"What should we do, Mayor? What should we do...?"
After Jonathan Karma and his wife disappeared from the room, the factory owners stumbled over their words, asking, but Mayor Biyas had no sharp answers. However, he couldn't show any weakness, so he straightened his posture with effort.
"Who are we? We've been living in this land for over 100 years! The history of Scrap Yard has been tied with us!! We won’t just stand idly by and watch Karma Company’s outrageous actions! Never!! Let’s fight sohow! We have to endure through the fight!!"
"The paynt is due in two weeks. If we don't receive the money, it will be a problem."
"If we have to turn to the South and the Matap, it's going to be difficult in many ways."
"Haha! Why are you all like this? Not all of our other business partners have cut ties! The trade with the North and East is still strong! We can pay with the funds we receive from them!"
"But what about the furnaces? They’re cold now."
"We can rebuild them! The general iron furnaces may be shut down, but the Arcane Furnace for slting magical tals is still intact, right? We can hold on! Why are you all speaking like this?!"
Mayor Biyas raised his voice desperately, but the factory owners already knew this ga was over.
No.
Mayor Biyas knew it better than anyone.
"First, we need to gather the workers again. We’ll collect them and restart the factory. We need to resu production of magical tals first. After collecting capital, we’ll slowly rebuild the furnaces."
"Do you think the workers will co back?"
One of the factory owners’ words made Mayor Biyas clench his fist.
He would never have said such a thing under normal circumstances.
But given the situation, he had no choice but to make concessions.
"We will raise the workers’ wages. If we do that, they will co back. What will they do? Quit their jobs, leave and settle sowhere else after being used to it all their lives?"
"...Could it be?"
"Of course!"
Though he said that, Mayor Biyas felt an overwhelming sense of anxiety, almost driving him mad.
But he desperately suppressed his anxiety, trying to focus on a positive direction.
If he collapsed, everything would collapse.
"Let’s hold on! We can endure!"
At that mont, soone urgently knocked on the door again.
Mayor Biyas hated that anxious knocking sound.
The blow from the bomb Jonathan Karma had dropped just a mont ago had already been enough of a hit.
He really wanted to avoid adding more burdens here.
But reality refused to flow according to his wishes.
"Mayor Biyas!! It’s soone from the Police Departnt!! Mayor!!!"
The almost-screaming shout made Biyas have no choice but to let them in.
"Co in..."
"Mayor!!"
Before he could even finish his words, the door burst open, and a police officer rushed in, panting.
"The Inquisitors from the Black Fortress are on their way here!!"
As expected.
They had said there would be a high-intensity tax audit.
The tax audit, and the fact that so factory owners among the followers of Mammon were found... That was likely why they were coming for investigation.
But then ca Police Chief Georg’s next words.
"And the Inquisitors from the Temple of the False Gods are raiding the Police Departnt!! All the confidential docunts in the departnt are about to fall into their hands!!"
"Ah, damn it!! Really!!"
Mayor Biyas had to curse once again.
The secretive and sticky connections between the police and the factory owners.
The true nature of how they had been used like a private service company for the factory owners, not for protecting the rights of the Empire’s citizens or fighting cri—this truth was about to be exposed at the worst possible mont.
****
The Demon King’s Incarnation.
In this exceptional situation, the response from the Temple of the False Gods was blindingly fast.
Within a day, highly experienced and skilled knights and priests, selected from various denominations, were dispatched as Inquisitors to Scrap Yard.
The Black Fortress also increased the number of their Inquisitors and sent them to Scrap Yard.
The common thread between these two organizations was that they were all under Ione’s command.
And Ione was very angry at this mont.
"Auto."
"Speak, Your Highness."
"The Black Fortress will handle the factory owners' tax investigation."
"Understood."
"The Silence Order will enter the city to investigate if there is any trace of black magic or curses."
"At once, Your Highness."
"The Inquisitors from the other orders will investigate the labor theorists. You must be thorough! Find out what the truth was! Why did this situation happen? Once you investigate, report to via magical communication imdiately! Understood!!"
