This chapter is sponsored by The Bitch in the Fantasy World Patrons:
• Adventurer GrimV
• Adventurer The orc warrior 261
• Mercenary Tafadzwa Kungwengwe
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Octus 31, 3023 A.M., day of Tuar.
Vivian suddenly opened her eyes and found herself on a bed with her entire environment black and white, thanks to her demonic eyes.
[Greater Origin Transformation].
Blaaak!
Her eyes reverted to their human form as she sat up.
It's still dark…?
The entire room was dark, save for the dimmed gold light coming from a desk lamp. She glanced at the heavy curtains covering the windows and noticed there was no sunlight bouncing from the curtains.
What time is it…?
She turned to the clock plastered on a wall.
5:14 a.m…
So I fell asleep while training…
She felt something, a few things to be more specific.
The pains of my period has lessened…
But I feel that my napkin is soaken wet…
Hopefully, it didn't reach my bed…
Vivian was wearing nothing but a one-piece nightgown and black underwear with a napkin under it.
***
7:37 a.m.
Vivian had her usual Inquisitor attire on as she walked through a corridor.
We've already been here for more than a week…
Is this how cases or investigations go…?
I mean…
I fully understand that cases and investigations aren't like in TV shows and movies, they're usually long and grueling with a lot of dead ends…
But isn't this world set on a medieval setting…?
Also, Priests and Priestesses have [Halo]…
I was expecting it would be more, I don't know, I guess quicker and exciting…?
Probably also funny…
And this is the post-investigation, not even the initial or actual investigation…
"My God, I can only imagine how boring and tedious it would be to start an actual fresh investigation."
She finally reached a door and placed her hand on the doorknob.
Ka-cha!
As she opened the door and then entered, she found the usual faces.
Oh…
Pablo and Manuel are also here…
The Meeting Room she entered wasn't the Interrogation Meeting Room. Instead, it was the Meeting Room assigned to the Holy Crusade Squad.
"Good morning, Sister Inquisitor," Janis and Ronan greeted her, who were both sitting in the lounging area.
She slowed her steps as she turned to them.
"Good morning, too."
"Good morning, Sister Inquisitor," Zola, who was also seated at the lounging area, greeted her as well.
"Good morning, too," she said and then resumed the pace of her steps as she went over to the long table. And when she reached the table, she pulled a chair. "Good morning," she said as she sat down.
Wind, Pablo and Manuel were at the table.
Wind and Pablo were discussing something. Meanwhile, Manuel was listening and taking mental notes, and also patiently waiting for Pablo to give him any special errands.
"Good morning, too, sister."
Pablo offered a slight bow.
"Good morning, too, Priestess Inquisitor," he said and smiled.
Manuel lowered his head.
"Good morning, too, Priestess Inquisitor Monad."
Vivian focused on Wind.
"So what's our schedule for today?"
"We've already received a reply from High Brother Reuel. He's having some people check the logbooks to see if there was a Sister with gray hair and from the Verglas Chapter Temple who came and visited She'kel Village this year.
"Meanwhile, for Brother Emmanuel and from the people from Malia's Restaurant, we're still waiting for a reply."
Vivian raised an eyebrow behind her mask.
"Can't we just go to them and ask them directly?"
"Technically, we could. However, we're not even completely sure if what Brother Micaiah said is actually true."
"You doubt what Brother Micaiah said?"
Wind shook his head.
"It's not that. In fact, if I were to make a guess, the probability of Brother Micaiah telling the truth is high. However, I want to collect all possible evidence first before jumping to any conclusions. After all, a person's memory can be a bit unreliable whenever the person has experienced or is currently experiencing a lot of stress. Even [Halo] can't fix it."
Although [Halo] could charm a person or people to answer the caster's question truthfully, provided that the caster's Magic Force is higher than that of the person or people, one of its fatal flaws is that the "truth" is subject to the person's knowledge.
For example, there are two men, Man A and Man B, walking through a dark and creepy forest in the middle of the night. During their walk, they suddenly encountered a blurry figure. Man A believes he saw a ghost, while Man B believes he saw a powerful beast.
And once a Priest who has a higher Magic Force compared to both men and uses [Halo] to ask them to describe the blurry figure, given that Man A believes he saw a ghost, he would answer that he saw a ghost. On the other hand, given that Man B believes he saw a powerful beast, he would answer that he saw a powerful beast.
