-inquisitor-

[https://i.imgur.com/LoYByv0.png]

Disgusting sounds of mud slopping and squishing gnawed at my ears like nails on a chalkboard, sending shivers down my spine.

“Luuuke!” I whined, “This is so gross. Was there really no other way?”

“…” Luke was quiet for a minute, then turned himself back towards me with a strained look, “Sorry, Hanna. We kinda drew the short straw. If it makes you feel any better, Mei and her division made the trek a few days ahead of us.”

“It doesn’t.

The incessant squelching would continue for miles. At our current speed, that meant actual days marching through mud.

When the Empress had unveiled her and Commander Julius’ plan, I thought we’d have an unpleasant hundred-or-so-mile hike near the mountains.

I expected a gross swampy, marshy, or whatever biome this is called. But like… in the distance. I was prepared to smell it, not feel it.

We had a few horses. Luke and I were the ‘lucky’ ones, in that we didn’t have this nasty tar-like mud sticking all over our boots, but the occasional glob of goo was still flung upwards at me from my mount.

Luke adjusted his mount’s pace to settle in by my side and I continued to complain, “This is twice the pain compared to when we hauled wagons and refugees through the forest after fleeing Axio. At least back then we could cut or use magick to remove trees.”

“Instead we had to worry about demonic beasts, starving, and the ever-present dread we’d all be killed in an ambush by Renaultian forces.” He countered.

“I guess that’s fair. We’ve got Her Majesty with us now. So the threat of random ambushes has decreased on our end since they’re focused on assassinating her.”

Luke flinched at my words.

“It was just a joke, Luke. None of them are tough enough to beat the Empress.”

“That… uh, was not what I was worried about.”

“What were you worried about then?”

Luke reached his hand out and placed it on my head.

“You. As I always am.”

“Luuuuke,” I groaned, swatting his hand away playfully.

“I’m serious though. I’m a little worried about everyone, you especially.”

“Huh? Worried about what? I mean, yeah, I’m not having a great time camping overnight in the mud but it’s something we gotta do.”

He sighed and looked around us.

“Haven’t you noticed,” he started with a quiet voice, “How sometimes Airis will go from her normal carefree self, to like… a ruthless killer, in no time at all?”

I tilted my head and thought about what he said for a moment.

“Not really?” I eventually replied.

“Is that an answer or a question?”

Luke looked confused, so I expanded on what I thought.

“I think it’s more complicated than you think. I’ve struggled a lot lately trying to decide what is right. When I took my oath at the Church to obtain my specialization things were a lot easier. Protecting the city and slaying monsters weren’t all that complicated to justify if I was asked if I was ‘doing good’. But these days… The monsters are less monstrous in appearance if you catch my meaning.”

Luke scratched at his face, “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Your oath to ‘protect people’ has turned into ‘protect certain people’.”

“You get me,” I smiled, and Luke’s cheeks flushed a little. “A lot has changed. You know my oaths, but we don’t know Her Majesty’s. I imagine they’re similar, but she’s the daughter of the High-Regent. An archnoble’s oaths have to be more complicated than a commoner like me.”

“You’re right.” Luke admitted with an expression of guilt across his face. He looked just like when he was a kid and got scolded by his dad.

“I can’t say I understand all of Her Majesty’s actions, nor could I say I’d repeat a lot of them. But we’re taught that our powers come from the Church and the ties to the Goddesses. Well, I guess just the Goddess Virgo as it turns out. If the Empress was acting against the wishes of our Goddess, then she’d have been struck down or at the very least lost her power. But it’s the opposite, right?”

Luke seemed to at least consider my point for a while.

“Doesn’t that make it more terrifying?”

“Huh?”

“That Airis gave the order to hunt down and murder those people in the city and the Goddesses blessed her more as if they were pleased.”

Killing traitors isn’t really murder, but…

“They were trying to kill us first.” I said quietly.

“And those thoughts are why I’m worried.” Luke replied dejectedly.

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Thanks to a few of the Aestori knights who’d been assigned to us we escaped the marshlands much faster than the expected week of suffering.

Initially, I wasn’t sure how a pair of knights could gain MARSH-STRIDING when they’d been sequestered to a forest for over four decades—but once I considered they could’ve been holding onto that skill for years before the old empires fall I stopped getting hung up over it, and praised the Goddesses for guiding the Empress to them.

Less than five days after we entered the marshes, we emerged into the flatlands southwest of Axio.

About midday, we finally spotted the wooden palisade walls flying the white-backed golden-eye banner of the Crimson Seekers.

The advance group that was dispatched a week ago with Mei’s group was already on site and had not only broken ground on a proper camp but made serious strides in its completion.

Just as our group caught sight of the camp, so too did the guards atop the walls.

A thin mist settled in around the perimeter, giving away they’d cast some dense defensive magick.