With most of the workers leaving and Scrap Yard being nearly empty, Ione set up the investigation headquarters right in the city center, in the plaza.
Soon, the investigation results began to co in.
From the labor theorists, there /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ were no traces of black magic or curses on anyone.
As for the workers, it would take so ti due to the large number. The area is being searched, but no traces of black magic or curses have been found yet. Everything is clean.
There were no remaining Mammon followers.
Most of them had been exposed early on by the Light Pillar of the Saint, and the Cetratus units that were imdiately deployed had dealt with most of them, cleaning up the aftermath, so it was almost a miracle that anyone remained.
And as expected, Your Highness.
The workers' living conditions are extrely poor.
Child labor was the norm, and there were many workers suffering from malnutrition.
Many reports indicate that they were continuously beaten and threatened by the police.
The justification for exterminating the labor theorists was wielded like a sword, claiming the moral high ground. There was extre exploitation and excessively low wages. If anyone protested for accountability for industrial accidents, they were imdiately imprisoned as labor theorists.
It wasn’t just a few. Your Highness, the situation is dire. Mammon had a reason for establishing himself here.
After receiving the full report, Ione could no longer hold herself back.
"Al Maday!!"
Among the Ketrautus mbers guarding her, Al Madai quickly stepped out with a disciplined expression on his face.
"Please speak, Saintess."
Ione looked at him and smiled slightly.
"I trust you had a good ti with High Priest Mirol."
At her words, Al Madai tightly shut his eyes.
A brief mont rewinds, as he descends back to Scrap Yard.
In other words, during the brief return to the capital to report to the Emperor.
At that ti, Ione returned to the White Church and showed those Ketrautus mbers, who had defied her orders on the field, what the cost of their disobedience would be.
"High Priest Mirol."
"Please speak, Saintess."
"Shall I tell you an interesting story?"
"What is it?"
"When I was commanding on the field, the Ketrautus soldiers refused to follow my orders. I guess I wasn’t trustworthy to them."
"........"
"They insisted that the Codex Prorelium should take precedence over my commands. Is that right? According to the 7th Commandnt of the Codex, it says to obey my orders without question, yet here we have a contradiction, don’t we?"
"........I will correct this, Saintess."
"No need to correct anything. It’s my fault. After all, it’s natural that they wouldn't trust a Saintess who’s been trained for less than three months and is being sent into her first real battle. How could they possibly trust ? Oh, the Chosen One of Dulaneor untrustworthy! It almost sounds like you're implying Dulaneor himself is untrustworthy, doesn’t it?"
"Forgive , Saintess. It won’t happen again."
"Yes. I believe you."
After their conversation ended, Mirol imdiately called for Al Madai.
"Al Madai."
"Yes."
"Take off your armor and stand up straight."
A brutal noise of kicking his shins and the horrifying sound of slaps echoed throughout the room of High Priest Mirol.
"Are you mocking the Saintess? Huh?"
"N-no, it’s just that! Oh, she’s soone inexperienced, having never been in combat before, so we were following the Codex Prorelium instead......."
"The Codex demands absolute obedience to Dulaneor's Chosen One! You bastard!!! If I hear one more report of the Ketrautus soldiers disobeying the Saintess' orders, I’ll throw all of you into the punishnt chamber for a year! Got it!!!"
Leaving Mirol's room, Al Madai limped back to the Ketrautus soldiers.
"Gather everyone. Oh, and tell them to co without their armor."
And then, once again, the sounds of shin-kicking and slaps echoed.
And now, presently.
"No one should be killed. Don’t just shoot or stab because you’re suspicious."
Looking at Ione’s bright smile, Al Madai took a sharp stance with his military discipline.
"Of course. I will obey the Saintess' orders without question."
"We must suppress the police in Scrap Yard."
"The police?"
