The guard tried to search for me for a few more minutes, but I was nowhere to be found.
Eventually, he gave up and returned to his post, thinking I had really gone home to complain to my father.
But I was right there — just a few corridors past the High Priest’s room, hiding in the maintenance closet, waiting for nightfall.
Soon, night fell.
The cathedral descended into silence as the last echoes of evening prayers faded. Everyone left the building, including the guards.
My guess was that only the Enforcers were still guarding the checkpoints on the floors, but aside from them, there was no one else in the building.
By now, my legs ached from being folded into such a cramped space for so long. Still, I did not open the door. I did not come out.
Not yet.
Vigilance demanded patience.
I had only one chance at this.
I wanted to be absolutely sure that I wouldn’t be caught.
So, I waited a few more hours.
Only when it was midnight, and the moon was at the zenith of the starry black sky, did I decide to come out.
I eased the door open and stepped out of the maintenance closet. The mop behind me almost fell from my movement, but I caught it before it made any noise and shut the door quietly behind me.
The corridor was bathed in the pale moonlight pouring in from the arched windows. It wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t exactly bright either.
Pressing myself against the wall and staying away from the windows, I started walking.
The High Priest’s chamber was just a few turns away.
It didn’t even take me a minute to reach it.
I glanced at the heavy titanium door for a moment before taking out the keycard I had stolen from the guard earlier.
As soon as I placed the keycard on the scanner, it made a beeping noise that sounded louder in the night’s quiet than it was supposed to be, and the locking mechanism in the titanium door clicked open.
I smirked.
Okay.
So far, so good.
Nodding to myself, I slipped inside the room. It wasn’t anything extraordinary.
It was just a plain and unremarkable office.
Framed landscapes and photographs of the High Priest contributing to or attending various city events adorned the walls.
A lush carpet, woven from the finest wool and silk, blanketed the floor.
At the far end of the room was a large desk, its polished wood reflecting the faint glow of moonlight falling in from the grand window behind it.
The window offered picturesque view of the city.
Stacks of papers sat neatly atop the desk. Tall shelves filled with books and tomes lined the walls.
A pair of leather couches and a small round table sat in the center, completing the scene.
As I said — it was just a plain office.
But plain offices often hold the darkest secrets.
And I wasn’t here to just admire the décor. My eyes quickly scanned the entire room, taking note of anything of potential use.
I moved to the desk first. The faint scent of incense clung to the wood, mixing with the sterile tang of polished surfaces.
The desk’s drawer was locked, naturally. But that wasn’t a problem.
I took out two thin metal hairpins from under my sleeve. Their tips were already bent to my liking.
The truth is, picking locks is rarely complicated. It requires practiced skill, sure.
But with the right tools and correct guidance, even a toddler can do it.
The principle remains the same. If you learn how to open one lock, you’d quickly understand how to open the rest.
…Well, unless you’re dealing with something like a scanner lock, in which case you’re not picking — you’re hacking. Or outright breaking.
For standard locks, though, the method is simple.
Take two thin metal wires, each bent at a slight angle. You’ll use one as a tension wrench to apply the right pressure and the other as a pick to… well, pick the pins.
Insert the wrench into the keyhole as a lever, turning it gently to create tension. Use the second wire to probe above it.
Inside the locks, there are several pins.
Most of the pins should move easily, except one.
The one pin that resists is called the binding pin.
Your job is to find that pin, push against it, and listen for the telltale click as it resets.
Once that happens, another pin becomes the binding pin at random. You go back and forth to find that new binding pin and push against it.
The process repeats until all the pins resets.
A standard lock has five to six pins. High-security locks can have more. Sometimes these pins could also be distributed across multiple cylinders.
I’m oversimplifying the explanation here, of course. But that’s the gist of it.
This lock wasn’t particularly sophisticated – as most desk locks aren’t.
Within seconds, I heard a satisfying click, and the top drawer slid open.
Inside, I found many things — papers, contracts, ledgers — but not what I was looking for.
What was I looking for?
Evidence.
I was looking for proof indicating that the High Priest was involved in the Spirit Beast attacks.
In the game, Michael uncovered the truth after weeks of investigation.
He found that the two most influential figures in the region — Overlord Everan and High Priest Bowden — were colluding to orchestrate the attacks.
Together, they were unleashing Spirit Beasts upon the city, sowing terror into the hearts of the citizens of Khandara.
There wasn’t a single culprit. It was a two-person operation. A two-person crime.
But in the game, Michael was always late to unravel the full conspiracy.
He’d either catch the High Priest first, allowing the Overlord to carry on with the attacks, or vice versa.
It didn’t matter what route was taken. In the end of this arc, thousands of people died.
It was a ruthless massacre.
But it took weeks for all that to happen.
I didn’t have the patience to wait around all that time. I had to accelerate the timeline. So I did just that.
I pushed Michael in the right direction — well, sort of — and fastened his investigation process.
And if I understood Michael as well as I thought I did, then he was already planning his next move.
He was going to raid the Overlord’s mansion.
Why? Wherever evidence he found about the Overlord up until now was all vague — even the forged documents I indirectly gave him.
He’d need something concrete to persuade the Academy to intervene in this matter.
So, he was going to raid the Overlord’s mansion.
“All according to plan,” I muttered with a smirk, taking everything out of the drawer and spreading it across the desk.
Then, I tapped the bottom of the drawer.
A hollow sound echoed.
It was a false bottom — a trick as old as time for hiding things you didn’t want anyone to find.
But old tricks are easy to spot.
With extreme caution, I pried open the false bottom. I worked slowly, careful to not trigger any traps… but there were none.
Under the false bottom, I found exactly what I was looking for. Things like money order records and vaguely worded contracts.
All of it linked the High Priest to Overlord Everan either directly, or to several shady shell companies.
I didn’t stop there. I moved to the other drawers, finding more false bottoms and uncovering even more evidence like fund transfers, proof of illegal land acquisitions, and shipments labelled with ambiguous codes.
This wasn’t just evidence — it was a treasure trove.
But all this alone still wouldn’t be enough to put the High Priest behind bars.
And that was fine.
I wasn’t looking for justice, anyway.
I wanted resources.
I wanted power.
…And when all of this was over, I’d have both.
