Ch.117Then the Devil Came Through the Front Door. (The End)

Kain’s question was answered by Maria throwing her leather canteen. Despite clearly putting force into the throw, it barely traveled, landing with a thud near his knees. Wondering if she was too exhausted to even speak, Kain sat down beside her.

“How’s Lily doing?”

Maria finally asked in a hoarse voice. Kain told her about Lily’s condition. She had avoided fatal injuries but needed proper treatment and rest. They needed to return to Valhalla, the headquarters of the White Blood Knights. Still, there shouldn’t be any major problems during the journey…

Kain focused on the positive aspects. He wanted to reassure Maria while also dispelling his own anxieties. It seemed to work, as Maria leaned back with a sigh of relief.

“If it weren’t for Lily, I would have died in Berta Village. Not just there either. In Emmaus too…”

Kain nodded at Maria’s murmur.

“That’s true for all three of us. If any one of us had been missing, we wouldn’t be here now.”

Maria lowered her head and laughed, her shoulders shaking. But her laughter quickly turned into a cough, then into heavy thumping coughs that shook her chest.

“No, I’m fine.” Maria stopped Kain as he hurriedly tried to stand up. But Kain couldn’t just sit there. He had seen blood on his hand when he’d grabbed her.

“Maria. A doctor…”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Your lips have turned white.”

“I told you I’m fine.” The second response came with irritation. Kain sat back down.

“…Seeing a doctor won’t help anyway. I just need some rest. It’s just fatigue. And even if I did see one, there’s nothing they could do for me. They’d just give me some tonic or something.”

“I’m not okay with this,” Kain said, staring at Maria’s bloodless lips.

“I’m not okay with it, and Lily wouldn’t be either. How can we just ignore when we can clearly see you’re struggling?”

Maria gave a weak smile at Kain’s words.

“Then help me up. I want to see Lily too.”

Maria grabbed Kain’s arm and stood up. Kain was deeply concerned about her. He knew Maria was thin for her height, but now there was absolutely no strength in her grip. She wasn’t so much holding his arm as she was hanging from it.

“Hmm. This might be a stupid question, but does that sacred fire drain your physical energy?”

Maria looked up at Kain as if he were being silly, but she still answered kindly.

“It’s more about mental strength and concentration than physical energy. It’s an extremely simplified example, but imagine having to stand still and read the same word continuously for three hours while a dog snarls and tries to bite you from the front. Apple, apple, apple, apple…”

“…I definitely couldn’t do that.”

“You think so? But you’d have to. When you believe the lives, souls, and salvation of others depend on the words from your tongue.”

Despite her coughing, Maria didn’t lose her smile.

“What choice do I have? I have to do it.”

“Because you’re a good person.”

“Bullshit.” Maria tried to pinch Kain’s arm but couldn’t even properly grip his skin and her fingers slipped. Still, Kain let out an “Ouch!” It wasn’t his body that hurt, but his heart.

Kain and Maria passed by the “bundles.” Bördem and the two priests were still squirming inside their sacks.

What should we do with them? Kain wondered.

Count Bördem had committed unforgivable sins. But that was from the perspective of someone who knew the full story. To explain how Bördem had done wrong would require touching on too many secrets.

Why the White Blood Knights were there. How it was connected to Roberta’s death, and so on.

“Can those trash be dealt with under Imperial law?” Maria seemed to be pondering the same question.

“Based on what they’ve done, yes. But the process of proving it would be too complicated. Moreover, this is the Count’s own territory. To investigate the Count’s charges, we’d need to get confessions from those priests…”

“Then we should hand them over to the Inquisition.”

Kain stopped walking. Maria asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Who would file the charges? You?”

“I would have to. Who else?”

“Wouldn’t that be too much of a burden? How would you explain how you captured these people?”

Maria rolled her eyes and frowned.

“I’ll say I received a divine revelation. I received a revelation, went to the Black Forest, and found the Count with his joints dislocated and two heretical priests lying beside him. So clearly these heretical priests must have done something to the Count’s body. Wouldn’t that work?”

Kain stared blankly at Maria.

“…Um, what?”

“Oh come on, what else can we do? An Inquisitor says she received a revelation during prayer. Worst case, I get dragged back to headquarters, and then… well, my father would handle it somehow.”

