PC06B

There's something going on in the village.

Yeah, I hear it too. I'm hearing people shouting and hollering…

When we returned to the village, ship repairs completed, we were welcomed by a rather hostile standoff.

A quick count told me there were approximately twenty people assembled at the village square…

Considering its population, that was pretty much the whole village.

<Who… who's that over there?>

… Inquisitor.

I think... we've been found.

The Inquisitor, dressed in a well-kept uniform, was about the same height as Don Quixote. The sword and the lamp hanging from her waist sits in stark contrast with the more run-down, ramshackle village.

She almost looked like… a Fixer from the City.

… So, the Inquisition has discovered our village.

Did you really think that you could forever stay out of the Inquisition's gaze, citizen? That's a naive dream.

Fabius. Disappeared from the Inquisition mid-interrogation under charges of suspicion of membership within the Church of the Deep.

…….

Last known location: Salt Flat. The other Inquisitors have informed me that you have been identified next to pirates in its fringes.

From a criminal to an outlaw… What a dramatic evolution of your career.

But it ends here, now.

Every citizen here, including you, will be accompanying me to the Inquisition.

... They have never broken a single law, nor are they outlaws of any kind. They are not like me.

They've disregarded the Inquisition's authority, evaded the gaze of Iberia, and found this sodden coast to lurk in.

Tell me I'm not supposed to find that suspicious.

What are you talking about?

You can't just start arresting people left and right with a tenuous suspicion like that! ... You shouldn't!

W-we only wish to live a quiet life, ma'am!

Is that so? Then you might find yourself returning to this village one day, as long as you're telling the truth.

Which is not an option for you, Fabius.

... Mayors, was chief really... a pirate?

Well... yeah, but as far as I know, he's been out of the game for a while.

A-and even when he ran with the pirates, all he ever did was share finbeast jerky to villages...

or carry Ægirians between them.

Even if you're telling the truth, Mayors, I doubt the Inquisition will be lenient.

<... Well, what now?>

I have but one question to ask.

That 'Inquisitor'... is she following the proper legal procedures?

I don't know much about the laws of Iberia, but… Dr. Kal'tsit told us that the words of Inquisitors were pretty much the law here.

It is likely that she is following the proper legal procedures. The 'procedures' are precisely what the villagers have fled from, after all.

... Then it is decided.

Outis quietly dragged me to the side and whispered outside Mayors' earshot.

The Sinners who were right next to me seemed to have picked it up, though…

Executive Manager. We best immediately return to the ship, take command of it, and sail out on our own. It is unwise to involve ourselves in this conflict.

What!? Are you seriously suggestin' that we just let 'em arrest the villagers?

Didn't you hear what the Inquisitor said? It seems quite cut-and-dry to me - if this is just standard procedure with no local laws broken, we are in no place to involve ourselves. Our best hope is to take the ship before they impound that, too.

W-we can't do that. Even if it is standard procedure, even if they're working within the law, it's not - You stayed up to hear Mayors' story too, didn't you?

…….

You know, the N Corp. Inquisitors were working within the law too, when they came for the village. That was standard procedure, too.

If someone, anyone had stepped in then -

... I know what you went through, but I'd still rather not take a risk in an unfamiliar environment like this.

I will try my best to figure out how to sail that ship. If I cannot, then I have faith in Ishmael to quickly learn its controls.

I can't say you're wrong, but… I don't know. Neither you nor I know anything about the ocean currents here, Outis.

We can get the ship going, but I can't guarantee that we'll reach the dimensional door without any trouble.

…….

... You. Do you know anything about the sea currents in this region?

Not much, but... I know the coastal sea somewhat.

And... you can't fight the Inquisitors directly here in Iberia. Fleeing with the ship might be the better option.

Hm... what should we do, Dante?

<Yeah, I guess it's kinda awkward for us to just take the ship and go, huh...>

How about we try to talk to the Inquisitor, then?

I think we should at least try to hear them out first. Them being the Inquisitor and the chief both.

... If the discussion goes well, we might even be able to get the Inquisition's support...

Like Mister Hong Lu said, we should hear them out first... then try to convince them.

I agreed with them both. First, let's at least see what that Inquisitor has to say...

R.R.

"Rabbit's right"... she says…?

Are you certain that translation was accurate, Sinclair?

Right? There's no way Ryōshū would choose anything other than violence, right?

Tsk… Idiots, it's because the other options are pointless.

Inquisitor's seen us. We're already under suspicion.

She will doubtless try to stop us if we flee now.

So talk first, lower her guard, then attack.

<Pretty sure that's not what Amiya meant…>

<Well, if she's already onto us, then we shouldn't give her any excuse to attack us by running away.>

…….

I was wondering what you were doing there, lurking in the background…

A clock-shaped head...? Are you from the Columbian Union?

They're wearing a clock for a head due to... reasons, but they have nothing to do with the Columbian Union.

