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Octus 27, 3023, Day of Friar, 7:55 a.m.
Interrogation Meeting Room, Temple of Priests building, She'kel Village.
Wind, Vivian, Ronan and Pablo were doing last-minute preparations.
Pablo and Vivian were already seated in their seats, while Wind was with Ronan near the entrance door.
"The schedule for the morning recipients are: Guard Fuaad from the Heisen Knights Chapter, Knight Blake from the Luxen Knights Chapter, Scholar Jasoor from the Heisen Kingdom, Brother Lieutenant Wilhen from the Infantry Division and Sister Sarah from the Exploratory Division," Ronan read a list from a piece of paper on his hand and then returned his gaze to Wind.
Wind nodded.
"That's correct."
"I'll go get Guard Fuaad now," Ronan said and nodded before turning away and exiting the room.
Ku-chud.
As Ronan left the room, Wind turned and headed towards the lounging area where Vivian and Pablo were waiting.
Pablo was asking a question and Vivian was nodding.
Wind brows knitted a bit behind his full mask when he noticed something.
Ever since they arrived here at She'kel Village, he, Vivian, Ronan, Zola and Janis have been constantly together. And the thing he noticed was the length of Vivian's hair.
The bangs were still the same length, but the rest of the hair, it was obvious that it has grown at least an inch.
"It can't be, right…?" he muttered behind his breath.
As an Inquisitor, one of the skills he naturally developed was noticing details, especially the subtle ones -- the slight pause when someone talks, the slight twitch or crease on a person's brow when they hear something, the tapping of a finger or foot, the inability to maintain eye contact when talking to someone, etc. In his experience, those subtle details tells a lot about what a person was actually thinking.
"Maybe I'm just imagining things…?"
He finally reached the three-person sofa that Vivian was sitting and sat down beside her with Pablo to his right, who was sitting on the one-person sofa.
"Are we good to go?" Pablo asked.
Wind nodded.
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant Ronan is getting the first interviewee at the moment."
"I see," Pablo said and nodded.
Wind recalled his private meeting with Vivian about her period coming on the 28th, so he turned to her.
"How are you feeling, sister?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good to hear."
Knock, knock.
There was a knock at the door.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by a brown-skinned man in his mid-20s with short blue afro hair and wearing a set of black armor paired with black clothing.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"Please take a seat over there."
The man nodded and then went over to the lounging area.
When the man reached the lounging area, he simply sat down.
"Thank you for answering our summons and coming here. I am Brother Inquisitor Wind, this is Sister Inquisitor Monad and this is Lord Councilor Pablo. May we ask you to introduce yourself?" Wind said.
"I am Fuaad. I used to be part of the Heisen Kingdom Knights Chapter but I'm now working as a Mercenary after I got falsely accused of sexual assault by a certain Priestess."
"I'm very sorry to hear that. Are you aware why you were summoned to be here?"
"The woman who cost me my career at the Heisen Kingdom Knights Chapter and had me in prison for 2 months got murdered with True Death?"
"I take it that you hold some form of grudge over her?"
"Naturally."
"Can you retell me the story of how you got accused of sexual harassment?"
"Which version? The truth, her version, or the version that was told on the Knights Chapter Court during my trial?"
"Your version, preferably."
"It was the month of Marsus this year, it was the third month of my Knight Chapter Contract as a Guard Lieutenant, and I was assigned at the Western Joint Barracks.
"That Priestess, she arrived around the second week of Marsus and she was assigned as one of the External Units to investigate a cave that used to be a Necromancer's hideout about 120 years ago."
"Do you know how many units are assigned there?" Wind asked.
"At the Western Joint Barracks? For the Internal Unit, there are 5 Priests, 5 Knights and 15 Guards.
"But whenever there's something that needs to be investigated at the Sab'bia Desert, depending on the difficulty of the mission, the higher-ups from the La Spada Twin Main Barracks or the La Spada Air and Exploratory Division Headquarters would send an External Unit squad or platoon."
"Are you aware of Sister Bithiah's Officer Rank?"
"Lieutenant."
"How many people were on her Squad or Platoon?"
