Chương 139: Father, We Need a Prayer

The Information Guild was quieter inside than the market. A long counter ran along the wall, with stacks of paper and thin wooden tablets at every station. People waiting spoke of their business in low voices or fidgeted with numbered tokens. Each time a number was called, someone rose from a chair. Someone else soon filled the empty seat. Behind the counter, documents passed from one desk to the next, and stamps struck the wooden tablets with short knocks.

Every time the door opened, the sound of the market entered and was cut off again. Kichan stood before the nearest counter. Without raising his head, the clerk asked,"What are you looking for?"

"An angel named Zadkiel." The clerk's pen stopped. He raised his head and looked at Kichan. His gaze passed over Riphiel's sword and Paul's cassock before reaching Argaon. Then it returned to Kichan.

"Were you referred here?"

"A lower-level administrator at the Arena told us to try this place." The clerk put a hand beneath the desk. A small bell rang once. An inner door opened.

"Follow me." Kichan looked at the people waiting at the other counters. No one had been watching them a moment ago. Now several heads had lifted. The clerk led them down a narrow corridor and up to the next floor. A city map and several wanted notices covered the stairwell wall. Some sheets showed faces. Others showed only broken objects or drawings of footprints. A demonkin carrying a bundle of documents came down from above.

They twisted their shoulders to pass on the narrow stairs, and a corner of the papers scraped Kichan's sleeve. Another number was called downstairs. There was no sign on the door of the highest office. The clerk opened it onto a large window and a low desk. Beyond the glass, the Arena's outer wall overlapped the city's roofs. As Kichan entered, a cart moved along the broad road between the roofs. Clouded sunlight lay across the window frame, and the Arena flags visible beyond it never stopped moving.

A woman sat behind the desk. Her eyes were long and her chin small. Even without a smile, the corners of her mouth turned slightly upward. Without moving her head, she shifted only her eyes. Kichan. Riphiel. Paul. Argaon. Her gaze did not leave Argaon at once. When his red eyes met hers, she was the first to look down at the documents.

"You are looking for Zadkiel?"

"Yes." She turned one sheet of paper and murmured,"The odds may have gone up a little this time." She pointed to the chairs.

"Sit." Once all four were seated, the clerk closed the door. The woman tapped a finger against the edge of the desk. One corner of an open document stirred in the breeze from the window. She pressed it down with her palm. From the broad road below came a shout for a cart to move, fading between the rooftops.

"The information fee is expensive. Will that be all right?" The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Argaon touched one of the money pouches at his waist. Kichan looked at that hand.

"How expensive?" Her smile deepened.

"The whole Demon Realm is buzzing about someone who struck it rich at the Arena yesterday." Argaon's hand left the pouch.

"Word has already reached here?"

"This is the Information Guild." Kichan folded his arms.

"So how much is the fee?"

"Half of what you earned yesterday." The room went quiet for a moment. Kichan looked at the woman's face.

"Is information always that expensive?"

"The person you seek is exceptional."

"And the price is not changing according to how much we made?" The woman did not answer. Kichan looked at Paul beside him. Paul had been looking out the window. When their eyes met, he straightened.

"What is it?"

"Father." Kichan pulled his chair a little closer.

"We need a prayer right now." Paul sat upright.

"For what?" Kichan pointed to the woman across the desk.

"Please pray that I escape this demonkin's trial." The corners of the woman's mouth stiffened. Paul looked at her, then at Kichan.

"I do not know what sort of trial this is, but if you ask for prayer, I will pray." He took out his rosary. He did not rise from the chair. He wrapped both hands around the rosary and closed his eyes. His dry thumb rested on the cross. A low, slow prayer began. At first, there was only his voice. Then golden light leaked between Paul's fingers. It made a round mark on the desk. Each time one rosary bead passed beneath his thumb, the mark widened. The walls and ceiling sank into the same light.

The black letters on the papers blurred beneath the gold. The window reflected the faces of everyone in the room over one another. The light spread beyond the window to the outer ledge. A demonkin gathering laundry from the roof across the way stopped and looked up. Even the metal fittings on a cart passing along the broad road flashed briefly in the same glow. The woman pressed herself against the back of her chair. Her hands remained on the desk, but her fingers curled inward.

Her gaze moved between Paul's rosary and the door. Paul slowly continued, asking that Kichan escape the trial safely, that he find his way, and that fear not lead him to a wrong choice. The light rose to the edges of the window. Footsteps stopped in the corridor. The prayer ended. Paul opened his eyes. The golden light slowly subsided as well. Kichan looked at the woman.

"How much did you say?" Her lips pressed together, then parted.

"... Half of the half."

"Father." Kichan looked at Paul again.

"Once more, please."

"Has the trial not ended yet?"

"It seems not." The woman quickly raised a hand.

"Wait." Paul had already closed his eyes. The second prayer began. This time the rosary shone before he finished the first sentence. The woman pushed her chair back. Its legs scraped the floor. Golden light covered the desk again. Outside the door came the sound of someone taking hold of the handle, then letting go. Riphiel did not move even when the light touched her face. Argaon narrowed his eyes at the woman's rigid shoulders. Paul's second prayer was shorter than the first.

"Do not let him lose his way." When the final words ended, the room returned to its original color. Kichan asked,"How much?" The woman slowly brought both hands up from beneath the desk.

"Two money pouches." Argaon detached two pouches from his waist and put them on the desk. Thud. The coins shifted inside.

"Should he pray more?" Kichan asked. The woman pulled the pouches toward herself.

"That will not be necessary." Paul arranged his rosary and said,"I am glad I could be of help." The woman looked at Paul. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. After a moment, she took a folded map from a desk drawer. It was a simple map showing only the city and the main roads leading beyond it. Her finger traveled along a road outside the capital.

"Go to the fiercest front in the war against the Yao." Her finger reached the edge of the map.

"It will be faster to meet the guard captain beside the One We Serve."

"Does that person know where Zadkiel is?"

"I do not know." When Argaon rose, the woman's gaze fixed on him again. This time it did not leave until he passed through the door. In the corridor, two waiting clerks hurried aside against the wall. One was holding his documents upside down. As Kichan went down the stairs, the low voices on the first floor returned one by one. While descending, Paul asked him,"Was it truly a trial?"

"Yes."

"I still do not know what sort of trial it was." Kichan looked back at the office door closing behind them.

"We nearly lost the chance to eat well." Paul put the rosary into his pocket.

"There are trials of that kind too, then." By the time they left the Information Guild, the sunlight had crossed to the other side of the roofs. The shadows along the broad road had lengthened, and another cheer announcing the afternoon matches rose from the Arena. Kichan unfolded the map in his hands. On the paper, the road from the capital to the front was no longer than a finger's length.

"It would be better to leave tomorrow." Riphiel said while looking at the map. Kichan nodded as well. On the way back to the inn, the four bought water and bread. Riphiel took the sack Paul offered to carry. Argaon bought dried meat with his own money and walked all the way back while eating from the open wrapping. The next day, the four divided the luggage and left the inn.