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CH 88.5

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“Hello Randle,” I said, a little surprised to see him.

Randle nodded at me as he stepped into the living room. I noticed he carried not just his bible… but some kind of small leather pouch. Coins maybe?

Him…? Carrying money…?

“How have you been, Vim?” Randle asked as he stepped over to the table I sat at.

“Not bad. How have you been,” I said gently. How many years had it been since I’d seen this priest? Quite a few, actually. Or well… not truly. I had seen him the other day. From a distance. When Renn and I had watched that sermon, alongside half of Telmik. He had been a part of the choir. But this was the first time he and I had actually spoken to each other in a long time.

“My world has been peaceful… and I’d like to keep it that way,” he said.

Oh…? Had I done something recently? Or…

“Did Renn do something…?” I asked carefully. She wasn’t here in the mansio with me right now. She was at the church. It was the nightly prayer of women. A once of the month prayer that they only allowed women to participate in. It was usually one to bless women who had recently become pregnant, and to ask for their protection. Its source was one of the saints of their religion. One who had been sexually abused, supposedly.

The fact only women were allowed into that session wasn’t the reason I hadn’t gone with her, however. I simply knew now that there was no reason to doubt Renn. She was fine, and trustworthy, and I knew she wouldn’t get caught or seen either.

Especially since the Chronicler had put two people to watch her while she was here. Since she was a predator.

“Renn…? Oh. Your new member. No. Or well, maybe…” Randle sighed as he laid the leather pouch onto the table in front of me. It clanked in a way that verified it was coins.

“This is…?” I asked as I reached over to open it. I only peered in, to see the silver and gold. I didn’t see anything else noteworthy about it, so I let it be after verifying it was indeed just coins.

“A donation. Alms.”

I frowned. “What’s this about Randle?” I asked. I was completely dumbfounded. I had no idea what this could possibly be about. What had Renn done…? Why was Renn involved in the church’s donations? There wasn’t much money there, but it was still a lot. More than a normal person made in a year, at least.

Randle pulled one of the chairs back, one on the other side of the table but not directly in front of me, and sat down. “This money was donated by a human woman. One who confessed to witnessing a miracle,” he said.

Miracle…? What, had someone seen Renn’s ears or something?

“Okay…?” I waited to hear the rest.

Randle sighed at me. “It was about you two. The woman confessed to witnessing a miracle, begged forgiveness for the sin of death, and then thanked the lord for sending them the couple of blessings,” Randle said.

I shifted a little in my chair. “Forgive me, but couple of blessings? What’s that?” I asked. Was that some new saint or something?

“It was simply her way of speaking the truth without revealing anything. I followed her after her confession, and overheard her talking to another woman. One I suspect was her daughter. Her name had been Melody, and they had spoken of you. Seems they encountered you on your path here,” Randle said.

Oh.

Oh…

“You’re kidding me,” I said as I glanced at the purse.

“Not at all. You recognize the name, then?” he asked.

“I do. We had traveled with them for a short time within these borders. They had been carrying spices. Along the way they got held up by brigands. I dealt with them,” I said.

Randle let out a deep sigh. “Thus her belief you two had been angels, and your actions a miracle. What’d you do, make them explode or something?” he accused me.

“What? No. Just killed them. Very normally,” I defended myself.

The priest reached up to rub his eyes, as if suddenly very exhausted.

“So… do I need to go handle this?” I asked.

“No. They genuinely saw you two as a miracle. They do know your name though, at least, so it’s up to you how you want to handle it. I figured I’d bring it to your attention before I told the Chronicler,” he said.

Huh… that was a first. “Not to sound ungrateful… but why?” I asked.

Randle crossed his arms. “You know full well I have no love for you, Vim. You are a mockery of god. But… well…” he hesitated a moment, and then glanced away from me. “The Chronicler and her ilk have begun to change. And not for the better,” he then said.

Oh my…

Now very interested in this conversation, I tapped the table with a finger as I studied one of the highest ranking priests in the nation.

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What had happened…? He’s basically been the Chronicler and her family’s dog for centuries. Never once betraying them, or speaking ill of them… yet…

“Did something happen, Randle?” I asked carefully.

“Yes and no. No, I don’t want to talk about it with you. Maybe someday but not right now. I’m… trying to figure out my own thoughts on it first,” he said honestly.

Strange. Where had this man been all this time…? Maybe I shouldn’t have ignored him so much.

“You know how I feel about free-will, Randle. And you know full well how my rules work. You need only ask, and I’ll answer,” I said.

He nodded. “I know. Maybe next time.”

Alright. I could live with that.

Reaching over I tapped the purse. “If they genuinely donated this as a tithe… why give it to me?” I asked.

“You were the one who saved them. Not my god,” Randle said plainly.

Right. So that part of him hadn’t changed, it seemed.

Somehow that was kind of comforting.

“I’ll look into them. Not to harm them, or anything, just to check where they are and what they’re doing. So that I can at least know more about them just in case,” I said.

