Having the villagers left the church and the silence returned, Thom's first action was to put the translating stone around the girl's neck. The pair of black iron braces closed with a crisp metallic sound, making her ears jump slightly with the noise.

"Hmm. So this is magic. It's a pretty useful thing, isn't it?"

Suu touched the red bead on the choker as she spoke.

"It is. I used it for as long as I didn't know the language." Thom looked back towards Erina, who was visibly confused about his fluent, although archaic, use of Kuulkiam. "So? Care to explain what's up with you?" Thom looked at Suu with a questioning gaze.

"With me? Heh, you're the one who needs to give me an update. You've given me a hell lot of troubles, Thom. The morning you left your family couldn't stop looking for you, you know? Even I ended up searching for you up and down... The way you left everything a mess and just departed without any reasons got me especially worried. I seem to have gotten lost as well while looking for you."

"A mess?"

"Pretty much. That's what I remember, at the very least." She frowned while pressing her chin with her fingers. "But... To be honest, everything's a bit blurred now. The hit on the head must have taken a bigger toll on me than I thought."

Thom smiled when he saw those troubled eyes trying to scrap for an answer.

"I see. I'm sorry for making you worry, Suu. But as you can see, I'm quite well. I like it here."

"Yeah." She returned a carefree smile. "I like it here too."

Erina's lips turned to a flat line as she looked at the two of them staring aimlessly at nothing. A judging look that expressed a hint of confusion could be seen on her face. However, before she could call them out on their idiocy, Suu noticed her stare and jumped back in a fright.

"Thom, your friend is staring at me judgingly!"

"I'm—" Erina was about to retort the girl's words, but couldn't finish her sentence before she was interrupted.

"Suu, this is corporal Erina. And Erina, this is Suu. She used to go to my house when we were little, she learned to read and write from my mom as well. We also learned together how to trick people, act like we are someone we're not, and those kinds of things a kid needs to survive."

"Ahh... Nice to meet you."

"Can I call you Eri?" Suu stretched her hand with enthusiasm.

Erina's expression changed completely Suu's words seemed to strike through her like lightning. Although her movements weren't any slower and she shook her hand as well, she had been noticeably shocked by that sudden familiarity.

"Eri... That's fine."

"Very well." She nodded enthusiastically. "I must say, I'm getting mad at you, Thom. You've been living this comfortable life for so long while I've been tirelessly looking for you like this!" She shamelessly covered her silver bracelets and delicate robes as she spoke.

"Right." Thom rolled his eyes with a smile and crossed his arms. "You were simply worried I'd get better than you in the little time we didn't see each other."

"Oho?" Suu's eyes suddenly turned sharp. "You wanna go right now?"

"You wanna try? I'll tell you, I've gotten a bit better since last time we fought." Thom frowned with a smile and took a single step forward.

"Is that right? I'd like to see you put a scratch on me!" Suu took a step forward as well and their foreheads crashed against each other. The sound of hard metal clashing against metal rang in the church, making Erina get flustered in a second.

Their sharp gazes seemed like they would sparkle at any moment, their arms folded, and their postures menacingly pouncing on each other. Erina was thinking to split them apart, but her words came out of her mouth first.

"Ehm, I don't think—"

"Hah?"

She sheepishly raised her hand but was quickly shot down by the murderous gaze of the two of them. She took one step back.

"Ah... Sorry..."

"Pffft!"

Suu and Thom covered their mouths as if they were about to break into a burst of laughter, and when they could not hold it in any longer, they started to carelessly laugh in front of the confused Erina. They hugged each other for a good while, until they finally let go of each other with a smile.

"I missed having someone I could be a total dumbass with." Thom said.

"Hey, I missed being able to talk to someone, to begin with." She sneered. "I'm glad it was you who came for me!"

Thom put his gaze away from Suu for a second as if to hide his embarrassment, but was met with the image of the guard who was waiting outside, looking at them with probable ill intentions. The guard quickly removed his eyes from them, as if looking at the flowers, feigning having seen them in the first place.

What a curious fellow.

"You called Eri a corporal before, didn't you?" Suu pulled from Thom's arm as if calling his attention. "What's up with that? Did you somehow fake your way into the army? How should I begin calling you now?"

