Two different footsteps echoes in the hallways with the sound of bird chirping being the background music.
"So, mind telling me the reason why you decided to wake me up 6:30 in the morning?"
"You'll know when we get there, dear sister."
Speaking of time, it's currently 7:30 in the morning. Most of the citizens in Hoburns are still in their beds asleep. Excluding the criminals that just went into their beds, people usually wake up in one hour later since it's winter season.
And somewhere in Hoburns, locates the Royal Palace. Where the Holy Queen Calca Bessarez residents herself in.
For a normal civilian, even thinking about living inside the Royal Palace is nothing more of a dream and only a dream. But for those who lived in or had visited the Royal Palace on a daily basis, knows what it feels to live there.
"Seriously, we should tell Calca to at least repaint the walls in the hallway."
Exactly, the quiet hallways in the Palace are what you would expect of a country tainted with religion like it's a drug. The hallways in the Palace are painted white and white only, which from the looks of it is definitely boring, bland and definitely eye hurting.
No one knew which Holy King had the "bright" idea to paint the walls white, but no one ever decided to change the walls as they had become a "symbol" of holiness.
Which is just utterly inconvenience for the guards and servants as the sunlight that shines into the white walls would just reflect itself on to the entire place, effectively turning the hallways into a lightbulb.
Making everything from cleaning to simply going from A to B just a horrible experience as their eyes are going to be raped indirectly by the sunlight as soon as they open their eyes.
And thank God it's winter so the sun doesn't come out until noon.
"Isn't the this place a bit too… quiet?"
The person that spoke the statement was a woman with short bob-shaped brown hair affixed with a white hairband, exposing her forehead. While she is as beautiful as the Holy Queen, her eyes contain a cold, razor-sharp look, like the edge of a blade. She is dressed in a suit of silvery full plate armor and a fur coat. It can be said that her attire is a traditional vestment of the paladin order's grandmaster, an ancient suit of magical artifice. She is also equipped with a sword located at her waist.
She is the captain of the Paladin Order. Remedios Custodio.
As her statement goes, the hallways are just as quiet and dead as the academy during midnight. Even her voice echoes through out the hallway.
"Relax, it's 7:30 in the morning, not even the assassins can resist the winter. I thought you know about that."
"I just assumed everyone was lazy."
They're not one but two records in the Holy Kingdom's history that assassin's planned to assassinate the Holy King but woke up late due to how comfortable is to sleep in winter.
And the results, that was their last good sleep.
"You very need to get rid of you assumptions and start thinking with your head dear sister."
As for the woman that just insulted Remidios's intelligence stat, she's Remidios's own little sister, Kelart Custodio. She's the high priestess of the Roble Holy Kingdom.
Like her sister Remedios, Kelart also shares the same bob-shaped brown hair affixed with a white hairband. However, unlike Remedios, her forehead is covered by her hair and the shape of her eyes and mouth are slightly different. Those faint differences are enough to change the impression that others had for her, and she appeared as though she was plotting something.
"Anyway dear sister, I would assume that our guest would still be stuck in the maze that is the second floor, so it's best that we get to our destination as soon as possible. Assuming he's not a good pathfinder that is."
"Wait, we're not seeing her Majesty Calca?"
"Didn't I just told you to stop assuming things?"
Second Floor of the Royal Palace.
(Shit… this design is just shit.)
As Remidios and Kelart make their way up, Noah here is still struggling to find his destination.
Half and hour ago…
"So… second floor, at the garden… which is… in the center of… the floor…?"
"Yes, yes, I just told you! Now just move along with your life, I'm already pissed from having this shift."
Noah woke up 6 in the morning for the sake of coming here. Took himself half an hour to prepare himself to meet the Captain of the Paladin Order and potentially the Holy Queen herself.
So doing all the benefits of first impression and disadvantages of having a bad one, Noah has decided that he should at least be a decent first impression.
