35. Tenac’s Justice
My final stop in Zhesa City as [Lord] before returning to my lands was a visit to the Inquisition’s head office. It was a square building, located between the Temple of Thedum and the ruins of Zhesa Castle. The location was as much symbolic as it was convenient; the Inquisition answered to neither the crown nor the church independently, but rather both at the same time. While theoretically the crown could override the verdicts of the inquisition by changing laws or pardoning convicts, in practice this rarely occurred.
There were a number of factors that went into that. High on the list was the fact that, although it was officially the highest investigative arm of the government, it was seldom actually employed by anyone to investigate anything at all. Activating the inquisition required an invitation by the lord of the land upon which the investigation was to occur. Once that criterion was met, however, the only limits to their power were the king, or Thedum himself, stepping in and stopping them. As there was no sitting king at the moment, that left only Thedum himself to stand up to the High Inquisitor.
I knew it had been a risk when I had activated the inquisition, but I was confident that it would ultimately pay off.
It had nearly backfired when Nathan Voss, the inquisitor originally assigned to answer my request for an investigation into corruption in my lands, had revealed himself to be the lapdog of my uncle Storm and informed me, via a private message that magically destroyed itself immediately after being read, that he would not only impede the investigation, but actively pardon any of the bandits or corrupt officials I brought before him for justice.
I had been so angered by yet another roadblock being set in my path that I had challenged the man to a duel to the death. At the time, I had been overconfident and unaware that Voss’s class was [Spellblade], the same as my own at the time. He had outplayed me in his ranged strategy, and matched me blow for blow when we had closed the distance. Were it not for the powerful [Draining Touch] which had come along with the curse of [The Gray Man’s Touch], I would certainly have lost. In my present condition, I doubt that I could achieve the same outcome, even using my strongest class, [Duelist].
My reward for winning that duel by the skin of my teeth was the attention of High Inquisitor Trenac. She had vowed to take up Voss’s charge personally, and I had entrusted the matter entirely into her hands. She had periodically given updates on the status of the various legal matters under her purview, and I was here to get another update.
The offices of the inquisition, from the outside, were a stately building to match the grandeur of the Temple of Thedum itself. The interior, however, was more like a large mercantile outfit’s head office. I made myself known at the front desk and waited for admission. The secretary returned quickly, informing me that the Head Inquisitor was already waiting for me. I was forced to wave off my Traveler companions as we approached a barrier through which only Natives could pass, but I wasn’t worried.
I was shown to Inquisitor Trenac’s office, where she sat behind an oak desk, reading a document. She did not look up when I entered, and the secretary closed the door behind me, leaving us alone. Curious, I used [Noble Insight] on her.
Name
Lois Trenac
Level
180
Health
67,248,000/67,248,000
Class
Lawgiver (Elite)
Age
46
Affiliations
The Inquisition
(stage 4 quest giver)
Notoriety/Fame
Moderate
Resource Allocation
High
Quest Bank
>The Wheels of Justice Turn When I want them to.
>Traitors in Plain Clothes
>Corruption in North Shire
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
>Follow the Money
(Forty-one others. Focus to expand)
Quests Issued
Quests Completed
4,103
3,851
Cumulative Context:
Context Rating:
8.4321X10^21
Average
<> she sent to me without looking up from her documents. <
<> I sent back.
<
Unsatisfied with her response, I decided to simply get down to the point. “I like this tactic of intimidation. I think I’ll employ it myself in the future.”
Trenac looked up at me, then smiled. “Yes. It’s surprisingly effective, despite its simplicity and glaring transparency. If I truly had important documents to review, I could do so prior to inviting my guest to join me, of course. Welcome, Lord Jeoran. I assume you are here to inquire as to the status of my investigations?”
It was frustrating that I had just informed her as much, yet I had to go through the charade of telling her yet again. “Of course. It has been some time since I last checked in and was wondering if there were any updates.”
