Chapter 12: The Church of Order
"So..."
Kael slowly looked at the bag of coins on the counter.
Then he looked at the receptionist.
Then back at the bag.
"...Where’s the rest?"
The receptionist smiled professionally.
Too professionally.
That kind of smile that clearly hid bad news.
"We applied some minor deductions."
"Minor?" Kael opened the bag and almost had a heart attack. "THERE ARE LIKE TEN COINS IN HERE!!"
"Twelve, technically."
"I WAS SUPPOSED TO GET THREE MILLION!!"
"Two million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred eighty-eight were deducted for environmental damages."
Silence.
Kael: "..."
Luna: "..."
The cat: "Meow."
Kael pointed at the cat instantly.
"HE DID IT!!"
The receptionist nodded.
"Yes. The report indicates that as well."
FLASHBACK — Ten minutes earlier.
"HOW DOES THE FOREST NOW HAVE ’GEOGRAPHICAL DAMAGE’!?" Kael shouted.
A guildsman slammed the table furiously.
"A MOUNTAIN LOST ITS PEAK!!"
"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!"
"THE RIVER IS NOW FLOWING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION!!"
"THAT WAS ALSO ACCIDENTAL!!"
"HOW DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY CHANGE A RIVER’S COURSE!?"
Kael opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Opened it again.
"...With great effort."
Another employee appeared with more documents.
"There’s also an additional fine."
"WHY!?"
"Illegal participation of an unregistered minor in an official mission."
Everyone slowly looked at Luna.
Luna raised her hand happily.
"Hi!"
Kael felt his soul leave his body.
"Luna..."
"Yes?"
"We’re back in poverty."
"Oh."
The receptionist kept reviewing papers.
"And due to the incident... your officially registered nickname is now:"
She flipped another page.
"—’The Summoner of the Little Fat King.’"
Absolute silence.
Kael: "..."
The entire guild: "..."
The cat slowly opened its eyes.
Kael trembled.
"...Who wrote that?"
An adventurer slowly raised his hand from the back.
"The vote was unanimous."
"DAMN ALL OF YOU!!"
END OF FLASHBACK.
Kael was still emotionally devastated.
Luna tried not to laugh.
It wasn’t working.
"Big brother... ’Little Fat King’ actually sounds cute."
"Luna, I’m going to emotionally abandon you."
"That’s not legal."
Meanwhile...
Seraphina was still there.
Completely ignoring the financial chaos.
Because she was currently trying to hug the cat again.
"Come here."
"Meeooowww."
The cat immediately backed away.
Seraphina stepped forward.
The cat backed away faster.
Kael watched the scene.
"I still don’t understand why you’re specifically afraid of her."
"Meow."
"He didn’t answer anything, but honestly I felt murderous intent."
Seraphina finally managed to catch him.
And began hugging him with absurdly dangerous strength.
The cat looked like a balloon of compressed fury.
"MMMMEEEEEEOOOOOOWWWWW."
"Soft."
"THAT IS NOT SOFT!!"
Several people in the guild watched the scene completely confused.
Because honestly...
no one understood what the hell was happening around Kael.
And that was starting to make important people uncomfortable.
Very important.
.
.
.
Far from the capital...
Inside a massive black cathedral lit by silver candles...
the atmosphere was completely different.
Absolute silence.
Dozens of figures dressed in white robes knelt before a giant golden symbol.
A perfect circle crossed by multiple chains.
The symbol of:
The Church of Absolute Order.
An elderly voice broke the silence.
"Repeat the sacred principle."
Everyone spoke at once.
"Reality must remain stable."
"Hierarchy must remain intact."
"Chaos must be eliminated."
The magical pressure inside the room was monstrous.
In the center of the hall...
several documents floated magically.
They all had the same name written on them.
Kael Veyron.
And below:
"Meme Summoner."
An old man slowly observed the reports.
Completely white hair.
Golden eyes.
And a scar running across half his face.
Grand Inquisitor Aureon.
One of the most dangerous men on the continent.
"Have the testimonies been confirmed?"
A kneeling woman immediately responded.
"Yes, Your Holiness."