A voice called out through the fog, “When wolves roam loose…”

“Ravens follow.” Luke returned the expected counter-sign response.

“It’s the Grand-Inquisitor and Vice-Commander, open the gates!”

The mists dispersed as quickly as they had been conjured and the camp sprung to life. We were swarmed by the dozens of Minervia and Martia agents who volunteered to come ahead of us.

They assisted our exhausted troops with unloading the supply wagons.

“Baker! You around?” I called out to the sea of bodies moving through the camp.

I received no response so I turned to Luke, but found he’d disappeared already.

Awh man, he probably already found the Lieutenant and left me to deal with unpacking duty. Not fair! I’m in charge around here, Luke!

Sighing, I trudged through the camp and confirmed the location of the command tent the posted guards—which was, not to my surprise, in the center where it should be.

I passed by a party of elves who joined along with us. They had a specialty wagon that looked nothing like the ones we were using. I had been told that some kind of fancy artificer equipment was on board. They were busy unloading that same equipment into, and around the command tent.

Luke and Lieutenant Baker were inside, and I gave Luke a chop on the head.

“Don’t just leave me behind you jerk.”

“Ah! My bad, Hanna. I wanted to get the communications tower up as quick as we could. Julius is waiting for us to call in, and since we got here a few days earlier than he’d scheduled for so waiting around seemed like a bad idea.”

I bonked his head once more, “Yeah that makes sense, but you could’ve said something. Same goes for you, Baker.”

The head of SI-Minervia, Knight-Lieutenant Baker, was a fairly timid guy who served alongside us with Hailey. He’d never stood out much, but when the intelligence subdivision was created under the Seekers, he applied right away.

He’d spent most of his time studying back in Axio—he was some sort of fourth or fifth son of a noble family with no hopes of inheriting the main house.

I didn’t even remember how he ended up getting commissioned into the Divisionals in the first place.

“My apologies, Inquisitor!” He squeaked from across the table.

I shrugged, “Whatever, what’s done is done. So is that what the elves and their fancy wagon are for? Some kind of communications device?”

“Yep,” Luke replied coolly, “Same kind that went with Mei. Once it’s up and running we’ll be able to call in to Julius even though he’s over a hundred miles away.”

I turned back to glance over the weird metal boxes being set up inside the tent.

“Are they like the aetherline devices we used back in Axio?”

“They’re similar to the equipment in High Command. The Aestori’s versions are better though. Years ahead of our stuff.”

I thought back to the rows of communication terminals in Command and the tangled mess of wiring and magi-tools stowed under the desks, “They don’t need to be connected over an aethernet to work?”

“The tower they’re setting up outside functions as the aethernet. It has a longer range than the equipment our field teams used to use.”

“Neat. I guess. Well, as long as they work the same that’s all I care about. Let me know when they’re all done. I’m going to look over the reports the sentinels have submitted about the state of things on this side of the mountain.”

Luke gave me a thumbs up and I scrounged through stacks of papers on a desk in the back of the tent, quickly finding the scouting reports bundled in a folder near the top.

I took a seat and began flipping through page after page reporting all the same key points.

Things were bad all across the reclamation villages.

Vanixian citizens were taken from their homes and replaced with Maarin commoners from Axio.

It seemed like the Maarins had failed in their power grab and were being forced to labor for the Renaultians. The Vanixians were hauled back to Axio, reasons unknown.

Only one higher-ranked sentinel team had managed to get close to breaching the city, but their position had been compromised, and were forced to fall back.

I slumped forward in my chair, my head resting on the table.

“By the Goddesses, Commander Adaemus isn’t going to like these reports.” I murmured.

The sound of static filled the tent, the same weird buzzing I heard when using Princess Rias’ communirunes.

“Ah! That was it, turn it back!” Baker exclaimed, huddled over one of the strange metal boxes with Luke.

The staticky noise quieted down and a series of high-pitched beeping noises sounded from a smaller metal contraption next to the main box that had been producing the static.

A third box made a series of beeps a moment later.

“Great, they received our call-in request. Now I just need to…”

Baker and two of the elves began swapping cables between the boxes.

“And we should have—”

A previously black screen flickered a bright blast of colors. When it settled down, I could see the image of Commander Adaemus sitting in a tent that looked similar to the one we were in.

He stood up and his image got closer and became clearer.

“You’re early,” His voice echoed out of the small metal box, “Good to see you both alive and well, Luke, Hanna. Any chance you’ve got a report that sheds light on why I haven’t heard from Mei? She’s a week overdue.”

Mei hasn’t contacted in?

Mei’s group should have reached their destination already. A week ago, just like the Commander had said.

Luke and Baker were both looking at me.

I shuffled the reports I had to see if I skipped over any of them but confirmed I didn’t.

“I don’t, Commander. I’ve reviewed all our scouting reports and nothing has come back yet from the Elyssia camp.”