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Octus 25, 3023, Day of Westar, 10:13 p.m.
Holy Crusade squad's Meeting Room, Temple of Priest building, She'kel Village.
Wind and his squad were all seated at the table that had all of the documents they copied from the External Unit and the Orion Kingdom group and 2 Memory Crystals.
Vivian was reviewing a 6-page document.
"Brother," she said as she turned to Wind.
Wind, who was writing down something on a piece of paper, stopped what he was doing and turned to her.
"Brother Jeremiah had no prior arrests before this case.
"Sister Bithiah is also the same. However, she accused 4 men of sexual harassment.
"The first one was against a Knight from the Luxen Kingdom named Blake Sweeney Kearney. Kearny is a High-Tier Commoner family while Sweeney is a Mid-Tier Commoner family, both are from Bodie Village. The incident happened during her 3rd Holy Crusade under the Exploratory Division while she was temporarily stationed at the Southern Joint Infantry Barracks for a Field Mission in the Southern Continent.
"The second one was against a Scholar from the Heisen Kingdom named Jasoor. No last and middle name but his family is listed as a High-Tier Commoner Merchant family from Ra'mil Town. The incident occurred when she and a group of Brothers and Sisters visited a restaurant called Daeuna Nakul in Ra'mil Town.
"The third one was against a Brother named Elmundo Toledano Navarra from the Marbleam Kingdom. The Toledano family is from Espiritu Town while the Navara family is from Culebra Village, both are Low-Tier Noble Priest families. Brother Elmundo was on his 4th Holy Crusade contract under the Infantry Division while Sister Bithiah was on her 6th Holy Crusade under the Exploratory Division. They were both stationed at the Southern Joint Infantry Barracks for a Field Mission in the Southern Continent. However, the case was dropped.
"And the fourth case was against a Guard named Fuaad from the Heisen Kingdom. He has no last and middle name but his family is labeled under the Low-Tier Commoner family and his listed address is Heisen City. The incident happened during Sister Bithiah's 7th and last Holy Crusade under the Exploratory Division. They were both assigned to the Western Joint Barracks in the Southern Continent.
"She's also known to have many romantic entanglements, both past and present, aside from Brother Jeremiah and Brother Emmanuel.
"Her presents are, aside from Brother Jeremiah and Brother Emmanuel, there's also:
"Brother Wilhem Julius Wagner from the Iron Kingdom. The Wagner family is from Re'gen Town while the Julius family is from Fal'lenTown, both are Mid-Tier Noble Priest families.
"The other one is currently unknown. But he's said to be a Brother from the Verglas Kingdom.
"And as for Brother Emmanuel, he also has no prior arrests before this case. However, just like Sister Bithiah, he also has many romantic entanglements.
"He was engaged twice.
"The first one was with a Sister named Ava Devas Vedrix from the Holy Kingdom. Both of her families are Mid-Tier Noble Priest families and are from Va'le Town. It lasted between 3016-19.
"The second one, which is still ongoing, is with Sister Keira Brown Longus from the Twin Kingdom. The Longus family is from Sci'elf Town while the Brown family is from Gi'gant Town, both are Mid-Tier Noble Priest families. Their engagement was announced in 3020.
"And aside from having a fiancée, he's also in an entanglement with 3 women.
"The first one is Sister Karoline Fjeld Victorius from the Verglas Kingdom. The Victorius family is from Spøkelse Town while the Fjeld family is from Svart Town, both are Low-Tier Noble Priest families.
"Also, another important note to add: Sister Karoline had a fallout with her family and transferred to the Orion Chapter Temple last year. And 2 months later, she began a romantic entanglement with Brother Emmanuel. Furthermore, Brother Emmanuel used to have a romantic entanglement with Sister Karoline's older sister, Sister Yvonne.
"The second person that Brother Emmanuel has a romantic entanglement with is a married Noble from the Twin Kingdom, Lady Cilli Aston Byron.
"Her original name before marriage was Lady Cilli Aston Warrick -- both the Aston and the Warrick family are Low-Tier Noble families from Twin City. Meanwhile, her husband, Liam Cromwell Aston, the Aston family is from Liff'rea Town while the Cromwell family is from Eal'dor Village. They both have 3 children.
"And the third person is a Sister Karla from the Orion Kingdom. She has no middle and last name but her family is labeled under the High-Tier Commoner family.
"And if you're wondering if Brother Jeremiah had any other romantic entanglements, according to reports, there are none. He only had Sister Bithiah.
"My question here, brother, who among these people associated with Sister Bithiah and Brother Emmanuel should we interview? I haven't even mentioned all of their ex-romantic entanglements. There's just too many."
Wind thought about it for a moment.
