While our comrades were helping the hostages escape from the crypt, I approached the necromancer.
"Riz, that was amazing," I said.
"Krito? Aren't you afraid?" she replied.
"Of what? A shadow so large with bony hands?"
"Well, in general, yes. A week ago, you told me that one of my kind scares people, and now I stand before you in an even more unpleasant light."
The girl sadly lowered her head. The shadow once again concealed her face, making it difficult to read her emotions.
"But today, I saw a kind girl who loves her friends very much and is willing to sacrifice a lot for them. Summoning that spirit was not an easy task, and you could have lost your life if the spirit had become angry."
"No, she wouldn't risk my life if she knew I couldn't handle the ritual," Rizel shook her head. "Although this spirit has a bad history with humans due to how her previous contractors treated her, she treats me well."
"You speak as if you know her well."
"Not that well, really. Just half a year ago, I didn't even know she existed. But as it turned out, my mother and grandmother were also contractors, so when she offered me this power, I agreed without hesitation."
"Is it useless to ask how you made the contract?" I flirtatiously glanced towards the necromancer.
"It's better not to ask; you won't like the answer. I can only say that there are various ways to enter the world of the dead."
The girl smiled mysteriously and turned away from me.
"By the way, I recently caught a glimpse of a very beautiful but elusive girl. She has such delicate skin and rosy lips that I wanted to see her entire face."
The necromancer was sitting with her back to me, but I was sure she was now redder than the purest ruby.
"Who knows, maybe she has reasons to hide," she said.
"Really? Are you sure she's not trying to capture men's attention with her mystery?"
I slowly moved closer to Rizel.
"Oh, come on, no girl would stoop to such primitive methods," Rizel twirled her staff so that the skull nudged me in the side.
"But still, I must try," I said, abruptly pulling towards her hood, but the strike in the side pushed me back. The girl didn't use her staff; she repelled me with some invisible force, just like the priest did with the shadow not long ago.
"I'm not ready for this yet, and besides," Rizel cutely put her index fingers together, "I'm shy."
"What a feminine reaction. Now I just have to do it."
I leaped at the girl, but remained suspended in the air. Rizel was holding me up with magic.
"Perhaps only for you," she said, but didn't let me finish my sentence.
"Krito, Rizel!" Katrina ran up to us. "Something is happening in front of the church. Hurry there."
Before the temple, unexpected guests awaited us: six horsemen in distinctive scarlet robes adorned with crosses on their shoulders and chests, accompanied by the mayor.
"Inquisitors?" I glanced at those gathered and immediately identified the leader. In the center sat a tall, muscular man in a robe adorned with golden ribbons, wielding a gilded staff and with short chestnut hair. "You're a little late; we've already done all the work for you."
I nudged the frightened priest forward, and he immediately tried to hide behind our backs. Evidently, he didn't want to fall into the hands of the inquisitors for judgment.
"Don't get cocky, lad," the leader of the temple knights dismounted and approached us with deliberate steps. "We haven't figured out who's to blame for this yet. So, we'll also question all of you."
"This, uh... 'priest' used dark magic to extract souls from living people. But we stopped him in time, and no one was harmed, although it seems experiments were conducted on others here too."
"We were aware of the previous incidents, but we couldn't identify the culprit, so we left the matter be. When we learned that information about that case was stolen by one of the priests, we set out to find him."
"And you weren't in a hurry at all," the despicable man, every word of his filled with disdain toward his interlocutor, and I responded accordingly.
"If you have anything to add, I can arrange an intense interrogation," the inquisitor drew his scepter from his belt and menacingly waved it in the air.
"Stop it immediately!" Katrina stepped forward. "Don't you dare threaten my people! And you, Krito, don't argue; it's their affair now."
"I apologize; I didn't notice you right away," the inquisitor put away the scepter and knelt before the princess. His behavior puzzled the mayor and the other inquisitors. "Of course, I dare not contradict your word, Princess."
Upon hearing this, the other temple knights dismounted and bowed to Katrina. The bewildered mayor also bowed, not understanding what was happening.
"Kat, if he knows you, then he must be a quite high-ranking person?" I looked at the girl, who felt awkward in such a situation.
"Yes, he's one of the leaders of the Inquisition..." The girl was interrupted by the trembling voice of the priest.
"William Warden, Chief Inquisitor for torture and execution," the priest tried to crawl away at the sight of the formidable mage, but fear paralyzed his movements.
"A real big shot indeed. So, what do you plan to do?" I addressed the inquisitor, but he turned to the princess, ignoring my question.
