Rebirth and Second Chances

Chapter 71: Inspector

[Not exactly. But, Seelie and Unseelie populations did become stagnant and did begin to decline after the last great war. Since, it has been the lesser fey, those considered lesser that have fueled innovation, technologies, and population. The Seelie and Unseelie have become hind-bound. Creatures of ennui and habit.]

[I don't think you are so much a harbinger of death as an agent of change,] Caraid explained.

[In your previous world, wasn't Henry the Second able, with a simple question, to condemn a man to death and change the course of history? His question, 'Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?' demonstrated that the whims and foibles of those in power have consequences, and those who aspire to power can motivate others easily.]

[His words were like a stone cast within a pond of calm water. Ripples that spread and disturbed that calm. And those simple words led to a death that changed the political landscape for a nation.]

[If a mere King could affect so much, simply by speaking, then imagine the consequence of System's actions.]

[S-Prime has tossed its pebble into the currents of life, and is willing to reward with experience, lands, and a kingdom those that would be that ripple.]

His words may be poetic, but they did make sense. I'd never really thought about that fact. In all those games and books, I read with Systems, killing was the most expedient way to level up.

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Because they were just games, I'd never questioned the reasoning or justification behind the experience requirements. Most often quests generated simply required players to kill, and the games seemed to place little value on morality or ethics. Other intelligent characters and races could often be farmed for experience, items, and gold.

Perhaps I had glossed over this fact by subconsciously rationalizing the events. Who would put much stock in the value of computer code? And since they were NPC's generated by game mechanics, they were not real. If a quest required me to kill ten of them, what was the harm? Even if it was PVP combat and death, players wouldn't stay dead.

Respawns and no death penalties may have warped my perspective and my morality. It also may have been the reason I hadn't been bothered by the killing I'd taken part in since I'd reincarnated.

Certainly, there had been immediate reactions. Responding to the killing, the smells, and blood by vomiting and a bad dream or two. But I seemed to get over these events easily. If I was still treating this life as a game, didn't it make sense that I was treating those people I'd killed as NPCs? Trivializing their worth and questioning their reality?

If that were the case, in the real-world, governed by Game-like rules, right and wrong may be more fluid for me. The concepts of right and wrong would still matter. But the application may be situational and easily rationalized.

I couldn't and wouldn't vow to never kill again. Not if I really wanted to impact social injustices like slavery and inequalities between species. But I could work towards and hope the path I was taking was honorable and righteous. I would have to stay vigilant; it is often easy to fool oneself and allow morality and ethics to devolve. I was afraid it was already becoming too easy to rely on the sword and spell to solve my problems.

Maybe someday, someone would get a quest to change that.

"Your Highness?" Cedric said shaking my arm to get my attention and interrupting my musing and conversation with Caraid.

"Yes?" I said. "Forgive me, I was lost in thought. Did you ask something?"

"The Inspector wanted to know if you were still willing to escort Squire Leian to Duke A'Daoine's estate?"

"Do you trust her word that she didn't commit this murder, Inspector?" I wondered getting directly to the crux of the situation.

"Belief and trust? I believe and trust in facts," he replied.

"And her inability to lie without risking the Wild Hunt?" I asked.

"You know as well as I do that Seelie use words as weapons. They can shade the truth until you believe up is down and do so by never telling an outright lie," the Inspector answered.

"Squire Leian has attested to the fact that she did not commit the ritual slaying of Alys Rice. But did she hire someone? Influence someone? Did she commit torture before Alys was killed? There are nuances involved here," he opined. "things we don't understand. And until we do, I will reserve judgment as to guilt or innocence."

"This may present a problem," I said thoughtfully. "Although, I'm not sure of Leian's guilt or innocence, or her involvement in this matter, it seems suspiciously convenient. This was ill-done. Motive and opportunity were obvious. It leads me to believe that the obvious in this case, is a feint.

"With that said, I may be wrong. Squire Leian may be insightful and canny enough to make it look like she was being framed as a way to throw off suspicion. Intelligent enough to realize that we would assume and believe this to be staged to implicate her.

"I'll need a few moments to discuss this with my Vassals, I'd like to gauge how my people will react if she were to continue to accompany us and if she might be unsafe and be at risk of retaliation from those people who believe her guilty."

"Something to consider, Inspector, what I think may have been forgotten in the investigation into Alys' death is how she came to be here? She was sent ahead in a Skimmer, with a driver, and a guard. Where are they? That Skimmer and those that were tasked with escorting her why have they not been found?" Uron reminded us.