55 – Report on the Fall of Humility (3)
Cain walked toward the border guard headquarters. She was there to meet Maria and Lily.
While Cain was touring the city from the fortress, they examined the body of the dead man along with the city magistrate and the Templars. Now is the time to exchange information and decide on future policies.
But the roads are so congested that just walking is exhausting. Donkeys, horses, camels, people, carriages, and marching soldiers were all mixed together, making a mess. As the horses were having a hard time, cargo was piled up on the side of the road, blocking many places.
A tout passed among the people who were arguing. He carried a bucket on his back, a bell around his neck, and a sign that said, “We sell carbonated water,” Written in both Western Pagan and Imperial languages.
I barely got to the front, but now a security guard blocked the way. Cain, exhausted, gave her guard a little extra money and asked him to call the inquisitor. The security guard noticed and sent someone who seemed to be his successor into the building.
While waiting, I looked at the headquarters parade ground. It was noisy, but tents with the flag of the Knights of the Holy Grail waving were being erected one by one. After waiting for a while, Lily and Maria approached.
Mary wore a belt that she had never seen before. It was a long, red band that went around the back of her neck and over both shoulders, reaching below her waist. The decoration was also lavish, with a shield embroidered with gold thread and engraved with blazing fire beneath her head, one living and the other dead, a double-headed eagle. Golden tassels fluttered from the end of the belt.
“So. Was the air up there nice? “We weren’t very good.”
Instead of answering, Cain pointed to the belt. Maria sighed and placed her hands on her waist.
“It’s a Stola exclusively for Heretic Questioners. I only wear it during events or when scaring people. “I’m working as a Heretic Questioner, so if you don’t want to be a burden, it means you should get out of the way right away.”
“It seems like it worked, right?”
“Originally, the closer you get to the countryside, the better this works. By the way, are you still going to talk here?”
Cain led the two to the alley of a private house. It was a small residential area with a pond, and the fence was high. There was no noise other than the birds chirping.
“It will be safe here. The entire city can be seen from the fortress in the middle. “Looking through a telescope, I could read facial expressions and even the shape of the mouth.”
“I was in a bad mood because someone kept looking at my butt. So, what did you see?”
Cain told us briefly about what she had seen and heard. Difference between West and East. The lives of needy Samaritans. From people’s efforts to purify contaminated drinking water sources to the market’s blatant discrimination.
“Maybe I saw this wrong. Maybe it looked that way because it was distorted by the shadow of the pillar… “The Lady of Humility looked straight at me and smiled brightly.”
Maria and Lily’s eyes met. Lily lowered her voice.
“Did you say you smiled brightly?”
“I know it sounds strange, but… “Cain trailed off her words. Maria waved her hand.
“Wait a minute. Let’s talk about that a little later. Did the mayor really stop talking that far? “Aren’t we going to talk about anything else?”
“That was it. Why?”
“The mayor didn’t tell you that the city was under lockdown?”
Cain looked at the two in turn with her surprised eyes. Lily answered for me.
“While the body was being examined, a letter came from the Knights Templar. Blockade the city. “I didn’t want the rumor to spread, so I told them to let me in, but to stop them from leaving.”
Only then did Cain understand why the city was so crowded. Since the exit is blocked, it is natural for people to protest.
But the reason the mayor didn’t talk about it is probably because he hasn’t heard anything about the city blockade. This also means that the decision was made arbitrarily by the Knights of the Holy Grail, not by the mayor.
Maria crossed her arms. “I’m embarrassed. The general principle is that secular power and church power should cooperate with each other but not interfere. But to act like this, as if worldly power is not your concern… “
“I guess it’s because of security.” Cain told us what he guessed. “It’s confidential that the heroes are being attacked. Especially in the empire, they have no idea. However, a person was found with a knife wound to the heart in the house of the person being guarded. When is the lockdown? Until the culprit is caught?”
“They said they hadn’t received anything up to that point. But blockade. That doesn’t make sense. It is a city with over 20,000 Samaritans, 15,000 civilians, soldiers, supplies, and merchants coming and going all the time. Blockade? “Sounds like a blockade.”
