Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 157 Fifth Place on the Capital Must-Kill List
To the people in the tavern, this was just an ordinary meeting. They talked about the rumor that the Imperial Knight Commander had been reborn from the ashes, letting the rumor continue to ferment in the imperial capital. Kane also used this as an opening remark, "You always surprise me."

He ordered two cold ales, and the discussion of the rumors was very satisfying.

"I came to ask you something."

Ethan stated his purpose directly and took out a piece of parchment with a strange symbol they found on the altar of the Bigfoot village. "Have you seen this symbol? Which god does it belong to?"

Kane's relaxed expression changed slightly. He took the parchment and looked at it very carefully. After a long time, he shook his head and said, "I've never seen it before."

"Even you haven't seen it?"

This answer was beyond Ethan's expectations. After all, Kane might be one of the oldest evil gods in the world. He and Winter had previously suspected that this symbol might have come from an old god that had not been recorded.

"These symbols are essentially a way for us to communicate with our believers. Although I don't know who left them, I can tell you the general meaning of these symbols. They are saying... the winter in the imperial capital will be very cold this year. The people here will face an unprecedented severe winter. If I were a resident here, I would consider moving to a warmer place before the weather gets cold."

Kane's expression became more serious. "It seems that the monsters you encountered in the North are just the beginning of this severe winter."

But this only makes him excited. He is not afraid of the cold, but he is afraid that the world will become quiet from now on and there will be no more fighting. He likes the atmosphere of the imperial capital very much. Every corner of the street here is filled with hatred and anger, which makes him want to take a cold beer and say a few words on the stage.

This is the best time.

The Knight Commander who was supposed to be dead returned from hell, and someone had to say a few words to give this miracle real meaning, for example, her return was the Knight Lord's request to end this dark and corrupt era.

So, where does the root of decay come from?

Why did this country fall from its golden age to this point?
Perhaps he should have appropriately painted a picture of the Golden Age at the beginning of his speech to help people recall what the nobility and the church were like when the empire was first established.

Kane was eager to try, and before he took the beer to the stage, he returned the parchment to Ethan and reminded him, "Your 'friend' is here to see you."

The parchment turned to ashes in Ethan's hands in an instant, as if it had never appeared. The drinkers were attracted by the uninvited guest who suddenly broke into the tavern, and the discussion of the rumors was also reduced a lot. Those men in black windbreakers walked straight towards Ethan and showed him their ID cards as soon as they met.

"Bloodseeker, A-rank investigator."

"Please come with us and cooperate with our investigation."

Ethan nodded and finished the beer in his glass in one gulp.

He had expected the arrival of the Shelter Bureau. After all, the scene of the other side's death was explored by him and Ivy, and the photos registered in the "Hippogryph Daily" were also taken by them. Now that the Knight Commander was alive again, those who wanted her dead would definitely be unhappy. It happened that he was a member of the Shelter Bureau, and the headquarters had the right to summon him at any time.

"The report from Gear City mentioned that you had a cat. Where is it now?"

"She likes quietness and doesn't like the atmosphere of a pub, so I left her in the hotel."

Ethan said.

In fact, he and Winter Soldiers split into two groups. At this moment, Winter Soldiers should have prepared the invisibility potion and lurked in the restricted area of ​​the Imperial Library, looking for the information Ivy left for them.

The Bloodseeker didn't seem satisfied with this answer. He glanced at Ethan meaningfully, said nothing more, and turned to lead the way for him.

The headquarters in the imperial capital used early three-wheeled vehicles as a means of transportation, which was somewhat novel to Ethan. Even Gear City did not have such a thing. The Bloodseeker did not give him a chance to go back, and "escorted" him back to the headquarters together with another investigator who did not show him his ID.

After getting in the car, no one spoke again and the atmosphere became a little depressing. The process was just like treating a criminal suspect who was about to be interrogated.

Walking into the imposing door of the detention center, he saw a man in the uniform of the Inquisition waiting there. The Bloodseeker saluted him, and after a few pleasantries, he introduced him to Ethan, "This is Chief Prosecutor Mr. Minos."

"Hello."

Ethan greeted the prosecutor with a hooked nose, who looked as if everyone present owed him 20 golden lions and had a mid-life crisis.

According to the regulations of the Shelter Bureau, people from other institutions should not be involved before the affairs of the investigators are determined internally. However, since the new director took office, the rules and regulations have become a game of words for fun, and have been manipulated in various ways by people from the Vatican and the Inquisition.

Just like now, the Chief Prosecutor of the Tribunal will be personally in charge of this trial.

Mr. Minos was serious. He just nodded slightly and took Ethan to the prepared interrogation room. The door of the interrogation room was locked. He drew a circular magic circle on the table, wrote a dark red symbol on the magic circle, and said in an unquestionable tone, "Put your right hand on it, and don't take it down until the conversation is over."

This is a trick of the God of Tricksters, and its function is no different from that of a lie detector.

