Isekai, Go Home! An Anti-Isekai, Isekai Fantasy Inquisition Quest

Introduction I - Protagonist & Case Selection

Hrsy

Well-known member
Isekai, Go Home! An Anti-Isekai, Isekai Fantasy Inquisition Quest


"This world is not your playground anymore".


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The Most Controversial Quest on Spacebattles, 9 out of 10 Moderators Hate it!
Warning: the setting includes discussed content that may be considered offensive, and as such many of its threadmarks will have to go through content review to ensure compliance with the rules. This includes topics such as religious persecution, war crimes, rape, abuse, racism, sketchy anime tropes, fanservice, slavery and anything else you will often find in Isekai light novels.

Note: This is a cross-post of an extremely controversial quest from Spacebattles. It is currently also being hosted on QQ (which was established as a back-up prior to my discovering of this website), and so it means votes are being shared between the two websites. The main Spacebattles Quest is currently shutdown and has been for over a month now and may never return. If it does, it will mean a triple cross-post. To aid in this complex situation, I will keep voters up to date on what the other 2 websites do on their voting... also, due to the differences in rules between the 3 websites (particularly QQ), I will either censor or alter plans that may lead to any kind of action or reaction that would break the rules of the other two websites - this is obviously somewhat difficult, but I have been somewhat forced into this situation by the extreme paranoia of the SB moderating staff.

Due to this being a transplant from SB (This is a less censored varient of the original SB version, but more censored than the QQ version, for obvious reasons), many of the threadmarks have already been voted on. All pre-existing votes (including the very early ones from the SV days) are still valid, as such I will post a whole lot of threadmarks and loreposts before anyone can start voting.


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These were the great words said by the first Lord Inquisitor and our founder, Toma Tormadeus, on the day that the infamous Isekai, Katsuro the Destroyer was finally slain and the world saved from his attempt to destroy it and slay the gods. This was ninety seven years ago. Since then, the formation of the Inquisition has ensured the everlasting confidence of Tormadeus' words. We hunt Isekais. The entities from the beyond, flooding through the "Isekai Storms" or "Isekai Waves" are from the Eldritch Plane only known as "Ja'Paan", passing through a hideous fortress called "Aki'Haabar'a", a place ruled by a council of 48 Eldritch Archfiends, these false idols each as vile as the other.

We protect the people. It is through us that the people whose bodies are enslaved to the Isekai's will are freed. Through exorcism, we expunge the leech from within, freeing the imprisoned soul. It is this sacred work that reunites families, friends and lost loved ones from the insidious taint of the Isekai.

We smite the wicked. Those who would abuse our people, prey on our youth, conquer our lands or desecrate our gods will find us watching, ever-persistent, tracking them down with any clue or piece of evidence at our disposal, if it means chasing down fugitives or exposing infiltrators and imposters from within - we will destroy the Isekai.

We punish the traitors. Those who would consort with the forces of darkness will know no relief. The Yankeevine Empire stands as the greatest and most terrible of these treacherous forces. They are a heathen empire to the north that worships Isekais, performing dark rituals to wilfully and deliberately have Isekais possess their own children. Four hundred years ago, they waged war and conquered much of the world using the technologies given to them by their founder, Joseph Yankee, their First Emperor. Their treachery has cost this world dearly, and it is only slowly through great crusades and alliances with the other nations of the world that we have beaten them back, slowly, to their homelands in the wretched north. We can not stray from our holy task, given to us by The Gods themselves ninety seven years ago. we must destroy the isekai.

We are an avenging blade of a world beset across millennia by otherworldly invaders and imperialists, kidnappers, bodysnatchers, rapists and murderers who treat our world as their personal paradise. We are The Holy Inquisition of The Church, and until the day that the last Isekai is thrown out from our world, cast back into the Eldritch swamps they come from…

...They should always expect us.

-------------------------------------------------
The above were the words you heard when you joined The Inquisition of The Church. When you joined, they were searching for someone who could be a hunter, an investigator, detective and assassin. Your tasks are as much martial in nature as they are cerebral, and so you were to be a warrior too. You needed to be. Your foes, otherworldly beings possess skills, powers and knowledge beyond anything you or your kin have ever known. They bring technology beyond anything even magic can do in the form of strange shining handheld boxes and other contraptions. They have access to their own and others statistics - the holy numbers that define everything from your health to your moral alignment in the eyes of the gods. When they charge powers beyond anything your own kin could achieve, unworldly music plays around them, as though an eldritch orchestra has decided to provide them their own personal fanfare.

The Inquisition needed someone who could challenge the Isekai. Your superior officer, Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman, believes you are even capable of leading her taskforce onto the field itself. She believes strongly enough to consider appointing someone like...

[ ] The Guard
A magical automaton known to the Isekai enemy as an "NPC", you spawned ninety seven years ago to battle Katsuro the Destroyer, and now with your task completed and aimless, joined the Inquisition to stop crime wherever you see it. As a Guard, you possess inhuman powers and even temporary invulnerability (while in cities and having witnessed a crime) and are immortal, but as an artificial construct you were born without any emotion and so have only slowly learned from mortals, and you often lapse into speaking in tongues, sentences that are prescript to all guards... Have you heard of the high elves?

[ ] The Squire
A young boy who's village was attacked by an Isekai known as "The Succubus Isekai", a rare female variant of the Incubi (An Isekai that preys on preteen girls they refer to as "Lolis"). Your mother was killed and father and sister kidnapped in a magical trance. This traumatic experience activated a dormant trait within you, "Child of Destiny" - a hero with intense forces of fate and destiny shielding you from misfortune and guiding your hunt for vengeance. Speaking to His Holiness the Pope, the old man inferred to you that you were "The destined protagonist" the world needed to save it from a coming Isekai Wave.

[ X ] The White Priestess (This was chosen)
A young graduate of The Academy of Light. While meek and idealistic, you are a genius prodigy of magic. You befriended Mechtelt Vrooman when you were both academy students training to become priestesses, and while Mechtelt shielded you from aristocratic bullies who were jealous of the interest of various noble boys held in you (for seemingly no reason, as you were rather busy with your studies), she also would often rant about the evils of the Isekais, and so she convinced you to learn the arts of exorcism and telepathy, so you may aide children and other possessed innocents in freeing themselves from their body snatchers.

[ ] The Paternal Hunter
You do not actually work for the Inquisition officially, but crossed paths with them on the mutual hunt for a common foe - The Snatcher Isekai. You despise this Isekai, for he is the bastard currently possessing the body of your little girl, and so you have hunted this Isekai every day since the day he stole her. Long before working alongside The Inquisition, you were a knight and hunter, tasked with hunting down Demihuman separatists - so hunting Isekais are nothing new to you.

[ ] The Reclaimed
You were once an Isekai. A street-urchin who looked into a funny pitch-black hole in an alley wall that wasn't there moments before, you became trapped and imprisoned within your own mind. The Isekai, a man who called himself "Akio Takahashi" stole your body, your friends, your life. You watched helplessly for over a decade until one day in his moment of weakness, you stole it back, and had the body Exorcised by The Church. Now, some years later and having been employed as a vengeful Holy Assassin of The Church and more recently The Inquisition... you can still hear the distant echoes of that man inside your head.

[ ] Write-In
The secret world of The Inquisition is deep and grim for anyone who dares wade into it. Perhaps you are a Demihuman who left the ethnic wars of the Middle Kingdoms? A Chimeric Demon who joined The Church at a chance for salvation or hope to control your demonic impulses? A bounty hunter? an old former crusader? A shadowy priest trained in the arts of torture and interrogation? There are many who serve The Church in its war against The Isekais.

And so, Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman, your immediate superior, has sent you on a 'pilot' of sorts, a mission to test you. This case you have pursued for some time now, and is nearing its completion. This case you have found yourself in must be...

[ ] The Snatcher Isekai
You are hunting the personal arch-nemesis of The Paternal Hunter, who is the father of The Snatcher Isekai's possessed body. You are either the hunter himself or are someone else aiding in this hunt. So far - we know that this Isekai is a man. He is significantly older than other isekais, who are often adolescents, and possesses an enormous intellect and cunning that has led this chase to be far longer than the average hunt for an Isekai. This man, even in the body of a preteen girl, is extremely dangerous and we believe he is rapidly developing magical powers and finding allies to aid him in his escape. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will capture this beast (bonus: Failure to catch the Isekai will not damage your reputation, as the Inquisition does not expect you to succeed, also additional bonus to rolls and cohesion from Paternal Hunter as a team member)

[ X ] The Pied Piper Isekai (this was chosen)
You are hunting an infamous Incubi-type Isekai. The Pied Piper. The Incubi prey on children, particularly preteen girls they Isekai call "Lolis" in their hideous language. This particular Incubi has a pattern of behaviour where they prey on small villages and hamlets, steal the village children via powerful mental and illusion powers and hide in a cave. After between a few weeks to months, they disappear - most of the time this cave was found by the natives, where the children were alive but traumatized. In a few other cases... they were found much later, having starved to death. The Incubi we believe does not have a possessed form, and instead should be recognisable by his (or if a Succubi, her) alien features reminiscent to those descendants of Isekais born in the Yankeevine Empire. Dark hair, dark eyes, other peculiar yet seemingly human features.

[ ] The Charlatan Goddess Isekai
You are hunting a heretic, of sorts. A girl, claiming to be the Goddess Iyuta, the Creator Pantheon's Goddess of Hearth, Home and Crops. While we do not actually know if she is an Isekai, it is strongly suspected that she is due to the inconsistences in her stories about being an Avatar of Iyuta, and actual documented knowledge about Iyuta. The investigation so far has revealed that she has been defrauding villagers of their funds, food and alcohol while masquerading as this deity, and seems to deliberately target villages without strong clerical presence, likely so her con is easier. With this insight, we believe we can significantly narrow down her next likely target. That said... there are risks involved in this case, such as the possibility she is not actually an isekai, but rather just an ordinary con-artist with poor understanding of this world despite living in it... or, on opposite extreme, she may actually be a very drunk avatar of The Goddess Iyuta.
 
Character Sheet and Team Building Selection
Character Sheets of Note

Inquisitorial Agents


The White Priestess - Lijsbet Visser
The White Priestess

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Name: Lijsbet Visser
Title: The White Priestess (confirmed by The Church's 'Lesser Appraisal')
Sex: Female
Age: 18 Years Old
Level: 40
Classes: Lvl 40 Priestess (First ascension)
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Second affinity undiscovered)

Race & Origin: Human. You were born to unknown human parents, and left in a basket before a church's steps in the town you grew up in, Furholj, a small trading town in the Kingdom of Astem. The priests of the church took you in and raised you amongst their monastic order. Your surname, Visser, was invented for you by a nun after watching you attempt to 'fish' in a nearby stream as a young child. Your time in the priests care was pleasant, and somewhat luckily, being raised by priests gave you access to a level of education that most peasant/yeomen humans would not have access to, and so these priests educating you in letters and basic numbers discovered a precocious genius and magical gift hidden in your young mind and empty background. With that, you were sent off to the Academy of Light, an elite magical academy sponsored partially by The Church, which permits them to send magically gifted commoners to learn amongst scions of the aristocracy in exchange for service to The Church after graduation. Initially isolated in the Academy, you eventually found a friend in the companionship of one Mechtelt Vrooman, another young priestess training to become an Inquisitor. While you always found Mechtelt to be somewhat intimidating, scary even, she protected you from bullying by the other nobles, leading to your gratitude. Now, some years later, you intend to join her to repay her guidance and protection and help save people from evil. The Church, initially reluctant to see such a young and bright soul leave for such a grim and hope-destroying career first protested and wished to see you become a more benign figure to pay your service, but higher-up officials eventually approved the move upon noticing your particular talents. At the cusp of adulthood, you joined The Inquisition.

Archenemy: You don't yet have a particular Isekai you would call your personal nemesis. As a recent graduate from the Academy of Light, the worst of your foes have been aristocratic mean girls stealing your shoes, and even then, you did not actually hate them, as your intense empathy reading and telepathic powers revealed to you many of their own insecurities and worries. That said, your at times intense discussions (mostly one-way) on ideals and politics by your friend Mechtelt has led you to have a particular dislike of Isekais who possess the bodies of others against their will, which has partly led to your proficiency in exorcism, and the refining of your telepathy and other mental magics, subjects you took outside the normal curriculum of healing, anti-demonic, anti-plague and other priestly spells. These powers are what has made you the Isekai-hunting prodigy you are today… and it is likely with them, you will eventually find an Isekai to be your nemesis, or otherwise they shall find you.

Alignment:
Lawful Good (Assessment provided by Eyes of Divine Alignment and made known to you via The Church. You don't talk about it much, as you don't really like to brag about your 'official alignment' as if it was some sort of trophy)

Core Attributes:
Level:
40 (First ascension achieved)
HP: 1000
MP: 3500

Strength: 8 (Below Average)
Perception: 21 (High Proficiency)
Dexterity: 16 (Above Average)
Constitution: 10 (Average)
Intelligence: 24 (High Proficiency)
Willpower: 14 (Above Average)
Charisma: 17 (Proficient)
Destiny: 14 (Above Average)

Skills
Light Priest-Holy Light / Smite (Above Average)
Priest-Purge Undead (Average)
Priest-Purge Demon (Average)
Priest-Minor Heal (Proficient)
Priest-Greater Heal (Above Average)
Priest-Sense Disease (Above Average)
Priest-Cure Disease (Average)
Priest-Sense Poison (High Proficiency)
Priest-Cure Poison (Proficient)
Priest-Dispel Curse (Above Average)
-Empath Skill: Passive Empathy (High Proficiency)
-Empath Skill: Auras (Proficient)
-Telepathy: Minor Telepathy (Proficient)
-Telepathy: Mental Dive (Average)
-Exorcism: Isekai (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Theory of Exorcism (Highly Proficient)
-Knowledge: Magical Theory & Holy Statistics (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Above Average)

Investigative Ability: While highly inexperienced in actual investigation works - theoretically, you are highly talented, having shown extremely high academic ability, creativity and critical thinking skills in education. If your prodigal intellect were given proper training, you may very well become a master of detective work, and as a highly empathetic individual who can magically feel the emotions of others, you are likely to be capable of persuasive elements of this work as well. The greatest flaw to your investigative abilities is your personality - you are meek and well-meaning, preferring to let things slide and appeal to others' better natures, even if it puts you at great odds or is a search for something that isn't there.

Faith: High (Faction: Heterodox. You hold peculiar views about The Church's dictates, however you are not considered a threat due to officials chalking this up to youth and naivety that shall fade in time)

Inquisitorial Statements (Provided by Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman): I must immediately provide a full disclosure of my conflict of interest. Lijsbet Visser is a close friend of mine who I met in our mutual studies at the Academy of Light. While of course I support and confirm all the recommendation statements of The Council, I am clearly not an unbiased observer of these things and therefore any decision on her being made Adjutant-Inquisitor must rest on the collective wisdom of the Clerical Council or one of my Inquisitorial peers.

Clerical Council (Oversight by His Holiness, the Cardinal Rosche) Recommendations: We have discovered that the recent graduate Lijsbet Visser of the Academy of Light has shown interest in working with the Inquisition as part of her mandatory church service. Our inspections of her character and abilities have shown exceptional - even extraordinary ability. Her understanding is above most of her peers, as is her aptitude for magic, exorcism rituals and mental interrogation work, as well as a firm commitment to the virtues and laws that the divine in heaven would certainly find commendable. We are confident that with this theoretical base, a firm hand guiding her path to experience should lead to a fine future Inquisitor. We confirm Lijsbet Visser's position as Adjutant-Inquisitor.

Special Trait (non-racial): Magical Prodigy: You are a significant outlier in terms of intellect and magical capacity and speed of experiential gain. Not only is your mana capacity significantly higher than normal, but your ability to learn magical skills is far faster than normal, and includes competency even in highly difficult magical fields that few others can master, such as exorcism and telepathy. (Halves the learning time of new spells and magic-related skills within the ranges of common to advanced. Those above advanced have learning time reduced by a quarter)

Special Trait (Non-racial): Empathic Sensory: You were born with a high awareness of emotions, and with the development of your magic in the Academy of Light alongside telepathy, you can now physically see emotions. Auras and miasmas of colours emanating not only from people but powerful emotions lingering over objects and places. A powerful tool of investigation and persuasion - this power comes at a cost: your career will likely be leading you into places and confrontations with people from the worst that the world has to offer. Drowning in the emotions of misery, despair, hatred, sadism and perverse lusts is likely to take its toll on your health eventually. (Special options and interactions, particularly in the Investigation Stage)

Special Trait/Flaw (Non-racial): Otome Attractor: For some reason completely beyond your understanding, young men - particularly wealthy and handsome young men, inexplicably become smitten with you, more often than not. This becomes almost unavoidable when within institutions such as academies. While normally this would be endearing to many a teenage to young adult girl pursuing such things, you are attempting to become an Inquisitor and are not interested in marriage or necessarily romance, let alone partaking in some strange polyandrous harem with men you barely know. That said, while very annoying - perhaps there may come a time when this strange phenomena may become useful for you.
The Reclaimed

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Name: Enguerrand Baudelaire
Title: The Reclaimed (was listed as such on his dossier)
Sex: Male
Age: 25 Years Old
Level: 68
Classes: Lvl 50 Rogue (first asc) Level 18 Assassin (second asc)
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem (Originally Kingdom of Tourine)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Time

Race & Origin: Reclaimed Human - What you know of Baudelaire without in-depth talking with him is what Vrooman informed you about him when she handed you your first dossier of agents. Baudelaire was once a street urchin, born in the dark alleyways of the Baudelaire district, from where his name derives, of Tour, the capital city of the Kingdom of Tourinia - a neighbouring kingdom of the your own homeland, the Kingdom of Astem.

You know that he was once possessed by an Isekai, prior to his service to The Church. He has not discussed his past with you, but Vrooman informed you that he was possessed as a child, and only through sheer force of will was he able to retake control of his body during his Isekai possessor's moment of greatest weakness, and from there was able to alert The Church of his Isekai possessed status, and so had himself exorcised. Vrooman did not give you specifics about his employment after his exorcism, however strongly hinted that he was employed as an assassin of some sorts working for a certain agency of The Church closely linked to The Inquisition, and from there he was sent from that agency to The Inquisition and eventually service to you.

Baudelaire I: You discovered that Baudelaire likes cats. You caught him feeding a stray cat once, and while he did not reveal much, he mentioned in passing that he once had a pet cat when he was a street urchin, before he was possessed. It is possibly the only time you have ever seen him smile.
Baudelaire II: LOCKED
Baudelaire III: LOCKED
Baudelaire IV: LOCKED
Baudelaire V: LOCKED
Baudelaire VI: LOCKED
Baudelaire VII: LOCKED
Baudelaire VIII: LOCKED
Baudelaire IX: LOCKED
Baudelaire X: LOCKED

Archenemy: ???

Alignment: ???

Strength: 15 (Above Average) - Toned, capable of throwing knives at significant distances with ease.
Perception: 21 (High Proficiency) - Experienced investigator and tracker.
Dexterity: 22 (High Proficiency) - Highly talented and trained assassin.
Constitution: 11 (Average) - Would be higher, but damaged due to UNKNOWN REASONS
Intelligence: 17 (Proficient) - Fairly intelligent, learns new things quickly, adaptive.
Willpower: 25 (Master) - Able to overthrow control of an Isekai possessing him without external aid. Mastery of his own soul, highly courageous.
Charisma: 8 (Below Average) - Once plucky street-rat, his formative years destroyed by possession and later trauma, religious fanaticism and murderous work - he is polite but unnerving and awkward.
Destiny: 8 (Below Average) - Cast aside by destiny and ignored by the Myth Arc, his destiny is only his by clawing its remnants back.

Agent Speciality: Assassination, Lone-wolf operations, espionage, ranged single attacks.

Skills
-Knives and Daggers (High Proficiency)
-Crossbows (Proficient)
-Throwing Knives (High Proficiency)
-Firearms (Proficient)
-Threat Conceal (Proficient)
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Stealth (High Proficiency)
-Sleight of Hand (High Proficiency)
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Precision - Daggers (High Proficiency)
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Technique - Assassination (High Proficiency)
-
Temporal (Magic): Time Dilation (Below Average)
-Temporal (Magic): Flash (Above Average)
-Illusion (Magic): Elusive Self (Above Average)
-Sense Poison (High Proficiency)
-Knowledge: Poison Creation (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Potions (Average)
-Knowledge: Theory of Exorcism (Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Survival (High Proficiency)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tourish (Average)
-Knowledge: Isekai - Japan and Earth Lore (Incapable)
-Skill: Acrobatics (Proficient)
-Skill: Lockpicking (Proficient)
-Skill: Trap Setting (Above Average)
-Skill: Trap Disarming (Above Average)
-Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
-Skill: Pickpocket (Master)
-Skill: Cryptography (High Proficiency)
-
Skill: Foreign Language - Tourish (Proficient)
-Skill: Foreign Language - Japanese (Incompetent)
-Resistance: Possession - Isekai (Master)
-Resistance: Possession - Demonic (Above Average)

Investigative Ability: A very skilled detective, his work as an assassin employed by The Church and now The Inquisition has honed his skills in finding, tracking down, and killing targets. Highly observant, he can ascertain clues and connect disparate information creatively and rationally, and have a decent understanding of the human mind to detect lies and manipulation - though he is quite blunt and not the best persuader, and often has his perceptions of others shaded by his own cynicism and biases. Of less said note, He is also skilled at tracking down targets alone, as he did in the past, and so does not necessarily need the taskforce, and can work independently of your commands if needed.

Faith: ??? (Faction: Ultra-Orthodox)
Loyalty (To Lijsbet Visser): ??? (Unknown)


Special Trait/Flaw: Ghost of Isekai (Akio Takahashi): While the Isekai was purged from Baudelaire's mind by The Church's exorcism rite, tendrils of his influence still remain, as they do for all Reclaimed. At times you have caught him whispering to himself, having strange conversations with himself. You once asked what this was, alarmed that he was still possessed, however he explained to you that it is a symptom of some Reclaimed, they have strong sensations and memories connected to their possession, and sometimes repeat old inner monologues. He once invited you to telepathically observe what he calls "The Council Room", a strange mental space, closed off from the world where empty chairs sit around a table, a room he claimed he was forced to watch for many years as different versions of the Isekai talked to himself. Baudelaire has at times also shown bizarre knowledge and experiences, including speaking certain phrases in the strange language of the Isekais.
The Elf Sorceress
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Name: Lyeneru Asara Okaavailnases
Title (actual): The Elf Sorceress (was listed as such on her dossier)
Sex: Female
Age: 798 Years Old
Level: 97
Classes: Lvl 50 Mage (first asc) Level 47 Sorceress (second asc) Level 0 Seer (Grand asc)
Nationality: Realm of the Okaaliecceadan
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Water, Air

Race & Origin: Elf - While forgetful and distracted, Lyeneru has been a pleasant and forthright person enough for you, and has confirmed and even elaborated upon information provided to you about herself in the dossier Mechtelt gave you. She confirmed that she is nearly eight centuries old, although numerous times she has accidentally gotten her own age wrong and needed to be corrected.

She is from the prominent Okaavailnases family, a lineage of very powerful elven sorcerers and scholars from the Realm of the Okalieccea, a distant elven kingdom to the north-east in the Middle Kingdoms. Her family descend from a cadet branch of the royal Okaavannvaris Dynasty some millennia ago, however are not landed nobility due to their dynasty founder, Prince Okaavailnases, renouncing his titles and succession to retreat into research as a hermit. This information is a matter of public record, and you confirmed it when you checked to make sure.

Lyneru herself has explained that in her centuries of lifetime she has taken on a number of professions, ranging from a herbalist, potion-mistress, adventurer, court tutor and a seeress. She also briefly worked as a librarian and even as a chef, the last of which became a matter of interest when you revealed to her your own interest in baking. She did not go into much detail about her time as an adventurer as it seemed to be a sore topic, however Mechtelt’s dossier claims that she has taken part in numerous wars throughout the Millennia, including the Myth Wars against the Fallen God Sarut and the Demon Empire, the Okalieccean-Warren Spider War, and even the War in Heaven against the infamous Katsuro the Destroyer. Not reported in the dossier but briefly mentioned by Lyeneru was also her supposed involvement in the Yankeevine Civil War… the implications being that she once fought alongside an Isekai-aligned faction against another.

When asked why she joined the Inquisition, she explained that she had no one else to turn to, as her Tiara of Laaeshan, which protected her mind from the effects of the Fade of Epoch, had been stolen by an Isekai known as the “Heist Isekai”.

The Inquisition were initially hesitant to permit her to join, as she is not actually a member of the Union Church of the East, which the Inquisition serves, however her skills, past history as an adventurer and her faith’s relative similarity (the Laaeshan Cult worships the Creator Pantheon like our own church, but focuses on Laaeshan at its core).

Okaa I: Lyneru suffers from periodic bouts of forgetfulness, clumsiness and severe loss of direction, and needs to be supervised so that she does not become lost. These episodes are particularly pronounced because when not under the effect of the Fade of the Epoch, Lyneru is highly erudite, well-mannered and even graceful.
Okaa II: LOCKED
Okaa III: LOCKED
Okaa IV: LOCKED
Okaa V: LOCKED
Okaa VI: LOCKED
Okaa VII: LOCKED
Okaa VIII: LOCKED
Okaa IX: LOCKED
Okaa X: LOCKED

Archenemy: The Heist Isekai, who stole her Tiara of Laaeshan. The Heist Isekai is infamous across the continent for his enormous list of theft-related crimes, ranging from serial and widespread petty theft, grand larceny and organised heists of some of the most valuable objects in the world. He is also known to be an infamous adulterer and womaniser, and is particularly infamous for his theft of women’s lingerie, which he is known to steal while they are still wearing them. Unsurprisingly, The Heist Isekai is one of the listed top ten most wanted in the world, with an enormous bounty on his head, so is hunted by more than just inquisitors.

Alignment: ???

Strength: 11 (Average) - Her strength is normal for an Elven lady, it make have been greater when she was an adventurer, but that was centuries ago.
Perception: 16 (Above Average) - Beware, for this perception attribute was taken when she was her normal self... her perception while under the affliction of the Fade of the Epoch is... much lower.
Dexterity: 7 (Below Average) - hindered by The Fade, causing her significant misery in the form of disorientation and clumsiness.
Constitution: 12 (Average) - Her constitution and stamina are average, if a bit better than normal due to her profession.
Intelligence: 22 (High Proficiency) - Highly intelligent and with extensive wisdom, knowledge and experience. She has lived for centuries and has much to share.
Willpower: 18 (Proficient) - To rage against one's slow and cruel end by the whims of the Fade of the Epoch is a remarkable thing.
Charisma: 17 (Proficient) - Lyneru is a wise counsel and teacher, who has taught nobles and royalty the ways of magic, and has a certain grace and compassion in her words... when she isn't forgetting what she said.
Destiny: 18 (Proficient) - Lyneru's place in the annuals of history while not centre stage are extensive. She has witnessed and participated in some of the most important events of the last millennia.

Agent Speciality: Crowd Control, Large-scale warfare, potion making, massive damage


Skills
-Mage-Channel Mana (Highly Proficient)
-Mage-Mana Bolt (Proficient)
-Mage-Mana Barrier [Self] (Above Average)
-Mage-Mana Barrier [Endow] (Above Average)
-Mage-Lesser Enchantment (Above Average)
-Mage-Rapid Evocation (Highly Proficient)
-Mage-Inventory [False] (Average)
-Mage-Mana Burst (Above Average)
-Mage-Lesser Levitate [Endow] (Proficient)
-Air Mage-Air Bubble (Highly Proficient)
-Air Mage-Wind Gash (Highly Proficient)
-Water Mage-Water Ball (Highly Proficient)
-Water Mage-Frost Bolt (Proficient)
-Sorcerer-Mana Prism [Self] (Above Average)
-Sorcerer-Mana Bomb (Above Average)
-Sorcerer-Multicast (Proficient)
-Sorcerer-Dispel Simple Geas (Above Average)
-Sorcerer-Dispel Lesser Enchantment (Above Average)
-Air/Water Mage-Spark Lightning (Highly Proficient)
-Water Sorcerer - Blizzard (Proficient)
-Air/Water Sorcerer-Thunder strike (Proficient)
-Air/Water Sorcerer-Chain Lightning (Proficient)
-Air/Water Sorcerer-Chains of Flowing Thunder (Proficient)
-Air/Water Sorcerer-Great Storm (Proficient)
-Water Sorcerer-Maelstrom (Above Average)
-Skill: Wordless Casting (Highly Proficient)
-Knowledge: Potions (Highly Proficient)
-Knowledge: Prophecy and Clairvoyance (Highly Proficient)
-Knowledge: Geas, Bindings & Slave Crests (Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Average)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture – Okalieceadean Elvish (High Proficiency)
-
Skill: Foreign Language – Okalieceadean Elvish (High Proficiency)

Investigative Ability: While Lyneru is highly intelligent and possesses wisdom from across the centuries, she is crippled by her bouts and episodes caused by the Fade of the Epoch, and in general has severe issues with observation, concentration and dexterity. She can easily become lost in a simple village without supervision, so cannot be expected to track an opponent. For all intents and purposes, while she is an awe-inspiring sorceress at her best, she is no more competent an Inquisitor than old Mother Gran from your church where you were raised.

Faith: Average (Faction: Heathen. While Lyeneru technically is a member of Pantheon’s faithful due to her worship of the Goddess of Nature, Laaeshan as well as the God of Magic, Knowledge and Secrets, Wisp alongside other Creator Pantheon deities popular amongst the elves, the Elvish temples tend to follow their own unique interpretations of these deities and prioritise their worship over the accepted canon of the Creator Churches as recognised in the Kingdom of Astem. Lyeneru as such is technically speaking beyond the factional confines of The Church and can be considered a disinterested bystander)

Loyalty (To Lijsbet Visser): ??? (Unknown)


Special Flaw: Fade of the Epoch (Mental Degeneration): Lyneru suffers from an illness common amongst the very long-living races who are at the twilight years of their life; the Fade of the Epoch, or simply The Fade. Lyneru’s skills and XP degrade overtime, at a rate that without significant levelling, results in her levels going down rather than up. She has already completely lost access to her Grand Ascension abilities, such as her powers of prophecy. She has lapses in memory, hand-eye coordination and sense of direction - even clumsiness. This Fade that takes her slowly is what drives her to desperation in hunting down the Heist Isekai, who stole her Tiara of Laaeshan that once protected her from the Fade.
The Guard

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(The Guard, here taking off its helm, revealing its true face - another helmet. Not seen is its "Holy Shield that shall Endure All Injustices")

Name: The Guard
Title (actual): The Guard (?)
Sex: Male?
Age: 97 Years Old
Level: Unknown
Classes: Unknown (Ascensions: Unknown)
Nationality: Stateless (Technically Kingdom of Astem)
Elemental Affinity: Unknown


Race & Origin: Guard - You know him as one of the Guards, which are less a race and more an artificial construct, an automaton. Guards have long been legendary figures across the world as solemn and stern figures spawned miraculously within populated cities bereft by crime, often in proximity to Churches and Shrines dedicated to Sentinel, the god of Law and Justice. The Guards you have seen in your life often just stand stationary or patrol in simple, linear patterns awaiting crime to come upon them. All who have seen a Guard come upon a criminal knows this: If they witness a crime within a city, they will become temporarily invulnerable, a destroyer of evil smiting all criminals in their wake.

The Guard however… This Guard is different. He, or it, it was still confusing, When the Inquisitor Mechtelt gave you responsibility over The Guard, she told you that The Guard did not spawn in a city of mortal men, but high in The Heavens, born to confront and battle Katsuro The Destroyer himself during his criminal deicide in the War In Heaven, ending 97 years ago. You do not know what happened there or after, but The Guard is said to have first appeared around Asterdondum in the Kingdom of Astem shortly after Katsuro’s defeat. Strangely, The Guard is not restricted to a single place and walks wherever he pleases. So long as where he walks is to confront evil and injustice, he seems to be content to follow wherever you go.

Guard I: LOCKED
Guard II: LOCKED
Guard III: LOCKED
Guard IV: LOCKED
Guard V: LOCKED
Guard VI: LOCKED
Guard VII: LOCKED
Guard VIII: LOCKED
Guard IX: LOCKED
Guard X: LOCKED

Archenemy: ???

Alignment: Lawful Guard (Alignment cannot be confirmed by Appraisal or Sight of Divine Alignment, so The Inquisition has labelled The Guard as “Lawful Guard”, based on studies performed on the comparable Botmen, who have been appraised as “Lawful Guard”)

Strength: 20 (Proficient?)
Perception: 15 (Above Average?)
Dexterity: 14 (Above Average?)
Constitution: 30 (Near Divine?)
Intelligence: 14 (Above Average?)
Willpower: 25 (Heroic?)
Charisma: 6 (Below Average?)
Destiny: 15 (Above Average?)
(all approximate due to Appraisal not working on The Guard)


Agent Speciality: Urban combat, criminals, inhospitable environments, counter-mental powers, attrition

Skills (Appraisal does not work on The Guard, as such this list of skills is based on a theoretical list provided by Mechtelt combined with your own observations. Notably, The Guard's skills break the Class system)
-Greatswords (Proficient?)
-Shields (Proficient?)
-Knight - Cripple (Proficient?)
-Knight - Rebuke (Proficient?)
-Knight - Trample (Proficient?)
-Knight - Mordhau (Proficient?)
-Knight - Throw Shield (Proficient?)
-Knight - Riposte (Proficient?)
-Hunter - Farsight (Proficient?)
-Warrior - Challenge (Proficient?)
-Warrior - Rush (Proficient?)
-Warrior - Encumbered Might (Proficient?)
-Warrior - Overpower (Proficient?)
-Priest - Purge Undead (Proficient?)
-Priest - Purge Demon (Proficient?)
-Guard Skill: Civil Invulnerability (Master)
-Guard Skill: NPC Teleportation (Master)
-Guard Skill: Dialogue Stun (Master)
-Guard Skill: Guard Synergy (Master)
-Knowledge: Agriculture & Botany (Below Average?)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Proficient?)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Below Average?)
-Resistance: Possession - Isekai (Omnipotent)
-Resistance: Possession - Demonic (Omnipotent)
-Resistance: Elemental - Fire (Proficient)
-Resistance: Elemental - Water (Proficient)
-Resistance: Elemental - Air (Proficient)
-Resistance: Elemental - Earth (Proficient)
-Resistance: Elemental - Mind (Divine)
-Skill: Foreign Language - Binary (Proficient?)

Investigative Ability: On one hand, the Guard possesses mighty tracking abilities, honed over a near-century of hunting down and vanquishing Isekais and other criminals and enemies of the world. The Guard may have an almost instinctive understanding of the movements of criminals and where they may try to hide or run, and in close proximity to him their movements are almost pre-cognitively understood. Small clues and things out of place are recognised and remembered by this automaton in significant detail, and its mind, while not the most creative, is also highly logical, so while more esoteric answers may not necessarily come with ease, sound and rational ones will. On the other hand however, The Guard has very little understanding of emotions and the complexities of the mortal mind and language. For this reason, while he is great at intimidating those into the truth, the complexities of persuasion, manipulation and social intelligence are certainly not within his areas of strength.

Faith: ??? (Faction: ???)

