Chapter 198 - Chapter 197: Heresy Inquisition
The second day of the first week of the second month of Water.
According to information from Delivery, today is the day of Mika's heresy inquisition.
Mika was lying in bed when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs.
There were multiple footsteps.
Naturally, he couldn't tell the number of people just by the sound, but it didn't seem like it would be just two or three.
Mika sat up and lowered his feet from the bed.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, he hunched his back lazily.
No, he was truly feeling lazy.
He was hungry, too.
Waiting as he was, the footsteps stopped in front of the room.
Peeking inside through a thin hole for surveillance attached to the door, a loud clank sounded as the lock was opened.
Four Church Knights entered.
It seemed there were still Church Knights waiting outside.
"............Finally, am I being released...?"
Mika spoke in a weak voice, offering a powerless smile.
To the Church, Mika had been fasting for a week.
If he were too energetic, they would surely find it suspicious.
"Show your hands."
One of the Church Knights commanded unilaterally, not reacting to Mika's words.
Mika showed no sign of suspicion and obediently complied.
Even then, acting lazily.
Was it too obvious?
"......W-what are you doing...?"
Two Church Knights put a large wooden shackle on Mika's outstretched hands.
Mika resisted weakly, but the handcuffs were easily fitted onto his wrists.
By the way, [Physical Enhancement] was already active.
He had already heard that the heresy inquisition would begin this morning, so he had prepared as soon as he woke up.
Mika's combat preparations were complete.
Except for the hunger.
In the end, no interrogation or anything like that happened, and no one entered the room, so he slightly regretted that he should have asked them to bring him two meals, one for the night and one for the morning.
Two Church Knights roughly stood Mika up from both sides, shackled as he was.
Then one went around to the back and forced a gag into his mouth.
"......H-hold on... what... Nnnn...!"
Mika shook his head to resist, but it was easily attached.
Even Mika was genuinely irritated inside at this.
(Don't make me bite that filthy thing!)
They probably haven't even disinfected it properly.
Even if they had disinfected it properly, it would still feel unpleasant.
"He looks like a mage. We can't win if he uses [God's Miracle]."
The Church Knight standing in front sneered at Mika's appearance.
A little bit of real killing intent rose up.
Did he notice that look in his eyes? The Church Knight's face stiffened for a moment.
"Hmph. An annoying brat. Take him."
The knights standing on both sides of Mika obeyed the words of the Church Knight before him.
When they left the room, six Church Knights were there.
Ten in total.
They seemed to be very wary of just one person.
Well, even that wasn't nearly enough.
Mika was grabbed on both sides and descended the spiral staircase.
Arriving at the entrance of the tower, another ten or so were waiting.
Inside the tower, there was a door straight ahead after entering from the entrance.
It looked like a room for soldiers to wait or something, but the stone wall blocked the view inside.
When Mika was first brought here, he was immediately taken up the tower via the stairs on the side, so he didn't know what that room was.
But now, the door to that room was open.
And when he saw what was inside, he felt depressed.
What was there were stairs.
However, stairs leading downwards.
Stairs leading to the basement in a tower used for confinement.
Just this situation alone made him feel depressed.
Can you understand that feeling?
The depth was quite considerable.
He felt they had gone down about forty to fifty meters from the ground.
Arriving at a dimly lit stone corridor, bonfires were lit on both sides of the corridor.
And the flames of the bonfires flickered slightly.
(...Is the wind blowing?)
It seemed there was a mechanism for air circulation.
Otherwise, everyone would die of asphyxiation together.
The width of the corridor was about five meters.
Walking straight ahead, the path split into a corridor going forward and one turning right.
Then, joining several corridors, turning left, turning right, they made him walk a considerable distance.
Every time Mika turned a corner, he used [Orientation] to guess where he was going.
An unexpected opportunity for [Orientation], which he thought he would never use, had come.
You should keep everything, you know.
(The Great Cathedral...?)
He couldn't see it from the tower windows, but Delivery had told him this just in case he needed to escape on his own.
Which direction the Great Cathedral was in, where the First Wall was, where the Second Wall was, and so on.