“Well then, I suppose I shall summarize. Your former constable, Montague, has managed to escape the noose by promising testimony against your former steward, Arkan. Arkan has managed to avoid the noose by pledging to testify as to how he siphoned off money from North Shire for years, as well as a number of other financial scheme which your clever Traveler friends have uncovered his involvement in. Tervin Riley would hang, if you hadn’t promised him clemency at the conclusion of the Battle for North Shire. As would all of the surviving members of the Northridge Freelancers. Instead they will all spend the rest of their days working the royal mines. But you already knew all of this.”
I nodded. “I’m more curious as to how your financial investigation is proceeding. Now that we’ve secured Arkan’s help, are we making headway in recovering the taxes he’s stolen?”
“That is a more complicated matter,” Trenac admitted, leaning back in her chair. “We know where the money went, but I’ve no evidence to prove that the recipients knew they were committing a crime. The bankers who originally set up the scheme with Arkan have entered Thedum’s embrace and have already been judged for their mortal crimes by a higher authority than mine. Their successors are professing innocence and ignorance of the matter. More frustratingly, they are contesting my ability to reclaim the missing funds from their institutions. They have no cause to do so; they have been receiving funds stolen from the crown and the people of North Shire for years, and now that the fraud has been uncovered it is the right of the crown to reclaim those funds. However, the matter has become a political quagmire. I find it most frustrating to know that I am in the right of the matter, yet due to the complexities of the case, it appears to the uneducated or the uninvolved that the inquisition is simply using the opportunity to make a gold grab from three prominent banks.”
“And I assume that the banks are intentionally muddying the water,” I said.
“Naturally. Not that I particularly care for the political aspects of this problem in regards to myself. Only the King and the Archbishop of the faith together can remove me from my post, and my authority is sufficient to authorize this seizure. The issue is what happens to the gold after that. If I give it to you, then it appears that I am backing your brother for the throne. If I seize it and hold it, then it either looks like I have lost my impartiality in favor of avarice, or that I am actively opposing you and your brother. I am unwilling to take either stance. The Inquisition maintains its firm neutrality in the matter. As distasteful as I find it, the best move at present is to pretend that I am too afraid of the ramifications to step forward and call the banks to justice. I am sorry, Lord Hail, but you will have to do without your gold for a while longer.”
“I understand,” I said. “Your help in the matter of bringing justice to my lands is all that I could ever ask of you. I would not put you in a position to jeopardize your impartiality.”
“It’s frustrating to be stalled like this,” Trenac lamented. “Especially after vowing to pursue justice in your lands until every thread of corruption had been cut. For the sake of the kingdom, however, my hands are tied. By politics.”
She spat the last words out as though they were rotten fruit. I couldn’t help but agree with her.
“Well, thank you for the update on your investigation,” I said, standing to leave. “If there is nothing else --”
“Actually, there is,” Trenac said. “I would like a list of all of the guilds associated with
I froze.
“What do you need that for?” I asked.
“Yours is not the only iron I have in the fire, Hail,” Trenac explained. “I have obviously been investigating the massacre following your duel with Nial Kingslayer, who has escaped justice yet again. I am preparing to announce my findings, in which I will declare
“
“It will take more than an accusation to justify outlawing an entire guild, of course,” Trenac warned. “Your man must be able to show conclusive evidence that they are closely linked. I knew of the relationship between
“I’ll send Cedric to speak with you as soon as possible,” I pledged. “I too would see
“Yes, I’m sure you would,” Trenac said. Then she dismissed me with a small wave of her hand and returned her attention to the document she had been reading when I’d come in. Accepting the dismissal, I left her office, already sending a message to Cedric to inform him of this opportunity.
It was late in the evening when I left Trenac’s office, and the system sent me a warning that I was approaching the time limit before which it would automatically return me to the lobby and recombine me with my other selves. Satisfied that the day had been well spent, I informed my bodyguards that I would be logging out for a while.