Studying the tip of the spear as it laid on my lap, I dedicated its sharp edges to memory.

This was not like the spear Vim had made for me last time. Or well, made for Brom and Reatti that I had carried for some time.

It was real. Sharp. Deadly.

I’ll need to be very careful and observant with it. I’d not even tried to touch the edge of the spear’s blade, or point, because I knew it was foolish. I could tell just by looking at it that it was likely one of the sharpest and thinnest edges I’ve ever seen. To the point it made me wonder how it wouldn’t chip and break when used.

Most importantly though…

Reaching over, I gently twirled the strange feeling red cloth between my fingers. It was not just wrapped around the spear, right below the point, but also somehow meshed into the spear itself. Maybe it had been attached somehow where the point connected, though I couldn’t see any signs of a lock, or crevice to imply where two different sections had been attached.

Any doubt of the spear’s origin ended with this red cloth.

It was the same as the spear Vim held in that painting. In Hands’ office. The one Vim had said was of the past and not the future like those here believed.

Vim’s mother had made this. He had said she had made something he had left here, and I couldn’t imagine it being anything else. He had gathered up a good dozen items earlier, but none had seemed important enough to be the one his mother had made. They had all been odd, but more normal objects. Books. A heart, the one for Tor. A few small trinkets, similar to the little wooden box he had retrieved at Lilly’s forest.

I sincerely doubted any of them had been of his mother’s design. Since he had not really pointed them out to me, or seemingly even bothered to care for them. Since handing them to me and putting them into my bag, Vim had utterly ignored them since. So I had no choice but to assume this spear was the true one. And he hadn’t disputed it earlier, though that might have just been his way to avoid the topic since Angie had been there.

Plus…

Rolling the spear along my lap, and watching the way it barely bothered my thighs or pants, I thought of that mural made into the cliff at the Summit.

The one they had made to depict Vim’s brutal act of slaying their god.

He had been wielding a spear in that motif too. Though that one had lacked any cloth clinging to it.

Yet… something told me it was the same spear.

A spear he used to slay gods, made by his mother.

And… he had given it to me…

Taking a small breath, I stopped rolling the spear and wondered if he’d tell me about it later on once we had a chance to be alone.

“How fascinating… Forgive me Vim, but was Less the type to say such a thing? Landi, sure, but Less? That’s the entire reason for their discord, was it not? Their difference in views?” Randle asked as he leaned forward a little. He did so by resting his elbow on his knee, and looked a little wobbly and unsteady as he did. He had leaned forward like one would, while putting both elbows on both knees for support. But he of course now had only one, and I don’t think he’s really registered that yet.

Though odds are it might be something he’d not really acknowledge, at least innately, for a long time. It had to be difficult to change hundreds of years of habits so quickly, out of pure need.

“I had not thought so. Even recently Mapple had mentioned offhandedly to me that Less had been griping on her about her lack of faith. Or rather, her misplaced faith. So it’s fair to assume Less still has the same beliefs and personality traits as she had back then,” Vim said as he studied the map on Randle’s desk.

It was the same map I had been given by Hands. Or well, the same map in essence. My map, just like the rest of my personal items such as my ancestor’s heart, were back at that crystal cave. Securely and safely hidden away for now.

Randle’s map however, as detailed and perfect as mine, had more to it. It had Randle’s own notes and markings. Over the years he’s added to it, and it seemed he’d recently started really cataloguing and fixing the errors upon it. Though I wasn’t sure entirely as to why. He had warned Vim not to move or touch it, since there were spots with still drying ink.

The door to Randle’s office opened, making my ears shift a little as I turned to watch Angie walk in. She carried a plate with a small stack of food upon it, some kind of meat with a bunch of different greens piled upon it haphazardly. She didn’t say anything as she walked over to the only table that had any room to eat at. Angie made a small noise as she climbed up onto the large chair before it, sighing as she did so since the chair was a tad too big for her, and she went to cutting up the slice of meat she had brought in to eat.

Although she was involved, and had personally asked Vim for help, it hadn’t taken long for Angie to seemingly… calm down and become a little indifferent to the whole situation.

I couldn’t blame her really. Although it was a big deal, not just to her but to me too, Vim and Randle had made it clear that it was not something to panic over just yet.

The orphanage would be fine for at least the next few years, per Randle’s explanation.

Vim and Randle had been talking for the better part of an hour now, though it had taken a bit for the topic of the orphans to come up. Vim and Randle had at first instead discussed the matter of Oplar’s most recent letter. One she had handed off to Randle before departing for the south this morning.

Tapping my spear, I turned my head just enough to see the crumpled up letter in the nearby fireplace. Vim had squished it and tossed it into the fire, but halfway through its burn it had rolled off the fire proper. It was now stuck between the little metal stands the logs sat upon and the side of the brick fireplace. It was smoking, and still burning, just not as quickly as it should be. The paper must be unique.