"Princess Katrina, if you allow, the verdict for this man was passed long ago. I ask you to hand him over to us for execution."
I leaned over Katrina.
"If they get him, they'll kill him on the spot. He's certainly a scoundrel, but no one died; a lifelong imprisonment might be sufficient, considering he doesn't have much time left."
"Krito," Katrina shook her head, "he not only used forbidden magic but also pretended to be a priest, and he used to be under the church's authority. Any judge would tell you that the church itself will decide this matter."
"But you're a princess, and you can forbid them."
"No. Even if I do that, my father will probably overturn my decision; he has never refused the church's requests before."
The inquisitors got up from their knees, and William approached the princess.
"This man and this place are under the church's control. We will also not interrogate the victims since we have no doubts about your companions' words, princess."
"What a scoundrel; if it weren't for you, he would have extracted confessions even from tortured children," I gritted my teeth, making sure only the princess could hear me, "what are you going to do?"
"We have no other choice," the princess descended to the inquisitor and stepped aside for him, "the fate of this man is in your hands."
"Then I request to clear this place."
We moved away from the church, and the inquisitors surrounded the terrified old man.
"Albert Riter, you are accused of using forbidden magic, conducting inhumane experiments, kidnapping people, attempted murder, and betraying the church's ideals. For all the sins mentioned above, you are sentenced to death. What is your final word?"
"I didn't betray the church; I wanted to use my knowledge to help people," the priest fell to his knees and begged for mercy, but it had no effect on the inquisitor.
"You pathetic coward; you only thought about prolonging your pitiful existence. This church, defiled by your pathetic experiments and all your 'research'," Viktor pronounced the last word with special disdain in his voice, "will be destroyed along with you!"
"No! This is my whole life!" The mad old man broke free from the inquisitors' encirclement and rushed towards the church's doors, but he was not destined to reach his goal.
"Rest in peace," the mage raised his scepter, and a massive burst of flame engulfed the criminal's body.
The old man writhed in pain and screamed, trying to open the door, but he no longer had the strength. His skin began to melt on his living body, accompanied by a nauseating smell, and the fire began to devour his body layer by layer. The leader of the inquisitors widened the flames, so that its stream covered the entire body of the old man, as if the victim's torment brought him particular pleasure. Following him, the other executioners took out their staffs and, encircling the church, set it on fire from all sides.
We watched from a distance as within ten minutes, the majestic building and the living person turned into piles of ashes.
"Katrina, now you sacrificed one person to save four others, and how do you feel?" The situation had reversed. Now it was my turn to comfort the princess.
"It's terrible; he didn't deserve such a death."
"But if you hadn't given your consent, these children could have been harmed. That's the law of this country."
"You're right; sometimes we have to sacrifice something," tears welled up in the princess's eyes, and not wanting to show her vulnerability, she ran away from the execution site.
On the way back, everyone remained silent, haunted by the gruesome scene of the execution. Rizel caught up with me and called from behind.
"Krito, did you just hurt Kat again?"
"No, I just told the truth."
"A truth that made the girl cry?"
"Unfortunately, that's all I have. And don't you think everything happened too hastily?"
"You mean the execution?" Her voice trembled at that sentence.
"Yes, without trial or investigation, just executing someone. Although they are inquisitors, I thought they would at least interrogate their prisoners first."
Discussing this topic didn't bring me pleasure, but I needed to talk about it with someone.
"Krito," Rizel pondered, trying to articulate her thoughts precisely, "what that priest did—extracting souls from people and infusing them into others—it does resemble necromancy, but attaching souls to lifeless objects."
"Wait a minute here," I looked around and noticed the right shade of red among the companions, "Seleria, can you stop for a moment?"
"What do you want?" The red-haired princess caught up with us and joined the conversation.
"Your country has a portal to Hell. Are you familiar with the principles of demonic magic?"
"Are you hinting at something?" She squinted suspiciously and glanced back where the figures of the inquisitors were still visible in the glow of the smoldering church.
"No, I just wanted to ask if you know how animated objects are created, maybe you have some knowledge about it?"
"Krito?" Rizel was surprised by what I said but decided to listen to Seleria.
"Well, a demonologist puts a part of their soul into the object, or particularly nasty mages put a part of other people's souls—usually their slaves'—into the object. It's very similar to your enchantments, but there you use the power of ancient dragon blood magic to create spells activated by the will of the owner, while animated objects rely on the embedded soul."
"Are you familiar with the principles of enchanting too?"
