It was mid-May, and the weather was pleasant. It was neither as hot as midsummer nor cold enough for heavy clothes.
Far from Free Port, a small boat drifted across the blue waters of the Bay.
As she had every day, every month, every year, Leila sat in the boat with a Fishing Rod in hand. She enjoyed the simplest of pleasures: anticipation and curiosity.
Through the rippling water, Leila could just make out fish swimming below. They all steered clear of the boat, except for one little fish hovering near the hook, seemingly interested in the bait.
Then a large fish, rarely seen so close to shore, swam over. It startled the little fish and caught Leila's interest.
Annan looked at the priest with the compassion of a god. People simply did not understand. They thought the Judgment Hall went around purging rivals and slaughtering the Empire's own people...
"It's precisely because you take pride in the Empire that you must be ruthless toward its people. I apologize for my earlier prejudice. If the Royal Family is the Empire's branches, then you are its roots. Without you, it could never have such flourishing leaves."
Annan was almost starting to believe his own words, and the priest was on the verge of seeing him as one of their own, when a figure holding a Human Skull suddenly appeared before them.
"Chief Judge!" The priest straightened and called out the figure's title.
"Leave him to me."
The chief judge stepped out of the shadows, Human Skull in hand. Though the mood he had worked so hard to build had been interrupted, Annan was undeterred and prepared to start again. "Your Honor, at last we meet."
The young priest retreated behind the chief judge.
Annan studied the man carefully. He was