Chapter 132: Gotcha, You Bastard – 1

Chapter 132: Gotcha, You Bastard – 1

The inquisitor vice-captain told me what he knew in more detail and more easily than I expected.

From his shaky position due to the captain’s disappearance to the fact that he had arrested non-heretics and framed them as heretics to show results to the cardinals.

In truth, there were many flowery phrases and other expressions mixed in, but that was none of my business.

“Alright, that’s it! So you’ll keep your promise, too……”

“No, before that, we need to clarify one thing, don’t we? Why did you arrest me?”

“……What?”

“So, did you arrest me for your ‘achievement-making’ too?”

At that, the inquisitor vice-captain briefly looked like he was wondering why on earth I was asking such a thing.

Well, normally, one wouldn’t do something crazy like declaring me a heretic even after making such a deal, so it might have seemed like a rather meaningless question.

…Unfortunately, he didn’t know there was a recording device of the highest reliability here.

*’……I feel like you had a subtly irreverent thought, or am I mistaken?’*

‘Of course not. More importantly, did you hear that clearly?’

*’Of course. How the inquisitors, who originally judged those who went against God’s will and brought chaos to the continent or colluded with the Demon King, ended up like this… It’s truly deplorable.’*

‘Good. There’s one more thing you need to do for me.’

*’What is it now? Oh, by the way, there’s no video recording function.’*

‘What on earth did you think of me to think I’d want such a function… Ugh, never mind. Go call that Hero-nim.’

I confirmed that the Holy Sword’s recording was working properly, so now it was time to call the speaker to announce it to everyone.

Naturally, it’s rare for anyone other than exceptions like me or the Hero to properly hear the Holy Sword’s voice, so the Holy Sword’s original owner, the Hero, needed to come.

Well, it also makes for a better picture if the Hero exposes the inquisitors’ corruption rather than some strange nun.

…It’s a bit annoying that the lazy Hero-nim gets all the credit, not even the Saintess, but it can’t be helped.

Anyway, my job from now on is to stall for time until the Hero arrives.

“So, why aren’t you answering?”

“……You ask all sorts of unnecessary questions… well, it’s true that the Mother Superior did give us a heads-up.”

“So, with the Mother Superior’s word, you arrested me to rack up achievements, is that it?”

“…Ahem, it’s not quite how I’d phrase it……”

“Ah, never mind that. So, aren’t you going to hear where your captain is?”

At that, the vice-captain immediately shut his mouth.

…I didn’t realize it then, but that captain must have been an incredibly formidable person.

Considering he lost to me back then, he didn’t seem particularly strong.

*’Well, you were using the divine power suppression magic Elena gave you back then, weren’t you?’*

‘…So even then, he was that monstrously strong?’

*’That’s the correct interpretation. Plus, the Saintess betrayed him in the latter half.’*

……Thinking about it, he might have been quite an amazing person after all.

Well, he’s probably rotting in some prison in the Imperial Palace now.

And when I relayed that directly to the vice-captain in front of me, his eyes widened.

“T-Then, did the captain truly fall to those Imperial bastards!”

“That’s right. But the Empire was merciful enough not to kill him.”

“B-But…… if he’s in an Imperial prison, in the Imperial Palace no less, what can we do? No, is your information even accurate in the first place?”

“Well… if you’re really suspicious, should I tell you everything that happened then?”

And I recounted the story of my fight with the inquisitor commander.

Oh, of course, omitting the part where I was the heretic the inquisitor commander was trying to catch, and the Saintess’s betrayal.

Incidentally, when I roughly described what the inquisitor commander had tried to do to me, the vice-captain believed my story, saying it matched the mission the captain had mentioned he needed to do in the Empire.

Upon hearing that he had tried to capture a certain heretic on a mission, but failed due to the heretic’s resistance and the help of the Imperial Defense Force, especially Christie, and was instead defeated, the vice-captain’s body trembled.

“The Empire…! How dare those Imperial bastards!!”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down.”

“If that’s true, there’s absolutely no reason to calm down! No, the situation itself, where the Empire is unlawfully detaining our captain, a high-ranking official, is the problem!”

“But the Empire is strong, and you guys are weak, aren’t you?”

“His Holiness the Pope will lend us his strength when he learns of this! No, he definitely will!

Especially that something-or-other, whether it’s a defense force or a knight order, led by that Christie, we will thoroughly punish them!!”

I was truly curious what would happen when he found out that the target of his punishment was in the Holy Kingdom, and would soon appear right before his eyes.

Anyway, it was understandable why these inquisitors’ power had declined just because they lost one captain.

They had strength, but no brains. Looking at the vice-captain’s shiny head, both physically and figuratively.

In other words, they knew how to use force, but they were pure and clean-brained individuals who knew nothing about how to use that force to their advantage or how to employ stratagems.

“But, you’re truly amazing.”

“What?”

“No matter how well-informed you are, how can you describe our captain’s battle scene so vividly? This would be impossible without directly witnessing the captain’s fighting style, wouldn’t it?”

“Well… there are ways.”

“Ah, I see, it must be a trade secret. My apologies.”

……Just looking at this, it shows a purity that doesn’t suspect for a second that I might have been at the scene.

The captain seemed to have some brains, but why is the vice-captain like this?

*’Does that child have some kind of intelligence problem?’*

‘I know, right? It was obvious to anyone that I was the heretic they were trying to catch.’

Honestly, even if they had figured it out, it wouldn’t have been a problem, so I didn’t desperately hide that I was the heretic they were after.

So what if they know? What can you do?

With the inquisitors’ dirty secrets about to be exposed by the Holy Sword and the Hero, even if I claimed to be an Imperial spy or whatever, the cardinals wouldn’t listen.

“By the way… anyway, we also have our customs, you know.”

“Ah, like, I need to get hit a little, something like that?”

“That’s right. For your case, we’ll just hit you a little and smear some blood around, since we only need to make it look like you’re injured.”

“Whatever.”

It certainly felt dirty, but it wasn’t unbearable.

When the Hero arrived, it would be more dramatic if I looked like I had been beaten.

Especially since the Holy Sword whispered to me that the Hero wouldn’t be coming alone, but with a few people.

‘Ugh… it’s hard to do anything with the main characters.’

It was a rare complaint about the main characters.

***

After I received that special treatment(?) from the inquisitors, the Hero burst in.

Her appearance was quite late.

It was so late that I had run out of things to talk about and was on the verge of just chatting idly about everyday things with that inquisitor vice-captain.

“Stop right there! What are you doing?”

“…Hero-nim, how did you come to this interrogation room, which is our territory?”

“You, you bastards, I’ve come to expose, no, to report your co-co-corruption!”

“What… what do you mean…?”

“I know everything! After continuously investigating this torture… no, interrogation… no… it’s definitely a torture chamber, I saw your atrocities with this old-man… no! With the Holy Sword, and I’m here to expose, no, report them!”

……Surely she didn’t mean that was acting. Stuttering is one thing, but those word slips in between were enough to make anyone watching dizzy.

I almost grabbed the back of my neck at the Hero’s obviously terrible acting, but thankfully, I managed to endure it with transcendent patience.

*’Wow, by the way, even after hearing that, they don’t suspect the Hero at all.’*

‘…Those guys are amazing, truly.’

Anyway, the Hero continued her terrible acting,

And thanks to the Holy Sword, whose ability allowed everyone to hear its words, the priests who came with the Hero immediately arrested the inquisitor vice-captain.

Oh, by the way, I pretended to be bleeding and collapsed from being beaten too much during the interrogation, so I was carried out by the Hero without any further questioning.

……The plan certainly seemed plausible, but thanks to that crazy Hero’s terrible acting, I can’t think of anything else; only that damn terrible acting comes to mind.

“Phew… acting is really hard.”

“……You’re really hard to deal with.”

“…I understand. Even before, Hero-nim’s acting… hmm, she seemed to need some divine care.”

*’Tsk, what a useless fellow. A trial will be held soon, so it would be good for both of you to come.’*

“…Of course we will. We’ve been waiting for that trial.”

Well, even though there seemed to be a major flaw in the middle, we’ve come this far successfully…

Now it’s time for Christie and the Imperial party, whom I’ve called, to make their move.