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10:17 a.m.
Interrogation Meeting Room, Temple of Priests building, She'kel Village.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by a tan-skinned Crusader in his early 20s with red hair.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"Please take a seat over there."
The Crusader saluted.
"Yes, Brother High Lieutenant!" he said and then went over to the lounging area.
When the Crusader reached the lounging area, he saluted once again.
"Brother Inquisitor! Sister Inquisitor! Councilor!"
After seeing Wind, Vivian and Pablo nod, the Crusader 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 Brother High Sergeant Elmundo from the Marbleam Chapter Temple and I'm currently assigned at the Third Outer Stanza Border Checkpoint under the Infantry Division."
"Do you know why you were summoned here?"
Elmundo nodded.
"Yes, Brother Inquisitor Wind. I was summoned here regarding my previous case with the late Sister Lieutenant Bithiah, who is from the Holy Chapter Temple and is mainly active under the Exploratory Division."
"Can you tell us what happened about the case?"
"It happened last year during my 4th Holy Crusade Contract. I was stationed at the Southern Front Infantry Barracks when I received my 3rd Field Mission. I was to head over to the Southern Joint Barracks as part of the External Unit and investigate a location on the Southern Continent for 10 days, where 2 Commoner Merchant caravans and 1 Noble Merchant caravan were attacked in the past 2 months.
"We were a group of 20 people -- 6 Priests, 6 Knights and 8 Guards, along with 13 land mounts and 7 flying mounts.
"On the first 3 days of the Field Mission, everything was normal. But starting on the 4th day, that's when the harsh weather conditions and the fact that we were camping out in the middle of the desert started to affect us.
"Each of us dealt with it in our own ways. But in the case of Sister Bithiah, she became too strict on the Guards.
"Our Commanding Officer, Sister High Lieutenant Jasmine, tried talking to her. But on the 7th day, Sister Bithiah became too much that I couldn't take it anymore and then called her out for it.
"After that happened, Sister High Lieutenant Jasmine reprimanded both of us. In Sister Bithiah's case, it was for ignoring her order. Meanwhile, in my case, it was for ignoring the chain of order or disrespecting a higher-ranking officer.
"We immediately settled our conflict that day with Sister Bithiah even apologizing to the Guards, and she and I became friends -- or at least I thought we were.
"When we finally returned to the Southern Joint Barracks, although we failed to find any new clues about the culprits responsible for attacking the 2 Commoner Merchant caravans and 1 Noble Merchant caravan, everything was still more or less fine.
"It was 3 days later when I was already back at the Southern Front Infantry Barracks when I received a letter that I was charged with sexual harassment by none other than Sister Bithiah. However, the charge was dropped because Sister High Lieutenant Jasmine and the rest of our companions at that Field Mission spoke on my behalf.
"Have you spoken to Sister Bithiah after that?" Wind asked.
"No."
"Did you file a counter-charge or at least file a charge for defamation?"
"Some of my family and friends advised me to do that. However, after thinking about it, I decided not to."
"Why?"
A sad but understanding smile appeared on Elmundo's face.
"Although it doesn't show in my appearance, I used to be very fat when I was still a child. Because of that, I used to get bullied a lot by people around my age. However, there were also people who stood up for me. Because of that, I feel like I would only be betraying those people who stood up for me when I was getting bullied."
"If I were to ask you to describe Sister Bithiah, how would you describe her? I'm not talking about appearance," Wind said.
Elmundo thought about it for a moment.
"I don't really know the answer to why some people would bully other people.
"In my case, I know the answer to why I was being bullied -- I was fat.
"But in Sister Bithiah's case, I didn't know her that well to give an objective answer. I was even caught off guard when I received that letter where she accused me of sexual harassment because I really thought we had become friends after we were both reprimanded by Sister High Lieutenant Jasmine.
"But I'll say this: After I received that letter and decided not to fight back despite some of my family and friends telling me I should, I prayed to the God of Light that Sister Bithiah would change her ways one day.
"But I guess it's already too late…
"Nevertheless, I still pray that her soul has been welcomed back to the arms of the God of Light and the other Elemental Gods."
***
11:01 a.m.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by two people -- a pale-skinned Crusader in his early 20s with dark green hair, and a Councilor in his early 40s with green hair and was wearing a purple-colored scholarly robe with gold accents.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"Please take a seat over there."
The Crusader saluted while Councilor nodded with a smile before heading over to the lounging area.
When the two reached the lounging area, the Crusader and the Councilor performed the same gesture 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 yourselves?" Wind said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am Councilor Tilman and I will be representing Priest Crusader Wilhem as his Defense Councilor," the Councilor said with an Ironian accent.
