After the necromancer scandal, the priests walked fast, looking back every three steps.
The novices avoided eye contact like suspicion was contagious.
If one of the best scribes had fallen into darkness, then anyone could be next.
The reports piled up on Father Marius's desk, accusing him silently.
The Council was furious, demanding heads, but what kept him awake wasn't the necromancy itself, but the anomaly that had been too close to everything.
That boy.
"He was in the Crypt and he was close to the pillar during the Ascension," Marius muttered while tapping his fingers on the dark wood.
"Too many coincidences for a simple orphan."
He called his assistant, a man with the face of a hunting dog who followed orders without asking uncomfortable questions.
"I want eyes on the orphan. If he breathes differently, I want to know before he exhales."
Raziel walked toward his dorm with the posture of a tired novice after a long day.
'The surveillance pattern changed. There are two more guards in the east wing since this morning.'
When he reached his door, he stopped before touching the knob because something in the air felt wrong.
There was no noise or light leaking under the door, but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
He opened the door slowly and silence welcomed him.
In the gloom, a thin silhouette was rummaging through his trunk with the clumsiness of someone who clearly had never done this before.
A kid playing spy because someone more powerful ordered him to.
Raziel didn't scream or get surprised, he simply closed the door behind him with deliberate calm.
CLICK!
The sound of the lock falling was like a gunshot in the room.
The intruder jumped, turning around with bulging eyes and hands still clutching Raziel's notes.
"I... uh... the door was open and I thought that..."
Raziel didn't answer because words right now would be a waste.
[SYSTEM: TARGET ANALYSIS]
Name: Novice Kael Mc'suka
Affiliation: Director Marius's Pawn (Coerced via threat to family)
Power Level: Inferior (Rank F, no combat training)
Current Mental State: Extreme panic. Probability of psychological collapse if sustained pressure is applied: 94%
[WARNING]
Elimination of target would result in direct suspicion from Marius.
Probability of intensified investigation: 87%
[NOTE]
Target is alone.
No active communication with outside.
Action window before next patrol round: 2 minutes 43 seconds
"Were you looking for something in particular, Kael?"
Raziel asked with a soft voice, almost pious.
The boy opened his mouth to answer, but the air got stuck in his throat.
His survival instinct screamed: PREDATOR. RUN. RUN NOW OR DIE.
The System confirmed what Raziel could already smell in the air:
[UPDATE]
Target Status: Paralysis by terror. Involuntary loss of sphincter control detected. Minor psychological trauma guaranteed.
"I-I heard rumors about you and just... I was just curious, I swear," the boy squealed while dropping the papers, he literally peed himself.
"I won't tell anyone, please!"
Raziel got closer until his face was inches away from the intruder, close enough for Kael to see every detail of those eyes that now looked like bottomless pits.
"Tell whoever sent you that my dirty laundry and class notes don't hide any secret worthy of their time"
Raziel whispered, and then the coldness disappeared at once, replaced by the mask of the innocent and slightly scared novice.
"And Kael... clean that up before you leave, okay? The smell is terrible."
The boy nodded frantically with tears rolling down his cheeks and ran out as soon as Raziel stepped aside to let him pass, tripping over his own feet in the process.
Raziel sighed deeply and rubbed his temples because he knew exactly what was coming next.
[EVENT REGISTERED: "Eyes of the Church"]
Probability of direct interrogation by Marius:71%
Estimated time until contact: 8-14 hours
Recommendation: Prepare credible alibi
The next day, just as the System had predicted, it wasn't a novice who came to look for him but a direct order that arrived during breakfast.
The Director didn't even look up when Raziel entered, leaving him standing in the center of the room for several minutes.
"Sit."
Raziel obeyed and sank into the chair with slumped shoulders, his gaze on the floor and restless hands on his lap.
'I am a scared fifteen-year-old boy because the Director called me.'
Marius finally looked up and his gray eyes dug into Raziel like drills looking for oil.
"A novice was found last night crying in the east hallway, practically incoherent. When he finally managed to articulate something useful, he said you had 'scared' him," Marius explained while interlacing his fingers on the desk, studying every micro-expression of Raziel.
"I found him going through my stuff without permission, Father. I think he got scared when I discovered him because he knew he was doing something bad,"
Raziel replied with a slightly trembling voice, enough to sound nervous but not guilty.
"Curious, very curious," Marius muttered leaning forward.
"It's also curious that you were in the Crypt, and that you were close to the altar during the Ascension ceremony when that... incident with the pillar happened. You are present in many places where misfortunes seem to concentrate, Raziel Celeste."
"I guess I have bad luck, Father"
Raziel said shrugging with the perfect humility of someone who doesn't understand why fate treats him like this.
"Luck?" Marius let out a dry laugh without humor.
"In St. Celeste we don't believe in luck, boy. We believe in Cause and Effect, in that every action has a measurable and traceable consequence."
The silence stretched between them and Marius was desperately looking for a crack in Raziel's armor of innocence.
Raziel didn't give him any because he had perfected this acting during all those damn lives.
"Don't play the hero in this story, because heroes here usually end up on a funeral pyre before turning twenty. Is that clear?"