So he spent 15 minutes cleaning his armor until he can see his face on it, and another 5 on cleaning his face.
And since the Royal Palace is about 8 minutes in walking speed, he had to be gentle with every step his his whilst he walked there to prevent sweating too much. So that the odour doesn't immediately stand out.
「Clean」 was not an option as Noah doesn't really have access to this spell at the moment.
Back to where this part started, Noah got into the Palace and spent no less than 2 minutes getting from the first floor to the second.
So though the power of mathematical calculation, Noah had a solid 60 minutes of head start before Remidios arrived.
"Who in the world would someone design a Palace like this!?"
Which brings us to the problem why the second floor is always off limits to almost anyone without a map or a guide.
Because it's gonna be a nightmare if you don't have either or both.
The Royal Palace is big, very big. And during the period where the country was still in it's infancy, the Holy King at the time hired two different interior designers for two different floors.
One built a floor out a the idea of "simplicity" and "accessibility" which was easy for people to navigate and find specific rooms.
The other one built the floor with the idea of "complex", "mysteriousness" and "safety". Because no assassin on the planet can know the way in, if no one know how in the first place. That interior designer spent hours each day trying to fit T-Junctions and Cross Roads all around the second floor and his design did stopped a lot of assassins from even attempting to do their jobs, fearing that at the time they found them, they were already nothing but bones. Which also gave everyone and anyone living there a time at hell. So from this point onwards, anyone that enters the second floor must bring a detailed map of it which is provided on the entrance of the "maze" itself. surprisingly, no one ever attempted to rebuild or at the very least, redesign the floor.
By the way, the interior designer that created the second floor was executed in the name of treason. For obvious reasons.
As Noah's hopeless attempt at locating himself with the map, a silent laugh echoes the hallways, mocking him from beyond the grave—
—and it's currently being chocked by the very definition of "Death" itself.
"Let go of me, you son of a bitch!"
"I don't prefer someone to laugh… at my… disciple? Follower? Apprentice? Whatever, anyway, I'm here to take you to hell."
"What? Why? Because I laughed at your apprentice or whatever?"
"Nah, it just that there's a friend of mine, who is two number above me, is a huge fan of you. And he means it."
And just like that, another evil soul was cleansed from the surface of the world, just not from a saint or God or something like that.
8:00a.m. Hoburns, Roble Holy Kingdom
The clock strikes just in time. Kalart and Remidios arrived at a huge wooden door.
And uncoincidently, it was the center of the second floor, which took them around half and hour just to get there. Which just by that shows how inconvenience it is.
Kelart pushed the door gently. The white hallways behind her suddenly vanished from both her sight and mind.
As she was too focused on the scenery in front of her.
For those who live their lives as a noble should always know, that there's a line that they shouldn't cross.
And in which the Holy Queen's line is somewhat of a mystery to everyone. Except for the Custodio sisters that is.
And that line is this room. The Garden room of the Royal Palace. It may only be a fraction of the Palace, but it is by far, the most impressive room to ever exist on the Royal Palace. Rumours say that the Holy Queen cherishes this place more than her life, ending one flower's life her is the equivalent of ending your own life. Two if you want to be tortured first and three if you want to live a life worse than death.
The room was a fifth of a kilometer length and width and reaches 5 meters high. The ceiling mostly consists of glass panels so natural sunlight because the only sourse of light.
The small topiary flower bushes scattered around the without uniform adds a tint of artistic side to the garden.
And possibly the main attraction of the garden, in the center of it, sits a wooden round table with a set of chairs. It may look bland at first, but then one will realize that it was the best and only choice of design that would fit in the scenario.
Which of course it wouldn't be worthy for the queen to sit on it if it wasn't good enough. The wood from the chairs and table emits a faint smell from agarwood. And just by the existence of it had made the garden more… refreshing, clean and natural.
As Kelart and Remidios stares into the room, a faint voice from behind called their souls back to where they belong.
"Perhaps you… were the one who… summoned me?"
