Ch.33Devotion Offered by the Sword (8)

The corridor of the Inquisition was long. It seemed to stretch on forever, as if under some curse of eternal extension. Father Heinrich occasionally looked back with a tired face, seemingly checking if they were keeping up.

“This was originally one of Magdeburg’s defensive facilities. After the Order acquired it, they expanded the building to create the Inquisition.”

It sounded somewhat like an excuse. Kain was panting. Beside him, Lily was repeatedly wiping sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“This is intimidatingly long.”

Despite his complaint, Kain carefully observed the corridor and the doors they passed.

The Inquisition was six stories tall. The offices of high-ranking inquisitors seemed to be concentrated on the fourth floor. Nameplates indicating whose room was whose were attached beside the doors, and among them was Father Haspel’s name.

Twenty-fifth door on the right from the central corridor. Kain memorized it.

“We’ve arrived. It’s here.”

The door was locked. Heinrich took out a large key from the pouch at his waist and unlocked it. Fortunately, it seemed to be just an ordinary lock, not one requiring secret incantations or opening only at specific times.

The spacious room was ordinary. Bookshelves lined both walls, filled with annals, case precedents, and scrolls of doctrinal interpretations. Behind the desk was a balcony leading to the central garden.

Judging by the long table with eight chairs that seemed to be used for meetings, there appeared to be many investigators. The priest sat at his desk, while Kain and Lily pulled up chairs and sat on the opposite side.

“Let’s have some tea first.”

The priest pulled a rope hanging beside his desk. A brother entered from outside. After receiving the priest’s order, he placed fragrant teacups in front of Kain, Lily, and Heinrich. It was a beverage with honey and lemon slices.

“When I went to the Inquisition headquarters, there were many people. Are trials held frequently?”

“These days, yes,” Heinrich answered Kain’s question, setting down his teacup.

“The Inquisition is, as the name suggests, a place to judge religious disputes. In the past, it was a place to strictly interrogate heretics.

Heretics typically form large factions, and sometimes even lords fall for their deceptions. It wasn’t something that one or two priests could handle alone.

Naturally, we developed our own military strength. Also, to try so many people, we needed a large building like this.”

Heinrich sighed softly and took another sip.

“In truth, the reason the building is so unusually large and imposing is for ‘intimidation.'”

“To intimidate?”

“Yes. Heretics have solid support bases and are welcomed wherever they go. If they couldn’t make plausible, sweet temptations, they wouldn’t be heretics but just delusional madmen.

They fill the gap between their delusions and reality with bizarre logic and fanaticism. The imposing building of the Inquisition reminds them that this is not their playground.

A completely unfamiliar place. A place with no allies, filled only with adversaries dedicated to eradicating heresy. Here, heretics feel pressured to prove and defend themselves. That alone breaks half their momentum.

Of course… these days, rather than heresy trials, witch and wizard trials are more common. A sad state of affairs.”

After taking a sip of tea, Heinrich rubbed his hands together.

“By the way, thank you for earlier. A serious accident could have happened. You handle your staff quite skillfully?”

“I acted on impulse.”

“Ah.” Father Heinrich smiled as if amused.

“I could accept that you lifted his chin on impulse, but you precisely struck his Adam’s apple. Was that also on impulse?”

“It was just sticking out, begging to be hit.”

Kain shrugged, and the priest threw his head back in laughter.

“I wanted to hit him too.”

“Anyway, I was impressed. How did you make all those deductions? Honey, weren’t you amazed too?”

“Yes. Wow, I couldn’t tell if I was in a university lecture hall or a courtroom.”

Kain and Lily spent quite some time praising Heinrich’s intelligence. Though it sounded somewhat awkward to anyone listening, the priest simply smiled and shook his head.

“It wasn’t just my work, of course. Each inquisitor has investigators who assist with the investigation. They serve as bodyguards but also help with various aspects of the investigation.”

“You even have separate bodyguards? That’s unexpected.”

“Inquisitors travel frequently. Sometimes, among malicious groups, there are those who fear their plots being exposed and send assassins. These days, attacks with knives have decreased, but they’ve evolved into disguised accidents, like pushing rocks down when we’re passing below a cliff.”

Kain thought about the documents Heinrich had produced. Considering the reaction of the evil brothers at the inn, those documents must have been originals.

A person in their right mind wouldn’t leave such documents just anywhere. If Heinrich had given notice of a preliminary investigation, they might have hidden them beforehand.

He might have learned about the existence of the covenant through the Countess’s testimony. But knowing exactly where that covenant was and retrieving it was a different matter.

‘The investigators are suspiciously good.’ Kain was somewhat doubtful. Father Heinrich placed both hands on the desk.

“Anyway, you two. I heard you’re in business. Where did you say you were from?”

Kain and Lily’s eyes met. Kain nodded slightly, indicating he would speak.

“Father. I’ll be honest with you. This is important. We’ve come from the Otranto Blockade Monastery, and we bring a message from Father Haspel.”

Father Heinrich straightened his back. His lips twitched a couple of times, but he restrained himself from responding beyond raising an eyebrow and making a “hmm” sound.

“A message. From Haspel to me?”

“Yes.”

“That’s strange. I don’t have much of a relationship with him…”

A lie. Kain could tell immediately. Heinrich’s eyes wandered to the ceiling, and his hands tapped the desk with a tap-tap sound.

But Heinrich’s real intention was the pedal hidden under the desk. A subtle but heavy, sequential vibration was transmitted to Kain’s palm through his staff.

‘He must be calling his bodyguards.’

