"Greetings, honored guest from Laterano. How may the Inquisition assist you today?"
When Jeanne presented her credentials at the local Inquisition headquarters, a young Inquisitor emerged to receive her, speaking with a degree of courtesy rare for his order.
Had the residents outside witnessed this interaction, they would have been stunned into silence. Since when did the ruthless Inquisitors ever offer a polite smile?
To the average citizen, the Inquisition was practically synonymous with death. Inquisitors would march into a neighborhood, drag away a handful of neighbors without explanation, and leave no trace behind. No one knew whether the so-called cultists of The Deep Sea Church were real or fabricated; after all, those arrested looked no different from any ordinary resident.
Jeanne offered a warm, polite nod in response, mentally noting that the token Saint Carmen had given her was remarkably effective. Had she arrived without it, she doubted the local authority would treat her with such deference.
"I came to inquire about a few local matters," Jeanne said, bringing up the ordeal facing the two young orphans. She wanted to see if the authorities had any intention of stepping in to maintain order. If the official security force was willing to handle the thugs, it would save everyone a great deal of trouble.
Regardless of their cold methods, the Inquisition was protecting this city in its own grim way. Though their measures were often ruthless and far from ideal, Jeanne couldn't dismiss their achievements.
Without these strict Inquisitors holding the line, every living soul in this city would have been turned into livestock by The Deep Sea Church within two weeks. Along her journey, Jeanne had seen firsthand how fanatical cultists used mutated sea beasts to rounded up refugees in the wilderness.
"A regrettable situation," the Inquisitor said, shaking his head slightly. His voice bore a faint trace of genuine sympathy, though his expression remained carved from ice.
"However, our current priority leaves us zero leeway to address petty street thugs. If the child desires, we can arrange shelter for her at an orphanage, but beyond that, we simply do not have the manpower to intervene in local property disputes."
His sympathy was genuine—it was a natural response to two orphaned children. Yet the city was currently engulfed in crisis, and the Inquisition had bigger fires to put out. Street thugs trying to seize a house were a minor nuisance compared to the horrors threatening to breach the walls.
"If we were to..." Jeanne began.
She understood his predicament completely. Demanding official intervention under current conditions was asking too much. The dark circles under the Inquisitor's eyes betrayed severe sleep deprivation—a common sight throughout the headquarters.
Aside from her host, no Inquisitor remained in the hall for more than twenty minutes. They swept in and out like turbulent winds, moving with desperate haste.
"Praise the divine! If you and your companion are willing to handle it, that would be ideal!" The Inquisitor's eyes lit up. "There is no need to bring the culprits here. How you choose to discipline them—even if you choose to execute them—is entirely at your discretion."
Jeanne carried the personal blessing of Saint Carmen, a figure revered for his impeccable virtue. If someone of her standing was willing to relieve the Inquisition of local trouble, he saw no reason to object. Should higher authorities question the outcome, presenting Jeanne's credentials would immediately settle the matter.
Jeanne was momentarily caught off guard. She hadn't realized the immense weight Saint Carmen held among the Iberian Inquisitors, nor how revered the elderly man was within their ranks. She hadn't expected to be granted full authority to handle the situation so easily, assuming she would need to negotiate or make official pledges first.
"Under Iberian law, street thugs and greedy merchants would normally face imprisonment," the Inquisitor explained, noticing her surprise and waving a dismissive hand. "But these are chaotic times. When opportunists exploit a crisis, receiving swift punishment is only natural."
With the official blessing given, Jeanne offered her thanks. "We won't go out of our way to hunt them down. But I doubt these men can restrain their own greed for long... when they strike, we will keep the commotion to a minimum."
The meeting concluded with unexpected harmony. After Jeanne departed, the young Inquisitor dropped his smile and stared toward the doorway, his eyes thoughtful.
"To think an envoy from Laterano would be so warm-hearted..." he murmured to himself. "Though I suppose it's not surprising for someone from the holy city."
He was aware of the extortion occurring in that neighborhood, but as he had told Jeanne, the Inquisition simply lacked the capacity to deal with local criminals right now.
He had originally planned to address local gang activity once the sea beast crisis eased. Having a capable, warm-hearted traveler step in to handle it was an unexpected relief.
"So, the authority to deal with these pests is entirely in our hands?"
A few streets away, Skadi listened as Jeanne recounted her conversation with the Inquisition. Laying unconscious around them were a dozen hulking men—burly thugs who looked like they could knock out an average passerby with a single punch.
Jeanne looked down at the pile of groaning men, feeling a bit sheepish. She had just assured the Inquisitor that she wouldn't seek trouble, only for these thugs to spring an ambush the moment she reunited with Skadi.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Jeanne kicked a scrawny, trembling man—the sole outlier among the group of muscle-bound thugs.
The thin man was petrified with fear. Jeanne hadn't bothered to lower her voice when discussing her conversation with the Inquisitor, making it crystal clear that their lives were now entirely in the hands of these two women.
He didn't doubt her words for a second. The entire gang had been wiped out in seconds—there was no reason for these monsters to lie to him.
With their meager intellects completely overwhelmed by terror, the thugs cowered on the stone floor, terrified that a single wrong word would send the white-haired hunter's massive sword sweeping down to split them in half.
"I'll talk! I'll tell you everything!" the scrawny thug blubbered, his face pale with horror. "Just ask!"
"Name," Skadi demanded coldly.
"White Lion! I live on Shell Road in the Red Tide district! I sleep in abandoned houses or empty caves when money is tight! My family—" The terrified man poured out his personal background without a second thought, his wits completely scattered.
These two women had been genuinely ready to kill them! He was merely a cheap cutpurse hired for a job; there was no reason to throw his life away for a few coins.
"Keep going," Jeanne instructed calmly. "Tell us everything you know about the employer."
"A rich merchant hired us to harass those two girls!" the thug confessed hastily. "There are dozens of us on the payroll! He promised us actual food! Prices in the city are skyrocketing, and if we don't take these jobs, we'll starve..."
The man bared his soul, holding nothing back. Hearing that they were willing to terrorize two young orphans just for a few meals, Jeanne felt a sudden impulse to burn them to ashes on the spot.
"This is all the food I have left! Take it! Take it all!" The man frantically pulled out a wrapped bundle, offering up a pile of dried, shredded fish meat while weeping hysterically.
"Where did you get this?!" Skadi's eyes narrowed instantly, her posture tensing. She recognized the texture and scent of that dried meat all too well.
Before the thug could answer, a strange, sweet scent drifted through the alleyway. The air grew thick and heavy with an unnatural presence.
While the scent had no physical effect on Jeanne or Skadi, the thugs lying bruised on the ground suddenly froze.
One by one, the fallen men slowly lifted their heads, their faces twisting into eerie, unnerving smiles that sent a chill straight down the spine.