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I froze for a moment.

“Bounty?” I asked, not comprehending.

“Yes,” he confirmed, “Were you not aware?”

I was completely at a loss.

“I guess not,” he said after looking at my face for a moment. “You would have acted with more discretion otherwise.”

“Listen, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Why would I have a bounty on my head? I didn’t commit any crime,” I said, confused and alarmed as my eyes glanced at Joshua.

Unless they found out I killed that noble. It was the only thing I could think about that could be considered a crime. Or maybe falsifying the documents when I entered the city?

The church didn’t meddle in those affairs usually, though.

I squeezed my mind, but nothing believable came up.

“Mm, you’re labeled as a ‘Heathen’ — a follower of the evil gods. Contrary to the title you had in the arena, this is official. Do you know what that means?”

That I’m fucked. That’s what it means. I needed to find a way out of this situation.

“Wait a moment,” I said, trying to find the right words. “I have no idea how this happened, but I don’t have a Class, so there’s no way I’m an Evil God follower.”

I was looking at Maximus while we talked, but most of my attention was placed on the man near him, who was still calmly listening to the conversation.

The Merchant nodded.

“I thought you’d say that, and we can easily check later, since I have an artifact from the church in another room. I didn’t call you here in my office to attack you, so don’t worry. What I’m curious about, is how you’re going to handle this. Any thoughts?” he asked, picking up his glass.

I relaxed slightly and thought for a moment, before asking tentatively, “You can’t clear my name if we check with the artifact?”

There was no way I’d ever set foot inside a church if I could avoid it. Especially now that I had a bounty on my head.

“Good question,” he said, putting down his drink.

“If you go there yourself there’s a high chance that they’d kill you on sight… or maybe not, now that I think about it — you look quite different after all,” he added looking at my left cheek. “You wouldn’t have passed the city gate otherwise.”

I had other scars on my face, but that had been my most visible one. Bounty Hunters, Paladins, and other classes probably had Skills that could recognize people anyway, despite slight cosmetic changes, but the shape of my face had changed a bit too, so that would probably throw them off.

“Anyway, they’d probably attack once you tell them who you are. When you’re on the list you’re only a target to kill for most people, and the ones from the Church won’t even bother to listen,” he said, letting the silence linger for a while.

I didn’t expect any less from the Church, I thought bitterly. They were always in the right, after all.

Though I must admit that I too wouldn’t bother to let a heretic talk. Evil Gods’ followers weren’t people you’d want around. Human sacrifices were their favorite pastime, after all.

The real question was why I was labeled a heretic. Giving me a nickname in the arena for propaganda and whatnot was a thing, but putting me on that list was a whole other matter.

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It was like I had my head on a chopping block without me knowing.

My initial surprise was starting to leave way to anger. What did I do to deserve this?

I was sold into slavery as a kid, I spent most of my life fighting to survive, the church and nobles tormented me, and now that I was finally free, I had to deal with this.

It was fucking maddening.

“So,” the Merchant interrupted the silence, “I had been thinking. What could I do to help you?”

I focused again on the man in front of me.

“After making a few inquiries with a few priests I am acquainted with and searching for similar cases — which didn’t exist — I reached a conclusion. We’ll have to bring you there in chains.”

“In chains?” I asked, trying not to let the anger in my voice.

“Yes. There are some special bindings, made by the Church, that can disable Skills. It’s a laborious process to get their permission to own them but bringing you in like that would put their mind at ease, and they’d be more inclined to listen,” he explained. “There’s no chance of you activating some crazy Skill with them on, after all.”

His logic made sense.

I also knew that it was a solution he came up with to help me.

It didn’t help settle my feelings at all, though. In the last few years I reached a good control over them, but being brought to those damned Priests in chain brought up some bad memories.

I picked up the glass of scotch, hoping to wash them away with the strong drink. It burned down my throat, distracting me for a moment.

It seems he noticed I was getting riled up because he tried to calm me down.

“You don’t have to worry too much. They’ll want to make sure you have nothing to do with the Evil Gods, so you’ll be detained in the Church for a few days, and go through some tests. I’m not sure if they’ll try to bless you, though.”

Detained in the Church? Blessing? As I heard those words, my mind stilled for a second.

I could feel a heat rising from within me as I gritted my teeth. The glass exploded in my hand with a **Crash** as I accidentally put too much force in my grip.

Joshua instantly put his hand on the sword at his side with an alarmed look, while the merchant trembled.

“I. Will. Not. Be. Caged. In. The. Church. And. Blessed.” I said, stressing on every single word.

It was hard to push down the boiling fury that overcame me.

They didn’t do it with malicious intentions, probably, but just the thought of them bringing me there to be caged and blessed had touched a nerve and I lost control for a few seconds.

Taking some deep breaths, I looked at the shards embedded in my hand. They didn't pierce too deeply, but some blood was still flowing out, staining the carpet beneath me.

I drew in another lungful of air, then I let it flow out slowly as I tried to let the anger go with it — it helped a bit.

Looking back at the men in front of me, I saw that Joshua was still looking at me warily, while the merchant was frozen.

“I’m sorry,” I told them, “Bad memories.”

Those were the only words I could come up with at the moment.

The Merchant seemed to regain his wits at my words.

“D-Don’t worry,” he said, stuttering a bit at first. He probably wasn’t used to people reacting so strongly.

“Also, sorry for the carpet and the glass.” Blood is a pain to wash away.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry I brought up painful memories,” he said, regaining some composure. “I’ll call someone to heal you.”

Joshua also let go of his sword, though he kept eyeing me warily.

“No need,” I said, picking up the bottom of the glass that somehow remained intact. I then took out the glass shards from my hand and put them inside it, speeding up my healing to stop the blood loss. I wanted to avoid doing further damage to the expensive-looking furniture.

“Let me know if you can’t wash it out. I’ll pay for the damage,” I told him when I finished.

It would be expensive, but I shouldn’t have lost control like that.

Tearing a piece of my sleeve, I wiped my hand.

“I-It’s fine, it’s fine,” he stuttered again. I then noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead. It seems I had scared him a lot.

“Maybe it’s better if I come another day.”

“I… yes, it should be better,” he said, getting up. “There are a lot more new bounties anyway this month, and yours will hardly catch any attention. There’s no hurry.”

He then asked for Joshua to accompany me to the entrance.

“Ah, should I come alone next time too?” I asked Maximus. He had explicitly asked for me to come alone this time.

“No. It’s fine if you bring your companion too. I wanted to talk to you alone in case you wanted to tell her personally of your… situation. And, again, I apologize if my words unsettled you,” he said, his voice wavering slightly.

“It’s fine, it’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have lost my composure,” I told him.

We then exchanged a few words of parting and I left the building, heading back to the inn.

I’m not sure if he’ll call me again, I thought as I walked.

I was also beginning to fear he might just decide to tell the church and be done with it.

Damn, I really made a mess.

I should have handled things better.

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