"Using violence for personal gain, not law enforcent. Mass lynchings. They’ve been taking innocent citizens just because they are labor theorists, putting them into concentration camps and getting confessions through near-torture. Go and suppress them all, and confiscate their weapons."
Hearing this, the Ketrautus soldiers tensed up.
"How far can we go in using force?"
"Firearms are prohibited. Only fists and miracles. Only non-lethal force is allowed. If firearms are used, then you can use weapons. Once the suppression is complete, hand over control to the interrogation officers from the Black Fortress. They’ll be in charge of auditing the police."
"Understood."
"Al Madai."
"Yes, Saintess."
Ione smiled at him.
"Don’t kill them."
"Yes, I won’t."
"Just don’t kill them."
"......."
"These police are very bad. If they resist or get rude...... don’t kill them."
A similar smile appeared on Al Madai’s face.
"I won’t."
With that, the Ketrautus mbers, except for a few guarding Ione, scattered to the various police facilities in Scrap Yard.
They didn’t need many.
Just 2 to 3 mbers per police station were enough.
"Disarm them all and bring everything to us. This is an order from Saintess Ione, representative of His Majesty the Emperor."
Over two-ter-tall, muscular monsters.
Armor that could withstand dium machine gun fire without a scratch.
Handguns that were as powerful as cannons, and cold weapons that could probably slice through a bear with ease.
With just that one command, most police officers would obediently bring all the weapons from their stations to them.
Of course, there were so who refused to disarm peacefully.
The central police station in Scrap Yard ca out fairly aggressively.
"Stop them!! You bastards!! We have to stop them from getting in here! If the docunts inside get exposed, we’re both screwed!! Shoot them if you have to!! Do whatever it takes to stop them!! Stop them!!"
"Understood!"
The police chief desperately tried to stop the Ketrautus mbers from entering.
There were still many docunts and materials in the station that couldn’t be burned or destroyed yet.
Following the chief’s orders, the police ard themselves and blocked the entrance of the station.
They made barricades and ford human shields, trying to defend in any way they could.
However, from the Ketrautus mbers’ perspective, the police’s actions were rely child’s play.
To break through their defense, they didn’t even need to use their fists.
"This is illegal entry!!..."
"Should I shoot? Then I’ll shoot too?"
"........."
"Put it down."
Al Madai’s commanding magic was enough.
"Stop them! Stop them......"
"Stop them?"
"......."
"Move."
With one word, Al Madai disard the police and dismantled their human barrier, then easily pushed the flimsy barricade aside and headed straight to the chief’s office.
"Stop! Stop!!..."
The police chief, who was desperately giving orders to his subordinates until the end, had to remain silent the mont Al Madai entered his office.
It was because he instinctively realized that it was impossible to stop them.
"Why don’t you co with ? I’ll show you around. Police Chief."
Al Madai lightly picked up the police chief with one hand, tucked him under his arm, and began touring the inside of the station.
Al Madai’s commanding magic was absolute.
"Oh, a vault? Police Chief, open this for ."
"I-I can’t......"
"Open it."
With a single word, all the vaults and secret docunt storage units opened as if by miracle. Al Madai completed his tour of the police station in no ti.
"Thanks for the tour! Police Chief!!"
In the lobby, surrounded by disard police officers, Al Madai placed the police chief he’d been carrying on his side and patted him on the shoulder.
"It’s a pity, but we must be going now. But don’t be too sad!"
"......"
"The Black Fortress will be playing with you from now on! Ah! Looks like they’re coming! Have a good ti!!"
After waving his hand cheerfully, Al Madai left with all the Ketrautus mbers.
And in the place where he had just left.
"The Black Fortress’ Otto Delmark."
Without showing any emotion, he lit a cigarette and entered the station, accompanied by dozens of Black Fortress interrogators.
"We don’t want to go as far as using confession drugs or torture. So, we hope you cooperate with the investigation."
Otto’s voice was far more polite and calm than Al Madai’s, but it was precisely because of that that it was even more terrifying.
The police chief felt like crying.
There was nothing he could do.
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