Special Trait: Invincible Guard: The Guard may become temporarily invulnerable, like any Guard, so long as it witnesses a criminal act while within a ‘populated settlement’, being a place of civilization with at least two or more souls calling it home. This invulnerability is total - it is questionable if even a god could strike The Guard down in this state. There are, however, conditions and exceptions or this otherwise awe-striking power. Firstly, as the requirements suggest, it will not activate in “wilderness”, even if a criminal act is witnessed. Secondly, a criminal who is witnessed must be continuously observed, and if unobserved for long enough, the power will dissipate and must be reactivated by witnessing another criminal act. Thirdly, this power requires all Guards to proclaim “The Holy Sentences'', that demands that a criminal pay a fine and serve his sentence, or ‘pay with his blood’ - in essence, a criminal can wilfully surrender to arrest, in which case a Guard cannot kill the criminal, even in invulnerability. The demand to pay a fine is compulsive, even in criminals acts that do not warrant the payment of a fine, which sometimes leads to confusion from criminal.

Special Flaw: Non-Player Character. Detached from the rest of mortality. The Guard’s emotions as with all Guards are deeply stunted, and in fact were born without any at all - only slowly developing something akin to them in the proximity of mortals. The Guard has poor understanding of the mortal soul and its trials, and often reverts back to speaking in scripted, oft-repeated sentences to compensate for its confusion and isolation. Have you heard of the High Elves?
The Squire Hero

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Name: Griffin Braam
Title (actual): Squire Hero
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male
Age: 15 Years Old
Level: 5
Classes: Lvl 3 Knight (first asc) Level 1 Paladin (second asc), Lvl 1 Hero (grand asc)
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Undiscovered affinity)

Race & Origin: Human - Of those listed in the dossier that Mechtelt gave you, most were people you had not heard of before your becoming an Inquisitor. There was however an exception. Griffin Braam. You did not know him by name, actually, but you had heard that a new Child of Destiny had been discovered in south-western Astem and sent to speak with His Holiness The Pope himself. You had never expected that you would eventually become his new boss, not in all the ages known to man. From what was listed, Braam witnessed the death and kidnapping of his family a decade ago, and this haunting experience revealed to him and the world his dormant Child of Destiny trait… and moreso, his magnificent destiny as a Legendary Hero-to-be.

Compared to him, you should merely be but a transient presence within the Myth Arc, a mere girl gifted with magic. Despite your lacking destiny, you have been given this great chance to mould and aid the future Protagonist of this World in achieving his quest.

On the other hand though… Braam is just a kid, even less experienced than you are. His levels are atrocious, even if he has already unlocked his Grand Ascension (or perhaps because of it). It would not surprise you that once Braam levelled up enough, he would move on to far more important purposes. Until then though, supervising someone so intrinsically bound to the fate of the world is now partly your responsibility.

Braam I: Your observations of Braam so far have shown you insight into why people hope for Children of Destiny. Braam, despite his tragic past, seems to maintain a compassionate view of the world and uphold balancing ideals of justice and mercy that few others with his background would hold. You are not even sure that you would be like he is, if you were in his place.
Braam II: LOCKED
Braam III: LOCKED
Braam IV: LOCKED
Braam V: LOCKED
Braam VI: LOCKED
Braam VII: LOCKED
Braam VIII: LOCKED
Braam IX: LOCKED
Braam X: LOCKED


Archenemy: Griffin Braam is determined to one day hunt down an entity known on the Inquisitorial Bulletin as the “Succubi Isekai”. Braam has not told you all too much about his encounter with her, but your research into the creature reveals her to be a kind of highly aggressive female Incubi, a Succubus Isekai. From the records you investigated, the Succubi Isekai attacked numerous villages in the Kingdom of Astem over a decade ago, and have since disappeared, those kidnapped by her vanishing with her and presumed dead. The case has long gone cold.

Alignment: Neutral Good (openly disclosed, confirmed by Mechtelt as part of his meeting with His Holiness The Pope)

Strength: 16 (Above Average)
Perception: 14 (Above Average)
Dexterity: 13 (Above Average)
Constitution: 13 (Above Average)
Intelligence: 13 (Above Average)
Willpower: 17 (Proficient)
Charisma: 14 (Above Average)
Destiny: 29 (Near-Divine) - Although he still has a long way to go to fulfil his calling, he is the literal Protagonist of the Myth Arc, aided by forces even above the Gods Themselves.


Agent Speciality: Evil Alignment Enemies, Impossible/Suicide Missions, Counter-Ambush, Attrition

Skills
-Swords (Above Average)
-Shields (Average)
-Knight - Fortify (Average)
-Knight - Cripple (Average)
-Paladin - Consecration (Below Average)
-Paladin - Sense Undead (Below Average)
-Paladin - Sense Demon (Incompetent)
-Hero - Divine Favour (Average)
-Hero - Fall, Goliath (Below Average)
-Hero - Summon: Heroic Weapon (Incompetent)
-Hero - Excalibur (Incompetent)
-Knowledge: Agriculture & Botany (Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Below Average)
-
Skill: Foreign Language - Okalieceadean Elvish (Below Average)

Investigative Ability: Griffin Braam is to be honest not the best investigator. Eager to learn with the flexibility of youth, and has a well-enough mind to do the job, but in the end he is a young and hormonal teenager driven more by a combination of romantic idealism and desire to avenge his family than any professional desire to become an Inquisitor. That said, his status as a Child of Destiny provides him one particular advantage: he has a knack of chancing upon clues and information, and often has found himself at the right (or wrong) place and the right (or wrong) time. In more mundane areas, he has undergone some training and has learned basic skills such as how to question someone professionally, how to recognise human tracks, and very basic forensics - however he will likely need to rely on his companions and his Inquisitor superior to teach him the trade.

Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Moderate)

Inquisitorial Statements (Provided by Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman): While I understand and respect the recommendations of The Council, I cannot in good conscience support this action. The boy, Griffin Braam, is highly inexperienced in the ways of the Inquisition. Perhaps one day he will have the aptitude to become an Inquisitorial Agent, but as of now he is too tied up with the very same heroic destiny that has placed him on this recommendation, and has not achieved the correct skills in observation and investigation to perform his tasks - hunting Isekais is more than to merely best them in battle. In further remarks - My own youth should not be used against me in this regard, I proved my right to leadership in the Academy of Light, which the boy has never attended.

Clerical Council (Oversight by His Holiness, the Cardinal Rosche) Recommendations: Griffin Braam is a Child of Destiny, born with the prophesied Grand Ascension of The Hero. His Holiness the Pope himself has witnessed this, so his destiny cannot be ignored. This boy shall be the prophesied saviour of our world, The Protagonist. The limitations of his youth and levels should not be placed against him - you yourself, Inquisitor Vrooman, were appointed at an exceptionally young age, and started working with us at an age even younger than the young Braam is now. It is, in our collective opinion, that this young child MUST become an agent of the Inquisition. You will not deny us this request.

Special Trait (non-racial): Child of Destiny: Braam you are fully aware was born as a prophesied child, a child with abnormally high Destiny, a characteristic defined by the winds of fate and destiny bending around oneself, or one’s relation to the Myth Arc, the great story that connects all peoples of this world. Children of Destiny often appear either in times preceding great strife, or in times following the accumulation of great tyranny and oppression, and are focal points of either The Gods or the Myth Arc’s attempt to correct a great wrong. Braam, so long as he is within your employment, will attract all sorts of events of great significance and troubles, but will also shield you or at least himself from the mundane risks and uncertainties of normal life. Braam shall never fall down a flight of stairs and break his neck, but he may very well accidentally become the central figure of an international conspiracy. Strange occurrences will also likely come forth from Braam himself. Visions, episodes, as the strings of fate bend and weave around him. As a signifying mark of the Child of Destiny, Braam has already unlocked his final Grand Ascension, the Hero Grand Class.
The Exiled Villainess
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Name: Alizea du Arceneaux
Title (Actual): The Exiled Villainess
Position: Inquisitorial Agent / Bandit-Captain of the Red Dragons Gang
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Level: 62
Classes: Lvl 25 Warrior, Lvl 25 Rogue (first asc), lvl 12 Brigand (second mix asc)
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Kingdom of Tourine
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Water


Race & Origin: Reclaimed Human - What you understand of Alizea du Arceneaux is that she is a former Tourish noble lady. From what you know of the House of Arceneaux and Alizea's downfall, she was once betrothed to a Tourish noble who was much older and given to alcoholism and adultery. Perhaps.. perhaps because of the stress caused by this, Alizea was made vulnerable, and so was taken by a past Isekai storm, a Storm if you remember, was widespread and caused much of the waters of the region to turn black and strange objects to rain from the sky. The Isekai spirit possessing her, made aware of her betrothal, fled during the same storm that brought them to this world.

You do not know precisely what Alizea did while under the control of her possessor, but it was criminal enough in nature that when she came into Inquisitor Vrooman's service, Vrooman was told that Alizea was to be considered a 'penal' of sorts, who's service to the Holy Church was a waiver on her criminal acts. The implication of this waiver suggests that, while you do not fully understand the circumstances, Alizea was exorcised and continued the criminal career that her possessor had established.

While you are uncertain what exactly Alizea did and continued to do while both possessed and freed, she is still considered a leading figure in an organisation known as the "Red Dragons", which you have heard vaguely as a large scale criminal enterprise that functions through South Perdegem's "City of Chains". For all intents and purposes, Alizea du Arceneaux is a rogue in the truest sense of the word. To learn more of the history of Alizea, you will most likely have to search yourself - or perhaps inquire with your own superior, Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman.


Alizea I: Despite her title, Alizea is unlike any “Villainess” you have ever encountered. Her face – especially her eyes – speaks of the hard and eventful life she has led.
Alizea II: LOCKED
Alizea III: LOCKED
Alizea IV: LOCKED
Alizea V: LOCKED
Alizea VI: LOCKED
Alizea VII: LOCKED
Alizea VIII: LOCKED
Alizea IX: LOCKED
Alizea X: LOCKED

Archenemy: UNKNOWN
Alignment: UNKNOWN

Strength: 13
Perception: 17
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 15
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 18
Charisma: 13 - Although she grew up as a proper noblewoman and educated in the social graces of high society, a life of crime hardly provides many opportunities to practice these, and her hard life has made her snarky and rather bitter.
Destiny: 12

Skills
-Swordsmanship (Proficient)
-Firearms (Above Average)
-Unarmed Combat (Above Average)
-Rogue: Backstab (Proficient)
-Rogue: Stealth (Above Average)
-Rogue: Sleight of Hand (Above Average)
-Rogue: Precision (Average)
-Rogue (Darkness): Shifting Strike (Above Average)
-Rogue (Darkness): Mark with Bad Omen (Average)
-Rogue (Water): Ice Shiv (Above Average)
-Rogue (Water): Frost Surface (Average)
-Warrior: Taunt (Proficient)
-Warrior: Desperado (High Proficiency)
-Warrior: Flurry (Proficient)
-Warrior: Bleed (Above Average)
-Warrior: Rush (Proficient)
-Warrior (Water): Blood-Draining Bleed (Average)
-Warrior (Darkness): Shroud Blade (Above Average)
-Warrior (Darkness): Corrupted Blade (Above Average)
-Brigand: Sabotage Gear (Above Average)
-Brigand: Disarming Strike (Average)
-Brigand: Combat Loot (Average)
-Brigand: Combat Equip (Average)
-Knowledge: Survival (High Proficiency)
-Knowledge: Sailing (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Criminal Operations and Connections (High Proficiency)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tourish (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Sarutish (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Tripartine (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Isekai - Earth Lore, Japan (Incapable)
-Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
-Skill: Seduction (Average)
-Foreign Language: Tourish (Proficient)
-Foreign Language: Sarutish (Proficient)
-Foreign Language: Tripartine (Above Average)
-Foreign Language: Demihuman - Gehinnese, Pygmalian, and Tripartite dialects (Average)

Agent Specialty: Criminal Connections, Stealth, Infiltration and Recovery, Kidnapping, Escape
Weapons: Rapier, pistols, dagger

Investigative Ability: Alizea du Arceneaux is experienced in investigation in an interesting manner - she is experienced in avoiding and countering those trying to track or capture her, and through this, has a general understanding of how investigation and pursuits go. She knows quite well the instincts and decision making of criminals and fugitives, herself having been and technically still being one. She has contacts in the criminal underworld, knows common hiding places for those not wishing to be found and ways to make oneself disappear... and reappear.

Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Unknown)

Special Trait/Flaw: Ghost of Isekai (Sakai Honaka): No Reclaimed are ever fully free of their possessor. Not truly. The echoed whispers of an Isekai's ghost is with Alizea still.
The Con-Artist
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Name: Theodore Roosevelt Lincoln
Title (Actual): The Con Artist
Position: Inquisitorial Agent, Spy
Sex: Male
Age: 18 years old
Level: 40
Classes: Level 40 Bard
Nationality: Yankeevine Empire
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Air, ??? (Undiscovered Affinity)


Race & Origin: Human (Needless) - You understand that Theodore, or Theo, is a defector from the Yankeevine Empire, who now provides information to the Inquisition and Astemmian Intelligence. His reasons for defection are not known to you, however if you had to guess - you would assume it had to do with the fact that he is a Needless, a social underclass consisting of failed Symbiotes, or those who were supposed to become Isekai Hosts.

Theodore possesses knowledge and uncommon insight into the foreign and at times alien culture and norms of the Yankeevine Empire, a nation that very often is at odds with the Inquisition due to its nature of being a pro-Isekai nation founded by and often led by Isekais itself. You are aware that he is a skilled actor, performer and has significant control of glamour magic... however while you have yet to see it, you have been informed by Vrooman that his most extraordinary contribution to the Inquisition is his possession of an "Isekai Black Box", the strange rectangular box that Isekais sometimes bring with them to our world. How he came into possession of this rare and oft sort-after thing, you have no clue.

Theodore I: Theodore’s emotional aura is oddly muted for such a happy-go-lucky young man; you suspect much of his expression and emotions are merely another performance.
Theodore II: LOCKED
Theodore III: LOCKED
Theodore IV: LOCKED
Theodore V: LOCKED
Theodore VI: LOCKED
Theodore VII: LOCKED
Theodore VIII: LOCKED
Theodore IX: LOCKED
Theodore X: LOCKED

Archenemy: Unknown
Alignment: Unknown

Strength: 13 - Theodore is the first to admit that the Inquisition hires him for his acting skills, not his combat skills.
Perception: 20 - A master of body language who can read others extraordinarily well.
Dexterity: 14 - Quick of mind and nearly as quick of body, especially when in danger.
Constitution: 14 - No stranger to hard labour if it’s required of him. After all, most artists must have a “day job” in order to get by.
Intelligence: 16 - Uneducated but clever, is able to come up with plans and adjust them on the fly most of the time.
Willpower: 8 - Much of Theodore’s original personality and will were broken in order to make him a suitable vessel for possession.
Charisma: 19 - Considers himself the life of the party, and he’s mostly correct. Very witty, and skilled at getting others to trust him.
Destiny: 11 - Always the comic relief sidekick, never the protagonist.

Skills
-Bard: Glamour (Highly Proficient)
-Bard: Buff of Strength (Average)
-Bard: Buff of Rest (Average)
-Bard: Cutting Words (Proficient)
-Bard: Lesser Mimicry (Above Average)
-Bard: Form Alter-Ego (Highly Proficient)
-Bard: Convenient Distraction (Proficient)
-Bard: Channel Persona (Highly Proficient)
-Bard (Air): Dramatic Wind (Above Average)
-Bard (Air): Buff of Favourable Wind (Average)
-Bard (Air): Amplified Air (Average)
-Knowledge: Foreign Politics and Culture - Yankeevine (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Outer Pantheon Theology (Average)
-Knowledge: Body Language (Proficient)
-Skill: Isekai - Smartphone/Black Box Usage (Below Average)
-Skill: Musical Instruments (Proficient)
-Skill: Performance, Drama and Theatrics (High Proficiency)
-Foreign Language: Yankee (High Proficiency)
-Foreign Language: Yankee - Arben dialect (High Proficiency)
-Foreign Language: Japanese (Below Average)

Investigative Ability: Theodore is no detective, but like any Bard worth his salt, is clever and extraordinarily skilled at improvisation when the occasion calls for it. Combined with his ability to use glamour, it's no surprise that he is often involved in sting operations.
Agent Specialty: Spycraft, Impersonation

Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Heterodox)

Special Trait: Isekai Black-Box Possession: Theodore has in his possession an Isekai Black Box, a strange object made of white and black material with a strange black (or, in his case, pink) leather-like wrapping around it and a carved symbol of an apple in it. He has figured out the boxes strange numbered code to gain access to its magical interior, however has little understanding of its actual functions. One of the few magical powers of the Black Box he has discovered, is by tapping his finger on one of the magical squares, he can gain access to a magical relay that informs him when other Black Boxes are nearby.
The Vagrant Waif
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Name: Unknown (Able to shift her name to whatever she wants in Appraisal; the name she gives is almost certainly an alias)
Title (Actual): N/A (Able to shift her title to whatever she wants. “Wholesome Tanuki”, “Waifish Vagrant”, etc)
Position: “Friendly Demihuman”/Inquisition Informant
Sex: Female
Age: 14 years old
Level: 70
Classes: Lvl 50 Hunter, Level 20 Ranger
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Elemental Affinity: Light, Air?

Race & Origin: Demihuman - All investigative agencies require spies, honeypots, and informants. For this work, the Inquisition has Yasmijn. The ultimate liar, deceiver and obfuscator, at least according to Mechtelt, she can alter her stats, attributes, titles, affinity, and skills in Appraisals, create false memories against Mental Dives, alter her emotional aura to whatever she wants, defeat the Baseline Test, and can even think false thoughts against telepathy at will. She claims that she joined the Inquisition after her sister was kidnapped by an Isekai for his "nekomimi loli harem," but this statement is, of course, nearly impossible to verify.

Yasmijn I: You tested both telepathy and empathy on her, and are almost completely certain that what you observed was entirely fabricated. You are quite willing, on that alone, to give credence to Mechtelt’s claims to her being the ultimate deceiver.
Yasmijn II:
Yasmijn III:
Yasmijn IV:
Yasmijn V:
Yasmijn VI:
Yasmijn VII:
Yasmijn VIII:
Yasmijn IX:
Yasmijn X:

Archenemy:
Unknown
Alignment: Lawful Good?

Strength: 10
Perception: 16
Dexterity: 18
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 13
Charisma: 20
Destiny: 10

Skills:
Weapon: Crossbows (Above Average)
Hunter: Lesser Sense Danger (Proficient)
Hunter: Sense Threat (Proficient)
Hunter: Hunter’s Hatred - Isekais (High Proficiency)
Hunter: Stealth (Proficient)
Hunter: Lesser Fleet of Foot (Proficient)
Hunter: Animal Whisperer (Average)
Hunter: Pinning Shot (Average)
Hunter: Set Trap (Proficient)
Hunter (Light): Invisible Light (Above Average)
Hunter (Darkness): Curse of Unlucky Shot (Proficient)
Hunter (Darkness): Horrifying Instincts (Proficient)
Hunter (Darkness): Sense Vulnerable Innocent (Proficient)
Ranger: Greater Fleet of Foot (Above Average)
Ranger: Resilience to the Elements (Average)
Ranger: Lesser Exploit Vulnerability: Pattern and Habit (High Proficiency)
Ranger: Uncanny Precision (Above Average)
Ranger: Set Multi-Layered Trap (Above Average)
Ranger: Endure Hunger (Proficient)
Ranger: Endure Sleep (Proficient)
Ranger (Darkness): Savage Trap (Above Average)
Ranger (Darkness): Flay Skin (Above Average)
Ranger (Darkness): Eyes of the Predatorial Monster (High Proficiency)
-Knowledge: Survival (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Body Language (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Demihuman Customs (Proficient)
-Language: Demihuman - Astemmian and Tripartine dialects (Proficient)
-Skill: Trap Setting (Proficient)
-Skill: Trap Disarming (Proficient)
-Skill: Forgery (Proficient)
-Skill: Pickpocket (Average)
-Skill: Cryptography (Above Average)
-Skill: Performance, Drama and Theatrics (High Proficiency)
-Resistance: Telepathy (Unknown)
-Resistance: Empathy (Unknown)
-???: Statistics Aberration (Master)

Investigative Ability: Although she is no detective, she is perceptive, observant, a good tracker, and most importantly – is extraordinarily skilled in using her wholesome appearance to convince others to trust her, even confess their crimes to her.
Weapons: crossbow
Agent Specialty: Stealth, Spycraft, Honeypot, Counter-Espionage

Faith: UNKNOWN (Faction: Unknown)
 