Ivy mentioned during the trip that most of the outstanding graduates of the Enlightenment Academy ended up working in the Inquisition. They were very good at investigating cases and making the subjects of interrogation tell the truth.

After Ethan did so, Minos asked him his first question, "Let's go back to the day when the Knight Commander died. Are you sure that the body found at the scene was hers?"

“Not sure.”

Ethan said, "You should have seen the photos of the scene. I think it's hard for anyone to identify a person based on the broken meat and blood on the ground. However, we found the Knight Commander's belongings at the scene, including the remains of her clothes and a broken sword. We have submitted these evidences to the Gear City Branch according to the procedures."

"So, you think there's a chance she actually survived."

Minos's eyes sharpened.

"You mean me personally? I personally think that judging from the scene, it is hard for her to be alive."

This was a typical leading question, and Ethan naturally wouldn't buy it.

Minos glanced at the circle, and the runes on it did not respond, so he could only continue the topic. "Next is the question about the choir member. Your commander said in the report that when you found her outside the town, she was already in a coma. Do you have anything to add to this?"

"To be precise, it was in Wolf's Head Castle. There were rumors that a contaminated area had appeared there, so we went to investigate."

Minos frowned. He deliberately changed the location where the choir members were found, but the other party gave the same information as Ivy, and the circle once again assumed that Ethan was telling the truth.

"Then it's about you."

Minos emphasized, "If you include the incident in the contaminated area of ​​Wolf's Head, you have already entered the contaminated area three times and survived. Do you have anything to explain about this?"

He only needed Ethan to reveal a flaw, so that he could legitimately ask the detention bureau to hand Ethan over to the tribunal for processing. Once in the tribunal, there would be a lot of room for discretion in Ethan's confession, and they had many ways to make Ethan say the answers they wanted to hear.

If Ethan was just an ordinary D-level investigator, they would not have to spend so much effort. However, he has a close relationship with the eldest daughter of the Margaret family. That eldest daughter is not an easy person to deal with and will definitely hold on to any illegal operations.

"There's nothing much to say. I've already written down all my findings in my performance report. The Gear City Branch should have kept a file."

Ethan remained calm.

"However, you should be aware that the Director has banned all forms of investigations into contaminated areas. What you did violated the Containment Bureau's charter."

"Regarding this matter, my leader has already submitted an application to the Gear City Shelter Bureau. I started the investigation only after receiving approval. The procedures are reasonable and in compliance with regulations. If you have any questions, you can ask Mr. Gravedigger from the branch to explain it to you."

The circle once again agreed with Ethan's words.

But in Minos's opinion, this young man was too calm. He put a lot of pressure on Ethan during the conversation. If it were someone else, they would have panicked and their answers would have been full of loopholes.

Psychological induction is the spell they use most often. The person being disturbed will start talking nonsense under pressure even when he is stating a true fact, unless... he has a heart of steel.

This is a quality that only very few people possess.

"But you survived three times. This is a nearly impossible task for a D-level investigator. In the past ten years, you are the only low-level investigator who has done this."

Minos paused. "Therefore, some people in the containment bureau also suspect that you have signed some kind of contract with the evil god to keep yourself alive. Do you have anything to clarify about this?"

He asked a tricky question and a pretty serious accusation.

Over the years, the Vatican has accused many people of being followers of evil gods. They have not been able to prove their innocence under the attack of the Inquisition, and even when trying to prove themselves, they revealed many flaws that they did not expect.

Minos, on the other hand, was the one with the best "performance". All the evil god believers handed over to him by the Church confessed their crimes and were brought to justice.

"Of course they can think so. I can only say that I was lucky. Maybe I won't be so lucky next time, but I believe that you are experienced in identifying the followers of the evil god and must have summed up specific standards."

Ethan asked with interest, "As an investigator of the Containment Bureau, hunting down evil believers is part of our daily work. I sincerely hope that you can share these standards with me. This will help me in my future work."

Faced with Ethan's question, Minos was speechless for a moment.

Specific standards?

The Inquisition has never needed such a thing. Their only criterion for judgment is one, which sounds simple: "As long as you cannot prove your innocence 100%, you are a follower of the evil god." As for the judgment criteria, they are usually very simple.

Some believers of evil gods will embezzle property, some will hire killers to kill people, at the very least they will have lovers, or they may have made inappropriate remarks when they were drunk.

In short, as long as you dig deeper, everyone can find out something.

The crimes that can be found out are the criteria for judging whether they are followers of evil gods.

However, this time, Minos was not well prepared. He was temporarily asked to take over Ethan's interrogation before he had time to conduct a comprehensive investigation of him.

This was not in line with his usual style, but the Vatican was in a hurry and found him as the prosecutor with the best "performance".

Seeing that the prosecutor, who seemed to be in a midlife crisis, had a gloomy face, Ethan was worried that he might suffer from autonomic nervous system disorder, so he said, "I have a simpler way. Why not let the God of Truth make the judgment?"

Minos was stunned.