That to leave the Church grounds, going that way was the shortest distance, and so on.
(I heard the Heresy Inquisition Office was inside the grounds... But... Won't we be going there?)
Delivery said that was the most likely possibility.
However, that was a facility used during the time when the heresy inquisition was held publicly.
It seemed the Information Broker Guild had searched until the very last moment, saying there was a possibility it would be held in another place.
Continuing to walk through the corridor, passing several wooden doors along the way, but passing them all without stopping.
Finally, a large wooden door appeared straight ahead.
Its imposing appearance would intimidate and shrink anyone.
Except for Mika.
(...Is this the place?)
He thought such things.
(Well, anywhere is fine.)
Who cares, it's not my business where to choose a place to die.
Mika had already made up his mind.
Whether it was dozens or hundreds, he was fully intending to kill everyone who colluded in this worthless conspiracy.
He had waited until the very last moment to avoid trouble and settle things peacefully, but it seemed to be in vain.
If so, there was only one path left.
Strike down with an iron hammer, quickly run away from the kingdom that would issue a wanted poster, and go to a new land.
He had money, and he could generate gold.
There would be some trouble until a living base was established, but that was the only problem.
No matter where he went, he should be able to get by to some extent.
Several Church Knights opened the door together.
At first glance, it didn't look like a courtroom.
There was a corridor in the middle, with spaces like audience seats on both sides.
However, now dozens of Church Knights were lined up.
And at the end of the corridor was a long, horizontal witness stand.
There were two men on the witness stand.
Those two men seemed to be in the same position as Mika.
The two tanned men were shackled, and their shackles were chained to the witness stand.
Mika silently allowed himself to be led by the Church Knights and stood on the witness stand.
Then he was chained like the others.
Looking up from the witness stand to the high dais in the front, three men were sitting like judges.
There were high steps on both sides, with five men sitting on each.
Only the man in the center of the front wore golden clothing.
The other men wore silver clothing.
(The Pope is in the middle, and the others are Cardinals, I suppose?)
They were dressed quite flashy and glittering.
Were they sprinkling sequins? Even in this dim room, they sparkled and reflected.
The heresy inquisition began.
It seemed to start with the two who had arrived earlier.
But it proceeded very smoothly and briskly.
Of course it would.
The old man in gold on the left was the prosecutor, and on the right was the defense attorney.
First, the old man on the left read out the charges from Mika's perspective.
Something about believing in a heresy, or how the evidence was this and that.
The defendant seemed to be from a foreign country.
He was accusing something in a foreign language.
Or rather, these two had been shouting something loudly the whole time, but I don't know what they were saying.
It seemed the same for the Church people; they had no intention of listening at all.
After the reading of the charges ended, the old man in gold asked the old man on the right, "Do you have any objections?"
The old man on the right nodded as if agreeing with what the defendant was saying, then answered, "None," while twisting the corner of his mouth mockingly.
Then the old man in gold declared "Guilty" and struck the wooden gavel.
Moving on to the next defendant.
Mika had a gag in his mouth and no translator for the foreigner.
In the first place, they had no intention of letting him argue or listening.
There was no point of contention.
So it ended quickly.
Watching such a farce, Mika almost laughed.
If they went this far, Mika would be happy.
He could unleash his power without any hesitation.
These guys were posing as clergy.
And that, the Pope and the Cardinals.
These guys should be destroyed.
He started to feel like it would be better to destroy the Church of Light itself from the face of the earth.
Was it individual corruption and decay?
Was the Church of Light itself rotten?
And just like that, the two were declared guilty, and it was Mika's turn next.
The two declared guilty remained at the scene without being taken anywhere.
Could it be that they found it troublesome to escort them one by one, so they planned to take all three to the execution ground at once?
Isn't that cutting corners too much?
The charges read out for Mika were that he had deceived people with a holy miracle.
He had deceived them into thinking he could lift curses and swindled money and goods.
It was a story he had heard somewhere before, but the number of cases was greatly exaggerated.
It was said to be over a hundred cases.