Kain placed Haspel’s torn emblem on Heinrich’s desk. He could see the priest’s lips curling inward. Heinrich picked it up as carefully as if it were a death notice.

“He told us to tell you that the matter isn’t over yet. And he tore this off for us. I heard it’s a Fifth Crusade service emblem. The crusade that rose against the Demon King… it’s the same as the one on your collar, Father Heinrich.”

“So you’re not ordinary merchants after all.”

The high inquisitor’s head tilted slightly.

“Who are you? Where are you from?”

“We’re from the Empire. My colleague and I are agents. We’re investigating the attack on the Hero.”

He revealed the exact department but not the agents’ names. Trusting Heinrich was only based on Haspel’s assessment. The details needed to be confirmed by Kain and Lily’s own eyes.

Father Heinrich seemed to read Kain’s intention. “Just a moment.” He pulled the rope beside his desk. As the door opened, the short-haired, reddish-blonde nun they had seen earlier entered. Though she appeared expressionless, her eyes were fierce.

‘What is it?’

She kept drawing Kain’s attention. He had never seen this woman before. Moreover, Kain had never been involved with nuns. Yet he kept looking at her. Like a human-shaped statue placed among people, she gave off a strange sense of discomfort and awkwardness.

‘Is it because of her hair?’

She had reddish-blonde hair similar to Heinrich’s, but with a completely different tone. If Heinrich’s was closer to bronze, the nun’s was red with a golden tinge. It’s a common color in the Empire, so nothing unusual.

“You called?”

“Tell all the high inquisitors to come to my room. The Judge too. It’s important, so ring the bell five times.”

“Understood.”

The nun left the room. Kain wondered if he was being paranoid. It was because of her footsteps.

Her steps were stable, and her posture was correct, but there was an inexplicable smoothness. An excessive smoothness and naturalness.

Even dancers walk differently when going to the market versus when on stage.

After the bell rang five times and a short wait, people wearing red inquisitor robes entered the room. There were both men and women, but all appeared elderly. Judge Malachia, rubbing his sleepy eyes, was also present.

“Brother Heinrich. What’s the matter?”

“It’s important.”

“Important enough to bring chairs and sit down?”

“Yes.”

“And I thought I might get some sleep.” The judge grumbled.

Guards and investigators brought chairs. About twenty inquisitors took their seats. Kain stood up.

“Greetings, everyone. My colleague and I have come a long way from the capital. For security reasons, I apologize that we cannot reveal our exact names and affiliations. However, I want to make it clear that we are ‘agents,’ that we work for the Empire and the Imperial Family, and that we are coming from the Otranto Blockade Monastery.”

The inquisitors didn’t make much noise. They expressed their surprise by clenching their fists, pinching their thighs tightly, or averting their gaze. Judge Malachia seemed fully awake now.

“We’ll listen for now.”

Kain briefly and concisely talked about what had happened at the monastery. Lily also briefly explained what she had investigated.

But both deliberately omitted the miserable end of the Mercy Knights’ apprentice knight and the strange dragon made of merged corpses.

They also didn’t mention what Haspel had left like a last will about the Knight of Chastity, nor the message they had delivered to Father Heinrich.

Having delivered it to the person concerned, telling others was unnecessary. Instead, they only showed his emblem.

“Father Haspel told us to use this as a token. I show it to you all.”

The inquisitors passed around the token and examined it. Those who had crusade service emblems compared it with their own. Those who didn’t concluded that “while they couldn’t confirm it was Haspel’s, it was definitely a service emblem.”

Judge Malachia answered on behalf of the inquisitors.

“Thank you for your brief yet detailed explanation. But if I understand correctly, you haven’t told us everything. Am I right?”

“That’s correct.”

“It seems some very important parts are missing. I’m curious why you’re not telling us.”

“We are investigating this matter. But what we know is limited to information collected by the Empire and what we’ve discovered with our narrow perspective. We don’t know what the Order hasn’t told or explained to the Empire.”

The meaning was clear: ‘If you want to hear more from me, you need to share your information too.’ Wry smiles appeared on the inquisitors’ faces. Malachia also smiled as if amused.

“I apologize. Given the sensitive nature of the matter, we too must approach it cautiously. So, first, we need to confirm that you really did come from the Otranto Blockade Monastery. A tedious procedure, but necessary.

We’ve been anxious because we haven’t heard from Haspel, wondering if something had happened. So we contacted the Mercy Knights, but they replied they hadn’t received any communication either.

We immediately dispatched a follow-up investigation team. Calculating the time, it would have been after you agents left the place. We must have crossed paths.

But there, apart from the destroyed monastery, Mercy Knights’ equipment, and monks’ clothing, there was no trace of people. Except for one thing.

If you really came from there, if your explanation that you saw the monastery being destroyed and explored the entire grounds is correct, you should be able to answer about that too. What was it?”

“In the monastery’s mortuary, there would have been a Mercy Knights’ apprentice knight lying as if asleep in a stone coffin. There was a clear knife wound on his neck, he hadn’t been dead long, but the scar wasn’t very large.”

“Why did he end up like that?”

“That apprentice knight knew how to use miracles. In his final moment, at the very instant his neck was pierced by a sword, he healed his own wound with his hand. My colleague and I placed him in the coffin. Is this explanation sufficient?”

“Who stabbed him with a sword?”

Kain didn’t beat around the bush.

“I did. He was ‘possessed’ by a dark shadow and tried to kill me and my colleague.”

The smile disappeared from Judge Malachia’s face.