It was a dark and boring room, with only a desk, a computer, its only source of light, and two chairs, on each side of the desk. A woman sat on the desk, sometimes tapping on the computer’s keyboard, writing something, other times she was staring at the screen, looking for weird parts and inconsistencies, or perhaps simply pondering if what she was writing actually sounded good. Katherine Zemyotova was a recorder in the employment of Princess Lia. Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t even a high ranked one that would get the chance to speak with important people such as the princess herself or her Shadow or Sword. However… Even the lowest of the low might have an interesting story to tell! Was what she would constantly tell herself. There were in the past some very popular Great Race stories based on lowly ranger’s lives. She knew she had the talent to have one of those too. I will definitely show them! So she motivated herself.

“Uh, Excuse me, ma’am?”

She immediately turned her attention away from the computer and put on her best smile.

“Welcome, dear soldier! That’s uncommon. Please, turn on the lights if you want. Usually when we are at a city, the soldiers all happily go out. Especially after the kind of event we’ve recently gone through.”

The aftermath of the battle with Charles was especially busy for the recorders, with many illiterate soldiers wanting to leave written last messages for their families as well as others simply wanting to vent their fears and have someone to talk with. Strangely enough, not many soldiers came after they were through Death Ridge, but Katherine supposed it was a matter of comparison. She wondered what the man in front of her would have to tell.

“Uh, I think I am OK with the dark, ma’am. I hear this is where you go to have things written down if you want to leave something behind but can’t write.” Katherine nodded in confirmation. “I’d like to leave an account of me and one other man…”

Katherine made a doubtful face.

“It’s against regulations for someone to register something on behalf of another unless the person in question is dead.”

The man sat in front of her looking downcast.

“Yuri Olegovich, he… was a good man. I didn’t know him before the campaign, but he helped us a lot. You know, he organized the loyal men’s night out in Destroia, for those who wanted to stay faithful to their wives. He… is gone now.”

That piqued Katherine’s interest.

“I see. First, tell me some more about yourself, I don’t even have your name.”

The man was twiddling his thumbs, still looking down.

“Name’s Alan Smith, 22 years old. Father was a miner in Nessa. But he is such a good man, he always wanted something better for me, so he saved as much money as he could and when I was ten, he paid for one of the metal craftsmen to take me in as an apprentice. I don’t want to sound arrogant ma’am, but I was always good with my hands, my father really did good for me, metal crafts are really good for me.”

Katherine nodded as she wrote down some notes.

“OK. But then, how are you in the army? If you’re good, then it is likely that your master would have preferred for you to stay. Is there a reason for this?”

Alan looked up, then to the side slightly embarrassed.

“It was for marriage ma’am. When I was older, I fell in love with my master’s daughter, Ana, she’s quite a beauty. He recognized my skills, but I couldn’t do every kind of work around the workshop, because I didn’t have enhanced hands. He said he would gladly accept my marriage with Ana if I could earn enough to buy the enhancement, which would prove my worth, as well as allowing me to become successor to the workshop.”

Katherine felt like this didn’t quite explain it.

“As far as I know, that should be quite the reasonable request, right? I mean, Nessa is a mining town and all. With the princess’ entourage, it wouldn’t be absurd to say that people who perform these surgeries were probably quite common in Nessa.”

Alan shrugged.

“The whole economy was taken over by preparations for the Princess’ campaign. Even the most basic of enhancements were astronomically expensive, unless you were in an army program.”

“So you joined the army for an enhancement, and married. What does your wife think of this?”

“She… says she understands, but she’s still afraid, I think. Let’s just say… the few nights before departure were more energetic than usual, since we still don’t have children.”

“Is that so? What about your friend, Yuri Olegovich, was it? Did he talk to you about why he was in the army?”

“Oh yes, he talked to lots of different people during meals, we talked a lot in Destroia. He said that he didn’t want to join, but he had to because of gossip. Apparently there was a lot of talk going on among the women about marks and shaming the men who didn’t go to the army without a good reason. Since he was just a beer brewer, so they said, it wasn’t like he was that useful around once most men left with the army and the city’s main section, where his brewery was located, was temporarily sealed off.”

At the shaming men part, Katherine’s mind partially shut down. Uh, I am pretty sure I was involved in that part of the recruitment campaign, I wonder if he knows. He doesn’t, right? She felt pretty guilty, like she had sent a man to his death.

“Hmm, I understand, that is pretty cruel.”

Alan nodded energetically, looking bitter.

“He was a good man. He told us in Destroia he would save most of his pay from the campaign and try to open a brewery in the capital. I know he would be successful too, his beer was pretty good.”

It was time for the hard question, Katherine felt.

“So, how did he die?”

