Chương 65: The Adjudicator's Assessment

"This castle used to be the chief stronghold of the former bandit king. I have since taken over, obviously, and scrubbed the 'castle' from top to bottom with magified holy mana. Some rot remains, yes, but I hope with resources from the academy, a proper cleansing will take place." LANCE didn't know what he was saying. He ordered the castle clean, yes, and he hoped the ex-bandits had followed his instructions, but he really did not know for sure. The adjudicator showed no sign of reacting positively or negatively.

He mumbled some hums and jotted down the information on his clipboard. Next, he showed the adjudicator the harbors... not that there was much to see there since he had burned down all but one of the buildings. Inside that building, he showed the man the tunnel entryway, but could show him no more since, well, he collapsed the tunnels.

"I know you have to just take my word, but I did collapse the tunnels, and my feat in destroying the bandit infrastructure was unprecedented. We will work on rebuilding where needed." More jotting down from Leo Neo but hardly anything more than an indistinct mumble.

"Next, let me show you our newer constructions. These are the buildings we have created from scratch after razing the old, corrupted buildings." Lance showed the man the two small community centers built on opposite ends of the island. One for ex-bandits, the other for ex-slaves.

"Because of the trauma of this island, I have allowed the two segments of the population to remain divided. It is my hope, however, that they will, in time, and with healing and proper consoling and therapy, come together in the future." More scribbling on the adjudicator's part, though this time Leo Neo did mention that "The school and Order would be able to help you with that. Hard stuff, surmounting wounds like these." Their words made him happy. Perhaps he would receive a passing grade after all?

It could be notoriously hard to tell with these academy official types. Lance finished their tour by speaking briefly on the hopes for the island.

"I recently struck a deal with the dragonkin to help in the defense of the world. They are sending an elite force over for joint exercises. Controversial I know this is, I firmly believe alliances like this are a must for the common good."

"The dragonkin?" Leo Neo asked in shock.

"Unprecedented!"

"But in a good way, yes?"

"In a way, yes..." The adjudicator's words didn't inspire confidence but neither despair, so he would need to be patient.

"Before you leave, sire, is there anything else I can do or say to put your mind at ease?" Lance looked into the man's eyes and hoped Leo Neo would see his earnestly.

"I know you are a bright, courageous individual. And I know you can see the effort I am putting into enriching the Order and Denomination. If there is anything more I can do, please, let me know now." Leo Neo made a final series of scribblings before holding the clipboard to his chest. He took a deep breath in, thinking, then out, speaking: "Young master Lance, you have done what no other first year could have possibly done and cleansed a feared island of its banditry.

You have made a monster your familiar, converting it, even, to the holy cause. Your ambition for the island is plain, as is your zealotry for your faith, and I mean 'plain' in that sense in the uplifting way. Yet, I must confess, your alliance with the dragonkin is outrageous in more ways than one. If we invest in your island, the return would be uncertain. That said, you do speak truth, a horror of unprecedented terror is upon us, and we must do what we can to protect against our destruction.

I will ruminate upon your words and efforts. I will speak later on our decision." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Lance saw the man off. Though he would've liked to ask for a ride with him back to campus, he was still needed on the island.

"Slimy, call the inhabitants again. Another meeting is needed!" he ordered and Slimy sped away as commanded. Back in the castle once again and surrounded by his converts, Lance told the men and women of the encounter with the adjudicator.

"I think it went over well, but we must continue to strive to do all that we can if we want to win the denomination's favor. I think part of this will be the start of your religious education. How many here have had prior religious instruction?" A few hands went up. He called upon those hands to share their instruction. As he thought, each hand told a tale of basic instruction as a child, from a school priest who lectured once or twice a week for the young and feeble-minded.

For all intents and purposes, he was working with new clay.

"Forget what you think you know," he commanded.

"I will teach you afresh of your past triflings. Can anyone tell me what the order of Cannabus is?" More hands: he called on one: that one said, "It's an Order of healing, right?"

"Not healing exactly," he replied.

"But close. The Cannabusian Order is devoted to holiness and purity. To enact holiness and purity, we believe in healing, yes, as healing is often the easiest way to get to that holy and pure state we crave. but our Order is not founded on healing, per se. Our Order is focused on practice and conversion of those who lack faith, or who have faith but live in the shadows of their own lives. Our purpose is to raise those up who lack that purpose. Does anyone have any ideas about how we raise people?"

And so, the conversation continued late into the night. Lance gave them his first sermon. Sure, it was a sermon cobbled together from his priest-lecturers, and excerpts from books, even dramatic passages from bards, but it did the trick well. His audience was engaged! The ex-bandits and the ex-slaves asked poignant questions. They asked about the nature of sin and how one was to be redeemed. This was a touchy question at the best of times, let alone when victim and victimizer shared a space.

He answered to the best of his abilities, that said.

"You victims have the burden of living with the horrible things perpetrated upon you. Your victimizers will need to face the nature of their actions, not just in here, the physical world, but in their own mental and psychological world as well and confront those facets of themselves which led them to sin in the first place. Someday, far away, likely, they will ask you for forgiveness after having shown the weight of their repentance. It will then be up to you as to whether you forgive them or keep them in perish."

And more questions yet, "Is conversion ethical?"

"Do other denominations like Cannabus?" and questions more than he could answer in a single session due to the session already running the length of the night and into the morning, when he needed to depart for school.

"I know I was not able to answer all of your questions. For that, I apologize," he told the assembled within the 'throne room.'

"I do however want to say that I will be back soon. And will hopefully continue to be back soon every so often more than I have been. Your spiritual life is important to me, more than you know. Yet for now, I must leave you and return to enrich myself at the academy of my denomination." He left the men of the island formerly known as Murder Island with blessings in their hearts and souls.

If the future was even half as bright as that overnight lecture had been, Lance knew he would not need to worry over the future's tidings. Which was good, because the dragonkin were coming, and they needed to be ready for anything. Dragons were not known as 'faithful' creatures, so if this joint alliance was to work out, Lance understood something more than any of his converts did — their lives, their very faith, would depend on how they represented themselves as creatures of faith and action, and conviction.

For if a dragon understood anything, it was conviction.