duddlered
patreon
The Big Oof! Volume 1 Chapter 40: The Inquisition
🕑 Added 2023-05-12 05:42:46 +0000 UTC"I understand your plight, but unfortunately, I have my own circumstances I need to attend to," Salvanius said, leaning back in his chair. "Therefore, I'm unable to provide any transportation to Aldenshor."
Elijah had his hand covering his eyes while his elbow rested on Salvanius' desk. "I don't get it, the magical tool YOU were going to receive was stolen too," he said, looking up at the Demigod with an exhausted expression.
Having spent the better half of an hour negotiating with Salvanius, Elijah and his crew were beginning to reach the end of their patience. Each and every attempt to convince ‘his grace’ to chase after the thieves were met with half hearted excuses or flat out denials. It got to the point where Elijah glanced over to Theodius and seriously considered just taking him hostage in order to force a pursuit.
“That may be, but my duties dictate that I focus my attention elsewhere.” Salvanius replied, staring intensely at the mortal across from him. “And as much as it pains me, I cannot afford to turn around and delay my mission.”
Dragging his hand across his face, Elijah let out an exasperated sigh and asked, "Let me guess, the magical tool that I still currently hold on to will greatly enable you to complete your mission and thus, you can free up one of your ships..." He knew the game that was being played, and to be honest, he was surprised at just how shrewd this Holy Man actually was.
A smile spread across Salvanius’ face, elated at Elijah’s perceptiveness. "Indeed," he admitted. "The tool you possess is invaluable to my cause, but are you sure you’re allowed to make this decision and not your master?" He asked, looking at the fairy happily eating a biscuit on the desk.
Yana had been completely ignoring the exchange, her focus solely on the delightful treat she was consuming. Realizing the focus had turned to her, she perked up and waved her hand dismissively. "Ya, whatever, he can handle it," she said nonchalantly, going back to chomping away.
Salvanius clapped his hands together with a large smile spread across his face. "Very well," he said, turning his attention back to Elijah. "If that’s her decision, then I shall accept your gracious gift.” He said, leaning forward.
Elijah began tapping on the desk in one second intervals as he glared daggers at the Demigod in front of him. His eyes scanned the room, eventually settling on Theodius, who wore a goofy expression and shifted excitedly in place. For a brief moment, Elijah considered the idea of taking the oddball hostage, thinking it might be less painful than losing his potentially only bioscanner.
But, that thought was quickly dismissed as his gaze shifted to Rhea.
Shame consumed Rhea as she stared at the ground, her face etched with a painful look. The realization that her Liege was extorting the very people who had done nothing but help them weighed heavily on her conscience. Glancing up, Rhea noticed Elijah’s impassive gaze rested on her and for a moment, she wanted to voice her deepest apologies, but the foreign man just shook his head and turned back to Salvanius to continue their negotiations.
“... I have terms.” Elijah said, knocking his knuckles against the table.
Salvanius narrowed his eyes, “You have… Terms? Do you really think you’re in a position to dictate terms?” He asked incredulously.
Still wearing his impassive look, Elijah clenched his jaw and leaned back in his chair. "I wouldn't call it dictating terms. You’re more than free to refuse." He replied.
A rapturous laughter left Salvanius' lips as the man slapped the desk in front of him, the sound echoing in the room. "Well, you certainly have gall," Salvanius said, his expression shifting to a scowl. "But you should also remember whose presence you’re in." He growled as his hands dug into the table.
Pressing the tips of his fingers together, Elijah leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk and kept his same impassive expression. “And you should remember who understands this magical tool.” he said in a bored tone.. “Because I can guarantee you that you’ll never get it to work without my help and the cost of this tool… is significantly higher." The words were sharp, but his tone was even and controlled.
A loud crunch rang out as Salvanius glared daggers at Elijah with an enraged face. “And if I just kill you all and take the tool for myself," he snarled
Elijah didn't flinch; he maintained his calm composure, despite the literally God just across from him that seemed to be fuming. "You could," he admitted coolly, "but then you’d have a useless rock with no hopes of activating it.”
Salvanius ground his teeth, visibly struggling to control his temper. He couldn’t deny that there was a strong possibility that the mortal in front of him may be telling the truth, but his pride made it difficult to accept. The strange device used no magic he had ever seen before and functioned in a way that was completely alien to him.
