Chapter 92: Cracks of convergence. (9)

“… We’ll split up for a moment, one group will investigate the attack while the other moves on to the next company! Arvold, Langrun, Farang, and Tarung, move on ahead, the rest of you follow me!”

Nerissa had to make a split-second decision, return and investigate the attacked carriage or press on and dig into the next proxy company they found? Naturally, she was unwilling to give up on either. Sure, the emperor would send guards to the company just in case it was attacked like the bar they just left, but if it wasn’t her own men or herself she would never feel fully confident.

She also didn’t want to send any of the inquisitors from the other families to a place out of her sight. She sent one outside inquisitor away to escort Tarmund back to the headquarters, thinking that it would be somewhat fine since she reported it to the emperor in advance. But the moment she did that, he got attacked and the witness was murdered. Coincidence? Maybe. But she was not someone who had the leisure to just accept it as such.

At the same time, the fact that she was willing to diminish her own forces while she herself kept accompanying the outside inquisitors showed that she wasn’t worried about them doing anything while she was there.

It could be that she believed that they wouldn’t harm someone who worked directly for the emperor, or it could just be that she simply trusted her own skills that much. After all, you didn’t acquire the position of Head Inquisitor by being pretty or polite.

“As you order!”

The four Amber Inquisitors that she appointed quickly spurred their horses and pulled ahead, the rest of the group pulling the reins as they spun around. They ran past the bar they left previously, Nerissa using her eyes to signal the three inquisitors she had left behind to deal with the bodies. Only one of them actually belonged to her Amber Inquisitors so he was the only who actually understood what she was trying to convey, but that was good enough.

The rushed through the portal, made their way through Evergreen Roads, and quickly followed the path of the carriage. It took a little bit of time, but they eventually reached the site of the attack, where the inquisitor had already lined up the bodies and was waiting for them.

“Ertagan greets the head of the Amber Inquisitors.”

The Woodime family inquisitor, Ertagan, greeted Nerissa as she jumped off her horse. He had torn off a piece of his own clothing and wrapped it around his head, the cloth wet with blood. There were also traces of wounds on his arms and legs so it was clear that he had suffered a fair bit during the attack.

“Details.”

Nerissa glanced at the three bodies that had been laid out, inspecting the wounds and marks that could be spotted at a glance. Ertagan did not hesitate or try to explain anything, he simply recounted the events that transpired.

“We were attacked the moment we crossed the bend in the road and lost sight of the city. Looking at the timing of the attack I believe that we may have been followed from the start, they struck the moment no one would be able to see or hear us. They first went for the wheels of the carriage so that we could not run away… At least nine men clad in black uniforms… This one lunged straight at me but failed to block my attack so I managed to kill him… He got a wound so he lagged behind, allowing me to finish him off… Too late for Tarmund.”

He quickly and concisely listed everything that happened after they left the city and everything he could recall from the attack. He even detailed things such as builds, noteworthy moves he saw, any scents that he caught. He was very observant. But well, there would always be things you couldn’t glimpse in the heat of battle. Luckily, there were others here who could cover that up for him.

“The mark.”

Nerissa made no comment on his retelling, her gaze returning to the bodies. Tarmund had died from a quick stab to the heart, one of the attackers looked to have died from a large cut to his back, and the third one had a large hole in his chest, his back bursting outward.

“Yes, it’s on this man.”

Ertagan tugged at the clothes of the man who had a hole in his chest, revealing a small tattoo that looked like a fang, barely as long as a child’s pinky. Nerissa and the inquisitors naturally stepped closer, investigating not just the tattoo but the other bodies as well. Their hoods and cloaks had been removed so they could properly study their features.

“…”

The faces of some of the inquisitors twisted slightly as they inspected the bodies, the air around them growing tense immediately. But that was only natural, they belonged to the Barong family.

“Kardun Losario. Pertain Garang. I believe these men are knights of the Barong family, no?”

Nerissa phrased it like a question, but it clearly wasn’t, her gaze piercing into the inquisitors that belonged to the Barong family. These two corpses, they were indeed knights of the Barong family, they had left for a diplomatic mission along with some other knights a bit over four months ago.