That is one of the fatal flaws of [Halo], which is why its use is strictly regulated. Some people would even take it as a direct provocation to battle if a Priest or Priestess uses it on them. But of course, there will always be gray areas or situations.
***
8:31 a.m.
Vivian was sitting on one of the one-person sofas at the lounging area with her legs folded but covered with a blanket and the fingers of her right hand pressing the right side of her mask as she watched and would occasionally listen to what Ronan, Zola and Janis, who were with her at the lounging area, were talking about.
Can't I just wait in my room if we're just going to wait here and do nothing…?
Technically, they weren't 'not doing anything'. They were waiting for Reuel to provide them with information about the Priestess who was with Emmanuel at the night when Jeremiah confronted him, and they were also waiting for Emmanuel and the people from Malia Restaurant to reply.
Vivian let out a yawn.
I'd seriously just rather train in my room…
"I have a Draghorn back at home, but riding it is just hard. It listens to basic commands, but during special or in crucial situations, it would just do its own thing," Zola said.
Janis nodded.
"You should just spend more time with it."
"Is it enough that I pat and rub it, and also feed it food every time I see it?"
Janis shook his head.
"That's not enough. It would only start to see you as some sort of playmate or would only obey you if you gave it food."
"So I should be strict with it?"
"There is this balance between being strict and being kind to your mount. Be too strict with it, it will either completely not follow your orders or you will constantly have to be dominant or aggressive to it for it to listen to you. Meanwhile, being too kind with it, then, well, just like I said earlier, it would only see you as a playmate."
"How many times a day should I spend time training a Draghorn?"
"Once a day is enough, about an hour or two. You practice doing orders with it, play with it a bit, and then praise or feed it."
"Draghorn are intelligent creatures, right?"
Janis nodded.
"Yes."
"Since they're intelligent, wouldn't they just instinctively understand the position they're in and follow orders regardless of whether you constantly train them or not?"
Janis thought about it for a moment.
"Are you aware of the monster species called Peon?"
Zola nodded.
"Yes."
"According to the Scholars in the Temple of Tamers, Peons have a quarter of human intelligence. And when it comes to Draghorns, their intelligence is between a quarter and half the intelligence of a human."
"Your mount is a Rhonea, right?"
Janis nodded.
"Yes."
"Which is smarter, a Draghorn or a Rhonea?"
"To be honest, Sister Lieutenant, I'm not sure. In my opinion, I like to say they're the same. But there are some people who believe that Draghorns are more intelligent."
"Which is stronger?"
"Based on what I know, it's Draghorns. They say that a fully-grown Draghorn could reach the Physical and Magic Force of someone who has mastered 3 Magic Art Masteries and 6 Physical Art Masteries.
Rhoneas, on the other hand, their highest is someone with 2 and a half Magic Art Masteries and 5 Physical Art Masteries."
"What about the spells they use?"
"It's the same. If they have the Fire Magic Art Mastery, they could learn [Fire Arrow], [Fire Lance], [Enchant Fire], and the rest of the Legend-Tier spells like [Fire Storm] and etc."
"Can they learn Lore Magic?"
"I believe so."
"Have you seen one with Lore Magic?"
"The thing about monsters, once they are able to learn spell, that alone makes them a Lore Monster. Monsters aren't like us people, we learn spells differently.
"For us people, in order to learn spells, we must train the Magic Art Affinity that we possess to learn more spells from the Magic Art Affinity.
"But for monsters, they don't need to, they simply learn spells as they age. However, it's not a guarantee.
"For example, the chances of a Red Draghorn, Red Rhonea or whatever has a 5% chance to learn a [Fire Lance], 3% chance it learn [Enchant Fire], and 1% chance to learn a Legend-Tier Spell. And if they fail to learn the [Fire Lance], they won't be able to learn [Enchant Fire]."
"What about [Fire Arrow]?" Zola asked.
"All Elemental Monsters or Lore Monsters would learn the Low-Tier spell."
"What about Physical Arts?"
"They also can learn."
"You said that a full-grown Draghorn can have a Physical and Magic Force of a person who has mastered 3 Magic Art Affinities and 6 Physical Art Affinities. If they learn a Physical Art Mastery, would it increase their Physical Force?"
