NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55 – Inquisition
The Inquisition. According to the definition, it is an organization that oversees the country and intervenes in activities endangering it, with the most important aspect in dangerous magic practices. Mainly necromancy, though there is a lot more of those, especially if you add natural talents to the mix.
And looking at it now, its strength would probably allow the Inquisition to do what they are supposed to, and as they please in general. The temporary office we are standing before is pretty small, as I can see all of it with my twenty five meters of natural range, but the people I feel inside are easily the strongest group of humans I've seen here.
Madella for example, the Guild's branch master in Black Harbor, was one of the strongest people in the guild, and despite that almost everyone here is stronger than her. And one person I assume to be either Stone Heart or High Inquisitor Xavier is close in strength to Ave'A, which is pretty damn impressive. The mana density equals over one hundred and fifty units, and it feels hard and rough, so my guess is that this is Stone Heart.
A good challenge, maybe. Or at least a way for me to see what really a person of such power is capable of, because everyone I've met up now was either defeated by me too quickly to give me a good look at their power, or wasn't inclined to fight.
Either way, we approach the whitish building and the two guards in white full plate armor in front of the large door. They aren't wearing helmets, fortunately, and I can see both of them are rather unassuming men with faces in the middle between handsome and rough. And their bodies hold more mana than Madella, which is pretty hilarious in a way. That the branch master would be unable to even enter this building by force, unless she has some incredible ability I'm not aware of.
"Hello." I begin, turning my hand to show the letter to them. "I've been invited by High Inquisitor in regards to the attack on Riverside. May we come in?"
The knight on the right with slightly denser mana in his body gives me an appraising glance and looks at Letty standing to my right. "We were informed, yes. She wasn't invited though."
"No one said she can't come, and she was with me back then." I reply, unfazed, trying not to smile too obviously when Letty wraps her arm around mine and steps slightly closer.
"Hm, alright." The man nods and steps to the side, opening the heavy door with ease. "Come in, and talk with the receptionist. She will guide you further."
I nod and enter the building through the large door with Letty trailing behind me, and the first thing that comes to my mind is that it's pretentious. The building itself is a simple and rough structure of whitish stone, but the furnishings, decorations, and the people themselves look just like I would imagine a wealthy, influential order of knights or something similar.
Basically everything here is white with golden linings and details, mainly depictions of some scenes I don't recognize and don't expect to, and everyone out of three people inside, even including the damn receptionist, is dressed either in plate armor or in white formal clothing with metal parts and golden embroidery. Damn. I saw all the shapes in my perception field, but I never thought it would be so... I don't want to say bad, but that's the only word coming to my mind. It just screams of wealth and power.
And the absolutely fantastic thing is that this is the temporary office. I don't even want to imagine the main one.
Putting the issue to the back of my mind, I approach the white counter on the far end of the sort of hall, which thanks to my magic sense I recognize to be more like a particularly large antechamber, and look at the woman behind it.
She is pretty... out of place in that armor, if you ask me. A young woman with soft, roundish face and long curly hair, wearing a formal attire that could pass as light armor, sitting behind a reception. At least she is not as strong as two other people here, but even then her soul is at least fifteen times the base size. And her mana feels... strangely still. And weird. I'm not sure what to make of it.
"Hello." I say and put the envelope on the desk. I notice that the woman's eyes widen visibly in something between shock and fright as she raises her head to look at me, but she doesn't show any reaction past that.
"Yes?" She asks, straightening her back and looking at me nervously, hiding it almost perfectly, but not well enough for me to miss it.
"I'd like to meet High Inquisitor Xavier in regards to the letter I received."
"I see. High Inquisitor is currently unavailable. Would you mind waiting till he comes back? He should be here before sunset, if nothing stops him." The woman says quickly. "Or you can talk with Inquisitor Captain Elisora, if it's not a personal matter with High Inquisitor."
I glance at Letty, thinking for a moment, and see her shrug lightly. Hm.
"We'll talk with Inquisitor Captain." I reply, looking back at the receptionist. "I doubt I'd have any questions she won't be able to answer. Is she free now?"
"Yes, she should be." The receptionist nods her head, pulling out some papers from under the desk, and stands up from her seat. "Please follow me."
