Ch.109109. Inquisitor (3)

Bethes, the third largest port city in the Rom Empire.

Though called a port city, this massive fishing town was essentially a giant operation dedicated to producing various seafood products for distribution throughout the Rom Empire.

From salted sardines and smoked herring—cheap protein sources for common people—to garum, a fish sauce similar to fermented fish paste that was considered the national food of the Rom Empire.

In terms of the fishing industry, it was the most prosperous city in the entire Rom Empire, where all kinds of seafood products could be obtained cheaply.

One could easily imagine the scale of this industry considering that most of the herring and sardines consumed by commoners and the poor in the Rom Empire for protein were produced and distributed from this port city of Bethes.

However, just because an industry thrives in a city doesn’t mean its residents are wealthy.

The profits from this massive fishing industry mostly went to ship owners and distributors. The fishermen and factory workers who toiled all day long barely received scraps in return.

Of course, in reality, the imperial government kept fish prices artificially low to ensure affordable food for the city, leaving little profit for anyone…

Well, even if fish prices were to normalize due to some incident, it’s unlikely that the capitalists would ever pay their workers higher wages anyway.

In any case, this exploitative industrial structure naturally created discontent among the lower classes, making public sentiment in this port city absolutely terrible.

“Excuse me… would you perhaps be interested in this?”

“…Let me see it first.”

Seizing this opportunity, the local branch of the Revenge Cult was flourishing, bolstered by this terrible public sentiment.

In truth, port cities belonging to the Rom Empire had no choice but to worship Neptune, the sea god, as their primary deity, whether they liked it or not.

Even though much of the fishing took place along the coasts of inland seas like the Mediterranean, the dangers of seafaring with the limited technology of this era could never be ignored.

Figureheads purchased from temples and placed at the bow would reduce rough seas, and blessed sails could move remarkably fast with just a little wind.

To put it bluntly, large-scale fishing operations in this ancient era would be impossible without the mysterious power of Neptune’s temples.

However, Neptune’s temple… wasn’t particularly popular.

While fishermen believed in it as a matter of course, Neptune’s faith wasn’t actually very strong outside of these business relationships.

Bethes had been devastated multiple times by tsunamis—so-called divine punishments—simply because Neptune was angered by insufficient offerings.

Even among fishermen, Neptune had a reputation for taking much but giving little in return—essentially known for being pathetically incompetent and irresponsible.

Outside of port cities or places with developed water transportation, Neptune’s faith was so unpopular it was actively avoided. The Revenge Cult, recognizing this gap, had skillfully positioned itself as an excellent alternative and was slowly taking over the role of Neptune’s temple.

While fishermen and those in the seafood industry still believed in Neptune as a business necessity, the Revenge Cult had replaced it in every other aspect of daily religious life.

Whether praying for peace during fishing expeditions, wishing happiness for the deceased, or seeking blessings in daily life—the cult had taken over.

At some point, this faith spread beyond commoners to capitalists and nobles alike. Even the governor of Bethes quietly contacted the cult to make his confession of faith.

Now Bethes had essentially become a city that could be classified as Revenge Cult territory.

Deep beneath this city lay a considerably large underground temple of Ma-Duk’s Revenge.

It was practically half-recognized by the city’s autonomous government, even paying taxes regularly—a underground temple in name only.

Nevertheless, security remained tight, and the entrance to this temple, which unauthorized persons couldn’t enter, was guarded by two sentries.

Of course, these guards protecting the underground temple were no ordinary people.

Being the fifth largest temple in the entire underground network, there was no way ordinary civilians would be guarding the entrance to such a major temple.

The two guarding the main gate were giants clad in crimson blood-red full-body armor, wielding spears and massive shields dyed the same bloody red color. They were nearly 150% the size of normal people—large enough to be considered giants.

They were soldiers of the Avenger Legion, the military arm of the Revenge Cult.

These soldiers were dispatched to Revenge Cult temples across the region according to their size to protect against threats. The Bethes temple had a total of 20 Avenger Legion members assigned to it.

A force capable of potentially facing mid-level monsters protected this place, and today these two were responsible for guarding the temple entrance during daylight hours.

Equipped with armor of a quality unimaginable to ordinary people of the ancient era and exuding a subtle presence like transcendent beings, these giants would appear like divine soldiers in the eyes of ordinary believers.

While these legion members stood guard to provide religious authority to the temple and subtly intimidate visitors…

Unlike the perception of the faithful, they too were ultimately human.

“Hey… did you hear that rumor?”

“What rumor?”

Despite having stood motionless like statues for four hours already, guarding the entrance with stern, solemn, and serious appearances, they were chatting in a tone that seemed surprisingly ordinary, even slightly frivolous—completely at odds with their imposing exterior.

“About Nechia next door, you know?”

“‘That’ Nechia? Of course. It’s so famous only a fool wouldn’t know about it.”

“Exactly.”

Nechia was a port city located west of Bethes, famous for its large trading port that had gained autonomy from the Rom Empire. It was simultaneously known as a “demonic realm” teeming with money-crazed capitalist ghosts, with highly developed financial businesses and maritime insurance.

Despite being in ancient times, the environment had been polluted for the production of trade goods—no further explanation of Nechia’s degeneracy was needed.

Anyway, bolstered by this degeneracy, Nechia also had a fairly large underground temple, and the story he was about to share was related to that.

“I heard that a Heresy Inquisitor appeared at that underground temple.”

“…What? Isn’t that just a false rumor?”

Heresy Inquisitors—special priests who were recently established according to a unilateral announcement. Their role was to find “heretics” and deliver appropriate punishment, acting as internal auditors.

However, because this news had been mixed with such outlandish rumors, most people, except perhaps high-ranking temple officials, regarded it as mere gossip…

And now a Heresy Inquisitor had appeared at Nechia’s underground temple?

Naturally, he harbored reasonable doubts about whether this was just a false rumor, but the one who brought up the story about the Heresy Inquisitor was completely serious.

“No! Someone who tried to sell temple information to all the other temples was killed—my uncle who’s stationed there told me!”

“…Really?”

Though still half-doubting, he found some credibility in those words.

His uncle was a priest in charge of the Nechia underground temple, so it was trustworthy enough, but… he also knew that his companion wasn’t the type to lie in a place like this.

“A Heresy Inquisitor… I wonder what kind of person they are.”

“Like our instructor?”

“Come on, that’s too much. There can’t be two people like our instructor.”

Just as the two were discussing the Heresy Inquisitor to pass the tedious duty hours…

“…Wait, someone’s coming.”

“…Yes, confirmed.”

The two guards fell silent and focused their attention on the approaching presence, and soon they spotted someone walking steadily toward them from the distance.

“…?!!”

The moment they got a clear look, they froze in place.

The appearance of the approaching person was shocking.

Draped in what looked like a cloak—a mysterious-colored leather coat—the figure emanated a sinister atmosphere that seemed to reek of bloodshed.

Various ominous metal pieces dangled and rattled from the coat, with chains and metal hooks wrapped around it in places, intensifying the eerie feeling.

Drrrrrrrrrrrrrrrk…

Additionally, the figure was dragging an enormous metal-like greatsword along the ground with one hand, while the other hand held something like a chain with a skull attached to the end.

Though no one had told them, they were certain.

This person must be the protagonist of the rumors they had just been discussing—the Heresy Inquisitor.

As believers in the great god of revenge and blood, they recognized it instinctively.