"How long have you been hiding behind the hallways?", asked Remidios with complete confidence of victory if she were to engage in combat.
"Approximately… 53 seconds."
"Noah Baraja was it? Come, have a seat, tea?"Kelart walked towards the roundtable and pulled a seat for herself.
"Pardon my rudeness, but… I personally do not enjoy tea."
"That's some ego you have there, not everyday you get to see one. So what do you prefer?"
"I prefer… iced tea."
"Amusing too, now let's not beat around the bush shall we?"Noah is now 2 meters away from where Kelart is sitting. Just two meters is enough for anyone to see the devilish face of Kelart, including Noah.
Remidios is sitting next to her. Noah now understands that the letter he received wasn't actually from Remidios herself, but rather her sister.
"So I may... ask, what is the purpose of my summon?"
"Good question, but first, you're under arrest, Noah Baraja."
Without a second of delay, Remidios stood up from her seat.
Which in turn, Noah felt a huge surge in pressure being applied to his hands and body and was pushed down to the ground by said force. At this moment, his PTSD returned.
Noah remembered that one day during his academy days. That one day where many were slaughtered right in front of him and he was helpless to do anything.
After a short while of suffering, Noah lost his consciousness and falls face first onto the garden floor. Lucky no flowers were hurt during the process.
11:30a.m. City of Rimun
The city of Rimun is a city located in the south west of the Roble Holy Kingdom. The city itself is relatively close to the sea, so most of the economics are going to be surrounded by seafood and boat building factories. Which is a good thing, every family would not be having to worry having food to their table, because all you need is a boat and a net. Monsters that live in the sea are quite rare but the navy will take care of it if that were to happen.
Of course, having only one source of income isn't the best idea in the world. But the problem was casually solved by the fact that they have a cemetery just a few hundred meters up north which spawns lesser zombies and skeletons on a daily basis. And just like that, adventurers themselves have a stable source of income. This is the perfect city for those who wants to live a simple, quiet life.
Of course, it would be called a utopia if it didn't come with it's own flaws by default.
So we take our perspectives, at focus it on a normal civilian.
.
It's still morning, but the room is already filled with unwanted tension and the smell of fresh melting snow.
Sitting in the room is the leading chief of security in the city of Rimun. And a few paladins hand picked personally by the chief himself.
One of the paladin in the room squared the papers on his hands, checking each and every piece of paper to discard any factors of things going south.
"So, may I ask the purpose of this meeting you held, Paladin Alfread · Dve · Moleyus?"
"Yes sir, well it's about the cult. More specifically, one of the higher ranking members of the cult."
The meeting room had a moment of silent of its own. Which later was filled with the sound of men taking deep breaths.
"According to the city's locals, the suspect's name is Alaster Young, a 29 year old fishmonger that lives at the western part of the city, where most of many other fisherman would live in due to the fact that it is relatively closer to the sea."
"Testimony also says that he has a family of four. He had a wife named Rosenthal, a 11 years old daughter named Julis and a 8 year old son named Alaxen."
"He lived a peaceful life without crossing anyone, he had some friends but none of them were really close. In fact, this report alone was only made possible because of his neighbors and friends."
"He's a quiet living man isn't it."
"That is true sir, but we are suspecting him to have major ties with the cult."
"Shocking actually, why? Is there any proof or…?"
"Well you see, we checked his income for the past month… and it isn't the brightest actually."
"He's a fishmonger right? Which means competition is just a fierce as monsters fighting for territory. But I don't see any proof that ties him back to the cult."
"Let me finish sir. Here, this is his daily routine."
Alfread sticks the papers onto the walls behind him.
"You see, here, shows a lot about his routine. He wakes up as the same time when most of the fishermen returned from the sea. Which he gets to buy fresh fish in buckets directly from them and sell it on the market later on."