We walk behind the woman as she guides us through a large door on the side on the desk and through a short corridor. We walk downstairs and through another corridor, then to a door behind which I don't sense any person. Instead I sense a lot of mana woven into spells around the room, but I lack the expertise to tell if they are supposed to provide privacy or if they are a trap. Or yet something else. Well, I'll deal with it if it becomes a problem.
The woman opens the door and holds it till we come inside.
"Please wait a few minutes. Inquisitor Captain Elisora will come as soon as she is able to." She says and walks out of the room, closing the door behind herself.
I and Letty sit down side by side on a sofa by a rectangular tea table and look around the simple room. There are some decorations on the walls that look like trophies from various monsters, and there is the Inquisition's sign above the door. Apart from that there is only the tea table with two small sofas on the sides.
Letty pulls me slightly to her so that I start leaning on her, and I use my magic sense to see what the receptionist is doing. Actually, now that I think about it, why the hell do they even have a receptionist here? It's not like they have frequent visitors here, do they now? Well it's probably a tradition, a pretense, or a cover for something, but, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter.
I watch as the woman walks through the corridor and stops in front of a door behind which I sense the second strongest person in this building, with hot, lazily bubbling mana of density at around sixty units. Is it lava? Not sure, but that's likely.
The woman knocks on the door and enters the room, and I see as the two people talk for a while with each other, but I don't bother with putting energy to my ears to hear them. Not like I need to know what they are talking about. Instead I only see as the woman passes a small stack of paper to the person I presume is Inquisitor Captain Elisora, who skims them quickly and stands up, then follows the woman out of the room.
They separate there, and Elisora turns in our direction. A few moments later the door to the room opens and I stand up to greet the person, who reveals to be a... young girl. Damn. I said that the receptionist looks out of place, but this here is completely another level of being out of place. I saw her in my perception, but I thought she's just a small person, not a small girl.
Her smooth, delicate face isn't childish, but she looks to be at most fifteen years old and wears similar formal clothing to everybody else, just with much less coverage. Her belly as well as frail-looking arms and legs are almost completely exposed, and I can see almost half of her small chest above the modest, white chestplate made entirely out of metal, just as the rest of her clothes. Speaking about small, she is even shorter than Letty at barely five feet of height.
"Hello. Inquisitor Captain Elisora, I assume?" I ask, raising my eyebrows a bit.
"Indeed I am." She confirms in lively voice, closing the door and walking to the other sofa, with her long, red hair tied into a loose braid and jumping up and down. "And you are?"
"I am Helia, and this is Letty. I was invited by High Inquisitor Xavier in regards to the incidents in Aver's Crossing and Riverside, and I took Letty with me since we were together during the latter." I reply.
"Alright, that matches. Nice to meet you then." Elisora nods after looking between me and the papers in her hands. "Do sit down, it's in no way a formal meeting." She says with a wave of her hand, sitting down herself, and I follow a moment later.
The girl stays silent for a moment, looking at the papers thoughtfully, and I use this chance to ask a question.
"May I know why was I invited here, and what are your intentions in it?"
"I can't speak for the High Inquisitor, but I'd call it a pleasant talk about unpleasant subjects. You need to understand that while we have neither the necessity nor the obligation to get your testimony about the events that transpired in Riverside and Aver's Crossing, your information is very valuable to us. You are a powerful outsider, to our knowledge unaffiliated with any of the suspects for the attacks, and while some would be suspicious of you, I prefer not to judge people hastily and learn what I can from what you are willing to share." The inquisitor explains with a small smile and sighs lightly.
"Some would certainly prefer to be safe than sorry and end up sorry by trying to either kill you or obtain your information forcefully. I have no intention to do that, and I doubt I have the power even if I had the intention, despite my ability that made me one of the youngest Inquisitors on Beholder's Eye." Elisora says with a distant look.
"Glad to hear that." I reply with a grin as Letty listens intently with a small frown. That girl seems... different. Certainly much more direct and open that I expected an inquisitor to be, and I definitely like it. "What are the suspects, if you can share that with us? Because I might have a few theories as well."
Elisora turns her head to me and narrows her eyes. "Before I answer that, do you know what the purpose of the Inquisition is?"
