Having killed a person for the first time, trauma would stay by Arnold's side for a long time.
At any rate, Arnold changed his plan of personally contacting the clergy.
He carefully reviewed his old plan and clicked his tongue.
'Until I get a class that can hide my alignment, things will be troublesome.'
Arnold suddenly thought of something and grinned.
'Many merchants have caused hundreds and thousands of deaths with their selfish decisions and deals. How are those bastards surviving?'
Arnold concluded that Merchant Class Holders had a way to fake their alignment.
'Well, probably not at lvl 1.'
In other words, he couldn't head to the Cathedral for now. Rosalind wasn't directly responsible for Trent Baker's death, but she was an accomplice. Arnold guessed that her alignment had fallen to Neutral.
While a Neutral alignment wasn't enough to be arrested, it wasn't looked upon favorably by the clergy either.
'It is best to wait for the Cathedral to send their men to us instead. It will also arouse less suspicion.'
Arnold changed his plan and decided to leave the shop for a few days so that he wouldn't be found by the clergy.
He sighed at the thought of having to live in poverty again.
Why was he going through all this trouble? Wasn't it precisely to level up his Merchant Class and live comfortably?
Back when he was studying under his father, Arnold would spend his time thinking about his options as an apprentice Merchant.
Normal apprentice merchants would follow more experienced seniors around for years, accumulating experience and gaining insight into economy, currency exchange, supply and demand, and so on. Only then would they slowly branch off, either by starting their own trading caravan or, for the lucky ones, opening a small stand or shop.
Of course, those were limited to small cities and towns. Which small-time merchant could open a shop in Porto, the continent's center of trade?
Even his father, who had decades of experience, political connections and sizable funds, couldn't easily do it.
…
Sirius Vitalis was well aware of this. He had gone as far as defaming his niece, all for the sake of that shop.
Restoring its reputation later wouldn't be easy, but that was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
Sirius hummed a melody as he opened business and checked his flowers.
"Soon, it will be mine. Give me a few years, and I'll have a monopoly on Trafalgar Street's flower business! Popopo, Popopopo!"
BANG!
The chubby, middle aged man was immersed in his delusions when his door was suddenly knocked down.
"H-Hyiii!"
Startled, he scurried to hide behind the counter and looked nervously at the intruders. There were four masked men standing by his broken door, looking vigilant.
Sirius then noticed the golden hammer symbol on their white robes, and his soul almost left his body right there and then.
"W-w-what business does my humble shop owe to the h-honored Inquisition?"
Sirius spoke in the most respectful tone of his life, sweat coming down his forehead like the flood. The fat man was even ready to bend down and part his buttcheeks.
Thankfully, the world was spared that sight as the masked man in the lead spoke.
"You must be Sirius Vitalis. This shop was reported under suspicions of using Corpse Fertilization. Cooperate with our investigation, or die."
Sirius' heart fell to his stomach. He had a very, very bad feeling about this.
He could only try to smile and rub his hands ingratiatingly.
"Sir Inquisitor must be mistaken, the one rumored to use Corpse Fertilization is the shop on the other side of the street–"
The masked man stomped on the wooden floor, destroying it and frightening Sirius into silence.
"The Inquisition is never mistaken. That shop had already been investigated and proven innocent. They suspected you instead, so we've come to check. This won't take long."
The fat man's forehead creased into a canyon and he gritted his teeth in hatred.
'Rosalind, you little slut!'
The masked Inquisitors were impatient to go back as they swiftly and violently combed through his shop. Sirius wanted to cry as goods and decorations worth hundreds of gold coins were destroyed.
Their leader asked to see Sirius' System.
[Sirius Vitalis
Level 0
Alignment : Lawful Neutral]
The leader scoffed at his alignment but didn't make a big deal out of it.
Soon, the others were done, and Rosalind's uncle had lost precious items worth a few years of income. But this was only considered an appetizer.
One of the Inquisitors opened the door to the flower garden and looked around.
…
It looked like a normal garden. Different types of flowers looked full of vitality, attesting to the skill of the shop owner.
Sirius was puzzled that his flowers were looking even more beautiful than usual, but he couldn't be bothered with that right now.
"You're almost as skilled as your father, old man Vitalis, was. It's a shame his Class Holder legacy came to an end with him."
The leader of this Inquisition team said.
Sirius bowed gratefully, fists clenched. He had always taken great pride in his skills, and he resented fate for not giving him a Class.
The rest of the Inquisition team didn't care about Sirius' efforts. One by one, the masked men stomped on the valuable flowers, as if taking pleasure in the destruction they were causing. This went on for a few minutes.
But just as Sirius was feeling relieved, the leader stopped. He scooped some soil and smelled it.
"... It reeks of blood. Dig around here."
Shovels were produced from thin air as the Inquisitors started digging.
By this time, Sirius was panicking too much to notice the use of the legendary spacial artifacts.
…
A dead man's body was found.
The Inquisitors stopped digging in fear while their leader solemnly looked at Sirius.
The latter collapsed on his butt.
"I-I'm innocent! I didn't know about this, I swear to the Gods!"
"That is not for me to judge. You will be taken back to the Cathedral."
Of course, it was left unsaid that they would torture him until he wished for death.
Sirius felt the world around him spin and couldn't understand what went wrong.
In the first place, he had falsely accused his niece of having corpse fertilizer on a whim. So why did they find the damn thing in his garden instead?
What logic was this?!
"P-please spare me...!"
As the crying Sirius was taken away, the leader started thinking. Sirius Vitalis may or may not be guilty, but he had a bad feeling about this.
"There is more to this matter than meets the eye."
…
Meanwhile, a hooded Rosalind stood a distance away from her uncle's shop. She stared in a daze as her uncle Sirius was dragged away in tears and snot.
…
"Come here little Rose, I have a present for you, it's called chocolate, and it's made in the beautiful, far away New World! It's very yummy, you know?"
"Hehe, thank you uncwe! I wove you!"
…
"Boo! Daddy left me for a business trip again! Boo!"
"Popopo. Alright, alright, let Uncle read you a story. A long, long time ago, there were two siblings, Hansel and Gretel…"
…
Countless scenes from the past flashed in Rosalind's eyes, and she finally fell to the floor in tears.
"Uncle…!"
Arnold, who stood next to her, put a hand on her shoulder and closed his eyes in guilt.
… after all, Sirius wasn't the one who killed Rose's father.