carl@fire

"I believe I'm beginning to see what you meant," she said in a thoughtful tone.

I figured when we got to a different part of the city we'd at least see some variation in the buildings, but nope. More bricks. I figured people would at least wanna make cool buildings in-game, but nope. Too obsessed with other stuff.

"Turn right just up ahead," Mina directed. "That road should cut clear through the city, and it's primarily filled with blacksmiths and carpenters and other tradesfolk. They seldom remain open until this hour, or so I'm told."

Carl turned the car onto the new street, and, indeed, it did seem to be devoid of traffic and possibly even a little familiar, though he could hardly recall all the streets he'd wandered along earlier that day while struggling to remain in character, at one point even bringing his spear out again for a time in an attempt to blend in with what he figured was the warrior part of the city but, now that he considered it with his companion's description, had maybe just been the blacksmithing part, which...sort of explained...a lot of the looks…since he wasn't even wearing any freaking armor. He sighed inwardly as he brought the vehicle to a halt, then turned to his passenger, feeling again glad that he'd finally managed to find someone who wasn't obsessed with role-playing. "Sure you don't wanna drive for this?"

Mina shook her head, a small smile on her face. "I appreciate that you've asked, but it seems you're a far more skilled driver than I, and there will be plenty of time for me to drive with as much speed as I choose once we leave the city."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. Hang on, I'm gonna floor it."

Mina braced herself with her feet against the front of the car, and Carl pressed the steam pedal.

The car started forward, and Carl steadily depressed the pedal more and more, smoothly increasing their speed.

Really wish I had a pair of goggles right about now. He squinted as their surroundings began to flash by, becoming a veritable blur of never-ending bricks.

"This is incredible!" Mina shrieked when they'd reached a certain speed that was far faster than she'd driven at previously that day. She squealed with the excitement of youth.

Reminds me of when Sammy went on her first roller coaster with me. And all the other ones since, I guess. He pressed the pedal all the way down, and the girl's shrieks continued. How fast am I even going? Gotta get a speedometer on this thing. Must be over a hundred, though. City's way bigger than I thought, that's for sure. Hope there's no big potholes or anything.

Mina's screams cut off after a certain point, likely when she grew tired or acclimated to the speed.

Carl spotted a building looming far in the distance ahead at the end of the road and immediately began the process of gradually slowing the vehicle down at a pace that would, ideally, not result with either of them flying forward over the front of the car and into the side of the building. His timing was impeccable, and they slowed to an easy roll well in advance of the building that ended up being much taller than he'd thought.

It was a good thing, too, as there seemed to be a large crowd of people gathered in front of that same building, its bricks separated by bands of concrete set with glowing rocks in the shape of suns, and some sort of event was taking place on the wide landing midway up its steps.

"Stop a moment when we get closer," Mina said in an urgent tone.

Carl glanced over and noticed his passenger was fixated on the event. He stopped at the far corner of the intersection, just past the edge of the intent crowd.

"—man is a heretic!" Shouted a woman on the landing wearing a white robe with golden suns along the collar and a somewhat tall white hat with a glowing sun set in it. She stood next to three young men, one of whom was similarly attired, an older-looking woman, and…

Isn't that the same guard girl who was chasing after me this afternoon? Carl frowned.

"This devil sympathizer sought to lead his family astray, to turn them from her holy light!" the woman with the glowy hat proclaimed.

"That's the gatekeeper, Percevale!" Mina gasped.

Carl squinted. Huh, I guess it is. Some kinda night performance scene, I guess?

A metal post was set up with a slab of wood across it at head level… Was that stocks, or a pillory? The device restrained a man who certainly looked a lot like the gatekeeper that Carl had encountered that afternoon, his head facing out over the steps at the assembled crowd.

"We knew him as one of our own," the woman with the hat continued, "a paragon of our community! Someone we all looked up to! But this is only proof that we must always remain vigilant! Even those who shine the brightest may be tainted one day by shadows!"

"Carl, we have to help him!" Mina said, her voice desperate. "They'll—"

"Execution is the only absolution for a sinner who refuses to repent!" the woman shouted, raising a fist in the air.

The crowd roared its enthusiasm.

Mina grabbed Carl's arm tightly. "Carl, please!" she pleaded.

Carl looked at her in confusion. Help him? It's just a role-play thing. Any second, he's gonna make some grand speech and the crowd's gonna get on his side, and everyone's gonna just be in awe of how amazing the guy's acting is. The church lady's pretty good, too, I guess. Maybe his rival or something. Wow, she must've thought it was real. Guess I probably would, too, if I didn't already know what a monster this guy is. "Don't worry about it," he said, giving her a reassuring look. "This is gonna be great. Just watch."

Mina's expression was one of panic, and she clasped her hands together at chest level. She did remain silent, however, and looked back towards the performance stage.

"—you would do this, father," said one of the young men standing near the guillotine. "We looked up to you!"

"I never," began Percevale.

"Father, please, you have to repent!" cried the girl. "You don't really believe any of that, do you?"

"It's all true!" Percevale proclaimed, his voice strong and hale. "Every word of it!"

The girl let out an anguished cry. "No! You're not my father! You can't be!" she screamed, her hands balling into fists at her sides. "My father would never side with the devils! You… You must be an impostor! You should just die!" She turned dramatically and pressed her face into the embrace of the older woman who stood behind her. One of the young men nearby moved closer and pressed a hand to the girl's back.

