Chương 39: Building Power

Raymond might have screwed up. It was far from his first time selling information to the church, but this response was just completely unexpected. They usually just paid well, and then did nothing. In all the years Raymond had been selling to them, the largest response any of his secrets got was an investigation into a minor noble who was collecting demon worshiper antiques. He hadn't even told them who Jonny was.

He just sold them the raw information from the butler about the strange boy with golden eyes and a penchant for killing magic beasts. Yet, two days later, they had sent a damned high inquisitor out there. A high inquisitor who then died. He had let Archibald know, just to see if he could get his brother in trouble, but instead, he was now working closely with the church, scouring the mountainside for the escaped demon. The fact that his nephew was demon-possessed should have been a good thing.

That meant he didn't even need to do anything anymore. The church would take care of him, and even if they failed, he would never be able to inherit the position of duke. His own son's future was more or less secured. The real issue was that they knew who had given them the information about Jonny, and they also knew about the assassins.

He had covered his tracks perfectly when it came to the actual hiring of the assassins, but the fact that he was the only one who knew about Jonny made him the only suspect for who could have sent them, and that was bad. The church generally tried to stay out of external affairs, but sending assassins after a child wasn't something they would overlook. They hadn't sent anyone to investigate him yet. The only recently mobilized inquisitors were headed to the remote orphanage, not to his estate.

But there was currently a bishop in his reception room, which was unusual, and he knew it couldn't be anything good. Should I just say that I knew Jonathan was a demon the whole time? he wondered. But then they'll ask why I acted independently instead of just informing the church… He tapped a finger nervously on his desk. He was using the excuse of needing to get ready to delay the meeting, but he couldn't do that forever. And when he did, he would probably have questions to answer.

If he said he knew Jonny was a demon, he would be in trouble for not telling the church, but if he said he didn't, that meant he tried to assassinate a child. It was a lose-lose situation. Ah, to hell with it, he thought, getting up from his desk. I'll climb that mountain when I get there.

He took a moment to school his facial expression, then confidently strode out of his study and toward the reception room, where he found the bishop, an overweight older man, sipping on a cup of tea while a maid stood at the ready nearby. Raymond waved the maid away, then sat down across from the bishop. They exchanged pleasantries, then the bishop started talking upgrades to the local cathedral's facade that he was trying to get funded.

The tension slowly left Raymond's body as he realized that the bishop was not here for him. Just money. And money he could do. Especially if it got a bishop on his side. That would be useful if he did get investigated. They talked for a while, with the bishop explaining his vision for what types of statues and mosaics he wanted on the church, and Raymond praising his taste and adding his own opinions when they fit. The established a good rapport, and Raymond agreed to donate some money to the church's efforts.

The bishop thanked him, and said that if Raymond ever needed anything, he could ask at any time. Raymond smiled back, and his smile was very much real, because that was exactly what he wanted. He prepared to bid the bishop farewell, but rather than getting up, the Bishop just poured himself another cup of tea and sat up straighter.

"Now that that's settled, I actually have some other business to discuss with you," said the bishop." Another cathedral?" joked Raymond.

"No, I'm afraid this is related to your assassination attempt on your nephew."

"…I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're saying you didn't order an assassination on young Jonathan Meyer?"

"I did not."

"Well, that's not what my informants tell me," said the bishop.

"I suppose I'll have to investigate a little deeper then. I don't suppose you would mind, would you?" Raymond didn't respond.

"In the meantime, I have a few favors I'd like to ask," continued the bishop.

"Not for free, of course. In fact, if you do well, you could be rewarded very generously. You want more power, yes? We can help you." Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Raymond hesitated. The bishop had him in a corner. He could try to deny the allegations all he wanted, but the bishop seemed confident, and opening an investigation would create unpleasant rumors no matter how well he had covered his tracks.

The bishop clearly wanted Raymond in his pocket for whatever he was planning, and Raymond didn't have a good way out. It doesn't look like I have much of a choice.

"I'm not opposed to a partnership," said Raymond carefully.

"I don't suppose you could delay that investigation, though. I don't believe that the rumors that would create would benefit either of us."

"That can certainly be arranged," said the bishop with a smile. After weeks of scouring the mountainside and pretending he couldn't find Igrette and Jonny, Archibald was finally able to go home. Explaining why he had been there in the first place was difficult, and he still wasn't sure that the inquisitors believed him when he said Jonny and Igrette were already gone when he got there, but he had made it through safely.