Wind didn't say anything and simply stared at Wilhem.
"My client, Priest Crusader Wilhem isn't exactly sure why he is being summoned. All he knows is that he wasn't aware Priestess Bithiah was involved with other Priests. And the moment he found out about it, he immediately cut all contact with her."
"Brother Crusader, are you unable to speak?" Wind asked.
Wilhem raised his chin a bit.
"Iro-I iro-am iro-a iro-very iro-busy iro-man, Brother Inquisitor. Iro-All iro-my iro-life, iro-all iro-I iro-did iro-was iro-train iro-and iro-perform iro-the iro-deeds iro-that iro-are iro-required iro-for iro-a -Iro-Priest. Iro-And iro-when iro-I iro-finally iro-decided iro-to iro-show iro-some iro-interest iro-in iro-others iro-based iro-on iro-the iro-advice iro-of iro-my iro-family, iro-this iro-is iro-what iro-I iro-get."
"What Priest Crusader Wilhem is trying to say is that he's a man with a huge responsibility on his shoulders due to the talents he was born with," Tilman said.
"What exactly are his talents?" Wind said.
Wilhem raised his chin a bit higher.
"I can't say everything about Priest Crusader Wilhem's talents. But considering the current predicament that he was forced to be in, his family has decided to share some details," Tilman said. "Although Priest Crusader Wilhem is currently in the Holy Crusade, the name Wilhem Julius Wagner is nothing but an alias. His actual paternal side is the Aurelius family and his maternal side is the Claudius family, he was born with 4 True Magic Art Affinities, and he was blessed with a Lore Magic at the age of 11. At this moment, he is sacrificing so much by simply coming here and revealing all of this information to the 3 of you."
"Since your client is already here and has decided to reveal all this information to us, what is the reason that he needs you to answer for him? Can he at least speak in Zonian?"
"Iro-I iro-barely iro-even iro-know iro-that iro-woman iro-that iro-my iro-family iro-forced iro-on iro-me, iro-and iro-the iro-both iro-of iro-you iro-aren't iro-even iro-showing iro-your iro-faces, iro-and iro-you iro-expect iro-me iro-to iro-give iro-my iro-full iro-cooperation?" Wilhem said.
Wind turned to him.
"Are you saying that you're above the Holy Crusade?"
"Iro-What iro-do iro-you iro-think?"
Wind turned to Pablo who shrugged.
"Technically speaking, Priest Crusader Wilhem isn't violating any rules."
Wind returned his gaze to Wilhem.
"You mentioned that you barely know Sister Bithiah. Can you elaborate further?"
Wilhem didn't say anything and simply stared at Wind with a slightly raised chin.
"Priest Crusader Wilhem and Priestess Bithiah havehave only met in person once and have exchanged letters 5 times," Tilman said.
"Which came first?"
"The letters. His parents introduced to him 6 females to exchange letters with."
"When was this?"
"I cannot divulge all information. But when it comes to the relationship between Priest Crusader Wilhem and Priestess Bithiah, it was Priest Crusader Wilhem who sent the first letter, and it was last year in the month of Novus."
"And the meet up?"
"It happened this year in the month of Septus at a private restaurant in the Holy City."
"Date and name of the restaurant?"
"My apologies, Priest Inquisitor, but I wasn't granted access by Priest Crusader Wilhem's family to share that information. And if you're planning to ask Priestess Bithiah's family about that, they've already been informed not to share that information or else they would face the wrath of the other families related to that information."
"Is that a threat I'm hearing?"
"My apologies, Priest Inquisitor, but I am simply relaying the words that were said to me."
"How did their meet-up go?"
"They had dinner and talked about various topics before parting ways."
"How many times did they exchange letters after the meet-up?"
"Once."
"Can you send us a copy of the letters?"
"The letters that Priest Crusader Wilhem received? Unfortunately, they were all destroyed right after Priest Crusader Wilhem announced to cut all contact with Priestess Bithiah."
Wind's squad was in possession of 1 copy of a letter that Bithiah received from Wilhem. It was obtained by the External Unit and it was the reason why the External Unit, the Orion Kingdom or Michelle's group, and the Holy Crusade or Wind's squad was able to find out about Wilhem identity.
"Is he aware of another correspondent from the Verglas Kingdom that Sister Bithiah was exchanging letters with?"
This one, they were in possession of two letters. However, no full name was mentioned, only initials. The External Unit, Michelle's group and Wind's squad even tried searching on Bithiah's diary, but the identity of the correspondent remained unknown.
