The Price of Freedom III

Groaning roughly, the man's eyes slowly started to open. Both his burly arms felt numb, looking to his right he saw a long brown-haired beauty sleeping peacefully. To his left, a long black haired beauty with long eyelashes. Both were sleeping, but due to his slight movement, they started to wake.

He groaned once more almost as if it was a growl. It stirred the two women awake as they opened their eyes.

The black-haired woman reached over with her slim hand to touch his chest hair that seemed golden.

"Move."

His deep hoarse voice rang out in a soft tone.

There was something about it that made it special, neither of the girls could put it into words. The way he spoke just excited them and drew them to him.

Both women reluctantly got off of him as they each grabbed an end of the velvet sheet to cover their chest.

Wasting no time at all, he got off the bed and began to dress himself without even giving the two women another look. As he began equipping himself with his undergarments and armor, he couldn't help but look out of the window not too far away from the large king-sized bed.

Sun was up so it was still early, too early for an average person to wake.

Before he put on his gauntlets, he grabbed two gold coins from his pouch. With a flick of his fingers, they landed on the bed in front of the two women. One gold coin for each.

Their eyes grew large as they swiped the gold coin off the bed.

It was not every day that someone would give them such a large tip for their services. The night was so eventful that they wanted to tip the man instead.

Which was odd considering they worked in a high-end brothel and were paid for their services. It would be weird for them to pay someone else to fuck them, wouldn't it? Still, neither of them would forget the night they had.

Recalling just a moment of it brought about a tingling sensation that made their toes curl.

"Why don't you stay a bit longer?"

Her voice was sexy, just as she was. Even her black eyes blinked a couple of times in a cute manner, while she lowered the velvet sheet to show off her breasts more.

"No."

His voice was rough and hoarse as always, but it still managed to excite her.

The long brown-haired beauty rolled her eyes. The little minx wanted more, she had to praise her friend's recovery. She was still a bit weak in the knees and could not take another round with the man.

Pouting her small lips, she crossed her arms.

"Then will we see you again?"

The black-haired woman asked.

He already stayed here for two days, and each day was fulfilling. She was looking forward to work more often than she imagined she would.

His green eyes gazed into her black eyes for a second.

"No."

He responded as he grabbed his silver claymore with a blue gem embedded into the hilt that was leaning against the red wall.

"At least your name then? We've spent plenty of time together, but you have yet to tell us your name."

Brushing back his long blonde hair, the man thought about it for a second.

"Roland."

Fully geared, he walked out of the room without another word.

"I think I'm in love."

The black-haired woman stated as she brought the coin Roland gave her close to her heart.

"Keep dreaming, there is no love in our line of work. Only making love."

Responding in a playful manner, the brown-haired woman lightly pushed the black-haired woman causing her to lose her balance and fall down onto the bed.

She laid there, staring up at the tall ceiling with a chandelier overhead. Long blonde hair, lavish green eyes, and a well-kept full beard. His entire appearance was manly, but with his unique voice and that firm grip. Her body could not help but shiver in excitement.

Forget what her co-worker said. This was love.

Outside the room, Roland met the owner of this establishment. An older man with a handsome face. He merely smiled at Roland as he came up by his side, trying to keep up with his pace.

"Will you be returning tonight?"

His tone was soft as he was trying to be as nice as possible.

No one here was stupid, every one of them understood who he was the moment he walked through the door. Which is why he was given the VIP treatment.

"No."

The man frowned, saddened by Roland's words.

It was hard to find a man to book the number one and number two as both were expensive and had busy schedules. However, he paid him double their price and the girls upon seeing him hastily agreed.

In these two days, Roland has given the man a lot of money, so it was sad to see that such a valuable customer was leaving.

Roland continued on his way, while the owner stopped following and went about his morning business.

The building was large, being four stories high. The top floor was reserved for the highest-paying members and came with a lot of goodies to spice up the night. Some members were into chains and whips, while others could have fun with some candles.