Alan was silent for what might have been an eternity, likely finding the right words to answer that question. There were no right words, but the words spilled forth.

“I wasn’t there… I hear he was mowed down along with a bunch of other guys by that prince’s hellish robot. I didn’t even get to see it, you know? We didn’t even get to recover the body. The best I can hope for is that at least his body got properly burned by that huge forest fire. He was there, I talked to him the day before that. Then, he got assigned to offense, I stayed on defense… Honestly, I was kind of scared. What if some infected showed up? Is what I said to myself… Yuri, that guy was lucky. Or so I convinced myself. Waiting like this, in the open, it’s so dull but terrifying. At least when you’re attacking you probably have some idea of when the action will start… But in the end… I was untouched, nothing happened! So ridiculous… All that fear was so ridiculous! What about that so-called Death Ridge? Talk about a joke! Infected are harmless, I tell you! There wasn’t a single dead man after we were past that. They’re just brainless things, I tell you! So easy to deal with… Not like that horrible thing that killed so many people in that forest…”

Katherine nodded, listening intently to the highly emotional man in front of her. At some point, her self-interest and focus on the “literary” quality of the story seemed to fade away. Once his tears had started flowing, they did not stop, and Alan either did not bother or didn’t realize they were there. He laid bare his frustrations, fears and dissatisfaction. She ignored his insults toward the Imperial family and the “sick game” they played. He hated being a pawn in it, but had no choice. That such a good man as Yuri Olegovich had to die, for those tyrants whims, was cruel beyond measure. He talked about his wavering belief in the Holy Flame, in the Empire, in the entire world. It was a while before he calmed down. Katherine was feeling quite disconcerted herself after he left.

“Well, that’s quite depressing.”

She mumbled to herself as she turned around to organize her things. She didn’t feel like listening to anyone else, so she left the room, turning on the “closed” sign. As she made her way to one of the communal cars, she wondered if that man was the only one who felt so strongly about the way things were. She absentmindedly thought about living through a revolution as something that might be interesting, but quickly brushed that aside from the sheer improbability of it. Who would have the capacity and audacity to risk the whole of humanity to change an Empire that has been this way for over a thousand years? It wasn’t a question she was completely sure she wanted an answer for. But it was fun to think of it.

A few minutes later, she had changed into civilian clothes and put on the badge which identified her as part of Princess’ Lia’s army. She had not planned on visiting Oostburg, but now she felt like a few minutes of walking around might help her put things in order and perspective.

The moment she stepped out of the Unbreakable she remembered why she wanted to stay inside. There were quite a few different ways to describe Oostburg in merely one word, however unremarkable might be the most accurate of them. It was a small city, quite smaller than Destroia and not even comparable to Nessa. It had no unique features to speak of. For a city that was part of the Great Race’s route, people looked at Katherine with way too much suspicion. Katherine suspected that the biggest reason was that princes usually preferred to not go through the Death Ridge, she then wondered what would these princes think of being considered pathetic cowards by someone like Alan Smith, who thought the Infected to be so inconsequential. Her line of thought was interrupted by nearby shouting.

“Oh my, what is going on now?”

Two conflicting feelings battled for her decision. She didn’t feel like getting herself involved in any kind of trouble, but as before, her instinct as a Recorder seemed to compel her to go after anything that might be interesting. She just could not help it.

Right around the corner she found the cause of commotion. A group of men in the white and orange clothes of the Holy Flame Office of Purity, also known as the Inquisition, were dragging people and other things from a nearby building. Some of them screamed, others cried, while an old man had an expression of pure resignation, he was the only one not being loudly spanked and told to shut up. Katherine looked at the people around the scene. Some looked on with contempt, others angers, a few made a point of not looking at it as they passed. Katherine felt a chill of horror, as she saw the satisfaction in the face of one of the onlookers: The anger and contempt were being directed at the people being mistreated. How could such a thing be? But she had an answer as ripping clothes revealed the shoulders of one of the mistreated women. Oh my me. She thought to herself.

“How dare you show that mark of heresy to me? You dirty Tal!”

The inquisitor slapped with full force the woman whose clothes he had just accidentally ripped. She fell, mouth bleeding, to the ground. The old man kneelt to the ground and pressed his face on it, speaking in a tone of great pain.

“Please! Stop this violence, we can see we are no longer welcome here, we will leave, please, at least leave us with our lives!”

The Inquisitor next to him started beating him as soon as he started talking, but he didn’t top until he had said everything. One of the Inquisitors, with a different helmet that marked her as a captain, slowly walked towards him and looked down at the old man, who still had his face pressed to the ground.

“That’s okay Faraci, let him speak. At least one of them has to answer for their heresies.”

