(Wester lands- Metropolis of Relanter)

(Governor’s Mansion- Non-public Examine Room)

“Deliver the governor right here instantly and don’t alert the servants about our discovery,” Claire ordered one of many knights within the room.

“Sure Ma’am!” the knight replied solemnly.

He left the research and headed in the direction of the assembly room to fetch the governor.

Claire stood silently in the midst of the classroom as the opposite knights by her facet saved a watchful eye on the environment.

At first look this appeared like an strange place.

A roaring hearth crackled away within the nook of the room and rows upon rows of books had been positioned towards the partitions.

A portray with the crest of Home Cain had been hung above an extended picket desk. This school room had an environment of literacy and tranquility.

It could have been an unremarkable place had been it not for the hidden door that Claire had found behind one of many bookshelves.

Claire absentmindedly stroked the medallion that Elisa had given to her earlier than she began the investigation.

In response to the previous saintess she had blessed the appeal in order that it will be capable of detect darkish magic.

The one place that gave a response was this school room.

Claire was an easy warrior and used her sword to slice throughout the bookshelves.

The hidden door was revealed after she tore the false exterior that hid it. Now it was time for Lord Cain to present an evidence.

Time slowly handed till ultimately the sounds of footsteps could possibly be heard coming from the hall exterior.

Lord Cain entered the classroom nervously whereas being escorted by the knight that Claire had despatched to select him up.

Claire didn’t give the governor any time to speak and easily pushed open the hidden door.

A slim set of concrete stairs appeared that led to an unknown location.

She gestured for the governor to prepared the ground and the knight introduced Lord Cain on to the doorway.

Lord Cain appeared hesitant to stroll down the steps, however Claire didn’t tolerate any resistance and compelled him to maintain transferring.

Torches had been positioned alongside the partitions that offered some lighting to the celebration strolling down the steps.

Sadly, these torches had been dimly lit which forged lengthy shadows and heightened the creepiness of all the scenario.

Lastly on the backside of the steps was a plain picket door with a single iron doorknob hooked up to its proper.

Claire positioned her hand on the doorknob and slowly turned it.

The door swung open with a rusty creak and revealed a sickening sight.

The room past the door was a cellar of some variety with laborious cobblestone flooring and with a single torch within the heart of the room.

Iron cages had been positioned alongside the partitions of the cellar and inside each cage had been creatures that Claire had solely examine within the church’s scriptures.

Darkish Elves.

Their gentle brown pores and skin, pointed ears and crimson eyes had been probably the most noticeable traits of their race, however it was not these options that caught Claire’s consideration.

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No… it was the indicators of abuse and torture.

A number of of those darkish elves had been lacking limbs, fingernails and even tongues.

The feminine darkish elves had whip marks and scars throughout their bare our bodies whereas the males had open wounds that oozed pus and blood.

Small darkish elves that had been clearly youngsters had not been spared and their our bodies had been sickly skinny as if that they had not been fed for days.

The knights behind her gagged as a number of foul odours entered their nostrils. Blood, dying and excrement all combined collectively to create a vomit-inducing scent.

Claire glanced on the nobleman who stared on the darkish elves with panic in his eyes…

However not shock.

At that second Claire knew that Lord Cain was fully conscious of what was happening right here.

“What is that this?” Claire requested in a plain tone as if the horrific scenes within the room didn’t have an effect on her in any means.

“This… this… this…” Lord Cain stuttered for a second as he couldn’t discover the suitable phrases to say.

Claire’s piercing blue eyes appeared to stare into his soul and strip away the mild scholarly look that masked his true nature.

“These… these are darkish elf spies!” Lord Cain hurriedly shouted.

“My males caught them trying to poison town’s water supply and assassinate helpless ladies and youngsters.”

“And why did you not deliver this to the eye of the church?” Claire questioned as she subtly motioned for the knights within the room to maneuver nearer to the nobleman.

Lord Cain took a deep breath to regular his nerves after which tried his greatest to elucidate,

“I used to be planning to ship a letter to Father Amos to tell him, however I used to be afraid that the darkish elves would assault my messenger.”

“I wanted to go in particular person however there wasn’t a possibility to depart my mansion in a means that will not appeal to suspicion.”

