Ch.6262. People Waiting for the End (3)

“So the Holy Maiden is here as well. Please, all of you come this way and have a seat.”

The local governor guided us with a tired voice. The temporary two-story office was cramped. With our party of four, the bishop, Isis Blume and Aryen Elmione, it was too crowded, so eventually only the bishop, Isis and I remained on the second floor. The governor brought a chair for himself to the small table and patted his lower back.

“Supervising the reconstruction sites means standing for long periods… Heh. I hope you’ll forgive my unseemly appearance.”

Bishop Andre Zabine smiled gently.

“You’re working hard. How could efforts to restore the region be considered unseemly?”

“These are harsh times for everyone.”

The governor gave a bitter smile at the bishop’s words. Deep shadows carved into his wrinkled face.

“You said you received word from His Majesty?”

“Yes. The bishop will help capture the heretics spreading throughout the area.”

Bishop Andre nodded and looked at Isis and me.

“It’s a matter of punishing those who deceive the masses. Fortunately, the Hero has graciously accepted my request to help weed out these heretical groups.”

“I see… the Hero as well.”

The governor trailed off as he looked at me. I couldn’t meet his eyes directly. At least here, I wouldn’t appear to him as a good person or savior.

“It hasn’t been long since you defeated the fourth Calamity, has it? You must still be tired, yet you willingly came to help our region. I can’t help but express my gratitude.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The governor bowed his head, and I hastily bowed back to acknowledge his greeting. There was no malice. He wasn’t being sarcastic, but his words still pierced me like sharp arrows.

“After the Holy Maiden left your party, she immediately came to help Barktins. We received much assistance then, but I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.”

Isis only nodded. I stared at her pale face. She started to lift her head toward me but quickly dropped it. Her blue eyes had been trembling since our reunion.

“Because I’m supervising the reconstruction sites, I won’t be of much help with this investigation. Apart from occasional progress meetings, there’s little I can be involved in. If you need anything…”

Bishop Andre spoke up as if he had been waiting.

“If there’s an active church, we’d like to use it as our base of operations.”

“…Yes. There should be an old church a bit away from the village. I believe worshippers still visit it diligently. I’ve heard that the Holy Maiden’s healing activities there greatly helped strengthen their faith.”

“Good. We will ensure that we drive out the heretics infesting this region.”

Bishop Andre looked at Isis.

“Isis, please work with the other priests to comfort the believers here.”

If anyone needed comforting, it seemed to be Isis herself. I frowned as I looked at her, but she seemed to want to avoid even being in my line of sight, subtly turning her face away as she nodded.

“When do you plan to begin the investigation?”

Bishop Andre gently pressed his palms together and rubbed them slowly.

“We’d like to start as soon as our headquarters at the church is established. You mentioned that the main area of activity for these doomsday cultists is in the refugee settlement, correct?”

“…Yes. Many people left after the evacuation order, but many still refuse to leave. We tried using guards to handle it, but any further action would likely cause more conflict.”

“I understand. While we’ll be careful, if the heretics’ resistance is strong…”

The bishop’s eyes pierced through the governor’s like daggers as he nodded.

“We may have no choice but to employ some ‘rougher methods,’ keep that in mind.”

“…Of course, I understand.”

The governor nodded with a stiff expression, and the bishop rose with a benevolent smile. Isis and I also stood up reflexively and followed the bishop. The governor watched us quietly, then suddenly called out to me.

“Hero.”

The governor’s gaze contained emotions too complex to define easily. Resentment, regret, anger, or perhaps resignation. I knew that resignation was the most frightening of them all.

“The residents won’t exactly welcome you. Some may even resent you. Especially after news from the north, from Evernode, spread here.”

I bit my lip. The flesh tore, and the taste of blood traveled down my throat and into my nose.

“…I can’t say much, but please show them mercy.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Beside me, Isis’s lips moved slightly, but she froze before she could voice whatever was in her mind. The bishop stood by the door, looking at us as if urging us to hurry, and I gently patted Isis’s shoulder as I spoke to her.

“Let’s go.”

Isis jumped back in surprise when my hand touched her shoulder. Only then could I meet her eyes. Was this the first time since I possessed this body? Back then, her eyes had burned with anger toward me. Passionate and emotional as she demanded to know why I had removed him from the party, questioning if I was in my right mind. Yet they had been confident eyes.

“…”

Now they revealed only the fear of a frightened child. Seeing those eyes, I couldn’t help but furrow my brow. The depth of her suffering seemed too much for her to bear.

“Isis.”

I tried again in a gentler voice. Isis looked at me as if coming to her senses. I sighed softly and nodded toward where the bishop stood. The bishop had his gaze fixed on Isis.

“Let’s hurry. The others will be waiting.”

==

The church the governor had directed us to was relatively intact compared to other ruins, perhaps because it was situated on higher ground. The autumn rain showed no signs of stopping even into the afternoon. After Daphne Ephiphone quickly tidied the church interior with magic, the bishop immediately called us together.

“First, I’ll explain a few precautions before we begin our investigation.”

There was a blackboard hanging on the church wall, suggesting it had also been used as a school. The bishop picked up a piece of chalk about the size of a pinky finger joint from the floor and began explaining like a teacher.

