24. The Church

Novum did not stand out quite as much as he did in his armor but he felt like he was getting more looks. He had not paid much attention to his appearance since he came here since he wore his armor almost all the time. His ego swelled just a bit but he shoved it back down deep. Ego would get him killed faster than anything at this level. He picked a big tower in the distance and figured it was the church bells. That would be a good place to start.

The walk took him longer than he thought so he stopped by a nice little place and ate his lunch. There were quite a few shops but they were all shops for the purpose of showing how much money you had and he was not interested in those. He walked past those and saw a few little churches and knew he was in the right area. Now he needed to find the church of Joer'ct. That was the biggest religion in the area.

Novum saw the bell tower and as he got closer he realized that it was the building that he was looking for. He was not sure if this was the training area but he knew that they could point him in the right direction. It felt a little weird to him going into a building for a god that he created. He shoved that thought out of his mind and walked up the stairs into the huge meeting area. He was surprised by how empty the place was but was not to concerned. A lot of churches were empty during the day.

Novum saw a knight and a couple of priests in the back corner and headed that way. He was not in a big hurry so he was walking around looking at things. The three of them were not paying him any attention. He got a little closer and could finally hear the conversation.

"Listen you know that I can make sure that you get the area that you want for your follow on church. All I am asking for is one night, how is that such a hard concept to figure out."

"I have told you time and time again that I will not do that. You have been trying for two years to get me to sleep with you and I have told you no over and over again. I have a fiancé and even if I did not I find you loathsome."

"And I told you that I will have you before you get out of here. I will destroy you in the church and then you will have no choice but to do what I say and then I will send you across the realm from where you want to be. This is your last time."

"You could try to send me across the realm but Peter would simply pack up and follow me there. So threaten me as much as you want but it will not happen."

The man drew back like he was about to slap her and Novum had seen enough. He quickly closed the distance to the knight. "Excuse me young knight are you deaf?"

"No sir what would make you think I was deaf." Before the knight could brace himself Novum kicked him in the chest as hard as he could and the with the added strength of the belt it actually caved in the front of the metal armor.

"I assumed you were deaf because you heard this idiot threatened a member of your church. A person that you are supposed to give you life to protect and you did nothing about it." Novum turned and looked at the priest. Rage was behind his eyes and the priest knew that he was in trouble but he froze up and could not move. Surprisingly the knight rolled to his feet and started coming back towards Novum. The knight drew his sword and charged forward.

The knight tried a brutal overhand chop. Novum saw the move coming and stopped the blow with one hand and then with his other hand he slapped the knight in the side of his helm with all of his strength. The knight tried to take another step and then fell back over.

Novum turned his attention back to the priest. But this time he had put his hand down but he was still not smart enough to run. Without any hesitation he slapped the priest across the face. He held his strength in check but it still made his eyes roll back in his head. Before he could fall over Novum grabbed him by his robes and held him up. He tapped him on the face a few times and his eyes popped back open.

"What did you hit me for?"

"Are you seriously asking me that question? Are you stupid or something? Did you mom drop you on your head down a set of stairs?"

"What?"

"Why were you about to hit her?"

"Well um...you see...I ummmmmmm."

"Tell you what how about I tear your robe off and bend you over this pew and do what I want with you?"

"NO!"

"But why not?"

"I don't want you too!"

"Then how about I kill you?"

"Why would you do that?"

"Because you did not want to do what I wanted you to do. Why else? You see I am in the position of power and can give you the option of taking up the ass or dying. You see it is your choice."

"But I don't like this. Why would you do that?"

"Well it seems to me that is exactly what you just offered to her. She could do what you wanted and sleep with you and you would take care of her or you could destroy her. And when she still refused you tried to hit her. So now you need to make your choice. I am not normally for men but if it teaches you a lesson." He let the sentence hang in the air.

The man started crying, not just crying but sobbing. "I want to live."

"Well then take your robe off and lets go." By this time a few more knights had heard what happened and came charging into the room. They saw the situation and came charging towards Novum.

Suddenly there was a powerful shout from the front from the front of the building. "HOLD!" Novum could feel the magic radiating in the voice.

<Outside interference detected - interference resisted>

Everyone in the building besides Novum froze. The spell had been aimed at him but the rest of them froze out of respect for the person's authority. Novum turned to the man. "And who might you be?"

There was a look of shock and fear that this man had resisted him spell. "I am one of the priests in charge of the training of the young priests."

"Well you need to do a better job. Did you know that this asshole was up to?"

"What do you mean?"

"Did you know that this man was trying to get the female recruits to sleep with him so that he would send them where they wanted to go. And this stupid knight was guarding him while he did it."

"Priestess is this true?"

"Yes. He has been doing it for the two years that I have been here."

"Did you report it?"

"I did the first dozen times and then realized that it would do no good."

"Who?"

"Priest Goodman."

"I see. Knights take those two into custody. Young man, priestess please come with me." Novum saw no reason not to and gave the man one more slap and then followed the priest. The priestess was right behind him. He led them through a series of twists and turns until Novum was not positive that he could get out without a little bit of help. Finally they came to a large door with two knights guarding it. They made no move to stop them.

