“That’s right,” Asano said. “They’re supposed to be restricted, but the bad guys seem to get their hands on them anyway. This one was used on a friend of mine when some cultists tried to sacrifice us. I borrowed it in case you turned out stroppy.”

“You’re not going to kill him?”

“That was my inclination,” Asano said, “but when a man turns his dog on you, you can’t really blame the dog. Is he an adventurer too?”

“Yeah,” Dean said.

“Well, not for long, I’m guessing. Sorry about your monster.”

They looked over at the dead fergax, Jerrick’s weapon already vanished from it.

“It’s a summon,” Jerrick said. “A new one manifests each time I use it.”

“I see,” Asano said. He turned to Clementson, who was cowering off to the side. “Do you think this guy will lend us a cart?”

* * *

The god appeared in front of Jory’s clinic without fanfare, a small, middle-aged man, with ordinary features and plain, brown robes. Nonetheless, power radiated of him, affecting the crowd gathered on the street. Sicknesses were dispelled and injuries healed. Everyone in front of Jory’s clinic fell to their knees as silence washed over the crowded street. Into that silence came the clattering of a wooden object falling onto stone, and a single, startled voice.

“My foot grew back!”

The god laughed, looking at the man who spoke out.

“You have a new foot,” Healer said. “Please, stand upon it.”

A scrawny man stood up in the middle of the crowd, looking immensely nervous.

“You came to this clinic,” the god said, “but the alchemist here could not regrow your foot.”

“No, er… your goodness, sir. He helped me with the pain, and found someone to make me a wooden foot. It worked pretty well. Enough to get me back working, at least.”

“Did you go to my temple?” the god asked, as if he didn’t know exactly what happened in his holy places.

“They said I didn’t have the money to grow a foot back.”

“Yes they did,” the god said, his gaze turning to the Chief Priest. “It is my way to give those who follow me the freedom to do what is right. If doing what is wrong is not truly an option, then doing good isn’t a choice; it’s just obedience.”

The god moved forwards until the kneeling Chief Priest was looking at the bottom of the god’s robes.

“My ways have allowed my followers to go astray in the past, particularly in these outlying regions,” the god said. “Rarely, however, has one of my temples fallen so far, and so completely. You should be not only ready but eager to help those in need. Instead, you use the gifts I have given you to garner power and line your pockets.”