Professor Kal

"I highly doubt that." Priest Unilith let slip as he leaned back in his chair.

The man looked surprised at what the priest had just said. "Pardon me?"

Ryan couldn't help but roll his eyes at the Professor's gaffe, listening in as the Professor hastily covered up the odd remark. "I mean, Kalcifer had just arrived within the city, the timing is just odd is all."

"Right. Well, I cannot argue with your logic, but the witness is very reliable. There is no reason to doubt their words."

"Who is this witness? Where are they now?" Professor Kal asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Are you two alright?" The man asked, failing to give the Professor the answer he dėsɨrėd. "You both look awful, and I've never seen Paladin Hargrove make such sour looking faces."

Priest Unilith turned his head, glaring at the large man sitting beside him. "We're fine. We had just eaten something that must have been spoiled. You can never truly know what those… commoners put in your meals."

Chuckling, the man nodded his head. "That is true. Really, the only thing they are good for is giving us their spare coin." Once they all shared an awkward laugh, he continued. "But if you're not feeling well, I can always hand this off to another…"

"Absolutely not!" Priest Unilith interjected. "The Goddess's work is never done; we would be remiss if we were to neglect our duties due to a minor stomach bug. Isn't that right, Paladin Hargrove?"

"Uhh, yes." Ryan croaked out.

"Others should follow your example Brother Unilith, Paladin Hargrove." The man said, standing up from behind the desk and handing over a piece of parchment. "He's a merchant from Amine, his name is Leonard Trimbledone. He's well known in both our capital and Amine's, but just like everyone else, he is stuck within our walls. He's staying at an inn nearby; it shouldn't take too long to see what he has to say."

Priest Unilith took the piece of parchment from the man, skimming it over before tucking it away inside his brėȧst pocket. "Thanks, we'll go right over there and interrogate him."

"There's no need for the hostile tone, Mr. Trimbledone is an upstanding citizen, he's made several donations to better the church." The man said, sitting back down behind his desk.

"Oh, well, then what is the point of going over there at all, we might as well just round up this Kalcifer and burn him at the stake." Priest Unilith said in a nonchalant tone, causing Paladin Hargrove to shift uncomfortably.

Missing the sudden hostility in the air, the man laughed before speaking. "You know as well as I do, that we need it to look official, if we just burned him alive without crossing the t's and dotting the i's, we'd have even more paperwork to do in the end." He paused, gesturing to the towering piles of paperwork spread over his desk. "And that is something I want to avoid."

…..

"What are we gonna do?" Ryan asked as he closed the door behind them after leaving the office of the high-ranking man.

Professor Kal had produced a pair of silver rimmed glasses, the lenses of which were tinted a shade of green. Putting them on, he began to closely inspect the walls, floor, and ceiling of the long hallway they had used to get here. "We'll kill him, of course."

Ryan shook his head at the seemingly simple solution to their problem. "We can't just kill him, what about his guards or the fact that if the only 'witness' is killed, they would suspect us even more?"

Professor Kal stopped and picked his head up from the floor. "You make a fair point. Ok then, first, we'll get him to officially recant his testimony, then we'll kill him."

Letting out a sigh, Ryan looked at the priest in front of him clambering around on the marble floor. "What are you doing? If someone sees us their going to be suspicious."

"Aren't you curious as to how we entered on the ground floor and ended up at the top of a tower?" Professor Kal asked, with his nose only inches off of the polished floor.

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me." Ryan said with an exasperated tone.

"I wonder about you sometimes boy, you need to relax, enjoy the world around you. Really, what's the worst thing that'll happen if you stopped worrying about every little thing." Professor Kal said, standing up and putting his glasses away inside his ring.

"Uh, they could catch us, then torture us until we either die from blood loss or shock." Ryan said with a deadpan face.

Professor Kal started down the long hallway, leaving the morose Ryan behind. "I bet you're great fun at parties."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryan asked, following behind him but not receiving a reply.

…..

The streets running between the noble's houses were much less crowded when compared to the rest of the city, they were also cleared of snow on a daily basis. As they walked down the cobblestone-street, the finely dressed nobles and their servants all bowed as they passed. Soon, they found themselves in front of a familiar looking inn. It was the one that Professor Treffle and the students had stayed in the first night after their arrival.

They walked past the long line of people all trying, and failing, to bribe or influence the employees of the inn to give them rooms that were just not available. Ryan felt sympathy for the workers taking the brunt of the crowds' anger, he couldn't count the number of people that had yelled and screamed in his face over the last week, so he knew exactly what they were going through. As soon as the throng of people noticed the two church members, all of their yelling and curses ceased as their eyes followed them to the front.

"We're looking for a Leonard Trimbledone." Priest Unilith said with an uptight tone.

The poor woman that was running the desk looked up at him with trepidation in her eyes. She had dealt with the members of the church before, although arrogant and corrupt, they had never made her feel the way she was right now. When she looked into the priest's dull eyes, she felt all of her hair stand on end. "R…room twenty-five."