"More or less." I nod. "Officially it's the country's safety. No idea if there's something more."
"The Inquisition puts the country before anything else. Even including the king. That much is right, and there's not much to add." Elisora nods. "It means that if Inquisition collectively decides the current king is doing a bad job, we are fully eligible to take him down and temporarily put another on the throne. Technically it's much more complicated, but that's the essence. Similarly, if our actions were to harm the country, we have very limited possibilities."
"You're saying this for a reason connected with the suspects, are you not?" Letty says from my side and Elisora grins.
"Indeed. High Inquisitor Xavier hasn't returned with newest findings, but the two main suspects as of now are the Beastkin from Titan's Gorge and Black Hand."
"Why Black Hand?" Letty asks in confusion. "I heard it's something akin to an assassin organization. Even if they orchestrated the attacks, it would probably be a contract for someone else, wouldn't it?"
The inquisitor sighs and leans back in the sofa. "I would like to say you are right, but I can't." She shakes her head. "The Black Hand is indeed famous for assassinations and other jobs they do as the most powerful black guild on the six colonized islands, but it's... not their cover, because I don't see why they would cover bad with worse..." She pauses uncertainly and sighs again. "The reality behind Black Hand is completely different than the public believes. Black Hand is basically the underground of the six islands, and we can't remove it quickly without destabilizing the whole country. Or even worse."
Interesting. So if it was really Black Hand behind it all, it was probably that the city was itching the Black Hand uncomfortably and they decided to remove it. Though that doesn't explain why it was a monster attack.
"I see." Letty nods. "Crime is indeed essential for prosperity. How does that play into Black Hand being one of the main suspects?"
Elisora opens her mouth to say something, but closes it a moment later and rubs her forehead. "I want you to take what I say both with a grain of salt and as a sign of trust, because what I am going to say is not certain, and not something I'd be willing to tell if it wasn't for my friend who told me about you."
The inquisitor adjusts her position on the sofa and looks at us seriously. "There is a person capable of controlling monsters in Black Hand. I don't know much details, but as far as I know she does it by speaking, so it is short-ranged and direct. She was spotted by our diviner in the Inquisition thirty days ago in Riverside, about twenty five days ago in Tavensville..." She shuffles through the papers in front of her. "...and fifteen days ago again in Riverside, while the attack was almost a tenday ago." Elisora looks up at us with her lips in a thin line. "I don't think I need to explain our suspicions."
"Indeed, you don't need." I nod. "So you are saying that this person most likely stands behind those attacks?"
The inquisitor puffs out her cheeks a bit. "No, not really." She says finally. "I'm only saying that she is a major suspect. Her presence in Riverside at this time is... more than suspicious, but we don't have any direct leads towards her involvement. If we're on that topic, how do you remember the monsters to behave during the attack? Was there anything particular you noticed?"
I think for a moment back to the attack and I immediately freeze as I remember one particular detail. Beisvart. That thing definitely shouldn't be there.
"...I think there's something more happening there." I say slowly, glancing at Letty, who nods with serious expression.
"Why do you say so?" Elisora asks, leaning forward a bit.
"There was a Beisvart in Riverside." I say and the inquisitor blinks in surprise, then frowns heavily. "I killed it and thought it's strange it was there, but I didn't give it much thought. But if controlling monsters comes into play..."
"There is no reason for one person to bring both goblins and a Beisvart that would kill each other." Letty finishes. "It's very likely that the Beisvart was sent there either by an anonymous helper or by completely unrelated person with different goals."
"...Yeah." Elisora leans back with a thoughtful expression. "Unless we are reading too much into it, and someone just lost control over the monster. But that shouldn't happen... Hm." The girl takes an empty paper sheet and starts writing on it quickly.
A few moments later she is done and she looks up at us. "Any more observations?" She asks.
"The gate wasn't broken down, but open from the moment the monsters poured in. Western one, at least, I'm not sure about all the other." Letty replies instantly.
"Alright... wait." The inquisitor looks up from the paper just as she starts writing and looks through the stack on her side. "I have written here that you have broken it down."
"Huh?" I let out, unable to stop myself. "Why the fuck would we do that?"
