Filed to story: A Bullied Boy Died: A Mafia King Woke Up In His Body
“Statistics,” Kitana muttered to herself, her eyes darting around at seemingly nothing.
So, I’m still level 1. I guess Mother was right about having to kill people to level up. She peeked back at the streets and suppressed a smirk. She could see plenty of targets just asking to be accidentally killed.
She caught her partner staring at her, and she calmed herself down.
Better to play a zealous, naïve girl for now to stave off any suspicion. The more naïve I make myself, the better.
Just as the wagon passed yet another thug fight, Kitana stood up to stop the driver. The old inquisitor stood up to stop her, sitting her back down with a stern look. “Calm down, girl. Do you think you can take on all ten of them? Wait till we get to the office.”
Visibly fuming, she sat back down on her seat, glaring at her partner. His face showed no signs of anger or righteous fury. “What kind of inquisitor ignores crimes occurring against the Sanctum of Yual in front of their very eyes?” Kitana kept up the act.
“The practical kind.” He sighed. “I’ve seen plenty of people like you get killed instantly because they had no tact. Want to survive long enough to make a difference? Play it cool.”
“How the hell did you become an inquisitor?”
“Because I do my job. No more, no less.”
“Isn’t it your job to punish crimes?”
“Oh, dear. This is what they get when they send such a fresh girl straight from Tryas. Listen, stay behind me and let me do most of the talking when we’re at the office, all right?” The old man continued to puff his smoke.
Kitana internally celebrated.
Good. Saves me the scrutiny.
The wagon soon stopped in front of a chapel.
“We’re here, esteemed inquisitors. Welcome to the Magda.”
The Magda was the South Sector’s enforcer headquarters-a block of buildings centered around the main chapel, providing the logistics and support necessary to each of its branches situated in each district. Thousands of cases and reports were handled here, as well as equipment procurement.
Kitana and her partner hopped out the back of the wagon, following their driver. They were led not into the chapel but into a side office building. Floors upon floors of administrative clerks handled requests for arcite ore or fuel, wagon repairs, and arctech equipment. Arctech phone lines rang non-stop at the station while stressed interns ran about with stacks of paper. The printing press shuddered violently, copies of case evidence and documentation churning out in a never-ending stream.
The two inquisitors walking through the office drew many eyes and whispers from the other enforcers, their white uniforms and decorative lapels sticking out like a sore thumb. Everyone they passed bowed to them, with the male inquisitor simply smiling and waving them off.
Soon they reached their destination-the bishop’s office.
It was a grand room with a ceiling two stories high. Bookshelves lined the walls as the light from the sunset shone through the stained glass windows, filled with depictions from the Sanctum of Yual.
“Ah, Mason. Thank Yual that they posted you here instead of that oaf Fredrinn.” The bishop smiled as she got out of her chair. Kitana noted her scarred hands as they approached the table, which was filled with piles of papers requesting her approval.
Mason chuckled as he came to a stop in front of the table, giving a half-hearted mock salute. “Inquisitor Mason and Inquisitor Kitana, at your service, Bishop Vernette.”
“This young? Are they sure about this? I would have thought the posh ones would have all remained in Tryas, or maybe been sent to a coastal city in the north,” Vernette commented as she examined Kitana from head to toe.
“Or maybe someone above has other plans for her. Who knows,” Mason replied with a half-shrug. He plopped down on the sofa to their side and retrieved his Euria pipe. “So, what’s the deal?”
“I think it’s better if I let Baron Cain do the talking. He’ll be here any minute. Would you like a drink, Kitana?” Vernette sat back in her chair, smiling gently.
“What deal are we talking about here? Are we not here to clean up the city?” Kitana ignored the offer, still playing the naïve, zealous girl. She also had to put up such an act in front of the bishop.
Vernette simply shot a fierce glare at Mason, who laughed in response. “Girl, as I said, let me do most of the talking here.”
“My name isn’t girl, it’s-“
Before Kitana could finish, the doors to the office swung open, with Baron Cain walking in with two knights. The baron was decked from head to toe in luxury-a posh velvet cap, a well-pressed suit adorned with jewels and initials on the cuffs, and a handkerchief sticking out of his breast pocket, nicely folded and marked with the insignia of the Yual Dominion. The knights were equally domineering, clad in arctech armor with engravings all over the painted metal.
“Ah, my requested inquisitors have finally arrived.” Cain smiled with open arms as he did not bow or salute any of them. He strutted across the room, and with a loud plop, he sat comfortably on the sofa next to Mason. The bishop and the two inquisitors immediately stood up and bowed with respect.
The nobility was far higher than those in the religious order, so even Bishop Vernette had to bow. Someone had to pay the budget.
“Hmm… You seem familiar,” Cain remarked as he took a closer look at Mason.