Chapter 2 – Corruption in the Body
Once Bonito arrives, I tell her about what happened.
“I’m so sorry, Benedetto. You aren’t going to-”
“No, I’m not going to. I’ve already been asked a hundred times already.”
“I see.”
“Tell me who we’re dealing with.”
“First, we’re dealing with a group of infiltrators called Pura Humanitas within the Church. They appear to seek to destroy it from the inside out in though we don’t know their true motives yet. Those were the goat demons you saw. We’ve been suspicious of corrupted clergy but didn’t know things would turn out like this.”
“I’ll take them out first.”
“I thought you would. I already have Sparrows going through the clergy, but chances are that they’re in hiding. The second group of people that attacked us is called the Tyrant Apostles. They’re a group of people who think that God’s sacrifice for us relived us of our sins and the future sins we commit, therefore, we cannot be sinful beings at all and don’t need to worry about sinning. These were the knights in crimson golden armor. We’ve been watching them for a while, but we didn’t know they would attack you.”
“They’re next on my list after that. Are the two groups one now or?”
“We think they only came together for this one attack, which is why it was so strong. It’s unlikely that they’ll work together again like this, but we don’t know. These people have largely been very secretive even for some of the Sparrows who are experienced in being undercover. They looked like such small problems that we didn’t think we needed to bother with them until now.”
“Give me a location to start at.”
“Castita is one where I don’t have any Sparrows yet. It’s that place where both the laity and priesthood are able to clear their minds in peace. I’ll head over there with you as soon as I’m done organizing our forces. Your help would be appreciated.”
I disappear before Bonito finishes talking. I don’t want to involve anyone else I know at least for now.
‘You know Bonito is going to join you as soon as she can right then yell at you?’
I know. I’m honestly just acting impulsively right now because of what happened.
‘Aren’t you going to go back then?’
No, I have a plan.
‘Oh really? Show me then.’
Give me my sneaking clothes. The white version. Also, give me my smaller knives and throwing knives.
‘Here. Careful with the knives. I just sharped them in my spare time.’
Thanks. I’m going to need them extra sharp for this.
Since the attack happened, the Pura Humanitas should be one of the things that people are talking about. I should overhear something about them. It doesn’t take long for me to hear something about Pura from the crowd.
“What those priests and monks did to Benedetto and his hometown was uncalled for.”
“I knew there was clergy in the church who aren’t the best, but I didn’t think they’d form a group like the Pura. What do you know about them?”
“From the priests I know, there are certain ones who go against dogma because Benedetto and other heroes like him don’t always use the blessings given to them by God. This makes them think they can change the world without God and even think they can use the powers of the devil without becoming evil themselves. What a bunch of idiots.”
“Do you know who these idiots are?”
“No, but I heard they’re going to meet at an abandoned monastery not too far from here later today to meet and plan their next attack.”
“You heard that? We should report it to the Sparrows.”
“Quiet. Pura could be overhearing our conversation as we speak. I’ve been trying to get away from the crowd to get on a horse to get out of here, but I haven’t been able to find one. It’s like they’ve all been taken.”
That could mean Pura is going to start their meeting soon. I better head over to that monastery.
‘I marked the place on your map. Here.’
Thanks, Tunc.
‘Uh oh. Bonito is here and I can already tell she’s mad.’
She brought some help too and oh no. She brought Donna.
‘You’re in trouble, my friend.’
I don’t care about that. Let’s hurry to the monastery.
‘Donna is already yelling for you.’
I’m ignoring it.
‘You’re going to get a beating when you see her again. Are you sure you don’t want to lessen it by telling her what you know now?’
No, I want to do this on my own. I can’t keep relying on others to help me. I want to show them that I can do some things by myself.
‘You’re trying to be a real man, aren’t ya? I don’t blame you. I did the same thing.’
Then stop talking about it. Give me my movement enhancing boots and smoke bombs.
‘Here. Now you’re really moving through the forest. Decking out your arsenal in your downtime really paid off, doesn’t it?’
It better. I didn’t do all of that work for other people for nothing. I did everything in my power to make sure my Sparrows, family, friends, and myself were given everything so they can be prepared for anything. I guess I didn’t think of everything.
‘No one can think of everything. Don’t be hard on yourself.’
I’ll try not to be. We’re here now.
‘This place doesn’t give me a good feeling.’
I feel it too.
‘It might be haunted by demons. Be careful.’
Go it.