Case Files
CASE FILES

A record of Adjutant-Visser's past & ongoing cases as a member of this Holy Order of the Church.


~~~

CASE ONE: THE PIED PIPER ISEKAI - HUNTING A PREDATOR

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Revealed Isekai Information:
-True Name:
Iwasaki Kota
-True Title: The Pied Piper (Inquisitorial Bulletin was correct)
-Affinities: Unknown
-Alignment: Unknown
-Levels: Unknown (Classes believed to be Bard and Mage for First Ascension, and Siren for Second Ascension)
-Isekai Sub-category: Incubi (Confirmed)

Starting Requisition Balance: 10,000
Upfront Requisition Given: 450 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc for 9 days)
Reward for Completion: 2000 + 200 (Bonus for Full Completion)
Fringe Rewards: Official promotion to rank of Adjutant-Inquisitor, Any loot from the Isekai (conditional), personal gifts from villagers (conditional)
Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Level Toshizo (Intermediate)
Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders.
Progress: Completed

Summary: Child kidnapper that used magical, possibly attractor-trait based mental manipulation / brainwashing. Hid in cave with caged children. Was discovered to use rat familiars as spies and minions, also blackmailed parents of the children in villages to mislead and obstruct the Inquisition. Possessed a Charisma Hat artefact, a possible but unconfirmed Isekai Cheat Skill.

Result: Subject purged with exorcism, leaving purged Isekai to be sent to a Iyutan monastery. Children were recovered without any deaths. Village collaborators were charged with the crime of High Weebery, however Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser applied a less severe punishment equivalent to Low Weebery due to exonerating circumstances. No agent casualties.

Ending Requisition Balance: 12,200

CASE TWO: NO OTOME GAME - APPRAISAL AT THE ACADEMY OF LIGHT

Starting Requisition Balance:
12,200
Upfront Requisition Given: 100 2 days)
Reward for Completion: 1500
Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Low (Inu - Kazuma)
Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission granted by the Headmaster Gerardus Barlaeus of the Academy of Light for routine inspection..
Progress: Ongoing

Summary: The Inquisition's head of Isekai Studies, Pietar van Averink, has requested an Inquisitor to help him in researching a new category of Novel Isekai known as the "Fujo", a kind of Isekai he claims possesses young and beautiful aristocratic women to steal their lives. This research was approved to coincide with a routine appraisal of the Academy of Light's student body, as the Inquisition is preparing for the arrival of an Isekai Storm, and wish to have updated profiles, so they may more easily spot Isekai possessors after the storm. The study did not consider the possibility that there are already Isekai among us.

Process and Complications:
-Averink has a rival scholar, Mr Viponde of Tour, who purports that the Fujo Isekai is not interested in stealing an Isekai's life and enthralling handsome men as a reverse-harem around herself, but instead of twisting the minds of men so they will sleep with each other. He claims a "Rotten Girl Attractor" exists.
-You had one of your agents, Theodore, take on the false, glamour-induced form of a Demon Lord, so to better help in the investigation.
-The intended Appraiser Teunissijn was ill, so sent his apprentice, Appraiser Lotte instead.
-The Yankeevine Ambassador was loitering around the Academy front gate, officially stating that he had a planned guided tour, however you suspect he had ulterior motives.
-A student approached you and seemed to have given you something akin to an impromptu prophecy. You remember it as spoken "The third door you seek. It is hidden to you, and guarded, guarded by terrible shadows. If you move too hastily without the keys to the third door… the two doors lead only to the deepest abyss. Your hands will be stained in blood." and "You will only find the peace you seek if you find the key.". The meaning of this you cannot be certain.

Result: Ongoing
-You discovered that the Yankeevine Ambassador was an Isekai and most likely possessed some kind of Harem Attractor which he used to harass your agents. You left him to his own devices, content to report him later so to avoid causing an incident.
-The Countess-in-waiting Justitia possesses a form of Mental Training to resist telepathy as well as unlady-like hobbies at odds with an Astemmian aristocrat.
-You discovered that Marchioness-in-waiting Rosemarijn de Lievens held repressed hatred towards the Second Princess.
-The Minister of Education, Count Hendrik van Zottezen, appeared to interfere with the Second Princess' appraisal, claiming state secrets.
-Second Princess of Astem, Circe de Meer under suspicion due to her appraisal and behaviour, and so put in the centre of the investigation.
-The Second Princess felt intense fear upon seeing agent Theodore, who at the time was in a glamour-induced Demon disguise.
-You decide to carry out the investigation of the Second Princess regardless of the risk due to moral, pragmatic, duty and risk reasons.
-Your agent, Theodore, used his stolen "Isekai Black Box" and its "Friendar" feature to search for other Isekai Black Boxes in the school. None were found.

-You had Averink investigate the Academy's headmaster for being possibly compromised.
-Templar Nacissa van Luttefmont-Furholjan was successfully bribed with 500 gold shields and promises of glory to aide in the investigation of the Second Princess.
-You noticed a demon student and daughter of the Demon Empire's Ambassador to Astem, Azaze och Behelial, was undergoing soul-starvation during appraisal. You were able to convince the demon to eat healthily but in a way that is legal.
-You gained the divine favour of Nephemem, the Archdemoness of Pride, for your aide in helping Azaze.
-Your agent, Alizea, approved of her handling of the Azaze issue.
-Rosemarijn claims that the Second Princess was behind numerous acts and scandals that would make her the enemy of numerous people, other than herself, and has opened up plots against her.

-Rosemarijn claims that the Second Princess was betrothed to the Demon Prince following the "Indecent Trio" incident, and that she was raised specifically to have a temperament attractive to the Demons.
-The Second Princess is claimed by others to now associate with the same group of four boys who all used to be under the influence of Visser's own Otome Attractor when she was a student at the Academy. These claims suggest they are her 'harem'. If this is true, she is undergoing adulterous relations with foreign princes, one of which is already betrothed.
-Averink reports that the Headmaster claims that the Education Minister forced his way in, and was not his doing.
-Nacissa agrees that the Second Princess is not herself, and agrees to work with you.

-Interviews suggest that the Second Princess started changing shortly after "The Incident" that you and Mechtelt caused with the Princess last year.
-The Second Princess has seemingly abandoned all of her previous friends, following "The Incident".
-The Second Princess was claimed to once have been eager to be married off and have children with the Demon Prince, even being 'infatuated' with him, but is no longer.
-The Second Princess has seemingly taken on many new activities, such as gardening and sword-practice, and has abandoned others, such as bullying.
-The Second Princess has been claimed to have once had views of demons bordering on the 'fetishistic', but no longer.
-The Second Princess has been claimed to have once had negative views of demihumans and monstrines, using ethnic slurs to describe them, but no longer.

-The Second Princess removed her maids from the academy shortly before the appraisal, except one. Supposedly for Privacy reasons.
-The Second Princess' previous guard of honour, Sir Lindert de Wijlen, may be exiled to a Templar border fort in the north, and who's disappearance was shortly after "The Incident".
-Nacissa informs you that the Second Princess has been taking Silphium from Lisanne van Woolfen to maintain her activities discretion and avoid bastards... despite the fact that the Princess' new appraisal showed she was no longer taking any.
-You discover an individual, Marquise-in-waiting Quintijn van Schooten and former paramour of the Princess, is strangely immune to your Otome Attractor, despite meeting the criteria for it. He showed signs of interest in both men and women, however bisexual men should be affected by the Attractor... but he is not.
-the Second Princess is claimed to have a poor relationship with her elder sister, the First Princess Cicilia de Meer.
-The Four paramours not only have the Second Princess' sudden interest, but are now interested in her, despite previous claims they disliked her significantly.
-the Second Princess previously had relationship values in line with Ishtar and the Demon Empire, including their views on couplings of the same sex.
-the Second Princess is described by those who more recently know her as 'kind, compassionate' and 'free-spirited'.
-The Maid's leaving the academy was ordered by the Head Maid, Miss Verity.
-Prince Ludomir of Neu-Alaynia admits to being in a relationship with the Second Princess.



Ending Requisition Balance: n/a
 
Introduction II - Character Sheet and Team Building Selection
[X] The White Priestess
[X] The Pied Piper Isekai


You are Lisjbet Visser, the White Priestess - and as of quite recently, Adjutant-Inquisitor under Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman, a fellow classmate of yours when you both attended the Academy of Light. While it is quite difficult for a non-Isekai to see their own statistics without powerful Appraisal skills, you have had the help of The Inquisition and your friend, Mechtelt Vrooman, who have done so for you.

The White Priestess


- The White Priestess

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Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser in her typical Inquisitorial dress, drawn by author Armchair_Genera1 (With original sketch by Beta/Editor, MP. Note: I am Armchair_Genera1 on Spacebattles.)



Name: Lijsbet Visser
Title: The White Priestess (confirmed by The Church's 'Lesser Appraisal')
Sex: Female
Age: 18 Years Old
Classes: Lvl 40 Priestess (First ascension)
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Second affinity undiscovered)

Race & Origin: Human. You were born to unknown human parents, and left in a basket before a church's steps in the town you grew up in, Furholj, a small trading town in the Kingdom of Astem. The priests of the church took you in and raised you amongst their monastic order. Your surname, Visser, was invented for you by a nun after watching you attempt to 'fish' in a nearby stream as a young child. Your time in the priests care was pleasant, and somewhat luckily, being raised by priests gave you access to a level of education that most peasant/yeomen humans would not have access to, and so these priests educating you in letters and basic numbers discovered a precocious genius and magical gift hidden in your young mind and empty background. With that, you were sent off to the Academy of Light, an elite magical academy sponsored partially by The Church, which permits them to send magically gifted commoners to learn amongst scions of the aristocracy in exchange for service to The Church after graduation. Initially isolated in the Academy, you eventually found a friend in the companionship of one Mechtelt Vrooman, another young priestess training to become an Inquisitor. While you always found Mechtelt to be somewhat intimidating, scary even, she protected you from bullying by the other nobles, leading to your gratitude. Now, some years later, you intend to join her to repay her guidance and protection and help save people from evil. The Church, initially reluctant to see such a young and bright soul leave for such a grim and hope-destroying career first protested and wished to see you become a more benign figure to pay your service, but higher-up officials eventually approved the move upon noticing your particular talents. At the cusp of adulthood, you joined The Inquisition.

Archenemy: You don't yet have a particular Isekai you would call your personal nemesis. As a recent graduate from the Academy of Light, the worst of your foes have been aristocratic mean girls stealing your shoes, and even then, you did not actually hate them, as your intense empathy reading and telepathic powers revealed to you many of their own insecurities and worries. That said, your at times intense discussions (mostly one-way) on ideals and politics by your friend Mechtelt has led you to have a particular dislike of Isekais who possess the bodies of others against their will, which has partly led to your proficiency in exorcism, and the refining of your telepathy and other mental magics, subjects you took outside the normal curriculum of healing, anti-demonic, anti-plague and other priestly spells. These powers are what has made you the Isekai-hunting prodigy you are today… and it is likely with them, you will eventually find an Isekai to be your nemesis, or otherwise they shall find you.

Alignment:
Lawful Good (Assessment provided by Appraisal and made known to you via The Church. You don't talk about it much, as you don't really like to brag about your 'official alignment' as if it was some sort of trophy)

Strength: 8 (Below Average)
Perception: 21 (High Proficiency)
Dexterity: 16 (Above Average)
Constitution: 10 (Average)
Intelligence: 24 (High Proficiency)
Willpower: 14 (Above Average)
Charisma: 17 (Proficient)
Destiny: 14 (Above Average)

Skills
-
Holy Light / Smite (Above Average)
-Purge Undead (Average)
-Purge Demon (Average)
-Minor Heal (Proficient)
-Greater Heal (Above Average)
-Sense Disease (Above Average)
-Cure Disease (Average)
-Sense Poison (High Proficiency)
-Cure Poison (Proficient)
-Dispel Curse (Above Average)
-Empath: Passive (High Proficiency)
-Empath: Auras (Proficient)
-Minor Telepathy (Proficient)
-Telepathy: Mental Dive (Average)
-Exorcism: Isekai (Proficient)
-Knowledge: Theory of Exorcism (Highly Proficient)
-Knowledge: Magical Theory & Holy Statistics (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Pantheon Theology (Above Average)
-Knowledge: Creator Church Traditions and Lore (Above Average)

Investigative Ability: While highly inexperienced in actual investigation works - theoretically, you are highly talented, having shown extremely high academic ability, creativity and critical thinking skills in education. If your prodigal intellect were given proper training, you may very well become a master of detective work, and as a highly empathetic individual who can magically feel the emotions of others, you are likely to be capable of persuasive elements of this work as well. The greatest flaw to your investigative abilities is your personality - you are meek and well-meaning, preferring to let things slide and appeal to others' better natures, even if it puts you at great odds or is a search for something that isn't there.

Faith: High (Faction: Heterodox. You hold peculiar views about The Church's dictates, however you are not considered a threat due to officials chalking this up to youth and naivety that shall fade in time)

Inquisitorial Statements (Provided by Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman): I must immediately provide a full disclosure of my conflict of interest. Lijsbet Visser is a close friend of mine who I met in our mutual studies at the Academy of Light. While of course I support and confirm all the recommendation statements of The Council, I am clearly not an unbiased observer of these things and therefore any decision on her being made Adjutant-Inquisitor must rest on the collective wisdom of the Clerical Council or one of my Inquisitorial peers.

Clerical Council (Oversight by His Holiness, the Cardinal Rosche) Recommendations: We have discovered that the recent graduate Lijsbet Visser of the Academy of Light has shown interest in working with the Inquisition as part of her mandatory church service. Our inspections of her character and abilities have shown exceptional - even extraordinary ability. Her understanding is above most of her peers, as is her aptitude for magic, exorcism rituals and mental interrogation work, as well as a firm commitment to the virtues and laws that the divine in heaven would certainly find commendable. We are confident that with this theoretical base, a firm hand guiding her path to experience should lead to a fine future Inquisitor. We confirm Lijsbet Visser's position as Adjutant-Inquisitor.

Special Trait (non-racial): Magical Prodigy: You are a significant outlier in terms of intellect and magical capacity and speed of experiential gain. Not only is your mana capacity significantly higher than normal, but your ability to learn magical skills is far faster than normal, and includes competency even in highly difficult magical fields that few others can master, such as exorcism and telepathy. (Halves the learning time of new spells and magic-related skills within the ranges of common to advanced. Those above advanced have learning time reduced by a quarter)

Special Trait (Non-racial): Empathic Sensory: You were born with a high awareness of emotions, and with the development of your magic in the Academy of Light alongside telepathy, you can now physically see emotions. Auras and miasmas of colours emanating not only from people but powerful emotions lingering over objects and places. A powerful tool of investigation and persuasion - this power comes at a cost: your career will likely be leading you into places and confrontations with people from the worst that the world has to offer. Drowning in the emotions of misery, despair, hatred, sadism and perverse lusts is likely to take its toll on your health eventually. (Special options and interactions, particularly in the Investigation Stage)

Special Trait/Flaw (Non-Racial): Otome Attractor: For some reason completely beyond your understanding, young men - particularly wealthy and handsome young men, inexplicably become smitten with you, more often than not. This becomes almost unavoidable when within institutions such as academies. While normally this would be endearing to many a teenage to young adult girl pursuing such things, you are attempting to become an Inquisitor and are not interested in marriage or necessarily romance, let alone partaking in some strange polyandrous harem with men you barely know. That said, while very annoying - perhaps there may come a time when this strange phenomena may become useful for you.

Unlikely Goodwill (Divine Favour: Nephemem, Archdemonness of Pride): For aiding Azaze och Behelial overcome her Soul Starvation problem during the No Otome Game Case (Case II), the Archdemoness of Pride, Nephemem, a deity of the foreign Demon Pantheon, has shown you some divine favour in a manner that suggests something vaguely akin to "I owe you one".


Teambuilding and Requisition

In Isekai Go Home!, your team is vital to your survival. A single Isekai, even one recently summoned or possessed, can slay numerous men and women by themselves with their strange music blaring out of the aether as they go. For this reason, an Inquisitor or Adjutant-Inquisitor's capacity to build a cohesive and effective team is paramount to not only victory… but survival. Not matter how goofy and even comical as these Isekais may seem - they will kill you if you let your guard down. For this reason, the Inquisition works on a strict requirement of always working in teams of a minimum of five, and these teams are, somewhat ironically, heavily based on the patterns observed in the Isekai's own party forming tendencies. The Holy Trifecta of Cover, Caster and Cure - or, as Isekais refer to them: Tank, "Deepee Ess" and Healer.

For each Case, you will be provided the opportunity to change out your current team for new members. You can also increase your team size with new members at a significant cost of the resource simply called "Requisition", being the bureaucratic priority your team has in The Inquisition for resources, money and manpower. It should be advised that different Cases will require different team members and some team members will have skills and abilities uniquely appropriate or inappropriate for that Case - this includes the investigative, tracking and apprehending stages of The Case. For this reason, it is wise to keep an eye on these things. For this mission, your Inquisitor, Mechtelt Vrooman, has covered your resource needs and so you pay no Requisition at all, and as you are very new to leadership, you are not particularly aware of the capabilities of your team mates yet.


CASE ONE: THE PIED PIPER ISEKAI - HUNTING A PREDATOR

Requisition Balance:
10,000
Upfront Requisition Given: 450 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc for 9 days)
Reward for Completion: 2000 + 200 (Bonus for Full Completion)
Fringe Rewards: Official promotion to rank of Adjutant-Inquisitor, Any loot from the Isekai (conditional), personal gifts from villagers (conditional)
Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Level Toshizo (Intermediate)
Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders.
Progress: Tracking Phase (Nearing Completion)

Investigation Phase Notes:
-String of towns and villages with missing children found
-Talked with last villages's parents willing to talk, provided information where likely caves would be nearby.
-No evidence of struggle or fight, implication that ulterior means were used to kidnap children.
-Town guards are volunteer militia, they explain they were not present because of a bogus claim made by a child about a wolf attack at a nearby cottage. Child also disappeared shortly there-after (Possible clue?).
-Village elder willing to speak but had no useful information not already provided by villagers or militia.


Tracking Phase Notes:
-Some remaining footprints in mud from one of the villages that had rained a day before the kidnapping, suggesting a group of children and a single adult, footprint appears to be male, but not conclusive.
-Hunt in wilderness for likely caves lead to no useful leads or the location of the Pied Piper or the children. Known caves were all empty.
-Returned to last village hit for retracing of steps, possible renewing of investigation phase.
-Awaiting new actions...


Apprehending Phase Notes:
-N/A

The Team

Team Leader:
The White Priestess
Name: Lijsbet Visser
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 40
Classes: Priestess
Alignment: Lawful Good
Faction: Heterodox

Cover Specialist: (Pick 1. unless "none" for healer is selected, which allows a single additional caster OR cover specialist. Do not pick the same character twice or the vote will be nullified.)

[ ] The Guard
Name:
The Guard
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: N/A
Classes: N/A
Alignment: Lawful Guard
Faction: ??? (Unknown)

[ ][Cover] The Squire
Name:
Griffin Braam
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 5
Classes: Knight (first asc), Paladin (second asc), Hero (grand ascension)
Alignment: Neutral Good
Faction: Consensus/Moderate

[ ] The Crusader
Name:
Gilles de Oranje
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 50
Classes: Knight
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: ??? (Unknown)

Caster Specialist: (pick 2, unless "none" for healer is selected, which allows a single additional caster OR cover specialist)

[ ] The Reclaimed
Name:
Enguerrand Baudelaire
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 68
Classes: Rogue, Assassin
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: Ultraorthodox

[ ] The Paternal Hunter
Name:
Lambrecht De Jong
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 63
Classes: Knight/Hunter, Partisan
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: ??? (Unknown

[ ][Caster] The Squire
Name:
Griffin Braam
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 5
Classes: Knight, Paladin, Hero
Alignment: Neutral Good
Faction: Consensus/Moderate

[ ] The Elf Sorceress
Name:
Lyeneru Asara Okaavailnases
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 97
Classes: Mage, Sorceress, Seeress
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: Unaligned

Cure Specialist: (pick 1)

[ ] The Exalted Interrogator
Name:
Giachet Rossi
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 98
Classes: Priest, Shadow Priest
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: ??? (Unknown)

[ ] The Con-Man
Name:
Theodore Roosevelt Lincoln (Yankeevine)
Cost: 0 Requisition
Lvl: 40
Classes: Bard
Alignment: ??? (Unknown)
Faction: Heterodox

[ ] None
Cost:
0 Requisition (As Lijsbet is Team Leader and is a very capable Priestess herself, she can take on the role of the Cure/Healer specialist. If this is chosen, you may pick another Caster or Cover specialist instead)
Lvl: N/A
Classes: N/A
Alignment: N/A
Faction: N/A


============================

Plan Chosen (Note: this is a transplant from SB/SV, and this plan was created there by a voter from that website)

[X] Plan To Avoid The Flank, Double The Tank
-[X] Cover
--[X] The Guard
--[X] The Squire
-[X] Caster
--[X] The Reclaimed
--[X] The Elf Sorceress
-[X] Cure
--[X] None
 
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CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR I
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR I

[X] Plan To Avoid The Flank, Double The Tank

You survey the village again, for a lack of anything better to do. It was old and tired, like the people living within it. You could feel the intensity of their fear and sadness, and a few with just boiling anger. You have always been too empathetic for your own good, even as a child - but your training in the Academy of Light only honed this empathy to the point that you could now quite literally see it. The Auras. Misty colours passing through the air of blacks, greys and dark blues - the colours of misery and dread poured through the streets. They were flowing from the windows of crying mothers inside their homes, seeping beneath doors of the blacksmith as he banged away to hide his anxiety.

You could hear brief snippets of their thoughts. 'Have they found them yet?' one thought. 'I should go back to sleep…' another. You were not even concentrating on any of the villagers, but the collective worry was making it impossible to ignore.

You wanted to help them, really you did… but right now you were stumped. You had been in this village for some time now, trying to trace back your steps. This was the last village that the Pied Piper had passed through, taking many of the children with them. You read the emotions of the villagers and approached those who wished to talk to you - parents eager for their child's return. They led you out into the outcrops around the village and pointed you towards likely directions The Pied Piper left, informing you of known or likely caves… but all this had turned up nothing. You knew they were hiding out there somewhere, in that wilderness. But you needed more than that, not unless you could find a way to conscript an entire army to search for you.

You sigh. This is the first mission that Inquisitor Mechtelt has given you. And already you are having doubts. If she was doing this, the Pied Piper would have already been caught and the children saved, maybe the Isekai would have even revealed themselves and surrendered out of sheer terror upon knowing she was in the general vicinity… You still remember back in the academy, the seething fury of Mechtelt when she went on about what she was going to do to Isekais.

"Hmm, The body is still warm" The Guard murmured to itself in its distorted, deep, echo-like voice. It said this as it kneeled by a body slumped by a wall. It slowly poked the body in its inspection. Before you could tell the guard anything however, the body flailed.

"Aurgh!" the hobo yelled annoyed. "Get yer hands off me!".

This was, simply, The Guard. He, or well, it, didn't have a name. When you asked it for a name, it responded with "I am the guard". This was not the first time you have seen a guard in your life of course, you had seen some when you visited the capital but this was certainly the first time you have interacted with one. When it wasn't trying to intimidate people it suspected of pickpocketing or inspecting homeless people as recently murdered corpses… It was good to have around. Sort of like a puppy. The mental image of the giant armoured automaton formed from this almost caused you to laugh out loud, enough so that the Reclaimed man, Baudelaire, glanced at you questioningly.

You tried smiling, nervously, at him. He blinked, his face a stoic mask and shadowed under a black cowl. Mechtelt had told you a bit about his background, that he was once enslaved to an Isekai, that by sheer force of will he overthrew his possessor, that he was an assassin for The Church before joining you. He was a dangerous man, and his opinion of you mattered. The other team members, other than the elf, were members of The Inquisition too, sure, but they weren't really 'in it', so to speak. They were agents, specifically chosen to hunt down Isekais. Baudelaire, like you and Mechtelt, may as well have been born in The Church… but unlike you, he has killed for it. A lot. And, if Mechtelt was right (and she usually is)... Baudelaire had killed a lot more than just Isekais. Normal people too.

You are not stupid. You knew when you joined The Inquisition you would be entering a world of death. But still, to know you were working alongside professional murderers in these hunts, it was a scary wake up call.

Baudelaire nodded to you calmly, and then looked away - back to his own 'charge', if you could put it that way, the Elf Sorceress. When you'd originally devised your team, you figured it was a good idea to make sure the assassin was watching over and protecting the lithe, bespectacled sorceress who, you discovered, had an absurdly high level of ninety seven. Ninety seven! With someone like that, you thought, you could probably obliterate the Isekai in one flurry of spells.

Reality then started setting in, of course. The Pied Piper had a host of children held hostage - so you couldn't just have the Elf Sorceress go in and nuke the cave he was hiding in. After that, more problems started showing up with the Elf Sorceress. She was, quite frankly.... Incredibly clumsy! Tripping over things, knocking things over… she got lost so many times that you have Baudelaire watching her all the time now.

When you asked her why this was… things started making sense. The Elf, Lyeneru, was very old despite looking only a little older than yourself. Older than the town you were born in, possibly even the Kingdom. She had been around for so long that she started 'fading' as it were, some sort of degenerative disease of the mind. Her levels and experience were declining… not increasing, as was normal. The reason she joined The Inquisition?

Theft. Simple, petty theft. An Isekai listed in the Inquisitorial Bulletin as the "Heist Isekai" stole a tiara from her, a relic gifted to her by the Elven temple and The Goddess Laaeshan for her service as a seer - a tiara that protected her mind from degeneration caused by old age.

Thinking about it… you realized this was becoming a certain recurring theme of your acquaintances. A boy-hero, the one now trying to explain to The Guard why harassing homeless drunks was not a good idea, had his family stolen from him. A quiet assassin whose very life and body was hijacked… and now an elf sorceress whose only protection from mental disease was stolen by a compulsive kleptomaniac.

Even Inquisitor Mechtelt, you suspected, had something stolen from her. She said she just cared deeply about innocent children and others being possessed… but you knew from her emotions that there was something deeper.

For many of these people, this wasn't a career choice. It was... deeply personal. A vendetta. But you? You just wanted to help people. And you hoped to the gods, as you looked over how miserable and scarred your acquaintances were, it would remain that way.

Right.

You needed to stop thinking about this, it was getting depressing. It was time to get back to work. While your initial plan to follow traces of emotional fear or sadness from the children to the cave had failed… you had not been sitting completely idle. Your earlier surveillance of the village's emotions had confirmed a theory of yours: The villagers who had not come forward to speak with you were actually more anxious than those who did - something that would be quite peculiar… unless it suggested that they might know something they aren't willing to talk openly about. This was one avenue of search you could go down.

Another, you thought, was figuring out what happened to the child - a young girl the age of seven that had lured the village militia away with a false claim of wolves attacking a nearby cottage. You had checked the cottage itself already and came up with nothing, only faint emotions of annoyance lingering at the cottage from the militia who had been sent there and something very faint from what you thought was the child that had fooled them. It did confirm at least that there was a child there.

A third possible option… was using a child as bait, in an effort to fool the Pied Piper into believing the villagers had successfully hid a child from them. As you didn't have an illusionist or someone who could shapeshift… It would require you to go to another town and convince a family to use their actual child as bait… which honestly, seemed like a horrible idea, something that would have been alien to you even a few years ago... but if it worked, you could fool the Pied Piper out of their cave and into the open, where you could either arrest them or follow them back to their cave, saving the other children. It is something that Mechtelt would try to do, you just know it.

A fourth option, a possible final act of desperation and something that The Guard had once suggested, was simply gathering all the village and town militias together to find the cave by sheer numbers. This would take time though, and there was no guarantee the different towns and villages would accept.

It was unlikely you would have time to do all of these options - particularly the latter two, which would take time to prepare and commit to… You shook your head, as you just didn't know what was the best choice... What should you do?

[Pick 1. If Write-In, you cannot combine Options #3 and #4 as they take too long to organise]

[ ] Change questioning targets (This Was Chosen on the other website)
You went about the questioning the wrong way… rather than ask the people who want to talk to you, you need to question the people who DON'T want to talk to you - as they may know something.

[ ] Return to the cottage
The cottage where the village militia were sent to distract them needs to be investigated again. While your investigation last time turned up nothing, perhaps you should check the wilderness around it, as the child who misled the militia disappeared from around there.

[ ] Attempt to bait the Pied Piper
It was an idea you have been considering as a possible option, but is quite dangerous. Return to a nearby town, one where not all the children were kidnapped, and convince the family to allow you to use the child as bait - tricking the Pied Piper into believing they missed one, in the hopes they will return to kidnap them as well, and thus enable you to arrest them or follow them back to the cave they are hiding the others.

[ ] Call in the army
While you don't possess Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman's power to force the local lord to raise his levies, you are pretty sure you could at least convince a number of the local villages to raise their militia guards. While it was in jest… perhaps you actually can conscript an army to scour the wilderness for any caves.

[ ] Defer to your subordinates
Just because you are in charge doesn't mean you cannot consult your allies. Your subordinates are also skilled and/or experienced trackers and investigators in their own rights, so may have their own insights.

[ ] Write in
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR II
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR II

[X ] Change questioning targets


"You think the villagers are hiding something then?" Baudelaire asked you, as the two of you walked through the village, as you continued to follow the wisps of lingering emotions passing through the village hovels and gardens. You were sifting through them. You had spoken to the village elder, inquiring the locations of those who had spoken to you as if you were asking to speak with them again - in truth you asked so you could find the living places of those who had not spoken to you, through process of elimination.

"Yes, or at least they are withholding something". You replied, half speaking to your agent and half following a darkish brown aura of worry - that of a young apprentice carpenter.

"Is it possible then that some of the villagers are confederates of the Isekai?" He asked cautiously.

"I - I don't think so. Who in their right mind would work for a predator who has stolen their child?..." you hesitated then, remembering Mechtelt's lessons on human corruption, and looking upon Baudelaire's own skeptical expression. "I mean, not willing at least''. You added on. He nodded silently, suggesting that he agreed with you, or at least your conclusion. Baudelaire you had discovered over the short time working with him to be a very cynical man, which was not surprising to you considering his background. It was why you had brought him along, and so the Elf Sorceress was now with The Guard and The Squire, Braam.

Before you stood a relatively large building for a peasant village. More of a house than a mere hovel, it was constructed properly of actual lumber, brick and mortar rather than loose wood, stones, thatch and mud. It even had a second story. A building more reminiscent of those in the wealthier towns, like Furholj, where you were born.

This was the residence of the village's carpenter, a trained professional who's large house held not only his own family, but that of his young apprentice, being himself and his wife, and their now abducted child. This sort of communal living was not uncommon in these parts of the kingdom.

The brown-coloured aura flowed through the door before you into the building, mixing with others - likely of the apprentice's wife, and possibly family members of the carpenter himself. You knock on the door. A brief pause. Eventually, it opens, revealing the face of a young woman with sandy brown hair in a plaid, and bright friendly eyes, if they were not darkened by shadows of tiredness.

"Can I- Oh! Lady Inquisitor, it is, ah, great to see you! Can we help you in any way? Or have you found our son?" she said hastily. You did not correct her on your title, as you figured it was probably more helpful for them to think you were a real Inquisitor, rather than merely a newly minted Adjutant.

"Oh, I just need to ask your husband some questions," you say, closing your eyes and smiling. It is a natural reaction of yours, a desire to convey friendliness and happiness everywhere, but the apprentice carpenter's wife becomes frightened by your smile rather than comforted. You didn't even need to read the emotions around her, it was obvious by her body language and expression. You sigh internally, and wonder if being solemn and authoritative would work better, since they expect Inquisitors to act like that. Maybe that is why Mechtelt is always frowning so much?

"Oh. Oh, um, of course, Lady Inquisitor". The wife said. She did not want to answer your questions of course, nor would her husband, but your rank even without them thinking you were a fully fledged Inquisitor made refusing you very unwise for them.

She led you into their home, into a living room of sorts. You and Agent Baudelaire sat in wooden chairs, and waited. Eventually the apprentice appeared, and sat down in front of you. His wife hovered behind, standing. They were clearly nervous, fearful even. Their fear was pronounced enough that you could start to hear the nervous monolog of their internal thoughts 'why us', 'what should I say', 'not again'.

"So… you have questions for me, Inquisitor. Well, here I am" the apprentice said.

"Before I ask you any questions, I must inform you that, unfortunately, our hunt for the Isekai has yet to lead to the children's location… but we will find them, I swear it". You told them. You watched closely then, for their response.

"Oh… that is… horrible. Sorry, I understand you are doing what you can, but please hurry. Is.. is that why you are here then?" The apprentice asked.

The reply was innocent enough, appropriate even. His body language too, worried and defensive, but nothing suggesting deceit. Your powers did not allow you to determine truth from lies directly... however the emotions behind it, the words he said which you could read - it was there. The arising emotion you could see around the apprentice carpenter…

...it was relief. The man felt relief. Why on earth would a man feel relief upon hearing that the hunt for his son's kidnapper and likely molester was leading nowhere? Glancing to the side, the apprentice's wife was similar. Relief, but also guilt. She knew, and whatever they were doing was of some deceptive nature.

"Hello, Lady Inquisitor?"

[ ] Blunt questioning
Bluntly ask him if he knows where the Pied Piper is hiding the children.

[ ] Continue the conversation normally

[ ] [Roll] Collect Surface Thoughts (This was chosen on the other website)

Continue the conversation normally, attempt to glean information from surface thoughts and emotions. (INT), Minor Telepathy + Empathy: Passive. Difficulty Class: Average

[ ] [Roll] Use Skill: Mental Dive
Attempt to use a Telepathy based skill, mental deep dive, to directly project yourself into the apprentice's mind, which will result in your body and his becoming limp, with obvious real world consequences. (WILL) Mental Dive. Difficulty Class: Tough

[ ] [Roll] Persuade the Apprentice
Attempt to lead the conversation in a direction that allows you to persuade the apprentice to tell you what he is hiding. (CHA) Difficulty Class: Average

[ ] Arrest them

[ ] Write-in
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR III
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR III

X ] [Roll] Collect Surface Thoughts


2py_weP-NRXFqbFlf8wpXfMFFllJbMdSUVCz_AISs03QvN0ipAiiGxyG3qQDgO5Y5dRsIW0C84JOgmRuDGLXFSEV_8-arh3A7RCVKmBLk0jcYp_8EHGugHFm3eJl0l_6YDktpJv1

ROLL SUCCESSFUL

"Oh, sorry. It's nothing" You say quickly, as you focus your empath and telepathic powers on the apprentice sitting in front of you. "Just a bit tired" you smile at him as you explain.

"However… telling you… Mr…"

"Hazelkamp", the apprentice offered. You nod in thanks.

"Telling you, Mr Hazelkamp, of my progress is not my reason for being here. When I arrived here, some of the villagers were very helpful with our search. Understandably, not everyone came out to speak with me… my station is quite intimidating and we are dealing with a very dangerous man, after all".

"Of course. We would help you if we could, Lady Inquisitor, but we didn't come forward when you arrived because there was nothing for us to say. I have no idea where the bastard is hiding, Or I'd have found him and killed him myself". The apprentice, Mr Hazelkamp, replied bitterly. The emotions you could feel around him were defensive, nervous even - though he disguised this well with anger. The anger was felt, you could see it around him, so it was not faked, not necessarily, but it was being used to hide something else.

You glanced as subtle as you could to your side, to Baudelaire. Nothing from him. He had told you he would falsely cough in a certain way to inform you if he noticed anything suggesting deceit. Just because Baudelaire did not notice him lying though did not mean he was truthful either, however. Baudelaire wasn't a living lie detector, merely a very observant man.

You focused even harder now. You knew this man was complicit in this case, somehow - but didn't know how or why.

It is not as though I can attack him when he has them all protecting him, I'm not fighting that army The apprentice thought.

An army? What army? You would have asked him, but kept silent, since asking him a question to a statement read from his mind would likely be quite foolish indeed. Instead, you simply continued your questioning.

"Did you know, Mr Hazekamp, that in all the previous abductions performed by the Pied Piper, few of his victims actually died?" You ask the apprentice. "The inquisition has always wondered why that is".

"I… I would not know the thinking of a creature like an Isekai, Lady Inquisitor" Hazelkamp replied.

Still nervous… but not surprised. You guessed then that, he most likely already knew this. The villagers knew that the Pied Piper rarely killed their kidnapped victims. It was, you imagine, likely a result of folklore and stories carried through the different villages, probably by peddlers and bards and the like. An image in your mind, then, was slowly coming together of what was going on…

"It is because of this, and a few other reasons too, I believe that some in this village might be helping the Pied Piper."

"Why… Why would you think that, Lady Inquisitor?" Hazelkamp said.

As if we had a choice, Hazelkamp thought.

"They would not have much of a choice. The Isekai threatens the villagers, if they aid in the investigation against them, their children will die. If they do not, they are returned to them… It has made me think, then, that those uncommon cases of the children being discovered later, starved or otherwise killed, were from villages that refused to cooperate with the Pied Piper's blackmail - they chose to help the Inquisition". Your monologue, while aimed at no one in particular, was clearly aimed at the man in front of him. He was afraid, very afraid now.

"Does that not make sense, Mr Hazekam?" you ask. He says nothing, his mouth a thin line forced shut, but for you, now, you do not need him to speak to hear his reply.

Just leave us alone, you will get them all killed, he thought. I don't fucking know where he hides them, I just move the food to the place he said to put it.

"The other peculiar thing was how the children died, in those cases. They starved" you continued. As you continued to speak, the apprentice's wife left, ostensibly to make tea - in reality, to avoid this conversation. Perhaps to her it appeared as though you were merely talking to yourself - and at first glance you were, since your responses were to the man's thoughts.

"The starvation got me thinking, then… Mr Hazelkamp. If the Pied Piper Isekai was hiding in the caves all this time, where are they getting the food needed to feed all the children they are holding hostage?"

"I… don't" he said.

Us, obviously, he thought.

"Well then, I think that-" you were cut off then, by a cluttering noise as the apprentice's wife returned with saucers with cups of tea upon them.

Oh, thank the gods Mr Hazelkamp thought.

"Oh, excuse me. Your tea, Lady inquisitor". The wife, Mrs Hazelkamp said. Baudelaire next to you rolled his eyes in annoyance and Mr Hazelkamp used the excuse of drinking his tea to not talk.

You were pleased with your progress however, so did not bother to push. Instead, you looked down at your teacup… and the piece of paper placed between it and the saucer. It seemed Mrs Hazelkamp wanted you to know something, something she didn't want her husband to know?

Please read it. Just read it, go there and end this, please. She was thinking. At first you thought she knew you were reading her thoughts - but after a while and constant repetition, you decide she was merely repeating it to herself. The paper, it was what you needed… why she needed to write it down though confused her. Why not speak to her by herself? Her husband?

Regardless, you discreetly slip the piece of paper up your sleeve as you move to take the tea cup to sip. You sip for a few times - the tea was pretty decent, not as good as the stuff that was made at the Academy of Light, but decent.

"That will be all, thank you Mr and Mrs Hazelkamp, for your assistance and time" you announce.

"Wha - really?" The apprentice spluttered back, confused.

She's not going to interrogate us? I mean, what? He thought.

I already have, you thought back. It was the best kind of interrogation really. Painless and discreet, you had what you needed, and the interrogated was none the wiser.

"Yes. I may need to question you further at a later date, but my line of thought has given me some ideas on who to question next, so you don't have to worry about it for now" you say, smiling, and leave with Baudelaire following silently in toe.

You walk some distance, before Baudelaire glances at you.

"I saw you take it, and figured you have something of a lead now. So what next?" He asks, as you are looking down at the piece of paper now between two of your fingers.

HE IS WATCHING US, WE CANNOT SPEAK TO YOU. THE FOOD IS DELIVERED AT MIDNIGHT NEXT TO THE WINDMILL you read discreetly off the piece of paper.

You look closely at Baudelaire, thinking quickly. He could not read minds as you could, but you tried to convey your intentions with the intensity of your eyes.

"She seems to be having some marital disputes with her husband, and thinks that her husband may actually be the Pied Piper" You remark, attempting to appear as honest as possible to anyone watching from afar. You were choosing to take the message at face value for now, and were running on the assumption that you could be spied on at this very moment. You could sense emotions around you, sure, but visual empathy was not necessarily accurate at picking out those spying on you - and the telepathy was difficult for you to use, you did not just pick up the thoughts of everyone around you, even those you didn't know were there.

"As you say…" Baudelaire responds, a controlled calm in his voice, suggesting he understood what you were saying was not the truth.

You were walking now to join the others and leave the village in the hopes that you could discuss your next course of action without being spied on. The questioning overall has provided you with a confirmation to the matter of the villagers aiding the Pied Piper Isekai, as well as revealing what is likely a pathway to apprehending them… still, there were certain matters of concern.

(The following choices make use of a Plan vote)

What was the letter?

[ ] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
[ ] A trap, to lure you into an ambush.
[ ] A false lead, to waste your time.
[ ] Write-in

What would you do with this information?
[ ] Disregard it, opt to other strategies such as the bait or militia.
[ ] Set an ambush at the windmill, apprehending whoever comes.
[ ] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
[ ] Arrest the Hazelkamps, force them to assist you.
[ ] Write-in

How was the Pied Piper watching the villagers?
[ ] Spies amongst the villagers.
[ ] He is actually in the village, not in a cave.
[ ] Spies in the village who are not the villagers themselves, bandits? that army he spoke of?
[ ] Magical means. Scrying? Telepathy?
[ ] He isn't actually watching them, the villagers just think he is watching them.
[ ] It is a trick and no such thing is happening.
[ ] Write-in

What do you guess is the nature of 'the army' that Mr Hazelkamp thought of?
[ ] The other villagers, conspiring with the Pied Piper Isekai.
[ ] A small band of Isekais, possibly other Incubi working together.
[ ] A hired group of bandits or highwaymen.
[ ] The children themselves.
[ ] Summoned monsters or familiars.
[ ] it cannot be determined by what we know, we can only make wild guesses.
[ ] The army does not exist.
[ ] Write-in

If you were correct, then it was time to end this case.

============================

Plan Chosen (Note: this is a transplant from SV and later SB, and this plan was created there by a user of that website)

[X] Plan: Piper's Rats
-[X] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Spies that can move freely through a town and follow people with impunity. Animals, or animal-like familiars, most likely.
-[X] A combination of the children themselves and whatever animal the spies are.
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR IV
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR IV

[X] Plan: Piper’s Rats

[X] Plan: Piper's Rats

-[X] It was a plea for help, its information is accurate.
-[X] Wait at the windmill and follow whoever arrived back to where they came from.
-[X] Spies that can move freely through a town and follow people with impunity. Animals, or animal-like familiars, most likely.
-[X] A combination of the children themselves and whatever animal the spies are.


It was starting to get darker now in the camp, approaching evening. The lit campfire’s light was starting to brighten as the shadows of the trees disintegrated as the sun started to fall. It would soon be time for you and your team to move to the windmill and set up your ambush. You will likely have to wait some hours in complete silence, so it was during this pause at camp that you had been speaking with your team.

‘How do we know it's real?’ Braam asked, suddenly to no one in particular. A pause followed, before he clarified himself. “I mean, come on. How do we know that The Isekai is even actually watching them? Couldn’t she just be lying, or simply believing an empty threat or rumour?” He finished.

“Really, you could be right. We don’t actually know for certain - but we also cannot disregard the information either, and I would rather take needless precautions about a threat that doesn’t exist than to ignore them and be punished for it later…” You say, figuring what you said was reasonable enough.

Baudelaire grunted in approval, still observing the trees, the fields, the bushes, really anything as he actually attempted to spot anything observing them, down to small animals. The Guard however turned, who until then had been silently stirring a pot filled with strange chemicals and herbs for Lyeneru, the Elf Sorceress.

“Needless precautions can also punish. Time and effort are costs that seem small but are known in truth only in hindsight”. The Guard said, deadpan but in odd contemplation - it was always strange to hear The Guard speak in such a way, an automation you knew well to speak often in repeated generic statements, suddenly revealing something very different.

You had not expected The Guard to disagree with you, but in truth it made sense. The Guards were… well, not exactly ‘men’, but beings of action. They acted immediately and with stubborn and absolute determination. If you had to guess, if The Guard had been in charge of this investigation, it would have gone very differently - It likely very well would have sent an army of militia out to scour the entire countryside, you guessed.

“It is a risk either way, I support the actions of The Adjutant, it is a burden we can bear” Lyeneru suddenly whispered, the ancient elf finishing drinking from her ladle of the strange toxic-smelling goop that apparently was a concoction to control her mental degradation and senses. “Between the assassin and myself, we can see what you need to know. If you want to know how many birds and rats are watching you, your Church’s Baudelaire-man will likely tell you right now. If you want to know if you are being scryed…”

“You don’t have”... You started, but were cut off by the elf’s iris’ rolling back into her sockets, giving you the whites of her eyes.

“I already have” She interrupted. There was a pause of silence, as you and the other awaited her response on if they were being scryed or not. Seconds turned to a minute, and Lyeneru even took another gulp of her medical concoction. She had not even worded cantations, words that most mages needed to use more powerful spells.

“Uhm, well?” Braam asked.

“Hmm?” Lyeneru hummed in question, looking around as everyone was staring at her.

“You performed sorcery, to check if we were being scryed” The Guard announced.

“Oh. Oh! Right, yes, yes. We are not being scryed”. The elf answered. You heard Braam sigh in exasperation, while you walked away - to approach Baudelaire, who was alone looking out from the edge of the camp into the darkening wilderness around them.’

“Birds, about six of them. A rabbit… and some rodents” Baudelaire murmured, partially to you and partially to himself. “Squirrels and such”.

“Anything that looks like it's spying on us?” You ask him, since Lyeneru had gone through the effort of informing you about possibly scrying, you figured you may as well ask him too.

“Not exactly, these creatures aren’t bothering to hide themselves from us anymore than they would be otherwise. Either they are not spying on us or the one controlling them is exceptionally skilled at having them mimic their natural behaviour” he says, gesturing to the two male birds chirping away at each other, competing for a mate.

“So you think I am wrong then… about the animals, I mean?” you ask.

“No.”

“No?” you repeat.

“The village itself was different. There were signs of animal activity across the whole of the village. Droppings, holes in walls, scratch marks below doors - Yet none actually doing anything… The ones I saw were all just observing us and the other villagers. Rats are cautious creatures, surely, but they were acting in collective caution, all observing us and the villagers together. It was unnatural. Rats are not a hivemind”.

“The rats… you think he’s using just rats then?” You question. You posited the idea of animals or monsters as possible spies when you and your team first returned to camp. The children were also suggested… a horrifying possibility, but one that was quite plausible, considering how the militia had been distracted. Animals though, had honestly been a guess. If it was a magical observation, Lyeneru would have detected it. The villagers couldn’t perfectly be spies for The Pied Piper, someone would have eventually slipped up. It left something that could not be easily detected, either by the villagers or your team, and which could watch the village as a whole - yet not be revealed in past cases...

“It only makes sense that someone called the Pied Piper Isekai would be controlling rats”. Baudelaire said, absentmindedly.

You look at him, one eyebrow raised. “What?” you say. What did an old Astemian legend of a bard who used illusions to steal from beggars have to do with rats?

Baudelaire himself was about to respond, but then held himself, as if questioning his own unsaid response. “I… don’t know. For some reason I associated the Pied Piper with rats…? I must be more tired than I thought” He said, confusion visible on his face.

“Do not worry” you try to reassure him, wondering if this sudden confusion was due to his past possession “I think this will soon end. In fact, it is time we move - we will need to move into position, and wait”. You finish, just as the others stand up, Braam and The Guard smothering the fire.


–Sometime later–

You had been waiting, in silence, for hours now. You and your team had approached the outcrops around the windmill in extreme caution some hours earlier, Baudelaire guiding you and the others in avoiding onlooking animals. Owls in the trees, a passing fox on the hunt through the dark. Fortunately, no rats.

You looked down on the Windmill from a small hill, chosen for its elevated position and dense trees and foliage which you now lay in, obscuring you and your teammates bodies from view - it was unlikely that even animals could see you in this position. Your team did not talk, as even the slightest of disturbances could alert any observing animals - Baudelaire was observant, but he wasn’t omnipotent… and your empathic powers most certainly would not work on animals. As such, you could not risk alerting unseen watchers you did not know were there or not.

A shining, nearly full moon hung over the sky, moonlight gleaming down over the windmill as once obscuring clouds passed by to reveal the shapes of the windmill gently moving, dark shapes of the trees rustling against the midnight wind. As it neared the exact moment of midnight, the first of your targets of interest arrived.

You could not see him clearly, as the moonlight only revealed silhouettes and vague shapes, but you could hear the voice of Mr Hazelkamp, the apprentice carpenter talking with what seemed to be another man, as well as the creaking and shifting of a small wagon or cart of some kind - which you figured was being moved by them, as you could not see or hear any horses.

There were others with them too. Another three figures walked with the wagon. It seemed then, Mr Hazelkamp was not the only villager who was in this arrangement with the Pied Piper. The wagon you could tell was full, as you could see a silhouette of boxes. This was the food they were giving to the Pied Piper, you could only assume.

From this distance you could not read their thoughts, but you could still make out the colours - even in the dark and without seeing their faces, the colours of emotions were visible to you. Helpful with seeing people in the dark, in a roundabout way. The colours coming off of them were various shades of brown. You could tell exactly what they were if you were closer, but from this distance you could likely make a good guess. Worry, anxiety; other forms of suspended fear. They were not dreading for their very lives, but worried about future possibilities. If you had to guess - it meant that they were unaware that you were here or otherwise did not believe they were in imminent danger.

Eventually, they sat down by the windmill and their wagon and waited as well, their voices becoming so quiet that you could no longer tell that they were talking, other than the occasional movement of their bodies and arms.

Then, they stood up and went still. You braced yourself to, for the moment you had been waiting for had arrived.

It, or rather, they, had arrived. Dots of blackness were moving across the ground, like moving puddles or waves of darkness. It was, indeed, rats. A lot of rats. Walking amongst them were small silhouettes, four of them, three of them with dresses. It was some of the children… and crawling over their bodies were rats, going by the wriggling shapes crossing their bodies.

You could hear the mass of squeaking and chittering now coming from the host of rats, as they started flooding around the wagon, pouring themselves into the wagon or climbing over its wooden frame.

The children and the men who brought the wagon were talking. You still could not make out what they were saying, only faintly hear their voices. You were prepared to accept that you would not hear anything of use, until eventually you saw a bright shade of red flare up in one of the men - and then you heard Hazelkamp’s voice.

“We told them nothing! They know fucking nothing!” you heard him shout at the children. He was shouting this at the children, not the rats. And then from the children… a whole slew of emotions appeared… Envious greens, blacks of hatred, dark reds of rage, pinks and purples of what you could guess were compassion or love, protectiveness… What on earth was going on? This was not normal. It had to be… They had to be controlled, there was no other answer… but this was no trance. They were feeling emotions too, and rapidly.

Eventually, the children and the men calmed down. The children returned to neutral greys while the men returned to the brown hues from before. The children gathered around the wagon, and started to pull the wagon, the rats swarming around the wagon as if to aid them.

You had your case, then. The children themselves were pulling that wagon. You were uncertain exactly how or why - but… you could only assume that they were being controlled, somehow. The rats with them too showed that your guess of animal spies was likely on the mark.

As the children and rats moved away, the men slowly huddled together and left in the opposite direction, back towards the village. You waited for a small while to create a decent distance between yourself and the children-pulled wagon, and then slowly, crouching, started to move to follow them through the foliage. Your team followed, and with great caution as to not make alerting sounds… and with the hope that the wind would not change direction and reveal you to the rats escorting the wagon, followed them.

You followed them for what was perhaps an hour, tracking behind them in a direction that was the exact opposite to the path and region the villagers had advised you to search for caves. The children did not once stop, not even for reprieve from pulling such a hefty object, they seemed single-minded in their determination to get the wagon full of food to their location, a location that they were now looking on towards.

A massive, dead tree on a small mound or hill, it's great decaying roots sprouting out around it. Said roots and hill sheltering a cave, or opening of sorts beneath the mound. You could see the remains of old wooden crates, some of them splintered and broken up, organised like wood for a fire. This was it.

You and your team waited and watched as the children slowly moved the crates off of the wagon and onto the ground, for the waiting swarm of rats that trinkled underneath the crates, lifting them like a flowing river, moving the crates and themselves into the darkness leading into the dead tree’s roots.

The children, now completed in their task, then did something wholly unexpected. They cheered. You felt and saw bright yellow and gold, the emotions of joy and pride emanating from them. You could now even hear them.

“Iwasaki-sama will be so happy!” they cheered, embracing each other in a hug.

“Iwasaki-san!” they shouted together again, and entered the darkness beneath the dead tree. The phrasing, the way the children spoke… It frightened you. Memories of your own, of handsome boys at the Academy of Light, boys who you had no real interactions with yet acted as though you were close friends for years. Who vied with each other over a romantic relationship with you that did not exist.

“Otome Attractor…” you whispered under your breath. Two words that you only learned of under the auspices of the Inquisition’s Lesser Appraisal. Words that explained much of your teenage years, years of confusion for you.

“Otome.. What? What are your orders, Adjutant?” Baudelaire, who was crouching next to you, whispered back. This brought you back to the case at hand, the dark dead tree looming in front of you, harsh wind blowing against you, grass and trees blowing against it. The children and child-kidnapping Isekai within.

(This makes use of a Plan Vote)

“We should…”


[ ] Attack the cave opening, frontal assault.
[ [ Attempt to sneak into the cave opening.
[ ] Lay in ambush for someone to exit the cave.
[ ] Split up, attack the cave frontally while others either search for other exits or wait around in case of attempts of escape
[ ] Attempt to sneak into the cave after searching for an alternative opening, if one exists. If it does not, return to trying to sneak in via the cave opening.
[ ] Return to the village, attempt to gather as many militia members as you can to assist in a large-scale assault on the cave.
