1

A clear sound slowly filled the hallway. It came from the marble steps’ collision with a sharp, hard heel. Elders of the order, who already made their seats, turned their heads around as if they suddenly felt nervous from the sound. Short sounds of clicking tongues were everywhere, but nobody wanted to raise complaints – the air was heavy.

The Order has two major responsibilities; to maintain peace in the city, and to preserve Rinascita’s culture based on their tradition. Those are not easy tasks to accomplish, so various privileges follow them as rewards. A few authorized people, for example, were able to confiscate private properties when needed. Many people found it unpleasant, but the order silenced their voice by declaring their enemies ‘heretics’ and expelling them from their homeland.

Among the items they seized from common people were some that really didn’t fit with the city’s cultural values, but there were plenty of valuables belonging to people who lost in the factional debate or who were exiled because they didn’t want to obey the bishops.

Those who made into high positions in the order were able to attend the auction regarding the items they acquired by force. This auction was one of them, but with notably fewer things than usual; their powers much weakened because of the incidents from the carnevale. They could no longer threaten people with the punishment of exile, nor force tithe by asserting their history or traditions.

To be fair those were not their rights in the very beginning, since what they should do is to serve the society, not to rule it. Their actions were not even correct based on their beliefs; even so, the elders couldn’t bear it. They were so used to their ‘usual’ lives of taking other people’s properties as they pleased. So, their recent daily routines were full of complaints and annoyed expressions. It was so obvious that they became frantic to keep their powers toward Rinascita.

There was another reason for the elders this time; an unexpected guest was coming. They would just send the guest back somehow in the normal case, but they had no choice if none other than Cantarella Fisalia demands it.

The Fisalia family continued to move like an underling of the order for a long time, but after the Bane held the authority of decision they began to act differently. They still didn’t resist, but they didn’t obey as they did in early days either; their subtle attitude was a threat to the order as big as the Montellis’ aggressive resistance. Some elders even considered them bigger.

Various rumors fabricated, agitated by the order arised and surrounded the Fisalias, Cantarella in specific, but she didn’t care at all. She didn’t need to care – in fact, she would have no regrets even if the order wanted to discontinue the alliance. The family wasn’t the one that needed the other one; the order was.

Phrolova was responsible for the incidents of Carnevale; she was defeated at last and the show was over. No evidence has emerged to prove their involvement. However they lost so many things through the festival. The Rover, who was not even born in Rinascita, became the Laureate; that simple fact alone could damage their value as a symbol of the city.

The number of doubts among young church members was clearly increasing as well – the order was going to be defenseless if they lost the Flsalias. With those reasons, Cantarella was able to get permission to enter the underground chantry. No objections were raised, but even with them she would have no trouble being there.

“Were you waiting for my arrival? I apologize if I’m late.”

A man with a fancy mask bowed down as a reaction to her greeting. Judging by the voice, He seemed to be about the same age as her. He was hiding his face with the mask so it was not easy to be certain.

The mask he wore proved his status as auction manager today. The manager was responsible for every process of the auction, not just making people gather at the chantry. Even bidding was not an exception; it was possible to get revenge from people who couldn’t get the desired items. She knew the stories of several people who lost their lives for that reason.

She also knew there was a ‘Purifiers’ Group’ in the order, and did consider them as true members carrying the meaning of Imperator’s speeches. However, the people in front of her at the moment were the direct opposite; they were so arrogant that they didn’t name their faction. They simply didn’t want to, because they remained, were remaining, and will remain the only faction inside the order. Their hubris was that big.

“So, what brings the head of the Fisalia family to this auction today?”

“I heard there is a collection of old fairy tales and legends all around the Rinascita. It would be a perfect choice to make my shelves brighter.”

As the manager heard her words, he raised a single corner of his mouth as if he were making fun of her.

“I’m afraid to tell you that you are not allowed to participate in the auction, lady. You are only granted entry to enter this chantry, and that is everything you can do here. I believe you should have read our document more carefully.”

He was interpreting with a vile intention. What can people who attend an auction do other than participate in the bidding? It was clear that he was blatantly ignoring her; the reason was unclear but he was being rude on purpose.

“Hmm.”

Cantarella, however, didn’t pay any attention. Her reaction erased every centimeter of a smile on his face. His pride was hurt by being disregarded. He wanted Cantarella to be angry, or be nervous at least… but he failed so badly that the only one he made angry was just himself.

His attitude represented so many things about him; he was so proud of himself being the manager of auction in his age. He was obsessed with his career in the order, so he wanted to insult her in front of the elders to get a good impression. His moves were so easy for her to read; even easier than innocent Rosemary.

“We will begin the auction shortly. Why don’t you sit around there, and watch your desired item disappear?”

