Chapter 20: The Worth of Morality
Harvey couldn't even bear to watch.
He'd seen this play out before. The previous few magicians had nearly flipped the table at this exact line.
Detect Evil was a spell unique to holy professions. It let its caster sniff out the wicked hiding among ordinary folk—cultists, criminals, that sort of thing.
The problem was, Detect Evil only detected evil. It didn't tell you what kind of evil. Even a stray malicious thought could trigger it.
And really, who could swear they'd never had an evil thought?
A list of the "Ten Most Annoying Things that Paladins Do" would undoubtedly include randomly casting Detect Evil.
Saying "Mind if I cast Detect Evil on you?" might sound polite, but it was really just strapping someone onto a moral guillotine.
Say yes, and you might show up as "evil" for the most trivial of reasons. Say no, and everyone assumes you're hiding something.
Their other magician candidates had blown up over it. One had even come close to starting a bar fight. If Harvey hadn't stepped in to stop them, someone might've died right there.