Ethan continued to ask the other party, "My leader mentioned to me that this circle can distinguish between truth and lies. It is the power given by God to his followers. Why don't you ask me this question directly?"

"Are you... a follower of the evil god?"

Minos gritted his teeth and said, of course he knew the result of this question.

If you want to accuse someone of a crime that they don't have, you certainly can't ask them directly under the witness of the God of Truth.

"Yes."

The moment Ethan opened his mouth, the runes on the circle glowed with dazzling red light. "Perhaps this is the answer you hoped for, but the God of Truth doesn't seem to think so."

Minos stared at the circle for a long time, knowing that this interrogation was destined to make little progress. He originally thought that Ethan was just an ordinary young man from a border city and did not have the courage to face him directly. But now it seems that there is a reason why the eldest lady of Margaret's family asked him to be a follower.

But this is just the beginning.

"That's it for now."

Minos said grimly, looking at Ethan with sinister eyes.

Sooner or later you will be charged as a follower of an evil god, just like those people before you.

"You have worked hard."

Ethan pulled his wrist out of the circle and nodded to Mr. Minos. "If there's nothing else, I'm going to go back and prepare dinner for my cat."

When leaving the shelter, Ethan did not forget to say goodbye to the Bloodseeker and others, but the investigators seemed to be afraid of him and were timid when talking to him.

That was probably the look in their eyes because they were afraid that he would be mistaken for a follower of the evil god and killed, and their blood would be splattered all over them.

When I returned to the apartment, Lin Dong was lying on the bed in the hotel reading a book. As soon as I entered the door, I saw her dangling feet.

"How about this angle?"

Hearing the noise behind her, Lin Dong turned her head to look at him. This angle was also carefully designed by her.

"…What do you want to eat tonight?"

Ethan changed the subject abruptly.

The frequency of his feet shaking became faster. Winter knew that Ethan was a liar and his serious clarifications were probably lies.

For example, Ethan always tried to make it clear to her that he had no interest in feet.

"Eat stew and apple pie."

Winter randomly named a common dish and asked, "Who is the person who is interrogating you? Let me guess, Chief Inquisitor Minos?"

"You know him?"

"Well, let me think about it." Winter checked the death list and said, "He is ranked fifth on the Imperial Capital Must-Kill List. Three members of the Violet Society were convicted by him, including Ivy's mentor Gretchen. He really should thank you."

If it weren't for Ethan, people would have found a pile of ice debris in Minos's house tonight, and he himself would be nowhere to be found. "He is a mad dog that will not let go of its prey once it bites it. He will definitely continue to investigate you."

"It doesn't matter."

All this was part of Ethan's plan. If there was no one like Minos, he would be uncomfortable.

Just as Ivy said, this is the authentic imperial capital, and there will always be a few people trying to label you as a follower of the evil god.

Ethan walked to the bedside. As soon as he sat down, Winter turned over and stuffed her legs into Ethan's arms. She felt the touch of silk fabric. "I had a hard time breaking into the restricted book section of the library, and I almost sprained my ankle."

She gradually mastered Ethan's "user manual". If you directly told him that he was a foot fetishist, he would definitely jump out to clarify, but if you gave him a reason that was relatively difficult to refuse, he would go along with it.

"Ivy found something."

Ethan decided to focus on the business. As for the movements of his hands, they were muscle memory.

"The name of the Bloody Priest has changed. It seems that you have taught well. Mary has become a saint in the eyes of the people. She fought with the new Bloody Priest for her whole life until the end of the Scarlet Dynasty."

This is indeed an interesting discovery, because according to the theory of the existence of the contaminated zone, what they experienced were events that had already happened, and all the people they came into contact with were illusions of the past. From a historical perspective, Ethan finally used his identity as a follower of the evil god to reveal the nature of the scarlet plague to Mary, but it was just a useless act of not wanting to compromise with Bazatos.

But now, the real historical line has changed.

"What's even more interesting is that I asked Bi'an and Rowena, and they said that what is written in this book is the official history."

Winter said, "Only those of us who have been to the contaminated area remember what happened in the other historical line. This is the first time I have seen such a thing, and it doesn't look like Lao Ba's ability."

Bazatos' power and the concept of time can only be described as completely unrelated, but He is indeed involved in this conspiracy. Now Winter knows why Bazatos is so eager for Ethan to compromise in the contaminated area.

That was not just a psychological surrender. "If you really spread the plague in the city, your story would be written into history, and your identity as a follower of the evil god would become a foregone conclusion. I didn't expect Lao Ba to be so insidious."

And now, Ethan is only mentioned briefly.

Until the moment of her death, Saint Mary was still thinking about Ethan, and reminded the Vatican to be wary of a man wearing a vortex mask.

It was that man who brought the plague, appeared mysteriously, and then disappeared without a trace.

"It seems that you have left a serious psychological trauma on the Saint Lady."

Winter tilted his head and looked at Ethan, showing a harmless smile, "Interview you, being remembered by a beautiful woman for a lifetime, how do you feel now?"

(End of this chapter)