Chapter 12: Southern Cathedral
Another two years passed since that fiery night. I was now ten years old and as Pandora informed me I was to take over the Southern Cathedral located to the south of Rupgana the capital of the Holy Empire of Vollachia. There were quite a few features of the Southern Cathedral that differed majorly from it's Eastern counterpart. Namely it wasn't in disarray and was maintained to an extravagant degree. The main room is rectangular in shape and is decorated with mostly aristocratic looking relics. The interior walls of the church are an intricate structure of stone arches and columns and the ceiling is domed. At the end of the main room is a chair befitting a king.
It was fashioned from an extravagant black wood and the cushion was a deep purple. There was a red carpet that stretched from the throne to the entrance of the Cathedral. There were a few rooms that branched off the main room. Which consisted of a kitchen, a bath, and a large room with beds lining either side with separators between them five on each side of the room. Off the main room were two adjacent staircases that led to the basement where my quarters were located. Unlike the winding corridors of the Eastern Cathedral the Southern Cathedral was rather simple to navigate in comparison.
There were only a few rooms that branched off the hall where the two staircases led. At the very end of that hall was my room. There were two doors on the left of the hall both being separate training rooms and on the right was a treasury of sorts. It was where the previous Sin Archbishop of Pride kept his collection of artifacts and knick knacks. The most notable of the items inside was a certain sword that was displayed on the back wall. The sword had a long shimmering blade with a golden crossguard that wrapped down to the also golden pommel. The grip of the sword was a dark black which matched the black gen with an intricate design carved into it on the upper portion of the crossguard.
"Wow, that sword's rea~lly pretty." I exclaimed in awe.
"That's the Life Sword, Zeam." Prylla said.
"Life Sword?"
"One of the Ten Swords of Power. They are among the strongest weapons in the world. Sharper and more refined than normal swords. They also have magical properties. Stride collected that during the Demi-Human Wars forty years ago. The history of the Life Sword was that it had been 'fed' a copious amount of mana giving it the ability to kill a person's soul." Prylla explained.
"Since that's among Stride's possessions it's mine now?"
Prylla nodded.
"Well let's just do what I came here for. We'll have more time to look around later anyway." I took out a small ring box and found a space on one of the shelves to put it on; inside the box was the Scarlet Little Finger.
"Well then shall we take a look at your room now?"
I nodded in response and we headed to the rear room which was hidden away by an extravagant double door. Prylla opened the door and motioned me in. Inside was a large room with a huge bed opposite the door. The bed's frame was black with four large wooden posts at each corner. Draped over the frame was a thin red fabric adding to it's luxurious feel. The bedsheets themselves were a matching color with two pillows placed neatly at the head of the bed.
On the right was a large dresser with two flower vases spaced evenly apart; to the left of the dresser was a door which led to the personal bath. On the left there was a changing area which still had one of Stride's outfits draped over the divider. In the corner was a full body mirror as well.
"This is a bit much. Don't you think so?" I turned towards Prylla.
"Well this is definitely a place befitting the holder of the seat of Pride." Prylla remarked as she sat on the bed I quickly followed and sat next to her.
"It may be well furnished, but there's nobody else here. Pandora didn't exactly allot me new subordinates after I left them..." A shiver rode down my spine as I recalled the events of the Demon Village.
Two years ago I mounted an assault on the Demon Village and annihilated the remnants of the Demon Clan. I killed the village elder Setanta and fled the village shortly after Sloth arrived unexpectedly. I received news of the deaths of Faust, Sado, Fogg, and Sergei shortly after arriving at the Eastern Cathedral. I spent the next two years continuously training and studying Vollachian history in preparation for my arrival. I occasionally received orders from my Gospel regarding boys my age with certain physical characteristics, but they ultimately led nowhere. The search for my brother was as cold as ever.
Frankly the prospect of him being dead is starting to feel much more likely. The thought makes me feel nauseous. If he's dead then what would be the point of any of this? The only thing I can do is look forwards towards the future where we are reunited. I let out a huff and Prylla gives me an inquisitive look.
"Something the matter?"
"No… No, it's nothing. Now then..."
The lack of subordinates is going to be the main problem going forward. Mounting a worldwide search for a missing person is quite difficult without additional personnel after all. There aren't many options for recruiting, however, since the Witch Cult is despised throughout the world. In Vollachia in particular the strong are revered and the weak oppressed. The tactics of the Witch's Cult would be seen as a great affront to the values of the Empire which means that the standard recruiting process will have to be forgone.