As long as they paid well, the women that worked here were mostly down for anything.

That is where Roland was, the top floor. Each room was private, and there were only five of them at the top.

The flight of stairs was long but Roland was used to it, so he easily made his way down.

The third floor was for more premium members and the only difference between it and the second was the size of the bed, and maybe the window. The second floor had a few rooms with windows, while it only had full-sized beds. While one could spend the night with more than one person, it would be uncomfortable since there would be not a lot of room to move around.

The first floor was where business was handled and where the girls talked up the men. Got them drinking, spending money only to drag them to one of the rooms.

It was perfect, and most of the men who visited here had some sort of status in the city. Be them children of nobles looking fun, or high ranking soldiers wanting to relieve their stress.

Roland reached under his armor and grabbed a leather.

This was the reason he could not stay any longer.

He had hoped to spend his time off enjoying the city and all its wonders, but a young priest came to deliver him a letter yesterday. Although he had time to do what the letter stated yesterday, he was already busy with other matters.

Memorizing the words, he balled the letter up and it turned into ash, that flowed along with the gentle breeze.

"Sixteen years… it's been sixteen years."

He mumbled to himself as he remembered a faint memory.

That was all it was, just a memory. He was different now, and even if the person in his memory stayed the same it did not matter.

Strolling down the street, he took large strides but walked at a steady pace. He kept this up until he reached his destination.

A medium-sized temple painted pure white.

The yard was clean as a few priests could be seen at the front entrance with a worried look on their faces. Surrounding them was a small crowd of people, shouting and demanding to see the bishop.

"Bring him out! He must pay for his crimes!"

"How dare he preach to others that we must harm our brothers and sisters, yet he dare commit such an act himself?"

A couple of voices entered into Roland's ear, but he paid it no mind.

Bishop's, priest's, none of them mattered to him. They were just as bad as the government officials, if not worse.

"Move."

As he moved forward, he pushed someone to the side making his way through the small crowd.

Upon seeing his armor, the crowd quieted down and made way for him. While the two priests at the entrance smiled as they were glad he was here.

"Sir!"

One priest said as he bowed his head, but Roland paid him no mind and entered into the temple.

He's seen enough people try to suck up to him, believing they would be rewarded in some way or fashion. He hated them, but he could not really 'hate' them for they were just doing what they deemed necessary. In retrospect, it worked often and that was how many people rose in power.

Inside the temple, there was the bishop shouting at the ten surrounding priests, trying to clear his name.

"Sir! Praise Mother Nessa that you are here!"

Rushing over to Roland, the bishop could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Now his situation would be stable with Roland by his side.

Glancing down with his green eyes, Roland frowned as he moved his hand forcing the bishop to let go of his arm.

"Where is he?"

Although he could tell there was some sort of problem here, he had no intention of getting himself involved in it. His mission came before all else.

Stunned, the bishop took a moment to organize his thoughts. It pained him to see that the templar in front of him took no interest in his own affairs, but he quickly realized what he was talking about.

"Gone, I'm afraid. But, once this matter is settled you can just go to his estate."

"Sir, the bishop is disillusioned, I'm afraid you've come all this way for nothing."

A woman said in a calm voice as she came up to Roland. She was covered by a transparent veil, but Roland could see that she was in her late twenties or early thirties.

In anger, the bishop raised his hand and struck her. The sound of his palm hitting her cheek resounded in the hall, while the woman was shocked.

"How dare you go against me! You're the one who started this baseless rumor, aren't you? Once my name is cleared, you can be sure you will be punished for this humiliation!"

All the priests were horrified by the bishop's behavior. None of them saw this coming, he actually struck one of the holy mothers' children?

"Leah!"

Amelia rushed over to Leah's side to check on her, but Leah signaled that she was alright.

"Real or fake, it does not matter now. In front of all these people, you have raised your hand against me, a devoted follower of Mother Nessa. Once the archbishop hears of this, your days are numbered."