Whoa, that girl's got some chops, too. She must've been taking it easy on me earlier.

The crowd began the murmur loudly, and Percevale's head dipped in apparent sorrow.

Mina's hands tightened on his arm.

A broad-shouldered man with a sword walked across the platform to stand next to the man who was apparently being accused of blasphemy or whatever. Carl wished he'd been there to see the whole thing so he could have a full grasp of the storyline.

"Have you any final words, sinner?" called the woman with the glowy hat.

There was a moment of silence before Percevale's head raised, his jaw set. "I demand the trial of faith!" he shouted. "End this farce! If my words are not true, let them be judged absolutely, and not by those whose minds have been twisted by lies!"

A gasp ran through the crowd.

Here we go. Let's see it, Percevale.

The priest-looking woman threw her head back and laughed. "Surely you know how vengeful our goddess is, Percevale! How many devil sympathizers have lived through such a trial?"

"Those who speak the truth have nothing to fear!" Percevale shouted back, his voice overflowing with confidence.

"Devil sympathizers never speak the truth, old man!" called one of the young men on the platform, the one wearing the white robe.

"Then may I be struck down like the rest of them," called Percevale, sounding completely convinced of every word of what he was saying. "But give me the dignity to stand unfettered when I am judged!"

"Very well," called the priest. "In deference to the continued service you've done in her name, we will grant you this last request. Basequin, be ready to cut him down should he try to run."

The broad-shouldered man nodded, then unlatched the slab of wood.

Percevale stood free of his restraints, then slowly, with his hands raised, walked around in front of the contraption that Carl still couldn't decide the name of. He angled himself so that he was facing partly towards the small group on the platform with him and partly toward the crowd, putting his back to Mina's steamcar.

The man's head tilted back as he stared upwards. "Oh, goddess of dawn!" he called in a theatrically loud voice. "Hear me now, and judge whether—"

Mina tugged on his arm more intently. "Carl, he will die if we don't help him!"

I guess this would be a little scary for a kid to see. Carl scanned the crowed. Yeah, all adults here. Makes sense. He patted her hands and looked over at her. "Mina, trust me. It's gonna be okay."

The girl's eyebrows were raised, and her breathing had visibly quickened. "But—"

"Mina, you trust me, right?" Carl asked.

She nodded slowly.

"Then just watch, okay?" he said, grinning. "This is a heck of a performance, and you're gonna regret it if you miss anything."

Mina pressed her lips together, but she returned her gaze to the spectacle.

"—lies!" Percevale was shouting when Carl focused on him again. "Long was my faith shattered, my ability to have faith destroyed! But when he showed himself to me in his splendor today, with his mighty spear and presence, I was changed! By his appearance, by his strength, by his compassion, I was reborn!" He looked down, his head turning to look between the people on the platform and the crowd. "He will protect me! No harm shall come to any who are reborn by his grace if they speak the truth, no matter how impossible it may seem! So I say to you, goddess of the dawn: if you still hold dominion over me, if a single word I have spoken is false, then let me be smote here before the watchful eyes of your faithful! Strike me down with all your power and fury!"

The gatekeeper spread his arms out for dramatic effect, looking to the sky once more.

The crowd was completely silent as everyone stared at him.

Nothing happened, obviously.

Carl turned to Mina, who was staring in apparent shock at the performers. "See?" he said in a low voice, not wanting to disrupt the scene. "Nothing's gonna happen. He's fine."

Mina opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked to Carl and repeated the motion.

I mean, he is a total monster. Anyone would've fallen for it if they didn't know. She must not know how good he is. Look, even the crowd's amazed.

After a short while longer, Percevale dropped his arms. "It's as I've said!" he shouted, facing the crowd. "She cannot defend her lies so long as he protects me! Carl is stronger than that liar of the dawn!"

The crowd gasped and immediately began muttering, talking, and shouting. The priest's head was darting back and forth, and an expression of total bewilderment took hold of her face. The gatekeeper's acting family slowly looked up, then looked among themselves. The girl turned around with her hands over her mouth and eyes practically popping out of her head.

Carl gasped too, but for another reason. His surprise faded after a moment. Wow, he must've spotted me! I think that's the classic "senpai noticed me" moment. He remembered our little scene from earlier and called me out to motivate me. This game is really awesome sometimes. I guess I should do something?

He turned to Mina, who was still staring back at him with the same expression of shock. Or maybe she does know him, and she's amazed that I'm getting called out? Whatever, now I gotta do something, I guess.

He pulled his spear out of his inventory again, then thrust its point high into the air. "Percevale!" he shouted, his voice echoing out across the packed street as he towered over everyone from the combination of his natural height and his elevation from standing with one foot up on the back of the car. "You've done very well!" Yeah, don't wanna say too much here. I'm nowhere near good enough to weigh in on something with this level of acting yet. Felt like I barely managed to squeak past that Neale guy at the auction.

Percevale turned, then promptly fell to his knees. "He comes!" he shouted.

The crowd turned to face Carl.

Dammit, I never think these things through! What the hell am—

"Stop!" shouted an incredibly loud man's voice from the street Carl had just driven down. "Unhand the princess!" A number of steam-powered cars were charging down the street towards them.

Mina tugged on Carl's suit jacket. "We need to go! Hurry!"