[ ] Write-in

“What about the children? And the rats?”

[ ] Lethal force, on both the rats and children.
[ ] Lethal force on the rats, non-lethal force on the children if possible.
[ ] Lethal force on the rats, do not attack the children, even in self-defence.
[ ] Non-lethal force on everything, we cannot risk harming the children, even to kill the rats.
[ ] No force on anything, attempt a non-violent solution and avoid harming the children in any manner.
[ ] Write-in

“What should we focus on?”

[ ] Rescuing the children, we can’t allow them to be held hostage. Everything else is secondary.
[ ] Removing the rats, either by violent or non-violent means. We need to get rid of them first of foremost.
[ ] Taking down the Pied Piper Isekai - remove them and your mission is complete, children or not. If they are removed, many more children will be saved.
[ ] Taking down the Pied Piper Isekai - removing them and whatever control they have over the children and rats may dissipate as well, solving all problems.
[ ] Survival of the team. Even if it means killing the children or letting the Isekai getting away, you will not endanger your team’s lives.
[ ] Write-in
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR V
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR V

[X] Plan The Piper Has To Take A Shit Sometimes
-[X] Lay in ambush for someone to exit the cave.
-[X] Lethal force on the rats, non-lethal force on the children if possible.
-[X] Taking down the Pied Piper Isekai - removing them and whatever control they have over the children and rats may dissipate as well, solving all problems.​


You had been laying down here… for what was certainly hours. Six or seven at least, since light from the sun was now slowly gleaming through your leafy hiding place, distorted only by gloomy morning fog. Despite the others in your team lying beside you, you didn’t utter a word for fear it might be detected. In fact, you hadn’t moved at all, and suppressed even the shivers from the biting chill rolling in with the morning fog. Baudelaire and Lyneru seemed to shrug the cold off with professional ease, and The Guard likely could walk through an inferno or blizzard with little concern, but Braam you could tell was like yourself - just a kid, trying his best to hide his significant discomfort as he shivered and clutched his cloak even tighter around him.

This silent waiting did, however, give you time to think, or rather falling deep into thought gave you reprieve from silently waiting. For the first few hours it had been thoughts of worry, thinking over the case, the suspects, the risk… what if he didn’t come out? was the constant question. Eventually, however, your thoughts started to wander to the inane and distant, merely to pass the time.

You wondered how the church was doing back home. Were Sister Nadeline and the others still running their baking classes? Nadeline had once tried to dissuade you from becoming an Inquisitor, claiming that no one could replace your baking. You would have laughed at the thought, had you not been where you were, and doing what you were doing. Instead you merely continued to wish for time to pass. You’d have to ignore the hunger the image of baking had brought now too.

How was little Grietje, the little girl who wanted to be a healer? Or Father Cosmo, your old teacher in the arts of exorcism - was his research for his book going well?

Still more waiting. Fog still hovered through the trees and over the cave, making it harder to see, at least for you. You could also feel something moving over your leg… some manner of crawling insect, much to your irritation.

The sun was rising higher now, the tweeting and chirping of birds filling the air. You could see lines of ants moving from hidden colonies below you, hear the buzz of a dragonfly and the distant grunts of some kind of lesser monster further away. The fog was dissipating now and stronger beams of light gleamed through and lit up the horizon. Yet still no sign of the Pied Piper.

By the time the last of the fog and the cold had vanished, you were retracing your experiences at the Academy of Light. You dwelled upon the earlier notion you had thought of, connecting your ‘Otome Attractor’ trait to how the Pied Piper was controlling the children. It was really just a hunch, but still. . . When you attended that prestigious school for magic, the boys there - a specific type of boy, even, started acting very strangely around you. They acted as though they had personally known you for years, gave you pet names that they had seemingly fabricated out of thin air, and would even sacrifice themselves for you on a minute's notice. You understood a romantic soul, of course - but this was different. They truly acted as if they were spellbound by you, as if you had drugged them with love potion. The other girls certainly thought so, and when you saw “Otome Attractor” during your Lesser Appraisal ceremony, it had always dwelled in the back of your mind that this strange trait may have something to do with it.

What happened after you graduated was even more damning, in the eyes of the other girls. From what you had heard, the boys who were once soul-achingly infatuated with your very being suddenly became utterly disinterested, as though you had vanished from the very surface of the world overnight. They quickly returned to their previous paramours or new ones. It was enough to convince even yourself that perhaps you did concoct a love potion and had wiped your own memories of it.

Whenever your thoughts returned to the Academy of Light... Well, you truly loved learning about magic, the theories; Father Cosmo was an excellent teacher, and you wanted to be the perfect student. But if you had to admit the truth to yourself, the school had been a very strange experience. Between not one, but two foreign princes acting as though you were the next incarnation of the Goddess of Love, and the numerous noble girls who harassed you over it (or, in the case of Lady Luttefmont-Furholjan, any other reason she could think of), it reminded you that perhaps lying in a bush in the middle of nowhere to ambush a fugitive and child-kidnapper was not so bad after all.

You weren’t sure of the exact time anymore when you finally detected movement from the cave. Your weariness vanished within seconds as you concentrated on the shadows and sounds coming from the mouth of the cavern between the dead tree’s roots.

This was it, you thought.

Only to be disappointed, as a child appeared instead. A small girl, in fact. Even from here you could see the shimmering bright yellows of joy in her aura as she carried an urn of some kind.

Oh no, you thought. Not after all…

It was
. By the Gods, it was. The child whimsically threw the contents of the pot into the large shrubs and bushes by the dead tree. It seems you stood corrected. The Pied Piper really would defecate within his cave. It left a horrid feeling in the pit of your gut, something like a mixture of frustration and disappointment. You looked over to your side, within the bush. The others were dutifully looking on, except Braam, who wordlessly and questioningly looked at you.

“What now?” were his thoughts, though you didn’t need telepathy to understand.

You sighed internally. The girl with the pot returned into the darkness of the cave, and there was calm again, disturbed with only the ordinary noise of animals.

You were prepared to admit defeat there, and silently signal for the others to withdraw and redo the plan, had the opening beneath the great dead tree not summoned your attention with the noise of faint words and footsteps.

The words… even from here, you could tell that they were not from a child.

They were a man’s.

When you were an orphaned child, Mother Gran told you terrible stories of the Isekais that stalked the dark woods and preyed upon innocent girls. As an Inquisitorial initiate you were taught the classifications of your eventual foes, and from your classes you knew The Incubi, a type of Isekai that borrowed its name from the ancient demon predators of the night, shifting form to become either a grotesquely rotund creature or a terribly beautiful being of golden hair and wit. This man, revealing himself from beneath the roots, was neither.

He walked slovenly and hunched, as in the manner you expected of the grotesque figure of Mother Gran’s stories, but instead of grossly fat he was gauntly, a wiry and spindly figure, stunted and bent. His skin was a sickly pale hue, and his hair was long yet stringy, like dying weeds or marsh-land reeds, colored the darkest of blacks just as the bulletin had described.

Fortunately for your eyes, the old story of Incubi being stark naked seemed to be false, at least here. The figure wore old, ragged clothing. A mixture of peasant rags with its colourful patterns caked in dried mud, and what seemed like the remnants of some strange, glossy material - clothing you knew to be that of ‘summoned attire’ - the garments of the Isekais dragged into this world materially. He did not seem to wear armour, which you hoped would make your work easier… or perhaps harder, if it signified he believed he did not need it. All sorts of clothing could be magically treated and enchanted to deflect blows, absorb the elements, or even turn aside arrows and even musket balls. Your own clothing in fact had such enchantments, so there was no real guarantee what he wore was not ready for battle.

In front of him, moving slowly, was a small girl carrying what seemed to be a woven basket of some kind. The Pied Piper held the girl in front of himself with two arms holding her shoulders, bony fingers almost clawing into her. You, to your disgust, could even see long, overgrown fingernails from this distance, caked black from dirt or filth. The girl herself, just as the others were, was completely oblivious. She seemed calm, happy even. Even as his hands were clearly clawing into her shoulders - any harder and they would draw blood.

The colours too. The girl’s thoughts showed the yellow hues of joy… and the isekai? This was your first experience with seeing the colours of what was almost certainly your foe. The colours of his aura were very soft hues of blue and purple. Colours associated with, if you remember your lessons correctly… sadness and disgust, or, if you were to guess more accurately, pensiveness and discomfort, maybe even… boredom. From this distance and without his thoughts to guide you, it was hard to determine those details… but it was a far cry from expectations of fear, or vigilance or even lust.

The Pied Piper, or at least the man who you strongly believed was him, was now fully in the open. The wind, now picking up again and thankfully still blowing against you, could be felt… and smelt. It was a pungent stench, a human reek that you immediately assumed was coming from the Pied Piper. The horrid smell from the Isekai, the weaved basket held by the child, which you could now see was carrying some kind of white fabric. It was an assumption - but a picture was coming together as to why he was leaving his cave.

It seems your patience would, after all, be rewarded, if by unforeseen luck rather than intention. The Pied Piper intended to bathe.

From the bushes, your team slowly, carefully, moved. Baudelaire drew a pistol of some sort, a single-fire flintlock engraved with numerous runes and symbols, the number of which you could tell signified that the firearm had been heavily enchanted, and most likely the lead ball within likely was similarly engraved. Reading the enchanted symbols, which started to shine yellow and blue slightly, you could discern…

Cut. Cut. Pierce. Cut. Truth. Truth. Holy. Cut. Burn. Burn. Burn.

The Guard drew his sword, a massive two-hander that he could still wield with just one hand, his shield yet to materialise from the aether. Lyeneru the Elf Sorceress chanted a magical spell - without sound, something you could not do. You could see the flicker of glowing mana-barriers around her. Braam had not drawn his sword yet, his hand resting on the hilt - If you had to guess by the slight anxiety he showed whenever he looked at it, he was worried he would make too much noise. The shield on his back, made of wood and steel, was also covered in engraved enchantments, the wood was even damp from Braam and Lyeneru saturating it in magical potions designed to resist and deflect.

You all moved to a crouching position, ready to pounce on the Pied Piper, who was still walking while gripping the child in front of him. Behind him, you could hear the scurry of rats in the darkness of the tunnel. They were coming out to follow him.

You had to make a decision fast. The rats coming out of that tunnel could be controlled there, not once they came out of the tunnel. There was one child still in the way, held by the Pied Piper himself…

but…

[X] Taking down the Pied Piper Isekai - removing them and whatever control they have over the children and rats may dissipate as well, solving all problems.


You had to get rid of him here and now! If you waited… there was no counting how many more rats would come out, and if children came out with them too, you wouldn't be able to stop the swarm from flowing out.

You just had to hope that the child could be saved in the chaos.

You raised your hand up. Baudelaire’s pistol shined a little brighter. Braam’s eyes were closed, his face serene. Blessed Sentinel, punisher of the guilty, protector of the innocent, Enin, Eon… all the gods, you could hear his thoughts as he prayed.

Please protect the child and my team, your own thoughts join in.

Now! You lower your arm, giving the signal to attack.

With a scowl on his face, Baudelaire stood, and within moments aimed his shining pistol directly at the head of the Isekai.

“Technique - Assassination” he announced, his voice deadpan and steady, and with intense blue-light, heat and a burst of lightning, the pistol fired.

A boom and crack followed, between the sounds of a lightning strike and the actual gun firing, a line of blue light you could see flash past your eyes, before you could even move, and hit the Pied Piper.

The isekai shifted in reaction, faster than you could ever move, trying to move the child hostage in front of the bright blue light streaking towards him - however he was just a moment too slow. The blue light and bullet it carried crashed into his shoulder and neck with such force it physically blew him backwards, separating him from the girl he was holding, who merely tumbled backwards the other way. The Pied Piper’s shoulder burst into a fountain of blood, blue flames, and sparks of lightning before he crashed into the mound of dirt by the side of the dead tree, sending dirt and small pieces of wood across the opening.

The shot had happened so quickly and with such force, you and the others were still looking on in surprise. Was - was the Pied Piper dead? As you hesitated ever so slightly, unused to and untrained in combat, Baudelaire and The Guard rushed forward, charging out from the bushes, small thickets trailing behind them, and down the dirt incline. Baudelaire threw his pistol to the side, the shot used.

Braam jumped out next, yelling a half-hearted battle cry after recovering from his surprise, drawing his sword and fastening his shield on his other arm, the enchanted surface of the weapon glowing with the faint traces of mana barriers, hexagonal lattices of holy light. He ran towards the Pied Piper too, his eyes focused on the dark opening where the cacophony of squeaks and hisses were turning into a rampaging swarm of moving rats.

“SKILL! MANA BOLT!” screamed the Pied Piper. A burst of blue light fired back from the crumbled form of the Pied Piper, barely missing Baudelaire and exploding into the dirt below your bushy hiding place.

The Pied Piper screamed in pain, a cornered animal’s cry. “Buff!” he shouted, rising up to stand again. Great rings of light appeared around him with green sparkles and musical-looking notes, seemingly healing him, bits of flesh and sinew around his shoulder and neck rebinding his partially-dangling arm to his body, even as his shoulder was still burning in licks of blue flames. “Kuso! Kuso! Activate HUD!” he screamed again.

“MANA BOLT! MANA BOLT! MANA BOLT!” he repeated, one arm outstretched while the other was grasping at thin air slightly above him, fingers pushing emptiness. The shots scattered around. One bounced off The Guard’s shield, flying up into the air. Two flew into the bush you were still standing in, exploding around you and launching dirt and burning twigs into the air and into your clothing, alongside small shards of crystal that you could only hope did not penetrate your enchanted clothing.

Another flurry of Mana Bolts flew into the side of Braam, one barely missing him and the other two hitting his shield so hard it threw him into the ground, one bolt deflecting down into the ground at his feet and exploding, launching dirt up into the air.

The Pied Piper Isekai tried to fire more bolts at Braam, but Baudelaire had taken the opportunity to throw a knife at his throat, which lodged into the Pied Piper’s forearm when he raised it to protect his face. Even with a dagger in his arm and spraying blood, he continued to fire mana bolts with his other, nearly-severed arm, firing them at Baudelaire to keep him moving and The Guard to keep him back. A second thrown dagger lodged into his chest, but still not killing him. The Pied Piper continued on, impossibly, even dodging a slash from The Guard while Baudelaire pelted him with throwing knives until he looked like a seamstress’ pincushion.

You saw Braam limping up from the ground, still holding his shield yet in great pain. You wondered how he could even stand, as shards of white and blue crystals studded his shield and parts of his feet and right leg, frosty-looking blue mist drifting out from his shield and leg.

“Graceful Enin, caring Laaeshan, peaceful Iyuta, sacred trio in youthful spring… divine for me a path to salvation…” You started to charge a Heal skill. You slowly raised your hands in prayer, holding them together at the wrists as white light emanated from them. As you spoke, you grew in confidence, chanting the words you had spoken so many times before.

“Pure and innocent, diluted by neither mediocrity or despair!” you continued, the spell charging, changing form from Lesser to Greater Heal. The Elf Sorceress was now finally in the open too, standing beside you with her own arms also outstretched. The complex magical circles and symbols floating around her were so intricate that you almost fumbled your own chant when you noticed them.

“A blissful sigh of relief” you chanted, white light shining from you. Lyeneru’s own wordless chant cracked with aether and mana, and you could see storm clouds brewing and swirling unnaturally above, the sun being obscured by them.

Rain started to fall.

“The rats! They’re here!” You heard Braam shout, heavily limping towards the mouth of the cave, his sword glowing gold with his own skill activation, as a black wave of rats spewed out into the open. Hundreds of them, already.

The Guard had kicked the Pied Piper in the chest with his iron boot. Baudelaire was now limping like Braam, having been hit by a mana bolt. You could see him holding the little girl by her throat in a vise grip while he tried to pull one of his own throwing knives out of his thigh, put there by said girl, with his other hand. Lyeneru’s storm above you all was now fully formed, rain and howling wind, cracks of lightning. Likely even the village could see it. The Pied Piper certainly could, going by the expression on his face and the spew of obscenities spoken in foreign words.

Boom! A thunderstrike blasted straight into the rats pouring from the cave.

Other rats were thrown around by immense winds or cut by rain that suddenly turned to blades, slicing rats into pieces in bloody spectacles of gore, or speared on icicles formed from the rain. Another thunderstrike hits the top of the dead tree, lighting it aflame. Another child had attempted to rush out of the cave opening armed with a cleaver, however Lyeneru suddenly shifted her body and the symbols around her, and with a gesture of the sorceress’ hand, the stormy wind pushed the child back into the cave along with a wave of rats.

The Pied Piper, still fighting with The Guard, scowled and looked directly at you and Lyeneru. “HUD! Buff! Buff! Buff! Buff!!” He screamed frantically, and that’s when it started.

You could hear it even in the howling winds - something that sounded like music. You could hear distant strings and piano notes, as if an orchestra played from the heavens - or the void. Echoing across the fields and bushes a great voice, like a distant, alien opera singer, added to the choir.

“ジス イズ ザ ゲレーテスト アンド ベスト サング イン ザ ワールド”. The alien voices echoed through the fields and storming wind.

The Pied Piper lit up in an unworldly aura, bright enough it obscured your ability to see the emotions around him. Above him a green diamond floated inexplicably, a bar fluctuating from yellow to green as The Guard attacked him. A name appeared, floating in the air above him.

“Iwasaki Kota - Pied Piper” it said. You could see symbols growing along his name, each time he used ‘buff’. “Buff of Healing, Buff of Protection, Buff of the Minotaur, Buff of the Bronze Skin, “Buff of the Waifu”, it went on and on.

“トリビュート.” The alien song in the clouds continued.

Howling wind and slicing rain struck the Pied Piper too now, shredding some of his clothing, and scratching his skin where rats were sliced in two nearby. The Guard, his sword bouncing off flickering mana barriers forming around the Pied Piper, was also thrown around by the howling wind. The buffs that the Pied Piper kept adding to himself were being added to the rats and even the child being gripped by Baudelaire.

“ロング タイム アゴー ミー アンド マイ ブラザー カイル ヒア, ウィー ワズヒチ ヒチハイキング ダウン ア ロング アンド ローンサム ロード”.

The Pied Piper yelled “Inventory!” but the summoned bottle was cut in half by The Guard before the Piper could drink it. The Guard swung his sword repeatedly at the dodging and weaving Isekai, as both tumbled and rolled in the furious wind that struck them both. The Pied Piper only grew stronger as the music surrounding everyone grew louder. Even the child within Baudelaire’s grasp struggled beyond the power of any normal child.

“アール アブ ア サデン, ゼア シャイン ア シャイニー ディーマン”.


“From my heart, protect the innocent!” you yell, an orb of pure white light floating in front of your brightly glowing, cupped hands. Greater Heal.

It was ready.


(uses a Plan Vote)


[ ] Cast Greater Heal on Baudelaire
[ ] Cast Greater Heal on Griffin Braam
[ ][Roll] Attempt to cast Greater Heal on Braam and Baudelaire simultaneously. [INT][Tough]
[ ] Write-in

And then you have to…

[ ] Charge another Greater Heal spell
[ ] Launch Holy Light - Smite spells at the Pied Piper
[ ] Rush over and get the child off Baudelaire.
[ ] Launch Holy Light - Smite spells at the Rat Swarm.
[ ] Write-in
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR VI
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, HUNTING A PREDATOR VI

[X] Plan focus down the buffer
-[X][Roll] Attempt to cast Greater Heal on Braam and Baudelaire simultaneously. [INT][Tough]
-[X] Launch Holy Light - Smite spells at the Pied Piper

eMfPYcCXDPWYowEFA-7kaFh6ti_5nmYxOCu-020h7tU7nwzpFSStF1GrO2xF4i5PMQ8tGyp1-_UCfMh2lgXXY38Gan5aJqp7U-Wpngtry0MfvpTgqk_FLIuKwYGuGvy1Vw


Roll Result: Close Failure



“アンド ウィー プレード ザ ファースト シング ザット ケーム トゥ アワー へドズ”

“ジャスト ソー ハぺンド トゥ ビー...”

“ザ ベスト サング イン ザ ワールド”

“イット ワズ ザ ベスト サング イン ザ ワールド!”​

“Greater Heal!” You yell as clearly as you could, against the raging storm of wind, and rain, and shouting voices around you while the others battled. The gleaming light split in two, as you intended, and sparkles, bubbles, and even a silhouette of a butterfly of light erupted into the air as the two spells sped towards Braam and Baudelaire.

However, within the split second that the spell started to fly, you know something had gone wrong.

Maybe it was your distraction from Lyeneru’s casting, or the wind and Isekai music confusing and muddling the pronunciation of your words, or maybe – maybe you had just made a mistake. Either way, as your spell flew, the light was already dimming, the sparkles and bubbles fading into smaller blips of light, even the butterflies vanished. What were once two glorious spells of Greater Healing were only dim and modest shells of fading light by the time they hit Braam and Baudelaire.

“Oh no,” you murmured. You had muddled up the Greater Heal.

The faded balls of light that were supposed to be Greater Healing fused into the armour and clothing of the two injured men, and the light dissipated into nothing. For a few seconds you feared that it would do nothing at all, but then after the light vanished you could see a slight aura of light appear around the two. Your spell was doing something, at the very least.

Baudelaire was bleeding profusely from his leg after pulling out the throwing knife. You could see light glowing around the wound, but the wound certainly had not disappeared as it was supposed to. The child clawed at his arm with her nails and tried to flail her legs, her eyes glowing unnaturally. Even though she was still in her buffed state, however, Baudelaire was able to lift her above him and throw her off, the child slamming into the ground hard enough that you worried that the assassin may have done permanent damage. He turned, and you could see his lips moving quickly, chanting under his breath. He spoke some spell or skill you could not hear, and then the child’s flailing and scratching became far more random and chaotic, inarticulate clawing and grasping into thin air as if she could not see him.

This skill you knew of. It was one of the core abilities of the Rogue class: "Threat Conceal." You could only still see him because, obviously, it was not aimed at you. With the child grasping wildly, Baudelaire reoriented himself, pulling something from his coat pocket that looked like cord or rope. He was still moving much slower than normal, but he was no longer limping like a man who still had a gashing, poorly healed wound in his thigh.

On the other side of the clearing, Braam had likewise only partially recovered. He cast “Fortify” on himself to renew the mana barriers and enchantments on his armour as he continued to half-successfully shake off the still clinging crystals, fumbling around as Lyeneru’s powerful wind blew the rats and himself around in it, more water falling from him than the persistently clinging magical frost. Everyone, even the Pied Piper, had been drenched in water from Lyeneru’s storm. Water was dripping down over your hair and face, even as the wind was blowing it aside. Even the trees were bending to the sides, the wind blowing so strongly the burning dead tree above the cave was put out, only to be lit on fire again by another lightning strike.

The rats were still glowing, just like the brainwashed child that Baudelaire was struggling to keep still. The buffs that the Pied Piper had cast had even affected them, and it showed. Where once they were reduced to puffs of red mist or sliced to pieces by the rain-turned-blades, now they were merely being lacerated and dismembered, still dragging themselves out of the cave and into the open in single-minded determination even as they lost limbs. Another screeching child tried to rush out of the cave again. She’d sprint out and then be thrown back by Lyeneru casting another blast of wind, only to stand again and try again, inching closer outside each time.

Your plan overall, you hoped, had been a good idea. Your enemy depended on many minions to fight for him. With him using both buffs and mana bolts you could guess he was probably a Siren; the combination of the Bard and Mage classes. So you’d been right to lure him out, to separate him from his most powerful weapon.

But… but he was also tough, far more resilient than you'd ever expected. This was madness, really. The Inquisition thought the Pied Piper was an easy opponent? Was this easy?

You drew a breath, and cast aside those pessimistic thoughts. It just means you needed everyone to target him, the Pied Piper. Each time the empowered rats and brainwashed children from the cave drew closer, it was another tick on the figurative clock.

“Righteous Sentinel, clear my path of evil…” Your words flow as you start to chant again, invoking the name of the God of Justice and Law to charge a Holy Smite skill.

If that’s what you needed to do, then you would target him.

Unfortunately, the Pied Piper was not as foolish as you might have hoped, or at the least he’d proven himself quite talented at keeping himself alive. It was remarkably difficult for The Guard to land a hit on him, and while The Guard managed strikes from kicks and his shield, the Isekai did everything in his power to avoid the sword with grace comparable to Baudelaire, even with multiple throwing knives still lodged inside his body and arm. The Guard at least was hounding on the Isekai so closely that he was unable to activate his skills. The shattered remains of the potion The Guard had cut was splattered across the ground to attest to that.

The Isekai had even summoned out a weapon, a flute or pipe of some kind, but every attempt he made to use it was quickly interrupted by The Guard, either forcing him to dodge erratically or suffer another blow. Every time he charged the pipe to blow on it, The Guard struck, forcing him to create distance between them to try again.

“Aurrgh!” The Pied Piper screamed, probably out of frustration rather than pain, you guessed, for you still could not tell over the glowing light around him blocking your ability to see any emotional aura.

It was then that, by some fluke or boost in embattled need, the Pied Piper was finally able to dodge The Guard enough to blow on his magical flute. You braced for an attack of some sort, but instead a blue, glowing musical note appeared in the air, rotating around him.

It was a Familiar. Another one. How many familiars could this Isekai possibly have?!

Almost immediately after being summoned from the flute, the familiar turned to where Lyeneru stood beside you. The Isekai clearly considered Lyeneru the greatest threat to him, as her sorcerous storm made all his other minions mostly useless.

The Pied Piper’s floating familiar did not need commands. It charged with eerie light, and it seemed to somehow speak in a rapid voice that sounded more like blurted trills of noise rather than words. It then spewed forth a stream of mana bolts at Lyeneru and yourself, but mostly Lyeneru.

But instead of hitting you, the bolts deflected off large barriers that had been invisible until now, barriers that Lyeneru must have silently placed over you and herself at some point. The flash of mana bolts hitting her mana barriers, however, was enough to distract her from maintaining her storm, and even glancing over at where the hits were made caused the storm to immediately act more erratically, with wind lashing at Braam and The Guard, and a lightning bolt almost hitting one of the children trying to charge out of the cave.

You wanted to shout to Lyeneru to get her act together, but you had to concentrate on casting your own spells, so you said nothing. Lyeneru kept one arm raised up into the sky above, while with her other arm she wordlessly fired mana bolts at the Pied Piper and the familiar, still firing at her in turn. Most of which missed without him even needing to dodge them.

“Holy Smite!” you shout, finishing the casted spell and aiming your arms at the Pied Piper as well as his Familiar, which you knew you needed to destroy. A radiating beam of purest white light encompassed the Pied Piper, his familiar, and even The Guard. The familiar shot off one last mana bolt before being vaporised in the shining light. The Guard, being a holy creature, was completely unaffected by your light-based magic.

Once the first burst of light faded, you crept closer. To your amazement, the Pied Piper was still alive. His skin melted and blackened as if scorched, but then rapidly healed, the skin growing back and scorching again within moments as your smite spell continued to hit him. The Pied Piper, surprisingly, did not scream in pain even as you were scorching him alive. Instead he was chanting quietly to himself.

The Guard took this chance, and swung his sword directly into the Pied Piper. The sword cleaved through his shoulder and arm, severing it entirely. The Isekai jumped backwards in shock, out of the dissipating beam of light and away from The Guard.

Little blood came out of his arm, despite it being cut off. Was it because your Holy Smite spell had perhaps cauterised the wound? Either way, the Isekai was covered in red and black splotches, his hair had burned off, his clothing melted into his skin, his failed barrier enchantments fluctuating and blinking away, healing buffs still trying to slowly heal his skin back to its original state.

He never cried out in pain, though his eyes were glassy with delirium. The smell of roasted meat filled the air and Isekai music still echoed around him.

“Enough!” The Pied Piper shouts through bloody lips. At that moment, he flares with light again, like when the music had first started playing. The green diamond and name appeared floating above his head again, and for a moment you even saw numbers, Holy Statistics, as they were sometimes called, but not for long enough to determine what they meant.

You, and everyone else braced for a final, last ditch attack of some sort. The Guard hid behind his tower shield while still trying to ram it into the Pied Piper. Braam stopped bothering to cut through rats or pry off a child gnawing at his shin and instead started frantically chanting another Fortify spell. Lyeneru raised mana barriers again for you and herself. Baudelaire rather than protect himself simply charged at the Pied Piper, leaving the enraged child tied on the ground.

Baudelaire threw one last knife, this one digging into the side of the Pied Piper’s head, and yet a blow that certainly should have killed a mortal man did not even phase the Isekai, who disregarded the knife lodged into his face just as he disregarded the stump that was once his arm.

The light vanished, and no spell was fired at you, or anyone in your team. The Pied Piper had not even cast a buff or spell to aid his minions or his ruined body.

No. He had summoned…

A hat? A hat.

Really? A hat? Of all the things he chooses before dying? You stared, dumbstruck, at the green hat with its pink stripe running through it and two goggles. It was an extraordinarily silly hat. You could not fathom why he would –

“Oh Gods, not that!” Lyeneru suddenly shouted, her reaction upon seeing the hat one of pure terror, rather than the bewilderment that ran through Baudelaire, Braam’s and your own faces.

“STOP!” The Pied Piper shouted.

And just like that, staring at the hat on the Isekai’s head, you felt an overwhelming urge to do exactly as Iwasaki-sama said. At that exact moment, the way he had said that single word seemed impossibly convincing, awe-inspiring and with such confidence and determination that you could not possibly say no. You stopped.


This is a false vote, for narrative purposes. Do not vote here.
[sus] “Of course, Iwasaki-sama!”
[sus] “Of course, Iwasaki-sama!”
[sus] “Of course, Iwasaki-sama!”
[sus][roll] Resist! [WIL][Heroic].



You had gone rigid. Statue-like. You could not even turn your head, still looking at Lyeneru frozen in place beside you, her face contorted in terror and trying to yell something. You could see Braam in the distance, also frozen. The storm rapidly receded, the wind becoming a gentler breeze and the pouring rain into a drizzle. The rats and children had stopped too, frozen in place. Even the music had suddenly gone silent. Baudelaire, outside of your field of vision, was somehow still moving. You could hear him furiously grunting and struggling against some great invisible force, still trying to move forward.

You blankly looked on, wondering why Baudelaire would refuse Iwasaki-sama’s direct order that you all must obey. He ordered you all to stop, and stopping was the only thing in the universe that mattered. The Guard too, you could see from the corner of your vision, had not entirely frozen, as he moved his helmeted head to the side, as if quizzically wondering what Iwasaki-sama was trying to do. You could not comprehend why The Guard would not stop. Stopping was the only thing you existed to do.

“Now,” the Pied Piper tried to say, huffing and puffing from exhaustion, as he pulled the throwing knife out of his own head. “I want you to --”

Thwack!

Before the Isekai could even finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted by The Guard smashing his face in with a headbutt. The Pied Piper fell backwards like a tower caught in earthquake, and collapsed on the ground with a splash of mud and water. He had not stopped! Suddenly, a great clarity came over you, and you recognized all those thoughts about stopping as the infernal madness it was.

The Isekai, the Pied Piper, lay in the mud, out cold. The rats and children were still, strangely, frozen in place, even though the storm holding them back had cleared and whatever force fell over you had disappeared too.

You struggled to stand, feeling dazed and confused, your head ringing. You felt the tingling and ringing noises of “levelling up,” but as you were no Isekai, you could not see any of your Holy Statistics to verify it.

“Have… have we won?” you said, tired and still in shock, before slumping to the ground.


—​

You stared down at the unconscious form of The Pied Piper. The Guard stood beside you, his sword over the man’s head, a silent executioner awaiting your word. Thank the gods that you had brought The Guard with you, who had apparently been immune to whatever that was with the hat. After the end of the battle, you’d had enough time to finally heal each of your teammates and the children properly. The rats had eventually unfrozen, but since they were no longer controlled they were simply frightened animals again, and rather than attack you, they had simply fled in different directions, aimlessly squeaking.

There was… a lot to think about now, honestly. You had prepared for the possibility, of course, but you had never thought you would end your fight with a living captive. Baudelaire had told you that his previous confrontations with Isekais had usually ended with violent death or fleeing, either his or theirs. The case studies you read about in the Academy seemed to bear this out.

“What are you going to do with him?” Braam asked. Lyeneru still stared at the fallen green hat on the ground, the elf sorceress still having not explained what it was.

“I…” You started to say.

In truth, you were not sure. You could have the Isekai executed right here and now, with The Guard plunging a sword through the man’s neck. While he had survived absurd levels of punishment, you had confidence that a full decapitation now would end him.

You could also try an exorcism. The Isekai probably did not possess a body, based on his clothing and appearance, and the name that appeared above his head was probably that of an Isekai, not of any person of the Central Kingdoms, so he would likely just die anyway… but you could never be absolutely certain. You knew of an operative in the Inquisition who was capable of altering her name and Statistics.

There was also the possibility of taking him captive and bringing him back to the Inquisition, so that he could be formally tried for his crimes, though there was no question he’d be found guilty and executed anyway. Mr Rossi, an interrogator working for Mechtelt, had given you a vial of ink and a brush with very esoteric Prosperan enchantments on it, and given you basic instructions on how to apply it to the human skin, saying that Lyeneru could instruct you on other parts.

These were the instruments of applying a Slave Crest, like the ones they used in the Principality of Prospero or the Demon Empire. These were deeply illegal in the Kingdom of Astem, as was slavery in general; however the Inquisition reserved the right to make use of them in very restricted circumstances, such as here. When they captured a live Isekai.

(Note: Some decisions will affect the opinion of your teammates)
(Note 2: This uses a Plan Vote)

What shall be done with the Piped Piper Isekai, Iwasaki Kota?

[ ] Have The Guard execute the Pied Piper via decapitation
[ ] Execute the Pied Piper Isekai yourself
[ ][roll] Attempt an Exorcism on the unconscious Pied Piper (INT, Average)
[ ] Take the Pied Piper prisoner to be taken back to be put on trial, by placing a Slave Crest on him.
[ ] Take the Pied Piper prisoner to be taken back to be put on trial, do not use a Slave Crest.
[ ] Write-in

Still considering your choices on the Pied Piper’s fate, Lyeneru approaches you, having finally left the hat still toppled over in the mud.

“What is it?” you finally ask her.

“A Charisma Hat,” she says quietly, but evenly, her dark brown aura of fear having subsided back into a calm neutral gray.

“A… Charisma Hat?” you repeat.

“Yes. Self-explanatory, though I would say the name is deceptively simple for such a dangerous thing. It is an extremely powerful object, used for mind control by artificially raising the Holy Statistic of Charisma to levels unmatched by nearly all mortals.”

“So you have seen these hats before?”

“Yes. But not in… centuries, if I recall. I think. It's been so long, how this Isekai got his hands on one here, now… it brings ill tidings for this world,” she says, with the certain grim foreboding of an elf who once possessed the powers of prophecy.

Initially, you considered that perhaps that this was the tool that the Pied Piper had been using to kidnap the children, a thought that made you reconsider the possibility of him somehow possessing something like your own “Otome Attractor” trait, but Lyeneru seemed to read your thoughts about it as if she was also a telepath.

“I know what you are thinking, and no. The Charisma Hat doesn’t work that way. It's a tool of absolute obedience, total domination of the mind, reducing its victim to fixation on solely its commands. Your empathic powers would have picked up something much more severe than strong feelings of joy. I don’t think he was using it to control the children… though I think the rats… it's possible,” she said, drifting off. “Why he didn’t use the hat earlier, or against the villagers, or anyone else, or only as a last resort… I can only guess. In truth, I do not know all too much on how these accursed objects work, other than having witnessed it before.”

“What should I do with it?” you ask.

“It is as I said before, Adjutant, you are in charge and I will accept your judgement. But if I were you? Destroy it. Right now,” she says, in all dead seriousness.

What to do with the hat?
[ ] Destroy the Charisma Hat
[ ] Take the Charisma Hat as loot.
[ ] Take the Charisma Hat as evidence to be handed to the Inquisition for inspection, do not directly touch it yourself, and do not let anyone wear it.
[ ] Put the Charisma Hat on your head.
[ ] Write-in.

You stared at the green hat on the ground, fixated on it, its colour brightening as if it noticed you looking at it, as if it wanted you to wear it.

“It is transfixing, isn’t it?” Lyeneru asks you. You only nod in response. “And that is why I say what I do. Isekais are not the only monstrous things in this world disguised in garish colours and as silly, simple things.”

Baudelaire chose this moment to appear out of thin air, dispelling his stealth spell as he walked calmly out of the cave entrance beneath the burned tree, its flames extinguished. An aura of disgust followed him like thick fog. He glanced momentarily at the Charisma Hat to sneer at it as if it had personally insulted him before turning to you.

“I looked inside the cave. The children are there, by my guess, all of them. They are alive…” he says.

“But?” You ask hesitantly.

“He has been holding them in cages. I do not understand why, since he has mind control abilities, but I do not need or wish to understand. The freak has been holding them there, and feeding them what seems to be a mixture of the food he gets from the villagers and dead rats.” Baudelaire tells you, disgust clear in his words.

“Do you know if they are free of his control or not? The rats seem to have all fled…” You ask, wondering yourself.

“I cannot fully tell. Some of the children were awake and were crying the moment they saw me.”

“We also do not know what power he actually used on the children, as I strongly suspect it was not the hat,” Lyeneru adds.

“Really? That disgusting thing seemed like the obvious culprit to me.” Baudelaire says.

You were still not certain what the Pied Piper had been using to control the children. The obvious culprit seemed to be the Charisma Hat that you witnessed personally control you, but Lyeneru has told you that its powers do not control people like how the children were controlled, comparing it to instead the ‘absolute obedience’ of the rats. Was it some kind of emotional manipulation skill by his Bard class? Some kind of illusionary powers? Or perhaps it was as your gut instinct suggested – he possessed something akin to your own Otome Attractor, in which case you needed to move the Pied Piper away from the children for the power to fade.

What to do with the children?
[ ] Let the children out immediately and return them to their families.
[ ] Keep the children in the cages for their own and others safety, until you have either killed the Pied Piper or had him moved far enough away from the children.
[ ] Keep the children in the cages for their own and others safety, until the Inquisition informs the villagers that it is safe to let them out.
[ ] Let the children out of the cages but inform their parents that their children may still be brainwashed and potentially violently dangerous, so to keep them in secure confinement until the Inquisition informs them that it is safe to let them out again.
[ ] Write-in

With that taken care of, there was just one last thing – your report. In truth, you did not have to write it right now, or any time soon. But it would have to include, or exclude, a particularly important detail. Some of the villagers, like the Carpenter’s apprentice, aided the Pied Piper Isekai.

Aiding an Isekai in the Kingdom of Astem is considered an act of “Weebery,” treason against the decrees of the Gods and Church. The criminal act of Weebery was divided into different charges, depending on the severity of the offence… with High Weebery being punished with anything from the branding iron to the Breaking Wheel, and even Low Weebery being punished with public humiliation, such as time in the pillory, the Weeb’s Fiddle or Weeb Paddling. One could not consort with the powers of darkness with impunity.


You have a choice here. What would you do with the villagers, and so report later to Inquisitor Mechtelt?

[ ] Arrest the Conspirators under violation of Weebery Laws, report High Weebery.
The Villagers acted deliberately and with full knowledge of the consequences of their actions in aiding an Isekai. They knew that they endangered others and society at large, and acted with either malicious intent against the Natural Order or with complete negligence towards it. Arrest the conspirators as potential High Weebery offenders.

[ ] Arrest the Conspirators under violation of Weebery Laws, report High Weebery with Exonerating Circumstances.
The Villagers acted deliberately and with full knowledge of the consequences of their actions in aiding an Isekai. They knew that they endangered others and society at large, however they possessed exonerating circumstances in the form of being coerced against their will. Arrest the conspirators as potential High Weebery with Exonerating Circumstances offenders.

[ ] Arrest the Conspirators under violation of Weebery Laws, report Low Weebery.
The Villagers acted either unaware of who they were aiding or without full understanding of the consequences of their aid for an Isekai. They did not know that they endangered others and society at large by their actions. They may possess exonerating circumstances such as coercion as well. Arrest the conspirators as potential Low Weebery offenders.

[ ] Do not arrest the conspirators, report Low Weebery.
Report that the Villagers meet the criteria for Low Weebery however you judged their exonerating circumstances significant enough to warrant a pardon.

[ ] Do not arrest the Conspirators, report no unusual activity.
The villagers cooperated as needed with the Inquisition and the isekai was successfully caught with their much needed help. There is nothing else to report.


____

Appendix A:

ljOO7a5AvBdM5ay8bTrS87v5ZcsOfAj80TFlap6tPyqfKwYnZPQfX5KQV6zQl2R7oNZd87nfd3cwI1YhkxjMYERJ5GGCmBFpKErWNrbagWo6ACb9s0ePXMz3WkO_Bbi9pg


The Charisma Hat, as witnessed by Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser in the possession of the Pied Piper isekai.​
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, AFTERMATH I

CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, AFTERMATH I


[X]Plan Justice but Mercy
[X][roll] Attempt an Exorcism on the unconscious Pied Piper. Bind, blind, and gag him first though,
in case the attempt wakes him up. Have the Guard and Baudelaire on standby to chop off his head if the exorcism fails. (INT, Average)
[X] Destroy the Charisma Hat.
[X] Keep the children in the cages for their own and others safety,
until you have either killed the Pied Piper or had him moved far enough away from the children.
-[X] Arrest the Conspirators under violation of Weebery Laws, report High Weebery with Exonerating Circumstances.
Emphasis on exonerating circumstances. He had spies, mind control powers and hostages.




TGE68oegSwZLDVF5KRvF1ReSd1klYsvU0aMQUF-i-OyzSTs_CYxOpG3WrHp51dfmpbK5UwuXkJztStLpDu4FL5l5QIEZqYPYYoRw3hrtLwd_etjb2wGfoaHQVfQAR1S6qQ


Roll Result: Success


“Holy Smite!”

With those words, you watched solemnly as a gleaming beam of cleansing light flooded over the muddy Charisma Hat. Engulfed, it was not long of a wait for the thing to burst into flames. The moment it did, the hat started to contort and scream in front of your eyes, a vortex of air and shrieking. As it spun around as if in a whirlpool, it spoke words rapidly in the Isekai tongue before switching to other languages you did not understand. You could hear a few words of Tourish, Wachstaatian, Yankee, then what you could only guess was Sarutish – you flinched a bit at the Demonic tongue – before finally hearing the words “my gift” in Astemmian.

Then it was gone, consumed to ashes.

“Good riddance,” was all Lyeneru said. You could feel a faint yellow aura of her calm and relief.

Baudelaire and The Guard had stopped their binding and blindfolding of the Pied Piper to observe the destruction of the Charisma Hat, and with a brief nod from the former, they returned to work. Braam shrugged, more interested in the Pied Piper.

You would just have to hope that the Inquisition will be as understanding as your team members were, and that they would accept your reasoning for destroying the Charisma Hat. You had contemplated bringing it back to the Inquisition Headquarters, as it was a priceless artefact with immense power, something that their scholars would wish to study and understand… but its use was not worth its danger.

You made the right decision, you reassured yourself.

[Lyeneru Asara Okaavailnases approved of your handling of the Charisma Hat.]
[Enguerrand Baudelaire approved of your handling of the Charisma Hat.]
[Griffin Braam was neutral to your handling of the Charisma Hat.]
[The Guard was neutral to your handling of the Charisma Hat.]


Baudelaire and The Guard had finished gagging the still unconscious Pied Piper, so it was time you started the real preparations. You had decided to Exorcise the Pied Piper on the spot. You did not want to risk travelling with an Isekai, and while it was permitted to use temporary Slave Crests on Isekais to transport them, it did not sit well in your stomach to perform such a wretched act, even to an Isekai. Not when his trial would mean certain death anyway.

In truth, this was a mercy. His other options would be execution by The Guard’s cold steel or the Church publicly executing him with the Eye of Heaven. Here, on the small chance his body was possessed, whoever it belonged to would be freed. If he was a summoned isekai? Then the body would be cleansed of the evil within it. It would be what Father Cosmo had referred to as a “Purge,” a final tranquillity.

“Lyeneru, how knowledgeable are you in the arts of Exorcism?” you asked her, hoping to speed up the process.

“Only the basics, not enough to help you form the magical circle. I assume you want to do this more quickly?” she asked in return.

You frowned. You knew quite a lot about Exorcism, how to form the circle, the markings required to place on the Isekai (the slave crest ink would, unintentionally it seems, come in handy here), the wording and process… but you were also working against the clock, as the last thing you needed was the Isekai to awaken again and cause trouble, or attempt to escape, even with The Guard still holding the sword over the Isekai’s neck.

Then you remembered that there was someone else who could help you.

“Baudelaire. Will you be able to help?” you asked him hesitantly. He was hardly an Academy of Light trained mage or a sorcerer of Lyeneru’s calibre, but you also remembered reading his list of skills from his dossier, among which was Theory of Exorcism.

“To an extent, Adjutant-Inquisitor. My knowledge… is self taught. I studied the methods, the preparation, but I am no mage, and cannot actually cast the spells to perform it. I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, that will be perfect – I just need some assistance with preparing the magic circle faster.” You smiled, hoping to reassure him. “If you want to.”

“It will be done,” he said. His voice was deadpan, as usual, but you could sense his self-doubt. He desired direction. That was fine; even with you telling him what to do, it would still be faster than if you did it all yourself.

Done it was, and quickly. Baudelaire had followed your instructions precisely, dragging his foot through the mud to form geometric shapes around the Pied Piper, circles within circles, the Great Spiral of the World Stream. As he did so, you used the slave crest ink to draw the required markings onto the Pied Piper’s body, making sure to use a brush from Lyeneru’s potion-making set, rather than the enchanted brush that came with the ink, as its enchantments were designed for slave crest design, not exorcism.

As you finished off the magical circles by adding the more complex symbols that Baudelaire could not replicate, Braam suddenly spoke up.

“The villagers have arrived. I can see some of them gathering around in the bushes,” he said, pointing. It was not surprising, since they would have undoubtedly seen the freak storm appear and disappear from nothing in the middle of the day.

It did not take an inquisitor to determine why they were there. So long as the villagers kept a respectable distance, you did not mind. It did fill you with a twinge of guilt, knowing that once you were finished here you would soon be turning on them too, as was the law.

“We are ready.”

Braam and Lyeneru stood back. Baudelaire and The Guard remained near the circle, ready to execute the Pied Piper should he even move.

“Baudelaire, the Exorcism ritual will create a lot of light. Please be careful, and shield your eyes.” He didn’t speak, but nodded slightly.

“Guard…” you started, then thought better of it. The Guard could probably shrug off walking through a volcanic eruption, you reckoned. “You’ll probably be fine.”

“Hmph,” was all The Guard replied.

“O devoted Amoroa, Joiner of Souls!” You invoked the name of the former Goddess of Love and Fidelity, cruelly slain by the Isekai, Katsuro the Destroyer. You hold your arms out wide, as if to embrace someone, or preach to a crowd of thousands.

“Honourable Reavanna, Bringer of Victory!” You invoke the former Goddess of War and Strategy, who once ensured all wars would be fought humanely – no more. Your voice echoed powerfully, joined by whispers and other voices of uncertain origin.

“Distant Nomos, Lord of the Waters. Crafty Fiscan, Builder of Wealth. Watchful Bettamis, Maiden of the Wild Hunt. Sacred ensemble lost to cruel treachery!” You did not invoke the names of the living deities of the Creator Pantheon, not for the Exorcism Ritual. No. You invoked its dead, those struck down by The Destroyer during the War In the Heavens.

“Divine for me a path to retribution!” you chanted, your voice becoming stronger. The magical circle glowed golden at first, and then pure white. Particles of light drifted upwards. Around you, the world started to blur, then darken, even the light of the sun distorted by the ever-brightening magical circle. You squinted, hardly able to bear the holy light in front of you.

“A great flood, washing away all that is impure. A scourging, returning what once was, what was once innocent!” you continued, the light so bright that you clenched your teeth and grimaced in pain. You heard a faint, distant voice, perhaps it was Braam shouting in alarm.

“Unwelcome guest who violated the sacred places of the World! The Gods compel you! Go! Out!” You could feel the power; your voice echoed with those of a thousand Inquisitors, those who had pursued this holy work before you, those who had paved the way, their voices joined with yours, their strength joined to yours.

With that, the echoes drifted far away, and vanished. The bright light had faded and the magical circle had disappeared. In fact, everything except the Pied Piper and yourself had disappeared. Everything and everywhere else was white light as far as you could see, even what was once the ground.

“The Gods compel you!” you shouted again, your will contesting with the Isekai’s. This time, the Pied Piper started trying to flail his bound remaining limbs and was shaking madly, his body spasming. A shadow erupted from the Pied Piper’s form, flickering and curling as if it were a dying fire in a violent storm. At that moment, just as the Pied Piper reached his end, the all-engulfing light smothered out even the shadow, and you closed your eyes for the barest of moments.

When you opened them, you were not in the void of white light anymore.

You were somewhere very different.

You were in… a tunnel, of some sort, a tunnel made of tiles in greys and whites. Bright fluorescent colours shone from square panels and overhanging signs. Dark columns dotted the tunnel, the columns covered in magical symbols.

You nearly panicked, thinking that you had been lured into a trap or failed another spell, but then your confidence returned when you saw the figure of the Pied Piper still withering on the ground, his leg passing through one of the columns as if it were not there.

You briefly chastised yourself for your lack of confidence. This was not a true place, but a mental realm. It was akin to the spaces seen in Mental Dives, or the room that Baudelaire had once shown you inside his mind, where he was once imprisoned inside his own body by the Isekai that possessed him.

Looking around, you saw figures, silhouettes of people. They wore attire as you had seen in the illustrations of the Malleus Isekaificarum, the Inquisitor’s manual on Isekai-hunting. Dark coats over white cloth, with strange triangular cravats and all carrying luggage of the same shape and design. They possessed no faces, only black voids. Their forms resembled oily smoke, shifting and distorting like the haunted ghosts of long abandoned homes.

One figure stood before you. It was another Pied Piper, even though you could see him convulsing on the ground still. This other Pied Piper still possessed his hair and both arms, and was fully clothed, but his attire was rugged, loose, and messy, quite unlike that of the other figures in the tunnel. He faced you, but he did not react to your presence; he stared blankly as if looking through you.

You heard a great screeching, metallic scream, and turned to see what all of the silhouettes stared at.

An immense worm slithered at speed through another, darker, part of the tunnel, stopping before you and the silhouettes. Many mouths, lined with fangs and teeth, opened up along the side of the worm, the maws revealing more oily figures, black smoke leaking out. The worm screeched again. Rather than flee at the sight of the great monster, the silhouettes calmly walked as a massed herd into the numerous mouths along the worm’s long body, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

The other Pied Piper’s mouth moved as if to tell you something, but no sound came from his mouth. He then, too, walked into the maw at the side of the worm. The maw remained open, and you could feel wind blowing out of the orifice, and hear strange voices and noises.

Nothing was said, but you could feel it. This dream place, it wants you to enter that void in the maw, to follow the sounds. It wants to show you something.

[ ] Do not pass into the maw, continue the exorcism.
Ignore an obvious trap and finish this. The gods compel you!

[ ] Enter the maw.
You are in control of this exorcism, this place is under your control now. Use this opportunity to learn more about the Isekai before you vanquish it. Know thine enemy!

[ ] Write-in
 
Extracts of the Malleus Isekaificarum I
Malleus Isekaificarum
---

On the Passing of Judgment, and Exorcism I
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An isekai in its typical attire, as seen in a dream-vision by an Inquisitor

Although the Inquisition needs and values scholars and investigators, the Rite of Exorcism is the holiest and most important technique available to an Inquisitor. The Exorcist must be pure of heart and strong of will, for the Isekai is notoriously stubborn in clinging to its existence. The decision to Exorcise is not taken lightly; there is a considerable danger of it killing non-Isekais and even the Mage. It is a decision reached after careful and cautious investigation, a Rite undertaken only when evidence and reason make it certain that the captured suspect is indeed a Possessing Isekai. For the Isekai is an exceedingly subtle enemy; there are few definitive proofs of possession, most notably the Holy Appraisal, a Skill available to only one Class.

The Rite begins with the Circle; the Isekai must be bound, for safety reasons, and placed in the middle of a magical circle drawn on the ground or floor. Circles within circles, the Spiral of Akasha, the Fate of the World, channels the Mana forces properly. Other holy symbols and runes are then carved into the Spiral to signal intent. The Isekai must then be stripped, if necessary, and the holy symbols applied with a basic potion brush and ink to the forehead, heart, and solar plexus.

The Exorcist then offers the Invocation. Unlike most Invocation Spells, the living Gods of the Pantheon are not invoked in the Invocation of Exorcism. Instead, the Exorcist invokes the memory of the Gods who were slain by Katsuro the Destroyer during the War in the Heavens: Amoroa, the Joiner of Souls; Reavanna, the Bringer of Victory; Nomos, the Lord of the Storms; Fiscan, the Builder of Wealth; and fair Bettamis, the Maiden of the Wild Hunt. One more God had been struck down that day, but his name is not mentioned or invoked, save by Demonic Inquisitors of the Sarutish Rites.

If the Circle and Invocation have been done properly, the spell will produce a great amount of exceedingly bright and Holy light. Do not be fearful; many have paved the way before you, and to be an Inquisitor is to join a battle that many have fought. Their spirits will be at your side.

Some Inquisition Mages, especially gifted in Telepathy and Empathy, have at this time seen brief visions of the Isekai's mental world. Illustrations of these visions can be found throughout this book. This, too, is nothing to fear; it is a form of Mental Dive and these visions, though they may be frightening, they should only be mirages, and if witnessed should be documented for research. Some mages report seeing a "council room," with a great table and chairs in the fashion of the council room of a noble lord, where the spirit of the Isekai debates and makes decisions; others report seeing even stranger visions and glimpses of Ja'Paan, the Eldritch Realm from which the Isekais originate.

However, most of the time, you will see nothing but white light and perhaps the shadow of the Isekai's spirit as it is purged within the holy flames.

After this, the victim's original soul and personality will return; but they are marked as Reclaimed in their Holy Statistics thereafter, and they will forever be haunted by fragments of the Isekai's mind and memories. The Reclaimed often join the ranks of the Inquisition themselves, for the war against the Isekai is now a deeply personal one.

However, it must be noted that there are Isekai who are Summoned rather than Possessing; the exorcism of a Summoned Isekai merely removes the soul of the Isekai from its proper body, leaving the body an empty shell. Such bodies are best swiftly and mercifully killed, however as the Gods loath Destruction and love Mercy, some Inquisitors choose to take these to cloistered monasteries, where they are cared for by nuns who revere Iyuta, She Who is Friend to All -- even the Isekai.
 
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, AFTERMATH II
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, AFTERMATH II

[ ] Do not pass into the maw, continue the exorcism.

No! you thought. You were not going to play this game. Not only was this an obvious temptation from whatever eldritch spirit watched over his kind, you weren’t going to give the Isekai the satisfaction of dragging this out.

The Pied Piper would not be getting the chance to tell his story, not the way he wanted to. Not after what he had done.

“The gods compel you, out! You do not belong here!” you shout once again, raising your hands.

The oily shades of the isekais all turn to glare at you, a blank wall of malice. The grey tunnel distorts, and the coloured signs flicker, as if recoiling from your rejection. The maw closes.

“The gods compel you!”

The oily ghosts moaned and screeched, although their voices became distant and softer as the tunnel dreamscape slowly faded away. The music from before returned but playing in reverse, its rhythm distorted and broken.

“Dlrow eht ni gnos tsetaerg eht ton si siht'' It sang, in words that were gibberish, but also not the Isekai language you had heard earlier. The tunnel, oily figures, and grey worm had vanished; the bright, holy void of whiteness was all that remained. It was time to finish this.

"I order you in the name of the Gods…”

“Isekai, go home!"
Once again, you felt your voice joined with those of the Inquisitors of four generations before you. It was as if all of the Church, and all of the Heavens, were commanding him through you. Against all of those holy warriors, one Isekai was powerless to resist.

You could see the shadow twisting and flickering, a tiny screech emanating from it as it was torn apart.

Its purpose fulfilled, the white light faded, the world returning into focus. You fall to your knees, exhausted.