The topic of the letter had been simple. She had sent a letter to some village, one in the east near the coast, and got back a response of what she had called a non-return request. Basically whoever had got her letter, sent one back saying don’t send any more from now on. It wasn’t that the location was lost to us, or that someone had died, but rather that the location no longer wanted to be connected to the Society via Oplar’s mail system.

Which meant, to Vim and the rest, they had interpreted it as that location siding with Light. Blatantly. And it had concerned Randle and Oplar a lot it seemed, since whoever had been there had been someone Randle had utterly trusted. Someone like himself, a long standing member of the cloth.

Personally I didn’t see why they were so shocked that people of the church could side against them. After all, to most who belonged to the Church of Songs, Light was the daughter of the founder. The original saint. The one who had pioneered their religion. And she was in fact a saint herself, too?

It was no wonder so many were taking her side. Especially those like Less, older and stronger non-human members.

“Either way, Less is not a direct worry. Her faith will make her a devout solder for Light, but that same faith will keep her in check. She’ll not do anything too drastic,” Vim said.

“I find that difficult to believe, Vim. In my experience the stronger one’s faith, the crueler than can become,” Randle countered said.

Frowning at that, I glanced at Angie. She noticed my look and shrugged at me.

I, like Angie, had been relatively quiet for the last few minutes. I didn’t know this Less, so I had no input on her to give. And although I’d not really been participating in their conversation, I’d also not really been speaking to Angie either. Angie had offered to bring me food too, I had declined. I was a little hungry still, and with the smell of her food my hunger was made more obvious, but I wanted to hold back a little. I wanted to have dinner with Vim. He had promised me, before we got here, that we’d go eat at that one restaurant we’d visited before during our first trip. The Walking Pig. And by the sounds of it he intended to have us leave for Lumen here soon, maybe even tomorrow or the next day, so I needed to make sure to get him to take me before I missed out on it.

So I needed to make sure I had enough room for said pig. Just in case he obliged me.

There was an awkward silence for awhile as Angie ate, and Randle studied Vim who was studying his map. I glanced around at everyone for a bit, smiling gently at them all.

Vim the protector, frowning as he studied a map of people he wasn’t sure what to do with. Hate them? Pity them? Abandon them or save them? He had so many choices.

Randle, the now excommunicated priest… who was doing all he could to help and leave behind everything he could to aid those he was leaving behind. His orphanages, his people, his companions. He was writing letters, bequeathing items and resources he’s gained over the long years, and telling certain people certain secrets that needed to be shared. All the while trying to figure out what he was going to do, and where he was going to go.

And then there was Angie. A young bison who was now acting her age as she munched on a mouthful of leafy greens. She looked bored, and I could see the small stains of tears from her earlier emotions even over here from an angle. I could tell she would likely have a wonderful night’s sleep once she finally settled down, since I knew the feeling well.

Honestly she was doing better than I had figured. She seemed to really care for the children at the orphanage, and even more so was already very protective of them. Though it really worried me that she had not originally intended to ask Vim for I for help on the matter, since she had assumed no one in the Society would help her even if she asked.

“What are you planning, Randle?” Vim then asked.

I glanced away from the young bison, who seemingly was now ignoring us, and to Vim. He had turned away from the map for the first time in a while as to address Randle.

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The priest, or maybe former priest, sat up a little. “I only decided it this morning and you can already tell?” he asked.

“You’re looking for something. A location? A person?” Vim asked as he gestured to the map.

Oh…?

I stood up, carefully holding the spear as I stepped over to Vim. He glanced at me but didn’t say anything as I went to examine the map.

I’d already looked at it, so honestly I hadn’t needed to do so again, but I couldn’t see what he meant. There were little notes everywhere, but they all mostly seemed to be about our numbers. How many people were at which location, and whatnot. Nothing… too drastic.

In fact the map in Windle’s Office had been far more detailed, really. So…

“I’m a man of the cloth, Vim,” Randle said.

“You are. A banished one, but you are,” Vim said.

Although I could tell he had said it as a slight joke, I still flinched upon hearing it. He could be slightly mean sometimes, couldn’t he?

“I’m looking for a place where I can still fulfill my holy duties. A place not covered by the Church of Songs, or any of its branches. I’m… having difficulty in doing so, honestly, but I’m sure I’ll find it somewhere,” Randle said, sounding as if he wasn’t bothered at all by Vim’s bluntness.

“Hmph.” Vim didn’t seem impressed.

I frowned though as I tried to comprehend how Vim had realized such a thing from this map.

