Ch.6Prologue (6)

“Baron, this way.”

“Thank you. You all have worked hard.”

“….Not at all.”

A moment later. Our group had reserved a reasonably good spot to watch the heretic burning ceremony taking place in the central plaza.

Perhaps because these “burning ceremonies” occurred quite frequently, the building owners around the plaza had set up viewing areas on their rooftops, making this possible.

And we weren’t the only ones gathering here.

In this era where stimulation and entertainment were notably scarce, such executions were essentially shows, and furthermore, events that strengthened group solidarity by cheering for the death of a common enemy (heretics).

Starting with well-dressed and neatly attired middle-class people gathering, market merchants approached, and even commoners and urban poor in somewhat shabby clothes quietly found places somewhere in the plaza.

There were even families who came to watch this burning ceremony, and seeing them gather in the plaza as if on a family outing with their children made me feel like I was the strange one.

And as I watched people gathering as if for some event or show, I was actually harboring very complex feelings.

Of course, I didn’t want to see such barbaric and unpleasant things, but if I were to simply turn a blind eye to this barbaric age I would live in… I might never be able to adapt.

Moreover, while the act of burning a person leaves an incredibly powerful and intense impression, I had learned enough about this world’s common sense to understand that such extreme measures weren’t incomprehensibly barbaric or primitive.

In this world where magic and gods actually exist, there are naturally “enemies of humanity” akin to demons, and because their very essence originates from evil, they can never be reformed or reasoned with.

Therefore, as long as human civilization and order exist, they are absolute evils and worst enemies with whom compromise is impossible… or so I had learned, but there are limits to what one can understand through knowledge alone.

Even when I heard about them, perhaps because the information was sanitized due to my age, I was left with only a vague impression that they were bad people. So while I could intellectually understand these burnings, I couldn’t comprehend them emotionally.

And with such complicated feelings, I watched the burning ceremony. As if recognizing that a sufficient crowd had gathered, items necessary for the “burning ceremony” began to be moved to the temporary stage erected in the center of the plaza.

Firewood perfect for burning people, shackles and ropes to bind the condemned to their places, and even a dirty old barrel of oil to enhance the flames.

As those presumed to be priests—wearing something resembling clerical attire made of white cloth—moved these items themselves, I still couldn’t shake the uneasiness in one corner of my heart and soon found myself thinking about these priests.

The religion of this world centers around a polytheistic faith called the “Pantheon,” which, despite being polytheistic, uniquely resembles Abrahamic religions in some ways.

Moreover, not only can one confirm the existence of gods as transcendent beings, but the existence of priests who borrow their power serves as clear proof of the gods’ existence.

Going even further, these priests lose their powers if they disobey the will of the god they serve.

Thanks to this, the social status of priests—who demonstrably follow the will of the righteous gods—is quite high.

Most gods of the Pantheon receive broad support by advocating universal order or morality, and the very fact that these priests are not forsaken by such gods is the greatest factor in elevating their credibility.

…Though watching them set up a pyre on a temporary stage to burn people gives quite the opposite impression.

Anyway, even as I watched the construction of the pyre with complicated feelings, those priests were solemnly stacking firewood on the stage and erecting posts to which people could be tied.

Their demeanor, excessively solemn for actions meant to burn people, weighed heavily on my heart, but regardless of my complex feelings, the priests finally completed the pyre and began bringing three people to the spot.

They were bound by shackles and ropes, barely covered by tattered rags, with scabs and wounds—presumably traces of torture—plastered all over their bodies, presenting a strange appearance.

What gave me a particularly odd impression was that their appearance seemed too ordinary to be heretics.

From descriptions alone, they looked far too normal to be treated as hideous demons who had crossed into the mortal realm.

“Wooooooo—!!!”

“Kill them! Kill them! Kill them!”

“Take this!”

—Thwack!!

But even during this, the crowd shouted jeers and frenzied cries, and it wasn’t hard to find people throwing stones at them.

Is this what witch hunts in old Earth felt like?

As I thought this, unable to hide my strange sense of guilt, the heretics were soon brought by the priests’ careful hands and began to be tied to the poles standing in the middle of the woodpile….

That’s when it happened.

“People of the Barony, hear me! Before the burning, I shall proclaim the crimes of these heretics! First, this man!”

The man the priest pointed to with his fingertip had characteristically light reddish-brown hair, and while not dramatically impressive, he could be called reasonably handsome in his own way.

But the words that next came from the priest’s mouth were enough to completely shatter the impression I had of him until now.

“This man sacrificed his parents, wife, and two children to a demon to gain demonic power! He sold his family to a demon through a wicked ritual, and was caught committing robbery with the power he thus obtained!”

As soon as the priest finished speaking, I felt the slight trace of sympathy that had remained until then melt away like snow.

My intuition, my senses told me this was the truth. The man before me had truly offered his family to a demon for nothing more than a trivial amount of power, and with that power, he had done nothing more than commit highway robbery?

‘What kind of…?’

The bottom of the bottom. A living witness proving that even below the abyss, there is yet another abyss.

While I was shocked by this incomprehensible truth, the priest continued relentlessly exposing their sins one after another.

The other male heretic had raped his own daughter and offered her as a sacrifice to gain immortality, while the only female heretic had kidnapped innocent girls to make and consume elixirs to maintain her youth.

These accusations sounded so outrageous that one might think they were false charges in a witch hunt, but my intuition told me that all the atrocities the priest proclaimed were true.

I was slightly dazed by this series of events that had unfolded in less than an hour, but even so, the burning ceremony continued.

“…Father, what is that jar?”

“It contains holy water produced by the temple. Ah, do you know what holy water is?”

“Yes. The bookstore owner told me it’s water that has been blessed by priests who serve the gods.”

According to Father, a priest brought that jar said to contain holy water, and then the priest who had just proclaimed the heretics’ crimes took a wooden ladle and scooped some of the holy water.

Then, he splashed the scooped holy water directly onto the heretics while shouting with all his might….

“You sinners, reveal your true forms!!”

—Splash!!

Immediately after, the plaza was filled with agonizing screams.

“—AAAAARRRRGGGHHH!!!”

Desperate screams, screams born from pain as if bearing all the suffering in the world alone.

As my intuition read these things and conveyed them to me, I froze at the changes appearing on the heretics’ bodies after being hit with holy water.

—Hissssss….!!!

As if doused with acid, smoke-like substances rose from their skin, and simultaneously, horrific things revealed themselves from within that skin.

[Screech, screeeech….!!]

—….Writhing.

Pink tentacles reminiscent of tongues, writhing. Mouths filled with growing sharp teeth, screaming. And grotesquely discolored red skin with bizarre horns.

Those things went beyond merely provoking disgusting and repulsive emotions on the surface; they possessed “something” that instinctively evoked revulsion and discomfort in me.

“Father, that’s….”

“The true form of heretics, son. The price for contracting with demons and accepting their power. They probably intended to hide it until the end, but….”

Father continued speaking to me afterward, but his words didn’t reach my ears at all.

‘Such things… hiding among people….’

It’s them. They are the ones hiding in the dark corners of this world, harming innocent people, causing this world to become darker and more cruel.

“My contractor—!!! Be eternal!!!”

“KYAAAAAAHHH—!!”

“You servants of false goooods—!!!”

Because these things—now burning wildly from the flames the priest had set to the pyre—exist in this world, the evils of this world don’t stop at tempting humans but directly try to kill people.

Yes, at this point, I finally understood why people considered heretics to be absolute evil. They were… truly absolute evil.

Beyond simply harming others, they were evil that contributed to selling this small world to demons, regardless of their own will.

Having realized this through my intuition, which had never lied to me, I inwardly vowed that I could never tolerate these creatures called heretics….

‘….They are my enemies.’

At the same time, I could clearly see that they would become my enemies.