"He isn't."
"If I were to ask him to describe Sister Bithiah, how would he describe her? I'm not talking about appearance."
"Iro-Low iro-quality," Wilhem answered before Tilman could say anything. "Iro-I iro-must iro-admit, iro-she iro-has iro-some iro-talent iro-in iro-writing, iro-which iro-is iro-why iro-she iro-managed iro-to iro-pique iro-a iro-fraction iro-of iro-my iro-interest. Iro-But iro-once iro-I iro-finally iro-met iro-her, iro-I iro-immediately iro-saw iro-through iro-all iro-of iro-her iro-facades."
Some time later…
Wilhem and Tilman got up from their seats.
Wilhem saluted.
"Thank you for having us, Priest Inquisitor, Priestess Inquisitor and Lord Councilor," Tilman said as he nodded with a smile.
They then turned and headed to the exit.
When the two men finally left, Vivian turned to Wind.
"Brother."
Wind, who was busy writing down some notes on a piece of paper, stopped what he was doing and turned to her.
"Yes?"
Pablo got up from his seat.
"Please excuse me for a moment," he said and then headed to the bathroom-toilet.
"That Brother Wilhem, should we add him to the Follow-Up Interview List?"
"I think that half of what they were saying were lies or at least an omission of the truth. However, in this case, aside from his attitude, he is completely innocent, so there is no point in adding him to the Follow-Up Interview List."
"I see."
"People like him," Wind continued. "They're too arrogant to concern themselves with people they think are below them."
"I see."
Wind nodded and then resumed writing down on his notes.
Pablo returned and sat down.
"What did I miss?"
"Nothing much," Vivian said.
Pablo nodded with a smile.
"I see. So how many minutes do we have left for the next one?"
Wind finally finished what he was writing and then turned to the clock.
"We have 12 minutes for the next one. And the next one is a Guidance Counselor of the Holy Crusade."
Pablo chuckled.
"I know I'm supposed to be neutral, but both of you have my deepest sympathies, which is why I'm thankful it's a Guidance Counselor this time."
"Please excuse me," Vivian said as she got up and then went to the bathroom-toilet.
"Thank you, Lord Councilor, but this one is from the Orion Kingdom, so you never know. Nevertheless, we still have tons. But don't worry, we also have someone who isn't from a Priest family but is still pretty much from a Noble family and they're from the Twin Kingdom," Wind said with a playful tone.
"You have my thanks," Pablo said with a grin on his face.
And after about a second or two, both men started chuckling.
***
11:45 a.m.
Ka-cha!
The door opened and it was Ronan accompanied by a tall and curvy Gold Cloak Priestess in her mid-30s with short orange hair.
Ronan gestured his hand over to the vacant three-person sofa at the bottom.
"You may take a seat over there, Sister High Captain."
"Thank you, Brother High Lieutenant," the Priestess said and nodded with a very warm smile before heading over to the lounging area.
When she finally reached the lounging area, she flashed another warm smile to them before taking a seat.
"Thank you for answering our summons and coming here, sister. 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'm Sister Shona from the Orion Chapter Temple. I'm currently in the Holy Crusade and my contract is under the Exploratory Division. My station is at the La Spada Air and Exploratory Division Headquarters, where I work as the Head Guidance Counselor. And lastly, my officer rank is High Captain."
Wind gave a slight bow.
"Thank you once again for coming here, Sister High Captain."
Shona simply nodded.
"I believe you already know why you've been asked to come. But in case you don't, please allow me to explain," Wind said. "Sister Lieutenant Bithiah and Brother High Lieutenant Emmanuel, both of whom are from the Exploratory Division, are involved in a murder case that involves True Death. We would like to ask you some questions regarding the two."
Sarar nodded.
"Yes, I'm aware of it. In fact, about a week ago, Sister Michelle came to my office to inquire about them."
"I see. Can you describe to us what kind of person Sister Bithiah is?"
"Sister Bithiah is a smart, witty, hardworking and helpful person. And in regard to how she interacts with people, there are two ways I can describe this:
"Based on my own interactions with her and some of the people I know at the base I'm stationed at, she's quite friendly to people.
"However, at the same breath, I've also heard some rumors that she can be a bit distant or shy towards some people outside the base."
"Are you aware of the sexual harassment cases she has filed?" Wind asked.
Shona nodded.
"Yes."
"What do you think of it?"
Shona thought about it for a moment.
