Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 33: Corruption

"Some help he was..." Koko mumbled to herself, looking over the small crystal in her hand as Ganton's words echoed in her mind.

Flashback

"Are you sure that you want to do this?" Ganton asked seriously. "You may be turning the wrath of the church towards your family, and believe me when I say that they are not to be taken lightly."

"Whatever the church can do to my family is nothing compared to what they've done to a lot of innocent families already." Koko sighed, feeling that she was right but still feeling guilty about potentially dragging them into this anyway. "This needs to stop."

"I don't have the time or personnel right now to investigate this." Ganton said after a moment's hesitation. "Not to mention the fact that I wouldn't even be able to do anything given that the girl is the hero. Only the king himself has the right to accuse her of anything, and then not only would we gain the hero as an enemy, but the entire church as well. We simply can't do anything about it."

"So you're just going to sit by and let all of your citizen's lives be ruined by them?!" Koko asked in shock.

"I never said that." Ganton sighed as he opened his desk drawer and withdrew some kind of small yellow crystal. "If you really want to stop this, then you're going to have to do most of the work yourself."

"I might have passed your test, but I'm definitely no rogue that you can count on for this kind of thing..." Koko mentioned as she looked at the crystal. "What is it?"

"It's a memory crystal." Ganton explained. "Simply touch it to your head and supply it with a small amount of MP and it will record anything that you're seeing. Even if you're not a rogue, you obviously have a high dexterity stat, so you should be able to follow Celdric and use this to prove his corruption."

"Even if I prove anything, it won't help, will it?" Koko asked.

"Not necessarily." Ganton replied. "If Christina truly is being manipulated by this priest like you think, then you should prove to her that the man is not who she thinks he is. Heroes have quite a high standing in the church, and she should be able to solve any corruption that you prove."

"But you just said earlier that the guy is basically her real father." Koko complained. "Even if I show her proof-"

"Then you'll just have to think of a way to convince her." Ganton replied. "Welcome to the world of espionage."

Current

"The world of espionage can bite me." Koko complained, shivering slightly as she waited on a dark rooftop. A cold front had moved in, creating a chill in the air along with the mist that had swept through the area as she waited for Celdric to come out of the temple, figuring that he would most likely do all of his dirty dealings at night so that there was less of a chance of him getting caught. However, seeing as she hadn't seen anything for a few hours now and she had school tomorrow, Koko was seriously considering giving up the surveillance that night before she finally spotted movement.

On what looked like a second-floor balcony of the temple that must have been directly connected to the man's office, Koko finally spotted movement as a priest with a massive red beard attempted to quietly lower himself from the elevated position by a rope ladder. However, is he thought that this was more inconspicuous than using the front doors, then he was wrong as the man lost his grip when he was close to the ground and ended up landing on his rump.

Shouting a string of curses as he dusted himself off, Koko thought that the man was purposefully attempting to be noticed he started stomping off down the street and she followed him. Though she almost gave herself away and laughed out loud when she saw him trying his best to remain unseen by diving behind towers of crates and wagons in the streets to avoid the late-night guard patrols, even though several of them saw him and didn't say anything as they must have recognized the priest. This continued for almost half an hour as Celdric made his way through the city, zig-zagging through various alleyways before he eventually stopped and started looking behind him, most likely to check to see if he was being followed. However, seeing as Koko was still using the rooftops, he didn't see her before he entered his final alleyway where he was instantly surrounded by five thugs.

"What the heck are you doing coming here dressed like that?!" The thug that greeted the priest asked in disgust as he indicated to the man's white robes. "We told you not to be followed, and you wore that?! You might as well have been carrying a lantern in this light!"

"Be quiet or you'll attract attention!" Celdric snarled back at the man, and Koko followed Ganton's instructions by holding the crystal he'd given her against her forehead and looking down at the scene beneath her.

"Perhaps you should follow your own advice." The thug laughed as Celdric grew visibly red, even through the fog. "You'd better watch your tone, old man. If you haven't noticed, we're only dealing with you out of business, and we have plenty of other 'customers' that could fill your shoes..."

"The other 'customers' don't pay you nearly as well as I do." Celdric responded. "So? What did you find at the blacksmiths?"

"Absolutely nothing." The thug spat. "Those people were poor enough that they should have been living in the slums. You've messed up big time."

"No, they should have at least had some possessions of value." Celdric said thoughtfully. "They were still paying their taxes on time every week and their daughter has recently gotten several new dresses, so they still have to be hiding something somewhere!"

"The man worked for a living and the wife could sew." The thug shrugged. "Believe me, there was absolutely nothing there. We even tore some of the floorboards apart to look for hidden rooms and found nothing."

"Then we can at least sell the small goods and the property." Celdric sighed. "Make sure to patch those boards up and make the place clean. I'm sure that both of us want as much profit as possible here when we sell it."

"Sure thing, just make sure that we get our cut." The man replied. "But what about that hero brat of yours? Are you sure that she isn't going to cause problems?"

"What makes you say that?" Celdric asked.

"She seemed awfully upset this time. She might be onto us." The thug explained.

"I've already spoken with her, so don't worry about that." Celdric waved the concern away. "Just make sure that you're done by tomorrow because I already have another job for you."

"Oh? What is it this time?" The thug asked with a fierce smile.

"An orphanage, of all things." Celdric laughed slightly as he explained. "It won't have very many valuables, but the location of the building is perfect for a business and I already know of several buyers that want it."

"Perfect, then we'll meet again the night after." The thug stated before he and his friends started leaving. "Take care on your way back, Priest. The streets can be a bit dangerous after dark."

Having to end her recording there, Koko removed the crystal from her forehead before laying on top of the roof, panting with only perhaps three MP left inside of her. However, she'd thankfully gotten what she'd come for, and now it was time to return to the academy and prepare for the next day. Though, even if Koko had the recording, she knew that she still needed more evidence or Christina would never believe her.

"An orphanage, huh?" Koko asked quietly as she ran across the tops of the building. "What scum."