As soon as Rain, Sean, and J vanished into the crypt along with the children and the weird nun, Alice turned back to Archbishop Jude Bale with quite a ferocious look, one that was designed to peel off his hide and reveal what sort of snake he was within.

She was not sure why she was feeling this way, but her instincts had never been proven wrong before. This man was a scam, down to his very bones. He was not sheltering them from the good of his heart, and as such she would not let herself fall for his petty tricks.

“You find it so hard to believe that in a ruined world good people exist, don’t you?” Archbishop Jude said, but Alice’s gaze didn’t falter.

“I don’t find it hard to believe. I just pick my poison carefully.” Alice sat down at the edge of the frontmost pew with her hand still well placed on the hilt of her sword. “As you can see. I’m traveling with two people and a beast. I wouldn’t be if I wasn’t somewhat trusting, right?”

Archbishop Jude nodded. “I suppose that is true.” He dropped the Bible on his lap on the stair he was sitting on. “And I understand why you are wary. But I assure you, I’m one of the good ones.”

A good person wouldn’t be so adamant on proving that they are a good person…

“We’ll see about that,” she said. “That aside, I’m sure you know that bigger factions exist, don’t you? So why are you subjecting those children to a stifling life?”

Archbishop Jude narrowed his eyes. “I’m afraid I do not follow.”

Alice scoffed. “I know you do,” she whispered to herself. “I don’t know what sort of training you’ve dished out to those kids, but they are not fit for this life. Let them go and live peacefully in a faction where there are competent adults. They should be playing games, not fighting Chimera beasts.”

“Are you insinuating that Nun Cathleen and I are incompetent?” Archbishop Jude had a smile on his face, but the fact that he had to close his eyes to produce such an expression meant that the sort of gaze he had most likely did not align with the demeanor he was passing across.

Alice reciprocated with a smile of her own. “I never said that. After all, you both should be in a faction as well, not living on your own in a city that barely sees a person.” She heaved out an exhale. “As thanks for deciding to shelter me and my friends through the night, I'll give you a piece of advice. Children see, hear, and understand a lot more than you might think. They pay love with love, and they no doubt repay aggression with aggression. It might take a while, but it does happen later on.”

There was a lot more that she wanted to say, but this was enough. After all, this was the crux of her plan.

Alice believed that Archbishop Jude was a pretentious psychopath. Despite her knowing nothing of the thinking processes of such individuals, she was sure of one thing: They were calm and rational until provoked.

If he had really been pushing the kids through hellish training sessions to turn them into the battle monsters they had become, then the seed of doubt she had planted within him for the kids would grow, making him so afraid that he would become rather cautious of them.

Honestly, she wanted to take the kids away from him, but for that she needed the strength of the GEF. As of now, there was no way that was possible. That was why she hoped that this action of hers would significantly reduce the way he pushed them into death-ridden situations, at least until she came back for them.

As for her intention of surviving through the night and leaving in the morning, this was why she had riled him up.

If he had wanted to slowly take his time before harming them in any way, now he would be fuming up to the point that he would want to do just that immediately. And as such, whatever plans he had made would be rearranged to fit his current emotional state.

There was not scarier than someone with full control over a situation.

Well, as for her plan, it was already set in place in the case that she was attacked in the middle of the night.

Even if the Archbishop and the nun were both stronger than her, they wouldn’t be able to kill her in an instant. She was not that weak. And, furthermore, she had an inkling that they both, and the children as well, were yet to explore the world beyond the Glades.

This thought of hers was because of the kids.

Although they were quite strong for earth’s standards, that strength was nothing in the faces of the beasts in the Glades. In other words, they would have all been wiped out if they had ventured into a Glade.

The thing now was: How had they been able to avoid adventuring into a Glade with their number? It was impossible that they had no Protagonist. Was it luck, or had she just misinterpreted it all?

She knew the answers to that wouldn’t be available to her, though. And, of course, asking the Archbishop wouldn't change that. So she decided to focus on what was important at the moment.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Now, there was just one more thing she had to say to drive the nail into the coffin.

“I’ll sleep here.” She meant the nave. “And also… We’ll be leaving early in the morning. Maybe even before the sun has risen. I hope you can understand if you wake up after we’re gone.”

Archbishop Jude finally opened his eyes, his smile still vividly etched on his face. “Of course. It’s not like you and your friends are hostages. You are free to leave whenever you want.”

###

The crypt was divided into various sections, each one bearing different chapels. The children were paired in each space—Rain couldn’t understand why since there was more than enough for each person—and Sean was sharing one with Ella. He and J were there as well.