~~~​


You all gathered around the Pied Piper's still, unmoving body. Baudelaire poked at it with his foot. It stared up at the sky with unfocused eyes, seeing nothing.

“Is... is he dead?” Braam asked.

“No. It’s still breathing.” Baudelaire said, pointing out the movement of the Pied Piper’s chest.

"... Then shouldn't he be waking up by now?" Braam asked, giving you a puzzled look. At this point, the victim of Possession would have reasserted themselves, confused and traumatised but free. Reclaimed to Humanity, as the Inquisition put it.

Perhaps then it had not mattered, after all. You sigh, knowing this would be the likely outcome, even if you had hoped otherwise.

Most Isekais were incorporeal spirits that lurked in the black waters of an Isekai Storm or abandoned pools, or deserted alleys, waiting for the chance to Possess the unwary -- and the unlucky. But many Isekai were also Summoned, body and soul, into the world. If the Pied Piper had been one of the latter, as it now seemed, you had just removed the soul from its proper body -- an empty shell without it. This was a "purge." The Isekai stared upwards at nothing, glassy eyed and expressionless, even as the body breathed faintly.

You could feel no aura from the Pied Piper. No emotions at all, not even the greys or light blues of contentment. There was nothing. Still, you had to be absolutely sure.

“Baudelaire, please pour water into the Pied Piper’s ear, and tell me if his eyes move in any manner." This was one of the stated ways in the Malleus Isekaificarum to determine if a purge exorcism was successful.

Baudelaire nodded, and took out his waterskin. He poured the water as he stared into the Pied Piper’s eyes. He waited for quite some time with no response, before calmly stepping back. Baudelaire frowned, voicing your thoughts before you could. "A Summoned Isekai, then. At least it won't be hurting anyone anymore."

"So what do we do?" Braam asked, glancing at the crowd of villagers.

Baudelaire looked at The Guard, who had kept his sword raised above the Pied Piper. "We take its head off, of course. Our mission is clear -- we give no quarter to the Isekai."

Lyeneru shook her head. "Laeshaan abhors nothing more than needless destruction. I can't be a part of ending life for no reason -- even such a twisted one. The evil in his soul is gone, let the shell be."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"There is a monastery, about twenty leagues away I believe, dedicated to Iyuta. There are nuns there that care for these helpless creatures, they will take him in."

Everyone looked at you. You were the head of this Inquisition Party, after all. You knew you would have to make decisions that would affect not only yourself, but your team, your department, and perhaps even the Continent. You just didn't expect it to be this soon.

"Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser, what is your decision?"

The defeat of the Pied Piper could not be credited to you alone. Your Inquisitorial Party had more than earned the right to pass judgement. After that, you could deal with the children -- and the villagers.

"We put it to a vote," you say.

They all looked a little surprised at that. Voting on decisions was not typically something that Inquisitors, or Astemmians in general, tended to do. Another of your peculiarities -- a fondness for votes and fairness.

"All in favour of killing the body?"

Baudelaire immediately raised his hand, which you expected. The war against the Isekai was a deeply personal one for him, and he had a more intimate knowledge than most of the threat they posed.

As did The Guard, always unyielding and unswerving in pursuit of justice. For his crimes, the Pied Piper had more than earned his execution.

“He should have paid the fine,” The Guard said.

"All in favour of showing mercy?"

Lyeneru raised her hand, and after some hesitation, so did Braam. Braam raising his hand was interesting, to say the least. On one hand, he seemed to cherish life, as all Children of Destiny did, but on the other you had read his dossier. You know what Isekais did to him. He had far more reasons to hate them than you.

"Baudelaire's right," Braam said. "He won't be hurting anyone anymore. We’re here to help people, not go around killing people because we can."

The vote was a tie, then. Everyone looks at you, expecting your decision. What will you decide?

[ ] The Pied Piper must pay for his sins. Off with his head!

[ ] The Gods are ever-merciful, sometimes even to the undeserving. Take him to the monastery.
 
Omake I - Nuk-Kcurt
Omake: (Written by SB member, Spacepaladin)

Nuk-Kcurt:
Nuk-Kcurt is a mischief demon responsible for summoning many Isekais into our world. His reasons for doing so are shrouded in mystery, as those Isekais touched by his influence that we have managed to interrogate frequently curse him, claiming that Nuk-Kcurt stole their lives. While the words of an Isekai are not to be trusted, the frequency and similarity of those Isekais' claims of Nuk-Kcurt's involvement does paint a tragic picture, and the graphic descriptions of the horrific maulings they received from Nuk-Kcurt can make one feel, however briefly, sorry for the Isekai. But remember, the tormented can become the tormentor under the right circumstances, and given the horrific abuses that many Isekais have perpetrated, it is likely that Nuk-Kcurt specifically targets those that can be twisted into the monsters that plague our lands, or those already damned and merely grants them one more excuse to justify their actions.

There is some argument over what Nuk-Kcurt is, as he has had many different descriptions, at least for those Isekai that saw him coming. There are some commonalities, a large, elongated limbless wyrm-like creature with a metallic-like carapace and capable of great speeds and horrific bellows. Because shapeshifting is a trivial matter for powerful entities, most scholars assume that Nuk-Kcurt is a singular entity. However, some of the more radical thinkers propose the idea that Nuk-Kcurt is a whole race of demons. The Inquisition quashes such claims whenever they crop up, partly out of fear of the possibility of an entire race of demons that can not only summon Isekais, but can actually strike fear into the hearts of such beings, and how it might panic the populace.

Parents occasionally like to scare misbehaving children with tales of Nuk-Kcurt. The specifics vary from telling to telling, but the general consensus is that Nuk-Kcurt likes the taste of bad children and will maul them and steal their souls, then release them onto another world to spread chaos and evil to fatten them up before finally returning to consume them utterly, and the only way to avoid this fate is to be good, as good children taste foul to Nuk-Kcurt.

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CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, CONCLUSION
CASE I - THE PIED PIPER, CONCLUSION

[x] The Gods are ever-merciful, sometimes even to the undeserving. Take him to the monastery.​



You take a deep breath, close your eyes, and offer a brief prayer to the Gods, hoping your decision would please them, at least. You had joined the Inquisition, yes, and you knew it meant that you would have to take life. But in the end, you were not like the others, who had each joined the Inquisition after an encounter with an Isekai shattered their lives. You were not motivated by a need for revenge. You understand that this body, while alive, was now without a soul, and harmless. Some might see your “mercy” as meaningless, foolish and naive, even, but you liked to think it was not about mercy, but simple humanity.

You wanted to prove to yourself that you were motivated by more than bloodlust or the need to destroy the enemy. You were proving to yourself the purity of your goals. You want to help people, and protect the innocent. And so far? That was it.

“We take him to the monastery and leave him to the mercy of the Gods.”

Everyone nodded. Lyeneru looked relieved; Baudelaire's face was unreadable as always, an expression of passive neutrality. You could see the colours of their auras flickering and shifting – pale yellow for Lyeneru and Braam; a more neutral grey-blue for Baudelaire. The Guard, completely unreadable, for there was no aura to read.

“As you wish, Adjutant-Inquisitor,” Braam replied, and kneeled down to pick up what was once the Pied Piper.

[Lyeneru Asara Okaavailnases approved of your decision.]
[Griffin Braam approved of your decision.]
[Enguerrand Baudelaire slightly disapproved of your decision.]
[The Guard slightly disapproved of your decision, you think]


“Now, we deal with the villagers.” It was not something you looked forward to.

~~~​

The arrest, all in all, had been easy.

“Hear ye, hear ye, in the name of the Gods!” you had announced, reading from the traditional scroll. One glance at The Guard brandishing an unsheathed greatsword nearly as long as a grown man was tall, and that was it. The conspiring villagers surrendered quickly – particularly since you already knew full well who they were. “In the name of the Church and the Holy Order of the Inquisition, you are hereby charged with the crime of High Weebery!”

~~~​

You were packing up now, moving your gear and supplies into your carriage. As you heaved your bags under the seat, the village militia were in the process of moving the arrested villagers to the centre of the village – you could see Mrs Hazelkamp the apprentice carpenter’s wife crying, as she watched her husband taken away in chains. You felt guilty when looking at her, so you quickly looked away. Another of the women had fallen to her knees and clutched at your skirts before the militiaman dragged her off, tears streaming down her face and some snot running from her nose. “Have mercy, Lady Inquisitor!” she’d cried. “He took my child!”

Again, you’d turned away.

Other villagers jeered at the arrestees. Condemnation as a weeb would be a social stain that would follow these men, and the few discovered women who also aided them, for the rest of their lives.

Those who consort with the forces of darkness will know no relief. Those words would not be easily forgotten, not by you and certainly not by these villagers now. But they were fortunate – they would survive their punishment, and have their children returned to them. Peasants were not afforded the legal protections that aristocrats, yeomen, or priests protected by feudal obligations and binding oaths were. None of these men and women would see a courtroom or trial. Normally, they would be judged by their liege lord and his or her councillors, but in these circumstances, jurisdiction lay with the presiding Inquisitor – namely, you.

It was a heavy responsibility. If you gave too light a sentence and reported as such, or worse, falsely reported a sentence and were discovered later, you may very well be reprimanded. Even now, a more senior inquisitor, Mechtelt even, may later decide that your judgement was insufficient or in error.

However, you hoped that your elaborating on the exonerating circumstances of the case would be enough, enough to justify the comparatively lenient punishment. The one the village militia were carrying it out now.

“Weeaboo!” shouted someone in the crowd of gathered villagers. You sigh. So it begins.

“Weeabooooo!!” Another shouts. And another.

You boarded the carriage, the last to do so. Lyeneru was inside watching the Pied Piper, slumped over against the window; Braam and Baudelaire at the front driving the horses, and The Guard, who could not mount, simply walking beside the carriage.

Once inside, you dared to look back at the village square for the last time. You could see the guilty villagers tied to the poles by their hands, stripped below their waists, their trousers and skirts round their ankles. As the village militia paddled their bottoms, the growing crowd threw rotten vegetables at them. This was normally a punishment for Low Weebery, but in light of the mitigating circumstances, you had ordered this. Twenty lashes with the Weeb’s Paddle.

The jeering voices of the crowd rang in your ears. That taunt, again and again.

“Weeaboo! Weeaboo! Weeaboo!”

As the cries and taunts of the villagers, and the smacks of the Weeb’s Paddle against flesh, followed you out of the village, you realised that this case was done. These were to be your shouts of victory.

