Chapter 8:

Interlude 1: Bishop Bradley

This Elf Became a Trucker to Return to her World


“Bishop Bradley.”

“Yes, your Holiness.”


“Our people in the archives have detected another breach in roughly the same location. This one cannot be a coincidence.”

“Yes, your Holiness. I will have an Inquisition dispatched as soon as possible. Do we have any information regarding the incident?”

“Not of note. We know that both breaches were done by two individuals, yet we do not know if they are the same individuals. Tell them to be prepared for Satan himself to appear if necessary. Should we make contact, judge for yourself whether the spear shall be deployed.”

“Yes, your Holiness.” Bishop Bradley left the halls of the Vatican.

“Surely this is a sign that the time is near. We need to prepare ourselves for war.”

Bishop Bartholomew Bradley was rather efficient in dealing with the Church’s inquiries. His department was known by some as the Vatican Black Ops or the Inquisition, but he refused to acknowledge the former title, as he did not like to associate the Church with such violent tendencies. Rather, his job was to stop the flow of information that the Church deemed “dangerous” for mankind. In some cases, his job merely meant sending out commands for priests to tell their congregation to avoid certain movies or books. In other cases, like this one, his job could become much bloodier. Thus, was the position of the Grand Inquisitor.

The archives of the Vatican are very secretive and contain knowledge thought to be lost for millennia. This knowledge, however, is locked away to those without the Church’s permission. Not only are there texts on lost sciences, but texts on lost magicks as well: Grimoires. Bishop Bradley despised witchcraft most of the forbidden knowledge he was to protect; he felt that its practice violated the very laws God had set for mankind. The Church’s stance on magic was usually that it was fiction, simply delusions of grandeur for authors to make money and children to escape harsh realities for a time. However, he had seen firsthand the knowledge of it and could not deny its existence.

It was written in the scripture that King Saul had sought a medium for guidance, and that this had angered God. The medium, having successfully communicated with the dead, proved to Bishop Bradley that the concept was possible, for if it were not truly possible why would God have outlawed it?

It was when he was first assigned to the archive protection department that he saw it, a student who had come to study the archives and had managed to perform some… magic… some witchcraft… Bishop Bradley himself had followed the words of Leviticus: "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them."

Bishop Bradley was not penalized for his actions, as he was acting on his faith. But to this day he was still denied the position of Cardinal. And he still failed to see the reason for his lack of promotion.

He quickly arranged for transport to the city where the incident had happened. When he arrived, he discovered that the police had been searching for someone that could be a prime suspect.

"Yeah, Officer Davis brought her in. She was supposedly setting off fireworks in the park and hurt someone. But then she started shooting lasers from her fingers! She made an invisible wall like a mime, you know? And then she and another prisoner just… disappeared."

“I see… And how many know this information?”

“Just Davis, Captain Warrick, and myself. We did put out an alert for escaped prisoners though.”

“Ah, I would like to ask you to recall that.”

“But… with all due respect…”

"I say this for your own safety. Witches are not something the police can handle, especially if she was able to do what you were saying. Did she use some kind of magic circle? A wand maybe?"

“No, she just waved her hand in the air and said something in another language.”

“Do you have a recording of that?”

"No, unfortunately, our surveillance cameras were damaged in the incident. We barely managed to get the pictures for the warnings."

“I would like you to recall any pictures as well. Put out a report saying that those in question have been captured and convicted, or that they died in a shooting. I am not sure which is easier for your men to fake. If your force finds any more information on them, please give them to the nearest Church. It will find its way to me.”


“We can’t really do that.”

“I assure you that you can. The Vatican has withheld information on the moon landing, you think a couple of teenagers will be hard to cover up? And I assure you a couple of peons would be easier.”

“I knew it! They did fake the moon landing!”

“They did, but not in the way that you think it was. I am afraid that is all I can tell you, however. Any more knowledge and you risk being designated a heretic.”

“Oh yes, um of course.”

“Now, if you will excuse me. I expect you to have that chase called off by the end of the night.” Bishop Bradley finished the cup of coffee that had been sitting in front of him. He did not usually drink coffee without blessing the water that made it. However, those in the Inquisition were capable of creating rather strong holy water, so he did not want to risk additional casualties should the officer be harmed by its strength.

Unfortunately for Bishop Bradley, this couple would be hard to track down. He would soon have a photo revealing their faces, which would make his job even easier. The Church's information system was widespread, even in mostly protestant countries. He had no doubt that the suspects would be found within three months.

He then made a phone call that would change the course of history, though he had no way of knowing this. “Hello, yes. Could you please transport the spear ahead of schedule? Yes of course. And I believe we will need a hand with this investigation, could you send the current user of the Tome of Nicholas to my location as well? Very well. This should all be over before we need to worry about a thing.”

sereminar
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Ana Fowl
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