The Viceroy Investigating

"The sect is called The Heralds of the End," the Prime Minister says with a deep sigh and displays several pictures on the projector screen. They all show the sect’s promotional materials used to attract new members.

"How many members do they have?" Liana asks, frowning. "Surely, not many would believe such nonsense?"

"Well," Katerina bites her lip, "we don’t know exactly, but at least thirty thousand in Europe alone."

"Thirty thousand?!" Soren widens his eyes. They had expected a few thousand, not tens of thousands.

"I don’t think it’s that surprising, all things considered," Katerina shrugs. "Right now, I’m sitting in the same room with angels who can do magic and monsters coming through dimensional rifts attack Earth."

"Does the cult revere us or fear us?" Liana asks, wanting to set the record straight from the beginning. Not that it would make that much of a difference, really, as both extremes are dangerous.

"It's more complicated than that," Bauerova shakes her head. "The evidence we have collected so far suggests they hope that if they revere you, you will save them in the end."

"Why did they murder His Majesty’s grandmother? Have you managed to learn their motive?" Solarae is curious. She has always found humans fascinating but illogical most of the time.

"The cult members we questioned knew about the murder, but unfortunately, they weren't the perpertrators. As for their motive, they knew from the media how badly Mrs Rehak had always talked about her grandson in interviews. Apparently, they wanted to get rid of her for His Majesty’s sake. Those psychos genuinely believed that they were doing him a service."

"I'm glad we're guarding His Majesty so closely," Soren says, partly relieved. "I’m afraid that if the cult saw any chance, any weakness in our defences, they would try to abduct him."

"I'm afraid you're right," Bauerova says. "You should have seen the way they were talking about His Majesty during the interrogation. Well, you'll see it, actually. I'll give you full access to the investigation."

"What about rulers of other races?" Liana asks. "Don't they revere Draconians as a whole?"

"They do," the Prime Minister nods. "Still, and sorry for being so blunt about it, but I have to say it—your Emperor is on a whole different level, both skill-wise and appearance-wise. Sure, those cultists are crazy people, but is the reasoning behind their belief really so detached from reality? I studied Celestial lore, I did my homework. You revere your Emperor as the literal embodiment of magic. It's not just a fancy title or a figure of speech for you."

Liana and Soren look at each other and their wings twitch slightly, a Celestial equivalent of feeling uneasy. They can't oppose it, because it's true.

"So, I don't think it's that surprising why other people would see your Emperor as a god incarnate under current circumstances," Bauerova concludes and passes Liana a memory card. "Here's all the data we have on the case. Try to familiarise yourself with the material. Tomorrow, I’ll arrange for you to visit the arrested cult members. You might have a much better chance of making them talk than us."

***

"I didn’t think it could be this bad," Liana laments and collapses in an armchair after reading through the files. She drops her wings on the carpet to relieve tension. "Those fanatics seriously believe that we are the harbingers of an apocalypse."

"The dark god." Soren performs an exemplary facepalm. He doesn’t know if he should be amused or horrified by what the cult members call their sovereign. "How could anyone look at our kind Emperor and come up with something this ridiculous?"

"I guess it might be terrifying how beautiful His Majesty is?" Ingri suggests, trying to understand the reasoning behind it.

"Right, we grew numb to it over time, but His Majesty's features are peculiar, to say the least," Liana massages her temples.

"The features of the embodiment of magic mixed with the Divementis androgyny created an ethereal combination," Solarae comments. "The Crown Prince's appearance astonished even us. No wonder he unnerves humans so much."

"The police suspect that the cult has its main base in Prague," Ingri reads from the latest report. "I guess it makes sense considering that Prague is the seat of the Draconian Embassy and His Majesty's residence."

"Any clues of its approximate location? Did they manage to tail any cult members back to their lair?" Soren asks, hopeful.

"I'm afraid not," Ingri finishes reading and closes the file. "They haven't been able to sniff them out yet, but hopefully—"

Suddenly, Liana gets a brilliant idea.

"Ingri, you're a genius!" She jumps up so abruptly that her wings almost knock down a vase on the table next to her.

"I... am?" Ingri tilts her head, confused.

"We could try sniffing them out! Literally!" Liana explains, her feathers shaking with excitement. "Well, not ourselves, obviously, but we could try asking Clawfangs for help."

"That might work!" Soren nods eagerly. "Ingri, could you go to the Clawfang Embassy and politely ask Rien to come here? Don't mention our names in front of others, though. We're not supposed to be here after all. Tell him that there's an emergency."