"I don't know, um, wait." Elisora looks up, visibly nervous, and raises her open hand, then starts looking through the papers again. "These papers were compiled by Inquisitor Captain Victoria... she's the receptionist you talked to, and all the materials come from High Inquisitor Xavier and other field agents. This information is supposedly from... Geru. A silver hunter." She finishes and I blink.
Um, what? Like, what the fuck?
"Uh, could we maybe start with our testimony?" I ask. "Because there is something... very wrong there, and I'm not even sure where to start correcting it."
"Alright." Elisora says, pulling out another empty sheet and putting the rest to the side, and looks up at me with expectant expression. "I think we should have started with that from the very beginning... anyway, do tell what happened in Riverside from your perspective. We'll leave Aver's Crossing for now, because it was a much smaller incident."
I stay silent for moment, collecting my thoughts, and start speaking. "So, in the early morning I met up with Letty outside Riverside, and we both went inside and to Hunter's Respite to catch up on what we've been doing before. We spent some time talking, and then someone barged into the building, shouting that there are monsters attacking the town. We went out and started running to the market, then to the west gate. Southern one."
"You only ran there? Nothing on the way?" The inquisitor asks in the small pause I make, scribbling something very quickly on the paper, much faster than any normal human would.
"Nope, nothing." I shake my head. "We went into the street and ran a couple hundred meters before we reached escaping mob, jumped over the people, and started killing the goblins. A few minutes later we had more than a hundred killed, and then a hobgoblin showed up. Letty killed it while I finished the small fry, and at this point the goblins stopped coming, because the shamans and other hobgoblins were being massacred by a Beisvart."
"It came from the outside of the town, right?" Elisora asks and I frown lightly. That's a good question, actually.
"No idea." I shake my head. "I mean, I saw it killing goblins near the gate, but I didn't see where it came from."
"I see." The girl nods in response. "Was there anyone else with you?"
"No." Letty chimes in. "We didn't spot any other people, be it guards, hunters, or civilians, till we defeated the Beisvart and approached the gate."
"And that's when it becomes interesting." I grin and Elisora looks up from her paper briefly with interest. "You see, a group of ten-odd hunters blocked our way out. I'm not sure about their intentions, but they accused me of being behind both this attack and the one in Aver's Crossing. Geru, Blue Ogre, seemed to be their leader, and I knocked him out when they refused to let us out. Afterwards they ran away. Behind them was the intact gate."
"I see." Elisora nods thoughtfully. "So it's either his petty revenge, or some more organized ploy. Why were you headed out of the city though? The attack can't have been fully repelled by then."
"No, it wasn't yet, but with my enhanced hearing I judged the threat to be minimal and our help unnecessary. We flew to Tavensville to warn the Guild there about the attack and help if monsters appeared there as well, and then continued straight to Black Harbor." I explain and the inquisitor nods her head, then leans back with a thoughtful expression.
"Hm, Geru. Blue Ogre, was it?" Elisora pulls herself up and stands up. "Please wait a moment, I'll go for our files about him. Victoria should have something on him." She looks at me and tilts her head. "Would you like any refreshments?"
"No, thanks. We don't really need to eat." I shake my head.
The girl nods and walks out of the room. I watch as she goes to the hall to the receptionist and they start talking, and I lean on Letty's shoulder with a small sigh.
"It's messed up." I mutter.
"Hm?"
"Yeah, like... out of VOW at least two people want to ruin our image, then here Geru and maybe yet someone else." I grumble. "It's annoying."
"Mhm." Letty nods and pulls me onto her lap lightly, where I land with a small sigh. "Would you like me to take care of it all?"
"Hm?" I look up at my girlfriend, signaling to expand on her point.
"I mean, you could rest, and I'll take care of this matter, and maybe more that come up." Letty starts explaining, bunching my hair on my shoulder and lightly scratching behind my horns. "I think my Mechanical brain is much better suited for all that political mess, and yours is better for social things."
"Hm, that's true." I mutter. "Would you be alright with it though? I mean, like that time with Krom?" I ask, concerned.
"Nah, that was, um, a unique case." Letty blushes a bit and averts her eyes. "I was distracted by you and processing things about our relationship, and um... you know..." She gets even redder.
"Ah, alright." I reply with a grin. "So you would be fine if I left it all to you?"
