One hour earlier.
Many players had joined the expeditionary army and gone to Hegrande to fight the Bohemian Empire, but not all of them had.
Street-Sweeper had stayed behind, because he had a more interesting quest chain with much better rewards to work on.
Plenty of solo players had stayed behind too. Even though they could sign up, not belonging to a warband meant that, even if they joined the expeditionary army, they could only serve as ordinary soldiers for others to order around.
Many freedom-loving players were furious about that. They cursed the game designers, shouted the slogan "Solo players will never be slaves!", and remained in Votradnoi.
There were quite a few of these solo players, too-roughly four or five hundred.
And those four or five hundred people became the ideal recruiting pool for the newly appointed Inquisitor, Street-Sweeper.
To make logging in and out convenient for the players, Chris had even cleared out a barracks in Votradnoi specifically for them to occupy free of charge.
As a result, when the Inquisitor ran out of the Public Security Office to gather manpower, he had no need to scour the city. He could head straight to the players' barracks.
"Guys! Guys!"
Standing on the training ground in the middle of the barracks, Street-Sweeper rang the alarm bell beside the square and summoned all the players still inside. Then he shouted to the hundred-odd people gathered below the platform.
"Some things have happened in Votradnoi recently. A few NPCs with a death wish actually dared to challenge the authority of our beloved, great Prince Chris!"
Street-Sweeper vigorously waved the Inquisition badge in his hand. His smile was like a sunflower facing the sun, utterly radiant and completely undisguised.
"Just last night, I personally witnessed a ward chief and two