#038. The Inquisitor is Too Kind (2)

#038. The Inquisitor is Too Kind (2)

The Order receives support from the Capital’s Noble Council.

The more the Mana Stone industry flourishes, the more monsters, the more powerful monsters, arise. Using this as an excuse, regional powers raise private armies in defiance of the Capital.

To counteract this, the Capital promotes the training of adventurers, which becomes a cheaper workforce than private armies and a reason to reduce the scale of private army development.

Even so, there are nobles who harbor treacherous thoughts.

Those who disguise and operate private soldiers as adventurers.

Regions that secretly plot against the Capital, concealing their power.

Guilds that abandon their duties as adventurers for profit, plunging their regions into misery.

“Remember this. Our *Revolutionary Order*, supported by the Kingdom’s state religion, has a duty to repay the grace bestowed by the Royal Family. And those who neglect this duty are the very heretics we must punish.”

“I will follow your orders.”

“For the Revolution.”

Veteran Inquisitor Iveta, eight years in service, and rookie Inquisitor Maria, in her first year, were dispatched to Sodom Village under the direct orders of the Head of the Inquisition Bureau.

Until they arrived in Sodom Village, the atmosphere between the two was grim.

“Maria. You said you’re from where, again?”

“Sodom Village in Westwood. It’s been three years since I escaped that hell.”

“Right. You barely passed the exam this year and became a rookie. How was our fledgling’s hometown?”

For Maria, her hometown was a collection of painful memories she preferred not to recall.

“A hell maintained by grinding down the youth and dreams of its people.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Do you know why I became an Inquisitor?”

“No.”

“Because the Order’s uniform looked cool.”

“Heh. So that’s the cute reason.”

“It’s a sad reason, actually.”

A job with a dashing uniform comes with grueling labor.

Without a sense of duty, you’re condemned to a hellish existence of endless tasks, and you can’t afford to shy away from getting your hands stained with blood.

The notoriety is so widespread, it’s practically a worthless profession.

It’s not like I didn’t know that.

Maria became an Inquisitor, despite knowing.

“For the children of the back alleys, a ‘dashing uniform’ and a ‘feared profession’ are as good as an escape ticket to a slightly better hell than the one they’re in now.”

“Is there a reason they assigned you a mission to return to such a village?”

“I want to gain assurance that I’ve become stronger than the days when I trembled in fear. I want to obliterate the darkness of Sodom Village, of its back alleys, that once drove me to despair.”

The rookie’s audacious ambition to overcome her scarred past sounded quite admirable to Iveta.

“Want a candy?”

“No, thank you.”

It would be nice if she had a bit of charm.

After crunching and devouring three candies.

Maria’s gaze, who had been sitting across from her maintaining a brusque silence, landed on the candy tin.

“You do want one, don’t you? Bored, aren’t you.”

“…Just one, please.”

Watching Maria, who still hadn’t quite shed her childlike features, Iveta chuckled to herself.

A village where girls can’t grow up to be girls, and boys can’t grow up to be boys, shouldn’t exist.

Sodom Village still held no promise.

* * *

-Uh, Mom. Some thugs, thugs ambushed me on the street, and I ran away…

-Go back.

-Mom…?

-If a scrawny thing like you can’t work to earn money, you should at least sell your body. You’re old enough now, you need to learn to sacrifice for your family!

-Ah, Dad. Tell Mom to stop, please?

-I’m sorry…

The shocking, vitriolic words of her drunken mother, and her father turning away, averting his gaze instead of stopping her.

Awakening from a nightmare filled with loathsome memories, she heard a familiar voice.

“Get out. We’re here.”

Maria’s dagger, drawn in her sleep, was lightly pressed down by Iveta with a single finger.

Hastily shoving the dagger away, she followed her senior out, the carriage swaying before righting itself.

The weight of the heavily armed Inquisitor’s gear, concealed beneath her cloak-like coat, was truly burdensome.

“Blood breeds fear, and fear is the first step to respectful, fearful awe. Remember. An Inquisitor must not fear the blood of heretics.”

Having arrived in the village, they immediately set about gathering information.

Are the people happy?

Has the guild fulfilled its role?

Has the noble fulfilled their duties?

Have the soldiers not brandished their swords at the commoners in the name of their lord?

The investigation concluded, the verdict was in.

Sodom Village had changed beyond recognition.

“You received compensation for the damages?”

“Those from the Sodom Guild exposed the past transgressions of affiliated adventurers, and distributed their ill-gotten gains to the victims.”

“Truly, they are benevolent souls. That wretches like us could have our rights recognized and protected… *sob*.”

Even in the capital, straying just a little from the main thoroughfares reveals the slums, the city’s darkness.

But this… this was something else.

Sodom Village, a place where countless failures had been abandoned to the darkness of the alleys, was seeing them emerge into the light.

Training for novice adventurers by those with disabilities.

Large-scale cleaning and facility maintenance of the abandoned alley districts.

The eradication of delinquent organizations that had lurked in the alleys.

The execution and impalement of those who traded with slave merchants.

Everything the Order, the Inquisitors, should have been doing was already happening on its own.

“It’s all thanks to Teresa’s party.”

“We always offer prayers to Ian, Teresa’s son.”

“May the blessings of the divine be with Teresa and Ian, mother and son.”

The salvation of the impoverished often comes at the expense of the wealthy.

Investigations into this suspicion were carried out.

Yet, not a single wealthy individual spoke ill of Teresa or Ian.

“Not only did they clear away all the bombs that Gomorrah, that piece of filth, had left unattended, but Teresa’s party even wiped out the bomb requests that he neglected. Those that are left past the deadline without penalty amongst themselves, but become mandatory payments when it goes to the guild leader.”