Even the locations with information listed upon them, such as names or numbers, had no implications of their meaning. It wasn’t as if there was any mark or note to tell if each location had a church already, or someone there preaching their faith…

“I’ve been the man I am for almost a thousand years. I’ll not be able to change who I am, Vim,” Randle said, as if he had to defend himself against Vim’s perspective on the matter.

Shifting, I placed the end of the spear down onto the rug gently as I turned and smiled at the one-armed priest. “I think that’s a lovely thing, Randle,” I said. I really did. He had been abandoned, basically, by those here. By the ones leading this faith, the very one he wanted to preach and support. Yet he still wanted to believe in it and share it. It told me that although disgusted and at odds with Light and the rest, the current leaders of this faith, he himself still fully believed in the faith itself. Its rules and morals. He wasn’t going to allow what had happened here, and was happening, to stop his duty, or at least the duty he believed himself to have.

“Thank you, Renn. But in reality it’s just me being too scared to do anything else. I’m lost, and I’m clinging to what I find normal and expected as to avoid the terrifying truth of my future,” Randle said with a small smile.

Squeezing the spear, I felt bad as I stared at his smile. It was one of defeat.

Vim though didn’t seem to care. He turned back, to look at the map. I took a very small step back, as to step aside and let him see it clearly since I had kind of put myself between him and it.

I watched the way Vim studied the map… and then I noticed the way his eyes narrowed an almost unnoticeable amount.

He had just decided something.

“Angie,” Vim then addressed the person I had not expected him to. She didn’t respond immediately, with a mouthful of food, but she eventually turned to look at him. She chewed lazily, waiting for him to continue. “The orphans. They’re your calling?” he asked.

Angie swallowed. “Yes.”

A little humbled by the young girl’s immediate declaration, I saw out of the corner of my eye Randle softly smile in awe as well.

Vim though simply nodded. “Then why don’t we plan for the inevitable,” he said.

“Inevitable?” I asked.

He glanced at me and nodded. “Randle’s actions have likely protected the orphans for a short time… and I do plan to confront Light in Lumen, so I may handle all of this there and then too. But just in case nothing goes well… as history has taught me usually does, I have a suggestion,” he said.

“What is it?” Angie asked, suddenly ignoring her food.

Vim studied me for a moment, and then glanced at Randle. “To the northwest of the Owl’s Nest. Not far from Twin Hills, is a newly founded city. One not even on most maps yet,” Vim told him.

I perked up at that. There was…? Which one, I wonder? I glanced at the map, and compared my knowledge to it. I remembered going through the towns on the way there recently, and being told of the towns around there by Lilly when we had talked about her children… but… I couldn’t place the town he spoke of. I had no doubt there were villages between the Owl’s Nest and Twin Hills, since they were several days apart, but actual towns? Not just farmsteads or river villages?

Vim stepped closer, leaning a little around me as he pointed at a spot on the map. It was in fact farther north of Twin Hills, though not as west as it from the Owl’s Nest. I judged it to be a few days farther from Twin Hills than Twin Hills was to the Owl’s Nest.

He was right. There was nothing on the map to imply any settlement was there. Not even a small one. And Hands’s maps were detailed enough to even list single family homesteads in some locations, even ones not belonging to the Society.

“When’d you hear of it?” I asked.

“From Windle. It’s located at the base of a mountain, near a lake and some rivers. It’s good land, though cold in the winter being so north. It’s being funded and operated by some nobles in the area. They’ve found minerals, and are making a proper mining location. Even the nobles in Twin Hills are involved, I guess,” Vim said.

“And you suggest I go there…?” Randle asked as he sat up straighter, and sounding a little more serious all of a sudden.

“It’s already grown into a bustling city, I guess. I think they’ve found gold, or silver. The rumors Windle heard is they’re planning on using it to fund their own army. I think his son is there, Branches, who is likely the reason for his knowledge of it. He interpreted the rumor as them using the minerals to build weapons and armor, but odds are it’s just wealth. They want to build a proper army and capital to protect the riches, I assume,” Vim explained.

“Places like that don’t appreciate the church forcing their way in,” Randle said plainly.

“They don’t, but we have ways to deal with that. More importantly though, a newly built capital doesn’t arise overnight. There will be chaos. Strife. Money. And what always follows all of that?” he asked.

“Death?” I said.

“Food,” Angie answered.

Randle smirked a little, likely at our answers. “Orphans,” he said.

Oh!

Vim nodded. “You can go in not as a proper church, but an orphanage. Expanding it for sermons as you settle and become well respected in the community. Which you will be. Luckily for you, nobles, mercenaries and merchants alike all let their guard down around priests. Particularly the one-armed variety,” Vim said with a small gesture at him.

Randle shifted, and did something a little odd… which I couldn’t understand at first, until I realized he was actually just crossing his arm. It just looked funny since he only had one. “And it’s many leagues beyond the influence of the Nation of the Blind, or the Church of Songs,” he said.