Leah told the bishop as she touched her right cheek that was stinging in pain.

"First he brings whores into this sacred place to punish them in his own name, and twist it believing that he is doing the mother's work. Chaining them up, beating them senseless. You've all seen it for yourself, and we all heard the cries. Now you bear witness to his true face, let me ask you, is this the bishop we truly know and love?"

This time, Leah spoke to all the other priests.

They started talking amongst themselves while showing disgust towards the bishop.

Gritting his teeth in anger once more, he raised his hand to strike Leah. Except, he was stopped by Roland.

"Enough!"

Tossing the bishop's arm back to himself, Roland raised his voice.

"I came here for a boy, nothing more. I do not want to hear talks of your disrespect and insolence. You claim that there was a boy who was chosen by the mother herself, yet I do not see him. Is there anyone else among you who has seen this boy?"

Roland's gaze was cold as he scanned all the priests. None of them replied to him, how could they?

While the bishop, Leah, and Amelia had seen Jacob they did not. All of them were confused on this matter.

Naturally, Leah and Amelia kept their mouths shut. Luckily for them, Jacob and Jack stayed in their rooms all the time, so they were never seen by others. The time that Jacob did leave there were very few priests around or none in the main hall. The few that were around quickly left, or were just passing through. Due to Jacob's height, they mostly only saw the figure of Leah instead of him.

Seeing no one come forward, the bishop gazed at Amelia. The way he was glaring was as if he wanted to strangle her to death. His gaze was suffocating and Amelia found it hard to breathe. However, Leah stepped in front of her to look at the bishop with her own deathly gaze.

"Lying is a sin, you must know that. Lying about the presence of a blessed child means death."

Staggering back, the bishop looked for a way to escape but Roland clapped his hand on his shoulder tightly. With his strong grip, the bishop had no way of escaping.

"I'm not lying! They have all sinned! This is a ploy to dismiss me, I'm telling you the truth!"

Truthfully, Roland could care less about the matters that went on inside the temple. If the matter was that important, then the archbishop would send out people to investigate and the issue would be resolved eventually. However, the chances of that happening were slim, especially considering word got out to the citizens outside.

This was a massive stain to the church's image, something they worked hard to build. He would not help this bishop as the bishop's role was small in the grand scheme of things. Instead, he'd appeal to the people and remove this stain with the full force of his power.

Whether it was true or not, the bishop's time here was over.

It was not the first time someone believed in the presence of a blessed child, but none of those cases were true. The chances of someone being blessed who was not a part of the order was low, but the higher-ups still needed to investigate. Even if they had no faith in the words, a blessed child without a connection to the order was a bad sign.

Roland's eye's traveled across the room as he locked eyes with a young woman who was behind the older veiled woman. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, while having this feeling as if they have met before.

Amelia recognized him from her trip with Jack. She felt something drawing her close to the man but did not know what it was.

For Roland, there was something about Amelia that reminded him of his past.

It only lasted for a moment, before he took the bishop away.

As both Roland and the bishop left the temple, Leah collapsed on the floor. Gazing up at the ceiling, she felt that she could finally breathe.

The hard part was over, now came the rest.

She was informed little of Jacob's plan, but she never expected this. People always said a woman would be a man's downfall, and Jacob proved this statement true. Only using a few whores and the power of words, he was able to destroy the bishop's image.

Leah could not help but wonder where he got those women to help him. They were talented, playing the part of the victim and gaining the side of all those here.

His plan itself was simple, but it was not something she could pull off.

If only Leah knew that this plan was made up at the last moment. Jacob had another idea in his mind, but after hearing about Ash and his business he came up with this.

People could question, sure. But once they were given a bunch of information at once their minds couldn't help but believe the rumors were true.

She felt nauseated, but such was a small price to pay.

All she needed now was the support of the other priest, and her rise would begin.