"I have no idea of that, milord," Cless answered his question regarding the mastermind of the smuggling and racketeering scheme. "As far as I know, Clegane was the boss of all of them. I doubt he had anyone above him."

The Lord glared at Cless. "That is because you are the mastermind, young lady. You almost got away with pinning the blame on all your underlings, but we have evidence of that."

Cless sighed like a teacher would sigh at the sight of her students doing everything wrong. "Well, out with that forged evidence. You are being deceived. I am sure it won't hold up to scrutiny."

"Your wordplay won't work here, young lady. Now obey my [Lord's Command] and confess your crimes."

She felt something wash over her, but it was as faint as a breeze. Did he just use a technique on her? Or some Skill?

"I committed no crime in your lands, milord. Whoever told you differently is a liar."

She saw the faces of the people in the room change. The two men at the Lord's left were wary, the knight commander was almost going for his weapon. On the other side, the angry priest was fuming, Gilean was holding his mirth and the Association woman was probably wondering why she was called into that meeting. The fact his Technique, probably from his chosen Aristocrat class didn't work on her could be due to two reasons. Either she was too strong to be affected by her or the fact she held a Royalty class made her immune to his lower-ranked powers.

In any case, [Dangersense] was not going off so she wasn't about to be attacked. Cless just kept her eyes level, looking at a spot between the Lord and the Association representative in a non-threatening way but without submitting either.

"Lying before the Lord is a crime punishable by death!" The well-dressed civil servant chastised Cless.

She turned her head slowly to meet the man's eyes. "It is a good thing I didn't lie then."

"You embezzled city funds! You stole deeds from the land development department!" He accused her back.

"Oh. Now I see where this is going," She turned to the Lord and curtsied. "Milord, can I speak freely?"

"Go ahead, girl. We are here to hear your side of the story before sending you to the gallows." He said as if they were already set on sending her to the gallows.

"I believe that the 'evidence' you received came in part from this civil servant here and in part from the angry priest on your right. Both have things they want from me, things that are not rightfully theirs. They would profit greatly if I submitted to their wishes. Unfortunately, that is not happening. Milord, you are being deceived by greedy, corrupt men."

She figured out what was happening. The angry priest wanted to keep the graveyard and probably annex her land. And this civil servant seemed like Clegane's boss. He probably wanted to sink his fangs in the money she was keeping in the bank. Clegane's Skill was probably the only thing keeping the books in order and he could doctor the accounting according to his whims. With Clegane gone, nobody would be the wiser if a couple thousand crowns disappeared from the treasury.

The bank wouldn't release the account details even under pressure or threats. It was an independent organization that could destroy most feudal lords just by shunning them. No more loans, no more services for their citizens. Since all the gold was there, they could even freeze the accounts in retaliation. By moving the money Clegane stole and the deeds to a vault with her as the trustee, these valuables were forever out of the Lord or anyone else's reach unless she went there herself to release them.

The two probably concocted this plan. Accuse her and eliminate the girl. Just a girl, right? She watched as the scowl in the faces of these two grew. She still had to figure out what were the knight and the Association positions regarding this matter. The representative next to Gilean should be hostile like the others but somehow she seemed uncomfortable with what was happening.

Her introspection done in a few moments, Cless heard the Lord's answer.

"These are men I trust. Men that lived in this city for decades. But you are well-spoken, girl. I will give you one chance. Prove you are not involved in this scheme and I'll let you go."

Big fat chance of that happening. "I would like to hear the accusations first. The priest may begin."

He pointed a finger at her and hollered, "This woman declared herself a priestess, used dark magic to kill one of our flock and wanted to steal our graveyard." Cless fought to not wince at the rain of spit.

"That's a big fat sack of lies," Cless repudiated. "I am a Vicar and a member of the Church in good standing. I used no magic during our encounter, that man was facilitating the evasion of Dungeon goods and was punished by the One God by turning his own magic on himself. Regarding the graveyard, the church invaded the lands I purchased, lands that are notarized by the Lord himself. I offered the church an advantageous deal to permanently transfer the graveyard to them. However, the One God may have mercy on liars, schemers and the greedy."

