A Fateful Encounter

Michael stands by the window inside his fully furnished and nobly decorated headquarters.

He takes in the view of Alton, despite the mediocre size it still held dominion over the northeast of Rosalia.

The population of a hundred thousand would be small compared to the City of Rosalia's population of four hundred thousand.

But it would be more than sufficient to sustain the industries planned.

He then mutters to himself, "I guess I better start my trip to Avern."

Just as he thought of such, a loud knock comes from the door. "Sir Michael, the carriage is ready."

He walks to the door, "Come on then let us get a move on."

Alfred opens the door, ready to leave.

e

Outside Alton and within his carriage, Michael sighs in boredom.

He rests his head back as he mutters to himself, "Ugh, I'm so bored."

He has tried to call his two right hands. Unfortunately for him, they both remain busy with work.

Mary is training herself in her newfound bloodline.

While Madelaine is busy experimenting with runes and the daily operations in Rosalia.

He groans as he takes a stone out of his pocket, playing with it as he passes the time.

A sudden bump in the road bounces him up.

He looks outside to see a broken carriage, he waves to the two men as he put his stone back into his pocket.

Alfred lets stop to help, Alfred stops the carriage before Michael steps down.

"Greetings, friend. What could be the problem here?"

The man rubs the back of his head, "The wheel just gave up."

Michael genially smiles, "Well, where might you be headed then?"

The red demon beside him wearing black priestly robes answered, "The City of Rosalia."

Michael then frowns, "I see, It is unfortunate but we are headed to Alton."

The man nods with disappointment, "That is a shame."

Michel then taps his chin in thought, "Well, how about you join us till we reach Irven."

The priest nods, "Thank you." He looks to the driver, "Will you be alright?"

The driver apologizes "Yes, though I apologize for the inconvenience."

The priest then nods as he follows into Michael's carriage.

Within the carriage, Michael offers his hand. "The name is Michael."

The priest smiles as they shake hands, "Mine is Orvin, thank you for this favour."

Michael dismisses his concern with a wave, "It's just normal to help a person in need."

Orvin smiles, "Yet most people would be averse to taking in strangers, so I will owe you this favour."

Michael then grins, "Well since you're so insistent, could you at least tell me your purpose in rosalia?"

Orvin nods, "Of course, I'm merely going back to report to my patron's father."

Michael tilts his head, "Truly? I didn't think that priests had patrons, faith in you God and all that."

Orvin spoke with disappointment, "Ah yes, as much as the higher-ups wish to deny it. The church of Deia cannot survive on its own."

Michael shrugs, "I may be wrong but, I remember the Church of Deia being a dominant religion in the continent of Eriva."

He then raises his finger to show his point, "I even heard that your hierarchy is defined by their closeness to magic."

Orvin shakes his head, "That is a common misconception, we are a dominant religion.

He wrily smiles, a bit embarrassed "But that hierarchy tends to mean little when the continent contains demons capable of levelling cities."

Michael grins in excitement "But that doesn't mean you can't contend with them, I heard your pope is quite a monster."

Orvin smiles in amusement, "Despite that, we just don't have the manpower to contend with the Imperial powers in the continent."

Michael leans back, "I see that is quite a shame then, though I've heard you only accepted demons in your ranks."

Orvin shakes his head, "A bit wrong, but the whole truth is that the Church rejects any non-demon species."

Orvin shrugs, "Sure, they might be chosen as acolytes, but no matter how talented they are. The church just never invest resources on anyone not a demon."

Orvin frowns in distaste, "I always found such traditional policies distasteful, we are already losing, yet these old men keep on sticking with their old traditions."

Michael shrugs with a smile, "We young ones cant help it, now can we? They just cant see what is so obvious to us."

He looks outside the window as trees pass by his view "Let's just hope there's something left to fix."

Orvin laughs, "Yes, unfortunately for us, they'll probably take a few hundred years to die off."

Michael coughs in shock, "Excuse me?"

Orvin looks to him in amusement, "You weren't aware?"

Michael shakes his head.

Orvin nods, "That's understandable, Brieslin doesn't really have those kinds of monsters, Right?"

Michael sighs, "Fortunately, yes. It would be weird if it did. Since I heard Eriva is at least seven times larger the Brieslin."

Orvin scratches his cheek, "I'm not sure if that's true but I would admit it's quite the size."

Michael asks, "Why are you here in Brieslin anyway?"

Orvin spoke with reluctance, "I can't really say."

Michael shrugs, "It's fine, we all have our secrets." He glances at him, "We don't want you getting scolded now do we?"

He rests his head, "Can you at least tell me where you're from."

Orvin chuckles, "Kingdom of Bruncia."

Michael raises an eyebrow, "Bruncia, isn't that the closest Kingdom to Brieslin?"

Orvin nods, "Yes, that's why I was the one sent here."

Michael only lays his head back as they started talking, "That's pretty awesome, I haven't really left Rosalian Kingdom so I've only ever read or heard about it."

Orvin beams, "Really? Then let me tell you of my travels all over Eriva." He gestures outside, "As a payment for the trip."

Michael smiles, "Sure, Id rather have a personal account than any book."

The two then started chatting about the continent of Eriva, as if friends.

Unaware of the rocky road ahead.