This place feels even worse on the inside. It seems like nighttime in here even though it’s the early afternoon outside. The dust in here is so thick that I have to use my shirt to breathe properly. It’s like winter in her with how cold it is. Huh? I think I heard creaking in the floors.
‘Be on your guard. Look for moving shadows.’
Shh…There!
I turn around and slash a shadow’s neck open. Another few try jumping on me, but I manage to cut them down before they hit me. Several then attack me at once and I counter by doing a three-sixty degree slash to cut them all down at once.
‘Good job. Those demons possess you once they enter your body.’
It’s a good thing I always practice then.
The feeling in here has gotten less cold and less dense. As I explore the building, I find several books on heroes and holy books without much dust on them. The rest of this place looks like it was recently used despite the heavy dust. Maybe Pura thought dusting up this place would make it look abandoned. That meeting might be starting soon, so I find a hiding spot and wait. It doesn’t take too long until I hear people coming in. I can’t understand what they’re saying yet, but they sound distressed. That’s good.
“How was I supposed to know that his wife would protect him?”
I can hear them now and see them. They’re definitely clergy. How could they be this way?
“Of course that monster of a woman would protect him. She’s devoted to that man as if he was the last thing on earth she had.”
I’m not going to kill them. I’m going to humiliate these people. It’s going to be harsh especially since they talked about Donna in that way.
“Benedetto’s forces were as tough as we thought. We almost got him.”
“But what if he reset time so he could see our strength?”
“If he reset time, he would’ve arrested us already and his family and friends would still be alive. Besides, he’s a better hero than that. He doesn’t need his time blessing to be a great hero.”
Wow. I never expected them to compliment me.
“We needed him to survive, to see his dead family, and to not reset time. This is going according to plan. All we need for him is to meet us, which he should soon.”
“Maybe he’s already here.”
“That might actually be true. The feeling in here isn’t what it used to be. Benedetto! Come out. We have to speak to you.”
‘These clerics have strong demonic energy within them.’
I’ll talk to them.
‘Are you sure?’
I’ve always tried the least bloody option first and almost tasted death already. What’s the worst that can happen?
‘You wouldn’t want to know.’
Donna and Bonito are probably going to figure out where I am and be here soon. There’s nothing to worry about.
“You people better start explaining yourself,” I say as I step out of the shadows of my hiding spot.
“Our only objective is to better humanity.”
“And you did that by submitting to the devil? I thought people like you were supposed to be smarter than that.”
“We are. How do you think we came to our conclusion? Curb your tongue, young man. Your superiors know better.”
“My superiors know better than you. Just because you’re older and know more about the faith doesn’t mean that you’re right about your beliefs.”
“We know that you didn’t get this far with God’s help. You did everything on your own without even using the special blessings of a hero.”
“Everything I am and everything I’ve accomplished is because God is good and thanks to Him. I couldn’t exist without Him.”
“The Church doesn’t have the authority to define our beliefs and our relationship with God. He’s given that authority to all of his followers.”
“Don’t even joke about that. If anyone has the authority to define their beliefs and their relationship with God, then you give people the power to define the root of all morality itself. You might as well say humans can be good without God or that there’s no such thing as the one true faith. Your beliefs are absurd. Turn yourself in so you have time to make yourself right with God.”
“There’s four of us and only one of you. Are you really going to try to fight-”
That’s all I needed to hear. I quickly throw a smoke bomb in the middle of them and knock one of them down. Ah! I got cut.
“That isn’t going to work on us! Satan has gifted us with the vision to see you in this smoke!”
That’s fine. I could use the challenge. I’ve practiced fighting martial artists in my spare time and Donna, but mostly with Donna since she liked to spar for obvious reasons. These people are challenging, but nothing too bad for me even with their demonically enhanced skills. Their numbers become a detriment to them as I use their friends as shields and as weapons by throwing them at them. I win in a matter of minutes.
‘How are you going to bring them back?’
Oh. Didn’t think about that.
I find some rope, tie them up, and drag them out of the monastery. Since I’m stronger than I was before, it’s not impossible for me to do this, but it’s still a chore. It reminds me of some of the training I had to do to become this strong. Ah. There are Bonito and Donna coming this way now and they look mad. I might have to use that time traveling blessing now.
‘Are you serious? Because you sound serious.’
I feel like I am. I’m not sure if I should give them a smile or be serious. My face feels like it’s contorting to do both in a panic because I know Donna is going to hit me. Instead of doing anything, I stand my ground with a strong face on.
As my friends surround me, I say to them, “I managed to find some of the members of Pura Humanitas and capture them. They told me about their motivations and thinking. Take them in for further questioning.”