"You insolent little—" The priest was interrupted by a glare from Cless.

"Keep the insults for later, priest. Now is not the occasion, situation or company for slander. I will tell you the same thing I told that priest. Would you swear on your own life that you won't tell falsehoods here? I'll bind myself to the same oath. Only this time I'll ask first."

Outraged, he was about to explode, "I won't play your little games anymore!"

Cless clicked her tongue, "There we go, when the arguments of truth and reason are foregone only anger, irrationality and lies remain. One oath, in good standing. May the One God smite the liars. I am sure the fine people here present can detect the use of magic and even if not the Lord has such resources at his beck and call.

"For the respectable priest raises an accusation based on nothing but the trust the Lord has in his longstanding friendship, only to waste and disburse said trust in a moment of anger. One oath. I come here on my own will and unarmed, with only the best interests of the Realm in my heart.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

"Let it be known that this man reneged on his faith and his word. On greed and anger, he dwelt and the fear he has is that the One God's judgment will find him wanting."

She looked at the angry priest as if he was only a rabid animal, feeling pity that it had to be put down.

"Aaaah!" The priest screamed, possessed.

"Flame Pillar!"

A column of fire erupted around Cless. It burned her clothes but not the pitch black leather tight one-piece overalls that covered her from the thighs to the breasts. The flames dissipated to reveal an unharmed and scantily-clad Cless. She felt dismayed at the looks they gave her because of her skin, her deformed face.

She ignored her shame and the priest, instead of turning a pleading look upon the Lord. "Milord, may it be known and remembered that I was not the one to resort to violence before your esteemed presence."

"Holy Bolt! — Holy Bolt!"

The frantic priest continued to cast spells on Cless, and all they did was just to redden his skin.

Cless did her best to ignore the priest as if his offensive magic were just the raindrops of a summer shower. "Are you going to let him continue on his folly? May I react, milord?"

"Herman, stop this folly this very instant! This is a [Lord's Command]!" The Lord shouted. The priest froze.

Cless used the time to think of what happened. Her Health of three-hundred-thirty was subtracted from Herman the Angry Priest's Intellect because of [Dragon Skin]. Of the remaining offensive power, twenty percent was shaved by [Magic Resistance] and in the case of the Flame Pillar, the [Dragon Skin] took another fifty percent. Only forty percent of the spell's base damage went through to let her natural defenses deal with.

"Milord, Herman the priest would not resort to violence if he knew his cause to be just. Or his faith to be true. Under my authority granted by the One God Church's Codex, I invoke the rite of excommunication. May all present here be witnesses under the One God's ever-watchful eyes," Cless solemnly proclaimed and proceeded with the rites. "Priest Herman, for the crimes of blasphemy, assault on a higher-ranked priestess, and endangering the Church's relations with the secular powers, you are now stripped of your rank in the Church and sentenced to a forced Class change to strip you of the Holy Powers granted by the One God. May all present be witnesses to this judgment and to its fairness. May any that disagree with my ruling speak their mind."

"I demand proof of your membership in the Church, girl." The Lord spoke.

"I left all my tools home, but this might be enough."

Cless used two spells, making sure to use the full chant, including the One God drivel.

"[Sanctuary] Shield of Faith."

"Protection."

She turned to the Knight and nodded. "Please strike me with your sword. I won't move or evade. Aim for my shield."

"Song of the Accord!"

After getting a nod from the Lord, the knight drew his sword and attacked the shield. Cless felt her [Underdog] Skill activate and increase her level by twenty-two. That guy was at least level one hundred and fourteen up to one hundred and twenty-seven. The sword clanged against the shield but the spell deflected the blow, ringing like a gong. Shield of Faith flickered but held. Cless knew one slap from his hand would dismiss the spell.

The knight smiled at Cless and sheathed his sword. He bowed to her and returned to his place. "Milord, the girl is a Vicar, one dedicated to defense and peace. I recognize the modified spells. I second her claim. I believe priest Herman's tenure at the local church is over."