“We’ll divide into two groups. One group will conduct investigations during the day, while the other will secretly monitor them at night. Of course, as I mentioned, nighttime is dangerous, so the inquisitors will handle the night watch. Let me warn you…”

He tapped the blackboard with the chalk.

“Unless absolutely necessary, individual activities in the village at night are strictly forbidden. Darkness is the domain of evil gods, and the time when cultists operate in the shadows. At night, their power becomes particularly strong. Even for us, even for you, mercenary Aryen, it could be dangerous.”

After writing “NO NIGHT” on the blackboard, the bishop moved his hand to the side.

“The symbol of doomsday worship – that is, the worship of evil gods – looks like this.”

The bishop drew a pentagram on the blackboard.

“A star…?”

“It’s too wicked a shape to draw directly, so please understand that I can only show you like this. Their symbol is a pentagram with its head pointing toward the ground. So,”

The bishop pointed to the top of the star.

“Think of this pentagram turned upside down. We’ll call it an inverted pentagram. They will likely carry this symbol somewhere on their bodies. Either as a tattoo or as a symbol.”

Bishop Andre stared at the star with a sharp gaze, then erased it with apparent disgust.

“One more thing. Hasty action is forbidden. We are short on manpower. If we just arrest heretics on sight, they’ll either escape before we can cut off their head, or worse, we might be the ones in danger.”

He wrote “NO HASTE” next to “NO NIGHT.”

“Our goal is to approach them carefully, identify the leader of these Calamity worshippers, capture them, and eliminate them all at once. Remember this.”

Bishop Andre put down the chalk and dusted off his hands.

“Now, let’s begin our inquiry. Each of you has your assigned role. Hero, it might feel stifling, but please wear your helmet completely. Think of yourself as a soldier accompanying me.”

A helmet. I frowned and nodded. Somehow, that bishop seemed to take subtle pleasure in making me play the role of his accompanying soldier.

“Isis, you’ll join us later. If you get involved while we’re still gauging the atmosphere and figuring out how to investigate, it might raise unnecessary suspicion. Please wait here with the inquisitors.”

“…I understand.”

The bishop stood up and looked at me.

“Well then, let’s go, Hero.”

Psycho bastard.

==

“Isis.”

Isis stopped at the sound of the bishop calling her and turned around. The investigation team was leaving the church. Daphne was disguised as an administrative officer assisting the bishop, George as a knight, and Ilroy and Marianne as guards. The heavy rain had turned to drizzle, falling lightly on their raincoats and armor.

“Bishop.”

Bishop Andre’s expression and voice were extremely stern.

“How long will you remain in this state?”

Isis blinked as she looked at the bishop. She couldn’t speak. She didn’t have the courage to voice what had happened that day, why she was trembling so much.

“I know you’ve been through a lot while supporting the recovery efforts here, but we need your help now. After all, the residents here will trust you.”

At the word “trust,” ripples appeared in Isis’s eyes again. The bishop clearly noticed but didn’t ask why.

“I hope you’ll pull yourself together soon. The simple inquiry won’t take long, and soon it will be the Holy Maiden’s turn to step forward.”

“…Yes, I understand.”

Bishop Andre looked past Isis’s shoulder. Aryen was sitting in a chair, quietly watching the scene.

“Please watch over Isis well, mercenary.”

The bishop then approached the Hero’s group. Isis watched them walk away, then slowly returned to the church and curled up on a chair. After the Hero’s party disappeared from view, all that could be heard was the sound of drizzle tapping on leaves.

“Aryen.”

Aryen turned his head toward Isis. Deep shadows and faint light fell across his face. Even at times like this, he remained the same as always. Whether that was fortunate or not, even Isis herself couldn’t tell.

“If I had tried to dissuade you then, if I had said we should follow Ilroy’s opinion, how would you have reacted?”

Aryen closed his eyes briefly upon hearing the question, then opened them.

“Nothing would have changed. I would have stuck to my opinion. Even if our party’s opinion had leaned that way, I would have gone to the commander-in-chief to persuade him to change his mind.”

“…Why are you so certain?”

Aryen’s voice was dry.

“If we had fought that way, someone in our party would certainly have died. It could have been George, it could have been Nella, or maybe even you. I’m not sure what would have happened to the Hero.”

Aryen shook his head.

“There’s no guarantee we could have stopped the Kraken that way. And if the party had fallen there, there would be no next time. We’d just be left twiddling our thumbs.”

Isis buried her face in her knees. Aryen’s voice continued.

“After all this has happened, regretting the choice won’t change anything.”

The last part was Aryen’s mutter to himself. Aryen patted Isis’s shoulder and stood up.

“This is my way. Weighing possibilities against human lives has been my lifelong work.”

Isis remained alone in the church, watching the falling rain, imagining the footsteps of the Hero heading toward the distant village.

==

“When I heard the stories, I expected it to be terrible.”

I heard Daphne murmuring. Looking at the village scene through the bars of my visor, I inwardly clicked my tongue.

“…This.”

The village scene couldn’t be described as clean or pleasant even as a polite lie. Houses cobbled together with planks stood tightly packed, forming maze-like alleys, while a stench hung in the air. Without proper drainage, there were smells of excrement, unwashed bodies, and rotting flesh. However, there was something strangely disconcerting about the people there.

“How peculiar.”

Bishop Andre muttered, and I couldn’t help but nod in agreement.

The villagers I saw all wore comfortable smiles on their faces.