His words had small but obvious anger. The only thing he could earn by trying so would be his immoral joy, but his mind was full of hubris, just like his seniors. He wasn’t capable of thinking about it.

The Bane’s time was not cheap to be spent on his worthless behaviors. She acted as if he was invisible to her; no words to listen, no expressions to see. His face turned red immediately. He seemed to have lost control of his thoughts – but unfortunately to him, he was still not worthy to be recognized.

“I acknowledged your intentions. I feel so ironic…. I didn’t come here to participate in bidding, in fact. I just needed legal permission to enter the chantry. Seems you were much more clever than I initially thought.”

Somebody started coughing right after she stopped speaking. The sound spreaded around the chantry in a flash. It didn’t take seconds to change the entire atmosphere. Nobody in the room could breathe properly; only Cantarella, of course, was an exception.

“Are you, you out of your mind? How dare you do this hostility!”

The manager seemed to have much more energy than the elders around. He was still standing at least, but also in definitely unstable status. He finally lost temper and began yelling at her – but it didn’t last long. He fell to the floor, silent and unconscious. His pose was indeed ugly.

“You serve your own greed, not make them serve you. How pathetic… I can’t comprehend your thoughts.”

“Lady Cantarella, I brought the book you mentioned earlier.”

She took the book from her vassal’s hand. Just like her early words, The book was the work of an anonymous researcher from the past; there were systematically organized and translated legends that had been passed down by word of mouth for a long time among the folks in it.

For example, ‘a fountain which brings happiness when someone throws a coin exactly at the top’, ‘a flower that changes color when exposed to sunlight’ … and ‘a medicine of miracles that brings the dead back to life’. There was an obvious reason she needed to take this book from the table.

“This is all I need. We should burn the rest.”

“Lady, are you sure about this?”

“Our intention is not to acquire specific information, but to conceal it. We can’t allow those men to be desperate to be young again, Angello. The time for resurrection is coming. We need to be extremely careful.”

The vassal nodded with confidence, and threw fire into the item box. Fire moved slowly at the beginning, consuming the papers, accessories and bunches of money – once they left the chantry, it would consume everything around there until there’s nothing left. The sinners, powerless and helpless, were its easy prey.

“We have no more things to do here. We shall return to Porto-Veno Castle.”

Cantarella designed a plan from the moment she became the head of the family. She gathered almost every piece she needed after the Carnevale, and the plan was finally on the track. She was waiting for the precise moment to knock the first domino off.

Captain Brant will bring her the information to determine it. Once she holds the next meeting with him, the grand scheme to break shackles on the Fisalia family could begin. Her dream could be fulfilled as well; she will be able to taste sweet sleep again.

2

Bishop Ronato was quite famous for his two faces. A lot of people agreed with the assessment, regardless of whether they like him or not.

His early actions, such as donating money to the poor without hesitation, certainly made him famous. However, people didn't realize that he only did that when he felt the necessity. When there is no one around to watch or he has to worry about other people's feelings, all he cares about is how to rise to a higher position in the order and accumulate more wealth.

Now that he had reached a position where acolytes could not easily approach nor speak with him, he didn’t care what rumors were circulating about him.

Now all his attention was focused on the recently received statement. There was a brand new faction of people who appeared under the name of ‘correct’ Rinascita. The bishop had no interest in politics unless it was connected to his own wealth, but recently the city was slightly escaping his control; that must be fixed.

The Laureate or the Troupe of fools, even the Montellis – everything didn’t make any sense. The family was hiding under the secrets until now, avoiding confrontations with the order. However they were acting as if they could determine the future of Rinascita. In his point of view, they were arrogant, senseless and stupid. Rinasita's power had to be managed entirely in the hands of the Order. That is the only way to justify his recent hypocritical actions.

He did not want to be brought to trial and ‘judged,’ and he certainly did not want to be ‘punished.’ He only cared about looking down on others and continuing to rake in more power and money. It might be a remorse over having completely lost original intentions in middle age, or just a childish reaction not to be responsible for his own faults; a third party had no way to know that. However, since he devoted every amount of energy to protecting his vested interests, ironically the bishop couldn’t invest much in protecting himself.

A person driven by greed could be so blind; even a life couldn’t mean much in that stage. Brant knew that so well through an experience with a comrade. However the bishop was not a pirate – he was a priest, sworn to pursue integrity and commitment following Imperator’s lessons. This was simply ridiculous.

There was no difficulty in sneaking into the bishop's mansion. There was no trap in the mansion. It didn’t make any sense. He had no idea how he could be this defenseless at the beginning – but he was able to figure it out.

He only cared about his interests, his future privilege to freely exploit the ordinary; his obsessed mind couldn’t come up with the possibilities about the present danger. His measures were just bare minimum. He couldn’t stop Brant with those. So he had to deal with the Captain waiting in his library after his nightwalk, and eventually being the subject of an interrogation.