Ingri stands up and runs off. There's no time to waste. It's late afternoon already and tomorrow morning, they're going to interrogate the arrested cult members. They need all the help they can get.

"I'd better disguise myself so that I won't scare the Clawfang representative before you introduce me to him properly," Solarae says and activates her mental perception shield. Once again, she appears as a middle-aged Japanese woman instead of the Divementis chancellor.

"By the way," Solarae adds, "if you need a disguise for tomorrow, I can help you with that. I won't be able to change your race, but if it's just a matter of altering your facial features and hair and wing colour, that shouldn't be a problem."

"What about a telepathic interrogation? His Majesty tried it once," Liana recalls.

"They won't let me touch them and I need direct contact." Solarae shakes her head. "Mrs Bauerova might be the Prime Minister, but Bohemia is a democratic country bound by EU law. Letting us question the suspects is already on the verge of what's possible with the current legislation. Besides, I doubt we will be alone there."

"Is there anything else, besides providing a disguise, you can help us with?" Liana is still hopeful.

"I should be able to tell whether they are telling the truth or not," Solarae boasts. "That's not difficult for us since humans produce very distinctive telepathic signals when they're lying."

"That alone would be a great help," Soren remarks. "Gosh, that makes me think of how many times His Majesty must have caught us lying and he just didn't say anything out of politeness."

"Talk for yourself. I would never lie to His Majesty." Liana purses her lips.

"Right, you'd always known what he was capable of, so you would hide the truth instead," Soren concludes. He means it as a mere observation without any malicious intent, but it still manages to trigger Liana.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she clicks her tongue in irritation.

"W-well...," he panics a bit, because he didn't mean to sound critical. "Like that time when we first met. You didn't tell His Majesty the whole truth and it disappointed and distressed him so severely that he flew away."

"I admitted my mistake and repented for it. I learned my lesson," Liana gets visibly offended that he's even mentioning it.

"I just wanted to point out that when dealing with a telepath, it's better to omit certain things than to blatantly lie," he explains carefully. The Viceroy is a formidable opponent to reason with and he can't risk antagonising her.

"Soren is right." Solarae comes to his rescue. "The best strategy, when dealing with telepaths who can tell truth from lies, is to simply avoid speaking of it altogether. Long-distance telepathy is something we're able to do only among ourselves, or people we're attuned to. While we can catch the strongest thoughts if they leak out too much, the images usually aren't clear."

"Oh, so that's why His Majesty is able to read the thoughts of his consorts? He's attuned to them?" Liana finally gets distracted and forgets about being pissed at Soren.

"His Highness is the Crown Prince. He possesses the Royal Bloodline, so his telepathy is much stronger than mine," Solarae states. "With some training, he should be able to read anyone's thoughts clearly, even without direct touch. Choosing not to is a different matter."

"Choosing not to?" Liana narrows her eyes. She doesn't understand why anyone would give up such a strategic advantage.

"Can you imagine reading everyone's thoughts all the time, Viceroy?" Solarae points out. "We have to train our young to build mental shields from early childhood and they don't even possess the Royal gene. You have no idea how 'loud' it is for us to be among non-telepaths who don't discipline their minds. Moreover, His Highness is an empath on top of that. Telepathic overload is likely a daily issue for him."

Liana stays quiet, pondering this. Admittedly, she's been taking the telepathy of their Emperor for granted, not thinking much about what it actually means to perceive the world the way he does. She's always enjoyed the benefits without considering the toll, even though she has witnessed his severe migraines many times. She will have to reconsider certain things when she returns to her sovereign.

***

Ingri returns in just half an hour, which is quite a feat since she managed to summon the Clawfang representative without an appointment. Liana has no idea what kind of pretence Ingri came up with to snatch him, but she feels proud of her resourceful assistant.

Solarae is wearing her disguise so that she won't startle him before they have a chance to explain, but it turns out that they failed to take into account one important thing—the thing they needed Rien for in the first place. The Clawfang's keen sense of smell.

"W-what are you?!" Rien hisses and jerks back the moment he enters the room. His fur puffs up and his body stiffens into a defensive position.

Solarae looks at Liana and shrugs resignedly.

"I was afraid this wouldn’t work on Clawfangs," she sighs, though it seems she was half-expecting it. "Every race has a specific odour and I don’t smell like a human. Unfortunately, I can’t fake odours."

"Viceroy, what’s the meaning of this?" Rien is shaking in anxiety, rudely pointing his finger at Solarae. "That person might look human, but she doesn’t smell human. Moreover, care to explain what the hell you are doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Japan?"

"Sorry about that, I lied to lure you here," Ingri apologises quickly, but it's obvious that she doesn't feel guilty. Quite the contrary, in fact.