There was a tense second of silence within the cellar.

Claire and the opposite knights didn’t converse a phrase and heavy stress fell on the cowering nobleman.

One didn’t must be a detective to know that Lord Cain was mendacity.

Sure, there have been some female and male darkish elves contained in the cages who might probably be spies or terrorists…

However what in regards to the youngsters?

Additionally, his reasoning for not informing Father Amos sooner was additionally unusual and didn’t make a lot sense.

“Break his fingers,” Claire mercilessly commanded in a agency tone.

The chilly look on her face did not change as one of many knights grabbed Lord Cain and restrained him.

One other knight held up the governor’s hand and gently touched his fingers as if he was about to carry out a lover’s caress.

“Wait… what are you doin… ARGHHH!” Lord Cain shrieked in ache.

The sound of bones breaking echoed via the dungeon because the knight mercilessly crushed each finger within the nobleman’s proper hand.

Lord Cain squealed like a pig and begged for mercy as his hand was slowly remodeled right into a bloody pulp.

Claire quietly noticed the darkish elves trapped contained in the cages as they watched the governor’s painful state.

Some had been afraid to search for too lengthy, however others couldn’t cease their lips from gently curving upwards.

“Transfer on to his subsequent hand… then his toes… then his legs…” Claire spoke nonchalantly.

The knights performing the torture nodded in acknowledgement, however Lord Cain couldn’t take the ache anymore.

“Please… I… lied!” Lord Cain cried out as he desperately tried to interrupt out of the grasp of the knight holding him down.

“They’re slaves! I purchased them! Please simply let me go!”

Claire held up her palm and the knights moved away from the nobleman who collapsed on the ground whereas moaning in ache.

“I consider that slavery has been outlawed within the empire and it’s forbidden to affiliate with the overseas races,” Claire whispered softly.

The paladin unsheathed her longsword and approached the fallen nobleman.

The chilly metal of her blade gleamed underneath the dim lighting within the cellar.

There was no hesitation in her actions as she introduced her sword to Lord Cain’s neck. One push can be sufficient to separate his head from his physique.

Clearly the governor felt the shadow of the grim reaper loom earlier than him, so he seemed up at Claire and pleaded for his life.

“You can’t kill me… these… these are the enemies of humanity! I’m merely delivering justice for all those that misplaced their lives within the battle towards these creatures,” Lord Cain yelled fervently.

“As God as my witness, I’ve devoted my whole life to the church. Every thing that I’ve accomplished is in his identify!”

“My life’s work… all the things… I’ve… it’s all for God’s everlasting glory!”

The tone of his voice grew to become extra assured as he continued to speak about his contributions to the Varion Church.

Donations, manpower, tax exemptions…

However none of it mattered to the paladin standing earlier than him.

The white-hot rage that bubbled up inside Claire’s physique got here from Sui Li herself. As an individual from a contemporary society, she knew precisely what was happening.

This disgusting piece of trash was utilizing faith to justify his sickening actions.

Hiding behind a protect of morality and righteousness to commit evil. Sui Li hated hypocrites and liars probably the most.

The Lord of Gentle had granted humanity his energy, however his teachings clearly said that his energy needs to be used to guard moderately than to destroy.

It was forbidden for his believers to hurt the harmless… no matter their race or species.

“Your life’s work…” Claire paused for a second and allowed hope to return to Lord Cain’s eyes earlier than she completed the sentence.

“Would sicken him.”

She swung her sword and beheaded the governor. His headless corpse crashed to the bottom immobile.

His face nonetheless had an expression of shock as if in his closing moments he couldn’t consider that he would die by the hands of a paladin.

“By the authority granted to me by the pope. I proclaim Lord Cain as responsible for his ties to darkish magic,” Claire spoke coldly.

The knights within the room positioned one arm throughout their chest and nodded at her phrases. They had been fully disgusted by the governor’s actions.

Claire was the chief of this inquisition, and her instructions had been absolute.

As for what to do with the darkish elf prisoners… honestly Claire was undecided what to do with them.

Possibly she ought to discuss to Elisa and Father Amos earlier than deciding on the following step.