"It was a Platoon -- 2 Infantry Priests, 1 Air Priest, 2 Exploratory Priests, 2 Knights that specialize in combat from the Temple of Warriors, 1 Knight that specializes in Runes and exploration from the Temple of Wizards, 1 Knight that specializes in exploration from the Temple of Thieves, 1 Knight that specializes in monsters from the Temple of Tamers, and then 10 guards."
"I see, please continue."
"I happened to be one of the people who had visited that particular cave twice in the past under Chapter Missions, so I was asked to accompany them.
"We spent 6 days on the Chapter Mission -- 1 day to travel there, 4 days to explore the cave and another 1 day to head back.
"In those 6 days, nothing really happened, everything went smoothly -- too smoothly to be honest."
"What do you mean?" Wind asked.
"I don't know the exact details, all I know is that, our main objective of that Chapter Mission was to retrieve some sort of Lost Rune Technology that the Necromancer, who used to hide in that cave 130 years ago, used in his experiments.
"I'm part of the Temple of Hunters, so I don't know much about Lost Rune Technology. However, based on the reactions of the Priests and Knights that I went with, they seemed to be satisfied.
"So on the last night we were there, we all decided to celebrate."
"All of you got drunk during a Field Mission?" Wind asked.
A grave expression appeared on Fuaad's face and he nodded.
"Thinking about it now, I should've known it was stupid because it violated Chapter Mission -- or in the Holy Kingdom's Holy Crusade's perspective, Field Mission protocols.
"But at that time, the Priests and Knights were happy and talking about getting a Rank Promotion or at least getting a huge boost in their Rank Promotion Points. So from our perspective, us Guards, we thought that we would also get the same rewards or benefits.
"All I remember was getting so drunk that night and then the Priests cast [Cure] on us around 2:00 a.m.
"That Priestess was the one who cast [Cure] on me.
"And when we finally returned to the Western Front Barracks, 3 days later, after we returned and the External Unit I went with already head back to their respective bases, I was called into the Knight Captain's office and then was arrested for sexually harassing that Priestess. And according to the report, the sexual harassment happened when she tried to cast [Cure] on me and we were told to only drink 1-2 cups because we were still in a Chapter or Field Mission but I ignored that order and drank more than 2 cups."
"Can you tell me the names of the Priests assigned at the Western Joint Barracks?" Wind said.
"Priest Captain Oistein from the Verglas Kingdom, Priestess Captain Erica from the Orion Kingdom, Priestess Inquisitor Qalb -- I don't know who her true identity is but she sounded like someone from the Heisen Kingdom, Priest High Lieutenant Oscar from the Orion Kingdom, and Priestess High Lieutenant Valerie from the Twin Kingdom."
"I take it that Brother Captain Oistein is from the Infantry Division, Priestess Captain Erica is from the Exploratory Division, Priestess Qalb is from the Inquisitory Division, Priest High Lieutenant Oscar is from the Infantry Division and Priestess High Lieutenant Valerie is from the Air Division?"
Fuaad nodded.
"Yes."
"And the Priests who accompanied you during your Chapter Mission?"
"Priestess Captain Rhoda of the Infantry Division from the Holy Kingdom, Priest High Lieutenant Kai of the Infantry Division from the Iron Kingdom, Priest Lieutenant Milo of the Air Division from the Luxen Kingdom, Priestess High Lieutenant Amber of the Exploratory Division from the Orion Kingdom, and Priestess Lieutenant Bithiah of the Exploratory Division from the Holy Kingdom."
***
8:46 a.m.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by a Knight in his late 20s with black hair.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"Please take a seat over there."
The Knight nodded and then went over to the lounging area.
When the man reached the lounging area, he saluted.
"Priest Inquisitor, Priestess Inquisitor, Lord Councilor!"
After Wind, Vivian and Pablo nodded, he sat down.
"Thank you for answering our summons and coming here. I am Brother Inquisitor Wind, this is Sister Inquisitor Monad and this is Lord Councilor Pablo. May we ask you to introduce yourself?" Wind said.
"I am Knight Blake S. Kearny of the Luxen Kingdom Knights Chapter and I'm currently stationed at the Ninth Outer Stanza Border Checkpoint."
"Are you aware why you were summoned here?"
"I believe it concerns Priestess Bithiah."
Wind nodded.