"Please, Rien, calm down, you're not in any danger," Liana says amicably. "This is Chancellor Solarae and I promise to explain everything."

Liana starts talking and Rien slowly calms down. After a few minutes, he's even willing to sit down and relax his claws. Only after Solarae properly introduces her race and powers does she deactivate the cloaking shield. Rien freezes, staring at her for several long moments before he manages to move again.

"So, there are five Draconian races in total? Who would have thought," Rien shakes his head in astonishment. "His Majesty's telepathy and facial features finally make sense, though, now that I know he's actually half-Divementis. Thank you for entrusting me with the truth, but I expect Ingri dragged me here because you need me for something."

"Yes, we returned to Prague because the police have finally made progress on the murder of His Majesty's grandmother," Liana reveals. "It was committed by a religious cult that reveres Draconians, and Celestials especially, as harbingers of an apocalypse. The police apprehended three of their members and we need your help sniffing out the rest."

"Long story short, you need my keen sense of smell," Rien scratches his nose. "I understand and I'm willing to help, of course."

"Thank you, Rien," Liana smiles, grateful. "The Prime Minister arranged the questioning for tomorrow morning at nine. The plan is that Solarae is going to cast a perception shield on me and Soren because we're not supposed to be here. She’s also going to act as our lie detector," she summarises, glancing at Solarae.

"And I’ll try to get some smell leads," Rien nods, confirming that he understands the plan. "Okay, Viceroy, let’s do this."

***

"I honestly can’t tell it’s you," the Prime Minister states, studying Liana from various angles. Only she doesn’t look like Liana. Solarae had done her mental trick and there’s a woman with short blond hair and hawk-patterned wings standing in front of her.

"It worked, then," Liana grins and looks at Soren. His appearance has also been altered. He might not be a publicly-known figure, but everybody in the Draconian Embassy knows that he's the Viceroy's bodyguard and he's supposed to be in Japan right now.

"How tiring is it to keep up three cloaking shields at once?" Katerina asks Solarae, who's back in her human disguise.

"Well, let's just say that you shouldn't rely on me in the afternoon," the Divementis chancellor says, frowning slightly as she maintains constant focus. "I expect to be treated to a cake and I'll take a long nap afterwards. Perception manipulation is costly both mentally and physically."

"Ready?" Katerina makes sure. "I told the police that I'm bringing three Draconian representatives from the embassy, along with your human assistant. I'm sorry, Li, but I'm afraid you can't take any other guards except for Soren. It would look suspicious."

"That's okay," Liana waves her hand indifferently. "Unlike our precious embodiment of magic, I'm disposable should anything go wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong," Soren grunts, pursing his lips. "And you're not disposable, Your Excellency."

Liana smiles slightly and even looks at him with a hint of fondness before she turns to Ingri.

"Our visit here is still a secret," she reminds her. "Should anyone ask who we are, tell them we have been appointed by His Majesty to assist the police. That should be enough, nobody would dare to question His Majesty's decision."

"If only it was this easy for me," the Prime Minister sighs. "Everyone always questions my decisions, even if I make them in accordance with the law and get Parliament's approval."

"You're an elected representative, not a monarch," Liana nudges her. "Anyway, let's go."

***

The official delegation from the Draconian Embassy arriving at the central Prague police station turned out to be quite a spectacle. The Prime Minister made sure their visit would stay a secret, so there was no press, fortunately, but almost all local employees were eager to catch a glimpse of them.

"Prime Minister, we were expecting you," a tall man with greying hair, wearing a suit, greets them in the reception lounge.

"Chief," Katerina nods amicably. "These are the Draconian representatives I was talking about. His Celestial Majesty has appointed them to help us with the investigation."

"You can call me Miller, I'm the detective chief inspector in charge of the case," the man introduces himself. He surprises them by shaking their hands without hesitation. "Please, follow me."

*He's solid*, Solarae quickly notes to Liana. *I checked that he has nothing against Draconians, so cooperating with him should be pleasant enough.*

Detective Miller leads them through the building and they meet more and more onlookers. Some people even leave their desks just to look at them, as if they have never seen Draconians before.

"They couldn't be more obvious," Soren says, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

"I apologise on their behalf, but we don't have any Draconian employees," Miller admits. "We tried to hire Clawfangs and the Dragonkin in the hope their presence might help us better communicate with Draconians in the city, but we weren't successful. He had a few potential candidates, but they joined battle units as soon as the Celestial Emperor announced the recruitment."

"Oh, you actually tried?" Liana is impressed. "I thought that human companies don't want Draconian workers."