“Is it? Isn’t there a church in Bordu now?” I asked.

“Just a small abbey. And it’s the one farthest north. A branch of the Church of Songs too, not even a real one,” Vim said.

I nodded, though I wasn’t sure what difference it made to be a branch or not. Did that mean they weren’t as powerful or something? Not as important? Places of worship were equal, weren’t they…? Likely not, I suppose, based off the way Vim had said that.

“How cold does it get up there?” Angie asked from her chair.

“The kind of cold that will make you wish you had inherited your father’s fur,” Vim said.

Angie’s face told me what she thought of that, but she sighed and nodded. “I’m fine with it. Even if this place stays safe, I can’t trust the ones around me anymore, so I’d be willing to go there as long as you help me set it up,” she said, speaking as if she was far older and more experienced than she was.

“But Vim… without the Church of Songs, with what resources could we accomplish this with? Setting up a proper orphanage, one that won’t be lambasted by the community at least, requires wealth beyond reason. And hands. Now that I lack one, I would need many more to compensate for what I can’t do. I cannot build a wall anymore, Vim, let alone a whole building,” Randle said as he lifted his left stub of an arm, to display its hanging sleeve. He had tied it rather well, so it didn’t dangle fully as it had the other day, but it still did so.

“I’ll handle that. Even if the Society won’t give us access to anything for it, I can provide all we’ll need. And for people… well… are you sure you can’t take any here? What of those who support you here?” Vim asked.

Randle frowned as he pondered that. “A few are too old for such a journey and effort, Vim. Far too old. But… I could probably gather up half a dozen. Six, maybe, if we don’t include myself or Angie,” Randle said.

Angie nodded briskly, happily dedicating herself to the cause.

“I’d help too, if I can,” I said happily.

Vim glanced at me but said nothing.

“And if you can handle the funds, we’d not need too many then. That would be enough, since we can compensate for our lack of manpower and numbers with coins and favors,” Randle said plainly.

“Then start preparing for it. You and Angie,” Vim said with a gesture at the young girl.

She perked up, smiling a little as she glanced at Randle, as if ready for her first task to be given already.

“We’ll also need to factor in the children we’ll be taking with us. And if this is to be done… I have only a couple months to handle it,” Randle said as he looked away from the excited eyes of the young bison, as to look down at his desk in thought.

“You’ve handle worse. I plan to leave for Lumen tomorrow, and I doubt I’ll be gone long. I can also handle the funding issue,” Vim said.

Oh…? Did he plan to rob the guild or something? If so I looked forward to it, I’d been wondering if anyone would notice a few crates of coins missing from that full vault.

“Yes… this is a far cry from our beginnings, isn’t it? I’m sure we can figure it out,” Randle said as he nodded, as if deciding it wasn’t just a viable plan… but one he enjoyed the thought of.

“I suggest not telling anyone. Particularly not the location, either,” Vim suggested.

“Quite. Just in case,” Randle agreed.

I didn’t ask what would happen if this new orphanage location wouldn’t be needed. Because I knew the truth.

This wasn’t just Vim trying to fulfill Angie’s request… even though I knew he was taking it seriously, like he always did for any request of our members. It was also Vim’s way of taking care of Randle. A man who had just been banished from not just his long-time home… but his meaning in life.

This location was as much for Randle as it was for Angie.

Smiling gently at the man who was proving, again with ease, why he was our protector… I reached out to gently take his hand. He allowed me to take it, though I only grabbed a few fingers, as he glanced at me for a small moment and then looked away.

Neither Angie or Randle had noticed my affectionate hold of his hand as Angie hopped off her chair and hurried over to Randle’s desk. “This time a pool,” she said quickly.

Randle frowned at the girl. “A pool?” he asked.

She nodded quickly. “For the kids. Swimming is good for children,” she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Smiling at her, I wondered if maybe Randle was in for more than he could chew. Or at least, hold, now what with his single arm. He had a smile on his face, but I could see the utter exhaustion hidden behind it. He too was likely thinking the same I just had.

While Randle patiently listened to Angie’s suggestions, most interesting but slightly childish such as the idea of a pool, I noticed Vim’s stare.

Turning a little, I smiled at the man who looked like he was hungry. Though he might just look so because I was.

He gently nodded at me, and I nodded back.

I wasn’t entirely sure yet what to think of any of this. The schemes. The prophecies. Vim’s decisions…

But at least he wasn’t abandoning everyone. If he still desired to help those like Randle, a man he didn’t actually like and had recently just been banished in such a wild way, then maybe I didn’t need to worry too much.

Maybe even if he stepped down nothing would change. Maybe all would be well.

If only.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep