The bustling and rapid pace of life in Flondeck was disrupted.
Three archbishops and a cardinal appeared in the city at the same time, accompanied by a fully equipped Holy Spear Knights Templar.
The Holy Warriors occupied the streets and alleys, with the power to inspect any personal property at any time, even the most private possessions of the most noble lords, who did not want to risk being seen as heretics and clashing with the priests.
The flow of people on the streets was noticeably reduced, and many shops that sold Markamor, Toulanka, and even more distant Shangri-La goods quietly closed their doors. These exotic and artistic goods, if seen by the Holy Warriors, could be seen as mediums for demonic rituals or magical tools of heretics.
In the minds of religious fanatics, there was only piety for the Seal of Light, and they could not tolerate any art that did not conform to the style of the church.
Markamor merchants who were unable to leave hid in taverns and inns. Many of them were taken away and severely questioned by the Holy Warriors because they were carrying books of their own religion.
City council officials comforted them and promised that this was not the outbreak of a new religious war, and then went to negotiate with the priests in the hopes of releasing the merchants as soon as possible.
"You know, those people are honest merchants, how could they have any connection with heretics?" The city councilor explained. "Nowadays, it is the age of free trade, and using the methods of dealing with religious wars is just inappropriate."
The female knight who read the Pope's order received the negotiators. According to the tradition of the Holy City of Anno, the leader of each holy knight order was held by a noble and pious young girl, whose purity and innocence symbolized the sanctity of the order.
Of course, the young female commander is just a symbolic figure. During battles, it is the experienced and skilled deputy commander who commands.
" Light of the Seal, the secular lamb lost in the flood of desires, please redeem these souls filled with greed." Matilda, the mascot of the Holy Spear Knights, looked at the frothing-at-the-mouth negotiators with mercy and prayed to herself.
The city councilor had an extreme headache. If it were a businessman attempting to seek preferential policies, he could debate with them for a whole day with various conventions and legal texts, no matter how difficult they were. But in front of him was a wooden puppet that only knew how to pray and attend masses, and he couldn't find anything to talk about.
"Do you want to recklessly mess things up and leave us to clean up the mess?" The frustrated councilor raised his voice and couldn't help but swear.
"The dignity and authority of the Radiant Seal cannot be offended. For the eternal kingdom to rule over the mortal world, even if it means turning this city into ruins, it is worth it," Matilda replied firmly and resolutely, her face full of seriousness.
The councilor sat in a daze for a while, then stood up and bid farewell. As he walked out of the temporary headquarters of the Holy Knight Order located in the Holy Tomb Cathedral, he thought to himself indignantly, "Does Flondeck belong to the church's property? What qualifications do you have to decide the fate of this city?"
Not only the councilor, but also Detective Lime from the police department complained angrily when he met with Albert, who came to inquire about the case. "Those church guys have almost stripped us police officers of all our rights. In the blink of an eye, we've become idiots who can't do anything except collect a salary."
Albert also had a deep understanding. On his way from the First Court to the police department, he was questioned at least four times. If it weren't for his status as a prosecutor, with his rare brown hair and eyes, he might have been taken away by one of the devout Holy Warriors to be tested for heresy.
It is said that these kinds of tests are both ridiculous and cruel, such as tying people to iron balls and throwing them into the river. If you are not a heretic, you will drown. But if you are, you can use your profane spells to float to the surface and be sent to the stake.
"This is essentially murder." Albert couldn't understand this irrational behavior.
"Let us praise the Elder Council who have allowed the Church to take over the city," Detective Lime said sarcastically.
Albert thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Maybe we can make this situation work to our advantage within certain limits."
When Detective Lime heard what Albert said, he immediately became excited. He had always admired Albert's intellect, as this young man always came up with practical and clever ideas.
"Really? What should I do?" the detective asked.
"First, you have to humbly plead with the bishops in the most devout tone possible and express your willingness to do your utmost to capture the heretics. As an old detective who has worked in the police department for decades, you will be welcomed. After all, the Knights are outsiders and they don't even know specific streets in Flondeck."
"And then what?" the Detective asked.
"And then, in certain cases where there is no evidence to obtain a search warrant but there are indeed doubts, you can boldly bring the holy warriors in," Albert explained.
Detective Lime understood. In Flondeck, where private property was held above all else, the police could not even search a civilian apartment without solid evidence.
"Now we can use the holy warriors as labor to maintain law and order," the detective thought excitedly. "Those hidden gambling dens and black market auctions that never pay taxes in private clubs are in trouble now."
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"Your Excellency, this is private property. You can't..." The attendant took a few steps back, stuttering to stop something that would never have happened under normal circumstances. But his voice grew smaller as he spoke.
A team of Holy Warriors followed the detective in a majestic manner. The magic power hidden within their silver armor rippled like the ripples on water, occasionally producing a green halo on the smooth, mirror-like surface. Compared to these walking pieces of art, the black leather uniforms of the Flondeck police officers were no different from the rough linen clothes worn by country folks.
"Mr. Lime, are you sure there is something suspicious about this mansion?" The leader of the Holy Warriors asked.
"According to the information from the police station, a group of people arrives in carriages every few days. These carriages are always decorated and it's impossible to determine the owner's identity. The gatherings usually take place late at night," the detective replied. "Based on these speculations, the police station cannot issue a search warrant. However, for the sake of the supreme honor of the Light Seal, it is necessary to investigate thoroughly. What if these gatherings are for various blasphemous rituals?"
"Oh, praise the Light, I did not lie, but this place is more likely to be a base for a black market auction," the Detective thought to himself.
The leader nodded in agreement, made a few gestures, and immediately the twenty Holy Warriors split into several small teams and entered the front yard in a crescent formation, surrounding the double-story main house in the center.
The guards and servants in the yard readily surrendered their weapons. Only a fool would risk fighting against the heavily armored and divinely empowered knights of the temple for meager wages.
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Unexpectedly, after several rounds of searching, the police officers found nothing except for a few servants and an elderly butler.
"Gentlemen, can you give a reasonable explanation for breaking into a private residence?" The old butler comforted the panicked servants and said irritably.
Detective Lime carefully examined the butler. He was an elderly man in his sixties with neatly trimmed white hair and beard. He wore a black vest over a pristine white shirt with a bright yellow necktie, and stood on spotless brown wooden floors. The walls were adorned with oil paintings from master artists, and a luxurious flower basket-shaped chandelier hung from the ceiling, all made for a typical aristocratic mansion with a typical aristocratic family steward, with no suspicious points to be seen.
"Where is your master?" the detective asked.
"My master was invited to visit the Minister of Finance in the capital a few days ago and has not yet returned," the old butler said, half boasting and half threatening. "He has a deep friendship with the Minister of Finance and several ministers. If you leave now, it is not too late. Please believe that such behavior will be considered an insult by my master."
"Please answer honestly, have you or your master participated in the sacrilegious ceremony or harbored heretics?" The leader of the holy warriors interrupted their conversation and asked.
Detective Lime rolled his eyes. Such direct and unskilled questioning could hardly elicit a truthful response.
The butler hesitated for a moment, then made the sign of the cross on his chest. "My master has always been a devout follower of the Light, never absent from Mass every week. How could he be involved in illegal and unclean activities?"
"You didn't tell a lie, but you didn't tell the truth either," the leader of the holy knights raised his arm and opened his clenched fist, revealing a faint white light ball in his palm. "You actually resisted the lie detection spell."
Lie detection was the most commonly used low-level divine spell by holy knights. This spell could distinguish the truthfulness of the opponent's speech based on the color displayed. If it turned black from the original white, it meant they were lying. If it turned red, it meant that their words were as loyal and trustworthy as their heart.
Protection spells or strong mental powers could neutralize the divine power of lie detection, but they should not appear on an ordinary old man.
In the next instant, the old butler's expression changed. His previous respectful demeanor was just an outstanding performance. At this moment, his eyes shimmered with a bloodthirsty glow, like that of a ferocious beast. He slightly bent down, and a police officer standing next to him immediately spewed a mist of blood from his throat.
A Holy Warrior who reacted quickly drew his sword but was blocked by the wave-like blade twisted like a snake. The butler used a piercing dagger in his other hand to forcefully pierce the steel plate on the left side of the warrior's chest armor, stabbing into his heart.
Simple, vicious, and deadly in a single blow.
The lightning-fast events left Detective Lime stunned. This was no ordinary elderly man; he was clearly a master assassin who specialized in harvesting lives in the darkness.
The servants who were still looking fearful moments ago quickly drew their knives and short swords from their shoes or sleeves. Unfortunately, their skills were no match for the masterful butler. Under the counterattack of the Holy Warrior, they quickly crumbled and fell.
The old butler was being held up by the leader of the holy warriors. Although the attacks of this assassin master were even more fierce, the leader took several steps back and the armor on his shoulders and back had appeared with small cracks due to a fierce thrust. However, the scales of victory were slowly tilting toward the holy warrior's side.
If it were in the alleyways under the cover of the night or in a dense thicket, even if the assassin couldn't kill his opponent, he could still find an opportunity to escape unharmed.
However, in the spacious hall, there was no shadow for him to hide in or any obstacles to obstruct his view. The experienced leader clung to him and engaged in a head-on confrontation. This was clearly disadvantageous for an assassin who was accustomed to ambushes.
After a wave of feigned attacks, the assassin quickly retreated while the leader was still in a defensive stance. He swiftly moved towards the stairs, hoping to use the narrow staircase to avoid being attacked from multiple directions.
If the opponent he faced was a pure warrior, then the assassin's strategy would have succeeded. However, the assassin forgot that he was facing a holy warrior with divine power.
His retreat gave the holy warrior time to release his divine spell.
Ropes of light wrapped around the assassin's body, but the level two immobilization spell could not completely restrain his movements. It only slowed him down for a few seconds, but that was enough.
The old butler rolled in distress, narrowly avoiding the sword that came whistling through the air. When he looked up, he was terrified to see that the holy warriors had already drawn their muskets and aimed them at him.
The last thing the assassin saw was the white smoke and countless sparks that spewed out of the gun barrel.
It wasn't until he saw the butler's body riddled with wounds, twisted and lying in a pool of blood, that Detective Lime breathed a sigh of relief. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his soaked sleeve, feeling afraid.
"Judging by his age, he should be Medjes, the famous old assassin from Golden Horn Bay," the detective thought. This master assassin, who had committed numerous major crimes throughout his career, was documented in the police department's files. "Thank goodness I came with the holy warriors. Otherwise, he could have taken down all the police officers, including me, on his own."
Why was Maedjes in Flondeck? The detective soon got his answer.
The holy warrior's True Eye of Revealing made the concealment magic of the wall painting disappear without a trace, revealing a secret door in the innermost room on the second floor.
The person hiding behind the door had given up resistance. He was about forty years old, with thick facial hair and a handsome face that exuded the aura of a mature man. His slightly collapsed nose and yellow skin indicated that he was a mixed-blood with both Castain and Markamor lineage. He sat quietly in his chair, like a wealthy man who had been pampered since childhood. However, his strong arms, perpetually decadent smirk, and occasional sharpness in his blue eyes revealed another side of him that should not be underestimated.
This image quickly matched a certain memory of Detective Lime's. "Eric Andreas!" he exclaimed.
The middle-aged man cracked a smile, revealing a set of neat white teeth, "Yes, I am Eric Andreas."
There is an Eastern proverb that says, "If you don't enter the tiger's den, how can you catch the tiger's cub?" The detective felt this phrase was very appropriate.
Eric Andreas, the leader of the largest gang in the Byron Empire, committed all sorts of crimes including smuggling, kidnapping, murder, and black-market deals. Not counting the crimes committed in secret, the ones recorded in the files were enough to send him to the guillotine ten times over.
On the wanted list, his bounty was worth more than 100,000 gold coins.
But this most wanted criminal had always lived arrogantly and comfortably. Many mercenary groups that coveted the bounty were constantly searching for his whereabouts, but in the end, they all suffered continuous assassinations and lost the courage to continue searching.
The master assassin Medjes was Eric's right-hand man whom he trusted deeply.
The most famous assassination attempt was six years ago when a baron, who was deeply influenced by detective novels and had considerable wealth, tried to act out the heroic image of the detective in real life. He spent a lot of money and manpower and even chased Eric with his personal guards everywhere.
Then, on a dark night, the count was awakened by the cold wind blowing in through the window. As he got up to close it, the things lined up on the bedside table made him scream in terror.
The flower vase on the bedside table was gone, replaced by the decapitated heads of his wife and son from the adjacent bedroom.
And his daughter disappeared that same night.
After that tragic and terrifying night, the Baron went mad and, in the end, under the neglect of his caretaker, cut his own carotid artery with a broken porcelain bowl.
" Eric Andreas." Detective Lime shouted the name of this heinous criminal again, "You're under arrest, and you'll be held in the lowest level of the prison, awaiting a fair trial. If it weren't for this damn law, I would tear you to pieces right now."
"Oh, I hope it's a comfortable single room," Eric stood up nonchalantly, and in the corner of the room, the bed that was previously blocked by his body came into the detective's view.
On the bed lay the small corpse of a woman, recently dead. The bloodstained sheet only partially covered her body, with a dagger embedded in her chest. Countless old and new whip marks covered her bare arms and shoulders, indicating that this poor girl had been abused for a considerable period of time.
"This girl is a noble lady, the daughter of a baron. She probably didn't want anyone to know about her shameful fate, so I mercifully granted her peace," Eric said with a cruel smile on his lips.
"Scum!" Detective Lime, bound by the constraints of the law, sincerely hoped that the holy warriors would execute this criminal on the spot.
When the leader of the holy warriors learned that they had not caught a heretic, but a wanted criminal, he coldly said, "Mr. Lime, you can have your men send him to prison. We'll search the next suspicious location. In the face of the great sin of blasphemy, all other petty crimes are not worth stopping for."
"Spit!" The Detective angrily spat, looking at Eric Andreas with hatred, and decided, "When you are sent to the guillotine, I will make sure that the executioner uses a duller axe. At least I still have that much power."