Another document floated before Aureon.
"An A-rank Abyssal Beast was eliminated with a single blow."
Another.
"An unknown creature accidentally altered the geography of the Eastern Forest."
Another.
"The summons ignore magical analysis, spiritual detection, and rank classification."
Silence.
A priest swallowed.
"They don’t follow any known laws."
Aureon slowly closed his eyes.
And for the first time in years...
he seemed worried.
"So it’s finally happened."
Several priests looked up in confusion.
"Your Holiness?"
Aureon spoke slowly.
"The God of Chaos has acted again."
Absolute silence.
The air inside the cathedral became heavy instantly.
Even some priests began to sweat.
Because that name...
was absolute taboo.
One of the men spoke nervously.
"B-but that’s impossible..."
"We thought the Ridiculous Fragments had been destroyed centuries ago..."
Aureon opened his eyes.
"Clearly not."
With a wave of his hand...
a magical image appeared above the hall.
It showed the cat.
Sitting.
With a face of absolute contempt.
Several priests felt an immediate chill.
"That... destroyed an A-rank beast?"
"With a slap."
"..."
"..."
One of the priests seemed on the verge of a mental breakdown.
"THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE!!"
Aureon struck the floor with his staff.
BOOM.
Instant silence.
"Exactly."
Everyone fell quiet.
The old man’s gaze turned cold.
"That is the problem."
The images continued changing.
They showed:
Students laughing,
Adventurers talking about the "fat cat,"
Rumors spreading through the city.
And finally...
people imitating it.
Aureon watched that in silence.
"It has already begun."
A woman frowned.
"What has?"
"Conceptual contamination."
Everyone tensed up.
Aureon continued.
"Memes are not simple creatures.
They are cognitive anomalies.
Absurd concepts capable of spreading among people."
The magical pressure increased slightly.
"The more people talk about them...
the more influence they gain over reality."
Silence.
Another priest spoke slowly.
"So... their power grows with popularity?"
"Yes."
"..."
"That’s horrible."
Aureon nodded.
"The God of Chaos originally created them as a mockery of the other deities."
The magical image changed again.
Now showing ancient absurd drawings:
Deformed creatures,
Ridiculous expressions,
Impossible entities.
"They were not created to conquer the world.
Nor to destroy civilizations.
They were created..."
The old man gripped his staff.
"As a joke."
Absolute silence.
Several priests seemed unable to accept something so absurd.
One even muttered:
"All of this... for humor?"
Aureon immediately replied.
"The most dangerous chaos always starts as something ’funny.’"
The images continued.
And showed ancient ruined cities.
Vanished cities.
Wars.
Disasters.
"Centuries ago, Memes nearly destroyed the world’s balance.
Not because they were evil.
But because reality stopped working correctly near them."
Another priest spoke, trembling.
"Does that boy even understand what he possesses?"
Aureon looked again at the image of Kael.
Which showed him running desperately while the cat dug its claws into his head.
Silence.
"No.
And honestly, that worries me even more."
.
.
.
Meanwhile...
Kael kept walking happily through the city.
"Well."
He put his twelve coins in his pocket.
"Technically we still made a profit."
"We lost millions."
"But we GAINED twelve."
"Big brother, that’s financial depression."
Seraphina was still carrying the cat against its will.
Miraculously, she was still alive.
"Meow..."
"It’s soft."
"How is it still breathing?" Kael asked, genuinely confused.
"I don’t know."
Luna raised her hand.
"Maybe the cat has already accepted its fate."
The cat indeed seemed to have given up hope.
Then...
Kael felt something strange.
An uncomfortable sensation.
As if someone was watching him.
He slowly turned around.
But there was no one.
"...Weird."
Very far away from them...
on the roof of a building...
a hooded figure watched them in silence.
White clothing.
Golden symbol.
Cold eyes.
An inquisitor.
The man observed the cat especially.
Then spoke slowly.
"Confirmed."
He took out a small magical device.
"The Meme Bearer truly exists."
Silence.
The wind slowly moved his cloak.
"We must eliminate him before the corruption spreads."
And for the first time since the story began...
the threat no longer felt like a joke.
