“No, no, it’s just a silly thought I had. I’ll tell you about it later!” Kanata said, and she turned her attention back to Marianne.
“Very well,” said Marianne. “I’ll connect us to the church in charge of the Temple Knights, then.” She spoke a short ritual prayer, and the image in the mirror wavered as if it were underwater before slowly transforming to a vision of the other office. “This is the High Cathedral of the Holy Church, in the Holy City of Lordentia,” she said.
“Well, well, well,” said the gorgeous man with wavy blond hair who appeared on the other side of the mirror. “If it isn’t Her Holiness, Saint Marianne Ishfalke herself...” He leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands artfully on his desk. “For such an illustrious personage to contact me directly, I can only imagine there must have been some sort of terrible emergency.”
“Just so, Temple Knight Captain Sir Theodoric Grey. I have heard that you are currently in pursuit of a certain individual?”
“Oh? News travels quickly, I see. You are correct. I am in pursuit of a loathsome vampire, the enemy of the gods.”
“You are to stop your activities at once,” Marianne ordered.
“Excuse me?” Theodoric raised a single well-groomed eyebrow at Marianne’s declaration.
“Perhaps you haven’t heard?” Marianne said. “The vampire you are pursuing is registered with the Adventurers’ Guild as the companion of a Beast Tamer. There is no need to exterminate it.”
Marianne’s explanation was reasonable enough. The Holy Church may have been beyond the authority of the Adventurers’ Guild, but there was no reason to antagonize them. Like them, the Adventurers’ Guild had connections in kingdoms all over the land. Exterminating a magic beast that stood under their protection would only serve to worsen the relationship between the two organizations.
Theodoric had no reason to refuse this order—especially as it came from the head of the Holy Church herself.
“I refuse,” said Theodoric.
“Wh-What was that?!” Marianne was taken aback. “You intend to ignore the decree of the Saint of the Holy Church?!”
“Indeed, Saint Marianne. I do.” Theodoric steepled his fingers, seemingly unperturbed. “My company of Temple Knights specializes in hunting the undead. We are a special unit outside the usual command structures of the Holy Church, with authorization to move according to our own judgment.”
“That authorization is meant to enable you to act swiftly, without bothering with lengthy procedures,” said Marianne. “It is not an excuse for you to ignore a direct order from the Saint of the Holy Church! Do you wish to be charged with the sin of apostasy?!”
“Apostasy? Apostasy, you say?” Theodoric glared at Marianne from behind his steepled fingers. “Do you truly think I know nothing?!”
Marianne reeled back in the face of Theodoric’s scornful glare.
“Wh-What are you speaking of?! What do you claim to know?!”
“You failed to perform a task given to you in an oracle by the Goddess and were turned into a monster as punishment, only to be saved by some heathen adventurer, not even of the faith! I know that much, at least.”
Everyone living in the city nearby had seen Marianne, in her monstrous angelic form, burst through the roof of the High Cathedral. The Church’s cardinals had been planning to hold a serious inquiry into the matter, but it was a genuine surprise that the news had already gotten as far as Theodoric.
“Then,” the handsome knight continued, “in conspiracy with this adventurer, you became the founder of a new sect. I forget its name, but that hardly matters. The Saint is the symbol of the Holy Church itself, and here you are worshipping someone other than the Goddess! What word is there but apostasy?!”
“Gh...” Marianne’s protests died in her throat.
“You have not been stripped of your office despite your repeated misdeeds because it would cause discord among the masses of believers,” Theodoric continued. “However, do bear in mind that your authority within the Church is at an all-time low. Your title, I’m afraid, has become strictly ceremonial.” As Marianne bit her lip in frustration, Theodoric turned his attention to Kanata, who had been quietly watching the conversation. “Is this girl the reason you had word of our activities in such short order?” he asked, peering intently at Kanata. “Perhaps Your Holiness should introduce us.”
Marianne’s response was curt. “This is our god.”
“No!” said Kanata. “I’m a Beast Tamer!” Marianne looked disappointed by Kanata’s flat rejection of divinity, but Kanata continued on, ignoring her. “My name is Kanata Aldezia.”
“I see...” Theodoric looked over Kanata with his sharp, perceptive eyes. “Black hair...black eyes...the uniform of an academy from the Royal Capital... You must be the one my subordinates told me about. It was you who corrupted Saint Marianne’s faith, got in the way of my duties, and even took my beloved from me!”
“Your beloved?” Kanata asked.
“N-Never mind that...” Theodoric said. “I take it you have no intention of handing over this vampire you’ve claimed as one of your minions?”
“None at all!” Kanata answered plainly. “Elizabat is my precious companion! I’d never hand her over to you!”
“Elizabat? You’re calling her by some bizarre name?”
No sooner had the words left Theodoric’s mouth than Elizavett, who was still perched on Kanata’s shoulder, flew into a rage.
“Bizarre?! ’Tis the name my Mistress gave me! Exactly what about it do you find bizarre?!”
It was a bizarre name, no matter how you thought about it, but to Elizavett it was a precious term of endearment. It was natural enough that she would take Theodoric’s words as an insult.