As soon as the body of the last remaining player floated on the River of Poso, Joseph turned around. Facing the man whom everyone called 'Captain'.
"Their confessions."
He coldly said, handing over a bunch of crystal balls.
"Uh... Okay..." The man subconsciously stretched out his hand.
Upon receiving the bundle of crystal balls, Joseph walked away. Along with Ezreal, who had a solemn expression on his face, when he glanced at Joseph. It was because he realized that behind the cold facade of Joseph was someone struggling with his humanity after he executed those players.
[ Your mental state is currently unstable. If this continues for a certain amount of time, then you will be forced to logged-out of Victory! ]
Joseph wore a bitter smile when he saw the system notification floating in front of him. He thought that his facade could fool anything or anyone in Victory. However, it seems like he couldn't fool the system, or should he say; The Supercomputer Noah.
Joseph walked away, barely able to stand up. If not for his facade then he would've crumbled right there and right now.
But Joseph knew that he must remain steadfast. Until everything was solved and he was finally in front of the Legendary Blacksmith, Krid. He must not fall.
"Master..." Ezreal mumbled, he kept himself close to Joseph so that he could immediately act if something went wrong.
"I am fine, Ezreal... I can still keep up." Joseph revealed a small smile on his face as his eyebrows knitted, suppressing the headache stabbing his head in waves.
"Hey, you! Stay back!"
"Stay back!"
"Do not cross the line!"
Suddenly, the Inquisitors who cordoned the place cried out. Joseph sensed someone coming from behind him. Ezreal hurriedly turned around in a stance, but he froze in place. Joseph also turned around and he also stood rooted when he saw that the one coming towards him was the struggling old man who was crying out loud earlier for justice.
"Sir Inquisitor... Thank you."
The old man's continuously trembling body struggled just so he could kneel on the ground and press his forehead on the ground.
"I..." Joseph mumbled, '...didn't understand what was going on'. Did he do something worthy of such a gesture? What he did was just execute those who deserved it. He didn't think that he deserved a treatment like this...
Ezreal wore an amiable smile on his face when he saw the relief on the old man's expression.
"Sir, please stand up... I do not deserve such treatment..." Joseph went towards the old man and tried on making him stand up, but the old man remained pressed on the ground.
"Sir Inquisitor... please... let this old man do something like this... this is the only way that this old man can display how grateful I am to you, sir Inquisitor..."
Joseph paused. His expression turned complicated as he said: "But why?"
The old man did not answer him. It was because Ezreal was the one who patted his shoulder and said: "Just accept their gesture, master. It wouldn't hurt doing that, right?"
Joseph glanced at Ezreal. He slowly nodded his head and he then gave a light smile towards the spectators who were crying out with all sorts of gestures of gratitude towards him. Some even put flowers around his neck, while some handed him pouches of souvenirs.
"Thank you, Sir Inquisitor... If not for what you did, we will never find revenge against those cursed bastards..."
"Yes, sir Inquisitor. Those cursed bastards are often summarily released after a certain amount of time, and once they are released. They will do their crimes once again. Thankfully, since sir Inquisitor executed them...
"We're finally at ease that even though it is temporary and those bastards may just revive and do their crimes again. At least, we managed to avenge the death of our precious ones."
"That's right... Thank you, sir Inquisitor!"
Joseph, Ezreal and the other Inquisitors were thoroughly moved by the gesture of the residents. Even the man who had such a thick murderous aura surrounding him and called by every Inquisitor as Captain had a small and gentle smile on his face as he stood in front of these residents who thanked them all for their service.
"This is the first time..." He mumbled.
"Captain?" One of the Inquisitors who looked like he was about to cry, asked the man.
"This is the first time that people like us are acknowledged like this..." He replied.
"Then, in that case. Captain, can I cry?" The Inquisitor asked, barely suppressing his urge to cry.
However, the man raised his head and gently smacked the Inquisitor's head.
"Don't cry, not here. Perhaps when we're back." He replied with a complicated smile on his lips.
"Yeah, hahaha..." The Inquisitor replied with an awkward laugh. He sucked a mouthful of cold air and suppressed his urge to cry.
The man turned to look at Joseph, his expression complicated but he nevertheless felt grateful towards him. After all, this was the first time since the establishment of the Underground Penitentiary that they received validation like this from the residents of the Kingdom whom they protected from criminals.
He approached Joseph and Ezreal who currently wore several flower necklaces around their necks hung by the grateful residents of Reinhardt around them.
"Thank you for your services, sir."
"Thank you for keeping us safe as always, sir."
"Here, sir. I have a flower necklace. It smells really fragrant and it can thrive without sunlight. I think it can survive the environment underground."
One of the residents immediately recognized the man like the Captain of the Inquisitors and they hurriedly flocked towards him. They realized his identity when they saw his golden command medallion placed on his right chest.
