“You’ve been quiet.” Alexander said.

“Thinking.” Marcus replied. The two men rode side by side on the road leading to Croton, the sun high in the sky above them. The pair had left Amdell immediately after Marcus executed Hattie and Alban, neither had spoken a word.

“About the executions?”

“Yes, and other things.”

“What sort of things?”

“The Inquisition, how much we actually matter.”

“We solved the murders, brought the killers to justice.”

Marcus scoffed. “Did we? We didn’t solve anything. We wandered around interrogating whoever we could until one of the killers felt betrayed by the others and had his full confession relayed to us, while pointing us to evidence that would condemn his accomplices. We got lucky.”

“Is that so bad?” Alexander asked. “If we hadn’t been there, Alban, Hattie, and Gladys would likely have gotten away with murdering the two Bernards and continued in their debauchery.”

Marcus was silent for a moment. Alexander wondered if he should say something else or let his mentor have silence.

“Makes you wonder if our entire mission is in vain.” Marcus said after several minutes of quiet. “We’re supposed to ensure that the people under our watch live virtuous lives, protect the people from vice and forbidden ideas. Yet, these people were carrying on for almost the entire time I was Inquisitor for this area and we only found out because they got caught and resorted to murder to cover it up.”

“No one can fault us for not having perfect knowledge of every person’s behavior, all we can do is make sure vice doesn’t become too widespread.”

“I’m sure many would fault us for not being perfect,” Marcus replied with a bitter laugh. “But you’re right, I could have spent every day in this town and if people really wanted the thrill of getting drunk and climbing into bed with each other they’d find a way to do so when I wasn’t looking.”

“Makes our job seem hopeless when you put it that way.”

“I sometimes wonder if it is. Hopeless, I mean. All the tutors teaching the Ethics and the Inquisitors to enforce them, we still have people like Alban and Hattie, dipping into debauchery and killing to keep it secret.”

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“I don’t mean this in a disrespectful way Marcus, but if you feel like you’re wasting time why don’t you retire?”

“Because you can’t do this on your own.” Marcus replied. “I don’t mean that as an insult, I think you’ll make a fine Inquisitor, not that you aren’t already, but you’re young and inexperienced. They wouldn’t even allow me to oversee this area on my own, that’s why I took you on as my apprentice, but if I retire then they’ll appoint someone to take my place. Someone more senior to you, someone who doesn’t agree with how I’ve handled things and they will require you to handle the people here the way they do down south.”

Alexander thought back to his trip to Tariopolis, how everyone he met shrank back in fear. He knew what Marcus was saying was true. Any Inquisitor assigned to take over his position before Alexander was experienced enough to take charge would almost certainly be as harsh as they were in the heartland.

“Not that I am champing at the bit to retire, mind you. I fully agree with our stated mission, I agree with the Philosopher’s view of what the truly happy life is for all our citizens, I fully support the Ethics. I just disagree with how violently we are expected to punish people for their mistakes.”

Alexander tried to think of something to say to his mentor, some profound insight into the Ethics and the mission of the Inquisition that would be an encouragement to the man but could think of nothing. Years of being instructed in virtue by tutors in the ethics and two years of intense study with the philosophers of the Inquisition academy and he could not think of a single meaningful thing to say when it actually mattered.

“Alban and Hattie deserved to die for their crimes.” Alexander said, unable to think of anything else to say. “They were murderers, even if their victims were also murderers.”

“I’m glad you didn’t mention anything about their drunkenness or orgies when you said that.”

“Oh?” Alexander asked, surprised.

“Yes, it’s all too easy to hate people for their vices, to see their excesses or deficiencies as something that makes them inherently detestable. We can’t forget that the sole end of all our laws and teaching the Ethics is to ensure that everyone in the Empire can live the good life, and we discourage vice in people so they can achieve that good life, true happiness and well-being.”

“Would you have still executed Alban and Hattie and the rest if the younger Bernard had revealed what they were doing and no one had died?”

“I probably would have had to.” Marcus replied with a heavy sigh. “That kind of excessive indulgence in bodily appetites for so long, if it were to become public knowledge and I didn’t put an end to it, someone like the younger Bernard would likely have gotten a message to others in the Inquisition that I was tolerating debauchery. They’d send a force up here to handle matters and many more people would be held accountable for whatever offenses could be found, us included. Hattie and Alban being confessed murderers just helped matters. Hopefully the people around here understand that’s why I executed them, not that I’ll be drawing my pistol on everyone who doesn’t follow the Ethics perfectly.”

Marcus rode in silence for the rest of the journey. It had been dark for several hours by the time the two made it back to the villa, forced to travel by the light of the moon. Alexander barely had time to remove his armor before he collapsed, exhausted, into his bed.