She nonchalantly ordered the Inquisitor beating on the man.

“As you order, Captain Quinn!”

He immediately stopped the beating and stood ready for any more orders. Quinn lowered herself slightly and pulled the old man by the hair into a kneeling position.

“Now, little disgusting Tal, tell me, I’m sure this city has shown that it does not welcome your kind for quite a while. So, how come you’re not gone from the city yet and we, the Holy Flame Office of Purity have to take care of things?”

Katherine started to feel queasy. Considering the fact that the Great Race was on, she realized something… That city had a chapter of the Inquisition. What a dumpster.

“Please, all we have asked then is for transport to Trestia. If that had already been granted, this wouldn’t have been necessary.”

Quinn let out a derisive laugh.

“Transport? For your kind? Please, you should just walk on foot as the beasts you are. Is that not right?”

The inquisitors around all nodded.

“We would all be killed by- “

Quinn interrupted him with a slap. The old man spit some blood to the side.

“Silence, I did not ask you a question or gave you permission to speak!” She looked around at the tables, books and computers that had already been taken from the building and thrown on the street. “Filling children’s minds with your poison, I see. Did you convert any innocent child to your abominable heresy?”

The man was trembling, yet still answered.

“Knowledge of the world is the most–“

Quinn slapped him twice.

“That is not the answer to my question.”

The man took a deep breath.

“Our Goddess does not allow–“

More slaps. The old man’s face was full of cuts and bruises now.

“Answer my question. Yes or no?”

The old man struggled to open his mouth, but answered.

“No.”

Quinn smiled at him.

“See? That wasn’t so hard, I just hope, for you sake, that you’re not lying. Lying is a serious sin to the Flame, but converting children to heresy is oh so much worse.”

Quinn approached her face to the old man’s ear and whispered something which made him go completely livid. Katherine had some idea of what it could mean and could no longer remain a mere observer.

“Oh, what might all this ruckus be about?”

She spoke loudly and dramatically. Immediately, many inquisitors turned towards her with incensed expressions. One of them was about to say something but froze up as he caught sight of the badge on Katherine’s clothes. Quinn responded in a measured manner.

“Just taking care of some heretics, is all, surely nothing that need concern anyone from the princess’ forces. We are just making sure that the Flame can keep on burning forever more. None of us would ever think of doing something to disrespect the Imperial Family.”

Katherine walked around, faking a pensive expression, as if only then assessing the situation.

“Is that so?” She pointed to the woman whose clothes were ripped, revealing her shoulder tattoo. “Because, this woman here is a Tal. In fact, I am pretty sure all of these ‘heretics’ that you are taking care of are Tals.”

Quinn let slip a nervous smile and a slight twitch of irritation.

“Well, that does nothing about the fact that they are heretics. In fact, that is precisely why we must do this: They are heretics that need to be taken care of. This becomes even more important when you also consider the fact that they were operating a school, possibly spreading their poisonous false beliefs.”

Katherine opened her mouth in mock disbelief.

“That’s quite incredible! Because as far as I know, quite early on in his reign, the Emperor Bernard, who just abdicated, had proclaimed an edict that the Tals were not to be considered heretics, their culture and beliefs to be respected. All of that because he believed their knowledge has value to this Empire. Is trampling all over that what constitutes respecting the Imperial Family to you?”

Quinn’s expression darkened considerably. She effortlessly pushed Katherine to a wall, clearly attempting to intimidate her.

“Are you mocking me?”

Irritation was clear in her voice. Katherine’s heart was beating like crazy, she was scared, but didn’t back down. She calmly replied.

“The question you should really be asking, to yourself, is: Are you mocking the Imperial Family?”

Quinn looked like she was about to snap, but she seemed to think of something else, a new expression making her satisfaction quite apparent.

“Am I? You know the former emperor’s opinion on this matter, but do you know if that opinion is shared by the princess you serve? If not, then what would she think of a servant using her name to shield disgusting heretics? Maybe you should think about that?”

That made Katherine freeze for a moment. She had not thought about that before. Was princess Lia favorable to Tals? She quickly gathered up inside of her mind all she knew about the princess:

She was the twelfth of fifteen children the former emperor had. She did not show exceptional fervor, but never disrespected the tradition of the Holy Flame either. She was a strong a strong proponent of ‘strong, efficient and respecting governance’. There were rumors that she made use of not so pacific methods to put Nessa completely under her, but that was par for the course when it came to nobility. She was far from believing that different classes in society was a problem or something that should be ended, but she was also someone who believed in the importance of letting everyone realize their role in society. She was fairly favorable to education, at least on a basic level, for everyone. She also never had anyone publicly humiliated or executed for opposing her. Katherine decided that she would bluff with a high chance of being correct.

