The Hierophant

Stonefall was one of the five cities of the Holy Empire of Themis and was home to half a million people.

Located in the northern part of the Empire, it had a large army stationed there at all times as a deterrent to their neighbours in the north.

The city was surrounded by tall, white stone walls that were made from rocks mined from the cliffs at the city’s rear which served as a natural, impenetrable barrier.

Stonefall had seven main gates, but only a handful of people could freely move through all of them.

Four were in the poorest parts of the city where the majority of the workers lived; two led into the colourful and vibrant merchant’s district in the east. The final gate in the south-west led into the White Manor district where the nobles lived.

The district earned its name because the stones used to make its houses were the same that were used for the walls, though they were more cleanly cut and beautiful to look at.

In the very heart of the city was the great Saint Theia Cathedral, built four hundred and ten years ago to mark the end of the Empire’s Civil War.

Just a few hundred metres from there was The Hierophant’s Delight, a large tavern in the merchant’s district that, thanks to Mania’s magic, had recently come under new management.

After Mímir's in-depth research into the city’s commerce, trade and footfall, he decided to buy the Hierophant for two main reasons.

The first was its location.

It was the closest business they could buy to the centre of Stonefall, giving them easy access to every district in the city.

The second was that Mímir knew it’d be a good place to gather information.

Whispers, rumours and drunken outbursts could provide them with new intelligence that could prove useful to the Dark Lord’s plans.

For just ten thousand Rhams, the gold currency of the Holy Empire, it was bought at a twelfth of the actual market price; to the outside world, Mímir had become the new owner with his wife, Mania.

However, despite intending to run a business with just the two of them, they soon realised that they needed more help from the castle to run the tavern. So, they ended up bringing five of the servants, two butlers and three maids, to help run the kitchen and front of house, and six Machai and three Ravens as extra security, though they stayed out of sight.

The Machai stayed in the Hierophant’s basement, waiting for their time to act, whereas the Ravens were spread around.

One was hidden in the shadows in the front of the house, observing and listening to everything that occurred inside the tavern’s walls, whilst the other two were on other assignments in the city.

Further, whenever one of the servants was on break, Mímir asked them to venture into local bookstores for him and purchase a wide variety of books for him to study. He wanted everything from world history and maps, to travel guides and newspapers.

The more he could learn, the better he could serve the Demon Emperor.

However, because they were very busy during the day, Mímir rarely had the chance to study what they bought, so he made sure to do a few hours a night before falling asleep.

During her breaks, Mania would teleport back to the castle to train Hilda, though she refused to ever talk to Mímir about how she was training her.

Just before their third day of business, Mímir called Mania to his office to talk.

“What did you want to speak to me about?” Mania huffed, ahand on her hip.

In order to better blend in with the city folk, Mania was currently dressed in a barmaid’s outfit and had used her magic to alter her appearance so she appeared to be a brunette with blue eyes. Beneath her regular clothes were her actual clothes and weapons, just in case a situation arose that required her to fight.

Mímir was dressed smartly, reflecting the visage of a wealthy merchant, with a smart white shirt, black trousers and he had given himself blonde hair and green eyes. Unlike Mania however, Mímir’s clothing and appearance was an illusion in its entirety.

“It’s about your charm magic, specifically how it helped us acquire the Hierophant. There could be complications furth-”

“Are you insulting my abilities, Mímir? My magic isn’t so weak that mere humans could-”

“That’s no what I’m saying. However, should word spread that we only paid ten thousand Rhams for this place, people will get suspicious.”

Mania snorted. “What? A man’s never given a woman something for cheap just because she’s pretty?” Mania grinned at Mímir's lack of amusement. “Don’t worry about it. I made sure that they wouldn’t be able to tell anyone the actual amount of money they got. In their minds, they were paid the right price and that’s all they’ll ever say. See? Nothing to worry about.”

“Unless someone from the merchant’s guild decides to spy on them and find out just how much money they got for it.”

Mania clicked her tongue. “Alright, I get what you’re saying. You could just come out and say it straight to me, you know? Should I just kill them?”

Mímir shook his head. “No. I will simply have a Raven observe them for the time being and have any agents that are sent to dig up information turn up dead in a ditch on the other side of the city.”

Mania’s smile returned. “Try not to screw up and leave a trail of bodies to us.”

Mímir narrowed his eyes. “I won’t, Mania. You do remember what we three generals discussed previously in private, correct?”

“I know, I know. If we keep fighting, we’ll just get in the way of Master’s plans, but.” She smiled shyly. “I like being special to the Dark Lord.”

“You feel special just because you haven’t disappointed him yet?”

She nodded. “I want to be useful to him, but I also don’t want to let him down, and, if I’m being honest, seeing you and Abaddon screw up made me feel great.”

“I’m so happy to be of service.”

“But I know that it’ll trouble Master if I’m always acting on my own in my best interests, so I thought about what you guys said and wanted to say this.” She walked to his desk and stuck out her hand to him. “Let’s let bygones be bygones and work together properly from now.”

Mímir clasped her hand. “That’s fine with me. Abaddon will take some convincing, but I assure you he will come around in the end.”

“That muscle head won’t ever let it go.”

“Mania.”

“What?” She asked back. “Are we saying that we can’t make fun of one another if we’re working together?”

“Not at all. However.” Someone knocked at the door. “It would seem that we have guests.”

Mania smiled sadistically, resisting the urge to bare her fangs. “Then, let’s not keep them waiting.”