“Now how am I supposed to believe that?”
Rodin believed wholeheartedly that what Aurida had said was a lie. Yet, looking at the evidence… the expansive mansion with loads of decorum…
“Someone who so depreciates life can’t possibly have gotten such a social ranking. Also, you’re no Priest…”
“You might want to check again.”

“Check… how am I supposed to check? I can just look at you. You can’t have more than a rating of 60…”

Aurida blinked, obviously confused about something. He spoke a single word, and Rodin’s vision turned cloudy, while quickly returning to normal.

“What,” Rodin said in an unimpressed tone, “Was the point in that?”
“Scan lens. Look at me now, like you’re… like you’re trying to shoot magic out of your eyes and kill me.”

Looking at Aurida the same way he always did, he got a readout in his mind’s eye, reading ‘Aurida, Level 89 (60+29) Priest.’

“What does it mean by… 60 plus 29?”
“It means that… I have a basic rating of 60, but I’m up 29 because of my social status. I was elected to the rank of Head Priest because of something about talent, or prophecy, or something… And then, a few days later, this happened. The city…”
“The city… what happened to it?”
“Look down. Into the houses, the streets…”

Rodin leaned over the balcony, obviously with a hint of caution that something would jump up and knock him out. He looked down, searching for any hint of motion. There was none, but he couldn’t figure out why… the balcony was too high up to make out any details.

“Where is everybody? It’s like… the two of us are the only ones here.”
“They’re in their houses. Sleeping.”
“But… look, it’s morning. Everyone should be awake.”
“They’re sleeping forever, you idiot. On the fourth day of my reign as Head Priest, time stopped for the city… I was the only one who got up on that day…”
“That’s a lie. I know that’s a lie… how would it be possible?”
“Resistance. Spell resistance. I was lucky.”
“But everything else would be frozen. You’d have starved to death in your own room.”
“Let’s just assume that it only froze living things-“
“And what about people who were out of town?”
“She must have killed them.”
“She?”
“Oh… dang… I was hoping I wouldn’t have to tell you why I need your help just yet.”
“Well, I was going to find out eventually. Tell me.”
“Uhh… she’s pretty much the most powerful person around.”

And to show it, at that point there was an odd shape on the horizon.

“Hm. Convienient. A demonstration. Doctor Aurida prescribes a heavy dose of running away now.”