"With Sister Bithiah, have all of the people she accused of sexual harassment be summoned. Meanwhile, for the people she had romantic entanglements with, both past and present, only consider those from Noble Priest families.
"For Brother Emmanuel, list both of his fiancées, list his exes from Noble Priest and non-Priest families, and list the women he's currently having romantic entanglements with."
"Okay," Vivian said and nodded. "What about their families and friends?"
"When it comes to their families, only list their parents, exclude the siblings unless they have an important piece of information to add related to the case. Meanwhile, for friends, list only their known closest friends."
"What about cousins?"
"Treat them like the siblings."
"Brother, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Is there even any use in summoning their parents? I would understand if the suspect or victim had a fallout with their parents before the crime happened. However, in this case, based on the documents I've read, there isn't any, so I can only assume that they would just be singing praises about their child once we interviewed them."
"That's true. However, it's still part of standard investigative protocols. Also, in this case, the last people who spent time with Brother Jeremiah the most before he committed the crime were his family. It would be vital to learn how he acted during the days, weeks or even months prior to him finding out about Sister Bithiah's other romantic entanglements and then committing the crime."
***
12:31 p.m.
Wind and his squad didn't take a break and were still in the Meeting Room assigned to them.
Wind was in charge of the final proofreading, the signing, and the stamping of each letter with his Inquisitor Seal.
Vivian was in charge of proofreading each letter.
Ronan and Zola were in charge of writing the letters. They didn't have to make up their own letters because there was a template that they had to copy and the only thing they needed to edit was the name of whom the letter was addressed to.
And Janis, he was on stand-by and would help in any way he could when asked.
Wind stamped a letter with his Inquisitor Seal and then turned to everyone.
"That was the last letter. Thank you, everyone, for all your hard work," he said and then turned to Ronan and Janis. "Brother High Lieutenant, Brother Lieutenant, I'll leave the task of delivering the letters to both of you."
Ronan nodded.
"No problem, Brother Inquisitor."
Janis nodded and then flashed a determined smile.
"I know all the ins and outs of delivering. I'll make sure that the people from the Temple of Tamers won't mess up."
Wind nodded and smiled.
"Looks like we were blessed by the God of Light when Sister Inquisitor Monad asked you to be part of the squad. I can only imagine what we would be doing if we didn't have you," he said and then focused on Vivian and Janis. "Thank you, the both of you," he said and smiled.
Vivian let out a tired shrug and then smiled behind her half-mask before picking up a half-empty glass of wine.
Meanwhile, Janis let out a grin as he scratched the back of his head.
Ronan got up from his seat.
"Brother Inquisitor, Brother Lieutenant Janis and I would be heading out now."
Wind nodded.
"Okay, brother, may the God of Light be with you."
Janis got up as well.
"May the God of Light be with you as well!" they both said and saluted before finally leaving with the letters.
Vivian turned to Wind.
"So what are we going to do next?"
"We wait here until noon tomorrow."
"Huh? Why?"
Wind and Zola were caught off guard for a moment.
In Wind's case, although he was aware that Vivian was a "new Inquisitor", he didn't know if this was her first case. All he knew from Pen was that he was to "properly guide her".
Meanwhile, for Zola, this wasn't her first time participating in a Field Mission like this, but it was her first time teaming up with Wind and Vivian.
"During this process, a lot of things could happen. Sometimes the address written on the letter is wrong or the recipient moved to a different address, the recipient is busy, or something happened to the recipient -- a lot of things could happen."
"Do we still have to attend the banquet tonight?"
"We don't have to. But we can send someone from our squad to attend on our behalf."
Vivian threw a quick glance at Zola before returning her gaze to Wind.
"I see. Can we at least order some food?"
Wind nodded.
"Of course," he said and then turned to Zola. "Sister Lieutenant, if you don't mind, can I ask you to fetch one of the staff members to handle this matter for us?"
Zola nodded.
"Yes, Brother Inquisitor," she said and then got up before finally leaving.
"Brother, I have a question."
"Yes?"
"Let's say we mess up with the report. What's going to happen to us?"
"What do you mean by 'mess up'?"
"Like, for example, let's say there was a case where a Priest killed a Knight. And no matter how you looked at it, the Priest was the aggressor, the instigator or the one who was truly at fault. However, when the Inquisitors came to do their own investigation, they placed all the blame on the Knight. What's going to happen to us?"
Wind thought about it for a moment.
"If that were to happen, legal-wise, nothing is going to happen to the Inquisitors. However, the higher-ups from the Inquisitory Division will take note of their reports on how the Inquisitors handled the investigation and will be more cautious in assigning Field Missions to those Inquisitors in the future. And when that happens, those Inquisitors would have no chance of getting promotion points and climbing the ranks."