Janis nodded.
"Yes. But you have to remember that by the end of the day, a Draghorn only has between a quarter and half the intelligence of a human. So even if they have so many skills, they won't be smart enough to use all of them, let alone use the proper or appropriate skill for each situation, and it would also be quite time-consuming to train them in using each skill. On top of that, just like humans, once their Physical Force is 2 Grades above their Magic Force, they, too, would start to experience imbalance in their movements."
Knock, knock.
There was a knock on the door, causing everyone in the room to stop whatever they were doing and turn their attention to it.
"I'll get it," Ronan said as he got up from his seat and then headed for the door.
Ka-cha!
When he opened the door, it was one of the non-Priest staff of the building.
The male staff lowered his head.
"Forgive me for the intrusion, Honored Priest Crusader," he said and presented a letter. "A letter just arrived from the Honored Priest Nummi family addressed to Honored Priest Inquisitor Wind."
Ronan received it.
"Anything else?"
The male staff shook his head.
"Only that, Honored Priest Crusader."
Ronan nodded.
"Okay, you have my thanks."
The male staff lowered his head.
"It's a great honor to serve you and your honored squad, Honored Priest Crusader."
Ku-chud.
Ronan closed the door, headed to Wind, who was with Pablo and Manuel at the long table, and then gave him the letter.
"From the Nummi family, Brother Inquisitor."
"Thank you, Brother High Lieutenant," Wind said and then opened the letter.
No one said a word, but he knew they were all waiting for him to tell them what the letter said.
After reading the letter, he slowly put down the letter and then turned to everyone.
"The letter is from Sister Dinah. She said that Brother Emmanuel can't come and we also can't go to him. The reason, Brother Emmanuel has received so many death threats, he feels so isolated, and he has also been feeling so much guilt and depression that he threatened to commit suicide by overtraining his Magic Force."
"Priest Emmanuel has an imbalanced Physical-Magic Force?" Pablo asked.
Once a person's Magic Force is over 2 Grades compared to their Physical Force, the moment they even conjure a thought, a nerve would pop inside their head and they would die.
Wind shook his head.
"I'm not sure. But according to his last Holy Crusade, during the registration process, both his Physical and Magic Force were Adamantite-Rainbow Steel."
A shocked and amazed expression flashed across Manuel's face.
Pablo also had the same expression, but managed to hide it and present a cool and calm demeanor.
"As expected of Priests. You people are almost as quick as Aristocrat Nobles when training your Physical and Magic Force."
Wind shrugged.
"We have to join the Holy Crusade to collect Holy Crusade Points. And if we want to increase our chances of survival during our time in the Holy Crusade, we have no choice but to train."
Meanwhile, the rest of the Priests and Priestesses didn't make any reaction. But they all shared the same sentiment of Wind.
"I guess if you put it that way, then it makes sense," Pablo said.
Wind turned to Ronan and Zola.
"Brother High Lieutenant, Sister Lieutenant, both of you are part of the Infantry Division, so you must be quite knowledgeable when it comes to training. What are your thoughts?"
Ronan and Zola thought about it for a moment.
And after a minute, Ronan spoke first.
"His last Holy Crusade was between this year's month of Janus to the month of Junus, right?"
Wind nodded.
"Yes."
"I'm from a High-Tier Commoner Priest Family, not from a High-Tier Noble Priest Family, so I can't say for certain if it's actually possible for someone to increase their Magic Force by 2 Grades in one year or in 6 months."
"I see," Wind said and then turned to Zola.
"I'm from a Low-Tier Noble Priest family. I'm sorry, but I also don't know if someone from the High-Tier Noble Priest Family is capable of doing such a thing."
Vivian stood up from her seat and then turned to Wind.
"I'll handle this."
Everyone turned to her.
"What do you plan to do?" Wind asked.
"We're short of time. The original plan was to submit our Post-Investigation Report by the last week of Octus and we're now on the third day in the last week of the month.
"While we wait for High Brother Reuel, you go handle the people from Malia's Restaurant right away, and I would handle Brother Emmanuel.
"And since Brother Emmanuel rejected our summons for a follow-up interview and threatened to commit suicide, which means he's deliberately undermining the case, despite the fact he's the second main suspect, there's only one choice left: We interview him before he commits suicide."
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"What…?" Wind said.
