Chapter 99: Things that never change (15)

In a remote location within the Holy City, a quiet building that would normally be deserted was now seeing a line of people, their hands bound by chains, being led inside.

Bearing various wounds and clearly having suffered greatly.

Some of them had bloodshot eyes and were muttering incomprehensible words.

The building they were struggling to enter was the Inquisition.

The stone building, made of white stone, had a respectable appearance on the outside, but the faint smell of ash emanating from within was far from inviting.

And on the third floor of that building, a man was quietly looking out the window.

His hair had turned white, showing the passage of time, and his wrinkled face was covered with scars, but his robust physique seemed to remain unchanged.

“So, have those bastards said anything?”

“We’ve been interrogating them, but…”

Malleus Maleficarum, the Grand Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom, spoke.

The young Inquisitor, who had been waiting, trailed off and averted his gaze.

Even the Inquisitors, often regarded as fanatics, would be afraid to report their lack of progress to the Grand Inquisitor.

“I understand. You may leave.”

“Yes!”

Malleus sat down in his chair and gestured for him to leave.

The young Inquisitor felt slightly puzzled but, not wanting to linger in this place, quickly left the room.

“I wish I could just wipe them all out.”

A deep sigh filled the room.

Behind him were axes and piles of scattered documents.

All of it was information about the illegal drugs and cults circulating within the Holy Kingdom, but he was uneasy because he couldn’t move rashly.

It was clear that a suspicious drug was slowly spreading among the citizens, though it hadn’t yet surfaced.

And this could not be done without the cooperation of priests with considerable authority.

He had a rough idea of which individuals were blinded by greed and increasing their wealth, but he couldn’t arrest them based on mere suspicion, and as a result, he was only stepping on the lizard’s tail.

Unlike the chaotic times of the distant past, the authority of the Inquisitors had been greatly reduced.

Even Malleus, as the Grand Inquisitor, was no exception.

“I hope the Saintess is safe…”

What worried him most was Sera, the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, whom he cherished dearly.

The highly addictive suspicious drugs and the traces of cults being discovered were undoubtedly related to the priests.

And Sera, who had visited the Holy Kingdom a few days ago, had them among the people she would have to meet.

Those who deserve the judgment of God… He wondered if he should escort Sera while she was in the Holy Kingdom, but he couldn’t just turn a blind eye to what was happening in the Holy Kingdom.

No matter what others said, Malleus was the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition, and having overcome all sorts of hardships, he had no intention of abandoning his duty.

Unless Sera herself directly pointed out the culprit.

“Are you there?”

“…”

Of course, such thoughts were only fleeting.

It was true that he was busy, but he was also concerned about that Kim Su-hyeon guy who was with Sera.

As Malleus was preparing to head to the cathedral, a knock was heard on his door.

“Why don’t you answer?

You’re probably worried about the Saintess again, or something like that.”

A man entered the room, chuckling, even though he hadn’t been told to come in.

One of the cardinals, Malleus’s old friend, and the one who had first found Sera in the orphanage, Bruno.

“…You damn old man, I thought you were dead since I hadn’t heard from you for days.”

“Hahaha, it seems God doesn’t need this old life.”

There would have been much to say on other topics, but since most of it was about Sera, Malleus retorted sharply and fell silent.

Come to think of it, Sera would often call Bruno a slippery old fox and click her tongue whenever his name came up.

Seeing him teasing him like this, he realized that she was right.

“So, how is the work going?”

“What you said was true.

We haven’t even found a tail on the cult yet, but we need to deal with this drug quickly.”

Bruno sat down in front of Malleus, slightly glancing at the dusty books and scattered documents.

The answer he expected came back to his question, as he touched the rosary hanging around his neck.

He didn’t even know the name of the cult or its purpose, but the drug was quite a famous story in the underworld.

Sera’s sermon at the cathedral… No, he had a rough idea of who the merchants selling the name of God like a speech were.

“I hope the Saintess doesn’t pick up anything…”

“…What do you think of the Saintess?”

He had already handed over all the data about the drug.

It was a topic he brought up to start a conversation, and he was planning to move on to the story about Sera soon, but he sighed when he saw Malleus already mentioning her name.

He wasn’t the old man who would prioritize the axe over words or the holy fire over evidence, as the rumors said, but he wasn’t such a pathetic old man either.