"Well... About that, you're probably gonna laugh." Thom sighed. "If you feel the need to remind me of my job, call me lieutenant Arburson."

Suu seemed taken aback for a moment. She slowly nodded her head with a low "I see...", and then crossed her arms with a rather grand sigh.

"I do not know how you managed to climb ranks so fast, but I'm happy for you, Thom. The gods certainly act in a very capricious and selfish way. If you ever feel uncomfortable with it or simply need someone to talk about it, let me be the first one you come to. Okay?"

The girl's voice suddenly changed. The high-pitched and somewhat annoying tone of her former voice wasn't anywhere to be seen. Instead, a deep, almost maternal or sisterly voice was coming from her mouth. The seriousness she exuded was something that couldn't be faked like the fight from before. Just when Erina had felt her heart start to flutter, her train of thought was interrupted by Thom.

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Well, it's not something that matters right now. More importantly, Suu, what are you planning to do from now on?"

"Uwah! So you're really gonna kick me out of the village?! How heartless! I haven't done anything wrong, now have I?!" Suu's playful and burlesque tone returned as she exaltedly threw her arms around.

"We are not taking you out because of any crimes you've committed." Erina butted in to explain. "The real problem is that you've tried to impersonate a god. If it was in our jurisdiction, we couldn't care less about sacrilege. But the church of Feriphia isn't exactly fond of actions like that, and their punishments are... Well, it would be more merciful for us to execute you right now."

"That's terrible..." All color drained from Suu's face, looking at Erina in horror.

"So, are you leaving with us? I can assure you that you won't be prosecuted, and I can pay for whatever place you decide to stay in while you get a way to pay for it yourself."

"Hmm..."

However, no matter how tempting Thom's offer sounded, the girl didn't give an immediate answer. She silently raised her head as her gaze traced off to the ceiling of the church, and her tightly folded arms pressed even harder against each other. She seemed to be deep in thought, until finally, she decided to speak.

"These people were a mess before I came here. Their technique for farming and housekeeping was fine, but they did it so aimlessly that it seemed as if farming was new to them. It's not a common thing, they looked extremely depressed. So... Being as nosy as I am, I started to think about a few possibilities."

"Well, farming life is hard..." Erina muttered.

"Never this hard. Thom and I used to tend to ricefields all day, but we still played and laughed with our parents at night. These people didn't seem to have any respite at all. When I saw the first cargo of food they were sending to the city for selling, I knew something was extremely off. How could a big village of almost 1,000 people produce only less than a dozen crates of food to sell?"

"Let me guess..." Thom turned after feeling the stinging gaze of the guard on his back. "Some good old case of the powerful abusing the weak."

"Aye, the village's resources were being funneled to a bandit group that has bled out the resource of this place for a while. No wonder they were depressed, the little coin they made was turning to even less and they couldn't lift a finger."

Erina caught a glance of Thom's expression at the moment— and found it to be one of pure, utter disgust. She was also surprised that the guards would allow for such a thing or even sponsor it, but the amount of hatred Thom felt at the moment was not born of something like a little frustration for injustice.

"So the guards have been changing the livelihood of these people for a few extra silvers to themselves. Even if it's not much, divided between only twenty guards, even 1/10th of a hundred farmer's produce would suffice."

"So I can't leave." Suu smiled with closed eyes. "They haven't attacked since I came here, they fear me more than they do the incompetent army. They swallowed the lie of me being a goddess as well, apparently. If I leave, this village will bleed out again."

Thom sighed at her words. He didn't know how much of the story was true, but he knew the girl wouldn't lie to him for no good reason. It was at least true that the problem they had come to solve wasn't really a problem. If this girl had been swindling the villagers out of their possessions by faking being a goddess, even Thom would have gotten mad.

Now that the truth was out, and he knew the girl was protecting the village and the guards taking advantage of it, his ill intentions had been directed to them.

"I wish I had the power to remove them from their post." Erina scoffed. "So they called an entire squadron to the village to get rid of you, only so they could continue with their theft? Bunch of cowards."

"That's right. You may not have that power, but I do." Thom gritted his teeth. "Rats like that will pay for their lives if they don't hand over their badges. That's a priority— but we'll first have to take care of a more important plague."

"Woooh!"