"That's correct. Are you familiar with her?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Back in 3019, I was assigned as part of the Internal Unit in the Southern Joint Infantry Barracks located in the Southern Continent. I was 24 years old and a Guard Lieutenant back then,, while she was part of the External Unit."
"How did you end up getting a Sexual Harassment Charge from her?"
For a brief moment, an apologetic and reminiscing smile flashed on Blake's face.
"I was a Guard who didn't know his place.
"I was born with a strong connection to the Elemental Gods, mainly the God of Fire and the God of Wind. 6 months worth of training by others would only take me 2 months -- at least when it comes to Magic Arts training.
"To pass time at the Southern Joint Infantry Barracks, we would spar. And given my talents, I gained notoriety among the people assigned with me there because I could defeat some of the Knights and Priests.
"It was a sunny afternoon when Priestess Bithiah and the rest of her External Unit companions arrived. Their Field or Chapter Mission was to investigate a newly discovered cave south of the Southern Joint Infantry Barracks. Unfortunately, they had to stay there for 1 day because there was an issue with one of the maps, so some of the Priests, Knights and Guards decided to join us in sparring.
"I ended up defeating a Priest High Sergeant, a Priest Lieutenant, a Knight and a Knight Sergeant, and ended up in a draw with a Priest High Lieutenant.
"Later that night, I was part of night duty. And while I was doing my usual rounds, I bumped into Priestess Bithiah.
"I remember asking her what she was doing walking outside because it was already close to 11:00 p.m.
"She told me that she couldn't sleep because she was both excited and worried.
"Hearing that, I tried making her laugh to ease her worries.
"The next thing I knew, we both got a bit comfortable with each other and then she tried to get closer to me.
"I admit, I welcomed it and was looking forward to it, but a Guard and one of the Priests of the External Unit suddenly arrived looking for her, and we immediately distanced ourselves from each other.
"Nothing happened after that. The next day, she and the rest of the External Unit left for their Field or Chapter Mission. When they came back 2 weeks later, everything was still fine. It was only a week later after they returned to their respective bases that I was suddenly called to the Knight Captain's office and then was informed about the Sexual Harassment Charge filed against me by Priestess Bithiah.
"I received a couple of Demotion Points and was made to choose between 1 year of salary cut or 1 month in prison. I chose the 1 year of salary cut."
"When was the last time you saw or spoke with Sister Bithiah?" Wind asked.
Blake recalled his memory.
"I believe the last time I saw her was 2 years ago. I was assigned at the Third Stanza Western Seaport and she was part of the External Unit who visited there because they had to investigate something at the Crypt of Mor'digian."
"Did anything happen?"
"The moment I saw her, I immediately rushed to the Knight Captain's office and informed him about my past with her -- she has a restraining order against me where I'm not allowed to go near her within 100ft . So he and the Priest High Lieutenant made sure that she and I made as little contact as possible. And in case we had to interact with each other, there would always be a third party present."
"If I were to ask you to describe Sister Bithiah, how would you describe her? I'm not talking about appearance."
"The gap between Commoners and Nobles is vast and wide, and it isn't just about Physical and Magic Force."
***
9:28 a.m.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by a dark-skinned bespectacled man in his mid-20s with long green dreads dressed in a similar scholarly robe that Pablo that was wearing but it was brown in color and had fewer designs.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"Please take a seat over there."
The man nodded and then went over to the lounging area.
When the man reached the lounging area, he offered a slight bow.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Priest Inquisitor, Priestess Inquisitor and Lord Councilor," he said and then sat down.
"Thank you for answering our summons and coming here. I am Brother Inquisitor Wind, this is Sister Inquisitor Monad and this is Lord Councilor Pablo. May we ask you to introduce yourself?" Wind said.
The man offered a slight bow once again.
"My name is Jasoor, I was born in Ra'mil Town of the Heisen Kingdom, and I joined the Temple of Wizards at the age of 15. I'm an Under-Scholar studying under the tutelage of Scholar Salahudin of the Heisen Kingdom since I was 18 and currently I'm helping him with one of his projects."
"An Under-Scholar? You're not a Scholar?"
