The tomb was still.
Candles flickered in the corners, casting long shadows over the Saint's sarcophagus. Perry stood at the center, hands in his coat pockets, eyes half-closed.
Evi's whisper broke the silence. "You're sure someone's in here?"
"No," Perry replied. "But I filed the paperwork."
She blinked at him.
He didn't elaborate.
---
The investigation barrier shimmered faintly, like heat rising from stone. Still active. Still flawless.
Perry crouched near the inner glyph and lit a clean wax candle. As the glyph pulsed once… then again—too quickly to be random—he tapped the stone floor.
"Double trigger," he murmured. "Means internal movement."
Evi tilted her head. "So someone's here?"
"No," he corrected. "Someone never left."
He straightened, stepped forward, and looked past the sarcophagus.
"Come out."
---
The voice that answered was dry. Fragile.
"You're not a priest."
Perry turned slowly.
A man emerged from the shadows behind the tomb—soft-footed, draped in faded clerical robes. Balding. Sunken cheeks. His eyes held the weight of years... and secrets.
"Father Vorn," Perry said.
The priest gave a slow, solemn nod.
"I didn't kill him."
"You're starting poorly," Perry replied, his voice flat.
---
Evi moved toward the stairs, hand on her dagger hilt.
Vorn raised both hands in surrender, showing empty palms.
"He was my brother."
"Reimund," Perry said.
Vorn gave another nod, heavier this time. "He ruined twenty families. Forged blessings. Took gold in my name. When he came here, I should've turned him in… but I didn't."
"Did Quill know?"
"No. I told him Reimund was a penitent. Guilt-ridden. He believed it."
"And Marta?"
"She suspected something. I told her he was sick. That's not a lie. He was."
Perry's voice remained cold. "You did more than lie."
---
He stepped closer.
"You laced the incense with sleep-root. Served him warm broth. Laced with gentlebind?"
Vorn's brow twitched. "I didn't expect you to guess that."
"I didn't guess," Perry said. "Warmth in the body. No signs of trauma. No resistance. No struggle. If I were ending someone quietly… gentlebind would be the method."
Vorn exhaled slowly, like letting go of a weight he'd carried too long.
"He begged me. Said the Bureau would find him eventually. Said he couldn't face a trial. I told him he could rest here."
"And you just granted his wish?" Evi asked, skeptical. "Like a divine pardon?"
"No," Vorn said. "Like a brother."
---
Perry's gaze didn't soften.
"You could've reported him. Filed a case."
"He didn't want justice. He wanted silence."
"You gave him more than silence. You gave him a grave with no truth."
"I gave him peace," Vorn said. "No mobs. No Bureau. Just prayer."
Evi crossed her arms. "You murdered him in a church."
"I guided him into sleep. That's all."
"You sealed a glyph. Hid the body. Lied to the other priests."
Vorn met her gaze without flinching. "Because faith is fragile. They need purity. Not scandal."
Perry frowned.
"You're quoting scripture or just improvising?"
A weak smile flickered at the priest's lips. "Does it matter?"
---
Perry didn't respond. Instead, he pulled a small slip of parchment from his coat and flicked it toward the floor at Vorn's feet.
"Case submitted. Suspect registered."
System Notification: New Suspect Registered. Truth-lock initiated. Exit restricted.
The glyph shimmered. The air shifted as the truth-lock barrier sealed itself completely.
Evi's hand drifted to her weapon again, but Vorn didn't move. His shoulders sagged, his eyes now staring at the floor.
"You've been hiding here since it happened?" she asked.
Perry answered instead.
"No. Just at night. When the glyph resets. He stayed close. Quiet. That's why the glyph kept flickering — movement inside."
"Because it wasn't designed to detect intent," Evi muttered.
"Only presence," Perry confirmed.
---
Vorn's lips moved.
"You caught me because I was tired. Maybe I wanted to be caught."
Silence hung between them.
Perry watched him, his mind quietly processing.
Vorn sat down against the tomb's base, arms resting across his knees.
"There's no justice left," he murmured. "Only choices."
Perry said nothing. But he noticed the priest's hands were shaking.
---
Later
Outside the chapel, the air was cold and sharp.
Marta leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed, Quill beside her, hollow-eyed.
"He confessed," Perry said. "Turns out saints bleed like the rest of us."
Quill's voice cracked. "I—I can't believe it. I trusted him."
"You believed the man who taught you faith. That's understandable," Perry said. "But don't make it a habit."
Marta looked like she'd just bitten down on glass.
"Wait," she said. "That night he told me to stay out of the tomb—he never ordered me around like that before. Said he was sealing it for divine rest. I thought it was grief. I thought—"
"You thought wrong," Perry said, already turning.
She narrowed her eyes. "That's what you're going with? No grand speech? Just 'you thought wrong'?"
"Yes."
"You're worse than priests."
---
Down the road, Evi trudged beside him in silence. Eventually, she asked, "So. You figured it out from the glyph?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"His guilt."
"That's a little vague."
"Everyone else was afraid of divine punishment. Vorn wasn't."
"That's still vague."
Perry shrugged. "Also the wax. The warmth. The flicker pattern. The lack of visible prayer during investigation hours. The incense residues Marta didn't recognize. Oh—and Reimund's slippers had no dirt."
Evi blinked. "You looked at his slippers?"
"I look at everything."
---
System Notification: Case Resolved. +2 Bureau Credits. +1 Rank Point. Immunity Reset. Passive Defense Restored.
Would you like to view optional reward catalog?
No, Perry thought.
Storage of wax samples complete. Reagents logged. Optional deduction-style report unlocked.
Still no.
---
"You really don't like taking help, do you?" Evi asked.
"I don't dislike it," Perry said. "I distrust it."
"Same thing."
"No. Help has strings. I don't like strings."
"You're paranoid."
"Correct."
She gave him a long look. "You think the system's watching you?"
"I know it's watching."
"Then why keep using it?"
"I like being alive."
---
He slowed as they passed a food stall. Then stopped.
Evi looked at him. "You hungry?"
"No."
He held out a silver coin and pointed at the stall owner. "I'm investigating a potential food poisoning."
The man froze. "W-what?"
Perry took the steaming bread anyway.
"Just testing a theory," he muttered, biting into it. "Tastes suspiciously edible."
Evi sighed. "You're the worst."
"I try."
---
As they walked farther, Perry glanced at the sunset bleeding over the hills.
"Vorn thought he was doing the right thing."
"Wasn't he?"
"No."
"But you didn't seem angry."
"I'm not."
"Then what are you?"
He was quiet for a while.
Then, softly: "Tired."