“…”

The inquisitors belonging to Barong were clearly trying to come up with an explanation, carefully choosing their words. But Nerissa didn’t even keep looking at them long enough to let them answer, her gaze returning to the bodies.

“So the Barong are involved, finally had it with the frozen north?”

Naturally, some of the other inquisitors present could not help but form their own ideas as the facts were laid bare. As a result, the expression of the Barong inquisitors worsened as they got ready to flare up. But Nerissa spoke up before anyone had a chance to take things further.

“It is not yet proven that the Barong are involved in this.”

Her voice was calm, almost placid, her fingers tracing the two corpses. Her denial naturally elicited some confused expressions, but Gabriel knew what she was talking about, crouching down next to the corpses.

“Fresh wounds. Judging by the positions they’d be hard to inflict in combat, and judging by the tissue they’re at least a day or so old. Do you think its a setup?”

Nerissa set the stage so nicely for him, all he had to do was help her along. His fingers traced the feet of the man who had a large cut on his back, as well as the throat of the man with a hole in his chest. The man who was attacked in the back had some small cuts on his heels, his tendons had been cut by something very small and thin, leaving a line that couldn’t even be called visible. He was crippled before the battle even started.

The other man was much the same, he had a tiny hole in his throat, just large enough to accommodate a needle. The area around the hole felt rough and hard, as if something had been forced into his throat and torn it up from within. Clearly, he too had been taken care of in advance, only thrown to Ertagan so that he could deliver the final blow.

“It’s not impossible, it’s an excellent chance to place the blame on a different family to divert our attention.”

Ah, working with professionals really was refreshing. Gabriel barely had to do anything, he just gave the pieces a few small pushes and then their own intelligence took over and did the rest for him.

“Their last known position, where was it?”

Nerissa’s question was naturally aimed at the inquisitors that belonged to the Barong family. When out on a mission, knights wouldn’t always report their whereabouts, but since it was a diplomatic mission they would definitely have been contacted at least once a month, if not more often.

“We last received word from them a week ago, they had just finished a joint training session with Francis De Vritara and two of his battalions and were on their way back.”

A few faces darkened as the report was given. On the surface, the four large families all had friendly relations, but how could those present not know about the true undercurrents? There was also the fact that the nephew of Duke Vritara’s niece had been found to be one of the leaders in the mansion they first visited. And beyond even that, part of the reports that Teresa had brought back to the emperor indicated that said mansion was a collaboration between the Sorin and Vritara families to weaken the Barong family.

All in all, it was a situation that did not look favorable for the Vritara family. But still, Nerissa did not immediately jump to any conclusions.

“Everyone wait here, I must contact Emperor Earhart.”

She stepped away from the group and grasped her insignia, her lips moving in an exaggeratedly twisted manner so that one couldn’t figure out what she was saying by reading her lips. She spoke with the emperor for a handful of minutes before returning, gaze solemn and steadfast.

“The inquisitors of the Vritara family are hereby released from the imperial decree and must return to their own headquarters until it is ascertained whether or not the Vritara family is involved in the allegations. Shijen, Maranus, a new carriage will arive shortly so I want you to join Ertagan and bring the bodies back to the headquarters, an investigation into their wounds and possible origins will be launched immediately.”

Her words brooked no room for argument, and it was clearly the emperor that had sent down the orders so the Vritara inquisitors had no choice but to obey. She took the last of her present Amber inquisitors and another inquisitor of the Woodime family and attached them to Ertagan, clearly not hoping for another incident to occur.

Once the orders were laid down, she waited for the Vritara inquisitors to leave before she got back on her horse and rode out again with the remaining inquisitors. Gabriel was in a slightly special position in this instance. By all technical accounts, he was someone who ‘belonged’ to the Vritara family in the past.

But everyone knew that he was actually just a servant who was close to the black sheep of the family. And said black sheep had only been accepted as part of the family very recently so Gabriel couldn’t strictly speaking be said to have any sort of connection with the Vritara family.

Forget the higher echelons, their investigations showed that he didn’t even have anything akin to a connection with the butlers, maids, or knights. Well, Lawrence Delgrade and Tristana Delgrade were an exception, but neither of them had any power in the Vritara family. Thus, he was eventually judged as low-risk, at least in regards to possible involvements in this.