Joseph turned to look at the residents with a wry smile. After all, he knew that such a man like the Captain of the Inquisitors wouldn't possibly accept such a feminine object like flower necklaces.
He was about to speak up for the Captain's sake when the Captain suddenly hung his head low just so the residents could hang their flower necklaces around his neck.
"..."
Joseph was astonished. Seeing such a monstrous man with a murderous aura continuously lingering around him wearing these cute, and fragrant flower necklaces made him speechless. Could it be that the Captain had strange tendencies too just like Ezreal? Joseph felt a shiver down his spine when he thought of this.
He swiftly shook his head vigorously, clearing his mind and thankfully, it worked. He awakened from his trance...
"Thanks." The man said to Joseph, his tone calm and neutral.
Joseph stared hard at the man.
"What?" The man asked in an uncomfortable manner.
"Can you at least reveal some facial expressions in these kinds of situations?" Joseph said.
"What are you saying?" The man replied, vexed.
"Nothing..."
Joseph replied and soon, each and every one of them returned to the Underground Penitentiary. When they all arrived at the location where ahead lies the Maximum Security Tunnel. The Inquisitors all declared that they would rest and call it a day.
"Thank you, brother. The confessions that we gathered for today will surely net us numerous rewards. I reckon that after we receive our rewards from the Kingdom, we could finally take our long-overdue break. We've been living here for a long time already and I have been itching to stay in an extended period on the surface."
"Yeah, definitely. Once I get my rewards. I will use it as leverage to take a long vacation and go fishing! How about you, brother? Are you gonna stay here? Ah! I remember that a week hasn't even passed since you became an Inquisitor! I am sorry that I forgot about it but your case really is just too unique!"
"Anyway, thank you for your service, brother. After my long vacation, I will surely bring some presents for you from my hometown!"
The Inquisitors wildly laughed as each and every one of them retreated to their quarters. The man, called by everyone as Captain turned to look at Joseph and Ezreal before saying.
"As soon as you enter, he always attacks preemptively. Be careful not to lose your life." He said these words before swiftly turning around and retreating towards his quarters. What he left in his wake were two confused men who simultaneously scratched their heads.
"Why did he say something like that, master?" Ezreal said.
"Well, perhaps that was his way of thanking us?" Joseph said while hesitating.
"..."
"Nah, it doesn't matter anymore. Wha's important is that we can finally meet that Legendary Blacksmith!" Joseph patted Ezreal's shoulders: "Thanks for your help earlier, you had a hard time back there, right?" He made a knowing expression while continuously patting Ezreal's shoulder.
"A hard time? Executing those cursed bastards is an easy as one, two, and three for me, master! I mean, they can just revive once they die so why would I hesitate to kill them? I didn't really have a hard time sending them to the afterlife. In fact, I haven't even broken a sweat."
Ezreal proudly replied, but his reply had a completely opposite effect than what he expected.
Why?
Because Joseph's comforting smile turned into a twitching one. He even slowly stepped backward in an effort to get away from Ezreal but what happened, in the end, was a chase between the two. With Joseph as the prey, and Ezreal as the predator.
"Master! Why are you running? Why are you running away from me!"
"No, do not chase me! Just let me just calm down. I went through all sorts of things, so I need to calm down. Let's just say that I am psychologically unstable!"
"Psycho-what? Table? Master, is that food? If it's food that we're talking about, I know how to cook! So please, just stop running away from me. Master!" Ezreal cried out loud. In the end, the two laughed together with small smiles on their faces.
"Ezreal, don't you have the capability to catch me no matter how fast I am going? Why did you pretend that you cannot catch me, instead?" Joseph asked while he huffed and puffed, as he calmed himself down and shooed his exhaustion away.
Ezreal jolted when he heard Joseph's question, but instead of replying. He merely turned his head to the side and quietly whistled as if he never heard Joseph's question in the first place.
"You... You're completely avoiding the question!" Joseph glared at him.
"What question?" Ezreal promptly replied in an innocent manner.
"Ah, nevermind! Let's go!" Joseph urged Ezreal and the two finally continued on their tracks towards the sealed door located at the deepest parts of the Maximum Security Cellblock. The stone door slowly opened once it realized the identity of those standing before it.
Rumbling sounds continuously echoed and once it fully opened. Joseph finally walked inside the sealed room where his quest objective was located. A smile appeared on his face, but it quickly diminished when he heard Ezreal's thunderous shout.
"Master, watch out!"
Joseph jolted in fear and when he turned his head to the side, a barely imperceptible ray of light flew towards him with a speed comparable to that of a lightning strike.
Without enough time to dodge, Joseph could only watch in horror as the attack grew bigger right before his eyes.
"Cradle of Nature!"
A scream rang out and a loud explosion occurred. After the explosion appeared a cloud of dust that covered everything upon its arrival.