A couple of my Sparrows take the captives and go away, but Donna and Bonito along with their guards stay.
My strong demeanor starts to weaken, but I try to strengthen it by saying, “I know I acted impulsively, but that’s because I wanted to prove to you that you don’t always have to protect me. After I lost my family, I just felt so weak and had to show that I was still strong to everyone especially those close to me. I’m sorry.”
Donna gets off her horse and approaches me. I keep my strong face on though I’m just bracing for a hit…Huh? Donna hugs me instead of hitting me when I did something she didn’t want me to. That’s a first. She is squeezing me though.
She says, “I know how you feel. I feel the same way, but you can’t just go out by yourself like this. I know you can just go back in time in case you die, but I don’t even want to think about that. Please, let us help you.”
“Alright. You can hel-”
“Is that all?!” Donna says as she squeezes me harder, “You just wanted to do something to feel stronger as if you lost your manhood?!”
“I…I…can’t breathe…”
‘These are always my favorite parts.’
Shut up!
I manage to slip out and push her away.
“I’m…I’m sorry. I said I was sorry, Donna.”
“You’re going to have to do a lot more to prove that to me especially since you went off on your own and pushed me away.”
“Fine. I’ll…do whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
“We already have enough kids!”
Bonito shakes her head at us with a smile while some of the guards behind them whisper and laugh amongst themselves. Even after so many years, Donna has something over me that makes me submit to her. Once I see my Sparrows who took away the heretics, they tell me everything they know since we have effective methods of getting information out of people. It’s an old Sparrow trick from when they were bandits. Pura Humanitas and the Tyrant Apostles are the same group called Lavit Manus. They’re a group of people from all cultures who a bit too zealous for their belief in God and have separated themselves because they feel that they’re purer than the Church. Because of our underground network and intelligence in public from my close friends in Cuchillos, I’ve been able to get the names and locations of most of these people. We’re hunting them down as we speak.”
‘You always have your ways of accomplishing your challenges faster than expected.’
I try to minimalize fighting and deaths. That’s the way I do things. You should know that by now.
‘I’m just saying. In fact, it’s a good thing. Because of your plans, dozens of lives have been saved.’
I hope I’ve saved as many as possible.
“Okay, Bonito. What’s our part in the plan?”
“I thought you’d want to be on the frontlines of the next battle with Lavit Manus. They’re said to launch their next big offensive against the Fedele capital of La Santa Vedere tomorrow.”
“How could they launch an attack against a holy city? Of course, I’ll be on the frontlines.”
“I thought so. Well, get some rest and be up early tomorrow. Lavit Manus doesn’t know we know their plans so we’re going to launch a surprise attack on them as a way of getting back at them for what they did with us.”
“I can’t wait for that.”
Donna says, “But it’s time for you to rest. Come on.”
“Okay, I will. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Have a good rest,” Bonito says as she goes back to work with the other strategists.
It’s almost nighttime so Donna and I get a quick bite to eat then go to an Inn to rest.
In bed, I say, “It’s crazy what happened today, isn’t it? All of these different things and we’re finally resting after it.”
Donna holds me closer while silently staring me in the eyes. That’s never a good sign.
“You said before that you didn’t like me when we first met.”
‘Oh no, Benedetto, you messed up. You never tell a woman you don’t like them. They hold onto that.’
“That was a long time ago. Besides, we got married and everything during the same time, so I changed my mind after getting to know you better.”
“Was I disgusting to you? Overbearing? Too touchy?”
“A-It doesn’t matter what I was thinking back then because right now, you’re the most beautiful and important woman in my life.”
“You stuttered!”
“Okay, why are you really asking me this?”
“Why won’t you have sex with me?”
“Oh, psh. Of course, it’s about that. It’s because we’re fine with the number of kids we have. I told you this over and over again. Why are you so horny?”
“Because I want to show you how much I love you. I want to comfort you and feel closer to you so that you know how much I love you.”
“I appreciate it, but you don’t have to do it that way. That’s not the main reason why people have sex you know?”
“I know. Sort of.”
“You’ve already proved to me how much you love me, and I love you with all of my heart. Just remember that.”
“Okay, but…” Donna climbs on top of me, “We’re sleeping like this tonight.”
“Okay. Fine.”
I swear when we sleep like this, Donna sometimes suffocates me with her chest. I might die of that one day if I’m careful.
‘Hey, it’s not a bad way to go.’
Shut up.
‘Haha. I’m just saying.’
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