business with us is finished.”
“Zeke!” Charlie shouted. They both ignored him.
“The Armageddonists receive their fair share of criticism,” the priest retorted. “I see nothing wrong with removing citizens from the slums. They’ll live a better life on the plate.”
“How can you be sure? You sit down here in hell and trust every word your Hierophant tells you from the plate?”
“He is a good man. What reason would he have to lie to us?” Though Zeke became agitated, the priest remained calm. “He is a man of God, and despite your opinions, he is working for what he believes is a better world.”
“A better world? Where people are randomly selected to be taken from their families? How does he justify the fact that no one who is promoted is ever heard from again?”
Charlie stepped in. “They got rules up there. First-class citizens are too important to deal with us second-class folk.”
“This isn’t some snobby aristocrat we’re talking about. It’s your daughter!”
“It is unfortunate,” Jae-Hoon continued. “But your friend is right. The Hierophant is doing what he can, but he cannot circumvent the Karellan’s edicts. No non-government personnel may communicate between upper and lower cities.”
“And you’re just going to accept that, Charlie? Sounds suspicious to me.”
“Okay, so maybe I don’t entirely trust them,” the big man said, as calmly as Jae-Hoon. “But look around you. This place is hell. We got that damn pizza on top of us, killing off everything around us, and we can’t even go out into the country since the draugr showed up. Do you realize my little girl has only ever seen the sun from the city walls? Born in the city after it was shut off from the world. I have to give her any chance I can for a better life. If that means I have to trust the Church, I will. Father Lee here is a good man. I can believe him.”
Zeke forced himself to calm down. Charlie was bringing his daughter into the matter. A nasty trick, since he knew Zeke cared for her as if she were his own family. Still, he disapproved of the promotion and refused to drop the subject.
“Charlie, this man is a Slayer. His idea of improving the world is to run around staking draugr like they were vampire.”
“If we’re discussing outdated weapons,” the priest said, “I might remind you that we are not in feudal Japan.” He gestured to the katana. “The Church has long since recognized draugr as distinct from folk monsters. But my training and my faith have given me strength. I’ve returned from many draugr hunts.”
A department of the lower-city Armageddonists, the Slayers took it upon themselves to protect the world from draugr. They routinely went into the hills surrounding the city, looking for monsters to kill. Every day, they brought back two or three bodies.
But Zeke knew it wasn’t enough. Human beings had hunted plenty of animals to extinction, but none of those animals had ever been hunting humans in return. “You’ll never succeed. There are too many of them,” he told the priest.
Jae-Hoon looked at him as calmly as ever. “Perhaps we could use some help. You have spirit. You might make a fine Slayer.” He turned away. “Our goals don’t conflict. Your fight with me is purely dogmatic.”
Zeke stood silent as the priest walked away.
Charlie, on any other day, would have been the first
“Zeke!” Charlie shouted. They both ignored him.
“The Armageddonists receive their fair share of criticism,” the priest retorted. “I see nothing wrong with removing citizens from the slums. They’ll live a better life on the plate.”
“How can you be sure? You sit down here in hell and trust every word your Hierophant tells you from the plate?”
“He is a good man. What reason would he have to lie to us?” Though Zeke became agitated, the priest remained calm. “He is a man of God, and despite your opinions, he is working for what he believes is a better world.”
“A better world? Where people are randomly selected to be taken from their families? How does he justify the fact that no one who is promoted is ever heard from again?”
Charlie stepped in. “They got rules up there. First-class citizens are too important to deal with us second-class folk.”
“This isn’t some snobby aristocrat we’re talking about. It’s your daughter!”
“It is unfortunate,” Jae-Hoon continued. “But your friend is right. The Hierophant is doing what he can, but he cannot circumvent the Karellan’s edicts. No non-government personnel may communicate between upper and lower cities.”
“And you’re just going to accept that, Charlie? Sounds suspicious to me.”
“Okay, so maybe I don’t entirely trust them,” the big man said, as calmly as Jae-Hoon. “But look around you. This place is hell. We got that damn pizza on top of us, killing off everything around us, and we can’t even go out into the country since the draugr showed up. Do you realize my little girl has only ever seen the sun from the city walls? Born in the city after it was shut off from the world. I have to give her any chance I can for a better life. If that means I have to trust the Church, I will. Father Lee here is a good man. I can believe him.”
Zeke forced himself to calm down. Charlie was bringing his daughter into the matter. A nasty trick, since he knew Zeke cared for her as if she were his own family. Still, he disapproved of the promotion and refused to drop the subject.
“Charlie, this man is a Slayer. His idea of improving the world is to run around staking draugr like they were vampire.”
“If we’re discussing outdated weapons,” the priest said, “I might remind you that we are not in feudal Japan.” He gestured to the katana. “The Church has long since recognized draugr as distinct from folk monsters. But my training and my faith have given me strength. I’ve returned from many draugr hunts.”
A department of the lower-city Armageddonists, the Slayers took it upon themselves to protect the world from draugr. They routinely went into the hills surrounding the city, looking for monsters to kill. Every day, they brought back two or three bodies.
But Zeke knew it wasn’t enough. Human beings had hunted plenty of animals to extinction, but none of those animals had ever been hunting humans in return. “You’ll never succeed. There are too many of them,” he told the priest.
Jae-Hoon looked at him as calmly as ever. “Perhaps we could use some help. You have spirit. You might make a fine Slayer.” He turned away. “Our goals don’t conflict. Your fight with me is purely dogmatic.”
Zeke stood silent as the priest walked away.
Charlie, on any other day, would have been the first
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