Chapter 58: Holy Water (3)

Perseus POV

As I approached the local base of the Truth, it was a church...which...well, hopefully, actual prayers over here are heard by the gods because this is being run by some secret criminal organization.

As I stepped through the doors of the church, I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that settled over me. The air was heavy with the scent of incense, and the flickering candles cast dancing shadows across the walls. It was a solemn atmosphere.

"I called ahead and had it cleared." Terrence said, "Don't worry, as long as we're here, we're mostly safe."

"Mostly?" Elpis repeated, "Why not completely?"

"They can at best help us run away safely, but that's about it."

We were then led to one of their secret rooms in the back by the priest, beside him stood several individuals who appeared to be nothing more than regular worshippers, but I knew better than to judge a book by its cover. They were clearly one of us.

I exchanged a few polite greetings with the members of the group, all the while keeping a careful eye on their reactions. It was clear that they were wary of my presence, but it was probably because I was new and they never heard of me before, they were even more surprised to see me when I took off my hood and Elpis emerged out of my cloak to sit on my shoulder.

As Terrence introduced us all to each other, we then discussed the situation, for this base, none of the holy water was contaminated, luckily. So that left us no trail. There was no clue that this church could be linked to the truth organization, but...if they did, they would have avoided making an enemy out of us.

We then talked about infiltrating their base, we did send a few spies in, but only one got in as the others were rejected, the sole spy only got in recently, and will take far too long for any solution to be had.

"What do you suggest?" the fake priest asked, "We tried all we could, but for now all we have is a solution that will need a year at least."

"We thought about raiding their base with the prince." Terrence answered, "But with just us 3...I doubt they'd believe that we miraculously just found their base, and I also highly doubt that we aren't going to be watched."

"Well, I'll have to leak it somehow then...I got a solution, but since it will give away our location, we will have to shut this branch down, shutting down a branch just to resolve an issue isn't something our bosses would like."

"Well, it's to stop those snake guys." Elpis interjected, "They're just carrying our random terrorist attacks and it won't be long till our organization will get caught up in the investigation too.

"So if we know their goals, we can teach our future spies better, take it over from the inside using said goals and appealing to their vulnerabilities. Not only that but once we know them better, we can influence them to come out and take the hit for us when officials are close to our tails, just have a spy who's a high-ranking member sacrifice himself for the rest of us and throw those guys to the wolves."

"I did not just hear that from a fairy." the priest said in shock

"Fairies are known to be cunning and I'm only enforcing the stereotype." Elpis replied proudly

"Well, we'll have to call back to base, because the other closest branch is quite far away, and I doubt they'll want to shut this down so early." Terrence said

*****

Alone in the secluded room, I carefully studied the samples of holy water that had been provided to me. At first glance, there was little to distinguish between the regular water and the contaminated one. Both appeared crystal clear, their surfaces reflecting the dim light that filtered into the room.

I then cast a sound barrier to not have anything leak out of the room.

I can somewhat sense the difference, but Elpis said that it was because I was an assistant hero who the gods chose, I'm essentially a walking saint, even the pope and the holy son are technically below me in terms of receiving the blessings, only Cedric is above me, but I was to have this role and keep it to myself, so no one would know...unless Cedric dies.

Taking a small vial of the contaminated water, I cautiously poured it over a potted plant that had been placed on the table before me. As the water made contact with the soil, I watched the once-healthy plant begin to wither and die before my eyes.

Turning my attention to the sample of regular holy water, I repeated the process, pouring it over another potted plant that sat nearby. The effect was quite the opposite. Instead of withering away, the plant seemed to flourish, its leaves growing larger and more vibrant with each passing moment.

"Is it weird to say that I can dissolve the contamination and make it pure again?"

"You can." Elpis answered, "But purifying it would turn it directly into water, you'll have to bless it again."

"Can I?"

"You can."

"Seriously? Why have no one told me?" 

[A: You never asked.]

"So, you're saying I could have blessed this water and sold it in bulk and become a millionaire, but I didn't because I didn't know the full extent of what I'm capable of?"

[A: Don't pin the blame on us for yourself being a dumbass.]

"Well, I kind of forgot." Elpis said sheepishly

"No worries, Elpis, you have been a wonderful companion, but the blame goes onto my supposed customer support who's been with me since the beginning. Wow, like I could have used this to earn affection and save people, what is wrong with you?"

[A: I will apologize for that, but...if you had, the previous king would have eliminated you for trying to bring your people back into power instead, and if you died, there would be no hope for the descendants of Sam Wyatt. I protected you and your people, you have to think of the long-term implications.]

"...What's done is done...but let's try to find the source of this contaminant and try to figure out a way to reveal it to everyone else."