Naturally, there was another reason that Nerissa allowed him to accompany them further, one less attached to the current investigation. She hoped that there was a chance to recruit him. He had a keen eye and was quick to assess the situation, moving swiftly and confidently. He would be an asset to the empire if she could recruit him to the Amber Inquisitors.

With those thoughts in mind, the inquisitors quickly made their way back and continued towards their next target. The evidence they had found in the bar pointed them towards another person, a man known for running the largest brothel in Solgarde, the Sorin duchy’s capital.

When the group arrived at the brothel, Nerissa received the report of the inquisitors that they had sent ahead. It was as she had feared, there had indeed been an attack. But thanks to the guards sent by the emperor, a lot of the damage was prevented. At the very least, the people they would have to question were still alive as they arrived.

Nerissa also updated the four inquisitors about what they had found at the site of the attack and about their group shrinking, striding into the brothel. It was already locked down and the corpses of the attackers and the victims were being gathered up, the remaining workers kept somewhat separate so that it would be easier to question them.

“We’ve already found this, Grand Inquisitor. One of the workers helped us find it as she felt that the owner was acting strange ever since the accusation was made.”

One of the inquisitors brought out what they had found during their search, it was quite a large stack of papers and other items. Some of it showed signs of damage so they had probably tried to destroy it before they were interrupted.

Nerissa went through it slowly, occasionally requesting help from the other inquisitors to break through the various ciphers and magic locks that obscured the information. But in the end, they were the inquisitors for a reason so it was all broken through after a bit of time.

Nerissa went through the information, which consisted of a mixture of letters, reports, contracts, and correspondences. Her expression was far from bright as she did so, the things they found here alone were enough to ensure that at least half of the people involved in the business would end up getting hanged. But there was a tiny little bit missing. Scratched out words, torn pieces. Clearly, they had managed to destroy at least the core parts before they were caught. If they just let it be, the tracks would end here with them.

“Take me to Karnaka.”

Nerissa’s voice was a touch low as she rolled up the report she had just been reading, gesturing for one of the inquisitors to lead the way. They were quickly guided through the brothel and to the room of the owner, a suite that took up almost half of the top floor.

The only people in the room were three guards and Karnaka himself, a middle-aged man with a few grey strands in his slicked back brown hair. His green eyes were a bit dim so he probably knew that he wouldn’t be getting out of this unscathed, he was already tied to a chair. But they were still flickering slightly so he was probably calculating how to survive the current situation. It was a shame that he wasn’t the mouth Gabriel had decided on.

“You may leave.”

The guards bowed at Nerissa’s order and quietly left the room, closing the door behind them. She didn’t even have to say anything before one of her inquisitors locked the room and chanted a spell that caused a bit of air to gather along the walls. Judging by the faint movements of the stationary wind, Gabriel could guess that it was a spell designed to prevent sound from getting past the boundary.

Nerissa didn’t say a word to Karnaka, walking over to a chair and dragging it loudly across the floor before she sat down a bit away from him. She looked at him in silence, tilting her head as she watched his tension rise. In the end, when she spoke, it wasn’t to Karnaka.

“Viscount Indra. Do you have experience with interrogating people?”

Her gaze landed on Gabriel, still eyes almost piercing through him. He could tell without being told, a test. He’d seen eyes like that many times in his past, a test of usefulness, a test of what you’d learned.

“I am not entirely unfamiliar with the process.”

The place he came from, you couldn’t just be good at one thing, you had to be good at all facets of that thing. So while Gabriel technically only specialized in bringing death, he was proficient in all manners of it, it was what made the past him a very useful tool.

Nerissa did not seem surprised by his answer, all who knew how to properly fight would technically know how to ‘interrogate’ people. She waved her hand at Karnaka, still tied to the chair, and gave Gabriel the terms of the test. It would be a good chance to see if he had one of the skills one would need to become an inquisitor.

“Good. This man has information that should be vital to your accusation. I wish to hear it. I will give you creative freedom, but the final line must not be crossed.”