Finding Loto

“You’re here to see a Deacon, yes?” Kiera asked Haruki.

To which he nodded:

“Deacon Loto, yeah. He told me to meet him here, but I have no idea how to find him. He didn’t leave a lot of instruction. Must have been in a hurry.”

“Then let’s check the information booth,” Kiera suggested, already steering him off the main avenue.

They followed a narrow street lined with lantern-posts until it opened into a square dominated by a smaller but still imposing structure. It was one of the local congregations. The building was shaped like a great inverted chalice, walls of pale stone carved with spiraling motifs of sunbursts and wings. Wooden beams supported balconies from which colored banners fluttered. Crimson, green, blue, gold. All different colors symbolizing different things, he was sure. He just did not know what specifically. The scent of incense was strong here, mixing with the smell of parchment and wax.

At the front steps to the side stood an open booth, little more than a carved stall framed in oak, but attended with such precision that it radiated importance. A woman sat behind its desk, her robe was plain compared to some of the other higher-ranked priests, but still neat and embroidered at the hem with a single golden thread.

Behind her, a massive wooden board took up most of the booth’s backdrop. Dozens of names were etched into its surface, arranged in gleaming rows. The board itself was layered, each tier rising above the other like steps of a ladder, the names written in a flowing hand of gold and silver ink.

Haruki’s eyes darted over them. Some were long and harsh, others short and elegant, he was guessing that many belonged to races he could not even begin to comprehend. They were color coded, with nearly fifty white names at the bottom, followed by about thirty bronze names, then ten silver ones after that. Then at the top – a single golden name.

“What is this?” Haruki asked quietly.

Kiera summoned a fire finger construct to point at the board, saying:

“That’s the Registry. Looks like these are the names of those registered under this district. All Hunters are divided according to their power and authority. Generally speaking, the stronger you are, the higher rank you go. At the bottom are the Followers, like me. We’re basically apprentices. Then above us – are the Deacons. Getting to this rank is already a huge accomplishment. You could go your whole life at this rank and make a very good career out of it.”

“Huh… interesting…”

“But Deacons are generally just ‘helpers’, so to speak. They don’t have binding authority – unlike the Elders and the Overseers,” Kiera pointed her finger toward the silver names and the one golden name. She explained, “I am honestly a little unsure whether these two share the same level of authority. People argue about it all the time, it’s such a headache. In practice, most Elders generally do submit to the Overseers, but… it’s a bit weird. But what IS undeniable – is that the Overseers are much more powerful than the Elders.”

“So… does that mean the Overseers are the rulers here then? They’re the highest rank?”

But solemnly – Kiera shook her head:

“Technically… there are two ranks above the Overseers. Currently there are approximately six hundred Overseers across the entire planet. But once upon a time, we used to have twelve Apostles…”

“A… Apostles?”

The word began ringing in his ears, heavy as a bell toll.

Kiera’s eyes softened, as if pulling from a memory deeper than words.

“Before them… there were also Prophets.”

Once again, these two words tackled Haruki’s eardrums in a way he could not explain. He had no idea what those words actually meant. He had seen them in his RPGs he used to play back home. But he always thought they were just these gibberish words game developers put in the game because they sounded cool.

Kiera finally explained:

“Prophets and Apostles are equal in rank and power. But their roles are slightly different. What is similar, however, is the fact that they both deliver the news directly from the Voice.”

“So… where are these Prophets and Apostles then?”

Kiera shook her head:

“Gone. The last of them lived over a thousand years ago. No current Overseer would dare claim those titles.”

“But… why?”

“Because – Prophets and Apostles are direct links from Heaven. They aren’t voted in by the people, nor do they claim those titles because they are skilled. Instead – they must be called. So their authority naturally stretches across the entirety of the church body. If even one still lived – the Naikaia MUST submit to what they say.”

Haruki blinked, trying his hardest to comprehend what he was hearing.

“Whoa… are they… gods?”

Kiera chuckled, but tilted her head back and forth playfully thinking about it:

“I suppose – they do have the power to kill gods. They would never claim godhood themselves, though. That would be quite the ego. But with their powers…” Kiera raised her finger toward the sky, “they could rend the whole cosmos to dust!”

The bells of these words echoed inside his mind. In a way that was too much for an Earth man like himself. He had played games with world-ending bosses, read manga where gods were slain, but this felt different. And he had no explanation for the alien sensation he was feeling deep inside his bones.

He tried to picture it: beings so powerful that entire nations bowed without question. The thought was dizzying. His chest tightening with a strange mixture of awe and fear. If such figures had truly walked this world… what chance did those monstrous Wizards even have against these men?

And if they were gone…

Should everyone now fear the vile things in the dark?

Haruki gave his head a small shake, grounding himself. Getting lost in cosmic daydreams wasn’t going to help him at this moment. He still had a task at hand.

“So… uh, about Deacon Loto?” he asked.

Kiera gave him a nod and turned back toward the tall wooden board they stood beside. They scanned the names once more, looking through the bronze-colored names for the Deacons. Their eyes darting line by line until finally:

“There,” Kiera tapped lightly. “Loto of Jiland.”

Haruki leaned closer. Finding himself fortunate that the man was registered to this very congregation. Meaning they didn’t have to keep searching the other buildings and booths.

Still, just to be sure, Kiera approached the desk beside the board. The woman sitting there, busy with her ledgers, looked up kindly as Kiera asked about Loto’s whereabouts.

“Deacon Loto is indeed one of ours,” the woman confirmed, scanning her record book. “However, he is currently away. He’s off to Sendria, a village to the east. Just about half a day’s worth of walking. You can’t miss it.”

Haruki exhaled, shoulders sinking. So close, and yet, of course, it couldn’t be that easy.