Serilef suddenly paused, as if something had occurred to her.
Makelele asked, "Miss Serilef, what did you think of?" Since Serilef had volunteered to help and was not officially part of the Order of the Radiant Heart, Makelele needed to address her respectfully.
"Recently, only one other thing happened in all of Athkatla that might have attracted vampires and the Slaughter Cult." Serilef knew Makelele was an extremely pragmatic man. He disliked overly complicated conversations because they reduced efficiency, so she stated her speculation bluntly. "Solam has come to Athkatla!"
"Solam?" As one of the upper ranks of the Church of Suffering, Makelele naturally knew certain things the public did not. He knew how famous Solam was, but he did not have the slightest favorable impression of him. Solam's return to the continent had been bought with the Blood Sacrifice of tens of thousands!
If he could, Makelele would even have liked to bring Solam to justice. Unfortunately, this was Faerûn. Reason and justice did not always prevail, especially against someone as powerful and politically complicated as Solam. This was also the sorrow of paladins. It seemed only natural that punishing evil was a paladin's duty, but that view was actually very one-sided.
A paladin's greatest duty was protection, not punishment. Paladins might all seem hot-tempered, quick to teach people lessons with their iron fists, but in truth, they had to take many things into consideration. After all, punishing evil was not their most important responsibility. Protecting the good was.
For example, suppose a country's king was a bad man—the worst kind. Yet at the same time, he was a good king who could make his nation prosperous and keep its people secure. What should a paladin do about such a person?
Some might say, wasn't a good king a