Ch.56Report on the Downfall of Humility (4)

The crowd on the road had grown larger.

Lily, who had been walking ahead, was pushed away by the crowd and drifted off in the distance. Still, Kain wasn’t worried about getting separated. Lily was taller than most people, making her easy to spot, and they could simply meet again at their destination.

What bothered him more was how he kept bumping into Maria. It wasn’t embarrassment that concerned him, but rather the worry that he might accidentally get stabbed by some hidden weapon concealed somewhere on her body.

Maria herself didn’t seem bothered at all. She even nudged Kain’s side with her elbow.

“Surprising? I thought you’d say something different. Something like, ‘We have urgent business. Let’s leave this matter to others!'”

“We didn’t have a better alternative.”

“Really? Leaving the city might not have been a better idea, but it certainly would have been less troublesome. Surely you don’t believe that ‘only you can solve all the Empire’s problems, everything must pass through your hands,’ do you?”

Kain looked down at Maria. She was looking up at him with eyes full of expectation.

“Maria. What are you trying to say?”

“Your priorities. I don’t understand them.” Maria jumped slightly in place. Perhaps because she couldn’t see Lily, she jumped two, three more times.

“That pretty girl is your first priority. If you had to choose between work and her, you’d choose her. As for me, I prefer to clear away all dangerous things first. Safety first, you might say. And among those dangerous things, you’re included.”

“Am I that threatening?” Kain raised both arms. “Why? Am I going to hide and club you on the forehead?”

“No. You’re threatening because you’re different on the outside than on the inside. I like honest people. Not in the sense of being good or virtuous, but in the sense that if they’re rotten inside, they act rotten outside, and if they’re lustful inside, they act lustful outside. ‘Honest’ in the sense that their outside matches their inside.”

“You make it sound like I’m extremely dishonest.”

“You didn’t know? Your words and actions are completely opposite.” Maria poked Kain’s thigh with her thumb.

“You say, ‘I’m tired of working, I’ll quit after this job,’ but you work harder than anyone in the world. You say, ‘Lily is just a subordinate,’ but in Masada, you ran to her first.

What are your priorities? What are your principles? When a dangerous situation arises, what will you do first? I don’t want to be at cross purposes like we were in Masada. Even thieves need to be coordinated to do their job well. For that, don’t you need to know where the hands and feet are going?”

Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Kain was speechless. He hadn’t expected to be subjected to this kind of interrogation in the middle of a crowded street.

“I didn’t realize it was that important.”

“It is important.” Maria wrapped her arms around Kain’s waist. Not with any particular intention, but to whisper more closely.

“You. You don’t believe that luck will strike again like it did in Masada, do you? This place is much more complex and crowded than there. If you hesitate, many will get hurt. And… this is a secret from Lily. Three left.”

The leather straps wrapped around Maria’s body flashed through Kain’s mind. Leather straps with strange letters. Even after her heart had been stabbed, not a single scratch remained on her body. Instead, only one strap on her arm had fallen off.

“One was before I met you guys, so don’t worry about that. One was in Masada. Now I have one left on my arm and one on each leg, and I don’t know what will happen when they break, but it will definitely be something very bad. That’s how seals work, right?”

Maria pulled Kain’s waist tighter.

“Keep this between us. That pretty, kind girl would be horrified. I like her. I don’t want to worry her.”

“Why are you only telling me something so important now…”

“I wish I had a mirror to show you your expression. Really.” Maria gripped Kain’s waist tightly and tickled him slightly. “That’s why I didn’t tell you. Why? And honestly, I thought once would be enough. But seeing how things are going… I’d like to keep at least one, you know?”

“What kind of joke is…”

“Hey. Do you think you’ll live forever? Everyone dies. And to be precise, because it’s a seal, I ‘don’t know’ what will happen, not that I’ll die. I don’t know exactly. My mother set it up before she left. Anyway, let’s coordinate. What are your priorities?”

“Well… we should follow department procedures. There are standard protocols. Safety is always the first priority in any situation. Handle evacuation and threat elimination based on urgency. If neither works, withdraw and report… is that what you want to hear?”

Maria seemed to consider his words for a moment, then nodded as if she understood, before pinching the back of his hand painfully.

“Ow, really. What now?”

“I feel sorry for Lily.” Maria glared at Kain. “Don’t you have any romance in you?”

“What romance?”

“Don’t you know what romance is? Things like ‘My life’s goal is solely your happiness,’ or ‘I’ll sacrifice myself for the Empire,’ or ‘I’m still a hero, I won’t give up!’ That kind of… something that stirs people up. What? Standard procedures and element removal? How boring, really. Sigh. What’s so good about that, seriously.”

Maria released Kain’s waist. She shook her head as if she truly couldn’t understand him.

“Anyway. Fine. What’s our goal right now?”

“Information gathering and observation.”

Maria slapped Kain’s buttocks. Before he could get angry, she stuck out her tongue slightly.

“You really have no style at all.”

And then she fled into the crowd.

* * * * *

As soon as they passed the central fortress, the scenery changed dramatically. Shanties that looked like piles of garbage. People so scantily clad and dirty they might as well have been covered in mud instead of clothes. Their eyes were large but their pupils cloudy.

