The Vatican's office is at the heart of the Church. It is fortunate that the Church operates 24/7, and the Vatican are not always present in the Church itself. Add the fact that my mission is from the Pope himself, getting to the Vatican room should be easy.

"Knight Azure, need anything?" Sister Jana greets me from the reception desk.

"Evening, Sister Jana. I need to enter the Vatican room." Sister Jana blinks her eyes in surprise. "Mission from the Pope himself."

"Oh," she thinks for a moment, "you have to understand, we cannot just allow anyone to go in and out of the Vatican room without proper orders."

"I understand," I look her in the eye as I solemnly nod to show that I am not here to make her jobless and dead. "You can confirm my mission from the Pope's files." By this, I mean checking with the Office of the Pope.

She stays behind her desk. "If this is for a mission, would you not have been given the files appropriate for your mission?"

"I have, but they are insufficient."

"Insufficient, how?" She is prying. The thing is, the involvement of Cardinal Suarez complicates a lot of things. Pope gave the mission directly to me. The only other people who know of all these are Monsignor, technically my guardian, and Priest Miguel, a mission keeper. Other than that, no other people or offices of any level know about this. Regular missions would run down the chain until it reaches the assigned person, but this one is different. Which is why I am throwing back the ball to the Pope.

"Please just run this through the Pope's office. It will be much better and easier for the two of us," I give an apologetic smile.

"Hm, all right." She goes out of her desk and gestures, "Please wait here for a while." Then, she walks up to the Pope's office.

It's so quiet at night. It is unusual for Hoxwell to sound so silent, especially in the Church. The Church is quiet, but the outside always has the usual hustle and bustle of the city. So, I think that this Vatican visit should go smoothly.

I hear a step outside the door.

I immediately stand, look left and right, and decide to head to the direction of the comfort room before the person enters the Church.

"Ah, why does the Pope have to always, always, stay inside the Church?" Cardinal Suarez. Shit.

Sister Jana has to come out of the Office of the Pope, say nothing but a greeting to Cardinal Suarez, and tell me whether I can enter the Vatican room or not while Cardinal Suarez is busy. Then, either I get in, get the information, and get out while Cardinal Suarez is busy; or I wait for Cardinal Suarez to leave before I go in. The first option requires speed, the second risks suspicion.

I slowly walk back to the reception area. "Good evening, Cardinal Suarez," I hear Sister Jana say.

Nothing else.

At that, I enter the reception area and lean by the desk. I cock my head to the side, looking at her.

"The Pope grants your request." She hands me two keys, then adds, "He says, 'Be quick and report back to me.'" Report back?

I nod, "Thank you."

The Vatican's office is not locked, so I quietly enter it and close the door behind me. The Vatican room, on the other hand, hides behind the bookshelf placed behind the desk at the very end of the long room.

I swiftly, and soundlessly, walk from the door to the end of the room and do a quick check on the shelf by running my hand all over it, just to be sure I can move it with no problem. I pull one side of the shelf forward until I know I can fit between the wall and the shelf, then use a key to unlock the door behind it.

I enter, pull the shelf back, and close the door.

Five minutes, I tell myself as I turn on the light.

The Vatican room contains four lines of vaults of the bishops and archbishops. These lines of vault open up five walk spaces from the door to the opposite wall. The opposite wall holds the biggest vault for the Pope, and the left and right walls of the room hold the vaults of the cardinals.

Cardinal Suarez. Either these are arranged alphabetically or based on power. Alphabetical first.

I head to the right wall, for the letter S is in the second half of the alphabet. The first thing I notice: It's not alphabetical. Nevertheless, I look through the names and run to the other wall to look again.

Suarez is engraved on the vault sitting on the corner of the left wall and the Pope's wall. I take the other key and open Cardinal Suarez's vault.

-

It is fortunate that Cardinal Suarez left immediately after a short talk with the Pope. This Sister Jana said when I asked if I can report back to the Pope already.

"Come in," the Pope calls after I knock.

I place the keys on his desk and he asks, "What do you have for me?"

I give a summary of the lives of Waterlily the Nun and Mother Heidi.

"And Suarez?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Priest Miguel's files about Cardinal Suarez are severely insufficient. I imagine this is because entering the Vatican room and being discrete about it is difficult."

"Yet you did it."

"I did, but Sister Jana did make it a bit difficult."

The Pope smiled. "She is only doing her job."

"I agree."

"So you entered the Vatican. Was it worthwhile?" I hear the impatience in his voice.

