Chapter 33: Caught Red Handed (5)

*FLASHBACK*

Rosemary was walking back to the priestesses dormitories after learning the Perception skill. As she walked the corridors, prompts were scattered all over the place. Each prompt was a sharp line with a short description at the end of it. She found it very disorienting, but she focused on what the prompts were trying to tell her.

One prompt focused her thoughts on an unnatural crack in the wall. When she focused on it, it described the measurements of the fractures and objects she knew of that could possibly created such an indentation. Another prompt pulled her attention to the floor, and upon closer inspection, the prompt described the color and materials used to create the substance.

The more she looked, the more information she obtained. After about a minute, she knew that someone had taken some stew from the dining hall, spilling some as they hurried along.

“Is there something wrong sister Rosemary?”

Rosemary looked up from her contemplation to find two of her fellow priestesses walking toward her. She recognized their faces, but she had completely forgotten their names. Or so she thought. As soon as she looked at their concerned faces, prompts immediately displayed their names.

“Good evening Tonya, Michelle. You’ve come at a good time. I’m wondering who could have possibly caused this stain. Didn’t we have a stew recently?” Just as she asked the question, a prompt told her exactly when the church last served stew. Rosemary had selective memory, especially when it came to trivial things like what she ate the day before. Yet, her Perception had pulled the information for her. Was the information based on her memory, or was it from her high intelligence?

The two priestesses looked at each other. Everyone knew that having food outside the dining hall wasn’t permitted, so the fact that there was a stain on the floor leading to the girls dorm was a sign for trouble.

This work is hosted on mananovel.com

“Maybe one of the priests did it? You know what they say about men’s appetites.” Michelle replied nervously. She was the shorter of the two.

Rosemary watched both of them carefully, using the prompts triggered by their body language to guide her. “That’s a possibility, but it would be odd. The splash indicates that the culprit was walking towards the girls dormitories. Have either of you noticed a sister coming in with food?”

Michelle and Tonya looked at each other and hesitated. They suddenly felt exposed under her gaze, as if she was seeing right through them.

“We don’t know! We’ve never seen anyone come in with food.” Tonya protested.

“You’re lying.” Rosemary declared with narrowed eyes. Her mark made her even more intimidating.

“I wouldn’t-”

“I have no intention of pursuing the matter. I was just curious. But the fact that you would lie to me hurts sister. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you know exactly who it was that did this.” Rosemary retorted with disappointment overlaying her every word.

The priestess shrank back in fear. It was as if Rosemary was reading her mind.

“Now we may not agree on all the rules placed upon us, but that doesn’t mean we should go around breaking them. It’s not a good look, and it reflects on our integrity as priests and priestesses of Hammerrun. So I strongly suggest whoever it is to either stop or work harder at covering their tracks.” Without another word, Rosemary walked passed them to continue down the hall.

“Was she always that scary?” Tonya whispered to her friend.

“I don’t think so.”

Rosemary only smiled as she turned the corner.

*FLASHBACK END*

Though she wasn’t smiling now as she walked up the steps to the temple. She had found more evidence of the menace that plagued her sisters. Multiple priestesses had woken up in their beds with no memory of how they got there, and when they tried to put on their Ring of Purity, it shocked them. So whatever they did the day before, involved sexual activity. But the priestesses ,for the life of them, can’t remember what happened.

As the favorite for the next High Priestesses, Rosemary was expected to resolve the situation as a test of her abilities. Despite the fact that the High Priest didn’t even bother to investigate.

’That’s not suspicious at all.’ Rosemary thought to herself as she headed for her chambers. As a High Priestesses candidate, she was allowed her own room and office. It was a large step up from the dormitories.

She turned a familiar corner, bumping into the one person she didn’t want to see.

“Ah, Devout Rosemary, how nice to see you.” greeted the High Priest. His smile was over the top, and his wandering eyes told her where his mind was without the prompts. If this man wasn’t somehow involved in the plight of the priestesses, she would be truly surprised.

“High Priest.” she nodded in return. The less she spoke to him the better her day would turn out.

“Have you found any leads on the disappearing priestesses?”

“Not yet, your worship. I actually plan on talking to the Paladin Commander today.”

“As if he’ll help you. You know how the Commander is.” the priest grinned knowingly.

Rosemary already knew that the Paladin Commander was in on it too, but she already had a plan in motion for that. "I think I might actually persuade him this time..."

The High Priest made a concerned face. "How?"

"It's a secret, but I promise I'll tell you after we catch the culprits." Rosemary said as she walked away. She wanted him to sweat over the possibility of losing an inside man.

Moments later, she walked into her office. It was a small room with one desk in the middle. The stone walls had small windows near the ceiling, leaving her office in darkness the majority of the day. The room was bare of any personal possessions, and the only ‘decoration’ she had was a giant slab of iron that leaned against the wall. The center of it was slightly dented.

Rosemary moved to stand in front of the slab and took up her boxing stance. She whispered a spell to cast Silence and launched a full powered punch. There was a dull thud as her Barrier connected to the metal, but she was far from through. She pushed harder, rushing through her combinations until the barriers broke and stamina reached the limit. Even after her mana ran dry, she still kept at it.

She felt a bone snap in her right hand and collapsed to the ground, succumbing to the vicious cycle she’d created to raise her skills.

[+2 Endurance]

She’d withstand the pain until her Silence wore out and her mana regenerated. Then she’d cast Healing to mend her broken hand. The longer she could go without breaking her fist, the more experience she gained for her Barrier, Orthodox Boxing, and Hand to Hand. It had been rocky at first since most priestesses could hear her screaming as they walked by. She couldn’t count how many times someone walked in to ask if she was okay.

Rosemary got up and wiped the sweat from her brow. She hadn’t been able to train like she wanted to lately with all that’s happened. Today would have to be a turning point in her investigation.

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.”

A dark skinned man walked in. His dreads fell over his shoulders and his dark robe hid his face and armor. Anyone would think he was a mage of some sort, but they would be dead wrong.

“I’ve been expecting you J-Money. I’d offer you a chair, but as you can see…”

“It’s all good. I only came to see you boo.”

Rosemary just shook her head as she looked down at her soiled bandages. They started calling her Red-Hand because she never changed them.

’Who knew that being lazy could get you a badass title?’ Rosemary thought as she scratched her left ring finger. Her mythril Ring of Purity seemed to glow in the dim light of her office.

“Well I’m glad you came as quickly as you did. I need a favor.”

“Lay it on me.”

“I need you to ‘persuade’ the Paladin Commander to help me uncover the culprits of the recent incidents.”

“Cool. Where he at?”

“You’ll find him in the training facility behind the compound.”

“Word. When do I stop?”

“They’ll stop you. Now go, I don’t want them to see me asking for help. I have a reputation for being unfriendly.” she smiled.

J-Money pulled up his hood and walked out, quickly closing the door behind him.

Rosemary sat at her desk with the glow of her mark lighting her hood. She’d made her preparations, now all she had to do was wait.