"Most certainly don't, but we tried to stay open-minded. Not that it helped," Miller sighs. "I even lost three colleagues who transformed and never came back. It's a pity, because we could really use their help."

Liana almost opens her mouth, thinking for a second that she might somehow help with recruitment, but she stops herself. With the open war approaching, they will need every capable Draconian for the front lines. Very soon, helping to mitigate the tension between humans and Draconians will be the least of their concerns.

"We arrested three cult members," Miller informs them. "The person you are about to interrogate first is our primary witness, so be gentle."

"A witness?" Soren is confused. The report didn't say anything about that. But then again, they didn't have time to read everything carefully. They had to skim most parts.

"A disillusioned cult member who panicked after the murder was committed," Miller explains. "It seems she never anticipated they would actually carry it out. The cult has their own private server and they posted the pictures of the murdered victim there to boast. Unfortunately, our witness lost access the moment she expressed disagreement with the crime. She came to the police station immediately after, fearing the retribution from the cult."

"So, she's in the witness protection programme," Soren nods as he understands now why this detail was missing.

"As for the other two, our witness led us to them," Miller says. "Are you ready?" he grabs the doorknob.

When they nod, Miller opens the door to the interrogation room. A young woman in her early twenties with long blue hair sits on the chair and she's visibly nervous. Wearing a t-shirt with the logo of Draconia Online, numerous bracelets and a long shiny skirt, she doesn't look like a criminal. If anything, she looks like someone visiting a Comic-Con.

"Oh!" She widens her eyes when she notices them entering the room. Miller must have told her they would come, but she's still reacting so strongly.

Liana and Solarae sit down on chairs opposite her while Soren and Rien position themselves by the wall. Soren is here primarily as Liana's bodyguard, after all, while Rien will be trying to absorb and analyse the scents as they speak.

"My name is Elyon," Liana introduces herself with a fake name she invented on the way to the police station. "I was appointed by His Majesty to help with the investigation. Your name is Tereza Cerna, am I right? Is it okay if I call you Tereza?"

"By His Celestial Majesty himself?" The woman, Tereza, stares at Liana, her mouth open wide.

"Yes," Liana nods, studying the woman's expression. There's no doubt she deeply reveres their Emperor, which could prove both beneficial and a hindrance.

"I... I hated how His Majesty's grandmother talked about him in the media, but I would never approve of murder!" Tereza blurts out before Liana has a chance to start questioning. "I'm not an accomplice, I..." She starts sobbing.

"We believe you, Tereza," Liana nods reassuringly to calm her down. "You're not an accomplice, you're an important witness. You can help us. We need to know—"

"I only wanted to be like you!" Tereza's sobbing transforms into a hysteric cry. "I.... I only... sob... wanted... to become a... a Celestial."

Liana stares at her, dumbfounded. Solarae gently kicks her leg under the table to signal that Tereza is telling the truth, but that's not why Liana froze. She's thinking about how many people are similar to this young woman in front of her. Given their wish to become Draconians, joining a cult revering them no longer sounds so crazy.

If they made a public announcement, offering the transformation freely, she wonders how many people would sign up without a second thought. The players were changed against their will, but none of them regretted it in the end. Even Erik, the Royal Consort himself, secretly longed to become a Celestial, and is undergoing the process at this very moment.

When she learned about the cult's existence and the crime they committed, she condemned them as religious fanatics. But now, looking at Tereza, she isn't so sure. Of course, a murder is still a murder and the culprits are undoubtedly criminals, but regular members, like this young woman crying in front of her? Hardly.

"I'm not judging you, Tereza," Liana says and patiently waits for the woman to calm down a bit. "But we need to prevent dangerous people from committing more crimes in His Majesty's name. His Majesty might not have been on the best terms with his grandmother, but he never wished her any harm. His Majesty isn't some dark god, Tereza, he's actually very kind."

"I know," Tereza wipes the tears into her sleeve. "Not everybody agreed with this doctrine. Some of us are convinced that he's a god of light who's going to protect us during the apocalypse."

"The apocalypse," Liana sighs. She hates that word, but she can't entirely deny it. Not with the war against an inter-dimensional Cthulhu-like monster upon them.

"You know the truth. Tell me, please," Tereza begs. "We're not wrong, are we?"

Liana bites her lip. She doesn't want to indulge her, but she doesn't want to blatantly lie to her either.

"I wouldn't use such a loaded word," she says after a brief consideration. "The apocalypse is a biblical term with biblical implications. We're not angels, Tereza. This isn't the reckoning. The monsters coming through the rifts aren't demons, they are made of flesh and bone just as we are. Our powers, even if they might seem supernatural, can be explained scientifically."