"Mhm, yeah. I'd like it, actually." Letty nods with a wide smile.
"Alright. Then I'm giving the bat to you." I lightly pat her hand resting on my belly. "I'll be chiming in though."
"Mhm, sure." She nods again and we lapse into silence for a long while.
I use this while to peep on Elisora again, and I spot her walking back to this room with a few papers in her hands. And I'm pretty sure with a thoughtful expression, though I can't judge it well using only my magic sense.
A few seconds later the door opens again and the inquisitor walks in, absorbed in the papers. She closes the door and slowly sits down on the sofa, continuing to read another sheet. Half a minute later she sighs loudly and leans back, putting the stack on the table.
"Nothing conclusive, I believe. He claims that he tried to stop you from going out of the town, but you attacked him and broke the gate down. Not to suggest anything, but I'm more inclined to believe you." She says with furrowed eyebrows, looking at us. "Going back to your testimony, what did you do after you knocked Geru out?"
"We went to Tavensville and relayed the information we knew to Krom, the branch master there." Letty replies. "We didn't linger, and immediately afterwards set out to Black Harbor. I left a note in the guild with all the information, because we didn't want to deal with the suspicions and... other bothersome things."
"Alright..." Elisora nods slowly. "I assume your actions afterwards had nothing to do with the topic?"
"No, I don't think so. We went deep into the forests shortly afterwards and returned only today in the afternoon. We actually came here directly after a meal with our team."
"I see." The inquisitor nods, finishes scribbling something on a piece of paper, and looks up at us with a small sigh. "Thanks for the information. So, going back to the suspects, we have the Beastkin and Black Hand. We'll get to the Beastkin in a moment."
"Before we discuss any of that," I chime in. "Why are Mazoku not among the suspects? I mean, I'm not saying I suspect them, but they seem to be the most heavily suspected by the public."
"Good question." Elisora nods with a small smile. "We haven't ruled them out yet, but, unlike with the other two, we don't have a single thing that would make us suspect them any more than other. They could have just hidden themselves well, but it would be very, and I mean extremely unlikely for our diviner to find nothing on them if they really were the perpetrators. I can't tell you any details, but he has been trying to spot people that pose danger to the country." She looks at me with a smirk. "If you're curious, you both weren't there. Or, at least, I wasn't informed if you were."
"Glad to her that." Letty nods with a smile. "Who has he spotted, if I may ask?"
"Quite a few people." The girl leans back. "First was the woman capable of controlling monsters from Black Hand, as I told you. She was the only one he saw multiple times, which is the reason we heavily suspect her. But we'll put her to the side for now since we don't know if it was really her commanding the monsters." She pauses for a moment with a thoughtful expression. "The rest showed only once. We take those instances with a large grains of salt, since there are very many things that can trigger a single vision, and majority are not serious threats."
Elisora finishes and stays silent for a long while, looking down at the papers on the desk. "What concerns me is that you mentioned two people he saw in his visions, and I'm inclined to believe it is not a coincidence."
"Geru and Krom, I guess?" Letty says in low voice and the inquisitor looks up with slight surprise, but composes herself quickly and nods with a serious expression.
"Exactly."
"I need to ask though," My girlfriend frowns. "Why do you hold the diviner's information in such high regard?"
"That's... not really something I can share. Even the diviner himself is not known to the public, so I'd appreciate if you understood the degree of trust that comes with telling you something that's a sort of... high circle's open secret." Elisora replies with a shake of her head. "But suffice to say, his visions allowed us to prevent an assassination attempt at King Egmar himself, and a lot more other incidents. We probably could have prevented the attacks on Riverside and Aver's Crossing as well, but we didn't anticipate such quick, large-scale actions and only sent a few field agents incapable of solving the issue by themselves."
"I see." Letty nods her head.
"By the way, wasn't Krom from Titan's Gorge?" I ask in the pause and both girls turn to me with surprise and realization on their faces.
"Yes, I think so." My girlfriend nods first. "I'm pretty sure he said that he came from Titan's Gorge a few tens of years ago."
"Hm." Elisora frowns heavily. "We'll need to investigate him. I can't question him openly with such small clue, but... actually." The inquisitor looks up at us and I can almost see the gears in her head turning. "I'd like to employ you."