Night was closing in rapidly, so they quickly set up camp. Abigail put the still unconscious Morgan in her tent, Dawns Horizon offered to make dinner for everyone. Maybe the hard battle that they shared made them lighten up. That was probably wishful thinking on his part, but he hoped that Dawns Horizon wouldn’t give him any issues when they made it back to Les. It was clear to Thomas that they really didn’t care for him, and he just didn’t want it to cause him problems in the future as an adventure.

After Thomas got firewood collected for the cooking fire he sat down and bandaged himself up. Madam Plumbs Ointment did wonders for the few cuts he received. None of the cuts would really cause a problem but the few hard hits he took left deep bruises. He knew tomorrow was going to be painful to even move around.

Finally, as night was truly upon them, he heard Tristan announce dinner was ready. With a grunt of pain, he walked over to the group. He was looking forward to a warm meal that would hopefully wash away some of the fatigue he felt.

When he got to a stone bench that Tristan made, Abigail came out of her tent. He was surprised because she was out of her armor. She was wearing what looked like comfortable but conservative clothes not unlike what he saw when they first met. She found her way over to where Thomas was and sat down next to him. Thomas grabbed a serving of the random meat stew that Dawns Horizon made. since he was up, he filled up Abigails bowl as well.

Without hesitation they started digging into the surprisingly delicious stew. After only a few bites though Thomas noticed something was wrong. He felt wrong, looking around he noticed Tristan, Steven, and Phillips weren’t eating. Instead, they were staring at Abigail and him. The predatory smiles he saw on their faces caused fear to shoot through him. Even more so when he tried get up only to realize he felt heavy. Like a mountain was pressing down on him.

Trying to turn his head to look at Abigail, panic started to set in when he couldn’t move. He managed to barely opening his mouth and wheeze out “What di….” before his body was truly frozen.

His eyes were stuck open staring directly at Dawns Horizon. Horror washed over him as he realized he couldn’t do anything but breath. He could still feel his body, but it didn’t react, he felt like a prisoner in his own body.

Tristan stood up and started taking his armor off as he spoke “You know I hate women like you, I truly do. Acting so high and mighty like you are better than me. You are nothing. Just a girl who has a bit of strength, I can’t wait to play with you all night. After I am done, they will have their go. I’m glad I won the bet, so I get to go first. We won’t stop until we break you. We are so far out here no one will find us, no one will interrupt us even if it takes days. Hells, you were nice enough to bring us another plaything to switch off when we want something new. Don’t worry the paralytic we used won’t allow you to move but you will feel everything.”

Tristan, who was now standing just in front of Abigail turned and looked at Thomas and spoke. “I hate your kind just as much, not where you came from but how pathetic your lot normally is. I will admit you grew on me, most street rats whine and complain how unfair the world is. Sadly, for you I still don’t like you, you will die either way. Well, we could sell you into slavery but that seems like too much work. I will let you watch what we do to her first since you seemed so enamored by her.”

Steven and Phillip chuckled as Tristan spoke, they were also getting comfortable. Getting down to their underclothes, Steven pulled out three bottles of something from his pack.

During the whole time Tristan monologed, Thomas was screaming at his body to move but it wouldn’t, his entire body was frozen like a statue. His eyelids wouldn’t even twitch, the fear and anger drove him to try anything he could. His mana wasn’t even responding to him. Trying even harder, he tried to shove his mana to make it respond.

His core didn’t even twitch in response to him.

This was the weakest he had ever felt, being completely at the mercy of this group.

Tristan undressed fully and was standing there completely nude. He reached for Abigail when a small chuckle could be heard. As she said, “I thought I told you not to touch me.”

The world in front of Thomas turned to ice. Tristan, Steven, and Phillip were locked in place by ice, with only their heads exposed.

The jumbled screams of pain and confusion were cut off as the ice grew to cover their mouths. Thomas could hear shuffling next to him as Abigail stood.

Abigail moved to stand in front of him, forcing his mouth open a fruit flavored liquid was pouring down his throat. Once that was done Abigail looked him in the eyes and told him “Just sit there as it works to fix you and just watch.” The look in her eyes had a colder edge to them than the ice covering Dawns Horizon.

She turned towards the three frozen men, their eyes were wide in pain and confusion. Thomas could clearly tell they were struggling to move. That made him feel a twinge of joy seeing them stuck in place just like he was.

Abigail walked up to Tristan and spoke in a commanding tone that carried real authority. “Tristan Worth, you are accused and found guilty on multiple charges. The charges are rape, murder, distribution of drugs, kidnapping, and acts of slavery. In accordance with guild rules, regulations, and laws of the realm, backed by authority of the Council of Kings. I hereby sentenced you to death. I, Abigail Thorn, as a High Inquisitor of the Adventurers Guild shall execute this judgment immediately.”

