Chapter 16: Goddess Trial
"Murdered?!"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. We are all deeply shocked and distraught by the tragic loss."
"But an archbishop being murdered within a cathedral! I've never heard of such a thing!"
"It is indeed an unprecedented and appalling crime. I trust you can understand why the church wishes to keep knowledge of it suppressed. It would have a terrible impact on the faithful, especially on a high holy day. I trust you'll cooperate with us in keeping this information from the masses, princess?"
Alexia could only nod. She came to the church grounds today following her dip in the hot springs and a nice breakfast expecting to spend a couple hours alternately flirting and bullying Archbishop Drake to get information out of him. Instead, she'd been ushered into a private meeting with baldy here and informed of the murder. It was really hard to describe just how shocking the news was. The church and clergy were held in high regard in Midgar and all the neighboring countries. It was almost unthinkable to deliberately harm any church official. The murder of a local priest back home had been scandalous. But for an archbishop to be killed in a cathedral, here in Lindwurm, and on the eve of one of the holiest days of the year! It would be one of the most appalling crimes in the last hundred years!
One thing was absolutely clear to her. There was a connection to the Cult of Diablos. The link between some of the terrorists and a church orphanage, the murder of the priest in charge, the archbishop's sudden excursion to avoid interrogation, and that same archbishop's murder before she could speak to him. All that could not be coincidence! The cult had to be involved in this. The question was why and how deep.
"Of course," the baldy Archbishop Nelson continued. "It goes without saying that your investigation is now over. But you are still more than welcome to attend the Goddess Trial tonight as an honored guest."
"Huh?! What are you talking about? The investigation is nowhere near over!"
"My dear child," the fake piety in baldy's tone annoyed her. "You came here to ask my former brethren questions. But I am afraid that for good or ill he can only answer to the gods now."
"I still need to see the murder scene, look through his personal papers and correspondence, and try to find his murderer and if possible, interrogate him."
"I can assure you, princess that church officials will conduct a thorough investigation of this horrid crime. The agreement made between the church hierarchy and your kingdom was specific and limited in scope. You were to speak to Archbishop Drake and ask questions of him, nothing more. As that is no longer possible your investigation into this matter is at an end."
"But-"
"If you wish to conduct a separate investigation into this sad affair that will require another request from your country. If you wish, you are more than welcome to return home to speak to your father and bring me a formal application in writing with your father's seal. I can promise you that I will give it due consideration."
"Even if I left right now that would take me more than a week! By the time I got back the trail will be ice cold and the evidence gone."
Baldy shrugged. "Even in these circumstances there are requirements that cannot be ignored. I cannot toss them aside even for a princess. However, I will assure you that if you bring me a formal request, I will be more than happy to share the results of our investigation with you."
After you get done editing it, Alexia thought. She didn't trust him any further than she could throw him. He might not have any connection to the cult. If she gave him the benefit of the doubt, he could be a pompous ass looking out for his own position and the reputation of his church. Either way, it was obvious he was only going to cooperate with her as far as he had to, and only to the degree that it suited his interests.
Unfortunately, Alexia wasn't in any position to force his hand and was pretty sure sweet talk wouldn't do her any good either. Her father had been explicit, he was not going to risk offending the church without iron clad proof of criminal activity. She was sure any such proof would be long gone by the time she made it back with a written request.
It was times like these she wished she could be part of some secret organization that could just do what needed to be done without worrying about laws or reputations.
But what were the chances of that ever happening?
XXX
Seeing a trip back to the capital as pointless, Alexia decided to stay and do some snooping on her own to see if she could uncover anything. That was how she found herself sitting at the archbishop's table between two other celebrity women. One was a beautiful and demure princess she'd already met several times. And surprisingly, someone Alexia believed to be a genuinely nice person. (A true rarity for someone of her station.) The other one though… was about as fake as a lead coin dipped in gold paint.
Oh, she was beautiful, Alexia couldn't deny that. But after knowing her for maybe two minutes Alexia had already figured her out. She was a star novelist and literary talent that had taken the publishing world by storm. Alexia had barely heard of her, but the woman seemed to have tens of thousands of devoted fans. She was a silver haired elf who seemed young (though with elves it was impossible to tell the difference between twenty and two hundred.) She wore glasses, had a mole under one eye, and a pair of massive breasts that her low-cut dress put on shameful exhibition. Her name was Natsume, and she practically radiated the aura of a shy, bookish, introvert.
It was a good act, and the elf girl had clearly practiced it. Alexia had no doubt that most people were fooled and taken in by it. But for someone who had experience reading people and sussing out their true intentions it was painfully obvious this girl loved attention. The way she put those damn melons on display should have been all the proof anyone needed. Whenever she waved to the crowd, she would make a point to lean forward just enough to give people a better view, while not quite making it blatant. And the more cheers she got the longer she'd wave and hold her position to draw in more stares. Pandering like that was really brazen and disgusting.
