3.12. Cardinal's Fallacy

The downpour continued until the next morning.

"Is the team ready?" Procto asked.

Due to the rain, they had to change their meeting site from the sewer entrance to a nearby shaded structure. A team of holy knights and mages that stood behind Lowar.

"Ready. Sequencee, he'll be the one which'll help offset any effects from the gift," Lowar said, commanding one of the mages to fall out of line.

"It's a pleasure to meet you young sir. My name is Ensel, a mage of the fourth division."

Besides Sequencee, this excursion required Yousuff as one of the members because he had a gift which allowed him to mark and tag people. Though it wasn't exactly the same as the type of tracking gift Iona had, it was still dependable.

Yousuff had previously marked the two siblings, which was how they were able to find Sequencee even though he had moved to a different site to hide previously. Incidentally, his gift was still active, which meant that the siblings were still alive. It was likely that where they were was an indicator of where the cardinal would be.

'He could've just marked a random cultist and let him loose.. but oh well.'

Ensel was also a key player in that he had a gift to wipe away aliments of another person gift called [Applied Constitution: Gift Abrogation]. As both a skill and trait, it prevents any gifts that aren't tangible in form from affecting himself, and any target he's in contact with. It may also be used to clear the effects of a gift.

"Ensel, I have a question."

"What may that be, young sir?"

"Did you use your gift on Sir Procto and Sir Yousuff yesterday?"

"Do you suspect something?"

"I'm sorry to admit, but I just want to be cautious. Use it on me too, just in case."

A conversation done in whispering, drowned out by the rain.

"My gift isn't reacting so you aren't affected by anything. I have received a general overview of what happened yesterday, so I can relate to your concern. I'm responsible for your safety, so should this be reported to Miss Lowar?"

"Yeah."

"Understood."

Ensel reported the matter in secret to Lowar.

"Are we not setting off yet?" Yousuff asked.

"Sir Yousuff, could you come here for a moment?" Lowar requested.

"Sure thing."

Ensel then placed his hands on Yousuff's shoulders.

"Do you feel any different?"

"No. I don't. What? Am I still being controlled?"

Sequencee had a slight suspicion that the cardinal might be pulling the strings here. An ability to control the mind– something like that sounded way too radical to simply take lightly.

'Still though.. am I overthinking things?'

"Should I too, prove that I'm in the clear?" Procto eyed Sequencee, stepping up to allow Ensel to use his gift on him.

"Yes please."

'Whatever. Safety is the most important thing here.'

Ensel also used his gift on Procto. No visible changes were seen.

"Should we proceed?" Having been cleared of any suspicion, Procto turned to Sequencee.

===

Sequencee and Ensel in the lead with Sequencee lighting the way with hazy light beads. Yousuff just behind the two to act as a guide. Sir Procto was at the backline of the march while Lowar remained somewhere closer to the middle front. Each key figure was being squared by two holy knights and two mages.

It was quite the large team, making maneuvering hard, especially in the tight and narrow spaces of the sewer pavements.

The water level was high, the gushing sounds of water roared throughout the chambers. The odor of the sewers washed away by the grand influx of water, the place smelled like fresh rain and leaves.

'Why does this feel so off?'

The person leading should be either Lowar or Procto. Even if he was the meat shield, calling him to stand before the others was quite extreme for a quest.

'What is my role in this anyways?'

If they were seriously going to try to capture someone like the cardinal who had the ability to basically turn friends into foes, bringing a large group was like inviting chaos. It was like bringing oil to the fire.

'I'm I thinking too much? Many years outside this field have made me dull, hasn't it?'

Sequencee had shared his concerns with Leticia's party, saying that there is a possibility that Procto, being controlled, had set up a trap under his awareness. It was something Sequencee wouldn't have considered if not for Procto's clinginess yesterday. It sent a chill down his spine.

"We have to take a left here," Yousuff said.

"Got it."

Wet footsteps echoed. The clanking of armor, the somber mood of the advance. An inexplicable queasiness was felt in his chest as they closed in on the destination.

"This fork.. we can take either one. So, let's go left then."

"Can I say something?" Sequencee's voice echoed.

"What is it?"

"I'm here to protect everyone from becoming brainwashed, correct?" Sequecnee turned to face Lowar.

"Yes."

"Our objective here is to kill the cardinal, correct?"

"Yes."

"Isn't bringing more men going to cause more chaos if her gift manages to subdue someone?"

"It would be much easier to handle those that fall if we have other members around. Moreover, the likelihood of this leading to another hiding spot of the cult is not small. We're already far from the location where we last found the previous occult, it's likely that we're closing in on another base," Lowar explained.

'That makes a lot of sense when you put it that way.. actually, I might be in the front because of their consideration for my request. I did tell them to give me priority in killing the cultist.. seriously, what is going on?'

"Yousuff, how much further away are the kids?"

"Vaguely, it should be another two more turns from here."

'There are no sentinels around.. not like last time..

"Tell me when we're close. I don't want to drag the other's in."

Sequencee generated a few dozen more light beads and sent them to cover the shadowy spots. Seeing this, the mages also tried their best to increase the light.

'One gift allows her to brainwash people, the other gift allows her to melt into the shadows. This is going to be difficult.'

They advanced.

===

"Reese. They're close," the boy, Dunken said, his eyes glowed in a faint silver for a short moment.

"Is that so?"

"Yes," he confirmed with a nod. After all, his clairvoyance gift had been ringing out since earlier.

"Mister is coming again?" the girl, Yui asked with a yawn. She felt the itch, but couldn't wipe the sleep from her eyes.

– Because both siblings were tied up on a chair.

"Cardinal, what is the meaning of this?" One of her followers stood up and questioned.

The control room they were using had pipes running along the walls carrying clean water supply and mana. Eerie red sigils were drawn using the blood of fresh corpses strewn across the ground.

The cardinal had especially butchered five of her followers just to invite 'him' to her banquet.

The flickering flames of the scented candles bleeded in with the iron scent of blood to create a surprisingly nice smell.

The cardinal herself even went out of the way to wear a licentious red dress with a revealing slit in preparation for this occasion. Her raven black hair loosely fell from her shoulders, drowsy golden eyes focused on the entrance. A slight expectation in her heart that he would be wearing something formal– though she thought that it was unlikely in the circumstances.

"We're welcoming a new accomplice. Of course it's necessary that we provide him with the necessary offerings," she spun the liquid in the gold chalice in hand.

"Cardinal, you should not be fooling around like this. What if you were caught?"

"No, no. That won't happen."

"Borche, don't overstep your boundaries. The cardinal's commands are absolute and omniscient. What do you know about her plans?" another follower snickered.

Clicking his tongue, Borche apologized and went to stand where he was ordered to.

"Reese, someone is outside," Dunken warned.

The cardinal stood up.

"Looks like it's time– Savior, may their lives become your nourishment. Use my precious believers, to further Your ideals," she chanted with a fervent look in her eyes.

Kissing the rim of the golden chalice, she poured the liquid inside onto the pentagram sigil drawn on the ground. The blood began to glow– the air in the room sank.