Michaelia Verczak, a lord inquisitor affiliated with the Order. No one knows the origin of this honorary title, but she has indeed served in the Inquisition for more than four hundred years and has not been "accidentally killed" or "branded a heretic". Not to mention the real inside story, at least this superficial phenomenon is enough to prove that she does have enough ability and means to ensure that she is in her current position for a long time.

During the time when the Lionmane had just entered the Baal system, Hastings had already discovered the existence of a Inquisition cruiser during his "centralized background check". It was true that he had correctly identified the owner of the ship by his own work, but the information that flashed through his mind had not been derived at that time.

He politely raised his glass to the other, "It's a pleasure to see you again, and not at a trial against the delusional aliens, Lord Verchak Inquisitor. ”

"It's glad to hear from you again, not because you're at last on the stake, my dear little Sibylla." Inquisitor Verchak covered half of his face with a feather fan, so said.

The most sophisticated rejuvenation techniques in the entire empire could no longer hide the passage of time on her, and the folds at the corners of Inquisitor Verchak's eyes showed that she was a very smiling person—but her cold, unmistakable gaze showed that most of the smiles she displayed on a regular basis probably had no genuine ingredients.

The two judges, who were barely "colleagues", did know each other, but that was about it.

Their acquaintance dates back to before the Great Rift unfolded. At that time, Hastings was still with his mentor, but he was just a hairy boy in charge of psionic prophecy support, and at that time, Verczak, who was already a mature lord inquisitor, had a relationship with him as a "peer of Hastings' mentor" (the kind that tried to poach but was rejected by both Hastings and his mentor). A lot of things happened after that, and when Hastings picked up the knot of roses stained with the blood of his mentor, Inquisitor Verchak stood up for his legitimacy as his mentor by virtue of his honorary title.

Perhaps Inquisitor Verchak at the time wanted to use this as a breakthrough and slowly turn Hastings into part of her "network". Unfortunately, soon after that, the Great Rift opened. This sudden and dramatic change not only increased the work of each Inquisitor exponentially, but also physically divided the territory of the Empire into two halves that were difficult to communicate with each other—Hastings was in the Empire's Sacred Frontier and Vilchak was on the dark side of the Empire, and the connection between them was severed. Even if the situation has stabilized somewhat, Hastings has been recruited by the Imperial Regent to move relatively freely between the sides of the Great Rift as a member of the Psionic Council, and that little bit of affection does not allow them to spare any more energy to restore contact. Therefore, this is the first time the two of them have met after a hundred and twenty years or so.

"I've envisioned a lot of what it might be like if you and I met again, but I really didn't envision that." Inquisitor Verczak's gaze teasingly moved between Hastings and Fujimaru Rika in the distance, "How did you climb this tall branch?" ”

Inquisitor Hastings was not impressed by the fact that half a year on the Storm Boundary and the Lion's Mane had greatly improved his ability to control his emotions. He was not stirred up by this simple provocation, but replied calmly: "It's just that I hit the muzzle of the gun myself, and then my skills are not as good as others, so I am willing to gamble and lose." ”

Inquisitor Verchak let out a slightly contrived laugh. But she didn't comment on the part where Hastings "ran into the muzzle of the gun" as if it were a matter of course: "So, I really should have caught you right under my door." The Alien Court is in dire need of a good prophetic psyker like you. ”

"With all due respect, you'll need at least a few thousand ancient soldiers, Astarte." Hastings didn't even brow when he said these words to put gold on his face, "I'm not that easy to catch." ”

"It doesn't sound entirely unfeasible to me, either." If you try to find it in Deathwatch, you should be able to find at least a few of the Black Shield Monks who are eligible, but Verchak didn't really plan to do that.

She just tried to use the topic to probe the conversation: "But I guess that little girl can use much more energy than that, right?" ”

"What do you think after seeing today's ceremony?" Hastings threw the question back, "Praetorian Guards, rain of petals, lavish guard of honor, Astarte phalanx, extravagant dresses and jewels, and, most importantly, the Imperial Dream—what do you think of these?" ”

The smile on the face of Lord Verchak Judge slowly faded.

A tense silence shrouded in, but there was no flaw in Judge Hastings' demeanor. A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd farther away: because Rika Fujimaru had told a joke. On this occasion, no matter how funny a joke is, as long as it comes from her mouth, then the people around her will laugh out loud. What's more, Hastings is sure that Rika Fujimaru's sense of humor will only work the right way on the right occasion.

"It seems to me that you would be standing in a ballroom in 'this capacity', which is already a hint." After a brief silence, Verchak didn't answer Hastings' rhetorical question, but brought up another matter, "After all, the reason why you, the 'Saint Killer' and the 'Legend Smasher', would participate in social situations as a dance partner of the 'Imperial Saint', is really inquisitive. ”

"I don't know how honored I could reach your ears across the chasm." Hastings replied, without revealing a single piece of information without being rude.

As for the titles of "Saint Killer" and "Legend Smasher", they are just nicknames that have been passed on indiscriminately by those who know a little about Hastings' work. In his own opinion, he was just doing what he was supposed to do normally. He didn't like the titles, but he had to admit that the fame they brought him was useful at some point.

During the time when Hastings first became an Inquisitor, he did use his mentor's remaining team to quickly expose several disguised saints, dismantle some legends and cult beliefs caused by chaos tricks, and inevitably killed rivers of blood in the process. But he is also able to show that all of his actions along the way are legal and well-documented, and that he does not use any means that contain chaos, heresy, or even the slightest suspicion (at least that's what can be queried).

It was this part of his resume that won the eyes of the Imperial Regent and became a stepping stone for him to be promoted to the Psionic Council. But when Rika Fujimaru, the new "saint of the empire", appeared on Pameño, it was the inertia brought to him by this part of his resume that made him ...... Eventually, he was forced to board the Storm Border's pirate ship.

"If you're just wondering why 'I'm here in this capacity,' the answer is simple: I lost, so I had to obey. This is true in many ways. "But if you're wondering 'how things got like this,' I can't say." ”

"Did you really not tell me at all? Little Sibylla, she is really ruthless. There was a contrived anger in Vilchak's tone, and the appearance of this typical "social method" sent a chill down Hastings' spine.

Driven by the desire to survive in the cold, Hastings added again: "If you really want some advice, all I can say is: don't clash with her, conflict in every sense of the word." She doesn't look threatening now, just because she likes it and doesn't need to be threatening. ”

"What if she needs it?" Verchak asked, "For example, I assume that the little saint was indeed threatened in some sense by an inquisitor?" ”

"She doesn't need to. Someone else will take care of everything for her. Hastings raised his hand a little irritably, taking a sip from the wine glass that was intended to be used only as a decoration, "I was almost painted on the lintel at that time. Literally. ”

Even with more than 400 years of experience as a judge, and enough to deal with the contingencies that might arise in most social situations, Verchak was not sure for a moment whether to laugh or properly express horror and comfort.

(End of chapter)

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