An ominous premonition swept over Cain. Even with empty words, it is difficult to say that the living environment in Emmaus is good. In fact, one of the two important drinking water sources for Samaritans is contaminated. In this situation, if people continue to come in and out, the internal tension in Emmaus will rise uncontrollably.
“So, Cain, you have a decision to make. “I think Lily and I think differently about this.”
When I looked down through the telescope, I remembered two people talking seriously about something.
“Which?”
“We haven’t forgotten our original purpose, right? You were told by the Hero of Humility the code to unlock the dirty diary and what exactly happened to the warriors.
From Noble mtl dot com
But as soon as I arrived, things got complicated. After all, the dead woman is the mother of the Hero of Humility. Shajar al-Dur. “There was even a city blockade order.”
So does that mean that the white woman was smiling so brightly even though her own mother had died? Emotionally, it was a story I couldn’t accept, but reason said, ‘No. ‘She laughed,’ she was asserting. Cain shook her head slightly. She had to focus. Maria caught her breath.
“Anyway, I am an Inquisitor, and you two are treated as my mercenaries, right? And we arrived around lunchtime today. So, it’s excluded from the list of suspects. “The detachment leader was also rude to us, so if he threatens to leave, he won’t be able to stop us.”
“Let’s go out of the city, you mean?”
Maria nodded her head in response to Cain’s question.
“Heroes aren’t the only ones in this city, right? And I don’t think the questions we need to answer are ones that should only be asked by the warrior of humility. “My argument was to go somewhere else first and come back here when the situation calms down a bit.”
Maria smiled at Lily. Lily spoke in her slightly troubled tone.
“I think it is right to do as Maria said to save time. But I… If there is anything we can do to help solve this city’s problems. I thought it would be right to at least provide a little help… “
Maria looked at Lily, still smiling.
“No one forced us. No one asked us for help. You know that depending on how you look at it, it may seem like a bit of a joke, right? Also, if I really want to help the people of this city, it must all be done in my name and under my responsibility.”
Because externally, he is working as a mercenary for Maria. That seemed to be why Lily couldn’t speak strongly.
“Yes… “
“This is the situation. Cain, what do you think?”
Cain answered without hesitation.
“There is no need to help.”
Maria tilted her head in surprise, and Lily covered her mouth, looking quite surprised and embarrassed. But Cain’s words were not over.
“Can’t we just resolve it quickly? We must lead, and let them follow. Maria, if it feels burdensome to put your rank on the line, I will put my name on the line here. How is it?”
Lily’s face lit up and Maria smiled, smiling.
“Are you serious? “I wonder why you think that.”
“First. It takes time to find out the whereabouts of other heroes. The answer is clearly right in front of me, but I don’t want to take the long way back.
Second. This city is mutually cooperative and there is no unified command system. Considering the relationship between church authority and secular authority, it will take a long time just to make a decision. So there will be no problem if we attack.
Thirdly… “
People pumping water and people screaming at the sky passed before my eyes. The face of the mayor that made me want to punch him also came to mind. I thought of the anxious eyes of the people in the western region.
There are differences in what they have, but they are all ordinary people. Even if Cain did what he had to do, he wouldn’t know how to be grateful or appreciate anything.
As always, Cain will hide behind the shadows, and people will go about their days without even realizing that their lives are in danger.
I also know that it’s a good thing that I don’t get cursed. Still, Cain couldn’t figure out why he was being stepped on. So Cain made another excuse.
“… At least we are better off. You can also use the facilities of the Security Bureau if done well. Also, Maria, if you put in a little effort, you might be able to borrow the power of the knights… “
Cain trailed off her words. It would be inappropriate to mention the White Blood Knights. If the Holy Grail Knights are openly escorting, the White Blood Knights will be somewhere in the city disguised. But it’s unclear whether they were really committed or not.
“I knew you would say that.”