The sight of that crying mother would lay heavily on your mind long after it, however.

~~~​

The carriage ride had been mostly peaceful, thankfully. Mostly being the word of importance, as on the way a low level monster, a Goblin, had attempted an attack on the carriage. It died almost immediately after it appeared from the bushes, as Baudelaire casually shot it in the head with his pistol, without even looking, let alone stopping the carriage. He did not bother to collect proof of the kill, for he was an Inquisitorial agent, and your mutual jobs were to hunt down Isekais, not common monsters like parties from the Adventurer’s Guild.

You had heard that monster attacks were becoming more common in recent years, but this was the first attack you had actually witnessed. It was, honestly, a surprisingly mundane let down. You could only suppose that after having just lived through the horrors of fighting an Isekai, monsters like Goblins, Gnolls, and Bugbears were simply not to be feared anymore. The most dangerous monsters took human shape.

After a few more minutes, you arrived at the Iyutan Monastery and dropped off the purged Pied Piper with little fanfare. The Nuns who greeted you were quick to understand the circumstances of your arrival. They asked for no payment, and even had another Empath amongst their number use her own powers to confirm that you had indeed purged the Isekai you were giving to them, before sending for two more nuns with a stretcher to take him away. As you walked through the gardens surrounding the monastery, you saw other individuals in plain clothing or bed-wear, some of them walking around aimlessly, fidgeting or trying to aid the nuns tending the flowers.

You saw their auras too. Some of them possessed no aura just as the Pied Piper now did, while others had very pale, dull auras of emotion, like a trailing ghost of an aura you sometimes saw in animals and lower monsters. They were also purged Isekais, but unlike the Pied Piper, they still possessed mobility and perception to some extent. They were almost like slower, shambling versions of The Guard.

With your detour to the monastery done, it was now just a short journey back to the capital, Astoria, and the Inquisition Headquarters. Braam had left the front of the carriage and the task of driving the horses to just Baudelaire, climbing in the back to finally sleep after the previous night and morning. You stayed awake, switching back and forth between writing your report and occasionally just staring out at the passing scenic fields, meadows, grassy hills, tulips and windmills of the Kingdom of Astem.

You had the carriage stop briefly at a number of towns, so you could inform the guards there that their own town’s missing children would soon be returned to them, with the Pied Piper defeated. With that news, one of the towns was so relieved that the owner of the town’s best inn provided you and your team boarding and generous meals for free. Whenever you stopped in these towns, The Guard would suddenly reappear beside the carriage, as if he was always there rather than many miles walking behind it. The next day, after you and the others woke and left the inn, you found The Guard simply standing there out in the open by the carriage.

“Crime never sleeps,” he’d say.

As the carriage neared closer to Astoria, the towns became larger and more urban, verging on cities. Grassy hills became lowlands, farms and orchards faded to houses of stone and brick near bubbling streams and rivers. You passed the ruins of an old Yankeevine aqueduct, the stones stained and crumbling with time, as their empire receded away from these lands. With your carriage’s approach to Astoria’s outskirts, you even saw some airships in the sky, two great Sky Galleons, magically sailing through the clouds towards the capital to join their many brethren. When you first came to the capital, years ago, you had stood in wonder at all the airships in the sky – though you have yet to ever fly in one, you still dream of getting the chance to do so someday.

Before entering the city proper, the carriage passed through the urban sprawl that had grown so much that it passed beyond the walls. Here you saw a strange collection of simple huts and hovels mixed with warehouses and workshops. Gnomes huddled around, their skin barky and covered in flowers and mushrooms, just like their houses, as many buildings in these outskirts were dotted with outgrowths of flowers and oversized glowing mushrooms.

Astem was a kingdom of humans, predominantly, but not only humans. Gnomes lived here, in their mushroom houses. You saw a winged centaur courier passing your carriage, no doubt on his way to deliver his load of packages. An elven tutor or nanny ran to admonish a group of human and elven children who had been playing a game of tag with a padoru. The creature had fallen to the ground, flailing and bobbing its oversized head as it failed to right itself. It was always unfortunate to see a padoru, for they were once humans, girls afflicted with one of the Saberface Plagues that had passed through Astem a decade ago, and too poor to afford the healing needed to resist the affliction’s final stage.

The children complained and cried to the elf woman until she helped the padoru to stand up again, at which point the dwarf-sized creature returned to running into walls and people’s shins, singing a happy tune of “♫ padoru, padoru! ~♪”

~~~


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Beyond the city gate and walls, was the capital of the Kingdom of Astem, Astoria. A mixture of old and new, ancient stone castles stood proudly amongst manors, markets, libraries, schools, churches, and even a zoo. Numerous airships dotted the sky as carriages, wagons and carts moved through cobbled streets. Mixed into the markets were bazaars of exotic traders, mostly Demons showing off massive monsters in equally massive cages, much to the amusement of well-to-do city-folk, merchant wives, and aristocrats.

Passing statues of past heroes and deities that stood proudly over plazas and bridges, the carriage had reached the central city square of Astoria, with its large pool and fountain decorated with numerous large statues representing various heroes who had fought for Astem’s independence from the Yankeevine Empire. Some of those statues had been beheaded and their names carved out – they were Isekais of Astem’s past. Some of their names you knew of from your education, even if the statues were now nameless: Yoshikawa, Ageda, and even Johnny the Rebel, the famous arch-nemesis of The Yankee; they'd fought each other for the last time at the Asterion Fields over four hundred years ago, before the former’s eventual flight to the Demon Empire.

Behind the shadows of these once legendary figures stood a row of towering buildings – offices of governance, bureaucracies, and faith. Here, among these buildings, stood the Inquisitorial Headquarters. A large and looming building, it looked half stately office and half cathedral, where even from here you could see the various forms of demons carved around it. Jittering imps, snarling Chortians, and the half-naked humanoid statue of a horned and winged Cambion, all in various poses of defeat. It was a leftover from the past, when the Inquisition was more concerned with demonslaying, and Isekais could still be strange but friendly allies.

Baudelaire slowed the carriage as patrolling human guards of the City Watch armed with muskets and halberds, alongside several NPC Guards armed with greatswords, approached and surrounded them. The Guard, able to keep pace with the carriage in the bustle of the capital, did not need to suddenly teleport beside it and instead had moved ahead, confidently placing himself in front of the guards.

The Guard and his fellows faced each other, and suddenly a burst of metallic sound emitted from the dark space behind his helmet.

“01010100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01110010 01101001 01100001 01100111 01100101 00100000 0̶̳̟̟̼̠͇̩̮̮͆̌̌̋̉͛́1̷̪̭̼̜̰͈̟̖͕͗͒̎̿̆͐̂͛̿̎͘̕͠0̴̛̪͖̰̱̂̈́1̵̡̛̠͆̃́̈̾͆̆͆̓͜0̷̢̨̯̳̫̼̰̒͊̽̄1̷̾̓̑̄͜0̶̨̡͕̼͚̲̯͈͍̫̬̣̿́͐0̴̢͙͙͕̻͓̺͔̫̼̗͋͐̃̏͘̕ ̶̮̺̬͙̣͒̇͐̈́̌͆ͅ0̸̢̭̃̊͋̆̌̕1̴͓̘̙̣͎̝̖̪͂̄̽͂͜1̵̢̢̫͈̣̘̻̞̮̪̼̒͌͆͆̕̕ͅ0̶̛̱̫̬̻͊̔́̏͆͛̇͆̽1̸͉̩̉͌̍̑͠0̵̡̢̢̘̦̻̲͖̠̪̖̒͛̓́̒̈́̾̀͑͘͝0̴̨͇͇̘͓̭̓͗̀̇͐̊͋́͠0̴̫̠͕͚̭̘͒̃̇͑̕͜ ̶̨̱̯̻͛̆̒̏͑̾́̆͛͝0̷̡̝̳̹̮̟̰̩̰̮̓̄1̵͉̺̫̪͐̏1̶̢̰̥̹̰͑̋̎͐̀̿̈͛̅0̵̬̣̒1̷̛̳̝͇̖̩̣͇͈͓͇̩͕̱̆̉͋̋̀̈́̀̀̏̕0̷͔͙̼̣͍̦̦̞͇̣̹͚̖̂́̒͐́̒͒̓̄̓͝0̴̢̞̭̽͜1̵̢͍̣̠̲̙͈̯̣͉̭̒ ̸̧̧̬̜͓͕̦̞͚͓͍̩̋̈́̊̚͝͠0̸̨̡̡̠̱̭̞̭̝̯͑̈́̃́̃̌́͑̚̕͠͝͝1̸̨̨̨͕͈̭̆͗̃͐̆́̈͒̓́̎1̵͔͕̲͖̘̦̊̔̎͊̅1̵͉̙̮̝̯̑͋̃́̃̔͌̔͜0̶̨̛̛̛̥̦̗̖̰̬̥͍̪̯̗͂̓̎̊̌́́̿͝0̸͔͙̝̔̋̅̇͑̓̚͠ͅ1̸̥͉̝̣͎̞̐̒̈́͗͑͗̀͠͝1̷̛̯͎̥̾̈́́̍̈́̅͐͝ͅ ̷̨̭͍̼͎̤͈̾͝0̶̧̫͍̗̤̖̹͍͒̄͛̈́̕͝0̷̛̛͍͓̻̖̫̺̳͇͐̾͑̐̂̇̕̚͠1̷̡̯̝̳̹̙͚͕͚̭̓͐0̴͚̲̉̊̍̔̆̄̆̀̓̋͗̕0̷͙̹̞̟̼̮̮̰̓̋͂͗̐̄̑̌͋̈́̚͠͝0̸͓̤̮̳͗͂̂͒̾̏̈́ͅ0̴̨̧̢̙͇̰̼͎̻̽͛̃̃͂̕͜͝0̵̛͍̥̼͓̺͙͕̓͋͗͐́͒̆͛̚͜ ̸̡̢̖̖̘͔̦̉͐̀̈́̄̄̏̃͘ͅ0̶̢̨̜̺̼͎͛͘1̷̲̜͕̙̦̥̗͚̈́͐̅̾̍͌͆̃̔̀̚1̷͚͒́0̶̨̲͎̮̣̺̘̘͉͉̭̩̈́̒̓͋̆̌͌̃̽͒̌̄̇͜0̸̨̧̨̭̳̝̦̬̰̝̾̑̈́͂̒̃̀͒̆0̶̢̧̝̞̦͓̱̘̼̣́̐̅͆̐͛͊̍̈́̋̀̚͠1̸̢̝̼̥͈̳̟̈̍̄͊͌̀̈́͛̎͑1̴̛̳̯͖̗͓͊̃̉̎̌̍̄ ̷͍̘̩̯̗̱͎͎̗̙̘͎͊̓̄̋̆̍̂̐0̴̲̣̟̗̲̬̲̥̜̈͗̋͛̽͑̚1̶̢̠̥̘̣̭̺͖̘̣̬̬̃̾̀͜͝͝͠1̶̢͍͓̠͓͉̗̣̐̍̔̈́͛̈́0̸̛̛͇̞̰̞̈́̍͗̀͐͆0̷̗̺̳̠̘̍ͅ0̵̧̡̺̞̦̩͉̹̈́̆ͅ0̶̱̻͕̤̭͖̘͈͎̤͛1̶̛̗̙͈͓̣̞̳̤̂̌̄̏̅̉̈́̽͘͝ͅ ̸̧̢̪̣̣̹̝̠̖̩̣̱̯̌̇0̵̡͈̗̑̈́͆̆̐̍͆͝͠͝͠1̴͙̈́̈́͑͆̽̂̕̕1̴̧̢̹͇̟͓̱̥͚̪̯̀̄1̴̣̿̈́̅̐͗͒̕͜0̴̻̠̖̣̯̱̟͐͂͂́̒͑̀͐̊͠0̵̡̢̰̱͈̟̪͕̹̫̄̀̃̈͌̿͆͆́͆̊͗̚1̸̨͓̲̺͍̻͇͆0̷̭̳̳͔̙̙̠̤̥̻̂̉͝ ̴̨͕̠̠̀̍̈́́͘0̵̢͓̳̖̝̬̮̼̬̙̠̻̑̐́1̷͔̅̾̃͒̃̃̀̈̈̔͘1̵̡̻͋1̸͈̮͙͚̦͚̖̻̍͜0̶̨̢̳̩̺̞̣̙̺̹̗͛̌͊̂͐̉͛͋̆̃͗̕͜͝0̷̠̍́̀̓1̴̡̨̛̞̜̯̝̱̗̜͕̘̥̿͊̌́̐̌̿͊̔̈́͂͌0̷̗̪̙̤̱́̒̕͘͝ ̸̛̥̱̱̖̤͎̗̀̂̇̏̈̔̐͊͛̚̕͠0̵̢̺̰̗̗͍̘͎̱͈͍̌͗1̴̢̨̪̲͓̜̼̙̞̮͍͎̑͌̽̐̃͒͊1̴̟̺̞͚͕̪̦̇̊̆̽̒́̃͆̀̈́͝0̵̱̺͂̀̕1̵̡̫̟̠̫͎̗̪͈͖̥̇͒̑̒̚0̷̥̯̲̬̞̱͔̈́̍͛́͌̈0̴̛͚̎̿̾̊͋̔̀̃̐̋̕͘1̵̢̡̤͍̩͔̻̗̻̰̝̲̄̀̍̊̓̑̋̕ ̵̧̤̦͚͍̹̝͉͍͍̫̒́̅͌̂͌͜0̸̗͕̉̓1̵̣̟̟̥̬̘̗̗̘̂͜1̸̗͚̈̑̉̒̓̃̆͐̀́̕͝0̷̪̰͈̜̳̥̻͎̃̄̓͑͘0̶̥͈͓͌́̏̓̾̈̈͝0̷̡͓̩̜͍̭͓͈̽̍͑̆͝0̷̫̺̠͔̻͚̰̳͈͚́́̅̒̃͒̀̋̅̿́͗͝1̷̛̛̗̼̉͐̔̆́̐̾͛ ̸͈̾̇͑͆͠0̶̧͓̫̣̩̲̥͒̀̂̈͆͆̃͌̏ͅ1̶̧̩̮̠͂̔̽͗̊͘̚̚ͅ1̴̤͚̝̗̯̖͉̆́0̷̜͖͎̗͑̄͜͜0̴̹͉̣̾̇̂̃̐͝1̶̨̩̖̲͍̖̘͐̈́̕1̷̧̱̬̤̦͖̺̘͇̻̠͂͋̊̌̄̇̉̊́́̍̿̅1̵̧̛̣̘̣̥͕͎͇̼̞̳͕̝͑͂ ̵̧̢̯̬̟͖̝͙̤͓̾͋̇͜ͅ0̴͈̺̝̰͎̪͕͚̂̚͝ͅ1̴̠͇̮̘̰̗̱͎̥́1̸̟̀͗͘͝0̸̯̎͛̆̈́̈́͆̑̕̕̕0̷̧̨͓̱̜̣̩̯̱̇̍1̸̨̬̺̫̳̻̹̤͓̩̍̽̏͜0̵̤͈̏͋̃͛̾͐̚͝1̸̤̺̲̟͙̮͓̝̥̩̫̬̦̍̑ ̷̖̰͓̳̞͔̦̪̬͎͂0̸̡̧̤̥̲̙͎̌̒̌͛͑ͅ0̸̢̗̳͓̤̬̼̲͔͉̭̃̄̔͆̎̀͘͝͝1̸̼̩̹̤̮̻̳̺̀̑̿̈́̚0̷͍̫̰͇̣̺̿͂̀̈́̿̑̒0̸͓̳̺̥̩͓̜̦͎̟͕̩̯̊̆0̷̢͈̟̮͓̞͇̠̣̪̭̯̰̈͊̂̉̊̊͒̍̾0̵̧͉̹̫̘̠̋̑̐̚0̸̹̘̖̩̭̻̯͚̳̝̯̦͌̌̈́̏͆̑̓̓̒͛̀͜ ̶̛͉̼̬̪̦̝̽͂̀̋̈̚͠0̶̢̛͚̘̰͈̇͌̇1̶̢̛̳͈̦̣̮̘̪̪̹̽̊̓̈́̕1̷̛̥̀͑̾͗̕1̵̣͈̝͕̙̮̮̈̊̾0̶̧̥̙̻̤̙̲̪̹̞̺̓̀͜1̸̡̧̪̫͉͕̦͌̿͛̔̀͂̆̀̊̇̆͘̕0̷̘̘̹͎̠̾̈̑̀͆0̴̨̢̧̫͖̭̰̻̮̯̖̈́̎̾̽̌̀̽ͅ ̶̝̮̯̻̟̇̓̽͌̆́̒͐͘0̵͉͉̭̈̀̀̀͐̓͘͠1̵̧̮̏͋͑͂̐̔͂̌͆̏̌̃͜1̶̞̙͕̼̹̼͋̂̑̈́͂́͂̕1̶̨̙̬̩̠͙̪̃́̆́̿͂̾̾͗͊̈́ͅ0̸̨̛̠̥͎͉͚͎̪͈̰͈̥̅͑̽̎̌̊͂̎̚͝0̵̨̨̱̲̪̘̫̰͚̻̟̬͒̽͊̅͂̔̍̈́1̴͎̳̓̓̈̿̈́̉̈̓̋͂͘͠0̴̖̬̅ ̸̡̞̣̙̫͓͉̏͋̐̀́̌̎̿0̵̪̼̰͗͗̕1̷͍͙̭̮͖̫͐̔̈́̉̌͐̀͐̇̅̚͠1̷̡̢̹͈͓̰̬̜̞͕̊̆̈́̈́̈́́̅̚1̴̛̳̻̜̦̠̹̼̈́͒̅͒̏́̂͛͝0̸̧̹̠̦̖͛̉1̷͇̩͐̿͐̈́ͅ0̴̯͖̠̲̥̫͈̄̈́̊̒͆͊̒́̋̓̍͑ͅ1̶͙̘̘͚̥̙̺̗̃̏̏̑̐̚ͅ ̵̧̺͎̜̩̬͈͒́̍̈́̑̅́̀̿͊̚͘͝ͅͅ0̶̨̧̧̢̦͈̭̭̜̋1̸̞̻̭͈͙̑͊̌̔̄͊̽̀̈́͊̌̄1̸̈́͆̀̓̔̓̈̈ͅ1̵̢̙̞̺̪̣̣̟̀̊̆̔̔́͆͗͑̈́̚͘ͅ0̷͖̖͇̖̱͙͇̻̼̅̒́̐͊͂̊̽̀̉̔͠1̵͖̼̖͕̓̈̔̐͛̒ͅ0̶̢̰̞̩̔̎̓̓̍̿͌̍0̶̬̻͇͔̖̋̀̍̾̏̌͛̏̋ͅ ̸̙̞͖̗͓̬́͋̽̒̿̿̋̕͜͝0̶̜͉̗͙̙̣̠͍̘̽̈́̅͌̿̆̅̍1̸̨̭̲͖̪̤͒̋͒͋̑͆́̋1̷̳̬̼͈͓͑̽̔̃̀̀̅͐͊͛͑̕͝0̷̮͇̝̈́̾̔̐̿́̿1̶̡̭̫̩̲̣̱̭̞̥̗͍̗̐̂̾́͐͋̓̅̽̕̕0̷̜͕̙̘̲̰͓̎̂̂͊̏̈́̄͌̉͋̚͝0̴̠̬̠̤͖̟͙̰̳̮̐̓0̵̗̝̬̬͓͇̫͍̲̬̞͓̌̒̒̏͘ ̸̢̤̘̭͚̯̟̼͊̇̽̉̌̏͠0̸̢̮̦̬̞̟̞̩͉̄̈́̀̾̈̀͜͠͝1̷̢̖̤̊̓̌̓͒1̴̤̫̆̀̈́̽̌̉̊͠0̴͚̣̳͕̅̄͒̄0̶̧̼̼͑͒̽̋̓̔̊̓͐̚̚͜1̸̡̲͔̳͖̉̊̒̈́̃̐͊̇̋̔͘͝͝1̴̮̦̭̼̯͈̭͕͌̓̃̆̐͒̄̃̌̕͝ͅ0̵̯̠̓͂ ̷̡͖̳͙̖̹͕̙̭̮͕͓̻̃͑̆͐0̵̧̡̢̧̛̱̺̣̫̻̬̳̰̜̊͋̇͌̅̐͊̈̿̚͠͝1̶͔͈̖̝̩̘͕̦͓͋̀́̏̕ͅ1̵̲̙͉̾̍̄̐́̈́̂̀̕̕͜1̵̡̜̩͍̜̙̬̭̮̏0̴̨̳̩͆̈́̄͐̓͊̐̓̅̾̕͠1̴̜̬͚̳̟̬̣̖̰́̇͋0̵̱̹̘͉̫͈͔̘̖̹̯͎͔̍͑1̸̰̼̈́̈́̓̆͂̋̃́̀͘͝ ̷̡̋͘0̶̨̛̥̋̃͆͐́̒͊1̵̠̩͇̓̈̋͐̄́͠ͅ1̴̨̡̲̜̯̹͙̭̹̃̈̐̏̈́̆̀̑͑̀͝0̶̨̤̤̬̟̳̱̫̟̤̟͕̈́̀̂́1̵̛̫͔͚̲̪͕̤̣̼̌̉̐̌̋̊̀̀̀̚1̴̡̬̜͔̻͎̯͉̂̋̓͘͝0̶̡͗ͅ0̷̢̳̯̙̞̫̋̒͊̓͌̿ͅ ̴̡̬̘̞̦̐̑̊̔̿̿̐́̂͜͝0̸̡̺̖̦͖̻̠̞̠̰͐1̷̨͕̳̟̜͔͖̦̤̪̞̻̃͆̑̉̚1̵̢̮̻̖͕̻̰͈͉͍͕́͑́̑̊͂̆́̿͐͜͜0̸̡̻̰͙̗̘͚̣͇̩̳͔̬̒̒̄̔͂̕1̵̡̨̘̭̰̖̙̫̅͆̈́̆̂͗̍͊̑̕1̵̟̈́́̎̍0̴̢̮̼̳̪͈͇̦̮̺̩̳̜̇͌͛͒̓0̵̛̛͗̈́̊̊̄͐͆͌͜ ̵̛͓̙͕̩͛̅̃̿̃̓0̷̡̨̗̤͈̼̓͑̃̿̆͘͘͝͝͝1̶̨̬̟̜͠ͅ1̵̨̤̭͔̟̜̗̘̪͔̦̙̃̋͋̇̊͂̈́̇͘͜͠1̶͖͙̭̺̰͕͓̞͖̝̖̐̿̓͐͐̕1̵̨̻̅ͅ0̸̡͈̠̦̥̈́̐̾̾͐̽̓̂̚0̵̨̛̛̪̺̥͙͚͗̈́̍̉̊1̶̫̼̭̩̩͕̜̥̍̑ ̴̢̤̻͖̳̼͒͌͒̔͛͝0̸̫̹͎̈́̾̐̀̇͐͘0̷̢̫̟̬̰̆̉̾͆͗̎̿͌͘1̷̫͙̜͎͖͍̼̓̊̈́͑̔̍͜0̶͕̺̱̪̣͑͂͌̒͑̂̀̕ͅͅ0̷̧̛̜̗͕̘̼̤̹͔̃́̐̿͆̿̃͠0̸̻̪̯̩̟̎͑̈ͅ0̶͖̟̭̄͜͜͝0̴͈̣͖̯̤͖͔͕̭͚̃͜͠ ̶̛̭͔͐̈́̀̏̀̈́̐̑͠0̶͎̖̰̻͚̎̎͒̆̿̌̑̾͐́̉̚1̷̨̛̥̻͕͓̘́̀͒́̈́̍͐͠͠͝͠1̵̛͍̯͉̤́͑̑̀͑̾̔̚̚̕0̵̛͓̝̖͕͚̞̹̟͑̂̋̇̈́̌́͋̾̉͛̾0̷̡͍̻͖̱̜͈̯͙̤̼̟͇͋̓0̵͈̪̿̆̽̊͗̒̓1̶̢͍̖͔̏̈́̽̈́͛͝1̷̨̨̦͍͓̜͍̥̱̀̉͑͆ͅ ̸̼̯̖̺̤̭͉̜̈́̀̕͘͜͝0̵̧͕̲̊̍́͆1̴̧̤̻͎͇̱͇̘͖̌̒̎̀̒̅̃̕͠1̴̢̱̺̦̪̣͚͑̈́̀͌́0̵̘̪̮͈̭̙̽́̀͐0̶̨̮̟͔̜̝̣͝0̷̧̭̪̲̥̲͚͓̫͂͋͋̓̾̍͐̉0̷̨͎̬͉̫̯̍̒̈͂͝1̵̤̤̲̋̽͝ ̴̡̻̮͕͉͙̪̼̠̮̱̀͌̎̐̈́̋͝͝0̷̛͎̮̤̌̔͛1̶̨͓̳̬̟̫̙̥̫̈́̑͌̉̾͆̈́̋͒̓̏̓1̶̞͚̙̥̥͇̜͖̼̒̿̈́̇̀1̷̦͖͈̗͉͓̲̗̘̍̊̏̀͑̄͌͛̆̎̐͘0̵̨̢͓̲̪̭̂͌0̶̛̤͚͎̖̹̦̮̈̎̓͛̈́̅̐́͊͠1̷̧̫͔̣̠̠͖̒̌́̎͘͜0̷̲̰̝͎̜̫̤̻̎͑͗̓ ̸̧͓͔͖͓͖̪̥̞̮͖́̎̽͌̅͒̀͐͝0̵͇̱̼̲͕̙̼͙͖̞̬̟̓͑̅̍̈́̑̋͘̕͝1̵̨̥̱̰̬̠̤̮̊̅̑̽̑̎̐̓͜͝1̷͎̪͔̋̓́̐̀̋͊́͝1̴̧̨͚̯̫͍̟͖̬̙̝͑̎̅͝0̷͎͍̬͔̼͚̯͍̫̫̲̔͊̍̍͐͂̄͂̉͗̈́̚0̴̢̹̻̞̪̘̭̝̮̀̀͋̉̄̇̍̾̐̋͋͘1̷̘͎͉͕̤͔̉̓̆̊̏̂̋̂0̶̑̍̽͑́̄͑͆̔̾̕͝͝ͅ ̴͕̮͙̱͈̻̬̱̳̱͍̘́̈́͆̾́̀̈̅͒͆̃̚0̸̢̢̜͔̹̤̞̼̱̖̫͝1̷̢̧̧̱̞͔͓͔̠͓͒̐̀1̵̛̛͇́̈́̈̐͑͛̋̓̚0̷̧̬͉͇̣̫̥͇̉͒̑̚͠͠ͅ1̴̧̣͕̟̘̘̟̭̹̬̝́ͅ0̸̟̹͐̄͗͋́̌0̵̣͇̄̔͝ͅ1̷̝̲̰̮͉̽̀̎̀̆͋ ̶̛̳͎͕̦͖͇̝̗̋̈́0̵̛̭̹̗̳̣́̈́͑̑̀̓̆́̒1̵̡͈̰̞̦͔̍̀̉̈́̐̉̑͑̑͂̏͑1̵̡̨̡̺̻̖̲͇̟͙̩̯͑͊̋͐͂0̴͍̲͙̝̬̳̼̦̬͇̠͗̀̚͘͜0̶̢͙͎̳̠̹̭͈͇̖̺̲̓̈́́̓̆̑͒̍̇͌̕͝͠1̸̯̼͓̔̀̒͆̈́0̵̻͊̎̓͑̚1̵̼͚̟͇̭̻͖̜͇̲̦̫̓̈́̆͊̄̃̔̓̔̾ ̷̧̢͚͔̲͓͉̤̫̄͂͜0̴̟͍͚̱̝̏́̂͊1̶̛̛̜̟̦̪̦͈̟͕͎͍̪̗̄͌̇͛͆̓̾͝1̵̖͎̼͖͒͝1̴̩͕͆̄̐̂͛0̴̳̭͈̀͆̌͐̃̽͘0̵͕̘̟̱̩̥͓͔͆͐͛̾̈́̅̄1̴̨̖͙̩̖̤̠̩͔̺̜̰̊̄͆͒͂͂̚1̵̱͖̻̲͖̒̃͆̇̿̓̉̾̀́̒


said The Guard.

One of the other NPC Guards, with a rapid blurt of similar noise, replied. The human guards and the non-Guard members of your team watched patiently, pretending to understand what was being said. In mere moments, it felt like a long and drawn out conversation had been exchanged. The Guard then walked back towards your carriage.

“We may enter,” The Guard said, speaking through the window in the carriage to you.

“Thank you,” you reply, and with that your carriage is waved through. You park the carriage at a holding area, your more humble carriage beside black coaches, some with armoured sheets of metal and enchanted symbols on them, others with snarling faces, the latter of which you were sure belonged to the Demon Empire, not a member of your order.

The Inquisitorial Headquarters was vast. Its main lobby featured the genuine skeleton of a Nephilim in its true form, also known as a Greater Demon or Dragon, curled around another statue of an ancient demonslaying Paladin, a predecessor of your order. A new stained glass ceiling, commissioned by the King-Consort of Astem, allowed light to shine brightly on them, reflecting the colours of the rainbow in beams of light across the marble floor. Various members of your order could be seen lingering around, conversing in soft yet echoing voices, while others walking to other places within the building – a mix of full-rank Inquisitors, Adjutants like yourself, priests and other clerics, or just assembling groups of agents and scribes. Some of the Inquisitors wore simple travelling gear like yourself, while others were in full regalia, with dark capes and cloaks, veils and stoles embroidered with holy symbols, and large hats announcing their station.

There even stood some Templars in full plate, their white and golden armour shining so brightly that some winced when it reflected into their eyes. The Holy Templars were another militant order of The Church that worked closely with the Inquisition; they were aristocratic knights that assisted Inquisitors in cases that revolved around Isekais that commanded bands of mercenaries or even actual armies, that is to say, a threat well beyond the capabilities of five Isekai-hunting agents.

The approach of a clerical page cuts off your look around the Headquarters lobby. He was a man in humble brown robes, and despite having a young and friendly face and smile, he appeared to already be balding.

“You are Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser, correct?” he said.

“Yes. I presume I am needed?” you reply.

The page simply nods, and gestures for you to follow him. You turn, and quickly whisper to the others to stay behind.

Following the page, he leads you up a series of different stairs leading up various levels of the building. You pass bureaucrats signing forms in triplicate, a chapel, even a room that was empty except for rows of Guards standing motionlessly, one of them only awakening briefly upon your passing to ask you if you had “heard of the high elves,” until eventually you approached a set of two large, lacquered wooden doors.

You could hear raised voices through the wood. You hesitate before the door, hearing snippets of the argument happening behind it. One of those voices you know to be that of Mechtelt Vrooman, your superior, friend, and former classmate. The other was unfamiliar.

“ – de Lucretius will not approve the funds – ”

You open the doors slowly, and in a few more steps, you are standing before Mechtelt’s desk. You glanced over to Mechtelt, with her soft brown hair and delicate features that would have belied her steel will, if not for those cold, grey eyes. One glance into them, and one could see a small glimpse of why her title was The Iron Maiden. The other standing in the room is a young man who looked no older than yourself, with black hair that shone blue under the sunlight and porcelain-pale skin. He wore a long coat that was so dark a blue it looked black at first glance, and a sapphire-blue scarf of cashmere, and he carried a staff with a silver head. They both stop their argument to look at you. You could sense there was something very off about this young man. The way his aura moved around him, distorting and bending – it was as though his aura was being contained, meant for something far larger or greater. You could not actually be certain, of course – but you just knew that the man had some form of Glamour skill wrapping around him.

Mechtelt sighs and waves the man away. “Talk to de Lucretius yourself. I trust you know where the Department of Accounts is by now.”

“Tch,” the man replies, and walks off, sneaking a sideways glance to you as he passes. Mechtelt, looking down at more papers, gestures with a raised arm for you to come forward.

“I am glad to see you have returned in one piece, Lijsbet.”

“I am… certainly glad to still be alive,” you reply, placing your report on the desk before her. Mechtelt nods solemnly, and gestures for you to sit.

Awkward silence followed, as Mechtelt read your report. She hummed and harred a few times, but otherwise said nothing. You are reminded once more of your days in the Academy, waiting for Father Cosmo to grade your latest paper and offer corrections, peering over at you from above his round glasses.

“You should indeed be glad to still be alive,” Mechtelt said. “This is not easy work, but I would hope for better performance from you in future.” You didn’t need telepathy to discern Mechtelt’s disappointment. You start to speak, to defend yourself, but Mechtelt interrupts. “Frankly, I expected more from you. The Isekais will only get stronger, more dangerous from here on in, Lis. There are few and far between Isekais that cannot kill scores of us.” Her face, and voice, softened. “I don’t want to see you die.”

“I understand, Lady Inquisitor,” is all you say. Mechtelt was clearly in no mood for informality from you.

Mechtelt placed your report down, atop a pile of similar papers. “You were right to destroy the hat, you know,” she said quietly. “Though some of our order will certainly condemn you for it. ‘Shortsighted, unreasonable, a waste,’ they will say. But your resolve against that evil thing should be commended. Evil like that has no right to exist, not even in our custody.”

Especially in our custody,” she added after a pause, a haunting warning.

The Inquisition was not without its own factions and politics. Not even amongst your own team would everyone be in agreement – it was never as simple as that.

[Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman approves of your handing of the Charisma Hat.]

“What of the villagers?” you ask cautiously.

“It was expected of you. Perhaps not what I would have done, but expected. I would not worry too much; the Weeb’s Paddle should suffice to set an example.”

[Inquisitor Mechtelt Vrooman was neutral to your handling of the Villagers.]

“I suppose Sherrian will be done with Lucretius by now. Go to Accounts, collect your bonus. We’ll talk about your next case later.”

You move to leave, only for Mechtelt to speak up one last time.

“Oh, and congratulations on your promotion, Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser.”

~~~​

You walk down a long hall, turning left a few times. Every few feet, you could see a pedestal with the marble bust of one of the greatest scholars, field agents, and knights of your Holy Order – many of whom, you note, had been killed in battle. You take a few deep breaths to collect yourself before opening another heavy wooden door, marked with a golden sign reading “Accounts” in elegant script.

“And that’s when she tripped over and it all spilled out!” a voice could be heard saying, followed by numerous sniggers and raucous laughter.

Luucia de Lucretius, the Head of Accounts and Payroll, from whence all your requisition and resources ultimately come, was holding court at her desk, surrounded by several admiring male Knights and Templars. She had evidently been in the middle of telling some sort of ribald story, something about her old days as a Templar, but now the eyes of the Knights were all upon you – which Luucia evidently didn’t like one bit, if her faintly red aura was any indication. The knights filed out of the office past you. It was easy to see why they all loved her: her hair was a smooth sheet of white gold that fell past her waist, and she insisted upon wearing gold-clasped white silken robes that exposed a great deal of her generous cleavage.

“How may I help you, Adjutant-Inquisitor?” She smiled, her eyes closed and tone sweet. She stood to reach across the desk to clasp your hand softly with familiarity and grace. In all honesty, you might have been completely fooled if not for your Empathy; the red aura of de Lucretius’ anger grew brighter as she spoke. Whatever this Sherrian had done earlier must have left her in a foul mood indeed.

At any rate, you want no part of it. You hold up your invoice.

Luucia takes the paper from your hand, examines the signatures, then opens one of the massive ledgers on her desk to record the payment with a very fluffy white feather quill before taking a key from a delicate golden chain around her neck. You never before thought it was possible for someone to unlock a drawer or count coins angrily. Still smiling brightly, she hands you a cloth sack containing two hundred gold shields.

“I hope you have a wonderful day, Adjutant-Inquisitor!”

[Reward for completing the Pied Piper Case with bonus completed, 2200 gold shield coins gained. Total balance is now 12,200)

~~~​

A corkwood board filled half the wall of the Investigations Bureau. Countless parchments were pinned to it, layers upon layers, each with the portrait of a wanted or suspected Isekai drawn by a Telepath artist, a description of their crimes, if any, their “cheat powers,” if known, and the reward in gold shields for their capture and exorcism – or death. The layers of paper grew thicker every time you came into the office to look at it. There were so many Isekai coming to the world now – more than the Inquisition could successfully capture, or even pursue. And to think, the Isekai Storms had not even started yet. The land was well overdue for one, if the familiar patterns held.

You approach the Bulletin, but before you could take a look at the cases, the young man you’d seen earlier at Mechtelt’s desk – Sherrian, was it not? had walked up to you, stepping closer until you were almost shoulder-to-shoulder. He tilts his head, smirking and looking up at you from under long dark lashes. Even without your Empathy, the flirtation was obvious.

“Is this your first day?”

The question startled you. “Not my first day, but it is my first case. Why do you ask?”

“I have catalogued what every beautiful girl in this building looks like, and I've observed them closely, in great detail, but I've never seen you before. Astonishing.” He leaned over, intensely staring into your eyes. “I'll have to memorise your face for the catalogue.”

Oh no, you think. Not this again.

