---Perrerian, a day ago---
Inside a vast, lavishly decorated room filled with furniture oozing the aura of highest quality craftsmanship that could be bought with money, sat Jane, Jonah, and Monique on a sofa covered in extravagant embroidery.
With them being used to Urth's modern minimalism, this was so over the top that it hurt their eyes. After Monique and the others had not resisted being detained, they had been brought to this room where they were under house arrest.
Earlier, a group of Paladins and Dungeon Busters had suddenly charged into their quarters at the imperial palace. They didn't even have the chance to get some proper rest, not to mention meeting that emperor who had invited them.
Monique had been in the mood for a blood bath. She liked this world less and less. Her dream of some light traveling and sightseeing in a different world had been crushed. Now, she was just a very pissed and disillusioned woman with the power to lay a city to waste.
She might have just gone and flattened that stupidly huge cathedral if it wasn't for Jane insisting on not resisting the detention. At least they didn't dare to put them into some kind of dirty prison cell or dungeon.
But even if their cell was so richly decorated that it hurt the eyes, it was still a prison. They had been stuck here for over a day and were properly cut off from communications. One could say what they wanted, but these people were at least capable of jamming the communication orbs. Without being able to contact Minas Mar or anyone telling them what exactly was going on, there was not much left of Monique's fuse.
Across from the three on the sofa sat a familiar young man. Emissary Alton, a Herald of the Emperor, was the man who invited them to the capital in the first place. He had come for a visit to explain the current situation just before a catastrophe unfolded.
"It's Bishop Puffin again. They have accused you of heresy, as the priest apparently found the aura of an external god on your person. They spread the rumors that you were followers of evil gods, explaining your strength," he said with an annoyed sigh. He seemed almost as unhappy about the situation as they were.
"The bishop himself wouldn't be a problem, but even the nobility close to the Holy See have brought forward their concerns that the emperor was colluding with evil outer gods He was unable to oppose this temporary detention to investigate your true nature," he said the last part as if imitating a dumb idiot.
"What about the rest of our expedition?" Jane asked calmly. She didn't seem concerned by the current situation.
"They have also been put under house arrest. Although some guard of the church tried to take their equipment away, they were unable to go through with it. They are in a similar situation to you, except that their rooms aren't as good. It was the best his majesty was able to do. Don't worry, once the suspicions are cleared, we will make sure to clear your names," he assured them.
While Jane looked a little uncomfortable and Jonah stayed silent, Monique was not in the mood to hold back in this awkward silence.
"I have bad news for you, buddy. All of us bear the power of the System God, and some of us gain exclusive blessings from various Gods that extended their hands towards Urth. Like, what the heck are you fanatics even expecting?" she asked, incensed. She was no longer interested in whatever was happening in this world. She was too pissed to keep her sense of wonder.
"We COME from a different world, why the heck would we believe in your piddling backwater god? And what happened to my demon, hmm? Isn't all of this just a huge hoax for those useless bastards to take my captive?" It broke out of the Chosen of Athena, who was simply fed up.
"Monique, calm down..." Jane tried to speak up, but Monique only acquired a new target.
"Why should I? What makes you think these guys even tell us the truth? All of this act could simply be them playing good cop/bad cop with us. The church is playing the bad guy so these guys can ingratiate themselves with us. oh, the church is acting SO haughty, but we the royal family are the nice guys that only want a good relationship with you~ My ass!"
"Lady Monique, that's..!" Alton spoke up, shocked.
"Monique, please stop-" Jane tried to stop Monique again, but she was interrupted by an unexpected supporter.
"No, listen to her. I agree with Monique. These guys are insulting our intelligence with this act," Jonah suddenly spoke up. Like Monique, he had traveled through a few system worlds to raise his Level of Existence. He got some experience.
Modern people like to underestimate the scheming of less advanced civilizations were capable of. Although Jane probably had lost most illusions about human nature while surviving the apocalypse, she had not experienced other cultures of the system worlds. She still couldn't see past the facade of a primitive culture. These guys loved to act like religion and state were opposing forces, when they were actually working together most of the time.
"Exactly, these people won't understand shit until you start throwing your weight around, Jane. We are the envoys of Minas Mar. How dare they treat us like this just because of the whining of a bunch of nobles and clergy? It's not like we asked to come here. We were invited." Monique ranted, empowered by Jonah's support.
"M-Monique, please calm down. Let's not do anything we might regret," Jane begged her. The merchant was quite clear that she was unable to stop Monique if the spearwoman really intended to do something tragic. Monique glanced at Jane before heaving a deep sigh.
"Fine, let's do it like this. You-!" she suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Alton. Her arm was like a spear, and the herald was sure she could kill him with her bare hand as easily as she could with a spear.
"Tell your emperor that he has exactly 2 days, or we will walk out of here, whether his buddies or enemies like it or not. We are not desperate enough to deal with your bullshit. We will simply return, and there is nothing you can do to stop us," she gave an ultimatum instead of doing what she said immediately.
If there was one thing clear, it was that these guys were way more desperate to gain a strong ally than Minas Mar was to find another food source. If they were telling the truth, Monqiue truly had no interest in dealing with their bullshit. If this was their ploy, they would rein in their dumb schemes within the next two days and hopefully come clean with them.
Having said her mind, the Chosen of Athena turned away wordlessly and left the room, going to an adjacent salon to finish her act/rant. Soon after, Jonah joined her, too.
"Well done. At some point I even thought to see some genuine rage. great acting. They will think twice before pulling stunts like this again," Jonah praised her. he was also convinced that a situation as stupid as this had to be the ploy both parties planned.
"It's because there was some genuine rage. How dare they make us come this far and bother us with this kind of child's play? I still think we shouldn't even have come here. We should have made our deal with Clutcher in Blackfeather and left it there," Monique grumbled.
"Hmhm, if it were you or me calling the shots, you are right. But that is why Jane makes the decisions. She embraced the merchant class and is hunting profit like a bloodhound," the vampiric swordsman joked. " But that's why Seth and Mary gave her the command."
"I guess you are right. Let's hope this this little theater was enough for these people to get their shit together. Whether they were honest or just scheming, they should realize that they can't treat us like this."