Faith, theology, and the verification of miracles were fields Kain knew nothing about. And Kain didn’t judge fields he wasn’t familiar with. So he nodded reluctantly. Maria gave a hollow laugh.

“What? You think you’re the only one who can bend the rules? I do what needs to be done too.”

Left speechless, Kain hurried back toward Lily’s tent.

* * * * *

As night fell, the carriage carrying Lily departed. Count Bördem’s carriage was luxurious and spacious, making it ideal for transporting a patient.

They quickly removed unnecessary decorations and emblems like the boar shield, replacing them with rags and luggage. This made the luxurious carriage look like it had been “sold off due to some defect.”

Lily was in such a deep sleep that she didn’t wake even when moved to the carriage. Kain and Maria didn’t take their eyes off her until the carriage door closed.

“Thank you.”

Kain expressed his gratitude to High Executioner Astrid, who was mounted on her horse. With the moon behind her, her expression was hard to make out.

“Do you know the way back?”

“I do.”

“Tell the gate sentries that you ‘came to catch rats.'”

“…Catch what?”

Maria looked back and forth between Kain and the High Executioner as if witnessing a strange exchange, but Kain simply nodded instead of answering.

“Then have a safe journey back.”

“I will. And, Inquisitor.”

Maria looked up at Astrid, suddenly addressed.

“What?”

“Next time, I expect better manners.”

With that, the High Executioner raised her fist and extended her middle finger. Before Maria could express her shock, she turned her horse around with a “hyah!” and rode away.

* * * * *

The next morning.

Kain and Maria mounted their horses. Three of Albin’s companions, “people who knew how to ride,” joined them.

“It’s a bit embarrassing, but we were all horse thieves. All three of us.”

Kain didn’t need to ask about their riding skills. Each of the three had a sack strapped to their horse. Count Bördem with all his joints dislocated, and the two priests he had kept.

Albin and his wife, holding their newborn baby, saw the group off.

“…We’ll take responsibility for those children and send them back to their homes. We’ll search through the Count’s ‘ledger’ and find something. Or we’ll find the people who brought those children here.”

Albin’s companions appeared from all directions. Each held the hand of a child they had taken from the cave. They quietly nodded to Kain. Kain stood silently, not knowing what to say.

“Well…” Albin scratched the back of his head. “I know. I know what you want to say. It’s hard to believe that thieves would return lost children to their homes.”

“Honey.”

Albin’s wife growled, but Albin shook his head.

“But, you know. I do have… some principles. No matter what, you shouldn’t take children from their homes. Fuck, that’s just… that’s just too much. Really.”

Albin’s baby opened its mouth wide and mumbled. As Albin’s wife soothed the child, it quickly fell asleep. Albin looked at his child with eyes full of happiness.

“What will you do after returning the children, Albin?”

At Kain’s question, Albin rubbed his brow. After a brief moment of consideration, his answer was cheerful.

“We’ll go back down. We came up here because we couldn’t live under Count Bördem. Now that the Count is dead… well, whoever comes next has to be better.”

“If someone worse comes, will you return to the mountains and do the same thing again?”

“No.” Albin’s answer was light. “Absolutely not. I can’t pass this life on to my child. I can’t show them this kind of existence. I’ll… try to live differently. If there’s a way to atone, I’ll do whatever it takes. Because I did commit evil deeds. Actually, wanting to return those children is part of that.”

“So you sin and atone as you please,” Maria criticized sharply. Albin hunched his shoulders.

“…I’m sorry, Sister.”

Snap.

Maria lit the sacred fire. It flickered like a candle above her finger. Then with another snap, she extinguished it.

“Part of me wants to bestow this fire on all of you. To tell you that if you don’t do good deeds, this fire will burn you.”

At the Inquisitor’s threat, the bandits—impure but naive—became frightened. Maria looked at all of them with stern eyes.

“…But I will trust you one more time. Don’t misunderstand—I haven’t absolved your sins. I don’t even know all your sins yet. You yourselves know best what sins you’ve committed.

Remember those sins for the rest of your lives. But don’t let them hold you back. Always examine why you had to sin, and don’t repeat the same mistakes. The God in heaven sees every one of your actions. On the final day, He will weigh all your foolish and righteous deeds, your good and evil actions.