“I don’t need to. I know for a fact that princess Lia is no fan of unnecessary mistreatment of people, even opponents. So at least there’s that: When you do anger her, after unnecessarily attacking these people, even after being warned, you will have swift deaths, no needless horrible torture, unlike what you intend to do to these Tals. No terrible cuts and cauterization, just a swift and deadly cut.”

Quinn threw Katherine on the ground, then quickly sat on top, pinning her. She wore a terrible smile.

“Oh, is that so?” She approached her face to Katherine’s ear and whispered. “Are you familiar with our techniques? You know, it has been a policy for quite a few generations now to give detailed accounts of interrogation and execution to family members of heretics. Does it run in the family? Unrepentance of sins is very abhorrent, you know?”

Katherine regretted everything at that moment. She would curse herself for foolishness, but soon what dominated her minds was a terrible collection of memories from her childhood. One of her uncles, a man who she was very fond of, got himself involved in a cult called Human Animus. It rejected many of the Holy Flame’s teachings, chief among them being the privileges of the nobility. He was eventually caught and tortured to death by the Inquisition. They made the entire family listen to a detailed description of his execution, as well as showed some footage to the adults. It was all made so that they’d feel compelled to warn their children of the perils of opposing the Holy Flame, to terrorize them forever. It was one of the many ways the Church, and the Empire it served, kept the people in check. It worked. In usual circumstances, Katherine had a strong dislike for the Inquisition, but when she was reminded of her uncle’s grisly death, all she could feel was overwhelming terror.

“Uh, Captain, your phone is ringing, are you sure you shouldn’t answer it?”

Katherine was reduced to tears and sobbing. Quinn sighed and rolled her eyes the inquisitor who was talking to her.

“There is still an empire-wide jamming going on, it wouldn’t be a surprise for even short range communications to not work.” She looked back to Katherine. “And what do you know? Someone has had proper fear put into her before.” She lightly slapped Katherine’s cheek. “Try not to get in the way next time, okay?” She didn’t even wait for a reply and stood up. She raised her voice. “Now, where were we?”

Her triumphant expression withered as she saw Captain Lewis, accompanied by several Knights, turning a corner and walking directly at her.

“I suppose it’s the part where you and your subordinates go away.”

Her face quickly went through nervousness then to panic.

“I… was, just taking care of heretics and… this woman, was insulting the princess. I just couldn’t let such a thing be!”

Captain Lewis shook his head as he smiled.

“Didn’t happen.” Then he punched Quinn in the face with such strength that she fell to the ground. “Now, get out of my face!”

More than an hour later, Katherine was still trembling inside the Unbreakable. Captain Lewis was still with her.

“Here, have a glass of water. I don’t know the exact history you have with the Inquisition, but I have to say you were quite brave challenging them like that. By the way, I am Richard Lewis, Captain of the Knights.”

She looked briefly at the glass given to her, and then took a sip of it before speaking in a still breaking voice.

“I hate them. I hate them so bad… I couldn’t bear to see them doing that to those people, no matter who they were.”

“Speaking of those people you helped. You did well. I don’t know if you knew that the Princess was negotiating for custody of the Tals, but you helped protect a very important one.”

“Who?”

“You know that old man?” She nodded. “He is an Egregius. The Princess is very much interested in his knowledge and he could have been killed by the inquisition without your intervention. Congratulations, you have one favor to ask for with the Princess.”

Captain Lewis then stood up to leave, but before he could even turn around Katherine grabbed his arm. She could think of only one thing.

“That bitch…” Captain Lewis looked confused. “The Inquisitor woman, the captain…”

Understanding showed in his face.

“Oh, yes, what about her?”

Katherine could barely contain the anger and disdain in her voice as she said what she wanted.

“I… want her dead!”

Captain Lewis took a deep breath, slightly awkwardly looking to a side, then another.

“Are you sure? You could ask for something like an interview with her or her Sword, or Shadow. Do you think it’s worth it to waste it on a low-life Inquisitor Captain?”

That helped her lift some of the anger haze on her mind. Was it worth it? Indeed, it would be satisfying to have that woman pay for cruelty, but it did nothing about the underlying problem of the Inquisition itself, which encouraged the presence of such sick people among its ranks. She might be killed, but another monster would take her place.

“I have changed my mind. Thank you, Captain Lewis. I am Katherine Zemyotova.”

They shook hands.

“Whenever you have decided, talk with one of the Knights, I am sure that the Princess will grant you any one thing within reason.”

For that, it felt like what she had done was almost worth it. And she knew that even if she felt it wasn’t, she would still have done it if she had the same opportunity.