"I've been in the Holy Crusade for almost 2 decades now. And out of those almost 2 decades, I've spent 6 years as a Guidance Counselor. Based on those years of experience and the senior Guidance Counselors who have taught me, this is what I've realized:
"The Holy Crusade causes a lot of trauma -- war-shock, battle-shock or whatever you want to call it.
"Although we Priests and Priestesses have the miracles of [Greater Heal] and [Resurrection] to cure any physical trauma, what our magic spell can't cure is the mental and psychological traumas.
"And unfortunately, each Crusader reacts or deals with those mental and psychological traumas differently.
"I believe that Sister Bithiah being quite friendly to the people at the La Spada Air and Exploratory Division Headquarters while being distant and shy towards some people outside the base, was her way of dealing with the mental and psychological traumas she developed throughout her years in the Holy Crusade.
"Of course, I'm not saying that the Holy Crusade is a bad thing. On the contrary, I'm a firm believer that the Holy Crusade is one of the most selfless and most merciful acts of kindness that the Temple of Priests is doing to protect humanity against demons, demon-kins, the Cult of Infinity and the heretics. However, that great act of kindness also comes with a cost -- the mental and psychological health of the Crusaders."
"What about Brother Emmanuel? Can you describe to us what kind of person he is?" Wind said.
"Brother Emmanuel is smart, hardworking and helpful -- he's also quite charming. However, based on my mental and psychological analysis about him, he's also the type who loves attention. Allow me to explain:
"Had Brother Emmanuel not been a Priest, he would've fit in very well with the Temple of Bards.
"As you already know, the members of the Temple are mostly people who have a very strong desire in them to pursue artistic and performative conquests and be praised for it. To them, the love and admiration of people is far more important compared to all the treasures and gold in the world.
"Now, in Brother Emmanuel's case, he has this powerful and obsessive desire to be loved and admired by people. However, once he gains a person's love and admiration, he quickly gets bored by it and will move on to the next person to start the process once again."
"I have an intellectual question that only someone of your background and experience can answer, Sister High Captain, and I hope you will indulge me for a moment," Wind said.
Shona smiled.
"I will try my best."
"You mentioned about Priests and Priestesses participating in the Holy Crusade developing mental and psychological traumas. In Brother Emmanuel's case, was his experience in the Holy Crusade develop his powerful and obsessive desire to be loved and admired by people?"
"There was this study conducted by a Priestess-Scholar in the Orion Kingdom, High Sister Neve. As a matter of fact, she's a mentor and a close friend of mine.
"According to her, all people, regardless of whether they're male or female, have the desire to be loved and admired. However, to some people, due to how they were raised between 1 and 15 years old, that desire could be diminished or amplified.
"For example, let's say a child was born and raised in an environment where he/she couldn't trust the adults or the people around him/her. Once that child becomes an adult, he/she would have trouble trusting and opening up to people, giving her a cold or distant type of personality.
"Another example, let's say a child was born and raised in an environment where his/her parents prioritized his/her siblings over him/her. Once that child becomes an adult, he/she would have a strong and powerful desire to be loved and admired by people.
"And then if you combine either of those 2 scenarios with something like the Holy Crusade, and they're not treated by a Guidance Counselor, one can only imagine how that person would turn out and how she/he affect the people around her/him, especially their loved ones."
"So you're saying that Brother Emmanuel was born and raised in an environment where his parents prioritized his siblings over him?" Wind asked.
Shona nodded.
"I understand that Brother Emmanuel has an older sister and a younger brother. However, I'm not saying he was raised in an environment like that because I don't have enough information to assess if he was. I'm simply pointing out one of the possibilities."
"I see. Are you familiar with Brother Jeremiah?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but is he the one responsible for hurting Sister Bithiah?"
Wind nodded.
"Yes."
Shona nodded but didn't say anything.
"In your professional opinion, as a veteran of the Holy Crusade and a Guidance Counselor, which verdict should Brother Jeremiah be charged with: Manslaughter or Premeditated Murder?"
Shona shook her head.
"I'm sorry, but I refuse to answer such a question. Given my years of experience, I can see and understand both perspectives -- the suspects and the victims -- and it's never a simple answer, there are always nuances."
"But wouldn't that make it easier to answer since you have years of experience, and can see and understand both perspectives?"
"Brother Inquisitor, I'm part of the Exploratory Division and a Guidance Counselor, so my expertise and skills lies mainly in diplomacy. If my goal was to reveal conspiracies and catch heretics or criminals, I would've never joined the Exploratory Division and be part of the Inquisitory Division right from the beginning of my Holy Crusade career."
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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