Fortunately, there weren’t many people passing by. The Samaritans didn’t try to approach those who were properly dressed. They just watched from a distance, as if looking at unwelcome creatures.

Smoke rose from various places, burning something unknown, and wailing, drumming, and loud prayer sounds could be heard. The language was difficult to understand. Western pagan language mixed with Imperial tongue made it even more confusing.

“The smell is terrible. I feel a bit dizzy,” said Lily, who had rejoined them, covering her nose and mouth with her hand.

“I know. It’s like some kind of herb. Acrid. Maria, do you know anything about it?”

Maria sniffed, wrinkling her nose. She too seemed to find the smell unpleasant, but appeared less repulsed than the other two.

“Just strong incense. The kind of herb used in funerals in the south. But…”

“But what?”

“…Nothing. I’m not sure. My stomach feels a bit queasy too. Normally, burning incense doesn’t make me feel sick.”

Perhaps there were impurities mixed in. It was impossible to know.

Next to a white house was a newly built guard post. Two tired-looking Holy Grail Knights were sitting there. Spears and swords were leaned against the inside wall of the post, but the knights’ hands were empty. They saluted when they saw Maria wearing the Inquisition band.

“Maria from Magdeburg headquarters. These two are my employees. I’d like to enter that white building.”

“We haven’t received any instructions,” replied the senior knight, looking cautious. “But who could stop an Inquisitor if she wishes to enter? However…”

The senior knight looked toward the central fortress and whispered, covering his mouth.

“Even if we don’t report it, please understand that they’re already watching everything from the central fortress. They can see the entire city from there. And about the person inside… it might be unpleasant.”

“The Lady of Humility?”

“Yes.” The senior knight grimaced.

Suddenly a loud noise startled everyone. Samaritans had built a temporary furnace with bricks in the middle of the road. They placed a wide mesh on top, and women carefully spread bloody animal entrails that were dripping with blood.

“That nonsense again!” the junior knight lamented.

“What is that?”

“I have no idea. Do you know what it is? If it’s a pagan custom, I’m ready to beat them up right now.”

An old man with white pupils prayed in front of it. When the Samaritans lit a fire and fanned it, tongue-like flames licked and rolled over the entrails, burning them.

The stench was unbearable—a mixture of foul odor, blood, and animal fur. The wind made it even worse. As smoke rose into the sky, the Samaritans rejoiced, embracing each other and wailing.

“…No. It’s strange, but I don’t know what it is either. As far as I know, the Stone-Fire Faith doesn’t have such customs. Neither does the Order,” Maria muttered, confused.

“It’s our own custom.”

A clear, pure voice came from behind a pillar of the white house. Even amid all the chaos, it was distinct, sharp, and clear like a well-forged sword. Silver hair covering shoulders, transparent skin with white pupils. A woman in a long white silk dress. Standing alone with dignity in such a filthy place, she was truly out of place.

It was Arianne, the Lady of Humility.

Not a sound came from her footsteps as she walked down the stairs. The Samaritans wailed and reached out toward Arianne. The knights shouted, trying to stop them, but to no avail. However, when Arianne extended her arms and waved them slowly, the Samaritans fell silent again.

“Before eating a freshly killed animal, they burn the inedible parts, the entrails. Entrails are fresh and nutritious, and carnivores eat them first. But they’re also the most dangerous parts that spoil quickly.

That’s why these people willingly offer the entrails to God. They burn them because they believe the smoke will reach heaven and convey their intentions to Him. Noble Inquisitor, is this heresy?”

“As far as I know, there’s no official answer, policy, or investigation on this,” Maria answered clearly.

“But I wonder how such a custom took root.”

“I know,” Arianne bent her waist and laughed. It was a long, long laugh that bewildered the listeners.

“Ah, I know. No one taught us. They told us to worship God, but didn’t tell us how. They told us to live with pride as Imperial citizens, but didn’t teach us how to live like them.

I don’t know what your parents were like, but our parents were lacking and deficient in many ways! Ha, ha! Isn’t that a funny joke? Really, really funny. To us, the Empire is like God. They just tell us the purpose, but not a word about the method.

But… Ha! Ha! Ha! When my mother was alive, no one showed their face. Now that she’s gone, one or two people are starting to come. It’s amusing. Very amusing. Now, Inquisitor. What did you come to see? Did you come to catch demons, or to offer the people of this land as burnt offerings?”

“I came to see the Empire’s hero. You, Arianne of Humility.”

Maria didn’t back down. She ended firmly and resolutely. Arianne bent her body like a cobra stretching.

“Come inside. Hurry, come in. The sunlight has many spears and arrows, and it can pierce and kill people without them even knowing!”

Arianne turned and went inside the building. Maria, following her, paused briefly. She gently pulled Kain and Lily’s arms.

“You two. Be careful. This smell…” Maria whispered.

“I’m sure now. It’s asas herb. A hallucinogenic poison.”

Lily clenched her fist, as if trying to hide her surprise. Kain glared at the shadow cast beneath the white house. Arianne was waiting for them.