Demon Hunters

The Inquisitor I

"Please, don't do this! I'm carrying incredibly precious cargo!"

"I am aware. Unfortunately, I simply cannot let you go. I found a suspicious amulet in your possession, so you will need to be interrogated."

"It is just an heirloom passed down to me. It has nothing to do with any manner of heresy, I swear!"

The inquisitor glanced down at the amulet, fashioned from bones. It was fairly clear that this was not something the church would sanction in any way. He sighed. It was late afternoon, and the sun was beaming down on the road the men stood on. The inquisitor in charge of the interrogation, a tall man with brown hair and a well-groomed moustache by the name of Lucas, could feel beads of sweat streaming down his body. Though they were far up north, the midsummer's warmth had proven formidable.

"The amulet is not the only suspicious thing... Normally, a delivery like this is guarded by a convoy of armed men, yet here you are, all alone," Lucas said.

He glanced at the wagon the man in front of him had arrived on. On the surface, it did not look out of place – just a normal horse-drawn carriage transporting vegetables to who knows where. However, the discovery of the amulet had spurred a further examination and it soon became clear that the seemingly mundane cargo was only a diversion. Hidden behind them the inquisitors had found a small chest, filled to the brim with golden trinkets.

"We're but a poor village, sir. We cannot afford such a luxury," the owner of the cart said, shaking his head.

"A poor man with a chest full of gold? Don't think I've heard of your kind before."

The man's shoulders slumped. His expression became melancholic.

"The gold's not ours – not anymore. You see, I happened upon an old grave of some sort by accident. Now, this was not a normal one, the kind we use, but rather a burial mound from a long time ago. I got curious and made a little hole to peek inside. The first thing I saw was the glimmering of gold! I dug the hole larger and entered the tomb itself, only to find that it was filled with different kinds of gold objects. After I realized what I had discovered, I rushed back to the village and let everyone know. The townspeople were overjoyed – now we wouldn't have to face any financial woes anymore!"

Lucas nodded, sensing where the story was going.

"I guess someone wasn't in agreement about how the gold should be used, then?"

The man nodded and spat on the ground.

"Our local priest. He tipped off someone higher up, perhaps hoping to get a cut of the gold and, well... Apparently, this is heretic gold, and can only be handled by the church. I'm to deliver the gold to a local bishop, lest he erase our village under some for harbouring heretical items... bastard!"

For a fleeting moment, the man's anger had overcome his fear. However, he soon realized that he was, in fact, speaking with a member of the church. He looked at Lucas with frightened eyes, but Lucas didn't care - he was far too jaded to be insulted by such trivial words. If anything, the man's story was all too common. The fact that this gold was being transported unguarded also supported the credibility of the tale, as whoever had demanded the gold had most likely done so in secrecy, not wanting to share the spoils with anyone else. Lucas let out an exasperated sigh and beckoned one of his men to him.

"Klaus. This gold apparently belongs to a man of the cloth, believe it or not. Escort this man to his destination. Then see to it that the existence of the trinkets is well-documented, and that every relevant authority is notified," he said.

Klaus looked at his commander with a tired expression.

"Are you sure you want to escalate this? It's situations exactly like this that have seen you sent here, to the ends of the earth..."