Alexia of course was in no way jealous or intimidated. When she undid a couple buttons on her shirt it was because she was feeling hot. And when she waved to the crowd leaning forward in her seat ever so slightly, it was so people could more clearly see her hand waving. Nothing else.
"Hmmph."
Alexia heard that sound from the amateur erotica writer and there was a smug look all over her face.
"You got something to say?" Alexia growled.
"Oh, no, whatever do you mean, Princess Alexia?"
Erotica writer Natsume gave the innocent pout of a child, but her eyes were definitely mocking her! Alexia wanted to call the bitch out on her play acting but knew the girl would just play dumb if she did.
Feeling annoyed and frustrated she decided to talk with the other person she was sharing a table with.
"It was nice running into you here, Rose-san."
"Please, just call me Rose. We're schoolmates after all."
"Then you have to call me Alexia."
Rose nodded. "Did you get invited here by the church as well?"
"Something like that," Iris and her father both wanted the investigation kept quiet. "You know it's a shame we don't share any classes. There any chance I could get you to join Royal Bushin as your physical elective when the campus opens again? I'm sure everyone in my class would love to have you join."
"While that sounds interesting, I was instructed in Rising Wind Swordstyle. I think it's best to keep my focus there."
"Oh, I can understand that. I mean for a prodigy like you I'm sure it would be easy to master a second style, but I get wanting to perfect the one you're already familiar with."
Rose hesitated a bit, her eyes flickering from her lap to Alexia to her lap and back again.
"Uhm… Cid Kagenou, is he also in your class?"
Alexia knew immediately why Rose was looking embarrassed. She laughed and waved it off.
"Oh, yes he is, but only thanks to an exemption I got him. Trust me, the rest of us aren't on that level. I mean Poo- Cid is really improving, but he's only reached yellow so far. Everyone else is black. Please don't let your experience fighting Cid ruin your opinion of the class as a whole."
"That would never happen!" Rose said in an instant. "Knowing Cid is in your class would only make me think more highly of it!"
"Really?" Alexia said in surprise. "I mean it's not like he gave you any kind of a fight. Your match was about as one sided as I've ever seen."
"That's not true at all!" Rose reached out and grabbed her hand. Her eyes shined and she spoke with a voice ringing with conviction. "His skills may have been lacking, but he had a true warrior's spirit! His iron will refused to admit defeat! The way he kept standing up again and again was a true inspiration!"
"Uh, I'm glad you think so highly of him. But I really believe you're confusing male pride and stupidity for warrior spirit and will."
"I'm not! When the terrorists attacked the school, I would have died if not for his valor and self-sacrifice! He pushed me aside and took a sword strike to protect me! I've never known a braver or more courageous soul!"
Alexia blinked. "Yeah, someone mentioned that. Is there any chance he might have slipped and fallen into the sword strike by accident?"
"Of course not!"
"Well, is there a chance you're talking about a different student? Because the person you're describing is not Cid Kagenou. I mean he's a great guy, really. But… valor? Self-sacrifice? Bravery? That's not the Cid I know."
Rose frowned and let got of her hand. "And how do you see him?"
"Well, he's lazy, flawed, unmotivated, sarcastic, rude, lackadaisical, apathetic-"
WHACK!
Something hit Alexia in the back of the head. She jumped to her feet, turned about, and had her sword halfway out of its sheath. The erotica author was seated with her hands clasped and a look of embarrassment on her face.
"Oops! Please forgive me, Princess Alexia! I was waving to the crowd and my hand slipped."
"That was a pretty hard slap for an accident!"
"I was waving enthusiastically! It was an honest mistake! Please don't hurt me!" She was bowing her head and looked on the verge of tears.
Alexia was positively, absolutely, totally, without a shadow of a doubt, sure that slap had been no damn accident. She felt more than entitled to give this idiot a couple whacks with the flat of her blade.
The only problem was they were in full view of thousands of people. She could just imagine Iris holding up a newspaper with the headline: PRINCESS ALEXIA ASSAULTS FAMOUS AUTHOR AT GODDESS' TRIAL!
"There'd better not be any more mistakes, or I might 'accidentally' trip and skewer someone," she growled.
The elf bobbed her head up and down and pretended to fight back tears. "Yes! I understand! I promise to be more careful!"
Knowing she didn't have much of a choice Alexia slammed her sword back into its sheath and sat down. She snatched up her goblet of wine and took a long swig. Rose was leaning back in her chair and looking at her sidewise.
