As soon as they were captured, he felt them try to contact their gods through prayer but they were all within reach of his sacrilege, effectively blocked off from the divine once they were in his grasp. It was obvious as they tried to resist his pull but none of them had the strength and any bits of magic they tried was either blocked or canceled before it could be cast by going into their heads to disrupt their thoughts while they tried to use their mana, all while he led them to the back, taking them through one of his mini-gates to the figure sitting on the other side.

Whenever he’d pass through, Ben would normally ignore the guildmaster of the adventurer’s guild within the magic towers and the man seemed all the happier to accept that but seeing a dozen people secured and led to his office went beyond his ability to mind his own business, the exact result Ben had wanted.

“Hey, so you need to come with me.”

“Um, am I going to end up in chains too?”

“No, don’t be dumb. These guys have made clear their intent to harass me so I’m looking to take them to the nearest templar hall to have them dealt with.”

“Templar hall? Is this a religious issue?”

“They’re harassing an apostle, how could it not be a religious issue? While we’re going, if you can, pull some of your adventurers along too in case they try anything.”

The guildmaster’s fear of Ben’s power and authority hadn’t diminished and he was on his feet as soon as Ben told him as much, out of his office to see what adventurers were available while Ben, Abel, and Delair followed behind, dragging the various apostles, oracles, and high priests with them as they went.

With the guild master being quick in his work. By the time they were leaving the guild, he was standing by Ben’s side, leading him through the streets while six adventurers stood guard around his captives, the entire scene drawing eyes from onlookers and only raising their interest more as Ben himself was recognized as the one in the lead, creating an image of a prisoner transport as they made their way down different roads, eventually ending up at a large building where two guards were standing outside, the groups arrival instantly drawing their attention.

While Ben’s personal interaction with templars was limited, reserved entirely to when Uliel had first attacked him in the streets before he’d awakened his crafting, he was aware enough of their role in the world to know they were who he wanted to see.

While they were a group that acted in conjunction with both police and military forces of any land they were in, their primary role was as a religious force, working in hand with the communal church to help solve issues between different faiths or else working as extensions of the gods themselves for any problems that they needed a neutral organisation to deal with and unfortunately for them, Ben had decided they were the ones he was going to force to deal with his harassers.

“Abel, you willing to back me up here?” He whispered as the two guards started making their way over, the sight of chained people being paraded through the streets enough to demand investigation, while she whispered back.

“Give me more blood later.”

“Deal.”

“Toner, what exactly is the issue here?” One of the templars asked the guild master, who in turn did his best to look self-assured.

“This apostle claims he’s been harassed by these people; he came here to get help dealing with it. I and my adventurers only came to try and make sure things stayed calm along the way.”

“And I’m going to need to talk to whoever has the highest authority here,” Ben told him. “This is going to be a bit above your paygrade.”

“Honoured apostle,” One said, trying to give the appropriate respect to the title. “We understand there’s an issue for you but for now, if you could do us the kindness of giving a bit more of an explanation, we’d be happy to find you the appropriate member of our order to help with whatever problem there is.”

“Sorry, but when I said I want the guy with the highest authority, I meant it,” Ben told them as he took out his card, hiding all information on it except his apostle title and one of his skills. “As the eldritch mind holder, I believe asking for that much falls well within my authority.”

Neither of them had known what to expect from his card but the sight of a third-tier skill got a small reaction from what otherwise seemed like professional individuals, making them turn to one another with no need for words spoken before one quickly ran off, leaving the other to give a small bow.

“Apologies, we’ll have someone out for you as soon as we can.”

“Thank you.”

He could feel the guild master's eyes on him, Toner left to wonder what could have been on Ben’s card beyond his apostle title to get such an instant reaction and was kept curious as an older man quickly came out, controlling his breath to avoid giving away that he’d run through the building to get there as he gave his greeting.

“My apologies for the wait. Do you prefer to be addressed as the apostle of Myriad or as the eldritch mind holder?”

“I prefer Ben.”

“Ben then. What exactly is the issue that brought you here? I’ll see to it that it’s dealt with.”

“Well, allow me to apologize because this is going to be a complicated one,” Ben told him. “I’m not sure to what extent you’re aware of me, I can see that you and the two standing outside are wearing both the mana and buff bracelets my church has provided but it’s only been recently since I’d reached the third tier.”

A choking sound came from the guild master by his side, Toner not having remotely been prepared for such a reveal and got glances from everyone for it before Ben went on.

“Anyway, as a result of my awakening, the ones I have here have come to tell me that the way I'm living my life is wrong and that they’ll refuse to leave me be until I change my ways. Despite the strength I have, I’ve taken that for what it is, a threat, and wanted them properly dealt with. I have my young apprentice here who I don’t want exposed to that sort of harassment and a child at home and all of this can be corroborated by my fellow third tier, Abel.”

“Yeah, they seemed like some persistent dicks,” She said as she showed off her own card, getting a bit more of a reaction as the one in charge found that he wasn’t dealing with one godling but two, even if he maintained his professional attitude.

“I see but, and do forgive me if I’m wrong, this seems rather straightforward and given your positions we can see that they’ll be punished appropriately, was there a particular reason you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, this is where it’s going to get complicated for you. My harassers just happen to be other apostles, oracles, and high priests whose doctrines disagree with my own.”

“...I see,” The head templar muttered, his face calm while his thoughts revealed a sudden migraine. “In that case, can you explain in more detail the nature of their issue with you?”

“In essence, they think I’m wrong to want to be paid for my work and services and they disagree with the more casual attitude I keep with the gods,” He said, keeping it simple and neglecting to bring up his second third-tier skill. “However, none of that involves them. My god’s opinions differ from their owns to the point that the ones they worshiped complained about my awakening and they came to try and force their beliefs on me and considering that we have religious freedom on this world to give our faith within the confines of the law, by threatening me, they’re the ones who’ve broken it and I want to see the properly punished for that.”

The older templar’s mind was instantly a mess with thoughts of paperwork and overtime for just what a pain dealing with that was going to be, leaving Ben feeling just a bit bad, even if the other’s face didn’t give it away as he answered.

“I understand. In that case, please leave them in our care for questioning to get to the root of this and if you’re able to return tomorrow, we can discuss how to deal with this.”

“Works for me,” Ben agreed as he handed over the chain, the templar looking at it with distaste before handing it to his subordinate. “In that case, I look forward to hearing about the result when myself and Abel return tomorrow.”

With that done he left, having succeeded in one of his goals, even if nothing ended up coming from it. He’d paraded them, those representatives of their gods, through the streets and even if they weren’t all going to be recognized, it would still be a blow to their prides and even their reputations if word got out.

But then, I do have the power to get word out a bit, don’t I? He asked himself before materializing photos of the scene, attaching names to each chained figure, along with their positions in their faiths and stuck them all to different buildings they passed as they made their way back.

“Ha, that really was fun,” Abel gushed, looking absolutely manic. “Oh, we should do that again!”

“Only if someone else comes to give me problems,” He told her. “I don’t go out of my way to get on people's bad sides.”

“Then what’s with the photos you’re hanging everywhere?”

“Making sure others think twice before getting on my bad side again in the future.”

“But there’s something I don’t get,” Delair said as she helped hang them up with him. “Why'd they say you’re an evil god before?”

“...Some people are just a little rude, kiddo,” He said as he ruffled her hair, not looking to let the details of that skill get out to her and Abel. “Pay it no mind.”

And then as for the divine fallout of this…Well, I’m sure Myriad’s got it well in hand.

REALM ACCESS LEVEL INCREASED