With a nod, the priest turned on his heel and headed up the stairs located not too far away. The paladin that towered over him looked small as he followed behind him, his heavy footsteps thudding on each wooden step. At the end of the hall on the second floor was a room with a brass twenty-five marking the door. Strange grunting noises were coming from inside, sounding like a boar rooting around in the dirt, searching for truffles.

Ryan looked at the Professor with an embarrassed look on his face, if his body still had blood he would be beet red at the moment. Professor Kal let out a derisive chuckle as he fiddled with the lock on the door. As Ryan heard the 'click' of the lock being picked, he took in a deep breath and prepared himself for what he was about to see on the other side.

Bursting in, Professor Kal strode inside with large steps, announcing the church's arrival with a loud voice. Ryan followed behind him, his eyes glued to the floor in hope of saving himself the awkwardness of interrupting the sensual act. What waited for them within the parlor of the opulent suite was anything but sensual. The largest man Ryan had ever seen, was seated in a plush, low sitting chair. He was dressed in fine silken sleepwear, and sweat had wicked into the fabric, creating large discolored patches. The sounds and sweat had not come from the man mȧkɨnġ ŀȯvė, but because he had been straining himself to reach the table filled with sweets placed just outside of arm's length.

The round man looked at the two of them with two beady eyes, that on a thinner person would have been wide with surprise. Professor Kal and Ryan both stared back in silence, each finding the situation to be more embarrassing than if they had walked in on him having sėx.

Clearing his throat, Professor Kal broke the tense atmosphere. "Are you Leonard?"

The fat man took a moment to process what was said to him before rapidly nodding his head, his multiple chins jiggling as he did so. "Y…yes, that is I, Leonard Trimbledone."

"Good." Professor Kal said, taking a seat across from the merchant. "I'm sure you're aware of why we are here. Go ahead and tell us what you know."

"May I have a moment to refresh myself? I'm afraid I was not expecting your arrival for quite some time." Leonard said as he struggled to get to his feet, crumbs falling off of his blue pajamas and embedding themselves into the rug below.

"Sit back down!" Professor Kal barked. "If you truly cared for your appearance you would have never gotten that way to begin with. I cannot be wasting my time on the likes of you, so just tell me what you know so I can be done with this farce."

Ryan took a step back, he could almost feel the anger radiating from the Professor as he glared at the man trembling before them. He had not a clue as to why he had suddenly grown so irate, but decided to just remain silent. Leonard quietly sat back down, the chair deforming almost to the point of failure as he did so. Professor Kal took out a quill and parchment, ready to record his false witness.

"I, uh… forgive me for anything that I may hav..."

"Just get on with it before I truly lose my temper!"

Fresh sweat beaded on Leonard's forehead as he opened and closed his mouth like a drowning fish, he was at a loss for words as the Priest in front of him stared daggers into his very soul. "I, uh… yes. Uh, As you already know, I, uh, I am a merchant by trade." His words became more coherent the longer he spoke. "I mainly dabble in luxury goods such as silk, perfume, jewelry, and the like. What some people may not know is that I'm also involved with the trading of… human commodities."

"So you're a slave trader?" Professor Kal pressed him.

"Well, in simplified terms, yes, but just like the other wares I trade in, I only handle the most desirable of slaves."

"What does that mean?" Ryan asked, his voice deep and intimidating.

The fat merchant looked over to the paladin still standing, a lecherous grin spreading across his face. "I can offer you a sample, if you're curious, free of charge of course."

Suddenly realizing the meaning behind his words, Ryan hastily shook his head, eliciting a small chuckle from the merchant. "No bother, the offer will always remain on the table to my friends in the church."

"So, what do slaves have to do with necromancy?" Professor Kal said, not amused with the current banter between Ryan and Leonard.

Straightening up, Leonard got back on topic. "I'm not sure to be honest, I am not familiar with magic, not to mention the dark arts. I only know that while I was in Amine, I was solicited by a mage for some of my finer goods."

Professor Kal narrowed his eyes. "Go on."

Leonard was put off by the intense glare and intimidating tone coming from the priest seated across from him, so he hurriedly completed his testimony. "Well, it wouldn't have been the first time that I had sold goods to mages, it is actually quite commonplace for them to indulge themselves with the commodities I provide. What struck me as strange is the frequency of his purchases. At first it was just one, a young girl, just bȧrėly into ȧduŀthood. Then only a week later, he had purchased two more slaves, even younger than the first." The fat merchant paused to take a raspy breath before continuing.

"Then the number jumped to five the following week. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I was happy to find such a wealthy customer, a repeat one at that, but even I could tell there was something amiss with what was transpiring."

"Is that all you have? Just a man buying a bunch of slaves?" Professor Kal said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.

A serious look spread across Leonard's pudgy face as he leaned forward, with no small effort, and lowered his voice. "The number is not the strangest part. All of the young maidens that I sold the man were unsoiled, never knowing the touch of a man.. With all of those signs combined with the rumors I later heard, there's just no other explanation than that man dabbling into the dark arts."