The next morning I was contemplating the strange turn my life had taken. I didn't really have any long term plans in this new world. Originally I just wanted to enjoy my time here, maybe travel a bit and see the world. Now I was in the middle of a political plot between nations. It was intimidating on the one hand but oddly exciting as well. I was looking forward to solving the case, possibly due to my curious nature. It also gave my current life a purpose, a goal.
I had breakfast with Lucy at the inn. We did not see Hilda, she might have been sleeping in. I wanted to take her up on the offer to go shopping at some point but for now we had a job to do.
“What do you think we should do next Lucy? We could confront Oliver, or look for some more information first. Maybe we could investigate the crimson lotus gang?”
“The gang might be promising. Even if we don’t get much information, stopping them would hinder the Empire’s plans. We should ask the guards what they know about them.”, Lucy suggested.
“Good idea.”, I agreed.
So after breakfast we made our way to the guards headquarters. The small square in front of the building was filled with two carriages. 11 soldiers in the Empire’s colours were standing around. I frowned.
“What do you think is happening here?”
“That looks like the imperial inquisition.”, Lucy answered. “But why are they already here? This is too fast.”
“What exactly is the inquisition? Are they followers of a god?”, I inquired.
“No. Their job is to keep the peace within the Empire and enforce the laws. When the local guards are out of their depth, or if the nobility is involved, they handle it. They are led by three high inquisitors who answer to the emperor directly. They are supposed to be rather powerful and capable of 9th level magic.”, Lucy explained.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“If they are supposed to police inside the Empire, why are they in Iron Rock?”
“Officially they might argue that a crime by their ambassador is an internal matter. If the duke denies them access they will claim it was all planted. Of course they might still try to do that now.”
“I see. That is also why the duke wanted us to investigate. By working for him we can poke around in the name of the city. And the inquisition can’t bully us easily.”
When we approached the door two imperial soldiers tried to stop us. “HALT IN THE NAME OF THE INQUISITION! What is your purpose?”
“You do realise that you have no power here, right? Actually, you are trying to stop the investigators the duke hired. Maybe we should arrest you.” I stared at the man who spoke to us.
He snorted. “Go home, you are not needed here. This is an imperial matter.”
I smiled. Then I started to cast a 5th circle spell. It was called winter’s breath and would freeze anything in a cone in front of me. The spell did not do any dmg, it simply froze them, just like winter’s grasp. But it affected a smaller area, so I could target the soldiers in front of me without hitting anyone else.
I took a deep breath and exhaled a slightly blue mist. The soldiers had no time to react. The two directly in front of us and three more, who were standing further behind, were frozen. That left 6 soldiers. They drew their swords and attacked. Apparently, my demonstration of power did not intimidate them.
Lucy summoned her spear. “Don’t kill them.”, I told her. Lucy nodded and engaged. I just stood there watching. While the soldiers were trained well, the gap in power was simply too big. Lucy danced between their attacks effortlessly. She used her spear like a staff to hit their arms and legs. With every hit, bones broke and soon all the soldiers were lying on the floor unable to fight.
While I was admiring Lucy’s work the doors of the building opened and a man in a fancy robe stormed out. “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?”, he shouted. Two people in ornate plate armour followed behind him.
I looked at them calmly. “Some bandits attacked the official investigators of the duke. Don’t worry, we have them subdued.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “Official investigators?” He looked at me, then at Lucy. “I only see the Dominion's pet and a slave who needs to learn her place.” He pointed his finger at Lucy. Suddenly a lighting bolt appeared and struck her in the chest. Lucy did not even twitch. Apparently she inherited my lightning immunity. The man stared at her in disbelief.
“Oh my, now you have attacked us as well. The Empire tried to kill the duke and now they attacked the investigators. In broad daylight. I am sure there will be plenty of witnesses too.”, I smiled.
The man seemed uncertain now. He looked at his men lying around Lucy. He looked at the spear. Maybe he finally realised that Lucy was a threat. “You will regret this.”, he said and stormed off. The two people in armour followed silently. While I would have loved to attack the man in retaliation, a city was a bad place for a magical battle. Also, he did not actually hurt her.
Now that the inquisition was no longer blocking the door several guards came out of the building. They looked around uncomfortably. A muscular woman with short black hair approached us. Instead of armour she wore a uniform and I assumed she was in charge.
“What have you done?”