“I can see your cheeks are turning pink. Your heart rate is faster than normal, too, I'm sure. Normally, Inquisitors aren't this bashful. It's a shame you're so innocent – I'm having thoughts that certainly aren't.”

As the bearer of an Otome Attractor Trait, this behaviour from random young men was no surprise to you, but his attempt at showing interest was even more awkward than any you've heard before – and your point of comparison was sheltered teenage aristocrats at the Academy of Light. You wanted nothing more than to sink into the floor as he informed you that he'd spent the past two days looking at corpses, and that compared to them you were much more interesting.

Fortunately, you could hear someone's footsteps coming toward you, giving you a reason to politely excuse yourself.


~~~​

“I hope you didn’t fall for his charms,” you could hear Mechtelt say from behind as she walked up to join you at the bulletin board. “You wouldn't be the first he’s tried that on.”

“I don’t think my work will give me much time for romance,” you say. “Even if he is pretty.”

“Yes, he certainly is pretty without the horns and wings… or when he isn’t talking,” Mechtelt added.

Your eyes widen in shock. Mechtelt looked pleased, as if she had succeeded in playing a great prank upon you.

“Who is he? And what?” you ask, finally.

“I thought you had observed it in his aura. His name is Sherrian och Crowleii. He’s a demon – a Nephilim, as they call themselves, one of their high aristocracy. He says he gets bored living the life of the idle rich, so he offers his services as a private investigator. Imagine that, a private investigator in this line of work. Even goes by the title of ‘The Consulting Detective.’”

“Are all the demons like that?” you ask. You haven’t met very many demons in your life, even if they are becoming a much more common sight in the Kingdom of Astem in recent days, since The Thaw.

“If you mean flirting with everyone, from my experience, that is a very demon thing. Sherrian’s… ‘unique’ style of it, I assure you is very much only him.”

You quietly thank the gods, your Otome Attractor hadn't been making men even more incapable of stringing together words and thoughts in your presence.

“So he was there for a case?”

Mechtelt nodded. “The Snatcher Isekai. It was one of the cases I gave you, if you recall. You are very lucky that you did not accept it, it seems. This morning, we found the team that ended up with it…" She shuddered. "Well, let's just say that I will not be sending you after that particular Isekai any time soon.”

“So you are sending this demon, Sherrian, instead?” you ask, not wanting to dwell upon how close a call you had missed without even knowing.

“Wanted to. Sherrian and his apprentice – count yourself fortunate you’ve never met her – have never failed to track down a suspect, but he’s a demon, so naturally he’s charging a ridiculous sum of money for the case. Thinks he can charge us a king's ransom just because of what happened to the last inquisitor.”

“And Arch-Deaconess de Lucretius had something to say about that, I am guessing? I could feel her anger as I handed in my invoice.”

“The greedy tend to dislike each other more than anyone else, I find,” Mechtelt said, shaking her head. “I would suggest forgetting about the Snatcher Isekai case for now. Between the Isekai being far more dangerous than we thought, and all the money and time that our office is going to sink into it…”

“It's not worth it,” you finish.

“Indeed.”

“What about Lambrecht, though?” you ask, remembering that one of the agents you’d considered was actually the father of the Snatcher Isekai, who had specifically joined the Inquisition for the chance to hunt the Isekai possessing his daughter.

“Ah, so you have not forgotten him. Unfortunately with the case being pushed to higher levels, he will certainly leave us, either to join the agents of whatever Senior Inquisitor gets the case, or to join some other Bounty Hunter or Witch Hunter group to do it himself.”

[Lambrecht de Jong has left your dossier list, and can no longer be selected for cases]

“Do not worry, though,” Mechtelt continued. “If you feel you need more agents, I can send you more dossiers. Please do remember, I am not going to be paying for your agents now, so pick wisely.”

“I’ll try my best.”

“Good. Then let’s have a look at finding a new case, shall we?” Mechelt says, while pointing to the Bulletin board.


~~~​

You return to looking at the Bulletin. You wanted to challenge yourself, to prove that you were capable of your job… but at the same time, Mechtelt would probably not want you to take a case too difficult after you had come so close to losing the Pied Piper.

One bulletin catches your eye, as it offers an exceptionally high reward for such a seemingly simple mission.

“What about this one?” you ask, reaching for it.




E8pz16-wVfWhmr6Qv0qGLAxU15DRKUBQp-PGfKSpCP47-t-xP6jLpbLWkhXwfzMrvMYhiNV72ZQuyC2sa-xScIVam9f3Jk_FjHYIrmdFZ97QUUX6Uk_jNnaXHPvOSD1tUw


Title: The Tomboy Isekai (Unconfirmed)
Name: Eleonoria von Krüger
Hair: Chestnut, curly. May be cut short.
Eyes: Blue
Appearance: Tall and slim of body, pale-skinned. May be wearing men's clothing.
Last Sighting: Castle Aynstadt

Mission: Find and retrieve the suspect, the Lady Eleonoria von Krüger, unharmed. If possessed, perform exorcism.

Upfront Requisition: 1000 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc) for 15 days

Reward for Completion: 20,000 gold shields paid by the Count of Aynstadt, + 1000 gold shields from the Inquisition as bonus for successful exorcism and return of subject.

Expected Isekai Threat: Low (Inu - Kazuma)

Jurisdiction: Union of Wachstaat. The Spymaster of the Kaiser-Marshal, Otto von Kaltendrich, has privately given permission to operate freely within the Kaiser’s borders. However, Wachstaat is allied with the Yankeevine Empire, and its officials are forbidden from harming Isekais or assisting in their capture, by the terms of the Treaty of Nürnhaven. Great caution, stealth and discretion is advised.





Mechtelt leans over to examine it, and slowly shakes her head. “That one reached the Yankeevine Empire long ago, I’m afraid.” You knew from your education that Wachstaat was northwest of Astem and just south of Yankeevine lands, and that its ruler, the Kaiser-Marshal Frederick, had signed a treaty with them in return for their more advanced weaponry – a decision which would surely result in his excommunication from the Church, if the bits of news you'd overheard were true. It would have been easy for this girl to seek refuge in the great Isekai empire, and pursuing a case there would be a suicide mission. “It should have been taken down, but it seems her father’s old Wachstaatan nobility – he gave the head of the regional bureau a ‘generous donation’ to keep the case open.”

You nod. You’d certainly seen for yourself the extraordinary lengths a parent would go to have their child returned to them safe and unharmed. But at the same time, you couldn’t help but feel a bit disheartened – you’d looked upon the work of the Inquisition with the idealistic eyes of a youth, as an ancient institution pure and untainted by sin, only to find the Holy Order was a bureaucracy as fallible, and as susceptible to common nepotism and bribery, as any other.

Not wanting to think about it too much, you turn to the other bulletins. You looked through portraits of missing people, suspicious strangers who appeared in villages unannounced, “explorers” from self-declared “far away lands.” One portrait was a crude drawing of a bearded man with exaggerated features depicting him as some kind of monstrous horror, with three horns, five eyes, two fanged mouths, and no nose. You highly doubted this was an accurate depiction of an Isekai.

You saw the bulletin poster for the most wanted man, and Isekai, in the world: the Holdout Isekai. His reward was for 500,000 gold shields, supplied from numerous nations' coffers and the largest bounty in the world. That amount of gold for a single person… it was so much gold, you could not even imagine that much in one place. It was probably enough to buy the entirety of the Luttefmont-Furholjan Duchy your hometown was in and then some. Predictably, the Holdout Isekai’s threat level was Shirou – a national threat. It would mean certain death for you, or even Mechtelt, to face this Isekai, no matter who you brought with you.

“I should probably tell you – I have been informed that the Seers believe that an Isekai Storm is coming soon, within a month's time.”

“That soon!?” you blurt out.

“We cannot know with absolute certainty, but yes. That soon.” Mechtelt quickly looked around, but no one else seemed to have overheard. “But if you could please keep this secret…”

“Of course, the Inquisition doesn’t want to provoke Witch Hunters, right?”

“And others, but yes. We would rather not repeat the mistakes of the last storms.”

Isekai Storms were events of great and terrible power and fear, where eldritch storms ripped holes through reality, where Black Mirrors formed to turn dark places and surfaces into portals for Isekais to slip through, where even fireballs and burning pieces of metal fell from the sky. It was unsurprising then, that some would panic or resort to superstitious violence and hatred. Some turned on neighbours, or elderly women, or those rumoured as immoral as the “most likely” to have been infested.

“Do you want me to prepare for the storm, then?” you ask.

“Continue your work as usual, but just keep it in mind. Also remember to bring Storm gear with you. If it hits before expected… I don’t need to tell you what it means to be stuck in the wilderness without the proper protection.”

Inquisitors must never become victims of Isekai Possession. Above all else, this was the essential requirement of your order. There were so many tests, exams, regulations and methods to prevent it, but one could never be completely sure. You would have to make sure you had the Storm gear with you at all times. If a Storm hit, you wouldn’t have the time to rush back to town to put on the beaked mask, fill it with the smell-overriding herbs, and put on the reflective glasses designed to allow you to see indirectly, or the treated clothing designed to reduce your skin’s touch to as little as possible. A Possessing Isekai would use whatever avenue it could to infect a host.

“Ah, here is an interesting case,” Mechtelt says, as she pointed towards another case on the bulletin.

Appraisal of the Academy of Light

“Pieter van Averink – the head of Isekai Studies – is conducting a research project at the Academy of Light, and was approved – if I had to guess, probably because of the Storm. It’ll be easy, it’s in Astoria, and it’ll take two days at most,” Mechtelt says. “Officially it’s for preparation for the coming Isekai Storm, so you’ll just have to conduct a routine appraisal and record of affinities, classes, titles, and levels, then they’ll ask for a second appraisal after the storm to check for possession, you know how it goes.”

“But I don’t have the Appraisal skill,” you point out, reading through the Bulletin yourself. “I mean, I suppose my empath powers would be of use… but is it really required for something so routine?”

“That is where the research project comes in, if I’d wager.”

You look closely at the Bulletin, and this van Averink individual refers to his research into “Novel Isekai,” the research of new categories of Isekais not yet officially documented in the Malleus Isekaificarum. The Bulletin does not actually elaborate on what category he is researching, only that it requires an Inquisitor who is a recent graduate of the Academy of Light with skills useful for the appraisal and testing process, like your empath and telepathy powers.

Upfront Requisition: 100 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc) for 2 days

Reward for Completion: 1500 Gold shield coins

Expected Isekai Threat: Low (Inu - Kazuma)

Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission granted by the Headmaster Gerardus Barlaeus of the Academy of Light for routine inspection.


But two other bulletins had also caught your eye. You reach for one of them.

Philanthropist Duke Case

“This one also requires a Telepath or an Appraiser,” Mechtelt says, looking the parchment over. “The family of Martijn van Hoorn has accused him of being Possessed after he, as they claim, suddenly changed in all demeanour following a feast, and is now giving away much of the van Hoorns’ wealth. They’re offering a bonus of ten thousand gold shields, in addition to the standard rate of two thousand gold shields for completion, for anyone who can prove beyond doubt his possession by an Isekai. Van Hoorn is the hereditary Duke of Oosterwechel – no wonder they’re being careful with his reputation.”

Upfront Requisition: 1000 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc) for 15 days

Reward for Completion: 2000 Gold shield coins on completion, + 10,000 Gold shield coins donation from the van Hoorn's on condition of successful proof of Isekai Possession.

Expected Isekai Threat: Moderate (Kazuma - Toshizo)

Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission granted by the Duke-in-Waiting, Andries van Hoorn to operate within the van Hoorn Estates. Duke van Hoorn is uncooperative.


You set it aside to look at the other.

A Case for the So-Called ‘Underground Railroad,’ it read.

“We’ve suspected for some time that there was a smuggling network, organised by either Weeb traitors or Isekais themselves – an ‘Underground Railroad,’ as some call it, who take Isekai from the Central Alliance Kingdoms into safe havens in Yankeevine territory,” Mechtelt explains. “The recent debacle with the Snatcher Isekai has renewed quite a bit of interest in this organisation, as we believe the Snatcher is using them to escape us. We had a plan to send several Inquisitors with their teams to investigate the suspected routes, but we’d have to secure additional funding from the King-Consort and the Church – and with an Isekai Storm coming, it might be considered a lower priority, at least until after the storm has passed and the newer Isekai rounded up.”

This definitely piqued some curiosity. “Who are the other Inquisitors who have taken on the case?” you ask.

“Inquisitor Dante will certainly be involved, possibly Inquisitors Veldkamp and Aufderhaar. Others will probably join at a later date. We may have to contact the Tourine, Neu-Alaynian, and Sarutish bureaus, if the route is found to pass through their lands. Oh, and yours truly will be involved, of course.”

“You are taking on this case too?”

“What, did you think all I did was paperwork? I will be taking the agents you don’t take with you. I will not have all these people on the payroll doing nothing.”

You hesitate, wondering if you should accept this case then, because Mechtelt already was taking part.

Mechtelt huffed. “You do not have to accept or decline a case just because I am taking it too. This Underground Railroad hunt will likely be long and gruelling, with Inquisitors hunting the organisation from different angles, all trying to tighten the noose around some phantom ringleader. The pay may not be particularly handsome, since it will certainly be a collective reward pot of some kind, and we don’t actually know how many Isekais are being smuggled – it's actually why some of the Inquisitors are waiting until after the Storm, as they want more Isekais to catch, I suspect.”

“So they would wait just for greater pay?”

“Unfortunately, some would. We aren’t all idealists here.”

“What is the reward pot now?” you inquire.

“Now? It's close to nothing at 10,000 shields. If the number of needed Inquisitors join and the case goes for the expected length, we’ll likely be running in the red by the time we’re done, hence the waiting on funding.” Mechtelt grimaces, and you nearly do too. You could only imagine what de Lucretius would say.


Upfront Requisition: 2000 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc) for 32-64 days

Reward for Completion: 10,000 Gold Shield Coins (Warning: This is a collective reward pot for all inquisitors, the more involved the more it is divided. The actual reward may be negative!) Subject to change due to payment concerns of the case raised by other Inquisitors.

Expected Isekai Threat: Moderate-High (Toshizo-Iwatani)

Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission to operate in neighbouring countries of the Kingdom of Tourine, Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia, Kingdom of Getaiannia, Kingdom of South Perdegehm and the Demonic Empire of the Sarutishkin all pending.



~~~​

Honestly, each of the cases had their appeal. The Academy of Light was familiar to you; it was easy pay for a short case, a chance to reunite with old friends, and it would contribute to the Inquisition’s body of knowledge on Isekai, for the benefit of all. The Underground Railroad case promised adventure, the chance to explore the hidden secrets of the city’s past, but there was little pay in it, and you wonder if you’d be biting off more than you could chew. And the Philanthropist Duke case promised a rich reward in gold.

You would likely have time to do some training, recruiting and preparation before the thick of the next case started, but for now you needed to figure out where you were heading.

Your Next Case Was To Be...:

[ ] Appraisal at the Academy of Light

[ ] The Underground Railroad Case

[ ] The Philanthropist Duke Case
 
Interlude - SALARYMAN I
INTERLUDE - SALARYMAN I

Or,

“An Adherent of the Market’s Diary About Violating the Non-Aggression Principle in Pursuit of Greater Efficiency and Dunking on Theists in Another World”

~~~​

I hate this place. That is what I think, as I look at the two tiny, strangely animated things that are now my hands. I slowly turn them, curious, despite having seen them for at least a year now. The bloodstained pentagrams were certainly not there when I first saw them, of course. Those were a fairly new addition.

I hate this place, as any reasonable, rational man would. My life was supposed to be one of hard work and success, a prosperous life earned from sacrifices to my short term happiness so I could be a productive asset for society and the economy. When I studied at Tokyo University, it was my choice to study finance and economics, rather than take the easy, low road of an HR degree. I sacrificed my wargaming and military history otaku interests to pursue it. I cut back on my endless debating on online forums. I made excellent grades and aced my exams. I even married and, I mentally shudder, procreated. Twice.

A mistake, observably, considering it was the whining of my daughter from the backseat of our family car about being late for her school festival that landed me… in this place. Of all the absurdities known to man, this is what it gave me. This hateful, unreasonable place.

My son – that loser, that otaku deadbeat – would be laughing at my funeral, if only he knew where I was now. Or, I realise with some disturbing clarity, perhaps instead he would even feel jealousy – what with all his depraved paraphilias.

"Why am I, an ordinary Japanese banker, now in the body of a little girl?" I whisper out loud, but the man I’m pretending to converse with can't answer me, since my magically reinforced leg is crushing his neck, and he's barely alive anyway.

Not that you can say anything, my own small inner voice points out. Which was true, of course. I have always been… warped. Strange. I am not truly a genius, merely a man of above average intelligence, who worked hard and understood how to utilise my resources to best achieve success in my world. I was always unhindered by what others referred to as emotion or sentiment, or other useless constructs meant to hobble us from reaching our true potential.

But I am better than this worthless imbecile beaten down below me. He, and his entire ignorant order, was everything that represented exactly why I hated this world. They cling to worthless things like dogma and faith… and god. Before, I would have to watch what I said about that, else my wife would become shrill again. I’d met her on a business trip to the MUFG office in Vladivostok, and as you’d expect she had been raised in the Orthodox Church. But she was not here anymore, and having to flee from these deranged “Inquisitors” reminded me of my youth, of the years where I would go on for hours to explain the many, many evils of superstition and organised religion to ignorant, probably perverted, Westerners trying to learn Japanese.

“Mistress Isekai?” a male voice behind me whispers.

I glance back, with the slightest twist of my head, towards its origin. Behind me, on the other side of the old wooden room lay numerous bodies, in various degrees of dismemberment and gore, a disembodied arm still being gnawed upon by one of the Hellhounds I had summoned. I try not to look at them, or else the screaming inside my head will start again. Piling up these bodies had been done by my “help,” so to speak. Cultists or freedom fighters or “resistance,” I didn’t really care, but they considered smuggling me to this other country to be a matter of spiritual necessity, something that only made me sigh louder and deeper.

“Salaryman will do,” I snapped back.

He bows deeply. “O-of course, Mistress Salaryman.”

“Ugh…” I groan. His overly obsequious tone grates on my nerves. It reminds me of the behaviour of some of my co-workers at Mitsubishi-UFJ. “What is it now?”

“We cannot stay here, Mistress Salaryman, for too much longer. There was one Inquisitor who must have stayed behind – I saw her flee. She’ll warn the Inquisitorial Headquarters.”

“Yes, and whose fault was that? If you people had just done your job, rather than leaving everything to me…” I say. I never tolerated tardiness or a lack of initiative from my employees, and I certainly won’t tolerate it here.

He bows again, even deeper. “M-my apologies, Mistress Salaryman! It won’t happen again!”

“You should best hope not,” I say, glaring at him. He was right, of course. We could not stay here for too long, but I did not like his attempt at deflecting his own missteps onto me. It was a career tactic that I preferred to use on others, not be the victim of.

I think about tactics and counter-strategies for any possible contingencies. If she did make it back to their headquarters, there was no doubt they’d send more of them. That was only expected from zealots like these.

They would never let me be.

“Let me out! Let me out!”

And… and that was another reason why. This stupid, infantile voice in my head. The girl.

“Let me out! Go away, bad man! GO AWAY!”

I’d learned to ignore her – almost. She’d almost distracted me while I was dealing with the intruders, allowing one of them to wound me. If not for the immense power I had bargained with my new benefactor, they may have even beaten me.

It was time to resupply, as it were, burn the evidence, and then flee this place. The Shackles of Torment I had used to bind the last surviving Inquisitorial agent still glowed an eerie violet, searing his flesh as black smoke rose from his wrists and ankles. I take my leg off the man’s neck.

He gurgles, and then spits at my feet.

“F-fuck you, S-Snatcher Isekai. May the demons rape your soul!” He’s defiant, with all the irrationality of the dying, but his partially crushed throat only allows faint raspy whispers that came out far weaker than he undoubtedly intended. I ignore him, focusing instead on my “resupply” spell. I had to admit that this Inquisitor had a point about the demons. I refused to use some of the skills that my contract had given me, simply out of principle. Draining the soul and mana via blood? Fine. But what degenerate came up with… ugh, never mind.

It didn’t matter.

“Oh terrible, nameless benefactor, treacherous unknown…” I sigh again inwardly, but the forms must be followed. I could even invoke the supernatural if the cost-benefit analysis justified it. “Mysterious Being X…” I invoke the name I had given my nameless benefactor in this world, as I powered my next skill.

“No! No – that’s disgusting! I won’t –!” the girl screamed.

“Cursed deluge of never-ending torment, and vile harbinger of misery and despair…”

As I spoke, the room around me distorted, just as it did when I massacred the other Inquisitors. The walls became pitch black, the midday light passing through the windows seemingly disappearing. Wind howled and swirled around me. Bloody pentagrams glowed again on the walls, on my palms, and most importantly on the last living Inquisitor in this room, my victim.

“That which was once innocent, become defiled! What was once righteous, become corrupt!”

“No! Stop! Nonononononono–

A great pentagram formed across the floor of the room, centred around myself. Tendrils of black and purple smoke drifted upward around me… and I could feel my body start to change. My ears took a pointed shape, my nails grew longer, two curled horns grew from my forehead, and suddenly I could see far more clearly in the dark, as details that my previous human eyes could never see became visible to me. A thin wiry black tail swished behind me that was not there before. I struggled to stop my forked tongue from spilling out of my mouth.

But most importantly, sharp fangs replaced my otherwise underdeveloped, prepubescent incisors.

The man shackled to the ground now looked up at me, his eyes wide and bulging, the look of pure terror, and there was a wet spot at the front of his trousers. My helpers were all on the ground, bowing and whimpering, their faces hidden. Even the hellhounds I had summoned earlier, huge beasts with exoskeletons covered in dripping, flayed flesh, were submissively sitting with their snouts on the ground. And the girl’s voice was finally quiet, for now.

“O Being X, grant me this gift, so I may drown the world in darkness!” I shout, completing my transformation, the one my benefactor had given me in exchange for his contract. I would laugh at how ridiculously chuuni the whole ritual was, but it seemed suitably terrifying to the others.

What was really annoying, however, was the damn music. Cursed anime music. It was playing now, echoing from the walls, around the room engulfed in darkness and purple light. The music…

It felt so, so familiar to me. Maybe I had heard it before, from my deadbeat son’s room. But even then – it felt so intrinsic to me, as if it were a part of my body. Almost like it had always been there, even though I know, rationally, this was utterly absurd. If I were my fully rational self at the moment, I would wonder if I were, somehow, in the setting of one of his cartoons –

“Coming up… Coming up,” I whisper in a trance, the tune stuck in my head.

“Not enough, not enough,” the music sang back to me.

“Noooo! Daddy! I want my Daddy!” the petulant child whined, again.

“We have not yet taken enough to obtain joy!” I shout, as I finally sink my teeth into the Inquisitor’s neck.


~~~


Rkum-5Fel9-c2rmn9rZj4SzTUxmJuupHFjyyZHE-KdYvfnc9O1hFL-iuaNYhlSO-SB3FDy0kBGKBay5kAO6Z8vQ-3-a6eXQdW1OIw7z6G9vVQJyOetQrhbI8TskVGdpV3w


I swipe my mouth with my wrist, trying to stop the flow of blood, and even gore dripping down. Unlike a vampire, as a demon it seemed, I hungered for flesh too. Whatever it took to recharge the amount of mana I used to fight them. As a rational, ordinary salaryman, I found this demeaning – but as a rational man, I wanted to survive.

I sigh. I must be going insane. Perhaps I already am.



“We are in the Jungle! Oh-Oh-Oh!”

“Come, sharpen your fangs… and let’s see who can kill more! Ah! Ah!”​
 
CASE II - NO OTOME GAME, PREPARATION I
CASE II - NO OTOME GAME, PREPARATION I

[x] Appraisal at the Academy of Light

You looked again at the case bulletin, now in your hands and stamped with the official Inquisitorial seals of yourself, Mechtelt, and the Bulletin Office. You had accepted this case for a number of reasons. You were probably one of the most recent graduates of the Academy of Light working in the Inquisition, which made you one of the most suitable for this job. It was nearby and short, and its requirements simple.

But, most of all, the Pied Piper Case had shaken you. You had the feeling that compared to facing a monster like that Isekai in the wilderness, the Academy drama would be much easier… even with your Otome Attractor.

Still, you had never expected you would return to The Academy of Light so soon. You had been so eager to finish your studies and start working in the field.

Your steps had finally led you back to the great lobby hall of the Inquisition Headquarters, where your current agents were waiting by the great doors leading to the courtyard and coach stables outside. They’d spent the time conversing and lightly wondering what had taken you so long.

“Welcome back, Adjutant-Inquisitor,” Braam spoke first, smiling as he stepped to the front of the group, towards you. He seemed happy, but you could see the aura of mild apprehension on him. This was a smile to give confidence to others, for morale.

“I am welcome to be back,” you replied regardless. Morale must be maintained, after all.

“Inquisitor Vrooman probably grilled you, right?”

And that seemed to be why. While you had known Mechtelt for longer than these agents, they had worked alongside her as an Inquisitor long before you arrived. In some ways, they knew things about your friend you did not.

“Is it that obvious?” you asked.

“From you? No. But her? Absolutely. That’s just how she is, we’ve grown used to it,” he said, before chuckling. It was a relief, for both Braam and yourself.

“Mechtelt expects perfection,” Baudelaire chimed in, nodding.

“Thank you, this means a lot,” you said. You chose not to sense if they were being sincere or just being nice, as it helped more this way. It was more comforting.

“I wonder if he’s older than me or not…” you could hear Lyeneru whisper to herself, as she stared off at the coiled skeleton of the fallen Nephilim in the middle of the lobby. She was likely daydreaming again, lost in her past and oblivious to everything else, including your return. The Guard stood by her, watching to make sure she did not wander off into the street.

“I assume you’ve picked a new case?” Baudelaire asked.

“I have.”

“So which Isekai are you going to chase down this time?” Braam asked.

“Possibly… none. I’ve taken on the Appraisal of the Academy of Light.”

“Appraisal?” Baudelaire’s eyes widened slightly. “But that would mean…” he started, before trailing off. You could see that his surprise had shifted to understanding quite quickly, and you could hear his trailing thoughts before they too went silent. Braam looked confused, not quite understanding the implications – a routine Appraisal happening now meant that the Inquisition believed that an Isekai Storm was coming.

“It's a research case as well. Submitted by Pieter van Averink, head of the Isekai Studies Department. He wants help in profiling a new category of Isekai.”

“More sub-categories? And I thought we had enough already with the Incubi, and the Destroyers, and Uplifters and…” He counted them on his fingers. “What was it, that new one they added last year? Gangsters?”

“Gamers,” you corrected Braam.

“Gamers. What even is a Gamer Isekai? Do they kill you by throwing dice at you?” Braam laughed heartily at his own joke.

You smiled a little, but in reality the truth was far grimmer. They were obsessed with Holy Statistics and levelling, and enjoyed attacking, conquering, and killing things, simply for the thrill of battle. They were akin to the barbarian hordes of the distant north-east, from Khagan Turramongd’s territory and beyond. The designation was not the Inquisition’s, but of the Isekais’ own making. Apparently they treated the Holy Statistics like a game of dice or cards to be won – at least, that is what the researchers assumed.

Braam must have realised that he should probably be serious, and stopped laughing. “Okay, so what is it?”

“I…don’t know,” you said, realising that the poster had not actually disclosed that detail. Presumably, van Averink would tell you himself when you met with him.

You could only wonder, what kind of “Novel Isekai” would prowl the halls of the Academy of Light? Maybe one obsessed with learning?

“You are going to want to look through the dossiers then, Adjutant-Inquisitor. I doubt I will be of much help in an… academy appraisal or research case,” Baudelaire said.

He was likely correct about that, as you had the feeling that sending the grim assassin into a peaceful school building filled with teenage aristocrats would probably not be especially conducive to Averink's research, whatever it was.

“Perhaps, but I think the first order of business will be to speak with Mr van Averink. I can’t make a proper selection until he’s told me what we are actually doing.”

At that moment, you saw a man walking down the hallway towards you, holding a thick sheaf of papers and at least two books. He was tall, young, and very handsome, with long black hair tied into a neat ponytail and glasses clipped to his nose – hardly the venerable old scholar you’d expected.

SBnB68kIwsevYWAzSesZ0kie5I3K7pSaEYudZVtJDmO3TezXzxjr6vAulQb9-1QMDK3D6mC7RBq0RslKLyDgC1a7-ABuzvUYZmYV3836nPUw-SPcTsq56Khb2E3Xe76XxQ


This was Pieter van Averink.​

“Ah, yes! You are Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser, correct? Good, good!” he said, as he eagerly shook your hand. “I was worried I would have to chase down the Inquisitor who took on my case!”

“It is good to meet you, Mr van Averink. I expect you wish to discuss the assignment?”

“Yes, that would indeed be the case. If you could…” he said, gesturing for you to follow. “If you could please follow me, we can speak in relative privacy.”

Initially you hesitated. This lobby had some non-Inquisitors walking around, but most of these people had clearance enough to hear whatever you had to say about such a low level case. Your confusion ended when you noticed him glancing at the other Inquisitors in the lobby. And then it made sense.

He was not afraid of enemies listening in, but allies. Competitors.

Once you were away from the centre of the lobby, and in a gloomy and private alcove surrounded by bookshelves, Averink spoke.

“Lijsbet Visser, the White Priestess," he said, reading from one of his papers. "I was considering Inquisitor Vrooman when I offered this case, but you might actually be a better choice, indeed. I am most thankful for your acceptance of this case…” Averink spoke softly but quickly, in a voice that wanted to shout in excitement but necessarily lowered by deliberate caution of his surroundings.

“You want to know what I figured out, don’t you? My research?”

“Of course. What is it that we are studying, Mr Averink?” you asked, speaking in a way that you hoped appeased his obvious eagerness.

“The Novel Isekai we are hunting is not an observation unique to me. Some other researchers have spotted what I have as well. That Tourish dullard, Martîn Viponde, has his own papers on it – but he is horrendously wrong on all accounts about its nature.” Averink sighed and shook his head, as if this Viponde was in the alcove with the two of you.

“The Isekais are changing. They have been ever since the War in Heaven, may The Destroyer be tormented forever, but it's getting faster and more pronounced. A hundred years ago, there was no such thing as the Gamer Isekai. Fifty years ago, the Novel Grudge Isekai did not exist. And we in the Isekai Studies field think the desired targets are changing as well. Do you know, Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser, what female forms Isekais once possessed, and what they most commonly possess now?” Averink asked you, staring directly at you. His glasses reflected the light, hiding his eyes.

You nodded, recalling your studies. “Well, aside from the rare Succubus Isekai taking the form of… very suggestive older women… the female Isekais most commonly tend to target innocent maidens, uncertain youths and pure ladies, or commoner girls with… magical powers –”

“Girls like yourself.” Averink finished for you. “The latter, I mean, certainly, not the former,” he quickly corrected himself.

“Well…” you trailed off, not really liking the idea of admitting that you fit the stereotype for the classical target of an Isekai possession. “Yes. Girls like myself,” you finally admitted.

“You need not worry yourself then. For it has come to our attention that this trend has drastically changed in the last decades. Inverted, even.” The bespectacled researcher held his voice for deliberate dramatic effect, clearly thrilled by his own discoveries. He had undoubtedly practised this speech many times in anticipation of an Inquisitor taking his case.

“We are seeking evidence of what is to be called: the Fujo Isekai.”

“Fujo. What does it refer to? Something in the Isekai tongue?” you asked, not understanding its significance.

“Indeed, indeed. We took the word from the few captured Isekais that fit either my or Viponde’s definition, after, ahem, strong interrogation – it means unclean, rotten or spoiled girl, something like that,” he said, again seemingly agitated by even mentioning the name of what you figured was his chief academic rival.

“Then we are hunting… an unsightly or unclean woman? Like beggars?”

“Oh no, no. Quite the opposite, in fact. The name, Fujo, is figurative – except perhaps for the last term, depending.”

“Depending on?”

“Well, on who is right, Viponde or myself. To summarise to you briefly: The Fujo, in both of our observations, hunts after well-to-do ladies. Very well-to-do in fact. We are speaking of the daughters of the highest of nobility. These daughters in all past cases have been, I should admit, quite pleasant on the eyes. There are some perks to this job.”

You raised an eyebrow.

“I understand your reluctance, but we cannot ignore what has transpired. The current wife of the Count of Zottezen, possessed in her adolescent years. Lady Ambrosia, third daughter of the Marquess of Schooten-Worp, taken in her childhood with her first flowering. Even the Duchess-in-waiting Nacissa van Luttemont-Furholjan, possessed in her early years at the Academy of Light, who may still be possessed today if not for her faithful butler, if my memory serves. Certainly, you may have even attended classes with this very same woman!”

Your eyes widened. You indeed knew of whom he spoke, as the memories flooded in. The Lady Luttefmont-Furholjan, one of your on-and-off bullies. Her raised hand to her mouth, that very particular laugh ringing phantom noise in your ears. The long blonde hair, formed into the favoured twirling grand ringlets of Astemmian aristocracy. You blinked a few times, to return to the current time.

“... Flaxen hair, the excessive, even outrageous endowments of the figures found in the aristocracy –” the researcher went on, making hand gestures to indicate her shape, in a manner you could no longer determine if he was referring to a subject of research or some kind of lewdness.

“I have met Lady Luttefmont-Furholjan before, I know of what you speak.”

You tried not to wince. It was hard to forget her appearance, or really that of any of the noble girls. You had once read that the aristocracy through foreign interbreeding had a far closer descent to Ishtar than commoners like yourself, and that the Archdemoness of Lust had taken many noble-blooded men as consorts throughout history. You imagined that descent from Ishtar likely explained why so many noble ladies took after her in physique.

“Then it is well you understand. The Fujo. I theorise they want it. They covet it with all their heart. The creature from the Outer Darkness craves the wealth, beauty and prestige of their chosen victims. It is to my understanding that they choose those who are ‘spoiled,’ so to speak. Aristocratic ladies who are perhaps too haughty, too assured of their status, and so the Isekai sweeps in and steals it for their own. These Isekais were from what I imagine to be the lower castes of their eldritch orders in Ja’Paan, their serfs or slaves, if you will.”

A picture was appearing now. You were beginning to grasp what Mr Averink was suggesting. What he wanted to confirm.

“I understand his theories may be foolish,” you started, wishing to lessen any possible grievances, “but what is the opposing theory of the Fujo, by Mr Viponde?”

“Utter hogwash. He claims it is much like the Succubus, but rather than using Otome Attractor to form a harem of enthralled men around themselves, they instead wish to ensnare men with… one another. Even claims there to be a trait of ‘Rotten Girl’ in Appraisal, claiming he read the diaries of a young man he found in Wachstaat who was affected by it. Of those I have witnessed, I have not yet seen a single instance of this.”

“Like – like the Yowees of the far west?” you asked.

The Yowees were a subrace of elves from the distant mist-covered secret realms of Mu and its colonies of the Lonely Moors. They were an insular, secretive people, who once ruled a great and ancient empire before the rise of The Yankee and his Isekai Empire four centuries ago. None had ever travelled to the fog-shrouded lands of Mu and lived, but from its colonies and successors on the continent, and by the oral traditions of the mountain elves and ice elves who had splintered off from them, it was known that the peoples of Greater Mu venerated strange couplings and frowned upon any other union, an alien inversion of what was understood of the Central Kingdoms where such things were kept politely unspoken… or in the east where demons reigned, who would burn or castrate those who committed such acts in defiance of Ishtar's command to "be fruitful."

“Potentially. He has suggested a possible link to the Yowee and these Fujos in their ancient history, however I would say this is all wild conjecture and conspiracy. We cannot truly know.”

You nodded, as grand claims and speculations about the origins of millennia-old civilizations were not made lightly. The People of the Mists were strange and reclusive, yes, but they were one of the oldest cultures of this world, simply wanted to be left alone, and were no enemy to the people of Astem, as the Isekais are or the Demons once were. On the other hand, this did not make his claims about the Fujo false either.

“Then how is our research to be done, then? Do you simply want confirmation of what you have observed and studied already?”

“Of that nature, yes. The Yankeevines in their self-righteous arrogance may claim themselves the masters of this earth by virtue of their Reason, but they aren’t wrong about repeatability being key. It is not sufficient that we observe phenomena once. We must be able to repeat it again and again. On the other hand –" He sighed. "As a researcher, I am obligated to record even evidence that disproves my claim. It may even come to pass that Viponde's theory might be partially correct, as much as I'd hate to admit it."

You nodded. It seemed that Averink was not the type to let you get a word in edgewise once he started talking.

"So, I trust you understand the need for extreme discretion. Our research will infiltrate the very highest circles of society. Could you imagine what would happen if the Isekai were allowed to subvert our government? Our education?"

“It would certainly be disastrous…” you agreed.

“You understand, then. Good. As such, this is what I want you to do. Join the routine Appraiser, allow them to go over the normal holy statistics. Find individuals you believe fit the general criteria I have informed you of, and then learn more about these individuals. Their thoughts, feelings, history. Their skills and common alignments, similar titles. Perform mental dives if you must. We need to establish a pattern, something that Appraisers can follow to find Possessors too clever to be immediately caught. Find anything else that is common and link these people together, and we mayhaps catch these Isekais before they have even appeared in our world.”

“And what if we actually catch one in this process?” you asked. It was not an impossibility, after all.

The researcher blinked, not expecting that.

“Well, ahem, the storm…” He stopped then, thinking. “I mean, it is possible, certainly. But then, you are an Inquisitor, are you not?" He waved a hand dismissively. "Unleash the dogs on them. So to speak.”

You would rather avoid engaging an Isekai in a school, but you had also seen what happened when a beehive was kicked… and it should never be mistaken, an Isekai was still an Isekai. It did not matter if they were hiding in a cave or in a school. Baudelaire had been right – an Inquisitor was to give the Isekais no quarter.

“As you wish, then. I will need to form my team first,” you said. “If that is all, I must take my leave to prepare.”

“Very good. The Appraisal will occur tomorrow. We will meet at the Academy main gate at seven in the morning, sharp. I assume you know where it is, so I will meet you there. Bring whoever you feel is necessary.”

You bowed slightly. “I will meet you there then, Mr van Averink. A pleasure to meet you.” You were unsure if this was actually true – he seemed rather full of himself – but you were a professional now, after all.

With that, the two of you parted ways from the alcove, and you were left to consider who would be joining your team.