“Surely my scholars and Artificiers would eventually figure it out," The Demigod argued, attempting to regain some control over the situation.
Both Elijah and Bennett looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter that had them clutching their sides. The mere thought of a bunch of primitives who didn’t even have plumbing would somehow figure out optical computing was simply too hilarious to entertain.
Managing to regain his composure enough to form a coherent sentence, Elijah wiped a tear from his eye and looked at the shocked Demigod. "Oh, trust me," he said, still chuckling, "your ‘scholars’ would be stumped for centuries, if not several millennia! Hell, I doubt they’ll ever figure it out in their lifetime!"
Bennett elbowed Elijah’s side, “I would be surprised if they managed to make an abacus let alone figure out what a logic gate was!” He added into the joke causing another round of laughter.
With pride wounded by the laughter, Salvanius couldn’t help but glower at the two mortals mocking him. Never in his life had anyone DARED mock him let alone insult him to such a degree and lived. A snap rang out as Salvanius' fingers dug through the table and squeezed into a tight fist, but just as he was about to order Rhea to kill them, the woman already had her weapon drawn.
However, he soon noticed the woman was not defending his honor, but the angry looking Vanir that somehow materialized in front of his face. One second she was happily munching away at a biscuit on the desk and the next she was floating in front of him glaring at him viciously with glowing violet eyes.
“Nuh-uh!” Yana shouted as she stuck her finger out at Salvanius'. “Don’t even try it you idiot!”
Salvanius hesitated, his rage momentarily dampened by a very primal fear that he’s never felt before. Something about this legendary creature caused his instincts to scream that he was underestimating the tiny thing and he would deeply regret any errant moves. Closing his eyes and letting out a deep breath, Salvanius composed himself to cover up the brief moment of weakness. "You have no right to address me in such a manner, Vanir." He opened his eyes and glared at Yana, his voice full of authority. “Nevertheless, in light of your contributions, I shall overlook this insult.”
Yana narrowed her eyes and held Salvanius' gaze for a few more seconds before letting out a harrumph. “No funny business, whelpling! They’re MINE and MINE alone!” She barked before floating off, muttering more insults as she returned to enjoying her treat.
Seeing Salvsnius' his hand dismissively towards her, Rhea slowly sheathed her sword but still maintained her vigilance towards the small being on the desk. Whatever the thing had done had put everyone save for the two beastkins on edge. Even her liege had second guessed lashing out against an obvious insult in the face of… whatever that thing was.
Elijah finally settled down and pulled out his datapad. "I suppose a bit of honesty is in order here." The man said with a mocking smile on his face as the device flashed to life. “It’s not magic.”
As Salvanius looked down at the display, his rage began to simmer down, and a mixture of awe and disbelief crossed his face. With just a few taps and strokes of the mortal's fingertips, the magical tool revealed astonishing moving images so detailed he couldn’t distinguish it from reality. In addition, an ethereal melody accompanied the moving images. A harmonious blend of sounds that seemed to emanate from the device itself that left everyone in the room completely speechless and spell bound by mesmerizing audio-visual experience.
“Magnificent…” Salvanius muttered.
Never in his life had he been treated to such an exquisite experience.
"Its structure and functionality are so far beyond you or anyone else's understanding in this god forsaken world, that no matter who you gave it to or where you went, you’ll never get it to work if we don’t want it to work.” Bennett explained with a bored expression.
Salvanius remained quiet as he stared at the device as it showed an individual singing and dancing through the streets of a metropolis so grand that it boggled his mind. Buildings made of glass and iron seemed to pierce the heavens themselves, bathed in a perpetual glow of colorful light. And the people themselves… What they wore was unlike anything he had ever seen, but he soon noticed the similarities to the garments the two mortals in front of him were wearing.
“You’re… You’re lying.” He said in complete denial.
Elijah scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. “By all means, take the scanner and have your people look into it.” He said with a coy smile on his face. “After you accept our terms of course.”
Even though his pride and anger were still simmering beneath the surface, Salvanius still hesitated as he continued to stare at the mesmerizing display. It was then he remembered that his brother had initially told him that he should tread carefully around these mortals. They wielded knowledge and intellect like the sharpest of blades and one misstep could lead to disastrous consequences.
