Haven And Chaos

52) I'm coming Maya

**************************
GALE'S POV
**************************

"A church!" I scoffed feeling a little amused. Had she given up and decided to devote her life to the Lord by turning into a nun? Now that would be a crime against heaven, wouldn't it? But the image of her in an apostolnik was damn intriguing.
"Let her move around until she drops half dead, then she can come back crawling to me."

Chris responded with a bow before walking away, leaving me alone in the kitchen.
I sighed pushing my head back, my eyes stinging from the onions I had been slicing.
It had been a while since I did these things myself, making me a little rustic. But I didn't want Chris in the kitchen cooking inedible concoctions in the name of food. He had almost poisoned me in the morning with the coffee and half-baked cookies.

**************************
**************************

Evening set in before I could realize it. As the sun's harsh rays began weakening, I finally got the chance to go walk around that small village where Maya was taking refuge.
I wanted to see her in her miserable state just for my satisfaction, and maybe taunt her a little. How would she react?

Dressed in mundane clothes, I walked down the hill, and within ten minutes, I could smell the aroma of freshly baked cakes along with other scents that floated with the wind.
The cap shielded the curious eyes thrown my way wherever I passed. I had made sure that they knew of my merchant front and wanted them to spread the news amongst themselves to lure out the greedy baron through his minions. If I could successfully kick his family from their power, I might have just saved some innocent and hardworking folks in this village amongst others.

I didn't want to involve the knights and slaughter his family. His corruption cases would earn him at least half a century behind bars and his noble title stripped. His family would be left as just commoners without any wealth to cling to. A punishment fit to have them learn some valuable lessons.

After walking around aimlessly, I finally found myself standing in front of the church Maya was supposedly hiding in.
I smirked.
She thought I wouldn't find her here?!
Even the devil can walk into a church.

From the village's back story, the church served as the clinic and Maya might have received treatment for her foot.
That was good. She was supposed to remain healthy so I could break her myself.

As I walked through the double doors, a girl, maybe in her early twenties rushed over to meet me from the small group of girls who stood at the corner dressed in long gray skirts, black long-sleeved tops, and headscarves around their hair which were held up in buns.
They were what the villagers called, 'The church maidens' who were hired by the church to help out in various areas like the clinic, church services, cleaning, cooking, and all that.

I had never been keen on religion, but I had to praise this church for everything they did for this village came for free, including hiring these maidens to give them a livelihood so they didn't have to depend on men.

"Welcome Sir. How may we be of-" She paused when our gazes met and offered a girlish blush. "It's you! You're the merchant who bought the house uphill?! Oh please, come in, come in," she beamed guiding me fully into the church.

I took off my cap, out of respect, and let her lead me down the aisle.
She started talking, about unnecessary things like the weather, the village, the people, the church while walking me through a single door that opened up to the outside.
From here, one could see more smaller buildings like the clinic which had a few nurses walking along its pavement.

The one with the big chimney must have been the kitchen, while the two-story building next to it had to be their lodging area.

I was amazed at how peaceful the air felt and how neat the building had been built, leaving a circular garden in the middle where an apple tree stood.

"You must be here to have your wound checked, right?" She asked casting me a side glance.
Oh, right, I still had some small wounds on my knuckles. "Please follow me, this way."

"What is your name?"

She first chuckled. "Rose Stewarts, but everyone calls me Rozie."

"Why?"

She laughed again. "It's embarrassing actually. It's because when I was little, I couldn't pronounce the 'S' and kept replacing it with a 'Z'."

She seemed okay. But I wasn't sure if she'd work for me. As much as I had my men with me, I needed a native to help me in secrecy. She'd be useful in things like collecting information from the locals about any past, current, or future deeds done by the rulers. And I couldn't plant my people in a foreign place, too obvious.

"I heard a beggar showed up a day ago. Does this village experience such-"

"Oh no, no, no, Sir," she rejected strongly coming to an abrupt halt and facing me. "She's the first one and we don't have any information about her. The chief sent out some people to ask around in the nearby villages if she was from there but that was unsuccessful. Unlike you who has his legal papers, this girl doesn't even have an ID on her."

My eyebrow arched intrigued by Rozie's words.

So they didn't trust her. Good.
I could use that to my advantage.

"Then why do you keep her? What if she's a spy for the baron?"

The mention of 'baron' made her expression droop. The flash that had occupied her brown eyes died out in an instant.
"Him? You already know of his greediness? I guess his sick reputation has spread all over. I wonder why the count or even the archduke does nothing to that family. All they do is take and take!" She breathed fiercely, her right hand balling into a hard fist. "If Father Lei hadn't blessed us with his presence here nine years ago, I'm afraid half of our people would have starved to death."

"Oh?!"
I turned my head towards the man in his religious black garment who was walking along the green path that led to the lodging area while carrying a small silver tray.
His long black hair was let loose around his shoulders just like in the photos that had been presented.

I had looked into this priest and he was oddly...clean. No dark history. Just a normal guy who decided to follow his religious path.
But he was also part of my mission because he had been fighting the baron, fighting for these helpless villagers and helping them.

"...gone."

"Huh?! Oh! May we..." I eyed the clinic.

"Oh!" She squealed embarrassed and turned to have us proceed.

Since Maya had popped up here the day before, she was obviously hiding in one of those rooms where the priest was headed. And if I was to guess, that bowl of whatever was being delivered to her.

'Nice job Maya. You even have a priest acting as your servant now.'