"Have you encountered Inquisitors like that?"
A couple of masked and non-masked Inquisitors flashed inside Wind's head.
"I've never encountered Inquisitors like that. However, I've met Inquisitors who were too focused on the rules that it blinded them or caused them to be easily influenced by other people, which resulted in them messing up the investigation."
"There are Inquisitors like that?"
"Unfortunately. But fortunately, those Inquisitors tend to be the new and younger ones," he said and then flashed a warm smile. "If you're worried about messing up this investigation because it involves powerful families, don't. Just do the best you can. And whenever you talk to someone who's related to the case or is interested in the case, listen to what they're saying and then ask yourself these questions: 'What is this person's motive?' 'What angle or direction of the case can this person benefit from the case?' Once you figure out the answer to those questions, you won't be easily influenced or swayed by people."
"I see," Vivian said as she took another sip from her glass.
"One more thing, sister. This one, you can take this advice or not, it depends on you. This was something another Inquisitor taught me when I was still a new Inquisitor: Be kind and friendly.
"Although fear and intimidation have their strengths, people are more cooperative or even careless if you're kind and friendly to them. However, there's a fine line where you can be too kind and too friendly to them that they would start to see it as a weakness and take advantage of you. Just know the limit."
"I'll keep that in mind, brother."
Ka-cha!
Zola returned with one of the non-Priest staff members of the building.
The male staff lowered his head.
"Greetings, Honored Priest Inquisitor and Honored Priestess Inquisitor, my name is Joel and it's an honor to serve you."
***
3:39 p.m.
Ka-cha!
A door opened and it was Ronan and Janis. They both headed to the lounging area where Wind, Vivian and Zola were sitting and having a chat.
The lounging area was located in the middle of the room. To describe the Meeting Room itself:
The entrance door was on the right side of the room and next to it was the right wall.
From that angle, the first thing a person would see was the lounging area located in the middle of the room that had 2 three-person sofas on the top and bottom, and 2 one-person sofas on the left and right side with a coffee table at the center.
Over the top of the three-person sofa was a dining round table on the left and a long meeting table on the right with the windows next to them.
Beside the dining round table was the kitchen area plastered to the left wall. And next to the kitchen area were two Fire and Ice Cases.
There was a bit of a vacant space next to the two Fire and Ice Cases, and next to it were the private bathroom and toilet.
And lastly, between the toilet and bathroom, and the entrance door, there was a fireplace plastered to the bottom wall, but it was only used for aesthetic purposes.
Wind was seated on the one-person sofa located at the left, Vivian was seated on the three-person sofa at the top, and Zola was seated on the three-person sofa at the bottom.
Ronan and Janis saluted when they reached the lounging area.
"Brother Inquisitor, all of the letters have been sent," Ronan said.
Wind nodded.
"Thank you, Brother High Lieutenant and Brother Lieutenant. Please, join us."
They both gave a quick and slight bow.
"Thank you, Brother Inquisitor," they said and sat down.
Ronan joined Zola on the three-person sofa at the bottom while Janis sat at the one-person sofa at the right.
"Did you encounter any issues?"
"We didn't encounter any issues. It just took us more time to confirm the names and addresses of the ones without a last and middle name. Other than that, everything went well."
Wind nodded.
"I see. That's good to hear. Now we wait here until tomorrow morning."
Janis raised his hand.
"Yes, Brother Lieutenant?"
"If it's okay, I have a Checkers Board inside my room. Can I bring it here?"
Wind nodded.
"Of course, I wouldn't mind also playing Checkers. Care to play a game with me, Brother Lieutenant?"
Let out an awkward chuckle.
"I'd love to play with you, Brother Inquisitor, but I don't think I can beat someone of your intelligence."
Wind waved his hand.
"Please, being an Inquisitor doesn't mean I'm also great at playing Checkers."
"If you say so, Brother Inquisitor," he said and then got up. "I'll go get the Checkers Board right now."
Wind nodded.
"Brother Inquisitor, I'd like to get my books as well," Zola said.
Wind nodded once again.
"Of course," he said and then turned to the rest. "Everyone, since we'll be stuck here until noon tomorrow, feel free to bring anything that could help you pass the time."
When Janis and Zola left, Wind turned to Vivian and Ronan.
"Both of you don't have anything to bring over?"
Vivian shrugged.
"I didn't bring any books because I wanted to solely focus on the reports. Usually, I'd just train."
Ronan nodded.
"I also spend my free time training. But in this situation, I think it would be inappropriate?"
Wind thought about it for a moment.
"Since we're still on duty and not actually in a battle zone, technically, yes, it would be inappropriate. But it's one of those gray areas, you know what I mean?"
Ronan nodded once again.