"We kept him under surveillance until the market closed which is during the late evening, and to our surprise, he only sold about 20 fish or so, he also hand picked two Albrian Fish for us and only costs about 5 coppers for the small one and 9 for the big one. And at the end this month alone, he still has around average 120 unsold seafood everyday. And just to give you statistics, he buys 6 buckets worth 46 silvers EVERY day, which is almost around 120 fishes of all size. Even if we don't count his budget for the fish, I don't think that's gonna make any sense considering his family needs."
"Really... where did all the remaining fish go?"
"I do not know yet, but we'll figure it out eventually."
"To be fair, you haven't really mention the getting involved with the cult thingy so your point doesn't stand."
"Really? Is it not obvious at this point?"
"Oh, it's obvious. But I suppose others that don't know could use a bit of explanation."
"Sir, you're the only one in the room that doesn't follow."
The leading chief of security looks around the room, only to realize all of his subordinates are nodding in agreement, some of them are even trying the best of their efforts just to hold off their laughter. To be honest, anyone would be severely embarrassed in a situation like this.
"Sir, I'll tell you about the details after the meeting, so let's move on to the next topic."
During the end of the meeting, the chief warned everyone to keep quiet about the incident that unfortunately occurred and anyone that even spills a word about it will get a taste of a full out crusade from the chief himself. Everyone nodded in agreement and laughed their asses off after he left. Of course, no one even attempts to spill the beans.
.
Everyone was laughing, except Alfread. As his laughter would only cause his doom due to the sheer lack of distance between him and the chief.
He quietly followed the chief into his office. Watched the chief pulls out his chair and stared at him with a stern face.
"Close the door Alfread."
"Yes sir."
Alfread holds the door knob and pulls it towards himself. At that moment, he felt like the door was lighter than a feather. Even though he hoped that it was something even giants could not move. So he accepted his fate and shuts the door as gently as possible, turns his body around and waits for the yelling that he is about to suffer.
One second has passed...
Two seconds has passed...
Three seconds has passed...
Four seconds has passed...
Five seconds has passed...
Six seconds has passed...
Seven seconds has passed...
And nothing happened. There was no screaming, no yelling, and his eardrums are still intact.
"Hmm?"
"Why are you standing there like I'm gonna yell at you? I'm not gonna yell at you now, so please explain the details."
"Oh right, the details. Thank the Lords."
Alfread has come to his senses, his heart has been lifted and he felt like he had broke a world record. Because this is the first time, someone didn't get yelled at the moment the chief told them to "Close the door".
"So allow me to get to the point, the fish was likely being used as decoys or what the gods would call as a "Trojan Horse". Remember when I said that the fishmonger, Alester Young handpicked two fishes for us? Those were fresh, nothing's wrong, but we did notice a number of fishes that were not in great shape, though there wasn't many."
"God please Alfread, just get to the point already!"
"Ok, ok. I was thinking, if Alaster Young was actually buying fresh fish directly from the fishermen everyday, then why is there fishes that are not fresh from the sea, especially when he's not gonna run out of fish anytime soon. I think, Alaster is putting mini messages inside the fish and "selling" them to the members of the cult as a task giver."
"So you think they're using an inefficient process to give out missions? Why wouldn't they just use [Message]? It's more efficient and easy."
"I know right? Imagine the cult members that can't even get themselves enough money to learn magic! It's so pathetic right? They should already learnt the spell by now, those without any talent with magic should be able to nail the spell in one go, am I right? Also, our city has the magicians guild helping us to track any signals or signs of [Message], but they should be able to take the risk so it's fine to use it anyway! They aren't thinking this enough isn't it, glad that we're being on the same page chief."
"Fine, I get your sarcasm, your point stands, and we will hold an arrest later. You may now leave."
"Thank you sir."
"...Wait, hold on second. I still have one thing left to tell you, this might take a while."
One hour later, Alfread was freed from the office. His eyes were soulless as a dark void and his movements are as similar of a zombie's. People that walk past him had a hint of sympathy towards him, as they too had a similar experience.