“Great Prophet?”

  Vivian blinked. A trembling voice had cut through her peaceful nap. It was one she vaguely remembered. Not because it had any particular importance. On the contrary, she only recalled this voice because of its owner’s complete lack of importance.

  Perhaps that metric wasn’t a particularly good one. Vivian was not often subjected the presence of someone that the Church of Repose viewed as unimportant. Then again, she was of the opinion that the vast number of people within the church were just as unimportant as those they disapproved of.

  Vivian cracked an eye open.

  A messenger boy stood before her, quaking like the earth were trying to tear itself out from beneath his feet. His face was pale and beads of sweat rolled down the sides of his neck in thin rivers to soak into his stuffy, ratty coat. It was clear that the coat — and the boy within it — hadn’t had a good wash in quite some time. Then again, given the state of the coat, a wash was liable to render it down to nothing but threads and memories.

  “What is it?” Vivian asked, letting her other eye drift open. “I was in deep contemplation. It should not be interrupted lightly.”

  “Yes. Of course, Great Prophet,” the messenger boy said. He swallowed again, glancing around at the Cardinals surrounding Vivian.

  She repressed a sigh. Every single one of the men and women in this room was at least a Rank 6. They were many of the most powerful mages the Church of Repose had to offer. Sending a child like this to report to her was just pure stupidity. It was a miracle he could muster the courage to speak at all.

  “Well, out with it,” Vivian said. “What message do you bear? Has the Executioner finished his job?”

  “I’m unsure, Great Prophet,” the boy said. He swallowed. “I am just bringing news of the Coral Empire. The events that may have passed beneath your notice. I was ordered to report by Cardinal—”

  “Just speak,” Vivian said with a wave of her hand. She leaned back in her throne and suppressed the urge to sigh. This tournament was always such a hassle. It was good in the grand scheme of things, of course. It provided a way to identify new talent and an outlet for old rivalries. There were a number of wars that had most certainly been averted because of it. Then again, there were a great deal of good men who had died within its walls.

  Ah well. That’s life, isn’t it? Nobody lives forever. Not even the gods.

  “There have been some… incidents,” the boy said. He swallowed again. “None major, Great Prophet. But some.”

  “Out with them,” Vivian said. “Do not make me beg for it.”

  The boy went pale. “Of course. We believe that the representatives of the other factions have been causing some minor issues on their way toward Aqua Terra.”

  “Such as?” Vivian asked. She wasn’t particularly surprised to hear this news. Some incidents were impossible when it came to powerful mages. So long as nobody was pushing their luck too far, it could be swept under the rug.

  “A guildmaster was assassinated in Redmont. In the middle of a celebration,” the messenger said. “As was over half of his guild. They were suspected to be involved in illicit deals with several other factions.”

  Sounds like someone took care of a problem for me, then. Not sure why this is presented as an issue. Do people always complain when someone else throws the trash out for them?

  “Continue,” Vivian said.

  “There have been a number of high-profile mages that have gone missing recently,” the messenger boy continued. “Rank 6s. One Rank 7 as well. A minor town called Elderwatch was destroyed completely. We have no information about what happened to it. Then there was the situation with Ice Wretch Mountain. The team has gone missing. There are a dozen different rumors of people hunting powerful monsters and leaving without turning in the rewards. An artifact was reportedly seen in Daggersbridge, but it didn’t go much of anywhere. Two dragons were killed—”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “These are all unfortunate, but none are worth my attention at this point,” Vivian said. “There are others more suited to dealing with problems like this. They are below my attention unless the Coral Empire itself is at risk. Are there any things that I should be aware of at that scale?”

  The messenger hesitated for a second.

  “There were some odd fluctuations in spatial magic near the borders of the empire.”

  Vivian tilted her head to the side. “Fluctuations?”

  “Yes.” The boy nodded hurriedly. “Like an experienced spatial mage was trying to tamper with the barriers. They were not successful, and nobody powerful enough to have caused the oddities was located when the Church sent out people to investigate.”