"Cardinal Suarez was born in Dimmertown." I eliminate irrelevant information, such as his body measurements and age. "He was the son of Riah and Crono, both vegetable merchants. When Cardinal Suarez was 8, his parents died of injuries caused by an earthquake. When he turned 16, he entered the Church voluntarily. He became a bishop at the age of 23, and archbishop at 28. That's when he started recruiting members to the Church.

"Cardinal Suarez never involved himself in direct activities and dealings, but he makes people do his bidding. Records of him say he never set foot again in Dimmertown after his parents died, but it was odd how he avoids it so completely after all this time. I doubt it's trauma."

The Pope slowly nods to this, looking at the wall.

"His parents' death records declare only 'Death by Earthquake Injuries', but his journals seem to imply otherwise. Cardinal Suarez is keen on structures and processes, so we know how he always keeps everything in order, step by step, organized, and planned."

The Pope snorts. "My Dimmertown project is going askew because of his stickler self."

I nod and continue, "I imagine this habit of his also reflects on his family's livelihood. His journals kept tabs on when and where people usually go, how much this and that cost, and when inspectors, officials, and authorities come.

"A week before the earthquake, Cardinal Suarez wrote that the market was inspected by a government engineer. He says, 'As always, the engineer admired the market. Of course! This place is the best!' He also kept newspaper clippings from the incident. Headlines were 'Historic Dimmertown Market has fallen as earthquake hits', 'Chief City Engineer swears the inspection went right, fired', and 'Mayor laments the fall of Market, says the earthquake was too strong'

"His final journal before he turned 16 narrates, 'If only those stupid flower merchants gave those men what they wanted, the Market wouldn't have been involved. They could've taken their business elsewhere. But they made their problem everybody's problem.

"'Now I know.

"'It's the Chapel. Those men were from the Chapel and they hated the Market because flower vendors refused to sell their stupid Poppy drug. They're all around Dimmertown. They remembered my face when I ran into them last month, so I ran all the way to Hoxwell. Stupid.

"'But here in Hoxwell, I keep hearing that in Dimmertown, the Empire is rising. If only they rose sooner, maybe it would've been better. Nevermind. I'll enter the Church and start my plan nice. And. Slow.'"

The Pope is quiet for some moments. He looks me in the eye and asks, "What plan?"

"He never wrote the plan, but I saw some files he's hidden. The people he recruited, they're not for the Chapel. They're for him."

The Pope gradually turns grim. "So he's the traitor?"

"Not exactly," I answer.

"What do you mean?" He glares at me. "Just spit it out."

"It all started with Liliana. Or Waterlily the Nun. She became a dealer because of her farm, where she sneaked for the Poppies. Liliana was taken in by a Rita, at first in secret, because she was under the care of the Aunt Marguaruite. Liliana slowly poisoned Marguaruite, then officially joined Rita.

"According to Cardinal Suarez's correspondence, Rita is only a nickname. The letters are signed by Harriette. Harriette of Antonnia's Estate and Louis' Strawberries and White Patisserie. Harriette, the Chapel's Mother Heidi.

"Records say that both Waterlily the Nun and Mother Heidi were recruited by a certain Señor Zeus. I never heard of him, but in his correspondence, Cardinal Suarez signs as Zeus. He is Zeus.

"It seems," I take a pause, "that Cardinal Suarez's long plan is to recruit people who have been wronged in one way or another by the Chapel, make them do his bidding, and destroy the Chapel. The Poppy Contract has been known as the project that will successfully topple the Empire and put the Chapel on the pedestal. Ruining this will give the Empire a big advantage in getting the government to their side."

The Pope thinks for a moment, then looks at me. "You say 'people who have been wronged by the Chapel', what about Waterlily?"

I carefully choose my words, "As of tonight, I only reviewed the documents given to me and those in the Vatican room, sir. I still do not have proof, but I think," I take a breath, "that Liliana's family's business, Birrough's Best, asked for blessing from the Chapel. For protection. The Chapel may have had refused."

"I can take care of that." The Pope takes a paper, writes something, and calls for his assistant.

When the assistant receives the paper, she reads it, nods, and disappears behind the door. I remain standing; both the Pope and I bask in tension and silence while waiting for her. No longer than five minutes did the assistant come back bearing an envelope. This envelope she hands to the Pope.

The Pope reads the files and grunts. He paces the room while reading more and more until he slams the papers on his desk and growls.

So it's true. I stand firmly, waiting for a question, an answer, an order, or any signal to do something.

He grasps the papers in his hands, waving them at me. "What do you think?"

"I still lack concrete evidence, sir."

He returns to his seat, clearly distressed but trying to air it off. It comes off as borderline insanity and hysteria.

He gestures for me to come closer, and I oblige. "But you already know."

"Yes, sir."

"Spell it out for me. Who's the traitor?"

"All of them."