Locke was escorted through the gate of a small walled off section inside the city. This area contained quite a few buildings inside. The entryway was marked as the Guardians of the Round, one of the six major guilds on this continent. From what he understood this guild was basically in charge of all the guards that patrolled the cities of Thalisberg. What surprised Locke more than anything was the amount of guards that were present inside the guild.
This collection of buildings is quite large, even then this many guards seems excessive. I can only imagine how many patrol the cities at all times. Is it just this city or will future cities have this many as well?
They entered into a medium sized building and Locke was shoved into small room which looked to be used for interrogation. He was interested in the fact that there was actually an interrogation room because it meant the guards might not be an extension of the system. In other games the guards were invulnerable entities that passed down judgment when players committed terrible crimes. In this case they seem to be powerful NPC's that can act freely.
With the door locked behind him and nothing else to do he sat down facing the door. When a few minutes passed with nothing happening Locke began to train. He decided to switch up his training for a slight change of pace. Changing his free enhancement to perception he decided to practice sensing mana. This was a passive skill he has been neglecting. The reason it was neglected was due to the fact that the benefits were not apparent. It was hard to tell how important it was compared to mana control.
Even with 38 perception he could barely notice the ambient mana throughout the room. Locke knew the main reason for this was because it wasn't a room filled with dense mana. It would probably help if he practiced casting spells to alter the flow of mana, but decided not to for now. He wasn't sure how the guards would react.
While training Locke began to wonder what would happen if he logged out at this point. Would he still teleport to the cathedral? His first guess was probably not. The room voice mentioned certain restrictions stopped the teleport, this must be one of those cases. It never really specified what would happen though, would he just be frozen in place? How would the NPC's interact?
Several hours passed until the door finally opened. A guard with short black hair and blue eyes walked into the room. From head to toe he was covered in grey expensive looking platemail that was trimmed with both blue and gold. The pauldrons seemed to be a bit large and cumbersome looking, more for style rather than combat. A blue cape with gold trim flowed down to his legs. Both the cape and chest plate had an emblem of a black shield with a white bear face contained within. Lastly his weapon on his side was a longsword with a blue jeweled blade as if it was smelted completely out of a gem.
This guy must be someone of high rank, I have yet to see any guard wearing such armor.
The man turned around to face outside and nodded his head. Someone then pulled the door closed and locked it. He then sat down in the chair opposite of Locke and just stared for what seemed like ten minutes of awkward silence.
“Hello Disciple. My name is Vincent, commander of the guards protecting this fine city. My subordinates have filled me in on what happened, but I want to hear your side of the story.”
Interesting, the system should already know my crime and have a set punishment. Why would the commander of all people need me to explain it. Normally there wouldn't be any way for me to get out of it, why give me the opportunity to present my side of things? Let's test how this works.
“My new acquaintances and I just arrived in this beautiful city, but we were immediately approached by a few greedy Chosen. They desired our wealth as some sort of tax to enter the city, a city which they do not own. On top of that they threatened our lives if we didn't pay their tax once we left the protection of your guards.”
“I see.......were your acquaintances involved in the crime you committed?”
“No, I acted on my own.”
“Let me get this straight, they threatened you a little bit and you just went on a rampage inside my city? Couldn't you have just settled it outside the city limits like every other chosen. Why shouldn't I banish a psycho like you. I can't help but think you would be a threat to the citizens of this city.”
Banishment? Shit.....better choose my words carefully.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“They were disciples of god like me, their death wouldn't be permanent. If they cannot back up their threats then they shouldn't be threatening people to begin with. As for your citizens, I would not kill them in a similar situation, it's different. To answer the question of why I didn't settle things outside the city was to protect my new acquaintances. If I left that area they would have been extorted.
“How noble of you. It's also true that you disciples cannot die, but we cannot overlook such crimes either. God does not allow us to do so. A punishment must be set when a crime is committed. Let me ask you this, do you regret your decision?”
“No, They are robbing people in broad daylight. Do you not have laws to prevent this sort of action? Why are they allowed to continue to operate, I imagine other disciples have put forward complaints. If not what I did just helped clean up your city, which deserves thanks rather than punishment.”
