“Please, I will do anything for you! Just please spare my daughter!”

  The cry of an old lady echoed through the cabin. This cabin was everything for her and her family, her own house where she could spend her remaining life living in peace. Tears streaming from her blurry blue eyes that witness the destruction of everything she had worked for. However, no matter how heavy the loss of her resident was, it was nothing compared to what she witnessed.

  “Spare your child? Are you right in the head? Ceases that nonsense. You should know better the consequence of your action the moment you choose to desert the Kingdom in the middle of ongoing war. ”

  Standing in the front of the old lady were two men wearing plate armor with the iconic earth shield symbol, the Kingdom seal, on their shoulder. One of them was bald but had an intimidating presence through his enormous size, he put the sharp edge of his battleaxe just a bit above the old lady while replying to her pitiful answer. The other one in contrast had a smaller body but even an amateur could tell that the other man with abyss like black hair who brought a long slender sword on his side was the more dangerous person.

  “Clind how many times must I tell you that intimidation tactics are useless outside of the book?”

  Clind along with the old lady shivered for a moment as the cold sound of the black haired man was registered by their ears. Even though he was not in any danger, Clind was the one shaking the most. His voice became jumbled.

  “B-but Forte, the Duke said to do this by the book since our action today will be featured in the evening pamphlet.”

  “There aren’t any eyewitnesses here, we can always manufacture a story of our own, one that matches the public test. Move away now, I will show you how to work more efficiently.”

  Forte pushed Clind aside, Clind frowned from the treatment but he was too fearful to hurl a protest. Forte squatted as low as possible, his head just a few inches above the paralyzed old lady, their eyes were looking at each other. Nodding as if having a confirmation, Forte held both of his hands toward the old lady, both hands made a knuckle.

  “I will open both of my hands in 5 seconds but if you choose one of them then I will only open the one you pointed at. Is that clear?”

  The old lady was dumbfounded, she didn’t know what answer was appropriate.

  “I will take that as confirmation that you understand. Now think of my left hand as everything you have, your husband, your magic essence, your assets. Now look at my right hand, think of it as your child. Unlike my friend Clind there, I’m not that barbaric so I will give you mercy. You said before that you will do anything right? I will put your resolve to the test. 5”

  “I can understand if you want to kill me but my husband too!? Even if my daughter survives, she won’t live happily without father figure!”

  “4.”

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “Please can you change the term!? you can even engrave a slave mark on me and put me on the frontline until my death!”

  “3.”

  “I see so there is nothing I can do to change your mind.”

  “2.”

  “That’s it. Just keep counting.”

  The old lady was taking something out of her handbag. It was a weapon instrument from another world, its size was no more than a big dagger but the old lady was confident with it as she pointed the weapon at Forte.

  “If you want to disturb my life then die!”

  Her index finger was pressed near the handle area of the weapon. A deafening sound that was comparable to mandrake scream came out as the weapon was used. A projectile flung at the speed of sound that could penetrate the human body travelled on a path to the temple of Forte’s head.

  “1”

  Clind could barely react as the projectile travelled toward the death of his comrade. However, Forte calmly took out the slender sword inside the sheath on his side. His move was fast, faster than even the projectile. He could easily dodge it but he decided to slice the projectile in half, shattering the last hope of the old lady.

  “Are you okay Forte!? That old wrench just used an artifact!”

  “I’m fine so please don’t interrupt. Now more importantly 5 seconds have passed. Are you satisfied with your actions just now?”

  “H-how! Humans are not supposed to be able to react to the gun! How could you do that!?”

  “I see so that’s your last word. If I have to answer you then it's because I’m strong, there is nothing more to it.”

  With that, Forte swung his sword down then to the side then diagonally twice from the left side then from the right side. In 1 second he repeated that action of his many times until the human in front of him was turned into a bloody bit of flesh dices.

  “Great. Our valuable asset just died. Now what do you suggest we do? Should we track her daughter and husband then kill both of them too?”

  “First search all valuable letters and documents in this cabin, all of it now belongs to the kingdom. As for her family, it’s fine if you want to kill her husband but I must refrain you from killing her daughter.”

  “Didn’t that old woman refuse to give you an answer until the last second? Don’t tell me you’ve gone soft.”

  “Indeed she didn’t say anything but she gave an answer back then. I approved of her resolve to fight until the very end and I deflected that projectile of her with my right hand so I will count it as if she was choosing the right hand.”

  “One moment you do not follow the book, one moment you choose to honor your own rule. I will never understand your brand of chivalry. Still doesn’t explain why you said my intimidation tactic is useless when you are literally playing a game.”

  “Sorry but I already knew where her daughter was back then through my hearing, I detected a hollow wall behind the bookcase through echo of her crying sounds.”

  “Should have told me that earlier! Now I look like a fool.”

  “Well, I will leave the report to you so write whatever you want. Also you can track the husband alone and give the artifact to the King, I’m not interested in formality and pointless investigation.”

  “We’ve been partners for years but I still don’t understand you. Refusing fame? That is indeed an idea I’ve never understood. So I take it you will give the daughter to the orphanage?”

  “No. I will raise her as my own so that she will one day be a formidable weapon of the Kingdom.”

  “Another crazy idea of yours, at this point I’m not even surprised. But, you must not forget about the law.”

  “I understand. If she inherits the unique property of Heaven’s Reject then I will kill her myself.”

  This was beyond what Clind understood about morality. He always viewed Heaven’s Reject as no more than an animal and so his conscience was not tainted but to raise potentially one of them as family then kill them? That idea of his partner was the result of his undying loyalty to the kingdom, proof of why Forte Spadam was known as the strongest Inquisitor.

  The Inquisitor, elite of the elites, was formed of the strongest knights from various divisions. In public eyes their very existence was proof of the kingdom's security, proof that nothing could disturbed the stability of everyday life. However, outside of the public eyes, the Inquisitor had another name “Heaven Blessed Hunter". They had the duty of making sure none of Heaven's Rejects ever breach the law.