Luckily, the trial finally began. The very first contestant, a woman named Anne Rose from the Begalta Empire, actually called up a heroic spirit and even defeated him. The crowd gave a loud roar of approval. It was a promising start.
XXX
It wasn't a surprise that the vast majority of contestants failed to summon anyone. She'd been warned beforehand this was how it would go. Most contestants would have their name called, stand on the holy ground, receive some polite applause, wait for maybe half a minute, have nothing happen, and be ushered away as a new name was called out. The officials had the process down to a fine art and were cycling through their list at a steady clip.
Those rare exceptions when a heroic spirit come out would set the whole stadium abuzz. There were only seven or eight bouts, and except for the very first one all the contestants were defeated. Fortunately, there were healers on hand so none of them died. Despite losing, the fact those men had been strong enough to actually fight a heroic spirit would greatly enhance their reputations. Summoning a hero at the Goddess' Trial was at least as impressive as winning a major tournament.
The fights were all very exciting and entertaining, but the rest of it was tedious. Alexia had hoped she'd get the chance to talk to Archbishop Nelson again and maybe work on him. But baldy was sitting at a different table and had not even spoken to her after the initial greetings. She certainly had nothing to say to the porn writer sitting on her right. And while she wouldn't have minded having a conversation with the girl on her left, Rose didn't seem to be in a talkative mood. The girl kept fidgeting and playing with her hair. Alexia caught her stealing glances and opening her mouth as if to speak. But each time Alexia would look at her Rose would turn her eyes to her lap. If it had been a young man acting this way, she'd have assumed he was in love with her and trying to gather up his courage to confess.
So, she ended up just sitting there, sipping her drink, and wondering what Poochie was up to and if he was having a better time. Who knew? Maybe he was sitting in the crowd somewhere with his friend having more fun than she was. Since he was stubborn and refused to help her out, she hadn't asked where he was staying and had no way to contact him. They would just meet up again at the academy and exchange stories. Honestly, she thought she'd have a better time sitting in the stands with him. It was funny how the time spent with Poochie was always the highlight of her day and what she looked forward to. If only he would realize how blessed he was to have a girl like her willing to tolerate him!
At some point during the long string of unanswered challenges Rose tipped her wine goblet back and emptied it. She then turned to Alexia and spoke in a rush.
"There is something I need to ask you!"
Alexia looked at her. Rose's cheeks were a bright red, and her lips were trembling. At the edge of her vision, she noted the slut elf was leaning in to snoop. No doubt she was wanting material for a future trash novel. Alexia ignored her and instead focused on Rose.
"What is it? You can ask me anything you like."
Rose took a deep breath. "If you think Cid is such a terrible person, why are you dating him?"
Oh, of course. Alexia thought. All her associates had asked this exact same question months ago when they started their fake relationship. But she and Rose weren't particularly close. So naturally it had never come up before. Alexia had a stock answer ready. She did like Rose, and suspected her question was asked out of genuine concern for a fellow princess and school beauty, rather than idle curiosity. But they weren't friends and Alexia wasn't about to take her into her confidence. Most especially not with the big titty elf sneak listening in.
Alexia gave a dismissive laugh and waved a hand. "Because he's cute and fun and different."
"That's all?!"
"What? Were you expecting there to be more? It's a school romance, it's not like I'm planning to marry him or anything. We're just having a little fun."
"But what about his heart?" Rose demanded. "How can you treat it so lightly?"
"Oh please," Alexia said with a mocking tone. "He's from a poor barony way out in the boonies. Do you think I'd ever be serious about someone like that? And anyway, he's getting to date a princess. I'd say he's the one with the better end of this deal."
Alexia was very pleased with her performance; she was sure that neither Rose nor big titty elfy would ever suspect her true feelings for Poochie.
"I see," Rose's whole body seemed to quiver.
The latest contestant was walking away when the announcer spoke.
"Please welcome our next challenger. He is a young student attending Midgar Academy, Cid Kagenou."
"Huh? Poochie?"
Rose was also surprised and looked away. "It's an omen, a sign from the gods," she mumbled.
Suddenly Rose grabbed Alexia's hands and leaned in close. Her honey-colored eyes filled with passion.
"Alexia Midgar! I have something to say to you!"
Startled all she could get out was, "W… What?"
Rose took a deep breath. "I love-"
Her next word was drowned out by a blast of mana enforced wind. The table and chairs they'd been seated at were tossed all over the place and all three girls were knocked over. Gasps and shouts were coming from all over the stadium.
Alexia looked up and saw a lone figure standing in the middle of the holy ground. A man dressed in black and with an ebony blade in hand.
"I am called Shadow," he cried out. "Dormant memories of these sacred grounds. Tonight, we shall set them free!"
Her boring evening suddenly got much more interesting.