Chapter 281: Inquisitory Division (2)
This chapter is sponsored by The Bitch in the Fantasy World Patrons:
• Adventurer GrimV
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3:44 p.m.
Inquisitor Division Headquarters, Holy City, Holy Kingdom.
Vivian was walking down a street with the same clothes she arrived in. However, instead of wearing an Inquisitor Full-Mask, she wore a Half-Mask.
Like hell I was going to wear a full-mask meeting with him…
Only God knows what would go through that old lying bastard’s head if I were wearing a half-mask…
Come have dinner with me to meet with a client…?
Nope…!
And the next thing I know, I’m doing some crappy suicidal escort mission that I didn’t even ask for, let alone have any interest in volunteering in…
She scoffed.
Chapter Master…?
I can read that old bastard like the back of my hand…
A man and a woman who were both wearing masks but without any sun symbol on their forehead stopped and then lowered their heads to Vivian before continuing to move on.
Vivian didn’t stop or nod. She simply turned her head slightly to acknowledge them.
Okay…
Where is it…?
Where is that damn restaurant that supposedly serves live monsters that has a Magic Art Affinity…?
This time around, she noticed a White Cloak Priest who looked like he was still in his late teens heading her way. Although he was also wearing a mask, it had a brown-colored sun symbol on the forehead.
The Priest stopped and then saluted.
“Sister Inquisitor!”
Vivian nodded but didn’t stop walking.
The Crusaders from Basic Training are already here…?
Or was it a veteran applying for another Division…?
Looks awfully young, though…
What date is it again…?
She thought about it for a moment.
Octus 19…?
Basic Training is 2 weeks…
But it starts in the first week of the month….
Whatever…
As she continued walking, this time it was a mother who looked like she was still in her mid-20s and a daughter who looked like she was only 5 years old. They, too, were wearing masks, but just like the man and woman from earlier, their masks didn’t have any sun symbol.
The mother grabbed the hand of her daughter and stopped. She lowered her head while the daughter looked at Vivian with curiosity. When the mother raised her head, she resumed walking while pulling her daughter’s hand.
After a couple of steps, Vivian stopped and then turned to stare at the mother and daughter.
I can’t believe I never noticed it…
This place…
All of the Priests here are from the Holy Crusade…
How did I not notice that…?
There are 4 types of masks worn here at the Inquisitory Division’s headquarters.
The ones without any sun symbol were for civilians.
The ones with a brown sun symbol are Crusaders taking the Training Course.
The ones with a gold symbol are Inquisitors.
And the ones with a red symbol are for the visitors.
How did I not realize how weird this place is…?
And those civilians…
I can tell…
Most of them come from decent families…
Vivian has been in this world for about 3.5 months now. And in those months, she has been in the Luxen Kingdom, the Holy Kingdom, the Marbleam Kingdom, and the Great Plains of Stanza.
Although she was more or less able to differentiate a person's socio-economic background the first time she arrived in this world, with her experience in the last 3.5 months, she could now also tell through other things, such as their mannerisms, the intonation of their voices, etc.
Now that I also think about it…
Back in my original world…
I’ve only been in 2 countries…
And the other one was working…
Meanwhile, the other one, my home country, despite living there for almost all of my life, I’ve barely visited only about 10% of the places there…
She stared at her hand.
Is this what privileged people feel like…?
A small smile broke from her lips as she recalled a memory.
Yeah…
That’s what she said…
There was this beautiful college girl that Vivian met when she was still in college. This girl came from a rich family, like really rich, but she was one of the “sweetest” people that Vivian ever met.
Up to this day, Vivian wasn’t sure if that rich girl was just naive due to her beautiful looks combined with her family’s wealth or if that was just her personality.
One time, while they were talking about vacations, the rich girl casually mentioned that she loves to do island or city-hopping -- staying in one island/town/city for 2 days and then moving to another island/town/city, and the constant hopping trip would last for about 2 weeks.
Vivian remembered being so confused as to why anyone would want to stay in a spot for only 2 days and then move on to another spot. In her mind, if she were to visit a place, she would at least want to explore and understand it. The way she saw it, the rich girl just wanted to take some photos to post on social media.
However, Vivian never said those things to the rich girl and risked getting the rich girl angry and losing her chances to sleep with her. So she praised her for being so “adventurous” and “cultured”. But despite that, Vivian still fumbled the bag in the end because she got entangled with another woman, so she temporarily sidelined the rich girl. And after she was done with the woman and was about to continue where she left off with the rich girl, Vivian found out that the rich girl had started dating an acquaintance of Vivian's.
Hmm…
I wonder…
Is it weird that I can’t remember that rich girl’s name but I can remember the name of that acquaintance of mine who dated her…?
Even her face is a bit blurry…
All I can remember is a woman about 5’2”, slim, long black hair, cute smile and cute teeth, and a very soft-spoken but cheerful voice that never cusses…
Was she really beautiful or was that just hormones…?
But hey…
At least I didn’t get the chance to break the heart of a sweet girl like her…
She turned around and resumed walking.
Now where the fuck is that restaurant that serves live monsters with Magic Art Affinities…?
