"Do you understand what the role of an Arbiter is?"
The first question arrived.
"A servant of the Church who is responsible for weeding out unsavory seeds infesting the Holy Church of Solis by its roots."
He answered, making his answers sound pretentious on purpose.
From what he knew, Inquisitors were fiercely loyal to the Church.
And to them, there was no such thing as overpraising the church.
"A servant of the Church that could and should do what is necessary for the mission issued."
The inquisitor didn't say anything, silently judging his answer.
"Why do you want this position?" The next question arrived.
"Because I need to prove myself and my competence to people in my life," He answered, making sure to include the last part.
Using everything in his arsenal was the way of his life.
"Then," He placed his right leg on his left, getting more comfortable, "What makes you think you are qualified for this job?"
Raven paused.
With years of corporate experience under his belt, he knew how to handle pressure.
But no boss of his was this scary.
"Because I am someone who can look and clean up 'rot' without flinching."
"What gives you the confidence for that?" He leaned forward, inching his face closer to Raven.
A rather effective method for intimidation.
'I can't tell him about the shit I did back on Earth.' He thought that would be a rather optimal answer for a job like this.
But it wasn't something he could say.
"The reason why I am getting punished is that," He decided to reveal a little something about his journey.
"I killed dozens of low-level accursed and never flinched once."
Silence!
The room went quiet, and the pause this time was longer.
Raven knew the hate for the accurseds was also a big thing for Inquisitors.
"Suppose you uncover a spy within the ranks of the Church of Solis, and he is feeding information to the Church of the White Moon. But,"
He took a brief pause.
"But the information is harmless, or even misleading. The spy claims they're protecting the Church in the
long-term. Would you eliminate them?"
"No," Raven answered.
"Your reasoning for that?"
"Dead spies become martyrs and only make the enemy more wary and prepared."
A dialogue straight from a movie he had watched before.
Which, in his opinion, sounded very good.
Lord Inquisitor's eyes never left him.
"Then, what would you do?"
"Control him by any means necessary. Double spies are very effective assets."
Clank!
His position shifted again.
"Final question," He tilted his head a bit and asked, "What do you believe Solis represents?"
Raven didn't hesitate a moment before answering.
"His light reveals, His light is unforgiving for the evil, and His light represents life itself."
"His light shows us the truth, and leaves us to deal with it."
These sentences were pretty common in sermons and masses.
This question was more of a closure than anything.
And just a way to make sure one was aware of this.
Lord Inquisitor raised his right hand and flicked it.
Flick!
A sheet of paper and a quill materialized out of nowhere, and he started scribbling something on it.
"You can leave."
"Thank you, Lord Inquisitor." He stood up and gave him a bow.
He started leaving from where he came from, but was stopped immediately.
"Stop."
Raven flinched and then turned around. "Yes, Lord Inquisitor?"
"That way." He pointed to another door right in the opposite direction.
Raven gave him another curt bow and began leaving the room as directed.
Lord Inquisitor looked at his vanishing back in the dark for a moment.
"I see."
…
In a familiar, dimly lit room with the massive stone slab in the middle, all 14 cushioned seats and the final throne-like seat were occupied.
"Archbishop-" The person sitting in the head seat halted in his tracks, "Or should I say, Cardinal Matthew Snyder!"
A tall, lean man stood up, his hand on his chest, as he said in his youthful voice, "Yes, your holiness!"
"How are you adapting to your new position?" The head leaned forward.
"There is certainly an increase in workload, but I am completely fine, your holiness." His voice sounded earnest, and the way of his speech sounded extremely charming.
The other members sitting around the chair were also giving him an acknowledging nod.
"Good," He nodded, "Cardinal Marjorie's position was quite crucial for our Church, so I hope you are as good as the other people here make you sound."
"I will, your holiness," He gave him a curt bow, "I will make sure to live up to the expectations everyone here has for me."
The head flicked his hand, "You can sit now."
Matthew obeyed his orders.
"Now!" Suddenly, the mood got heavier as the head asked, "What's the update on our apostle?"
The old man from the back immediately got up and said, "Your holiness, everything is on track. The plan worked out perfectly."
"The plan with the village worked, and it helped him to finally be separated from his sister."
He took a breather and continued, "After that, he successfully made contact with Her, and everything went on smoothly from there."
"Are you sure his sister didn't find anything suspicious?" The head asked with suspicion laced in his voice.
"I… don't know, your holiness." The old man answered honestly, "That was that Lady's task, not mine."
"I was just there to set up everything in motion."
"Hmm!"
He signaled him to sit down and looked towards another person in the room.
Everyone's attention shifted to where the head was now looking.
"What's the situation with the dummy apostle?" He questioned.
The person he asked the question to stood up and answered, "Everything's ready, your holiness."
"He is in the best possible condition that he could be in."
"Are you sure we would not be rushing things?" The head asked the question, his tone grave.
"Not at all, your holiness," He answered politely, "This is possibly the best time for this to be."
"I will take your words for it." His tone was as neutral as it ever was.
"Let's see what your Jerry Beck can do for us."