"I know," he said and paused for a second. "You also don't have anything to bring over?"
"I half-share the same views of Sister Inquisitor. When I go on a Field Mission and I bring some papers or books with me, they will only be related to the Field Mission. And when it comes to training, unfortunately, I only train outside of Field Missions."
"I don't like to come off like I know anything about being an Inquisitor, but I believe we, from the Infantry, also share the same views when it comes to Field Missions.
"When we receive a Field Mission, it would be around 4-6 hours earlier. That way, before we depart, we can make all of the necessary preparations we need for battle. But for Field Missions such as this, like you said, it's kind of like those gray areas -- we need to always be in top shape and condition for battle, but at the same time, aside from the reason why we're all here, it's hard to believe that a battle would happen.
"What I'm trying to say, for you Inquisitors, you guys spend a lot of thinking. So the way I look at it, you guys must also be in top shape and condition to think, to plan, because your battles are of the mind and it can happen anywhere -- if that makes any sense."
Wind smiled.
"Don't worry, Brother High Lieutenant, it makes sense. I totally agree with you. In fact, I'm honored that someone of your background thinks so highly of Inquisitors."
Ronan shrugged.
"A battle is a battle, right? Regardless of whether it's physical or mental."
Wind nodded.
"That's very true."
***
10:39 p.m.
Wind moved a piece from the Checkers Board, eating the last piece of Janis. They were both sitting at the dining round table.
Janis let out a sigh and hung his head.
"I lost again…"
"To be fair, you've been getting closer and closer to winning with each game, brother. I only have 5 pieces left this time."
Janis raised his head and looked at Wind but said nothing.
"Shall we continue this another time?"
Janis looked at the remaining pieces on the board. Out of the 12 games they played, he has never won.
"And I thought I was one of the best players in the barracks…"
Janis was assigned at the Holy City. And whenever he had nothing to do at the barracks he was assigned at, he would play with the Priests and Guards who were also assigned there.
He returned his gaze to Wind and then nodded.
"Let's continue this another time."
As Janis was collecting the pieces, Wind turned to the rest of the room.
Vivian was sleeping on the three-person sofa located at the top. She had her half-mask on and her body was covered with a blanket.
Zola was also more or less the same. She was sleeping on the three-person sofa located at the bottom. she didn't have a blanket because she was wearing her armor except for the helmet, and she was holding a book on her chest as she lay on her back.
Ronan was sitting on the floor near the entrance. No one was sure if he was sleeping or meditating, but he had his eyes closed.
"Now that I think about it," Janis said, causing Wind to return his attention to him. "I think the other Adjudicator Group arrived today."
Normally, the Local Adjudicators would just be from the Temple of Priests, mainly from the Holy Kingdom. But since this True Death murder case directly involves High and Mid-Tier Noble Priest families and indirectly involves Golden Families, the Local Adjudicator Groups who would be handling the case are high-profile Local Adjudicators and Councilors from foreign kingdoms.
The Marbleam Adjudicator Group would be the ones in charge of overseeing a fair investigative process of the Holy Crusade during the interviews.
Meanwhile, the Twin Adjudicator Group would be the ones in charge of conducting the Pre-Hearing Review and the Trial Hearings.
Wind nodded.
"I believe so."
"They probably were at the banquet as well. Who do you think it is?"
Wind thought about it for a moment.
"I'm not sure. But if I were to make an educated guess, it would be from the Duke Faction or the Marquis Faction of the Marbleam Kingdom."
"Which one would be better?"
"Come again?"
Janis wore a sheepish expression.
"I mean, from what I know with these kinds of things -- not that I'm an expert on anything -- I heard that Inquisitors and Councilors can be at odds during the interviewing process."
"Out of the 3 factions in the Marbleam Kingdom, the Duke Faction has the closest ties with the Holy Kingdom. The Marquis Faction is neutral while the Count Faction is pro-royal."
"So if they're from the Duke Faction, it would be easier. And if they're from the Marquis Faction, it would be harder?"
Wind nodded.
"Exactly."
Janis secretly glanced at the three-person sofa located on the top and then all of his interactions with Vivian flashed inside his head.
"Brother Inquisitor…" he said in what almost sounded like a whisper.
A confused expression flashed behind Wind's half-mask.
"What's wrong?"
"What's going to happen to us if a fight breaks out…?"
"You mean during the investigation?"
"Yes…" he said and nodded.
"The witnesses who are going to be interviewed, there will be guards around so there won't be any problem. Meanwhile, for the suspect, they will be interviewed in a heavily guarded building."
Janis wanted to say, 'That wasn't what I was asking about.' But after remembering all of his interactions with Vivian, especially what happened at the restaurant, he bit his tongue and nodded.
"I see… That's great…"
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