<... What's the Columbian Union?>

Tick-tock... what? Which language are they speaking?

Regardless of whether you're from Columbia or not... you're clearly not from Iberia, let alone this village.

Y-you're not wrong, but… I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding.

I'm quite certain you don't know enough about these villagers to stand between them and an Inquisitor. How long have you been staying here?

…….

Two… days?

Buddy, don't just tell her that -

Two days? Alright, enough of this chicanery. Get out of my way, outsider.

… The attempt appears to have been made on quite the… unstable ground.

Please lend us your ear for a minute, Inquisitor.

I am Amiya, leader of Rhodes Island. Yes, I am aware of Iberia's closed border situation -

I felt hope swelling within me as Amiya began with confidence, unlike Sinclair. Alas, it was short-lived…

… thanks to the Inquisitor's quick retort. I couldn't help but place my palm against my forehead at the exchange that followed.

Oh, so not only are we dealing with outsiders of dubious origin, we have illegal entry as well?

That's… We had to, because the issue demands urgency, and…

I've been briefed. Brazenly crossed the border, didn't you?

I don't know how urgent that issue could be, but I doubt it's anything more significant than the situation at hand for Iberia and its Inquisition.

The High Inquisitor is handling the Rhodes Island issue. Stay put and await the consequences while he and that chatty med doctor of yours talk it out. Do know that your treatment may depend on her negotiation skills.

As for the village chief… I understand that you have the right to arrest him,

as he is a fugitive who has fled in the middle of an interrogation, and has been sailing with the pirates.

However, it is an inhumane treatment to arrest the rest of the villagers as well.

Inhumane? This decision is well within the rights bestowed upon the Inquisition.

They've lived for years right next to that highly suspicious Ægir. The Inquisition must investigate the rest of them as well to verify whether they have committed any acts of treason against our laws.

… This isn't going anywhere, is it…

Listen. They've been surviving for years upon years by the coast without the protection of the Inquisition. And that simply cannot make sense.

Oi, I think I've heard enough from you.

Ain't it funny how you're blamin' them for what is essentially a failure of your responsibilities?

And now you roll up in here, only to go "they shouldn't be alive", "I'm arresting them all"?

What, are you sayin' these people should all be dead or something?

... I am. There's no other way to cut it - people simply shouldn't be able to survive in a place like this, not for this long.

The Inquisitor's reply only seemed to fan Heathcliff's wrath, as he lifted his bat and began striding forward...

Haah... that's it.

Lass, if you ever so much as touch the tip of a single villager's hair -

Please calm yourself, Heathcliff.

But Hong Lu stepped in between them.

Get your bloody hands off me! I've had enough of her!

Continuing to threaten her will cause something irrevocably bad to happen. I... believe you know that yourself, Heathcliff.

... What do you suggest, then? We're clearly not making any progress by trying to talk this out.

…….

Excuse me, Miss Inquisitor. What do you mean that people shouldn't be able to survive in a place like this?

I mean it literally.

Even by some miracle that they actually do survive, they should at least be suffering from endless hunger, struggling to their wits' end at the inevitability of the calamity.

But they look... too healthy.

The heck? Then shouldn't you be applauding them for managing to survive through so much hardship?

I'm an Inquisitor.

I'm not some crazy person on a power high who goes around accosting and arresting civilians of Iberia straight to the gallows, okay?

I have more than enough probable cause to take them in for interrogation - it's just that I don't have the time or the energy to explain every single one of them to you outsiders. I promise them a fair judgment, whichever way that may be, after a proper investigation.

So, stop it with this obstruction of justice.

The Inquisitor brandished her rapier threateningly, her voice shaking with frustration.

…Dante.

Without the full picture of the circumstances, Faust advises against further antagonization of a local political authority.

I agree with Faust.

I get the feeling that she isn't the kind of heartless Inquisitor that goes around indiscriminately executing innocents, like Miss Mayors told us about earlier.

I don't think she's anything like the Inquisitors of N Corp. we saw back at Calw.

They were right... we didn't have the full picture of the circumstances. Getting in the way of an Inquisitor, who was clearly a rather significant political entity in the area, was most likely a bad idea.

It isn't the Inquisitor's job to answer your questions.

Continue to obstruct me, then -

As the standoff was showing no signs of ending...

Miss Mayors?

… I can answer your questions. So, for now, let's do as the Inquisitor says.

Mayors, who had been hiding behind us ever since we returned to the village, suddenly stepped forward.

Y-yet… what of thy grandfather, and the villagers…?

It's alright. I'm sure this is happening only because the Inquisitor doesn't know.

What do you mean you'll answer the questions?

…….

About the "Profound Silence."

Mayors's response to Outis was but a single concept.

I didn't quite grasp its significance, but it seemed to surprise the Inquisitor.

That's what they call the calamity that destroyed Iberia.