~~~


CASE II: The Appraisal of the Academy of Light: No Otome Game

Requisition Balance:
12,200
Upfront Requisition Given: 100 (Expected costs, wages, travel, boarding, risk premiums, bribe/incentives, etc for 2 days)
Reward for Completion: 1500 (potential bonuses)

Expected Isekai Threat Level (Inquisitorial Bulletin): Low (Level Inu - Kazuma)
Jurisdiction: Kingdom of Astem, Permission granted by The Queen's Spymaster, Roelof Meulenbelt, to operate freely within Her Majesty's borders. Permission granted by the Headmaster Gerardus Barlaeus of the Academy of Light for routine inspection.

Progress: Preparation Phase




Team Selection
(This is a Plan vote)​

Note: Agents that you do not select may be selected by Inquisitor Vrooman instead for her own Underground Railroad Case.

[ ] Select no agents for your team
This option is mutually exclusive with the below team options. Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser will carry out the Appraisal of the Academy of Light Case without a team of agents, with only Mr van Averink and whichever Appraiser he selects as allies. No costs incurred. It is highly unorthodox to perform a case with no team, however you may justify it by the case conditions expecting ‘no Isekai’ for its completion.



Cover Specialist: (Typically, there is 1 Cover specialist per group, however this case is without a specified Isekai threat, so you may use any combination, so long as it meets the requirement of 5 people total, including Visser herself)

[ ] The Guard
Name:
The Guard
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male?
Age: 97
Nationality: Stateless (technically Kingdom of Astem)
Classes: N/A
Elemental Affinity: N/A
Cost: 20 Requisition per day (Mechtelt scribbled a note in the dossier that The Guard does not eat or sleep, but he uses his wages to repair his armour, oil his joints, and donate to The Church or orphanages)
Alignment: Lawful Guard
Faction: Unknown
Weapon Speciality: Two-handed sword and shield
Agent Speciality: Urban Combat, Criminals, Inhospitable Environments, Counter-Mental Powers, Attrition
Race: Guard - See Full Dossier in Character List for Origin

[ ] The Squire Hero
Name:
Griffin Braam
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male
Age: 15
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Classes: Lvl 3 Knight (First asc), Lvl 1 Paladin (Second asc), Lvl 1 Hero (Grand asc)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, ??? (Undiscovered affinity)
Cost: 25 Requisition per day
Alignment: Neutral Good
Faction: Moderate
Weapon Speciality: Sword and shield
Agent Speciality: Evil Alignment Enemies, Impossible/Suicide Missions, Counter-Ambush, Attrition
Race: Human - See Full Dossier in Character List for Origin

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Braam’s levels are most likely out of date following the Pied Piper Case, and require seeing an Appraiser to confirm his new levels.

[ ] The Crusader
Name:
Gilles de Oranje
Position: Inquisitorial Agent, formerly Mercenary and Crusader
Sex: Male
Age: 62
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, Formerly the Tripartite Kingdom of Getaiannia
Classes: Lvl 50 Knight (First asc)
Elemental Affinity: Metal, Metal
Cost: 30 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Unknown Faction
Weapon Speciality: Mace and shortsword
Agent Speciality: Anti-Regular, Immunity to Conventional Weapons, Command, Cavalry Charges, Large-scale Warfare
Race: Human

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Mechtelt’s scrawled writing on his Dossier informs you that his true title is actually “The Fullmetal Crusader,” but was removed to hide his true use – he has double Metal affinity, which while makes him unable to use magic, makes him almost completely immune to all metal-based weapons… including swords, pikes, bullets, cannon balls, etc.

[ ] The Lady Templar
Name:
Nacissa van Luttefmont-Furholjan
Position: Templar Knight of the Holy Church, Duchess-in-waiting of the Luttefmont-Furholjan Duchy
Sex: Female
Age: 18
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Classes: Lvl 50 Knight (First asc), Lvl 5 Templar (second asc)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, Earth
Cost: 100 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Unknown Faction
Weapon Speciality: Siege Armour (note: is unlikely to bring her weaponry or warbeast into a school assessment)
Agent Speciality: Leadership, Political Connections, Siege Armour Operation, Cavalry Charges
Race: Reclaimed Human

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Nacissa is not employed as an agent under the auspices of the Holy Inquisition, and is instead a Templar Knight, which is a sister organisation that works closely with Inquisitors at need. Requisitioned to be put under temporary command of Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser. She will likely bring along a servant of hers, her preferred one being a Demihuman butler named Igor. He is not counted as an agent and does not cost requisition.

Note from Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser: Is one of my former Academy of Light bullies.


[ ] The Heedless Charger
Name:
Iwan van Hertz
Position: Inquisitorial Agent, formerly Templar
Sex: Male
Age: 37
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Classes: Lvl 50 Knight, Lvl 20 Paladin
Elemental Affinity: Earth, Metal
Cost: 15 Requisition per day
Alignment: Lawful Good
Faction: Orthodox
Weapon Speciality: Two-handed sword
Agent Speciality: Rescue Operations, Impossible/Suicide Missions, Open Battles
Race: Quarter-Giant / Human

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: A loyal companion and well-intentioned, but sadly not the brightest candle in the lantern. Charges full-tilt into the fray first and asks questions never, and the only strategy he ever had was rushing in and swinging his sword.

[ ] The Windrider
Name:
Marianna Janosik
Position: Templar Captain
Sex: Female
Age: 20
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Commonwealth Kingdom of Neu-Alaynia
Classes: Lvl 50 Knight, Lvl 10 Templar
Elemental Affinity: Air, Earth
Cost: 50 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Unknown Faction
Weapon Speciality: Lance and pike
Agent Speciality: Scouting, Pursuit, Lance Cavalry
Race: Centaur



Caster Specialist: (Typically, there is 2 Caster specialists per group, however this case is without a specified Isekai threat, so you may use any combination, so long as it meets the requirement of 5 people total, including Visser herself)

[ ] The Helpful Waif
Name:
Yasmijn Katermann (name is almost certainly an alias)
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Female
Age: 14
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem
Classes: Lvl 50 Hunter (first asc), Level 20 Ranger (second asc)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Light, Air
Cost: 40 Requisition per day
Alignment: Lawful Good
Faction: Moderate
Agent Speciality: Stealth, Spycraft, Honeypotting, Counter-espionage
Race: Demihuman

Note: Inquisitor Vrooman’s scribbled handwriting in red ink says “Lis. Whatever her name and title is on her dossier now. Do Not Trust It. Her special ability is manipulating whatever her Holy Statistics appear to be.”

[ ] The Reclaimed
Name:
Enguerrand Baudelaire
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male
Age: 25
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, Formerly Kingdom of Tourine
Classes: Lvl 50 Rogue (first asc), Level 18 Assassin (second asc)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Time
Cost: 35 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Ultra-orthodox
Weapon Speciality: Throwing knives, pistol
Agent Speciality: Assassination, Lone-wolf Operations, Espionage, Ranged Single Attacks
Race: Reclaimed Human - See Full Dossier in Character List for Origin

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Baudelaire’s levels are possibly out of date following the Pied Piper Case, and may require seeing an Appraiser to confirm his new levels, if any. They may also be the same, however.

Note from Adjutant-Inquisitor Visser: Baudelaire has personally noted his unsuitability for this case, however will accept orders.


[ ] The Exiled Villainess
Name:
Alizea du Arceneaux
Position: Inquisitorial Agent / Bandit-Captain of the Red Dragons Gang
Sex: Female
Age: 23
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Kingdom of Tourine
Classes: Lvl 25 Warrior, Lvl 25 Rogue (first asc), lvl 12 Brigand (Second mix asc)
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Water
Cost: 30 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Unknown Faction
Weapon Speciality: Rapier and dagger, pistol
Agent Speciality: Criminal Connections, Stealth, Infiltration and Recovery, Kidnapping, Escape
Race: Reclaimed Human


[ ] The Consulting Detective
Name:
Sherrian Urloki och Crowleii
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male
Age: 98
Nationality: Demonic Empire of the Sarutishkin
Classes: Lvl 50 Hunter, Lvl 50 Sleuth
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Metal
Cost: 10,000 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Heathen
Weapon Speciality: Staff, Unarmed Combat
Agent Speciality: Forensics, Investigation, Tracking, Criminal Psychology, Political Connections
Race: Nephilim

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Sherrian is considered the greatest investigator and detective in the entire world. He agrees, and charges accordingly. He will insist upon bringing his assistant and recordkeeper, Belzele Waystone, a former combat healer in the Demon Empire’s Janissary Forces. She is personally paid by Sherrian, and costs no additional requisition, thankfully.



Cure Specialist: (This case is without a specified Isekai threat, so you may use any combination, so long as it meets the requirement of 5 people total, including Visser herself)


[ ] The Courtesan Nun
Name:
Aurielle Auffrye
Position: Inquisitorial Agent, Sacred Prostitute of Ishtar at the Temple of the Mixed Church in Astoria
Sex: Female
Age: 26
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Kingdom of Cockaigne
Classes: Lvl 50 Priestess, Lvl 20 Enchantress
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Wood, Water
Cost: 35 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Agent Speciality: Healing, Honeypotting, Relationship Counselling, Mediation, Psychology
Race: Human

[ ] The Con Artist
Name: Theodore Roosevelt Lincoln
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Male
Age: 18
Nationality: Yankeevine Empire (Fugitive/Stateless)
Classes: Lvl 40 Bard
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Air, ??? (Undiscovered Affinity)
Cost: 25 Requisition per day
Alignment: Unknown
Faction: Heterodox
Agent Speciality: Spycraft, Impersonation, Counter-Yankeevine, Isekai Black Box
Race: Human Needless (Failed Isekai Symbiote)

[ ] The Exalted Interrogator
Name:
Giachat Rossi
Position: Inquisitorial Agent, Inquisitor Vrooman’s Chief Interrogator
Sex: Male
Age: 32 years old
Nationality: Kingdom of Astem, formerly Principality of Prospero
Classes: Lvl 50 Priest, Lvl 48 Shadow Priest
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Darkness, Water
Cost: 60 Requisition per day
Alignment: True Neutral
Faction: Unknown
Agent Speciality: Healing, Interrogation, Sorcery Expertise, Forbidden Knowledge
Race: Human

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: A skilled physician and likeable enough, but his sense of humour is as black as ink.

[ ] The Bonesister
Name:
Juliana Valeryivna
Position: Inquisitorial Agent
Sex: Female
Age: 17 years old
Nationality: Tzardom of Catatonia
Classes: Lvl 50 Priestess, Lvl 25 Necromancer
Elemental Affinity: Mana, Earth, Spirit
Cost: 60 Requisition per day
Alignment: Lawful Good
Faction: Heterodox
Agent Speciality: Healing, Clairvoyance, Divination, Mediumship, Psychometry
Race: Human

Note from Inquisitor Vrooman: Keep a close eye on her, necromancy and mediumship are nowhere nearly as “holy” or acceptable here as she thinks it should be, or how it is in Catatonia.

~~~

You study the dossiers, thinking deeply about who would be the most suitable for this mission. You must also keep costs in mind – Mechtelt isn’t paying for your agents anymore, and not only do you and your agents need food and shelter, but possibly weaponry and equipm
 
Extract of The History of Villainesses, Half of the Dual Evil
(Possibly useful fluff post while waiting for more votes to give a tiebreaker * this was from SB)



Inquisitors of the Holy Church are at times required to read translated extracts of the enemy’s literature, particularly those sourced from the Yankeevine’s or the Northern Heroes Guild.

Extract of The History of Villainesses, Half of the Dual Evil
By Thomas Edison Adams and Professor Minako Audolfsdottir of the University of Aafensenn. Provided as evidence to the Upper Thinghall of the World Empire on behalf of the Gamer Faction’s call for military intervention in the Central Kingdoms, year 402 of Our Saviour The Yankee.


Rlea6mWU0oKMDBLekLY6FzNDbXIhIsZGtPPL3emHIWrIatE1XRxjjWd_ahIuQeyY4NyAXHrJVoC2nsOdzTpA5cFfoy1p7qhDz71_AGU7xVROf4NLtDZjit_zmb_eZ92A0A

An Astemmian aristocrat, performing the “Laugh of Oppression.”

With the explanation of the evils of The Church and their subservience to the Demiurges that falsely claim rulership of this world addressed, we must now turn to the other great evil that pollutes this world.

We speak of the aristocracy of the Central, Southern and Eastern Realms, and to a lesser extent even the Aristocrats of our own great Yankeevine Lands. Beginning with our Enlightened Saviour, Emperor Joseph the Yankee, who introduced Democracy and the Constitution to the primitive Continent, Outsiders have long taught us the backwardness and un-Reason of aristocracy as a form of governance; however, while the Yankeevine aristocrats have accepted their proper place in the Social Order and subservience to the Thinghall and State, this is not the case in The Savage South.

The rampant excesses and decadence of the backwards realms can be seen with no better clarity than The Villainess, the very embodiment of the Dual Evils, made manifest in the feminine form.

The mere existence of the Villainess is a relic of what should be a bygone age. In the Kingdoms of Astem, Tourine, Getaiannia, and even in our ally Wachstaat, you may still see the Villainess prancing about in her castle or in the city streets, her well-fed figure barely stuffed into silks and laces that cost enough money to feed a village. You would see her with her hair in long ringlet curls, the efforts of hours of unpaid labour by various Catgirl maids. You would see her with her jewelled shoes, daintily stepping upon floors cleaned by Demihuman servants which she considers beneath her notice. And long before you see her, you hear her signature, grating laugh – a laugh that signifies her indifference to the sufferings of the serfs and peasants who work her land and make her wealth possible. A Villainess takes her superiority over others for granted, as natural as the water that surrounds a fish, and for what Reason? Not for any individual merit of hers – simply that she was squeezed out of the right twat.

~~~​

The incestuous relationship between the Aristocrats and the Church is made clear when one considers the number of Villainesses within the ranks of the Holy Templars and the Inquisition, those organizations tasked with the persecution and murder of Outsiders; the fact that the chief source of funding for said Church and organizations is the Tulip Throne of Astem, which turns a blind eye to all manner of clerical evils in the name of their idolatry. It is well said that religion is the opiate of the people; and the Central Kingdoms are blind drunk on it. And so in the southern lands, Outsiders unfortunate enough to enter the world in the wrong city, Outsiders who would otherwise use their gifts and knowledge for the betterment and the Enlightenment of the Continent are ruthlessly pursued by Villainesses in siege armour or mounted atop great warbeasts, impaled by a Villainess’ lance or sword, burned by mana bolts, or even rendered empty shells by their so-called Exorcism. Are we to stand idly by as our brothers and sisters are persecuted by a repressive cult of murderous violence ruled by anti-intellectuals who fear Modernity?

And we have yet to even speak of the insatiable wantonness of The Villainess, a promiscuous creature that will lie, steal, and cheat as if it were second nature. From the slave pens of the tyrannical Demon Empire, armies of Demihumans are raised and trained exclusively for the purpose of being sold to aristocrats, so as to serve their twisted needs – all of them imaginable. The nature of the violation and degradation involved we leave unspoken in this hallowed hall.

~~~​

Honoured Lawspeakers of the Thing, we hope we have proved to your satisfaction that these Villainesses are the very embodiment of the Dual Evils of the Aristocracy and the Church, and every possible evil quality personified in the feminine form, and why the Tyrants of the savage south must never be trusted.

All true Yankeevines should then know that our war against the Central Kingdoms is a righteous one. It is only justice and mercy to punish the oppressors of humanity; and cruelty to coddle them. A society that worships and breeds such evil cannot be permitted to continue. As the Outsiders wisely advise: Evil prevails when good men do nothing.

It is our moral obligation, nay, our Manifest Destiny given to us by The Yankee and The Outsiders to uplift and reunite this world, to shake off the shackles of false gods and decadent nobles for those who cannot RISE otherwise.

Push onward, brave Yankeevine! An Empire of Reason. An Empire of Progress. An Empire of Liberty.

For All! Oorah!
 
CASE II - NO OTOME GAME, PREPARATION II
CASE II - No Otome Game, Preparation II

[X] Plan: An Ordinary Investigation
-[X] The Guard
-[X] The Exiled Villainess
-[X] The Helpful Waif
-[X] The Con Artist

Some hours ago, you made your final decision on your team, after much careful thought. Braam, Baudelaire, and Lyeneru left you with thanks and well wishes, while The Guard dutifully followed you to the Inquisitorial Headquarters Chapel, where you were to meet your new chosen team. You had never met all of Mechtelt’s agents, at least not for more than brief glances. Now that these were to be your agents for this case, you would be having a formal introduction when you met them here, the night before you were to head to the Academy.

You sat quietly in the front row of seats in the chapel. The Guard stood in the corner, silently staring off into space. A few others sat in the chapel, praying to the semicircle of different statues depicting the gods of the Creator Pantheon. This chapel was not a magnificent ensemble such as could be found in the downtown Cathedral of Saint Jacomina – it possessed no grand frescoes or painted scenes of triumph or salvation, and the statues were simple granite stone rather than chryselephantine or marble, but it was still a place of power. The statues were conduits of the gods, and praying to them would very often provide boons to their faithful.

As you waited for the arrival of those agents you had chosen, you looked to the statues before you. In the end, several steps above you, from Mechtelt, to her superior, to the Lord Inquisitor Ignatius, to His Holiness the Pope, these statues were your final superiors. They were to whom you had promised your service and your life.

At the very centre of the statues stood the once triumphant figure of Eon, God of Time, Space, and Creation. The Firstborn of the World Stream, who wielded its power to shape the world into existence. His figure was that of a broad-shouldered and heavily muscled man wearing white robes and a loin-cloth – but most prominently, his statue was without a head. You could see a jagged cut through the statue’s neck marking where The Destroyer had beheaded him. Many monks and artisans had tried to repair the damage, but the new head would always be severed in just the same manner as the last.

Despite his beheading, Eon’s statue was not draped in dark fabrics to mark his end, for somehow prayer to him still provided boons, so it was believed that he still lived in the firmament above.

Beside his statue stood that of his wife, Enin, Goddess of Marriage and Children, the Queen of the Heavens. It was Enin who had arranged peace between the Gods and the Archdemons, and it was Enin’s personal intervention, the Miracle at Mädchennen, that finally ended the Brüderkrieg – the religious civil war that tore the continent apart decades ago in the aftermath of the Thaw. Her form was lithe and dainty, with a regal bearing and long wavy hair, the statue clad in the carved form of a tunic and crowned with crystal stars. Water flowed off her statue into a pool by her bare feet.

The next statue was quite familiar to you. Its granite form was of a mightily clad and winged knight, robes and armour intermixed, and it held a great sword with both hands, pointing it downwards to the earth. This was the statue of Sentinel, the God of Law and Justice, Protector of the Innocent. You glance to The Guard in the corner, and you could easily see the resemblance between him and his creator.

Next came Laaeshan, the Goddess of Nature, Life and Peace, beloved by the elves. Tall and serene, her hair crowned with flowers and woven with leafy vines, wearing heavy white flowing robes. It was strange to consider that such a peaceful goddess was in fact, against her will, one-half the progenitor of the Demon Race and their Archdemon gods.

Then Wisp, God of Magic, Knowledge and Secrets. His statue was the most alien-looking, in the form of a strange collection of feathers and many eyes, staring off into multiple directions. Small wings folded around him, and child-like hands carried books of forbidden knowledge and bundles of keys to hidden places.

There were other statues of course, of gods less likely to be of particular use in your case, and preferred by those of certain professions. Aoedia, patron of artists and musicians, with her harp; Iyuta with a basket full of fruit and vegetables; the twin gods Vyka and Hephcan with their smith's hammers, overseeing the forge and all those who create with their hands. Off to the corner was the statue of the black-armoured God of Death and Rebirth, Styx, a god that in the far western kingdoms was venerated over even Eon or Enin, lands such as the Tzardom where necromancy was not only legal but considered holy.

These were the still living, and original, gods of the Creator Pantheon. The remainder of the statues depicted either those that fell to The Destroyer, their forms covered in black shawls to hide the disfigured and brutalised remains, or they were the two "new" gods, their replacements. Ishtar, in truth the Archdemoness of Lust, was now promoted as the new Goddess of Love to replace little, innocent Amoroa, while Lot, the Archdemon of Greed, now replaced the daring Fiscan as the new God of Trade, Prosperity, Exploration, and Adventure. Reavanna, the tall and stately Goddess of War and Strategy especially revered in Wachstaat, had no replacement, but it was said that Schismatics in that proud and militaristic country still worshipped her in secret. The statue of Bettamis, the Goddess of the Wild Hunt, was likewise covered, as was that of Nomos, the God of the Sea and Storms revered by the sea-dwarves.

Ishtar’s statues in the Kingdom of Astem were often a great source of controversy and consternation for the Church. This statue was given a great draping curtain of white silk to hide her obscenely voluptuous figure, while her hair was dotted with flowers as if copying Amoroa or Laaeshan. Once as a child in your old church, you had heard the priests arguing with each other about how faithfully Ishtar should be depicted. Other statues, particularly those in Ishtar’s own places of worship, were presented as she intended, completely naked other than jewellery, chains of gold, and her famous Girdle; however this would undoubtedly offend many of the pious. Obviously, few statues outside of the Demon Empire presented Ishtar in her true form of a great horned dragon draped with jewels and pearls, instead preferring her human simulacrum.

You take a candle and some fragrant incense from a nearby nun and decide to…

[ ][roll] Pray to Eon, God of Time, Space and Creation.
The lesser boons of the Firstborn often revolve around timely arrivals, premonition of personal harm, and glimpses of the past. [Destiny, Average]

[ ][roll] Pray to Enin, Goddess of Marriage and Children.
The lesser boons of the Queen in Heaven provide protection to children, harmony of relationships between family, co-workers and community, clarification of one’s loyalties, and punishment for the unfaithful and treacherous. [Destiny, Average]

[ ][roll] Pray to Sentinel, God of Law and Justice.
The lesser boons of the Protector of the Innocent provide protection from crime, protection from false accusation, strength to confront evil, and the will to endure doubt and temptation. [Destiny, Average]

[ ][roll] Pray to Laaeshan, Goddess of Nature, Life and Peace.
The lesser boons of the Guardian of the Forests give peace of mind and resistance from stress or despair, protection from poisons and attacks by wild monsters, and guidance to places of safety in times of war. [Destiny, Average]

[ ][roll] Pray to Wisp, God of Magic, Secrets and Knowledge.
The lesser boons of the Keeper of Knowledge give insight into the unknown, strength in the cultivation of mana, and protection from conspiracy. [Destiny, Average]

[ ][roll] Pray to Ishtar, Goddess of Love and Sensuality.
According to your comparative theology classes, the lesser boons of She Who Sparks Passion can alter one’s charisma and attractiveness to others, and can protect from certain diseases. [Destiny, Average]

[ ] Pray to a deceased god

[ ] Pray to none

[ ] Write-in



~~~

As you finished your offerings and prayers, the doors to the chapel opened. Your team had arrived. You did not turn to face them, and instead continued to sit, hands together and eyes closed. A nun quietly ushered the trio into the chapel and led them towards you, and they sat by your side.

As any good agent of the Inquisition would, they too prayed, faithfully or not.

Even with your eyes closed, you could still see the auras of emotion move with them, and residual fragments of their thoughts. The man from Yankeevine, Theodore, had emotions that were subdued, weak enough that they were hard to clearly determine. The former Tourine lady, Alizea, was surrounded by soft reds. Annoyed.

And the petite demihuman girl, who called herself Yasmijn but whose name was, according to Mechtelt, certainly false? Pure, ecstatic joy. Blinding yellow light flowed from her, easily drowning out the auras of the other two agents. It shocked you enough that you opened your eyes, turning towards her and the glowing light.

Her face was soft and child-like, with soft straw-blonde hair flowing around it, and two large raccoon ears poking out above it. The face however, held the expression of bored neutrality. Her lips curved into a slight frown and her eyes were disinterested, even drowsy, at least until she noticed you looking at her, and she gave you what could only be called a smirk.

“Lady Inquisitor,” she said quietly, her expression returning to neutrality. Her aura still glowed a bright gold. It was disorientating. When you focused on her thoughts it was no easier to understand.

“I’m a wholesome Tanuki with a pail full of water, a whole pail of water… Just a wholesome Tanuki with a pail of water,” her thoughts went, over and over.

You were witnessing first hand now what Mechtelt meant about this “Yasmijn,” although it seemed that it was not merely her Holy Statistics that she could obfuscate.

It seemed… it was everything. You tried not to frown.

Finally, you stood to face them, and they likewise stood.

“I am happy to finally meet you all,” you said, also quietly. You looked over to the two other agents. The Yankeevine man, Theodore, in great contrast to his dull emotions, wore a broad smile and bright, happy eyes – the polar opposite of what Yasmijn conveyed to your empathic skills. His hair was a chaotic mess of auburn piled on his head, his face handsome, and his frame tall but thin. You noticed his hands were calloused – which was slightly surprising for someone of the Bard class. He gave off the image of a jovial young man, akin to a happy-go-lucky street performer, and if not for his aura, you would have believed it. Instead, you understood him to be a great performer of human expression too.

In truth he was… faded. Not so harshly that he was no longer truly human, as with purged Isekais, or like The Guard, but still, denatured. You had read that he was a “Needless” of the Yankeevine Empire. You did not understand the process of how, but you understood that this meant that Theodore had failed to become what they called a "symbiote," or a host for an Isekai to possess.

"I certainly am happy to work with you too, Inquisitor Visser-chan!" Still smiling, he reached out and quite vigorously shook your hand. It seemed that what was left was a man with a great display of emotion but very little true depth to it.

The final one of your new agents to look over was the so-titled "Exiled Villainess," Alizea du Arceneaux. You understood quite well what the term meant, for the Kingdom of Astem – and to a lesser extent, Alizea's homeland of Tourine – was often regarded by its enemies as a land ruled by them, in cooperation with The Church. Looking at her, you saw some truths to the title. Her long flaxen waves of hair, outrageous bosom partly exposed, haughty expression. These descriptors were the start of explaining the appearance of many of the highborn ladies of the Kingdom of Astem, women like Nacissa.

This, however, is where the commonalities started and ended. For this Alizea, you now understood… was not at all like Nacissa van Luttefmont-Furholjan, or any other girl like her you had met at the Academy of Light.

Firstly, looking into Alizea’s eyes, you saw a familiar expression, one you had seen before on Mr Baudelaire.

Dead eyes. Hard eyes. Eyes that had seen too much, far too much. World weary, bitter, committed to survival or death.

And after that, her face was unadorned, without the cosmetics of the refined ladies like Nacissa, the Princesses or the others. You could see poorly healed scars, streaks of pink or faded white. Her hair was not arranged in ringlets, but tangled and even dirty. Her woollen coat was, while mostly clean, unrefined and worn, with her midriff exposed and belt hanging across her hip, a holstered heavy pistol and highwayman’s rapier clinging to it. She wore trousers, not a skirt, and large rider’s boots. Prominently, she had even walked into a place of worship while a large cigar still jutted out from her teeth. She had not even bothered to remove her hat, a tri-cornered affair with several large and colourful feathers attached to it.

You had realised then, that perhaps you had made a mistake. This was not the Villainess of Yankeevine propaganda. Certainly not one that would associate with the likes of Nacissa, or Princess Circe de Meer, or Lady van Vandewiele.

You had called for a pompous lady, and had instead received… a Highwaywoman, or a Pirate Queen, even. Hm. This wasn't quite according to plan, but you supposed she'd at least be good at intimidation and fighting, then.

“I hope you have each been suitably briefed on what it is we are doing for this case, right?” you asked the assembled trio of new agents.

“Have I read the dossier correctly?” Alizea said, finally taking the cigar from her mouth. “This is a simple appraisal in some fancy school, research or not. A standard five-agent team seems like overkill to me.”

“Well, we could find an Isekai at the school. Isekais love haunting your people,” Yasmijn replied, in the tone one would use to explain to a particularly stupid child that water is wet.

“Right,” Alizea replied. "As long as I'm getting paid, I don't care…"

“So what’s the plan, boss?” Theodore asked, cutting off the two prematurely. “I figure you didn’t pick me for my combat abilities, but my good ole acting career. So what kinda character am I playing here? Sensitive pretty boy? Macho knight? Brooding demon prince? With the right wig I could even do a pretty noble lady –”

“Brooding demon prince. It’s still a novelty, even with the Thaw. If it's noble girls you want to talk to, that’s what will do it,” Alizea remarked, before you could answer.

“Bad boy, huh…”

Theodore closed his eyes and concentrated. You watched carefully, for you had never seen a glamour skill being used before. The young man's features seemed to melt and soften like wax; his ears took on a pointed shape, two curled horns grew from his forehead, his eyes became sharper, his shoulders broadened, and his incisors became small fangs.

“Alright, how do I look?”

Alizea gave a pointed look downward. “You seem to have forgotten something, dear Theodore. I assure you, those rumours are true.”

Theodore looked downward himself. “Oh, right,” he said after snorting. He closed his eyes and gave the same look of intense concentration as before.

You studied his new face. “...I don't see anything different this time.”

Alizea raised her hand to her mouth and burst out into some very uncharacteristic giggles, while Yasmijn simply sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering something about “nuns.”

“So, what do you say, boss? Seems like quite the catch right? They’ll all be drooling to tell me all their nasty Isekai secrets in no time!” He gave you another cocky grin and exaggerated flex of his glamoured arms.

On Theodore's Guise... (this is a plan vote)

[ ] The brooding demon prince persona is a good idea, let’s go with that.
[ ] Theodore would be more useful with a more subtle persona, something more sensitive.
[ ] Theodore would be more useful with a less exotic persona, like a knight.
[ ] Theodore would be more useful as his original extroverted, jokester Yankeevine persona.
[ ] write-in

“Ahem, as for what I will be having you do, Mr Lincoln…”

[ ] He should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising female students
[ ] He should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising male students
[ ] He should focus on gathering rumours, gossip, etc from female students
[ ] He should focus on gathering rumours, gossip, etc from male students
[ ] He should try to disguise himself as a student
[ ] He should be used as bait for Viponde’s hypothetical “Rotten Girl”
[ ] Write-in

“Next, Miss Katermann,” you started. “Your dossier says you specialise in honeypot operations, spycraft, stealth, and counter-espionage, right?”

“Mm, that’s correct. Some of it might not help you very much. My job usually involves targeting the male Isekais that like to wander into slave markets. What was it that the Inquisitors say? “Irrational trust in Demihumans”? You would be amazed how many Isekais are caught with a good sting operation, but I am not sure how that carries over to a school,” she said, smiling sweetly.

“You’re a former slave? Or… you just pose as one?” you ask, somewhat appalled. The raccoon girl was so young, only fourteen and yet spoke with similar experience as Mechtelt.

“Was never a slave. It’s just the easiest role to play. Wait for a storm, then the Inquisitors make a deal with the slave merchant, I or another agent like me is displayed… and the Isekais come. They always do. Isekais do so love their ‘nekomimi maid harems.’

“Wait. I thought slavery was illegal here?” Theodore cut in, confused.

“It is,” you, Alizea, and Yasmijn all said simultaneously.

Not having the time nor inclination to discuss the slave trade here, either illegal or legal, you decide:

[ ] She should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising female students
[ ] She should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising male students
[ ] She should focus on gathering rumours, gossip, etc from female students
[ ] She should focus on gathering rumours, gossip, etc from male students
[ ] She should stay in the shadows, to monitor students acting suspiciously.
[ ] Write-in

“And you, Miss Arceneaux…” you said, your thoughts trailing off. “Your dossier says you specialise in stealth, infiltration and recovery, as well as escape, correct?” You took another look at your paperwork. “I have the feeling that your previous work also did not involve schools for the children of nobility.”

“That it certainly did not,” Alizea said, without elaborating further. You then decide:

[ ] She should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising female students
[ ] She should focus on aiding in questioning and appraising male students
[ ] She should stay by your side, for protection or intimidation.
[ ] She should stay in the shadows, to monitor students acting suspiciously.
[ ] She should assist in questioning the teachers and staff
[ ] Write-in

“And of course, The Guard will be close by, in the case there is indeed an Isekai there and we must fight our way out.”

“What, this pile of rust?” Alizea took a sidelong look at The Guard, who muttered a “hmph” and turned away from her in response, facing and staring at the brick wall instead.

“Now that we've settled on a plan, we leave for the Academy of Light tomorrow. There we will brief Mr van Averink and his Appraiser. I have included a map in your dossier. Come lightly equipped, with a weapon of your choice. This may be a short research project, but we must be prepared for anything to happen.” You look at each of the agents to make sure they understood, and they solemnly nodded, even Alizea.

“May the Gods be with us.”

“And may they also be with you,” Yasmijn said, giving a little curtsey. All of you left the chapel, headed for a meal and some sleep.

Your next case was about to begin.
 

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