Chapter 99: Does it matter?

'They are just going to barge in and clean the temple? How are they so sure that they have fallen from grace?' 

Laurel steps in front of Imogen to stop her in her tracks.

"How do you know?" Laurel's lips purse together, and her eyes piercing towards Imogen.

Imogen's face twitches because the explanation is that she just knows. However, intuition is never a good answer for such drastic action. Imogen has said it out of the burst of the moment because she knows this event well. She has done it thousands of times, and every time, something was wrong with the temple that she intuitively knew that it fell from grace.

This time is different for Imogen because her emotions are no longer numb, and Laurel is here earlier than from other loops. So, that question means more.

"Well?" Laurel waits for the answer, but it is dawning on her that maybe Imogen just knows that something is wrong with the temple because she is the saintess. Or, Imogen has knowledge that common people like her should not know.

Nonetheless, she cannot accept that answer from Imogen because Imogen affects not only the temple. This kingdom is heavily religious, and the thought of thousands of inhabitants storming towards them is the last thing that Laurel would want to face. Plus, they have no idea of what has gone wrong either. 

Imogen only has brief recollections but no details in her mind. She has forgotten a lot as the number of loops she regressed kept increasing. Even if she remembers everything, there is no telling. All the loops she has been in are different from each other, one way or another. The causes of why the church has fallen from grace could be similar from time to time, but there are no patterns for her to predict which one is the main cause in the next regression. The only thing that remained the same is that the temple has fallen from grace.

"Does it matter?" Imogen replies. Shocked, Laurel stares at Imogen blankly. 

'How could that not matter?' Laurel thinks, but Imogen's undisturbed expression gave Laurel signs that Imogen spoke not out of the rush of the moment. That response is thought through.

Imogen passes by her, and Ian follows Imogen from behind, leaving Laurel standing on the streets on the same spot, shocked.

'We were talking about killing people, right? Not from self-defense or even just the person that caused all that. Is Imogen placing judgment on everyone associated with the temple just because they are associated with it?'

Laurel turns and rushes to Imogen again. She grabs Imogen by the arm and pulls her, but her actions are even shocking Ian. Breaking them apart, Ian places himself in between. The issue with Kyrie has been already pissing Imogen off, and now Laurel wants to question her for what she is doing. 

Laurel can sense for the first time Imogen's pressing bloodlust directed towards her, and even if it is for a moment as fast as a blink, Laurel freezes to the point her own body does not respond. 

"It's better if we don't talk about this right now," says Ian after Imogen has turned to walk away.

"Why, Ian? Can you fill me in? I don't understand!" 

Ian grabs Laurel's arms and locks his eyes with hers, "Laurel, there will be a lot of things that you don't understand from now on. However, for these kinds of things, confronting her like that is never a good idea. She is dangerous even if she is holding back for you."

"Ian… Don't tell me that she is just going to storm inside the temple and kill everyone!" Ian remains quiet, unsure of what to say, but he understands Laurel's shock because that was the same reaction from him when he experienced it for the first time.

Laurel pushes Ian's arms to move his hands off her. She has seen these kinds of minds before - people whose minds only focus on the big picture and would do anything for their goals to succeed.

She inhales sharply as a reflex of her nerves, and the image of her brother comes to mind.

'Nothing has happened yet,' Laurel adjusts back her mood and thinking.

"Okay," Laurel nods, but Ian knows that Laurel only does that when she has taken that problem personally. She has always done that in all the loops. There is no stopping her now. 

"Well… Anyone up for lunch… Late lunch?" Laurel changes her mood spontaneously as if nothing has really happened. 

Even though Ian has experienced that so many times, her mood changes always manage to surprise him and catch him off guard.

"Yeah…" Ian responds while he follows Laurel walking towards Imogen as if nothing happened.

Imogen's expression pacifies when Laurel's words towards her have softened. 

'In all the loops, they managed to be together for a reason…' Ian tries to explain things to himself.

They enter a tavern that Laurel chose, and they sit by the window on the second floor. Laurel chooses that spot because of the man that is sitting at the table next to them. 

When they finish ordering, Laurel strikes a conversation with the man, "You leaving town?"

The man looks up from his pint and turns his head towards Laurel, "Yes… So, same business?"

Laurel extends her hand for a shake while introducing herself, "Laurel Ravenswood, merchant guard."

"Oh! Merchant guard! First time seeing a woman doing it! Lech, Lech Walda. Potion merchant," Lech shakes Laurel's hand.

"Why leaving so soon?" Laurel takes up her own glass and sips on the beer. 

Lech looks around and seems unsure if he should say anything. When he looks at Imogen, his eyes widen. Laurel could tell that Lech recognizes Imogen, not based on having seen Imogen, but descriptions most likely. Lech stares back at Laurel, who glances from time to time at Imogen and Ian.

"Why is a merchant guard with your holiness?"

Ian spits the water he just sipped and starts to shake from the words 'your holiness,' holding his laughter with his head turned away.

"We came back from the town of Bristol."

Lech's eyes immediately light up with that town's name, "No one believes me, but if I tell you what I think is happening in this place, then you tell me about Bristol. I heard that the paladin came back injured. I have friends who traveled there and haven't come back."

"You are very informed, Lech."

"Occupational illness," Lech replies.