“Do as you will. You always do,” Randle said.

Yes. I did.

Renn would be happy to hear they arrived safely. And judging by the coins, they must have succeeded in selling their goods and saving their precious home and company.

Melody. I’ll remember the name. Or at least try to. If I didn’t, Renn would at least.

I grabbed the small leather purse and bounced the coins a little. It was indeed a lot. Probably not the full tenth of the profit as they had promised me, but likely not far from it either.

I’ll give it to Renn. We had only gotten involved with them because she had seemed to find it interesting anyway, so it was rightfully hers.

“What did you just think, Vim?” Randle then asked.

I paused, and realized he was still here. Usually he left immediately after he finished doing whatever he had needed to do. He hated me that much.

“I’ll give the coins to Renn. She’s the one who earned them, honestly,” I said.

“Hm… I’ve seen her. The Chronicler asked me to keep an eye on her. But I decided she was fine when I witnessed her praying the other day,” Randle said.

“Praying…?” I asked. When had she done that?

Randle nodded. “Very devotedly. Alone. On the fourth floor, in front of the cross of saints. It’s a place usually only those who work or live within the Cathedral even notice, let alone pray at. I saw then not a predator or a danger, but one of us. The Chronicler hadn’t believed me, but she’s become as blind as she really is,” Randle said.

For a long moment I studied the priest who used to claim I was some kind of demon. He had just said several odd things, and rather seriously at that.

The Chronicler didn’t believe that Renn could be religious? He claimed she was blind, not just literally but figuratively now?

And…

“She may have been doing it just to avoid being seen. She has ears and a tail, makes it harder for her to blend in,” I said gently.

Randle shook his head. “No. I’m sure I felt the holy divinity upon her as she prayed. Plus she wore one of our sister’s garbs. She would have been fine,” Randle confidently said.

Although glad to hear he didn’t see Renn as a threat, since he actually did try to eliminate the ones he believed to exist, I was also not glad at all to hear the rest.

Holy divinity…? The man was as loopy as always, but…

“I see. She does enjoy your faith. She’s got a copy of your bible up by her bed,” I said with a small point upstairs.

Randle perked up a little. “Really…? Very interesting. She may be one of the last predators to be a believer. Is she staying here?” he asked.

“No. She’s decided to continue on with me. I’ve come to realize she likely wants to see all her options before making a choice. A byproduct of what had happened in Ruvindale, I’m afraid. I think she’s looking for a place that she won’t bring any possible harm simply by existing with,” I said.

I didn’t entirely believe what I was saying, but I was trying to. Desperately.

“I see. I’d heard what happened. But it was to be expected of such godless heathens, so she should not feel bad about it. Make sure you let her know their deaths are no fault of her own,” Randle said.

I nodded, but didn’t want to vocally agree to any of that.

The two of us sat in silence for a long moment and I wondered what it was that had happened between him and the Chronicler. Or well, what he had seen or heard her do or say.

It must have been quite bad. Maybe I should worry. I’d known for a long time all about the Chronicler and her sister's schemes, but none of them had ever really bothered me or the Society so I’ve always ignored them. Everyone had designs and plans, at least anyone with any real power or authority, so to me it was just normal. If they wanted to launder money, deal in banned goods or plot against other religions and nations then who was I to stop them…? As long as it didn’t interfere or endanger the Society, I had no reason to care.

Randle’s obvious discomfort, and sudden change of allegiance, was alarming though. It meant it had been something that truly went against his faith. That was the only thing I could think of that would cause such a rift to form between him and the Chronicler and her order.

The priest sighed softly, and I wondered if the reason he hadn’t left yet was because he genuinely did want to talk about it. Should I push a little…? I usually tried not to.

“How much longer will you play servant, Vim?” Randle then asked.

Oh…? How long has it been since I’d heard such a thing? It actually made me smile.

“Everyone’s a servant to something, Randle,” I responded with my typical answer to such a question.

He flinched and blinked a little rapidly, as if stunned. I watched as he focused intently and went very deep in thought… heavily pondering my words.

Yeah. Something like that probably really resonated with a man like him, who wore priest robes not just around his flesh but his soul.

I let the man soak in his thoughts for a moment, and clanked the coins. Then I leaned forward a little, to rest my arms on the table.

“Whatever happened, Randle… don’t let it shake your faith. I know you and I have long had our differences… but I’ve always respected you for your unwavering beliefs,” I told him.

Randle opened his mouth, to speak, but said nothing… and then he closed his mouth and nodded.

I nodded back, and for a small moment we stared into each other’s eyes… and then Randle got up from his chair.

Without a word he stepped away… and left the house, leaving me behind.

I sighed at him. “I hadn’t meant for that to be the end of the conversation. Maybe I’m not as good at this as I thought,” I mumbled.

Messing with the coins, I hoped Renn returned soon.

The air felt heavy and sad. So I needed something to liven the world up.

She was good at that. Though I’d never tell her.