribly wrong. However, what went wrong? The Committee managed to stay afloat this year thanks to Reus attempt for austerity measures. It was a bitter pill to swallow but if the Committee wanted to survive, there were no other options. He need to make his stance here, to make Beck understand.
“I want to keep working, Boss. I hardly do anything at home, anyway.” Reus adopted a conciliary tone out of reflex, expecting Beck was intending to fire him on the spot.
Contrary to what Reus thought, Beck gave him an eye of pity. “I get it that you prefer to be here than out home but I think you need a bit of time to cool off.”
“Why? We have lots of things to do. If I don’t do it, who will?” Reus placed his frown to a stack of documents, just a couple of meters away from both of them.
“Reus. How about you go and see what they do?” Beck responded with a sigh, grabbing a calendar in the process. “I’m willing to let you have a time off tomorrow”
Reus lifted his eyebrows, putting his monitor away, “Thanks for the offer Boss but since it is weekend in two days, you don’t need to go as far. I’ll relax on this coming Saturday”
“Thanks for understanding, Reus” Beck assumed he sealed the deal, prompting him to hand a card to Reus. “In fact, I want you to go to this shrine. Take this as a request from your benefactor. You don’t need to pray there, just talk to the person”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Reus sighed this time as his superior left the room, “Uhh….if you say so, Boss. I’ll check it out.”
Accompanying Beck’s departure was the chime of Reus’s clock, stating the time to be an hour before eight in the night. Reus sighed again, his eyebrows crooked upon reading the details of the card. A shrine? He thought Beck knew that he was agnostic. God won’t and never enter the calculus of materiel realm and Reus made sure the Committee’s human resource department aware of it.
For him, there was nothing divine involved in the works of numbers. Everything happened within reason. Relying on God was the greatest insult he could receive but what can he do, his superior had commanded him to visit a place of worship. Reus might as well look at this matter as business, like any day in the office. Hopefully no one would dare to ask for donations or preach to him.
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Ten years wasted on a mundane childhood. Add to that another precious decade on listening to musings and ramblings of a madman screaming at the skies above. But for the past seven years lived by Reus, it was nothing short than whirlpool of upheavals. It began on when he was twenty, determined to break free from the mould set by his religious or rather, zealot parents.
Apart from him, no other person in the Veith family has been thoroughly atheist and completely heathen. In fact for his transgression, Reus will be locked in their Church should they ever cross paths at any point in the future. And the scene beyond him was his nightmare; the shrine pointed out by Beck was having a five day-long festival for their Patron God, Vsycilus the Thousand Names.
Their devotees weren’t difficult to spot for they wear a patterned mask, each with the name of Vsycilus respectively. There were also unmasked, preferring to bare it all; the stall operators lining the road hardly wear any masks. For the devout, it was the closest to the nirvana promised by the Thousand Names but for Reus, it was literal hell.
Every word, every tone spoken were loaded nothing more than praises to the false idols, illogical to the logic held by him. He can’t stay for too long here. He needed to finish the god damned mission given by his boss Beck.
“Another shrine, another nutcase…..” Reus shook his head albeit not seeing on where his foot went “Yewouch!”
The cause, a decrepit masked woman managed to catch Reus in time. “Esteemed Sir! Are you all right?!!”
“Urghh, I’m fine, I’m fine!” Reus swatted her hands away, unwilling to associate with the cloaked woman. There was no shortage of alms seekers in these kinds of events.
The woman avoided eye contact and then ushered her alms bowl. “Ummm….can you…”
“I get it! Now have your money!” Reus had heard that line oh so many before. Better give her something; I’m already drawing some attention here. He put a couple of coins into her waiting bowl.
Her bowl rang with delight as she leaned toward Reus, “Thank you Sir! Can I give you a rite service?”
“No need” Reus shook his head again, muttering in low voice “Hmph, scum”
What bad luck is this? He immediately departed the scene when more eyes were affixed to him. Did they hear what he was saying? In any case, he needs to meet the Head Priest of the shrine as soon as possible. Another minute of delay meant another visitor to the shrine, adding yet another barrier for him to meet up quickly.
Inevitably today wasn’t in his favor; after the encounter with the beggar, Reus found himself stuck in meandering lines of people. Apparently the shrine was distributing necessities to the poor and needy at the moment. And with that meant….there will be shrine officials going around to ask for donations.
“Sir! Can you donate a little bit to our cause?” Checkmate. A shrine official caught glimpse of Reus.
He adopted a harsher tone than before, clearly unwanting to entertain the official. “I’m sorry, I’m in a hurry.”
“Sir, even a single cent is enough. Don’t you want to see smile on children faces?” Now it was the official that ushered Reus, a donation box to be precise.
“Not my business, Priest.” Reus gave the masked priest a stern glare, unwilling to hear more, “You better chalk it up to the Council for money.”
“Sir, I’m sure this encounter is a fateful one.” The official remained undaunted, pushing for alms with renewed vigour “Please donate for our cause, Sir! A single cent will do!”
It was a turning point for him, or rather congregation. Reus finally blew his fuse. “Hands off, Priest! God don’t exist!”
“Umm….we’re deeply sorry for troubling you….” His sudden declaration sent the official backwards, unbelieving on what this heathen had just said!
Thanks to his outburst, the road fell silent for a couple of awkward seconds. Who in sane mind dared to utter such heresy, especially in front of a place of worship? This time, more eyes were directed to Reus. And a couple of uniformed men can be seen ploughing through the crowd to get to him.
“Tell your big guy up there that I don’t want to do anything with his religions and wackos like you.” Reus realized that he was no longer wanted. What a couple of parting words will do anyway. “What the hell you all looking at?!!”
The security detail finally reached Reus with batons at hand but didn’t try to approach him any further; he was already walking away from the shrine. He purposely avoided eye contact with them as they were no doubt unwelcoming of him. What a day. It seemed that Reus will have to disappoint Beck again. He made a mental note to put his colleague Cherry for these kinds of tasks; she was known as pious follower of the Thousand Names after all.
How many places of worship that he had avoided until now? Probably more than a twenty, all devised by his burning hatred of organized religions or organized thoughtcrime as per his own terminology. It was evidently a waste of time but he cannot go against Beck. His position only let him grumble of his predicament. On his way out, Reus kicked an empty can out of nowhere. Little that he knew that karma without fail would bite him back.
“Sir! Watch out!” He recognized that voice, it was the official. What is she yapping about now?
Reus initially felt a tug backward but it was too late, “What? Go awa-”
Just before his vision went blank, two short sentences neither male nor female rang in his ears. His mind was a guarded fortress but now its gates were pried open with great force. A commandment, straight from the True God; not the Thousand Names or any of the fictional gods Reus knew in his miserable twenty seven years of living. It was a voice of pity and disgust.
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++++ We hath judged thy faith and found it wanting. Such heresy shall not go unpunished! ++++
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