Lily looked at Cain with her eyes filled with faith. I thought she misunderstood that the reason she slurred her words was because she was a little embarrassed. Cain decided not to bother correcting her. She turned her head slightly.
“Anyway. “Here are my thoughts.”
“It’s nice because it’s refreshing. Good. “Sure.” Maria also nodded her head cheerfully. “Lily. I think it’s okay to say it. What we saw.”
“I’m telling you now, but in fact, what Maria and I were asked by the Knights of the Holy Grail and city officials was to look into the body to see if there were any traces of the devil or any traces of witchcraft. “I think it was because there were more than one strange thing.”
“If there was such a thing, you should have said it from the beginning.”
Lily was taken aback by Cain’s point. Maria grinned and helped.
“I told you not to talk for now. There’s no need to help the people in this city, so it’s a bit uncomfortable to just be curious, right? But since we decided to solve it ourselves instead of helping, I’m telling you everything without hiding anything. Anyway, Lily. “Keep talking.”
She thought it was out of consideration and decided to move on. Cain nodded her head. Lily seemed relieved and continued speaking quickly.
“Officially, we responded that there were no clear traces. But there are more than one strange thing. First of all, there are no signs of defense whatsoever on the body. “Even though I was stabbed in the heart from the front.”
If someone comes at you with a knife in public, it is natural to rebel. And when you risk your life to rebel, you are bound to end up with cuts or bruises somewhere on your body. Of course there are bruises. But Lily says there was nothing like that.
“I’m just saying this just in case, but I don’t think he stabbed himself. The reason it is not described as suicide is because it can happen if you are caught up in witchcraft or something vain. You can’t say something like that is suicide. Because it was close to an accident… ”
Maria helped.
“How can we be sure she didn’t stab herself?”
“No matter how good a swordsman he is, he is bound to wince when the sword is stuck in his body. And no matter how determined a person he is, there remains one or two traces of hesitation.
Or stab it wrongly. To see if the knife works well, stab it as a test… For various reasons, there are one or two shallow cuts around the wound. But there is nothing like that. Just. “I stabbed him all the way to the heart in one fell swoop…” “And stabbed him?”
“I even tweaked it a little bit.” Maria whispered.
“Of course I couldn’t twist it too hard because it caught her ribs, but it was enough to open her wound. She had no intention of keeping her alive. And if you look at the angle and strength of the twist, it’s the work of an expert.”
Cain thought back quietly. She didn’t stab herself. If she hadn’t even defended herself from being stabbed by someone else. If that’s the case, then all she can say is that she was stabbed defenselessly while she was sleeping, or in a coma.
“Did you know that the dead were called teachers and rabbis? And the surrounding area is full of Samaritans, and the houses are not sturdy. That means that if a stranger or intruder comes, it’s easy to get caught.
And that dome-shaped white house is a sacred place, so no one goes near it. It is a house where a rabbi and an imperial hero live together. “Some crazy guy would go in in the middle of the night.”
No way, a thought crossed Cain’s mind. It cannot be considered a fait accompli just yet. Anyway, her daughter killed her mother. Even if all circumstances point in one direction, circumstances are just circumstances. As if sensing Cain’s hesitation, Lily whispered. It seemed like she wanted to keep it a secret, even from heaven.
“Well, there’s one more thing. Earlier, that woman… “Didn’t you say she was smiling?”
“That’s right.”
“Even the deceased was smiling.”
Cain’s body stiffened. Maria frowned.
“To be exact, it wasn’t a smile, it was closer to showing teeth. Why, her eyes aren’t smiling, but her mouth is smiling. There is a saying like that, right? When you smile, you use all the muscles in your face. However, when I force a smile or when tension is applied to only a certain part, such a strange laugh comes out.”
That white woman, the warrior of the empire, was like that too. Her eyes were wary of Cain, but her mouth was smiling so hard that it reached her ears. So she wasn’t sure if she was smiling or not.
Because it wasn’t a laugh. Cain made a decision.
“I guess I’ll have to meet him.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
Cain took her steps.