Vivian went over to a window, opened it, and then turned to everyone, but mainly focused on Wind.
"You heard me, brother. I believe I'm not the only one who's tired of all this waiting, getting disrespected, and being pushed around by all of these weaklings," she said and then turned to the open window. "Go to the people from Malia's Restaurant and get the information we need from them. I will get the information we need from Brother Emmanuel."
Vooom!
She turned into a blur.
***
Vooom!
Vivian was running in a blur through a busy medieval street. And with each animal or monster she encountered, some would flee in a panic, while others would try to attack her. For the ones that chose to attack, by the time they chose to, Vivian was already long gone.
That was an embarrassing fail…
I started so strong, only to slow down once I landed and took a couple of steps…
Although Vivian was running in a blur, she was actually only using about 1/5 of her Physical Force. It wasn't because she wanted to take her time. Instead, it was because she didn't want to destroy her boots. She could remove boots, but she also didn't want to dirty her white stockings.
And even if I wanted to buy the most expensive pair of boots…
The highest is only Rainbow Steel…
There were a couple who noticed her, mostly Guards. In the case of the Guards, they were about to stop and arrest her because it was forbidden to move or run more than 1 Grade of Physical Force on a public street to prevent theft and unnecessary collisions. But when they finally noticed that it wasn't just a Priestess, but an Inquisitor Priestess, they immediately stopped and resumed with whatever they were doing.
Well…
There is Spirit Steel, but that's for Lore Items…
Hmm…
I wonder when would I get a Lore Item…?
It would be nice if it's a Lore Item that has a large storage space, like the ones commonly seen in fantasy RPG stories…
I also wouldn't mind if they were indestructible boots…
But they'd at least have to look great…
A Lore Item that could magically wash your body is also nice…
A memory flashed inside her head.
Right…
I remember back at Plano Town when we were interviewing those criminals, they mentioned about an Auction House…
I didn't really pay attention to it because I was broke -- well, I am still broke…
But with my current strength, I think I could take them…
Another memory flashed inside her head.
Oh…
Right…
There are cursed Lord Items as well…
Just like the one guy from the battle arena…
What was it called again…?
Fiasma Oscura…?
Fiamma Oscura…?
Flima Oscura…?
Oscura Flimama…?
I know the second word was Oscura but I can't remember the first word…
Flama Oscura…?
She shook her head.
"Whatever."
But I should definitely be careful in touching Lore Items…
Wooom!
Thud!
Vooom!
Vivian reached the main gate of the Nummi Family's estate mansion, leaped over it with a light tap of her foot, and then immediately continued running once she landed.
One of the 2 Guards inside the Guard House saw the back of Vivian's running figure and immediately called his companion. Normally, they wouldn't mind if a Priest or Priestess arrived. However, given the current situation that the Nummi family is involved in, things were different.
Vooom!
The Guard that saw Vivian immediately chased her. Meanwhile, the other Guard readied a flare.
Vooom!
Vooom!
Vivian stopped in front of the main entrance of the mansion. Meanwhile, the Guard who was chasing after her shortly arrived.
"Excuse me, Honored Priestess…!" the Guard said.
Vivian ignored him and climbed the short and white marble stairs of the main entrance, where there were 2 Guards standing on guard.
The 2 Guards at the door weren't sure what to do.
The Priestess in front of them was clearly the Priestess Inquisitor who came here a few days ago to interview Kadmiel, Leah and Emmanuel. Apart from her mask, the clothes she wore were just too eye-catching or unforgettable. However, one of the Guards stationed at the Guard House was behind her chasing and calling her.
Vooo-pa-craaack!
When Vivian finally reached the 2 Guards, she suddenly turned into a blur as she delivered a kick to the Guard behind her, right on his chest, shattering the bones and sending him flying several feet away.
"Noisy low-life insect," she said with a disgusted tone as she returned her attention to the 2 Guards at the door. "Call Sister Dinah or any of the Brothers from the External Unit."
The gazes of the 2 Guards bounced between Vivian and the Guard she just kicked.
The Guard she just kicked wasn't moving and continued laying on his stomach on the cement floor.
"What are you waiting for?" Vivian's cold and sharp voice rang in their ears, causing them to both stand in attention and offer a salute.
"Y-YES, HONORED PRIESTESS INQUISITOR!!!"
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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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