Perhaps with a little more scrutiny from the church than he would have liked, but he made it, and he was finally on his way home. What am I supposed to tell Melinda? He still hadn't figured out the answer to that question. In a way, he was glad that he had been kept away from home for so long. It had given him plenty of time to think, and even if he didn't have the answers, he felt he could at least look at things from a new point of view. He had actually done a lot of thinking about Harrison and his new son.

He had known Harrison for years, ever since the two were learning magic under the late Duke Meyer together. The two were closer than Archibald was to any of his blood-related siblings, despite not being actually related at all. And on top of that, Harrison had a close relationship with his parents, despite being adopted, and in the brief moments that Archibald had seen them together, he doted on his new son, Thomas. Could we have been like that?

The thought that he and Melinda couldn't produce any children of their own still stung. Knowing that the one child they thought they had was stillborn like the rest was devastating. But that didn't necessarily mean that Jonny wasn't also his son. Even if he was a Visionary, Jonny was younger than him, and had grown up without parents. Abbess Helen had said that despite his age, Jonny was quite childish at times. Could we have been family too?

During the whole flight back to Feria, he couldn't get the thought out of his head. He pictured what it would have been like if he hadn't sent Jonny away. At the time, it seemed like the only solution. Jonny was the sole heir, and a cripple to boot. He would have faced opposition, both openly and in the shadows, his entire life, and he would almost certainly die an early death. As a Null, he wouldn't have been able to protect himself, and once Archibald died, Jonny would be at the mercy of everyone around him.

Archibald couldn't even stop Raymond properly. The man was too thorough. Archibald had tried time and again to catch him in some sort of wrongdoing, but he was never able to gather a shred of evidence. He knew what Raymond was doing, but he couldn't prove it, and with Raymond poised as the heir, he didn't even have the power to order a proper investigation. At least at the orphanage, Jonny had a chance at a normal life. He had heard enough stories from Harrison to know that Abbess Helen was trustworthy.

She would be able to find Jonny a stable home. It wouldn't be with Archibald, but he would grow up healthy and happy, and without the threat of assassins constantly coming after him. But knowing what he knew now… According to Helen, Jonny had somehow managed to overcome his condition. He had found a way to gather and condense mana despite being a Null. Could he have done the same if he stayed? What if Archibald had been less cowardly? What if he had been determined to hold on no matter what?

And now, it was too late. He regretted letting Jonny go two weeks ago too, but there was nothing he could do there. Even using every ounce of his power and fighting to the last, Archibald couldn't hope to protect someone labeled as a demon from the might of the church. Igrette was right. They needed to flee the country. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything. Jonny might not have been in the country, but the church was here to stay, and there was clearly something strange going on.

Jonny was very obviously not a demon. Even the strongest of demons couldn't hide their demonic energy from someone poking around inside, but Helen had done so with Jonny on multiple occasions, and never noticed anything wrong. He was clearly just a Visionary, yet the church insisted on labeling him as a demon anyway. The church was compromised, and in a way deeper than anyone could possibly guess, and as long as that remained the case, Jonny wouldn't be able to return.

Archibald didn't know if he even wanted Jonny to return, but he at least knew he didn't want any more regrets. When they met again, if they decided to bring him in, or stay separate, it would be their choice. Not something enforced by circumstances. I've been too passive. Ever since he became a duke, he'd been so worried about producing an heir and keeping Raymond at bay that he had barely even thought about anything more ambitious. And now his lack of ambition was biting him in the rear.

He had as little power as a duke could possibly have, and very few connections. If he wanted to have a choice when it came to Jonny, that simply wouldn't do. So, build power, investigate the church… and talk to Melinda, he thought with a sigh. Looks like I'll be busy in the near future. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Ivan's body. His injuries were light, and the wound that killed him invisible under the turtleneck sweater they had dressed him in.

His expression had been adjusted to something peaceful, but Frederick knew that couldn't have been the case when he died. How could he, when a well-regarded veteran of the Demon War and the demon controlling her had ambushed him under the pretense of a Holy Duel? Demons are always the same, he thought, as he trudged through the snowy mountains. And they all die the same too.