Don’t casually discard your sins. Don’t go around carelessly saying, ‘I have been forgiven.’ But don’t be so trapped by sin that you close your eyes. Don’t conclude, ‘I cannot be forgiven.’

You can choose to ‘change.’ This time, I hope you choose something good.”

The people didn’t understand her words. For those who barely comprehended Sunday sermons, Maria’s words were too difficult and complex. But at the same time, they felt her words were warm.

“Um…”

Albin’s wife swallowed. She remembered threatening to slash Kain’s stomach, and Maria telling her, “Go ahead and try.”

“I’m truly sorry about what happened then. I said things I shouldn’t have. I apologize.”

“And I’m sorry for… you know, staring at you inappropriately.”

Albin apologized as well.

“I’m sorry too. I was a bit sensitive then.”

Hearing Kain’s response, Albin grinned happily. Then he searched his pockets and pulled out a money pouch.

“Oh, here. Take this back. Now that the baby is born, we won’t need to go to the big city anymore.”

Kain and Maria’s eyes met. They raised their eyebrows at each other, and finally Kain nodded.

“Use it well. Share it with people who need help.”

After thinking for a moment, Albin nodded.

“Then I’ll give it to the children. A coin for each when we find their parents.”

Kain turned his horse around. Maria and the other three riders did the same. The people of the Black Forest wished them all well.

The forest path was narrow, with branches jutting out everywhere, making it dangerous to ride quickly. Because of this, Kain’s group rode their horses at a slower pace.

“By the way,” one of Albin’s companions moved his horse forward. “I’ve never been to Pfalzburg before. Even though it’s supposedly the closest city from here.”

“We’re not going into Pfalzburg city proper, so it doesn’t matter. To be precise, we’re going to a combat monastery affiliated with the Holy Grail Knights, located on the outskirts of Pfalzburg province.”

“…That sounds complicated.”

“Simply put, it’s a place that trains priests and nuns who fight with swords. The Holy Grail Knights are a ‘knightly order’ under the Pope and the Papal See, not all of them are clergy. Just like not all knights are nobles.”

“And we’re supposed to deliver these ‘bundles’ there, right?”

“Just do that and you can return. Your payment is the horses you’re riding. Is that sufficient?”

“More than enough. Based on my long experience, these horses can be sold for quite a price.”

It was an unfunny joke from a former horse thief, but Maria laughed brightly. She needed to laugh now, because there wouldn’t be much to laugh about for a while.

The horse thief fell back. The branches overhead gradually disappeared. The path widened bit by bit, and the horses picked up speed.

The combat monastery in Pfalzburg had another function. It was also a branch of the Inquisition, which interrogated and extracted confessions from those accused of heresy.

No one knows what hideous things might be attached to wizards and witches. Therefore, only those who have been “thoroughly examined and neutralized” by regional branches are sent to the headquarters in Magdeburg for judgment.

Of course, there are political reasons too. From an outsider’s perspective who doesn’t know the truth, Count Bördem went into the forest and had all his limb joints dislocated by unknown ruffians. But if it’s reported that two “heretical priests” were found beside him, this case could be handled quite differently.

The Inquisition doesn’t discriminate between high and low. Even the Elector of Reinhardt wouldn’t dare oppose the Pope. This means Bördem’s future is already determined.

At best, the gallows. But most likely, he’ll receive the punishment reserved for those who “employed” witches and wizards. It certainly won’t be pleasant.

“Kain.”

“Yes?”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to go with Lily? Why did you choose to come with me? Lily would have wanted that too.”

“I would only be a burden to Lily there. I can’t allow that.”

“Coming with me means you’ll see some unpleasant things.”

Kain wanted to say there were things he needed to see and learn. Bördem and the Black Phoenix priests, Roberta, the Knight of the Scabbard… all these things were vaguely interconnected.

But while they were related, he didn’t know the exact causality. In other words, there was no meaningful cause and effect yet. He had some puzzle pieces but couldn’t see the complete picture. Kain murmured:

“‘See what must be seen, hear what must be heard. Say only what must be said and keep silent about everything else.'”

“What’s that?”

“Security Bureau regulations.” Kain imitated Astrid’s tone. “Got to follow the rules.”

“Don’t do that,” Maria waved her hand. “It doesn’t suit you at all, so just don’t.”

Kain burst into laughter.

It had been a long time since he’d laughed.