I need to visit the tailoring shop…
I seriously need new clothes, especially now that I’m literally Big Foot or Sasquatch…
***
6:32 p.m.
Inquisitors' Residential Building, Inquisitory Division Headquarters.
Vivian was inside her room lying on the bed and wearing nothing but a sleeping gown and underwear while reading one of the folders Pen gave her.
Golden Families, huh…
In the Temple of Priests, there were 10 old and ancient Priest families known as the “Golden Families”.
The oldest one is the L’ux family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom and Orion Kingdom…
The second oldest is the Has’tam family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom and the Luxen Kingdom…
The third is the Fur’ia family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom and the Orion Kingdom
The fourth is the Dis’cus family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom and the Iron Kingdom…
The fifth is the Scu’tum family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom, Twin Kingdom and the Azatea Kingdom…
The sixth is the Mystic family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom…
The seventh is the Kri’ger family…
They have territories in the Twin Kingdom and Verglas Kingdom…
The eighth is the Mano de Luz family…
They have territories in the Marbleam Kingdom and the Luxen Kingdom…
The ninth is the Votum family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom, the Heisen Kingdom and the Luxen Kingdom…
And the tenth or youngest is the Wrath family…
They have territories in the Holy Kingdom…
The 10 Golden Families are also divided into 4 Factions…
The Light Faction is led by the L’ux family, and then includes the Mystic family and the Wrath family…
The Lance Faction is led by the Has’tam family and the Dis’cus family…
The Judgment Faction is led by the Fur’ia family, and then includes the Kri’ger family and the Votum family…
The Shield Faction is led by the Scu’tum family and the Mano de Luz family…
Vivian put down the folder and then picked up the other folder.
The most powerful Faction right now is the Lance Faction…
That’s because the current Light Saint or the 45th Light Saint, Light Saint Louie, is from the Lance Faction…
And regarding the Field Mission’s case…
There are 3 main people are…
The first one is Brother Jeremiah P. Hortus...
He's 25 years old, from a Mid-Tier Noble Priest family...
In the Holy Kingdom and the Orion Kingdom, there were no Nobles, Aristocratic Nobles and Royals because it was against the teachings of the first Priest, the first Light Saint and the founder of the Temple of Priests, Ne'ua. However, after 2 millennia and the growth of the Temple of Priests along with all the political complexities, things got complicated. So the term Mid-Tier Noble Priest family was used to make things easier in describing families.
And as for what a Mid-Tier Noble Priest family was, it was basically a family that had 3-4 Magic Art Affinities. Now whether those are True or False Magic Art Affinities, that is another story (Ch. 276).
...and has True Light, True Fire, False Wind and False Earth Magic Art Mastery...
His Physical Force and Magic Force are both Orichalcum-Adamantite...
He's been part of the Infantry Division in his entire Holy Crusade career, 7 contracts in total, and started at the age of 18...
And he's the main suspect…
The second is Sister Bithiah S. Ancilla...
She's also 25 years old, also from a Mid-Tier Priest Noble family and has True Light, True Dark and False Soul...
Based on the last record of her Holy Crusade registration, her Physical Force was Orichalcum while her Magic Force was Mithril-Orichalcum...
She's been part of the Exploratory Division in her entire Holy Crusade career, 7 contracts in total, and started at the age of 19...
She and Brother Jeremiah were reported to be lovers, but no official engagement of their relationship had been made...
And she's the main victim or the True Death murder victim…
The third one is Brother Emmanuel P. Nummi...
He's 28 years old, he's from a High-Tier Noble Priest family, and he has True Light, True Ice, True Dark and False Lightning...
Based on the last record of his Holy Crusade registration, both his Physical and Magic Force were Adamantite-Rainbow Steel...
He's been part of the Exploratory Division in his entire Holy Crusade career, 11 contracts in total, and started at the age of 18...
It's still undecided if he will be labeled as a suspect, victim or witness...
The reason behind that is because Brother Jeremiah executed True Death on Sister Bithiah after finding out that she had been having an affair with Brother Emmanuel...
He lured her to have one last meeting witt him at a restaurant called Meli's Cheesey Restaurant in She’kel Village on Octus 2, 3023, 10:38 a.m to discuss the status of their relationship.…
He used [Blessing], and drank a Power Potion and a Magic Potion before executing her inside a private meeting room...
This case is already a headache because it involves a High-Tier Noble Priest family and 2 Mid-Tier Noble Priest families...
But what made it worse are the people behind them…
For Brother Jeremiah, someone from the Heisen Kingdom is helping Brother Jeremiah’s family reduce the sentence from Premeditated Murder to Manslaughter…
If Brother Jeremiah is charged with Premeditated murder, first off, he would be stripped of his Class, and then re True Death while worst case scenario is life imprisonment…
Meanwhile, if he’s charged with Manslaughter, he would be stripped off his Class and be imprisoned for 50 years…
For Sister Bithiah, the Orion Chapter Temple wants Brother Emmanuel to be charged with Premeditated Murder, and also have Brother Emmanuel charged with something related to ‘manipulation’ or ‘coercion’ or ‘conspiracy’ so that he would face some jail time…
Brother Jeremiah, Sister Bithiah and Brother Emmanuel’s families are all supporters of the Lance Faction, specifically for the Has’tam family...