Cless released the breath she was holding even though she needed no air to live.

The lord shouted. "Guards!" The soldiers immediately entered from a side door. Six of them. "Seize priest Herman."

After the screaming and kicking priest was taken out of the room, Cless turned to the civil servant. "Are you sure this is a fight you want to pick?"

The well-dressed servant lowered his head and spoke softly. To Cless, even Vic's hissing speech sounded less snaky than this man's words. "I see now that I may be mistaken in my conclusions regarding Clegane's embezzlement. Forgive me, milord. In my zeal, I may have hastily drawn wrongful conclusions."

"There's no harm done, Bernard. You are dismissed."

Without another word, the civil servant walked out. Cless crossed her arms, noticing that they were standing up all this time. And that no refreshments were offered.

"Milord, did the events of this morning clear the doubts regarding my person?"

"Yes, yes. I am sorry you had to go through that. Your clothes and everything." He paused to think and rang a bell. The butler opened the door to the corridor. Had he remained there all this time? "Mark, get one of my daughter's old dresses for the guild master here. Thank you."

"Hellshadow cougar leather. Very good resistance to elemental magic." Gilean commented on her indumentary.

"Guild master," The Association woman spoke, "We are interested in knowing the routes the smugglers used to ferry goods out of the Dungeon."

"I have no idea," Cless lied. Like hell, she'll have Association people in her catacombs. "You have them under custody, ask them. All I know is that the priest was helping them. I did capture a few crates of materials, I'll bring them to the Association to get a price estimate and collect the taxes on them. As I captured them outside the city limits, I'll pay only the Association taxes this time."

Next was the Lord. "Guild Master, it came to my attention that you visited the bank with Clegane. What did you do there?"

Cless felt no sympathy for him, neither a desire to return the coin. It was this man's incompetence and lack of management that allowed people to suffer and that criminal organization to fester. She was good-natured but right now she was mad at the man. She would not mention the money

"I took the deeds from the houses he stole from the poor citizens using his thugs to put them in debt and evict them. Clegane had them stored in the bank and I put them in a rented vault with my name as a trustee. I believe the Lord could return these deeds to their rightful owners. It would increase the Lord's already fantastic popularity with the downtrodden."

The lord wasn't happy. "What about the money he stole from me?" Yes, she saw this one coming from a kilometer away.

"It might be in Clegane's personal account. Or in Steppenwolf's. Or in Dagon's. Or hidden under some of his cronies. I only took Clegane's accounting book regarding the deeds."

She was spewing a dozen lies a minute. Since none of the four people present reacted, she assumed none of them could read past her glibness. She took the books with the money transactions. As far as Cless was concerned, it would rot inside that safe. These people would die a hundred times if they subjected any other Queen to such humiliation.

A knock on the door broke the awkward silence. The butler opened the door after the Lord gave permission. "The clothes you requested, sire."

He handed a dress to her, of better quality than the one she was wearing. The fabric felt nice to the touch. Real silk.

"You can use the door to your left to change." The lord pointed out.

Cless could've put on the dress right there but she went to the other room. This way she could use her Skill to adjust the fit. She shaped the petticoats away and wove them into long sleeves and gloves. The skirt ballooned less that way but she liked it. Better mobility. She returned to the room.

"A perfect fit! Once again I'm sorry for allowing that to happen. I hope this fine dress can compensate for what you lost."

Like hell it can, Cless thought. She didn't show it though. "It is marvelous, milord. I've never seen this fabric, seems like something divine. Please let me repay."

"No, no! A gift is a gift! I'm glad you liked it."

"Well, I'll accept it then," Cless said and forced herself to blush. She wanted to go home and build her house. To hell with regulations. "I won't take any more of the Lord's time."

"You are dismissed, guild master. Thank you for your cooperation."

Cless curtsied and left, guided by the butler until the gate. She didn't have breakfast, being forced to cross the whole city to meet some snobby idiots. She wasn't offered not even a glass of water. She walked until a corner and entered a side street. She wanted to scream, to curse, and probably drop a hundred fireballs on that mansion.

Instead, she just went home.