“hahaha,” Vincent burst into laughter then suddenly stopped and slammed the table, “Yes that is it, that is what I want!”
Locke stared at Vincent with surprise, “uhhh come again?”
Vincent stood up in his from his chair and looked down on Locke.
“Let me set this straight, You disciples of god disgust me. I personally don't give a shit that you killed that man, god however does and there in lies the problem.”
“Might need you to elaborate on that subject, I am sort of a new disciple.”
“Alright sure, what do you know about the disciples of god?”
“Not much honestly.”
Locke could have explained what he knew here but having the man talk might give some interesting answers. Vincent had an expression that it didn't matter what his answer was and that he was going to explain it anyway.
Vincent stood up and started pacing as he explained.
“God grants immortality to their chosen, but nobody has been able to understand the selection process. It could be a devout religious follower, heretic, hero, criminal, blacksmith, or a kid. Once chosen they are now apart of a different set of laws to follow compared to ordinary folk. Now, why do you think that would be a problem for a person in my position?”
“The chosen would be able to break laws that ordinary folks would be punished for without being punished themselves?”
“Yes, but there is more to it.” at this point Locke could see the anger in his face. “Those men today were obviously shaking you down. Thieves that deserve to be locked up or killed.” Vincent slammed the bottom side of his fist into the wall leaving a hole, “All because of god we cannot do anything about it, we are forced to allow it to happen.”
“Forced, Like forced compulsion, you can actually feel the difference?”
“Every. God. Damn. Time. Even if I want to intervene my body and mind will not allow me to do so, almost like I'm trapped in my own consciousness. The opposite is also true, if we witness a chosen breaking a law it is impossible not to intervene. This means we cannot look the other way when someone like you punishes them.
“I can see how that would be a problem.....and I am starting to understand where this conversation might be going.” Locke was smiling on the inside.
The punishment might be much lighter than expected, There is room to bargain.
Locke picked up on a few key pieces of information from this conversation. They set the punishment, not god; in other words the developers did not set a specific punishment and the NPC's choose it. This was lot different from what he read on the forums, they either lied or made incorrect assumptions. Secondly, Victor wants to stop these occurrences from happening, but he and his guards cannot intervene. Lastly, when Locke mentioned cleaning up the city Victor reacted positively.
“My subordinates mentioned you were named Locke, that correct? I want you to work for me as punishment for your crimes. Of course you could choose to not accept and receive your punishment, but I feel like you would much prefer what I have in mind.”
“Hard to say if I would, maybe if there was some sort of reward for doing so outside of not being locked up.”
“That wouldn't be out of the question. You would have to do a damn good ]job because rewarding chosen is not something I am known for these days. Especially chosen that break the law.” A satisfied grin crept up on Vincent's face as he finished the sentence. “You gave me an idea today. I am going to have you work along side the Orzov Assassins Guild to kill chosen. Your targets will be disciples of god that walk that fine line between being a criminal that we can touch and one we cannot.”
“Assassins guild? Not you?”
“Oh you will be working for me, but I personally cannot be involved in the assignment of assassinations. You understand right?”
“I can't guess the exact reason. I can only assume it's because chosen are involved on both sides and god won't allow you to do as you please.”
“Exactly, you have been paying attention. We are a lawful organization and when chosen are involved god will restrict our actions. The assassins guild operates outside of the law which results in different restrictions from god. Though they do have more limitations when it comes to assassinating chosen compared to normal people. I do not know the specifics on that topic however.”
Vincent sat back down and continued to explain.
“It will be difficult for both guilds to get around god's restrictions, but I have a plan. Also there is a new recruit in their guild that has been rising up their ranks at record speeds. The best part he is a chosen, that man will be joining you on your missions.”
“Wait are you assigning me a partner?”
“You might not think it's necessary, but I do.”
Locke sighed.
They can't keep an eye on me due to the system forcing them to intervene if I will were to kill someone in their presence, but another player can. The assassins job will involve providing assistance while also making sure I do my part and report back. This man must have a high reputation if the captain of the guardians of the round already knows about him.