"Yes, the Red Tribe frequently trades in these items in Lirane, and I had the opportunity to compare these two phenomena."
"So, the essence is that with animated objects like golems, the mage themselves embed a part of their soul and then use it, while enchanted objects draw pure magic from the surrounding world and are activated by the will of the owner?"
"Yes, in other words, anyone, even a talentless person, can use animated objects, but there is a chance that they may lose control, whereas enchanted weapons fully unleash their potential only with strong-willed owners."
"Rizel," I turned back to the necromancer, "now, please, explain properly what you wanted to tell me before."
"Albert wasn't just trying to extract souls from the children, he wanted to create an artifact from them that would grant him immortality. And that's magic beyond necromancers' control."
"He was a demonologist?!" Seleria gasped quietly but then hushed her voice, "So, one of the priests allowed into the Holy of Holies in the capital of the Belenor's Church was a demon worshiper, and they will still claim they didn't know?"
"I'm afraid they knew about it. That's why they tried to destroy all the evidence."
"Krito, what are we going to do?"
"We can do nothing; the church's power is too strong. And we won't tell Kat about it. She won't forgive herself for the priest's death because of this."
"But hiding it from her is too cruel."
"But if she finds out, she'll definitely try to do something, and her father won't listen to her. Right now, all the real power in the country is in the hands of the inquisitors, and there's nothing we can do about it."
When we arrived at the mayor's house, Katrina was sitting in the main hall, looking out the window. The inquisitor's words had unsettled the mayor, and he decided to be the first to speak.
"Lady Katrina, forgive me if this sounds rude, but are you a princess?" The mayor's voice trembled; for such a minor official, receiving a member of the royal family was a great honor.
"Me? Well..." Katrina was afraid that after this revelation, they would treat her differently, but there was no turning back now.
"Mayor," I decided to answer for the girl, "our guild master Katrina Liliana Del'Serano is the only daughter of King Henry and the heir to the throne."
"What?!" The mayor stuttered, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know. If only-"
"Oh, and by the way, she's not the only person of royal blood here," I interrupted, patting the trembling mayor on the shoulder and pointed to Seleria, "this is Seleria Eileran, the daughter of the King of Leran."
"What?! I-"
"And also," I pointed to the dragoness who was yawning on the sidelines, "this is Ragnalia, the daughter of Ignis, the ruler of the black dragons. Although they don't have their own kingdom, ruling families exist within each tribe."
"Wha-whaaat?! Why didn't you say so right away?!" The mayor could barely stand on his feet, "I would have arranged a proper reception for you!"
"But didn't the rector tell you anything?" That had been worrying me from day one.
"No, he just said that a group of students would be doing volunteer work here and..." The mayor scrutinized our group. The cogs in his brain were working intensely as he processed all the information, "he also said that you all belong to the same guild."
After appraising everyone present, the mayor continued, "A guild that unites nobles and commoners, even princesses among its members. Ordinary students who fight terrifying monsters for the sake of the people's welfare. Although I don't see a smart, kind, and beautiful trading master among you. But you are the guild people talk about in rumors, aren't you?"
Everyone lowered their eyes in embarrassment, only Vina glared at the mayor with hostility.
"Well, in general, yes, but could you not tell anyone about it?" I asked.
"But how is that possible?! You've done so much for us, even though you didn't have to. You helped our city regain freedom, saved the children from that mage, and asked for nothing in return? How can I stay silent? We will dedicate the upcoming holiday only to you; it's the least we can do."
"That's not necessary," Katrina finally stood up and started walking towards us with deliberate steps, enunciating each word clearly, "A ruler must be strong to protect their subjects. A ruler must be brave to stand up even against stronger enemies. A ruler must be wise to bring prosperity to their country. A ruler must be just to judge all their subjects equally, making no exceptions. And a ruler must be humble, asking for nothing in return for their good deeds. From birth, rulers are granted more than others."
Katrina delivered this speech with a serious expression, showing her absolute belief in these principles.
"Those are wise words."
"Yes, my mother taught me that, and it's all I have left of her. I will always abide by these principles. We came to help you because we could. We don't demand any rewards because you didn't ask for our help," Katrina playfully smiled and gave a slight bow to the homeowner, "we're just students who came here for some work and don't deserve any special attention."
"See?" Seleria approached the mayor from behind, "Our guild master said it right; we just wanted to help you and celebrate the holiday with the city's residents."
The mayor simply smiled at the princess, who didn't care about any difference in their origins.