"Once the project I'm currently helping Scholar Salahudin with is finished and will be registered on the Patent Records of the Temple of Wizards and the Temple of Blacksmiths, I will be rewarded with the title of Nobility and a last name, and will then be granted the title of Scholar."
In the Northern Continent, only Nobles can be Scholars. For Commoners who had no aspirations to become a Scholar, the appropriate title they could use was "Instructor". Meanwhile, the Nobles and Commoners who aspire to become a Scholar, they must study under the tutelage of a Scholar which would make them an Under-Scholar, develop a ground-breaking invention or something close to that, present it to the officials of the Temple of Wizards and Temple of Blacksmiths, and then have the patent of that invention registered on the records of the Temple of Wizards and Temple of Blacksmiths.
"Are you aware of the reason you were summoned here?" Wind asked.
Jasoor nodded.
"Yes, it's about Honored Priestess Bithiah."
"Can you tell us how you ended up getting a sexual harassment charge from her?"
"At Ra'mil Town, there is this cafe called Daeuna Nakul which is a popular place for young men and women to meet. Jawhar and Wissam are Under-Scholars like me under Scholar Salahudin's tutelage but they're Nobles.
"Jawhar is the cousin of Honored Priest Ramalaan and Honored Priestess Rifqa. Honored Priest Ramalaan and Honored Priestess Rifqa are siblings.
"Jawhar invited me and Wissam to meet their friends from the Holy Crusade Sea Division who are visiting from the Holy Kingdom. Those friends turned out to be Honored Priestess Casiphia, Honored Priestess Irene and Honored Priestess Bithiah.
"When we first met them, everything was fine until Honored Priestess Irene and Honored Priestess Bithiah found out that I was a Commoner.
"Before they found out that I was a Commoner, Honored Priestess Irene and Honored Priestess Bithiah were very friendly. But after they found out about my background, they both started ignoring me, acting like I didn't exist or was nothing but air.
"Of course, I didn't take any offense from it because I was already used to such treatment in my chosen profession.
"But 2 days after that meet-up at Daeuna Nakul, I received a letter from the Branch Chapter Temple at Ra'mil Town that a sexual harassment charge was filed against me by Honored Priestess Bithiah.
"I tried to fight it but I was too busy with work and I couldn't afford to neglect my work, so I lost the case. And now, I can't be anywhere near her about 100ft."
"When was the last time you've seen or spoken with Sister Bithiah?"
"The night I met her at Daeuna Nakul cafe was the first and last time I've seen or spoken with her."
"Do you remember the date?"
Jasoor nodded.
"Septus 20, 3019, Day of Fratur. We arrived there around 7:30 p.m. and then left around 8:40 p.m."
"Did you sexually harass her?"
"Are you asking me if I sexually harassed Honored Priestess Bithiah?"
"Yes."
"No. Like I said, I tried to fight it but I was too busy with work and I couldn't afford to neglect my work, so I lost the case.
"In fact, it was Scholar Salahudin himself who advised me not to worry about it. He told me that if it were a sexual assault charge, I should definitely fight it because I would be arrested and put into prison. But since it's only a sexual harassment charge, the worst punishment I would get was to make sure that I stay 100ft away from her. And if I violate that, I would be fined for the first 2 violations and would be put into jail on the 3rd violation.
"Furthermore, he also advised me that once I become a Noble and a Scholar, I can file a restraining order against her that she isn't allowed to go near me within 100ft. With that, the punishment of the sexual harassment she has placed upon me would be nulled or at least go both ways."
"If I were to ask you to describe Sister Bithiah, how would you describe her? I'm not talking about appearance," Wind said.
Jasoor's eye twitched a bit.
"What kind of answer do you want?"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I believe you know what I'm talking about."
"I'm an Inquisitor, my colleague here is also an Inquisitor, and Scholar Pablo is the Lord Councilor of this interview. What do you think?"
Jasoor removed his glasses, took out a handkerchief, and then cleaned his glasses with the handkerchief before putting his glasses back on.
"I won't deny that I feel some sort of satisfaction that that woman eventually crossed someone she shouldn't have crossed.
"I will admit, once I started to have a bit of a free time from my work, I started doing my own investigation about her so that I can really slap her with a restraining order and stick it on her once I become a Noble.
"However…
"I think that her receiving True Death was a bit excessive."
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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