Whenever Malleus opened his mouth, he would mention Sera’s name and worry about strange things, as if he had gained a daughter in his old age.

“Aren’t you worried?

If she eats the food that the priests give her and gets addicted to drugs…”

“The Saintess isn’t a complete idiot…”

“Idiot?

How can not suspecting be a sin!”

It’s always like this.

He doesn’t know if he’s defending Sera or criticizing her in a roundabout way…

He seems serious, but it’s all just foolish worries.

Bruno smiled bitterly, thinking that he was also great for not being able to completely deny such a question.

Anyway, Sera is extraordinary even among the Saintesses.

Malleus believed that she was pure, but others saw her as no different from an idiot.

Well, that’s why some priests are embezzling donations to play with money or getting involved in illegal activities.

The Pope has been locked in his room since Diana’s corruption, and the Saintess, Sera, is an idiot.

He thought it was inevitable that high-ranking clerics would become corrupt, unless it was young people who didn’t know the truth.

“Still, the Saintess has changed a lot.

Seeing her presiding over the worship, although it’s not a sermon, I think she has the ability to capture people’s hearts.

And she seems to have grasped the situation of the cult and the drugs to some extent.”

“What do you mean?”

“Women change when they fall in love… Well, isn’t it an obvious story?”

“Love…?”

Oops, he was just trying to talk about the content of Sera’s speech.

Bruno quickly shut his mouth, not wanting to mention the fact that she had a deep relationship with the Hero.

However, Malleus was staring at him, his daughter-loving appearance gone.

Bruno thought that he was very fortunate that he was so ignorant of combat that he could not feel the killing intent.

“Tell me properly.

What did you just say?”

“Well, it seems that the Saintess is head over heels for the Hero…”

“Head over heels?

How much?”

“…”

“Oh, come on!

Why can’t you say it!”

Bruno was seriously troubled for the first time in a while, wondering whether to speak or not.

From Sera’s perspective, who was close to Malleus, introducing her lover would surely be a nerve-wracking experience.

He himself did not trust the Hero Kim Su-hyeon, but according to the reports he had received through carrier pigeons, he did not seem to be a suspicious person.

“Don’t be surprised, listen carefully.

The Saintess is old enough to make her own decisions now.”

“…Don’t tell me, already with that guy I’m going to kill?”

So he tried to be on Sera’s side as much as possible, but strangely, the right words started to come out of his mouth in front of Malleus, who looked like he was about to pick up an axe any minute.

In the end, Bruno tells everything, that Sera seems to like the Hero, in other words, the man named Kim Su-hyeon, and that they have already had a relationship.

As Malleus listened to the story, his face gradually crumpled, and soon he got up from his seat.

“I’m saying this out of concern, but if you carry such a big axe in the Holy City…”

“…Yes, I almost made the citizens anxious.”

“Maces are not allowed either…”

Malleus picked up the armor and axe hanging on the rack.

Barely stopping him from doing so, he picked up the mace this time.

Malleus had a large physique that even tall people had to look up to, and the armor and weapons he possessed were beyond common sense.

It was obvious who he was going to visit with that mace and axe, so Bruno quietly handed him the Bible.

“Well, the Hero doesn’t seem like a bad person… Take this and talk it over well.”

“Haha, why are you making such a correct judgment?

I’ll burn that damn guy well with the word of God and come back.”

“Hey, arbitrarily wielding holy fire in the Holy City is against the law!”

“Don’t worry, there was something I wanted to ask anyway…”

In the end, Malleus left the room with the Bible, which was much smaller than his body.

As he had told Bruno, he had no intention of burning Kim Su-hyeon as soon as he saw him, but there was something he needed to find out.

Considering the cases of Baek Min-joon and Diana, it was true that Kim Su-hyeon was suspicious, but considering the current situation of the Holy Kingdom, it was also true that the priests were suspicious.

Moreover, he felt a magical energy coming from the direction of the cathedral for a very short time that only he, the Grand Inquisitor, could have felt.

So he was going to investigate Sera’s surroundings one by one.

“…Kim Su-hyeon, that damn guy dared to touch the Saintess?”

Of course, he had no intention of letting Kim Su-hyeon go if he saw him.