Before he could even react to what was said Abigail snapped her fingers. The ice surrounding him crushed Tristan, killing him instantly. She turned to Phillip and Steven, who were at this point clearly sobbing and struggling to escape.

Walking up to them she stood in front of them when her arms clasped behind her back and spoke. “Phillips Robertson and Steven Ayla both of you have been charged and found guilty of the same crimes. In accordance with guild rules, regulations, and laws of the realm, backed by authority of the Council of Kings. I hereby sentenced you to death. I, Abigail Thorn, as a High Inquisitor of the Adventurers Guild shall execute this judgment immediately.”

When she snapped her fingers this time instead of crushing them ice spikes stabbed into their hearts and brains killing them. With a wave of her hand the ice opened on the two and she rummaged through their pockets. She finally pulled out their silver adventurer cards, she rummaged through Tristan’s discarded clothes doing the same. Making the cards disappear into her storage ring.

She turned and looked at Thomas who was still frozen in place. Actually, he realized he could move but was now frozen in place trying to figure out what had just happened. Council of Kings? Inquisitors? What in the Nine Hells did he just witness. An involuntary shudder ran through him at the realization of what had just happened. That slight movement was when he noticed he actually felt good, really good.

All the wounds he had were gone, he could tell that even his mana seemed like it was passively filling faster than before. Shaking that useless information away he fully focused on the woman who just killed or should he say executed three people in front of him.

Noticing that Thomas was still shocked at what happened she spoke first saying, “Well first thing first let’s get rid of these three.” She waved her hand and sent the three now dead members of Dawns Horizon over the side of the hill.

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She then spoke again, “I know you are extremely confused right now Thomas but please be assured I was doing a job I was asked to do. I have lied about a few things to you so let me clear the air. I am actually, an A-ranked adventurer and a High Inquisitor for the adventures guild.”

She pulled out a blueish card and held it out towards him. He had never seen adamantine in person but that was clearly what it was. She sent a pulse of mana into it showing it was her actual card, as it lit up highlighting her information. She also pulled out an emblem that was a sword with an eye in the middle, surrounded by what looked like grasping hands. Then entire emblem was made of gold or at least looked like it was.

Reading it, the card indeed said she was an Abigial Thorn, A-ranked. It’s not like Adventures cards had a lot of information on them. Normally just name, next of kin and rank. It was magically bound to the person’s mana and would only react to the owner’s mana.

Shaking his head clear of the pointless thoughts again he just looked at her and asked the first thing that came to mind. Since he had no clue where to even start, he asked. “What the Nine Hells is an Inquisitor?”

Abigail arched an eyebrow and said “Simple answer? We are the guild investigators, we investigate anything that raises questions, from questionable parties to guild branches having questionable paperwork. We also sometimes work for the Council of Kings but that’s a whole other matter. The reason why you probably haven’t heard of us is because we are an open secret at the higher levels. Something you would normally learn later in C-rank or really B-rank.” As she spoke, she walked over to the fire and took the poisoned stew off the fire, throwing it down the hill. She pulled out her own pot and started cooking.

She continued though and said “That can’t be all you wanted to ask? I figured you would want to know more about the whole Dawns Horizon execution thing?”

Thomas shrugged, still pensive and a little fearful about what he was caught up in and said “Honestly, I am genuinely confused about everything. What is the Council of Kings? How did you know about Dawns Horizon? Tristan mentioned slavery, I thought slavery was so heavily hunted down centuries ago that it wasn’t even possible anymore. Why weren’t you paralyzed?” The questions came out in a bumbling mess until he realized what was most important to him right now.

Pausing to take a deep breath he asked the question that seemed more important than the others. “Actually, what is more important to me right now is why am I here? If you say your job is to investigate for the guild, what did I do to end up here? You invited me to join this entire quest. So yes, some clarity would be nice.” He didn’t realize it until after he finished speaking but his normally calm voice had anger mixed with it. He just wanted to be an adventure and somehow, he ended up taking along on a quest that was outside of what he should handle.

The whole mess with Dawns Horizon wasn’t what he signed up for and it made some anger rise up. The problem was he didn’t know who to direct it at, it felt wrong to direct it at the person who prevented them from doing anything to him. On the other hand, she knowingly brought him along on a quest that he wasn’t qualified for. Then again, he did voluntarily join her for the goblin quest and could have walked away at any time. He could only really blame himself for jumping in headfirst without considering everything.

He couldn’t hold onto the anger so with a deep sigh he let it drain from him. He was just too tired and just wanted some answers.

