there

either succeed or die in the attempt. In either case they were forgiven. But if they did not succeed and gave up, when the knight died they would burn in hell."
"Ouch," Herzer said. "That's not the way it is in the games."
"No, but something to understand is that the people of that time, by and large, believed in the truth of confession. Just as many in later times believed that having someone tell them it wasn't their fault but the fault of bad potty training made things better. And in both cases, because what was going on was entirely in the person's head, most people ended up feeling better."
"So where do I sign up?" Herzer asked, grumpily.
"Oh, Herzer," Bast laughed. "I don't know of a single remaining Catholic priest in eastern Norau. So I think you might be out of luck, there. But I will give you this much to cling to: although there are some actions in life that are unforgivable, I refuse to believe you have done any of them."
"But . . ."
"Hush, my love. Have you killed someone in anger rather than defense?"
"No, but . . ."
"Have you committed rape?" she asked, carefully.
"No," Herzer said, after a long pause.
"Hmm . . . we come close to the boil there I think," she replied. "And I'm not one to lance it. But that 'No' was definite enough for me. I suspect I know what part of your