Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 431 Investigation and punishment

”Give me your account of what happened two days ago,” the Major General said with an even voice.

It was already clear to him that Kyle hadnʼt done anything wrong.

This didnʼt even need a real investigation.

First of all, battles of such a level were not subtle or quiet.

There were explosions, huge people, beasts, golems, and so on.

As long as it didnʼt happen far away from civilization, there were bound to be countless witnesses.

The Major General would just ask the local Count if there was a big battle here, and he would get his answer.

Second, these five people were not even supposed to be here. The Colonel didnʼt write down or say anything about coming to the peninsula.

Third, all five must have been working together. Three of the five people were from outside the army, and getting people from outside the army to help the army was a lot of paperwork that involved processes and rules.

The three people had been informed that they would be going to the central frontlines.

If the Colonel suddenly moved to the peninsula, they would have noticed that something was up and would have stopped him.

The Colonel couldnʼt have forced them to follow him without questions.

That would work with weaker people who didnʼt know how the army operated, but these three people were all important leaders with decades and even centuries of political experience.

Five people, who had gone to a place they shouldnʼt have gone to, had died on someoneʼs private property with countless witnesses present.

This case couldnʼt be any clearer.

Nevertheless, the Major General had to take down a statement.

”You mean the big fight, right?” Kyle asked.

”I assume there was one,” the Major General said. ”Do you know the identities of the people you have killed?”

”One of them,” Kyle said. ”Maester Lillian.”

”What about the other four? Can you make any guesses?” the Major General asked.

”There were two archers,” Kyle said. ”From the arrows, I felt Lightning, Fire, and Earth Ether. The Ether felt pretty thick, which makes me think that they are either Mid or Late Royal Knights.”

”Colonel Garillean,” the Major General said, ”Late Royal Knight.”

”Lieutenant Colonel Harverd. Mid Royal Knight. What happened to them?”

”I smashed the one with the Lightning Ether,” Kyle said. ”The other one ran like a bitch.”

”What happened to Colonel Garillean?” the Major General asked.

”The two birds flew after him,” Kyle said, gesturing to the birds. ”Since the two of them are back, I would assume that they killed him.”

The Major General nodded. ”Why did they fly after him?”

”I used my Momentum and told them to,” Kyle said.

The Major General nodded once again. ”Maester Lillian died earlier?”

”She and that Artificer died at the same time,” Kyle said, pointing at the big crater near the forest. ”Right there.”

”Vice-Dean Meragin of the Royal Artificer Academy,” the Major General said.

”I guess,” Kyle said with a shrug. ”I didnʼt know the guy. He just went pop. I only know that he used a bunch of worm or snake golems.”

”What happened to the golems?” the Major General asked.

”Maester Lillianʼs Earth Elementals ate them,” Kyle said.

The Major General nodded again.

”What about Guild Leader Janlinar?” he asked.

”That was that Shouter with the big shield, right?” Kyle asked.

”He was a Shouter, and he had a sizable shield. He was supposed to guard the frontline during our mission today,” the Major General said.

”Oh, whoops. Sorry,” Kyle said with an embarrassed smile as he scratched the back of his head.

”You did nothing wrong from what I have seen so far. Just answer the question,” the Major General said calmly.

”Oh yeah, right. I smashed him with my hammer. He was the first who died,” Kyle said.

The Major General nodded again before recreating the fight verbally and asking for confirmation.

”Yep, thatʼs about how it happened,” Kyle said.

”Then, that answers all my questions. Thank you for your cooperation,” the Major General said.

”Hey, I got a question of my own,” Kyle said.

”Yes?”

”The Grandmaster and at least one of the Royal Knights had this weird amulet that created a shield of Skysand around them. Iʼve never seen that before. Whatʼs that?” Kyle asked.

”King Skysandʼs protection,” the Major General said. ”Itʼs a one-time-use artifact that is awarded for exemplary services to the Skysand Kingdom. A part of the Kingʼs power is in the amulets. They activate when the amulet believes that the owner is in danger of losing their life.”

”Cool, where do I get one of those?” Kyle asked.

”5,000 Skysand Contribution Points of the Third Realm. Alternatively, you might directly be awarded one by a military officer of the major general rank or higher,” the Major General answered.

”Ah, okay,” Kyle said. ”Good to know.”

After some formalities, the Major General left and talked a bit with the Count and a couple of locals to confirm Kyleʼs story.

Everything checked out, and the Major General returned to the army less than an hour later.

He made his report to the General, who just narrowed his eyes.

The General told King Skysand what had happened, and King Skysand quickly made a couple of judgments.

Maester Lillian was one of the three Maesters of the Beast Master Association.

One of them had died just a couple of years ago and was replaced, but now, they had to appoint another new Maester.

Since Maester Lillian had such an important role, the Beast Master Association was punished.

20 Beast Masters had to dedicate themselves to the army for five years. Alternatively, a fine of 25 Ether Crystals could be paid.

Since the Beast Master Association was a relatively loose organization and since missions were not assigned but voluntarily undertaken, the Beast Master Association didnʼt get enough volunteers.

So, they were forced to pay the fine, which hurt a lot.

The Shore Shells were also punished, and their leadership was conscripted for the next five years. Additionally, since that wasnʼt even the first significant incident involving corruption, the Shore Shells were thoroughly investigated.

Investigators crawled up their proverbial asses and came out of their mouths.

The multitude of corrupt incidents that were uncovered as a result made the King decide to dissolve the Shore Shells and confiscate their business resources.

As for the Royal Artificer Academy…

They just needed to teach more students and send more students to the army.

Naturally, the Royal Artificer Academy usually didnʼt want too many students since they were the ones who had to pay for all the teaching material.

Additionally, the Royal Artificer Academy also didnʼt force its students to join the army.

But that didnʼt matter.

Somehow, they were supposed to raise more students and somehow convince them to join the army.

Of course, this all boiled down to one thing.

They needed to pay the students a lot of money.

This would hurt their profits significantly for the next decades.

While all of this was going on, Kyle only received a single letter.

In fancy speak, the letter basically just said one thing.

”You have been cleared of all wrongdoings.”

tg://resolv?domain=StrongestHammerGod

The authorʼs patreon. If he gets more than 1000€ per month, he will increase the number of words in the chapter.