"B-but His Majesty... you call him the embodiment of magic," Tereza opposes. "You don't treat him like the other Draconian races treat their rulers."

"That is true," Liana admits and she realises that she has to admit it even to herself. "He's indeed the embodiment of magic for us, but to be honest, there's still much we don't know. His Majesty himself claimed once that science that's simply too advanced might look like magic. I think that's the case here."

To demonstrate, Liana conjures a small flame above her palm. Tereza stares at it, mesmerised. Even Miller, until now just standing motionlessly nearby, twitches uncomfortably.

"This is no magic, Tereza," Liana sets the record straight. "We call them spells for simplification, but that term is misleading. Our bodies naturally produce energy that current human technology can't measure and our brains are more developed. We can harness this energy to manipulate matter through the power of our minds."

Tereza gulps, but it seems she's starting to understand a little.

"The more attuned one is to this energy, the more skilled the caster," Liana continues. "We call our Emperor the embodiment of magic because he's one with this energy and he can cast spells intuitively. According to our lore, we treat him as our god, yes, but I think you can see the difference now, Tereza."

She lets the woman think about it for a moment while she spreads her wings slightly, pretending to stretch and relieve soreness, since the chair isn't adjusted for Celestials. She touches Solarae, who is sitting next to her.

*Solarae, are you picking up something?* she asks, hoping Solarae will hear her. Liana realises how seamless communicating telepathically with Aefener is compared to the Divementis chancellor. Is it because he's both attuned to her and possesses the Royal Bloodline as well?

*She's thinking hard about it*, Solarae answers. *Her thoughts are frantic, so I can't make out much, but she's not a bad person. She's just a little too obsessed with becoming a Draconian. She reveres the Celestial Emperor, so try to make use of that.*

"Tereza, please," Liana speaks up again. "His Majesty would never approve of the methods and actions The Heralds of the End engage in. Help us put a stop to it."

"I don't really know much," Tereza lowers her head, her shoulders shaking as she tries to stop herself from sobbing. "My rank wasn't high enough."

"A rank?" Liana prompts, encouraging her to continue.

"We were given ranks based on our seniority, devotion, monetary contributions and willingness to act," Tereza explains. "The higher-ups are part of the inner circle, but I don't know anything about them. During the meetings, they were always using virtual avatars."

"And those two the police arrested thanks to the information you provided?" Liana asks.

"They are the same rank as me and live in Prague, so we decided to meet in real life," Tereza says and her expression mirrors guilt. "I... I really didn't want to snitch on them. They used to be my friends... or so I thought at least before they started approving of the murder. It scared me shitless when they enlisted to help in future 'deeds', as they called it, and tried to convince me to join them."

"They were arrested in a local tea room," Liana recalls what she read in the file. "Was that your usual meeting place?"

"Yes, that place is called 'Harmony' which is actually very fitting," Tereza nods. "It has a cosy atmosphere and private seating. Actually, we could often meet Draconians there. It was perfect."

"A tea room that's also popular with Draconians?" Liana raises her eyebrow, because she has never heard of such a place.

"The owner is an Earthborn," Tereza says. "It's being promoted on socials as a place where humans and Draconians can meet without prejudice."

"Have you ever heard of it?" Liana turns to Rien and Soren. It seems impossible such a place wouldn't have appeared on their radar.

When Rien and Soren shake their heads in unison, it makes Liana ponder. Someone from the embassy probably does know about its existence, but they never considered it important enough to report to the higher-ups. After all, people like Soren, Rien and Liana deal only with the most important issues.

Liana asks Tereza a few more questions, but they don't learn anything new. Solarae confirms that the woman is telling the truth and isn't hiding anything.

"Thank you, Tereza, that will be all," Liana concludes the interrogation. "You were right to come to the police. I'll make sure to tell His Majesty about your contribution."

Liana and Solarae stand up, the first interrogation now over. They will take a short break before Miller brings the other two suspects.

"Miss Elyon!" Tereza calls out to Liana desperately. "Please, I really want to become like you. I promise to be fiercely loyal to His Majesty and help you in any way I can. I know that Draconia Online is unavailable now, but... is there really no other way to transform?"

Just two weeks ago, Liana could tell her that she didn't know and she wouldn't have to lie. They do know the truth now, but that information isn't public yet. Moreover, even if Liana was willing to tell Tereza, it would just give the woman false hope. The Divementis made it clear that they won't be transforming more people.

"Who knows," Liana murmurs vaguely, leaving the interrogation room.