Of course Salvanius waved off his brother's wisdom as another mindless ramble from a new fixation, but now he found himself stuck. Looking between Vanir happily eating on his desk and the two mortals were completely unphased by his presence, Salvanius realized he had quite literally stuck his hand into a dark pit of vipers.
“And what are your terms…?” The Demigod said in a low voice, full of frustration.
An angry snarl formed on Elijah's face as he leaned and jabbed a finger into the desk. “You help me get my stuff back, and I’ll show that you can do a lot more than find ‘miasma’ with my scanner.” He said, with his eyes burning in hatred. “I’ll even introduce you to the wonderful world of antibiotics.”
Salvanius had absolutely no clue what they were talking about, but he still understood what they were offering must have been substantial. Especially considering his brother behind him was sweating bullets in an effort to maintain his neutral stance and expression.
However, from everything he had learned today, there was one question burning in Salvanius' mind. "What are you…?" he asked, eyeing the two with suspicion and curiosity.
Even Azeline, who had been sitting at the back with an unsurprised and detached demeanor, suddenly perked up and started paying closer attention to the conversation as Elijah and Bennett exchanged meaningful glances.
“We’re Humans.”
-
Flipping open the flap of the tent, Salvanius stepped outside and beckoned Elijah and his crew to follow. “I cannot task a ship of war to you at the current moment,” he said as the group walked through a maze of pyres and gallows. “Although, tomorrow I plan on Rhea to make a return trip to our homeland in order to update my father on the spread of corruption, and Aldenshor just so happens to be on the way.”
“And we can hitch a ride with him?” Elijah inquired, his interest piqued.
Salvanius nodded as his head turned to one of his Junior Knights that had a troubled look on their face. “That’s correct, and I’ll also have Rhea, empowered with my authority, accompany you.” He said, narrowing his eyes at the Knight. The man was overseeing a contingent of town guards as they corralled a group of Ferfolk slaves and a female Beastkin near the end of the dock. “She’ll be returning to the Holy Dominion as well in order to raise another Crusade and hunt down both your items, and the Kraven thugs that orchestrated the theft.”
Just as he finished, the Demigod marched over to the scene and loomed just behind the unwitting knight as looked over the terrified group to deliberate their fate. “Are you sure there’s no evidence to corroborate whether they’re heretics or assisting heretics?” The Junior Knight asked, looking over at the beastkin guard.
“Ah… No me lord. We were only able to find the bodies of some gang-I mean heretics that were slain by uhh, yer guests in their establishment.” he guard responded, stammering slightly under the pressure.
The Junior Knight frowned, his brow furrowed in frustration. "Then we cannot simply assume their guilt. There must be a proper investigation to determine their involvement, if any."
"Sir Elic, I understand your concerns,” Salvanius, overhearing the conversation, stepped in. “but we cannot afford to let any potential heretic slip through our fingers." He said looking over at the terrified group of girls. “The likeliness of whores to be in leagues with these fiends are too great, just hang them and be done with it.”
An aghast look spread across the faces of the women as they all simultaneously started screaming and pleading for mercy, tears streaming down their faces. The gut-wrenching sobs and desperate cries filled the air, creating an atmosphere of utter despair.
Sir Elic was clearly troubled by Salvanius' order, but didn’t hesitate. "Yes, right away your grace!" He said, nodding at the town guards.
The guards begrudgingly began to move forward, their faces a mix of unease and determination. As they approached the women, their hands shook slightly, betraying their own reservations about the task at hand.
Elijah, who had been observing the situation, stood there with a frown on his face as he watched Mara and the Ferfolk women be dragged towards the makeshift gallows. He closed his eyes for a moment and turned his thoughts inwards as the guards forcibly wrapped ropes around their necks. "Wait," he interjected with a calm, but firm voice.
All eyes turned to Elijah, and the guards hesitated in their actions. Salvanius raised a questioning eyebrow, clearly irritated by the interruption. "What is it now?" he demanded, his tone impatient.
“I can vouch for them.” Elijah said, opening his eyes and looking towards the Demigod.
Salvanius' expression shifted from annoyance to curiosity. "You vouch for… whores?" he asked, studying the ‘Humans’ as if he was growing an extra head.
