"And..." he hesitated.
I parroted him. "And?"
He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. Then he murmured. "There are… rumors. Or speculation. That the reason why the Shadow’s Evangelium fell, was because… of your mother."
"Why—" I cut myself off. I did not care about that; not at this moment. "That doesn’t matter though."
"But it does matter," he countered. "Hrmph, some people think your mother betrayed the Evangelium. That she was the cause of its downfall. They’re a minority, but they do exist. They don’t trust you. I’m sure they are waiting to pounce on you if you show any weakness. And if you were to act against our cause, even just a little bit, I’m sure they would call you a traitor, just like your mother."
I stepped back, affronted. "I’m not going to betray anyone!"
"I know, I believe you. But these are the facts. I can only offer you support. But other than that, there is nothing you and I can do."
I looked at the Orc— really looked at him; he seemed upset, bothered by what he was asking of me. And yet, he still did it.
Was he pitying me? Trying to manipulate me? Or did he truly care for me? I did not know. I was overwhelmed, and so I whirled around and began to leave. Gerritt tried calling after me.
"Melas, wait! What are you going to—"
"I’m sorry, Gerritt. I just need some time to think," I spoke over him. "But I’m not going to keep quiet about this. This… it’s wrong. The others— they have to know."
The Orc wavered, and he did not stop me. "Just… don’t do anything you’ll regret," he said, as I exited the room.
I mumbled under my breath.
"Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m not an idiot."
Ihsan was not back yet, but I found Karna after a while. The Goblin seemed tired and was probably heading to bed— considering the events of today— but I still told him about what happened. What I saw.
Maybe I should have waited until tomorrow, when he was less exhausted; however I could not wait. I had to rant. Vent out my anger to someone who would not justify letting Victor do as he pleased.
At first, I felt vindicated; Karna was appalled when he heard about it, although he was not surprised. He expressed abhorrence similar to mine.
"Hm, I knew I never liked him. He is strong, but he does not carry himself the way one should."
"It’s terrible, right?" I asked meekly, just to confirm whether he agreed with me.
"Indeed," Karna said with a frown. "The Dark Acolyte’s reasoning is flawed; there is no justice in his actions, only pleasure. It is unacceptable."
"I know!" I exclaimed. Then I buried my face into my hands. "It’s disgusting… but when I told Gerritt about it, he told me we have to compromise. That it’s better this way," I said with a sigh.
The Goblin jerked. "The Commander knows about this?"
I nodded solemnly.
"Yes, Gerritt— and some of the Infernalis— are letting Victor do whatever he wants. Just as long as he does it to their enemies, it’s fine. But it’s not! It can’t be. You can’t excuse something so vile just because it benefits you."
"But that’s…" Karna hesitated. He lowered his head, an overcast expression on his face. "No, I do not understand the reasoning behind that. The Infernalis should not be allowing this."
He placed a hand on my shoulder, and I smiled for a moment; I was glad there was at least someone who agreed with me here. But I pushed the feeling aside, focusing on the task at hand.
"So what do we do, Karna?" I asked.
"I am… not sure."
"What do you mean? Is there really nothing we can do?" I asked pleadingly.
"If the Infernalis refuses to stop Disciple Victor, we can’t stop him," he said. I was about to protest, but he raised a finger and spoke over me. "But, that does not mean we stay idle. There is still one thing we can do, Melas."
I raised an eyebrow at that. "And that is?"
"We change the Infernalis," Karna stated.
"What?"
"The Infernalis is the one that is willing to overlook people like Victor. He may be an exception, but tell me: is he the only one?" He cocked a brow as he quizzed me.
The realization hit me and my eyes widened. "There are more like Victor?"
"Exactly," Karna said, his eyes glowing more than just its usual yellow. "This is not an isolated problem. There is no single unique individual in the world, and the Dark Crusaders have very many members. So the chances that he is the only Dark Acolyte receiving this special treatment is incredibly low. I’m not saying every Dark Acolyte is treated that way, but there has to be at least dozens more like him."
Karna had to be right; things like this might not always have been endemic, but it certainly was not the only time it happened. "So what can we do? How do we change the Infernalis?"
"We have to get stronger, of course."
"How would that help?" My lips curled downwards into a frown. "Are you suggesting we kill him?"
"No"— the Goblin stared at me with a blank face— "Absolutely not, why would you even think that?"
He sighed as I shuffled my feet uncomfortably at my own suggestion.
"If we become stronger, we can become a part of the Infernalis. There, we can change it from the inside. Fix all the problems within the Dark Crusaders. Not just with this, but there are many flaws— problems that need to be addressed— that are left unaddressed. I’ve always believed in doing that."
"But that’s… how long