  Vivian’s brow furrowed. That could spell trouble. She was fairly certain the other Faction Heads weren’t stupid enough to try their luck against her, but it was never impossible. Someone fiddling with the barrier could be a problem.

  “I see. I’ll look into it personally,” Vivian said. “Anything else?”

  The boy hesitated again. There was something he wanted to say, but it didn’t look like he could quite muster it up.

  Vivian resisted the urge to sigh again. She seemed to be doing that a lot as of late.

  “Speak. If there’s something on your mind, say it.”

  “There’s nothing—”

  “You’re about to lie to me,” Vivian said softly. “I would strongly suggest against that. What is it that’s bothering you?”

  The messenger’s face paled. “It’s… just rumor, Great Prophet. One I heard. Not from the Cardinals. There’s no reason for me to waste your time with my own—”

  “I didn’t ask who it was from,” Vivian said. “I told you to speak.”

  “I heard about an adventurer clearing out entire dungeons alone,” the boy said nervously. He swallowed once more. “A lot of them. And I heard she was using death magic.”

  Vivian’s eyes narrowed.

  A death magic user? In the Coral Empire? There shouldn’t be a single source of death energy here. It was all contained, and there are so many teams of mages hunting for death magic sources that someone managing to create a significant Death Rune should be quite unlikely.

  Did one of the other Factions send a Death Mage to the tournament? Or has Sievan finally decided to come out of the Damned Plains to play around again? He’s been holed up for so long that I barely remember what he looks like. Either way, I’ll have to look into this. I don’t want an unchecked death mage running around breaking things.

  “I see,” Vivian said slowly. “I will take your thoughts into consideration, boy. Was there anything more you had to report?”

  “No,” he said. “Nothing that fell within the limits of the request you placed on me to focus on tasks that would be worthy of your attention.”

  The corner of Vivian’s lips twitched.

  A messenger that can actually think for himself? Now there’s an oddity indeed. Not bad at all, especially for one as weak as him.

  “Then your job is done,” Vivian said.

  The messenger bowed low. Then he turned and made for the door, clearly moving as fast as he dared move without potentially offending anyone.

  Vivan glanced down at a Cardinal near her throne. She didn’t quite remember his name. That didn’t make him special. She didn’t remember most of their names.

  “You,” Vivian said.

  The Cardinal’s head shot up. Awe and reverence flashed behind his eyes at the attention directed his way.

  “Yes, Great Prophet?”

  “Take the boy to a bath,” Vivian said.

  The Cardinal, to his credit, didn’t even blink. He bowed so low that his head nearly hit the ground.

  “Of course, Great Prophet. I will do as you command.”

  “And buy him a new coat,” Vivian said. “He clearly needs one.”

  The Cardinal kept his head lowered for a second longer. When it became clear that Vivian was done speaking, he raised his head just enough to bow once more, then rose to his feet and strode to accompany the stunned messenger boy out of the room.

  Vivian watched them leave in silence. She let her finger tap against the rest of her uncomfortable throne for a moment. Then a small frown crossed over her lips.

  “Octavian,” Vivian said.

  One of the Cardinals near the back of the room glanced up at her. Unlike the others, there was little reverence in the bald man’s eyes. Lines of thorny tattoos ran vertically down from his eyes like teardrops, making his angular features even sharper.

  “Yes, Prophet?”

  “Follow them,” Vivian said. “Make sure nobody kills the boy to annoy me. I’ve grown rather endeared to him. And when you get a chance, investigate those rumors about the death mage.”

  The Cardinal inclined his head once again. “As you command. Do I have permission to use lethal force?”

  “You know the answer to that. It looks like the other factions are trying to play games with us. There’s a Hand roaming around somewhere. We can’t afford a repeat of the previous incident. If this death mage does exist and is stirring up trouble for one of the other factions… then act in the best interests of the Empire. Remove the threat.”

  A smile crept across Octavian’s scarred lips.

  “With pleasure.”

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