"We'll never recruit a Vollachian if we stick to traditional methods. Besides I wouldn't want to bother recruiting any random citizen with a thirst for blood. You want to rebuild the moderates, yes? If that's the case then this is the single worst place we could possibly be."
"While they revere physical strength they also hold intelligence in equal regard. Intelligence is something we have an abundance of."
"The Gospel itself is not useful unless you're capable of interpreting it in a usable manner. As most of the cultists I've seen so far take it word for word it will lead them to their deaths sooner or later."
"Wouldn't that include yourself?"
"Tsk. Of course not, as I have a distinct advantage over the rest of them." Of course I was referring to Object Premonition which allows me to dispel some of the vagueness of the Gospel to get a clearer picture of what to do. This was my single greatest advantage over the others in the Witch Cult. "Don't forget you're the one who chose to follow me. Not the other way around."
"And I've cherished every moment of our journey."
"Anyway back to the topic at hand. We can't just walk into the city and advertise that we're looking for members. Besides, we only have ten extra beds. Stride certainly liked to keep his circle small."
"Well that's to be expected. He wanted to subjugate the Empire and destroy the Dragon Kingdom. He was nicknamed Destruction Wish for a reason."
"Wolf of the Empire, as well from what I've gathered in my studies. It's ironic he was eaten by the Dragon Valgren which he sought to control."
"His poor wife Melinda was as well."
"She was a survivor of the Evil Eye Tribe, wasn't she?"
"Yes, they were wiped out by the Empire long ago."
"It seems powerful races have a habit of being wiped out due to fear and hatred."
"Did you hate the Demon Clan then?"
"Hm? No, of course not. I found their practices regarding births quite shocking, but if anything I pitied them for their idiotic adhearance to purity for the sake of power. And before you ask, no I don't feel bad for killing the village elder. He was the one that performed the killings and deserved death as atonement for his sins. I do think he was the only one in that village that deserved his fate, however. Hah- It's truly a pity." I got up from the bed and started looking through the dresser. The left half was filled with clothes befitting royalty and the right half had a few identical grey robes presumably belonging to the late Melinda.
"Looks like we're going to have to clean out the entire place first." I let out a sigh.
"It shouldn't be too bad." Prylla tried to reassure me.
"Shouldn't they have at least prepared the place beforehand? Well in any case let's dispose of his stuff and we'll stop by Rupgana to purchase new clothing. How long will it take to get there from here?"
"Only three hours there and back by Falo."
"That's not too bad. Let's do that tomorrow." I finished rummaging through the dresser and turned back to face Prylla.
"If we need to recruit members that badly. The Gladiator Islands might be a good place to start."
"Why?"
"Well the sword slaves there would be itching to leave that place. Offering them a place in the cult might be a way to persuade them."
"No, the risk of them betraying me would be far too great. I'd prefer people without checkered pasts and promising futures."
"Well I could head out on my own and see what I can find. You can be the judge of whether you wish for them to join us or not."
"That sounds fine to me. Oh, I almost forgot..."
"What is it?"
"We're not wearing cultist robes anymore and I want them all burned. I'd personally prefer to wear things that don't associate us with the rest of the cult. In fact, let's replace the daggers with traditional Vollachian one's instead. I believe there were a few in the treasury and I want a sheath made for Zeam."
"Duly noted. It shouldn't be a difficult task. Stride left a sizable fortune behind which we can use to fund ourselves for the next five years or so."
"That's fine. I'll leave all that to you then. Dismissed." At my command Prylla left the room to complete her new tasks. As for me I had a dresser to clean out. One by one I emptied out each drawer of all their contents and placed them into a basket. Which I left outside my room for Prylla to pick up later.
The next day came and went in the blink of an eye. Prylla left shortly after breakfast to purchase us both new wardrobes. She used one of Melinda's old robes instead of her cultist robes to travel in. She returned before noon with an assortment of dresses of different colors for me. Each of them looked like something a princess would wear. Not that I minded that much. She purchased a new cloak for me as well. This one was much more refined than my old one. Instead of being a plain flat black it had an intricate purple pattern sewn into it. There were more pockets on the inside of it too. As for Prylla her clothing was more fitting of a secretary of sorts. An assortment of skirts and business-like attire.
I put away my new clothes in my dresser and opted for a particular dress that caught my eye. It was black and purple with a loosely flowing skirt. It complemented the cloak Prylla bought quite nicely. Prylla had already chosen one of the beds in the side room. My daily routine matched the one I used to follow at the Eastern Cathedral where I spent the morning studying and afternoon in combat training. The first month passed without any significant progress in our recruiting stage.
Well that was until Prylla had brought in our first potential recruit.