We were escorted down a guarded corridor and ended up in a lavish office. It was well organised. Papers were neatly stacked on the large desk in the centre of the room. There was a couch for two people on the right side of the office, with a coffee table and small liquor cabinet beside it. The room also featured some bookshelves, and portraits of people I did not know covered the walls. Presumably they were famous.
The human man behind the desk looked like he was in his 60s. His face had some wrinkles showing his age, he was bald and had a long grey beard. Two chairs were on our side of the desk, they looked far less comfortable then the massive one the royal inquisitor was using. Two guards had followed us into the room and took positions next to the doors.
“Greetings, you must be the royal inquisitor.” I said and offered my hand. There was no reason to be impolite so far.
He took my hand with a surprisingly firm grip. Not that his strength could match mine. I just smiled and squeezed a little. He frowned a bit but did not say anything. He also shook Lucy’s hand. “Ladies Amaya and Lucy, a pleasure. My name is Logan, please have a seat.” He said.
I sat down and opened the conversation. “I have a question. You are a royal inquisitor, right? How are you connected to the normal inquisition? Is it just a title because you are stationed at the palace?” It was something that I had wondered for a bit now.
“Ah, I understand your confusion. We report directly to the emperor. We are a separate unit that handles the most delicate tasks. Everyone is under an oath to not betray imperial secrets.”
It sounded like the emperor did not fully trust the inquisition. I suppose they were a really powerful faction. So this unit existed to handle information he did not want in the hands of the high inquisitors. He could have chosen a better name though.
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“Thank you for clarifying that.” I said.
“You are welcome. Now, I do have some questions for you.” He talked in a grandfatherly tone of voice. “Yesterday you had an unfortunate encounter with prince Alexander, is that correct?”
Lucy snorted. “You could say that. He insulted us, ordered his followers to attack us and even tried to get our own guards to arrest us.” She summarised.
“I turned him into the pig he is, in self-defence. He should be happy that he is alive.” I added.
“I see.” Logan answered. “Unfortunately your guards will not be able to confirm that.”
“What exactly happened to them?” I asked. “It is somewhat concerning what is going on in your city. It seems like a rather unsafe place. We are only unharmed because of our own powers.”
He briefly lost his friendly face but quickly recovered. “You should not have dismissed your guards in the park. You should have immediately reported the incident. Your behaviour was highly improper.” He sounded like he was chastising naughty children. My night elf body might have looked like it was in the 20s but I could have been hundreds of years old. Was this deliberate? A man in his position should be competent enough to realise that we were powerful and could be ancient.
I stared at him. My face was cold. I put some menace into my voice. “I have enough of this farce. We are here as guests. It seems that the Empire has forgotten what that means. Your nation is rotting from the inside. Demons freely walk your palace, a cult is operating in the inquisition and you guards are being murdered in the park. Clean up your mess. We are here as a courtesy. If you have nothing meaningful to say we will leave.”
His eyes widened a bit at that. I also saw some sweat on his face. Was my demeanour that intimidating? Had I misjudged Logan? Maybe he was not competent. Maybe his main job was to deal with brats? Did he get his position simply because he was loyal? I was slightly confused but on guard. Maybe this was a test of some sort.
Lucy watched slightly amused. “I suppose we are leaving?” She asked.
Logan was still silent. He was breathing hard now. I nodded at Lucy and stood up. The guards at the door looked very uncertain. Their hands were on the hilts of their swords. We just walked past them. They trembled slightly. Once we were out of earshot I asked Lucy: “Was I really that scary?”
“Your eyes were kind of glowing. You had a certain… presence. It felt like you regarded Logan as a simple bug. A thing far beneath your notice. It was sort of cool.” Lucy explained.
“But... I did not use any magic?” I should not have any aura powers that I was aware of. I knew several high level creatures, like dragons, possessed such abilities. Was I developing new powers? How?