“You must be strong, Mister?” Ella said, her voice low and quiet. She had just taken the last bite of the sloth meat she had been served for dinner, which also spelled the end of Rain’s exaggerated storytelling involving his battle with the Chimera Anaconda.

Of course he had left out his Mark and the part where his flesh had sewed itself back, which made it seem like he had killed the beast all on his own. But, eh, he had had no choice.

Rain glanced at Sean, who was still nibbling on the food he had been served in silence, and sighed. It would have struck him weird that the boy was quiet if he had not already been told of his social awkwardness.

Sean had been so pressed to know what had happened during his adventure home, so he had hoped that would bring him into a discussion with Ella, hence, releasing him from his shy state, but it had not worked. Funny thing was that Ella seemed to be the same way as Sean. They had just introduced themselves, and it had ended there. The atmosphere was weird, and it was not favorable for the plan he was cooking up.

Well, if the Anaconda story didn’t work, then he had another idea.

Rain rubbed J’s neck as she licked his wrist, then with a smile he said, “Do you have a favorite superhero, Ella?”

The girl had been drinking a cup of water when he asked, which was why she took a moment before she answered, “Nightwing.”

“Oh,” Rain widened his eyes. “Not Daredevil?” He felt Sean’s gaze on him, but he acted oblivious. Sean had told him a while back of his best superhero, now was the time to make use of that information. “I thought the ladies preferred Daredevil?”

Ella shook her head. She seemed like the quiet type, but her eyes suddenly had a different look to it after Rain’s words. “No. I think we all prefer Nightwing.”

Rain had no knowledge on how long had passed since the kids had awoken from their pods, so it was possible that, unlike Sean, their mental prowess had since developed into a more mature one. Still, they were inherently children. Comic characters still enticed them. And thank goodness Sean didn’t remain quiet this time.

“Nightwing? I wonder what girls see in him?” the boy scoffed with a mouth full of meat.

Rain had not denied the food given to Sean out of fear of it being poisoned because he had already come to realize something that guaranteed the boy’s survival.

He, on the other hand, rejected his food, and J, who had been feasting continuously for the past three days, obviously didn’t need any, so she skipped as well.

Ella was silent for a moment, which made Rain a tad scared that his social anxiety dispeling plan would fall into failure again, but it turned out that she was just thinking of a reply to give to Sean.

“He’s more handsome.”

That answer seemed to rile Sean up more, causing him to abandon his food and engage in a wave of silent bickering with Ella.

It brought a smile on Rain’s face, but it vanished in an instant when he noticed that J was no longer licking his wrist.

He rubbed her head and whispered, “Is she gone?” J purred and he nodded.

Rain recalled that the Rogue Division was one that blessed its user with the abilities of stealth and trickery. He also recalled that Nun Cathleen had such an ability, and that she had used it back in Cumbernauld. Since he knew that his Perception was too low to decipher if he was being watched or not, he’d decided to rely on J’s keen senses.

Her licking of his wrist was a signal to tell him that he was being watched, and stopping was to tell him otherwise.

Honestly, he had not been particularly expectant of anything considering how she had been behaving all this while, but she proved him wrong.

He had begged her to push herself, and apparently when she did her Perception was even better than Alice’s.

Now he could kick his plan underway.

“So,” Rain started, cutting in on the two kids’ little argument. “How did you meet the nun and the Archbishop, Ella.”

The girl’s eyes reverted back to the indistinct grimness Rain had noticed from the moment he had seen her.

She hesitated for a few seconds before opening her lips, “They saved me. They saved us.”

A simple answer… Well, I expected that. Still, someone who was saved shouldn’t be looking the way you’re looking. What exactly are you afraid of?

Rain peered at Ella, her doe eyes looking straight back at him. “You don’t like it here?” The girl gasped inaudibly as her eyes widened and her gaze faltered. She glanced around as though searching for someone. “It’s fine,” he said in an attempt to put her at ease. “No one’s watching.”

Ella focused her attention back on him. “H-How are you sure? It’s impossible to—”

“There’s no such thing as impossible.” Rain saw the girl hold her hands tightly. He felt bad for trying to use her to make it out of here alive, but he had no choice. This was the only way, and he needed her answer for that to happen. He asked again, “Do you like it here?”

Ella bit down on her lower lip and lowered her head. “I… I…”

This is going nowhere. That nun can come back at any moment. I should change my approach to something decisive.

“Hey.” Ella looked up at Rain and her furrowed brows loosened at the placid smile he had resting on his face. “Do you want to get the hell out of here?”