As Abigail continued to cook, she hummed before answering. Saying “You need some information before you understand how everything happened. If you remember back to our first meeting, I said I would join because it is related to one of my investigations. That’s true, I am investigating why the monsters and mana beasts are acting so out of normal. I stopped in Les to check the reports about it happening here, while I was doing that the branch director asked me to look into Dawns Horizon.” She paused long enough to make a document appear and handed it over to Thomas.

Looking at the paper it was a request for her to look into the team Dawns Horizon. It was signed by the branch director and had the official adventure’s guild seal on it. That made most of the concern and reservations about what he witnessed disappear. It also made the small part of him wondering if he was next fade away as well.

She continued speaking saying “Dawns Horizon is one of the worst groups I have come across and honestly not the first time I have heard of them. Tristan and Phillip were bad enough a dozen or so rape allegations but the ones they targeted were always easily dismissed. Such as prostitutes or woman who were so poor they could be bribed or threatened into silence. With no proof, a few bribes, and his so-called charm made nothing stick. They left whatever area they were operating in when too many people started asking questions. When they met Steven, it got worse, Steven who wasn’t a skilled mage, but a decent alchemist made addictive drugs for them to sell. Making them even more connections to the dark side of society. He would clean up any evidence of what they did as they moved. They got away with it longer than they should have.” She paused for a second as she pulled more things out of her storage ring to add to the stew she was making.

Thomas wasn’t that surprised that they were being investigated, Dawns Horizon seemed like a slimy group. It did surprise him just how many things they were doing. Trying to shake the horrify deaths they suffered out of his mind even if they deserved it. He spoke up saying “Still doesn’t answer why I am here or really answer any of my questions.”

“No, I didn’t, what I can tell you is your name was mentioned in a conversation with the branch head. I got curious, even more so when you turned in a report that related to what I was investigating. I promise I will explain more tomorrow when we get back to the guild, I need to get some food into Morgan. I will be on watch for the first half of the night. Get some rest.”

Before she could leave, he had one more question. “If you knew they were guilty, why did you play along and act the way you did?”

She seemed a bit reluctant to answer before saying “like I said there wasn’t any hard proof, they left it up to me on how to handle. I acted weaker than I actually am to see what they would do. People act differently around A-rankers but to Dawns Horizon who don’t know any better B-rank is just one level higher than them. They don’t know the massive difference between C and B-ranked. It’s also why I acted tired after the fight, I wanted to see if they would make any mistakes. After I got a better read of their personalities I was originally going to just arrest and search them for more proof. They wouldn’t have even been executed, but when they made their move, it gave me all the proof I need. I went to the punishment they deserved.”

With that Abigail handed him a large bowl of stew, taking two with her back into her tent. Taking a bite of the stew, it was probably the most delicious thing he ever had. It helped him feel relaxed and at the same time more energized than before.

Finishing up, Thomas went to his makeshift tent and sat down to cycle, as he did, he tried to get his thoughts in order.

Abigail is an A-ranked adventurer, that alone is insane. At any large city there could be thousands of C-ranked, at a smaller town like Les there were probably close to a hundred or so. Getting to B-ranked was incredibly hard or at least he assumed so since he didn’t even know what the requirements were. He did know that in a city with a thousand C-ranked there would be fifty or less B-ranked. A-ranked people were even rarer than that.

That alone boggled his mind, but that would make her meeting with the branch director make sense. That lead him to wonder why the branch director mentioned him at all. Thomas knew that the only thing unique or even worthy of mentioning was his mana type. Still didn’t seem important enough to bring up in a conversation between the two.

That brings him to his biggest issue, why is he here and why won’t Abigail tell him. He accepted the quest yes, but if she were here to investigate Dawns Horizon why did she ask him to join? It irritated him that she wouldn’t give him an answer to why.

Not coming to an answer Thomas just focused on his cycling, for some reason it felt smoother. Easier to cycle than normal, once he finished up, he crawled into his tent and went to bed.

At least he tried to sleep but everything that happened today went through his mind. His thoughts turned to Dawns Horizon and how easily they were killed. It’s not every day you see three people get executed in front of you. Thomas couldn’t really feel any pity towards them, based off of what he saw and what they tried to do, it was better that they weren’t around anymore. Still, it was eye opening, he had seen people die before, but never like that. Never that easily. It could just as easily happen to him; he didn’t want that.

He knew the world could be cruel, but he thought he had hardened himself to it. All this had done was show him how far he still had to go. It was effortless for her to end them, he wanted to be strong enough so that wasn’t a possibility. The only two positive things that happened today was that potion she gave him healed all the injuries he accumulated during the day’s events. The other was they managed to save an innocent person from the goblins.

As all the conflicting feelings raged in his chest, he hoped he would be able to at least get a few hours of sleep tonight.