“It’s not that we don’t have penalties to pay, but thanks to the minimization of damages, the guild remains intact, and the village can continue to function. The reason merchants like us can make a living is all thanks to Teresa’s party.”

“Big requests are important, but small ones are too. We wanted to teach our children the adventurer’s trade so they could survive even if the village collapsed, and Ian took excellent care of the kids.”

“Since Ian became a staff member, not a single child who entered as a novice adventurer has been seriously injured or died.”

“He even provides work and wages to the alley dwellers, those who were once forsaken. Now, everyone in the village has work. He even secretly provides medical expenses to patients who can’t repay their debts.”

Everywhere you looked, it was the path of a saint, actions befitting a saint.

A visit to the guild’s reception desk for a final confirmation only reinforced that impression.

“Are you perhaps referring to the arson committed by the adventurer who was the mastermind behind the slave trafficking incident that occurred around 10:12 PM on July 15th of last year?”

A flawless recitation.

“The adventurer who was the mastermind was killed during the recent guild civil war, but the ledger containing evidence of the crime was discovered at his residence and has been preserved. If you wish to view the case materials, please fill out the viewing application with your personal information and pay a viewing fee of ten copper coins.”

A thorough conclusion.

“Lad. Is it true what the clerk said, that you investigated and resolved this case at your own expense?”

“…Yes.”

Even his character was beyond reproach.

A saint, 100 out of 100.

“I’m sorry. I can’t accept this necklace.”

“Think again. With this necklace alone, you’ll be provided with quality education offered to saint candidates, massive funding, and a respected job for all. Even if you don’t ascend to the rank of saint, you can aim for the position of diocesan of Westwood as a bishop.”

“It’s not because I feel lacking in status or support.”

Ian was a mind manipulator.

A wicked mind manipulator who, if exposed, would be immediately branded a ‘heretic’ by the Order and have his head taken.

Those with deep faith in the divine can receive power in exchange for their devotion.

Those within the clergy who grapple with diabolical entities, by virtue of their profession, sometimes receive a divine blessing of mental protection.

Should that blessing detect brainwashing, and should the source of that brainwashing be revealed as Ian…

…then Ian is a dead man, from that day forward.

Distancing oneself from the church.

For survival, it is not a choice, but a necessity.

“Forsaking all worldly wealth and glory, what is it, ultimately, that you hope to achieve?”

“I… I desire peace for my family. And I wish for everyone in the clan to be happy. For that to happen, the Sodom Guild must not fall. We must protect the villagers so that the Guild does not lose their trust.”

“Truly, a child’s dream.”

“If I were to become someone of importance, the adults who indulge my petty whims and stubbornness would drift away, replaced by greater responsibilities and duties. I desire to remain in this life, as it is now.”

A child who lives for his family, his clan, his guild, and his village.

Wherein lies the childishness in that?

This is not the life of a child.

Still less is it the life of a boy.

It is the life of a saint, plainly, one who dedicates himself to others, valuing them above himself.

Yet some dedicate themselves to values they believe to be right, even without hearing the voice of God.

This is the most primal form of religion.

A model of a thriving community where the ideals a religious order seeks to achieve are realized, even without the religion itself.

One who has awakened himself.

And a village that cherishes and respects such a virtuous soul.

Faced with such nobility that transcended age and gender, Iveta, an inquisitor of eight years standing, understood that to steal the boy from his family and village, or to steal the village from the boy, was no different from committing a sin.

Those who are inherently good do not need religious instruction.

Even if she were not to bestow a diocese upon this land to impart the teachings of a saint, this place is already a land of virtue, a sanctuary.

“Do not misunderstand me. How could I, in the name of God, bring hardship to a righteous person? Worldly power, for one who does not desire it, is nothing more than a noose around the neck; I shall take back the necklace of the saint-candidate.”

There would be significant resistance from the aristocratic council in the capital, but Iveta had already steeled her resolve.

“Instead, I wish to demonstrate that this hallowed land is already sufficient for the good of the Order; might you accept this child’s application for adventurer registration?”

Maria, a rookie inquisitor in her first year.

She was greatly surprised by her senior’s decision.

“If that is what he wishes, then certainly.”

“Senior!”

“How could I not understand the turmoil in your heart? I know that you see yourself as cowardly and shameful, because the village you abandoned has saved itself.”

Maria possessed neither the strength nor the will to confront the darkness of Sodom Village.

She was simply eager to escape the dark alleys and village, following an inquisitor in a splendid uniform.

The shame she felt when she returned from her arduous training to find that the boy, unlike her, had not run away, but had fought against the darkness and driven it back… it was immense.

What was the purpose of her training, of being an inquisitor?

Her senior understood her feelings and was giving her a chance.

“I will report that his activities as an adventurer are permitted under the pretext of rooting out any remaining heretics who may be lurking in the Guild. Spend your time without regret.”

Maria’s heart fluttered before Ian’s stammering smile, who spoke less because he feared his wickedness would be exposed.

For Maria, the splendid uniform no longer signified that of an inquisitor.

It signified the uniform of a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild.

A smile spread across Iveta’s face as she watched the virtuous young receptionist and the honest young inquisitor.

Youth, huh?

Ah, youth.

Ivetta turned on her heel.

‘I must concoct a report for the capital, at least for the time being.’

The result of charming the villagers, gaining their support, and deceiving the Inquisitors so thoroughly.

The wicked brainwasher Ian, and the village of Sodom, had begun to enjoy a brief peace, free from the Noble Council’s scrutiny.

A consequence where only the wicked brainwasher, who had committed good deeds out of fear of the Inquisitors, was worn out and suffering.