However, Brother Emmanuel’s family is the richest and biggest supporter and donator in She’kel Village, and his aunt, a Gold Cloak Priestess named Sister Dinah, is married to a White Cloak Priest named Brother Seth L. Has’tam…
The ‘L’ stands for Lurio, another High-Tier Noble Priest family, and the second biggest supporter and donator in Dur’reth Village for the Lance Faction, specifically for the Has’tam family…
If Brother Emmanuel gets charged with something related to the True Death murder of Sister Bithiah, and considering that the current Light Saint is about to retire soon, the Lance Faction would take a hit on their reputation during the upcoming Light Saint Elections…
On top of that, the Has’tam family, one of the Golden Families and leaders of the Lance Faction, owns She’kel Village…
Technically, they own or are the ‘caretakers’ of the Dur’reth Village and She’kel Village here in the Holy Kingdom…
Although the Holy Kingdom and the Orion Kingdom don’t have Aristocratic Nobles to govern Towns and Villages, they had the Golden Families to be the "caretakers" of such places. On this case, the Has’tam family was in charge of maintaining the peace and order in Dur’reth Village and She’kel Village.
My team’s goal is to conduct our own investigation in She’kel Village concerning the case for the Holy Crusade before the Pre-Hearing Review which will begin at the end of the month or between Octus 29 - Novus 4…
A week for the Local Adjudicator and his team to review all of the information gathered and collected by all parties to see if there is a case or not…
Well…
There is definitely a case…
Sister Bithiah was murdered with True Death…
They just want to make sure if enough information and evidence have been gathered to conduct a proper Trial Hearing…
When it comes to criminal cases, there was a procedure:
• Investigation - this is the phase when a crime has happened and the suspect/suspects have yet to be identified by the Crime Scene Investigators
• Arrest - this is the phase when the suspect/suspects have been identified and are arrested by the Crime Scene Investigators
• Post-Investigation - this is the phase when all parties and groups would review all of the information collected or gather more information about the crime case that the arrested suspect/suspects are accused of
• Pre-Hearing Review - this is the phase when all of the information and evidence about the suspect/suspects are presented to the Local Adjudicator. If the Local Adjudicator finds the information and evidence credible that the suspect/suspects are guilty, the case would proceed to the next phase. On the other hand, if the Local Adjudicator doesn’t, the case would be dropped and the suspect/suspects will be freed
• Trial Hearings - this is the phase when all of the information and evidence will be presented by the Prosecuting Officer and Defense Officer to a courtroom in front of the Local Adjudicator, Jury and the public regarding the case of the suspect/suspects
• Final Hearing - this is the phase when the Local Adjudicator will give their final verdict against the suspect/suspects
Vivian let out a sigh.
Love, murder and politics…
What a lovely combination…
But I’m not going to lie…
I didn’t expect that the Temple of Priests would play with something like this…
I thought such a thing was beneath them…
***
10:23 p.m.
Vivian sat down in front of a desk and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She wore nothing but a pair of black bra and underwear.
“Hmm…”
She checked both sides of her head.
“Hello there, it’s been a while since I’ve seen you.”
She was no longer a brunette and was now sporting her real hair color -- purple with red highlights.
She picked up a pair of scissors.
Okay…
Based on what those 3 told me…
I have to clip my hair like this…
And then clipped a healthy portion of her hair with fingers before sliding down a little bit.
And to cut your own hair, the best way is to cut it shorter than you intended…
That way, you still have room to correct it in case you mess up…
She brought the blades of the scissors near her hair.
Hmm…
It’s too dark…
She glanced at the light on top of the ceiling.
It’s full…
She glanced at the light from the desk lamp.
I didn’t turn it on because one side would be in the shadows…
She turned on the light of the desk lamp.
[Halo].
And then a golden ring appeared behind her.
Is this enough…?
I like to use the [Greater Origin Enchant] + [Halo]…
She glanced at the window and then at the bottom of the door before returning her gaze to the mirror.
But I don’t want to risk it…
“Whatever!”
Sheeek.
She trimmed her hair.
“Oh shit, I’ve already did it. No turning back now.
“And if I mess this up, I can wait for my hair to grow until the night of Satur.
“And if I still mess up at that point, I’ll go to a hair salon in the morning and then sport a pixie haircut or just shave my head and then wear a wig.”
Sheeek.
Sheeek.
Sheeek.
I really hope I don’t reach that point…
I’d literally die from embarrassment…
She suddenly stopped.
“Hold on.
“I remember a saying from my original world: Only a very small handful of women can actually pull off the short hair look because it requires a very beautiful face.”
She tried to recall all of the women she has seen from her original world -- from her everyday normal life, school, work, TV shows, movies, internet, and even on AAA videogames that use real people as models.
I can’t…
There’s none…
I really can’t think of any who sported a pixie haircut or a semi-bald haircut and still looked so beautiful or more beautiful compared to when they had longer hair…
It doesn’t exist…
Sheeek.
She resumed cutting her hair.
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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