The was an old man sitting behind the desk and he reminded Novum of an old wizard from his past life. Tall the thin with a long beard. "I see that there was an issue. I felt something was going on. So let's take it from the top."

<Outside interference detected - unable to resist interference> Novum thought that it was interesting.

"Elder, it appears that one of our intermediate priests has been trying to force this young priestess into a carnal relationship for two years. Today he was about to get physical with her out of frustration since she will be leaving soon. This young an heard what was going on and interfered. A young knight was standing guard over the priest so that no one could interfere but he was not counting on the power of this man."

"Young lady, how long has this been going on?"

"My entire two years in the academy."

"I see. Did you report it?"

"Yes Elder."

"To whom?"

"To Priest Goodman sir."

"I see." The man reached out and touched a spot on his desk. "Young man can I ask your name?"

"Novum sir."

"Novum, why are you here this morning? Please don't feel attacked I need to be sure that this is not a set up."

"No offense taken sir. I was here to deliver a gift from Peter." The girl started to open her mouth and then bowed to the elder in apology.

"I take it you know this Peter?"

"Yes Elder he is my fiancé. That is the reason that I changed my destination request to Three Mines. He just took a great job there."

"I see. Novum why did you interfere?"

"Elder please do not take offense at this but I will not tolerate what that man was trying to do, even if it was you I would have called you out for that type of behavior. Using a position of power to abuse an underling is not something that I will tolerate."

"But you don't know her, so why bother?"

"If I stand by and do nothing then I might as well do it myself. If I stand there and let someone do something like that then I am no better than they are."

"You have in interesting outlook on life young man. It is honestly refreshing to see. Have you perhaps considered joining the knights of Joer'ct?"

"No sir. I believe in the gods and their power and abilities but I chose not to put my faith in any one of them."

"That is not a bad view to have at such a young age." There was a knock on the door. A simple spot on the desk and another man walked in. He heard that there was a commotion and saw this girls standing there and he was suddenly very nervous.

"You wanted to see me elder."

"Yes, some very troubling information has come to my attention and a solution needs to be found. Did this young priestess bring complaints to you about being harasses by a higher level priest?"

Before he could stop himself he answered. "Yes Elder. I sent her away every time and did nothing about it."

"And why would you do that?"

"The priest she complained about is my nephew. His twin brother is also a knight here."

"So you put the wants of your family above the needs of a member of this church. How many other girls came and complained about him but eventually gave up?"

"No less than ten Elder."

"I see. Well in that case it makes this easy. You and both of your nephews are excommunicated from the church of Joer'ct. If you try to use the name of this church or the creator himself to try and levy any favor you will be branded as a heretic." The man jerked as the holy symbol that he was wearing started burning his skin and then it fell off.

The man turned and glared at Novum. "You are behind this and I will find a way to make you pay."

"Elder if he attacks me and I kill him will there be any repercussions from the church?"

"Absolutely none." He touched a spot and the doors opened. "Please escort Mr. Goodman and his nephews out of the church. And make sure that everyone knows they have been excommunicated." The two knights gave him a deep bow. While the were doing that Goodman drew out his mace and swing it at Novum.

Novum saw the man moving and with a snap brought out his shield and caught the blow. With another snap he had his sword out and the point inches from the man's neck. "You might want to rethink any plans you have about killing or even hurting me." The knights quickly grabbed the man and drug him out of the room.

"Ted are there any more requirements for this young lady to graduate?"

"There is only the location selection and the ceremony."

"Then young man will you be returning to Three Mines when you are done here?"

"Yes Elder."

"Then please stop by and escort this young priestess to her next assignment. The ceremony is not necessary and I feel that she will excel in Three Mines."

The girl gave the elder a huge smile and bowed deeply to him. "Thank you Elder."

"Now if you all would excuse me I am going to have to send some paperwork to the head of the church about excommunicating a priest of Goodman's record."

Once they were out of the room the priest turned to them. "Novum I do apologize for the situation that you found yourself in. Those three men are not a proper representation of the church of Joer'ct."

"I have met some outstanding members of the church who I find to be the very picture of the church so I know the standard that your clergy are held too. That might be part of the reason that I got so upset."

"I will leave you to deliver your package." The man gave Novum a bow of his head and the girl bowed to the priest. Novum felt that he should he bowed to someone but before he could figure out who they were both done.

Novum pulled the small package out of his pouch and handed it to her. "Peter thought you might like this."

She opened the package and saw the bracelet. "This is beautiful. Thank you for bringing it to me. And thank you for your help as well. I never thought he would take it that far." She gave Novum a deep bow.

"Don't worry about it I was glad to help. So I know that you will be coming with me when it is time but I have a few more things to take care of here before we go. Is that okay?"

"Of course. Could I come with you? I might be of some help."

"Then would you be so kind as to point me towards the administrative part of the city. There is a magistrate that I need to see."