"Yes," Elijah replied, maintaining eye contact. "They helped us a lot and made us feel at home when we first got here." He said confidently. “And as a stranger in a strange land, I find that’s worth a great deal.”
Silence reigned as Salvanius' gaze flicked back to the women, who were still trembling with fear, before looking back at Elijah in agitation. A hand came to his head in an effort to soothe his growing headache, and sighed in resignation. "I don’t have time for this… Very well.” And with a wave of his hand, the guards began to remove the ropes from the women’s necks.
Once freed, the group of women breathed a collective sigh of relief. Mara looked at Elijah with a mixture of gratitude and pain as she slowly made her way over to the man. “I… I… I’m so-”
Elijah put a hand to stop her. “Just say thank you.” He said in an annoyed fashion, with his arms crossed.
Mara hesitated for a moment, then nodded with a tearful smile. "Thank ye..," she said softly, her voice filled with gratitude. “Thank ye for everything.”
The Ferfolk, still visibly shaken, managed to express their gratitude with soft murmurs of thanks as they bowed their heads in deference towards their savior. Their eyes conveyed a mix of relief, fear, and newfound admiration for the man who had intervened on their behalf.
“Your dick is going to get you killed one day.” Bennett said impassively as he stared at the gaggle of women being escorted out of the hellscape.
“Shut the fuck up.” Elijah responded in annoyance.
Turning towards the Demigod, he refocused his attention on the matter at hand. "So when will we be joining Rhea on her trip back to the Holy Dominion?" he asked, wanting more details.
Salvanius stared long and hard at Elijah in an effort to figure him out, but realizing that was a fruitless endeavor. "Tomorrow at dawn.” He answered, shaking his head. ”We still need to prepare provisions and the crew for departure.”
"Understood," Elijah replied, acknowledging the tight schedule. "But can we spend the night on the ship? I’d rather leave as soon as possible,” he inquired, his eyes showing a sense of urgency.
Considering the request for a moment, Salvanius weighed the risks of any potential risks or complications before ultimately nodding in agreement. "Very well. You and your crew may stay on board tonight. I'll inform Rhea of the arrangement."
"Thank you," Elijah said gratefully.
The thought of having to go back to the tavern after everything that had happened made him feel incredibly uncomfortable, and he’d just rather not deal with it. By staying on the ship, he could at least avoid a terribly awkward situation and focus on getting out of here as soon as possible.
With a nod, Salvanius spun on his heel and strode away, his cape billowing behind him as he went to oversee the inquisition's work.
Rhea however, lingered as her gaze rested firmly on the Vanir that was taking in the scenery around her with a disturbing glee. Catching the Knight Captain's gaze, Yana swiftly darted toward her at incredible speed. Rhea instinctively flinched, expecting to be hit, but found that the small being had stopped just inches from her face. Yana appeared to be examining her intently, her curious violet eyes studying every detail of Rhea's features.
The knight captain seemed just as curious, but saw the Vanir's hand stretch out in an attempt to touch her face when a voice called out. “Yana! Dont.” Elijah barked out in a scolding tone.
Yana froze in place, her hand just a millimeter away when she turned around with a scornful look. "But she smells so familiar!" she protested, her eyes darting between Rhea and Elijah, her curiosity unabated.
"What did I say about messing with people I like?" Elijah admonished, raising an eyebrow at the tiny Vanir.
Giving the Knight Captain a derisive look, Yana finally relented and slowly floated over to Elijah. She landed squarely on his head with a scowl on her face, clearly unhappy about having curiosity unquenched. Rhea, on the other hand, finally let go of the breath she didn’t know that she was holding before spinning around herself and making off to catch up with her Liege.
Heaving a sigh, Elijah turned around to look back at his crew. "Alright... Let's go get our shit and go do whatever, I guess," he said, rubbing his head.
“Ya, you can have fun with that, I’m going back to the magic shop.” Bennett replied, immediately walking off in the direction of the city center
Elijah raised his hand in order to stop Bennett, but ultimately stopped in the realization that anything he said or did would have fallen on deaf ears. Instead, Elijah simply grumbled obscenities as he turned to Azeline. "Come on, let's go get our stuff and go find Auri," he said with defeat evident in his voice.
