Zed eyeballed the scene for a few moments before approaching. The golems were clearly very powerful, and he wasn't especially keen on getting any closer to them than absolutely necessary. A single blow would mean complete devastation. No question. He cringed, seeing the heavy damage suffered by the statues around the perimeter.

Then again, the strange blue energy that had brought them to life had faded away to nothingness. As long as they remained grey and lifeless, it was probably safe. Yes, he admitted to himself with some reluctance, closer observation would be very necessary.

“Let's get this over with,” he mumbled under his breath. “Divine blessings to receive and whatnot.”

Emi raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

The golems-turned-statues were massive. Standing a full three meters tall, they dwarfed even Zed. Their features were rough and angular. The male statue appeared to be the aggressor at first glance. He loomed threateningly over the cowering woman, brandishing a stone dagger overhead. She held up a handful of coins in a fearful offering. One arm was pinned underneath her body at an odd angle.

A textbook case of robbery. Simple. Wasn't it? Zed scratched at one of his horns and grumbled to himself. Nothing was ever simple. Emi stood along the far wall, observing him sagely. Maybe she had some insight?

“Hey. So, this divine quest... I know it specified that it was a solo quest, but –”

“You received a divine quest?!” He winced at the priestess' shrill response. Her eyes widened in shock. “How silly of me, of course you would. No, I cannot aid or assist you in any way, shape, or form.”

Zed began a slow circle around the stone pair. “Figures.”

“Oh, no... it's not that I don't want to help,” came the frustrated reply. “I can't.”

“Oh. Oh.” He resumed his circle.

Upon closer inspection, the statues weren't as rough-hewn as they initially appeared. The strange blue glow that animated the statues wasn't fully depleted after all; it pulsed slowly, deep underneath the stone surface. It illuminated intricate designs carved into the chest and shoulders of each statue, like a coat of arms or a crest. The designs, however, were quite dissimilar.

Hmmm... that's odd.

He spied a pouch at the woman's waistband. Such a small detail. He glanced uneasily at the pair. Would either statue attack him if he removed the pouch? He shook his head. Surely there wouldn't be any immediate acts of retribution. He had to analyze and make his judgment somehow. Steeling himself, he approached the woman and snatched the pouch from her belt.

Phew. Not dead, anyway. Undead? I don't know, and I REALLY don't want to find out.

The pouch was made not of stone, but of leather. Unsurprisingly, it was empty. Zed almost didn't notice it at first glance; it was the same color as the statue itself. What had caught his eye was the embroidery on the side. He ran a finger over the faded silver stitching. He didn't recognize the image, but it gave him a feeling of deep unease.

“Interesting. This looks just like the crests on her body. Must be hers, right?” He took the coins from her palm as well. It felt... right. “But how am I supposed to solve this?”

He looked again at Emi, who shook her head forbiddingly.

“Don't even ask. I can't give you any information. You can figure this out,” she assured him.

Zed looked back down at the coins, turning a few over to examine them more closely. They were quite pretty to look at; one side was engraved with an ornate rounded symbol, while the other side bore a set of scales.

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“Appraisal.”

Unable to be Appraised at current skill level. Requires Appraisal LVL. 10.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He was practically seething. “Why even give me a skill if I can never use it?”

He resumed his pacing, tossing the coins lightly as he walked. He had to admit he enjoyed the clinking noise they made. The sound was comforting somehow and helped him focus. He glanced at the other statue. It did not have a pouch of its own.

“So, that's that, isn't it? He may be poor, but he's assaulting the woman, robbing her. The circumstances don't matter. It's still a crime. He's guilty. So, now what? That's the answer? Am I overthin–HURF!” Zed felt an insignificant tug on his pant leg and pitched forward.

He toppled to the floor, arms flailing and coins flying everywhere. He landed hard, banging his knee and scraping his palms. A couple of coins bounced in front of his face and rolled away, stopping only when they struck the cowering statue's pinned hand. Across the room, Emi sighed heavily.

God DAMN it! Fuck!

Face burning, Zed shot up and pocketed the pouch. He went about painstakingly recovering all of the coins he had spilled, starting with those that settled into the most inconvenient places. He hadn't thought there were that many, but for each coin he picked up he spied two more hidden in the debris left by the other damaged statues. Just how many were there?

“Idiot,” he mumbled to himself as he picked up the last two coins lying beside the statue's arm. “Should've at least counted them first. Wait, what's this?”

A corner of something stuck out from underneath the pinned hand. Perplexed, Zed reached in and grabbed the mystery object from its resting place. He scrambled backward quickly and retreated to the edge of the platform, his heart pounding in his ears. A second coin pouch? He jiggled the pouch gently and heard the satisfying clink-clink coming from within.

“Oh, you cheeky bitch,” he breathed, dumping the contents of the second pouch into his waiting hand. “I'll be damned.”

Another anomaly presented itself to Zed. Furrowing his brow, he began turning each coin over in his hand, one by one. While the scales were present on every coin, several coins bore an entirely different design on the opposite side composed of sharp, jutting angles. Now there were four different symbols in play, not including the scales. He ruled those out automatically as the one common factor.

Male. Female. Sharp and round. This is absurd. Everything about this situation is a complete fabrication. If everything in the world was fair, they'd each have their own coin. Actually...

He began the tedious process of sorting through the coins. He placed all the round-backed coins in one pouch, and the rest of the coins into the second pouch.

“This is stupid,” he hissed to himself as he sorted. “Why should I impose my morality on these statues, anyway? They're inanimate objects!”

His task complete, there was only one thing left to do. Scales. Equality. Balance. Looking from one statue to the other, Zed placed one pouch into the male statue's outstretched hand. The second pouch, the one with the stitching matching the crest of the female, was placed back into her hand.

The morose play shuddered back to life as the blue glow flashed brightly under the surface of the statues-turned-golems. Alarmed, he leapt backward and nearly fell off the platform. An unexpected hand pressed into Zed's back, and he turned to see Emi's face inches from his, eyes wide and questioning. He opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by an unearthly, keening scream.

The female golem cringed into the platform as the male advanced on her, still screaming. Her mouth was nothing more than a black, tongueless void in her slab face, and still, she screamed. The coin pouch fell to the ground and burst open, forgotten in her terror. Coins scattered.

The stone blade descended in one fluid motion and the endless scream was silenced by a single, mortal strike to the heart. The blue glow winked out and the shell of the executed golem crumbled in on itself until there was nothing left.

To their shock, the executor pulled the dagger from the remains then took three giant backward steps off the platform. It crashed down on one knee and bowed its head. The floor reverberated from the impact. The reverberations grew in intensity, shaking the very foundation of the room. Debris rained down from the vaulted ceiling.

“What did you do?” Emi yelled over the apparent earthquake, clutching Zed tightly.

Zed could only shake his head as he stared at the collapsing room in horror. However, as suddenly as the earthquake had begun, everything ceased. After a few moments of total silence, the platform began to descend into the floor. A booming voice thundered down the vertical shaft from the golem's mouth:

CHARGED WITH THE GODDESS' DIVINE AUTHORITY, YE HAVE BEEN DEEMED WORTHY.