Suu smiled brightly after hearing those words come out of her friend's mouth. As if she had been looking for a light and now she had finally found it, she started to excitedly jump in her place and throw her arms in the air.

"So that's how it is." The corporal under his charge simply smiled. "Is that the reason why you killed Piston as well?"

"Hmph." Thom lightly pouted. "Will you nag me for what I'm doing now?"

"Nah." She giggled slightly and turned away. "It's okay by me. I must say, I'm also kind of relieved. It seems bringing my squadron wasn't a waste after all."

Ding---! Ding! Ding!

The bell made echo in the hills that surrounded the village, played by Erina's potent arms at a familiar pace— the one the army used for duty rolls. Thom smiled at the villagers and saluted to them in an indication that the bell didn't mean anything serious had happened, and that they should go back to their houses.

The twenty guards immediately came running to the spot in front of Thom, and they clasped their metal-shrouded feet. With a hand behind their back, and one in their head, they yelled:

"Lieutenant, sir!"

Thom breathed out in deep anxiousness and side-eyed Erina at the bell tower. She returned a warm smile that told him to relax, one that did not have a trace of mockery in it. Having seen her and obtained a new air of confidence, he accommodated his shirt and stepped forward.

"Who is the one with the highest rank?" He asked while his eyes traced a map of the soldiers' faces in his mind.

"That would be me, sir."

A blond man stepped forward while brandishing his sergeant badge. Thom gave him a cold smile, and without losing his control, he rehearsed the dialogue in his head one more time. Then, he spoke.

"Sergeant, are you from the middle battalion?"

"Yes, sir. I am one of the guard superiors. I answer to Chief Chamgue and my captain."

The man spoke in a clear attempt to transmit his words as just an innocent case of having given more information than what he had been asked for, but his real intention was clear. "You're not my boss.", was the real message the man wanted to get across.

"Your report detailed a woman who was putting the people's welfare in danger." Thom took the paper from his bag, which was rolled up and dirtied. "Although I do understand that a copious amount of resources being directed to her worshipping is indeed problematic, I think the blessing she has cast upon this village is sufficient to assess that issue."

"Yes, sir." The man lowered his head. "The village has been better ever since she has arrived. However, this is also of our worrying."

Thom squinted his eyes at the man's answer and looked at Erina for a hint. She made a holy sign with her hands, which Thom understood as part of their earlier conversation.

"Are you worried the villagers derive from the way of the church?" Thom asked with contempt as he looked at the man's lowered head.

"Yes, sir." The man smiled, and the rest of the platoon did too.

Thom thought carefully about his next move. He walked around the guards with hands behind his back, looking at the Sergeant without stopping for a second. Then, when he saw the soldier was already getting impatient, he smiled.

"Indeed. The use of the church for such purpose is problematic. Well seen, sergeant. From now on, the woman will reside at a house I will pay for, and her title as deity will be forfeited. There is no need to involve the church in this, this is a matter of Goldblack's army."

The sergeant's eyes twitched for a second, as he lifted his head and straightened his back.

"May I ask why, sir?"

"Because she has done good to this city, sergeant. And she will remain to protect it so its people will thrive." Thom's frown grew even deeper as he closed the distance between them.

"Excuse me, sir, I do not know what you mean by protect—"

"You do, sergeant. Don't dare tell me for a damn second you don't know what I'm talking about, or I shall see that you pay it to the army how it is due!"

Thom stopped a foot from the sergeant's face and looked at him with complete disgust. A youth barely 5'6" looking with authority at a 6'0" brawny man, yet, no one dared to ask who had the right to yell over the other.

To an onlooker, their badges would be enough reason. However, the soldiers in the platoon and the squadron that Thom had brought with him knew the real reason. The reason why now, even when the lieutenant's presence was as meek as a kid, no one dared to say a word.

It was that woman's gaze— the eyes of Corporal Erina Clawgold, which made a platoon of grown men tremble in fear at the thought of her imponent aura. Thom, oblivious to this, had attributed the silence in those men to the rank on his badge and nothing else.

Thom turned around and scoffed. He looked at Erina's squadron waiting with arms on display, and then back to the platoon of guards awaiting for their own orders.

"... Wrap it up, we've got a bandit camp to raid." He sighed.