“I’m a bit disappointed to be honest, your excellency. You wrote your name with ink in the resolution; you probably needed more security in your private mansion. Can you hear your reputation weep?”

“I demand silence! That is not what I don’t want to hear from a fool.”

The bishop gnashed his teeth. The more Brant maintained his composure, the less he seemed to be able to control his rising anger.

“Untie me at once if you want to hold your head above your neck! Do you know who I am? How can you be this reckless?”

“I’m sure who you are. I don’t think I am underestimating the opponent, your excellency. Why should I visit you in person under this brilliant, beautiful moonlight? Please think bigger. There is a certain, obvious reason for this.”

He stopped talking for a while. He wanted to give the bishop some time to think. The library was quite large, so he had enough time to walk around looking for a book that caught his eye. Stopping in front of the largest library, he reached out and took out a book from the top shelf.

The title was carefully engraved on the cover with gold embroidery – ‘Forgotten legends of Rinascita: discovery under the sea’.

“You do not dare to touch my estates! You better not be cocky, since you were just a miserable exile until years ago. Do you hear me? You were worthless! I could sentence you a life sentence with my whisper! I still can make bounties on your head!”

“I bet you certainly can do that, however the times are changing. It’s sad to see you have no idea about it. Why don’t you admit the waters around you have grown, and accept that soon you'll be drenched to the bone?”

“You know nothing, boy! You have no authority to speak to me. You are just….”

Brant said nothing, but raised a finger. As it shook from side to side, the bishop's words were cut off. That alone was sufficient.

“You don’t really think I am here to visit you for the Troupe, do you? You wrote your name under the resolution, which suggests declaration of national emergency, because you didn’t like the situation of losing power and control. That is huge, your excellency! The eyes are watching you.”

The silence emerged. Brant continued speaking while turning the pages of the book. He found a couple of letters between them. The bishop should have disposed of them, since they contain names of every member in the faction. It was solid evidence he didn’t trust them.

He had no courage left to protest anymore. He realized who his opponent truly was.

“Both families are aware of your name, and your actions. You know what that means, right? The battle is raging outside, and it will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. There will be the moment you can no longer escape; you will be responsible for your previous actions then.”
“W, What did I do wrong? What do you want me to do? I just wrote my name because I was asked to do so. I’m not connected to those people!”

Brant just shrugged. His attitude was quite casual; dramatic as always.

“Let me see… Yes, You were asked to sign your name. But you could decline the request, right? Nobody threatened you to do so. You signed your name to that resolution because making ordinary people suffer would solidify your privilege. If I am wrong, please let me know the answer.”

He didn’t say anything. He tried to think of an excuse, but nothing came to mind. He seemed to strongly believe that he was innocent.

“You were keeping those letters to claim your stakes when they actually succeeded in declaring an emergency, right? I bet they told you to dispose of them right after you read them for confidentiality.”

“I did nothing wrong! This is the Montelli's fault. They pushed the order to do this! They ignored our value, our tradition, our importance! They tried to erase us. We are essential to Rinascita, unlike them!”

“In the name of Imperator, this is much more serious than I thought.”

He shook his head as if he had a headache.

“Please have sense. The order is important because of the people who believe in the teachings, not the people who keep squeaking about the script. The order itself is nothing without the believers. How did you become this blind? You were talking about the importance of the community when I was young.”

The bishop could say nothing. The power to lead this situation left his hands a long time ago. All he could do was either to refuse to admit defeat and suffer the irreversible damage, or to accept unconditional surrender and preserve what was left. There was no such thing as a third option in this environment.

“You asked me what I want a few minutes ago. I only want one thing for you. Ignore your signature, and keep silent.”

His demand was based on common sense. He didn’t need to make an actual movement just because he wrote his name on the resolution; more than fifty priests did the same. If his actions were ambiguous, he was very likely to meet a major obstacle to future success, but he knew the captain wouldn’t visit him twice. The Montellis’ executioner could be the next person awaiting in his library. He needs to care about his survival, not his success. That was a rational choice.

“It wouldn’t be hard, your excellency. Just keep telling you were asked to do so. That is the only thing you need to do for survival.”

The bishop continued rolling eyes with fear. He lost the letters and credentials; if they know he will be dangerous. The families are watching, aware of his name and movements. He had no choice but to close his mouth. He accepted Brant’s request and put his head down deeply. He realized his situation and helplessly kept breathing in and out.

“Your road is old and rapidly aging, your excellency. I advise you to get out of the new one if you don’t want to lend your hand. People are beyond your command now; this is the time they are a-changing.”

Brant’s words deeply echoed the entire mansion. The bishop was speechless; he couldn’t comprehend what he just told him. The only thought that filled his mind was that something was seriously wrong – but he couldn’t figure that out.