For the Church, swindling money and goods was a crime, but deceiving people with the [God's Miracle] [Dispelling], a holy miracle, was the heaviest crime of all.
"Do you have any objections?"
The old man in gold asked not Mika, but the man on the right.
Then the old man on the right glanced at Mika, who had a gag in his mouth, twisted the corner of his mouth mockingly, and answered, "None."
The old man in gold declared him guilty and struck the wooden gavel.
Kaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......
The dry sound of the wooden gavel echoed through the courtroom.
The moment Mika's execution by burning was decided.
Mika let out a soft sigh.
Mika listened to the sound of the gavel with a cold heart.
(...Was the farce fun?)
He asked in his mind, since he had a gag in his mouth.
Well then, is it time to stop now?
■■■■■■
"Ora, yotto!"
Yaroibarov used a large ladle to sweep aside the Church Knight before him.
He had no momentum, but with his overwhelming physical strength, three Church Knights were blown sideways.
The blown-away Church Knights were slammed against the wall and fainted.
He deflected a sword thrust coming from the front with a large frying pan.
The Church Knight who was deflected fell, taking the Church Knights behind him with him.
Yaroibarov, Ozendorwa, Rubalwarus, and Wagnare entered boldly through the main entrance of the Great Cathedral.
Leading with Yaroibarov, who knew the location of the heresy inquisition, they calmly intruded into an area where entry was prohibited for anyone other than Church officials.
Kicking aside panicked clergy and Church Knights, they advanced steadily, and Church Knights gathered like ants.
Yaroibarov skillfully knocked out the Church Knights who had only fallen using his ladle and frying pan.
A single thwack on top of their helmets was enough to make them all faint.
Rubalwarus had been reported that "Yaroibarov is a dangerous person," but he never thought he would be this out of the ordinary.
Ozendorwa was also quite something.
Ozendorwa did not draw his sword, dealing with them with his bare hands.
He was fast, but there was no way to understand how he could get inside their range so easily.
And then, he threw them away or knocked them unconscious with ease.
Rubalwarus also drew his sword and followed the two, but he never swung his sword once.
There was no need to swing it.
"Both of you, why don't you come to the Leventein house?"
He couldn't help but say those words.
Even though he knew it was useless...
Rather, the one having trouble was the Leventein knight they had brought along.
He was holding the rear, stopping the Church Knights, but he couldn't knock them out or knock them unconscious as skillfully as the two in front.
And his equipment was without armor.
It was a difficult situation to stop the surging Church Knights.
"Yaroibarov. I'll take the front. I'll stay at the rear."
"Yeah, the rear is getting shaky. That's fine."
Yaroibarov readily accepted Ozendorwa's proposal.
With Ozendorwa taking the rear, he knocked unconscious or threw back the surging Church Knights, holding back their fierce assault.
Even in a battlefield filled with angry shouts, Wagnare calmly followed behind Rubalwarus.
He seemed to have more guts than expected.
"A place suitable for use in the heresy inquisition inside the Great Cathedral... The Church Court?"
He muttered such things.
"The Church Court? What is that?"
Rubalwarus couldn't help but speak up at Wagnare's muttering.
He had never heard of such a thing.
"It's something abolished long ago, in ancient times."
Wagnare walked while stepping over the unconscious Church Knights.
"The history of the Church is old. Older than the kingdom. In an era when no country had yet established itself as a state. There was a time when the Church judged the people."
"............How long ago was that?"
"If we go back, it would be several thousand years ago, but what is here in the Great Cathedral isn't that old. It was actually used until about a thousand years ago, I believe."
One thousand years.
Did you think that was close or far?
The Kingdom of Ektrem had already been founded.
But as for what kind of relationship the kingdom and the Church had at that time, even Rubalwarus didn't know.
It wouldn't be strange if there were differences from the current law where the lord makes the ruling.
"So they're using a place like a ruin?"
"I'm just guessing that it's the most likely place among the possibilities. In reality, it wouldn't be strange if it were held in a conference room somewhere. After all, it's just a formality, a heresy inquisition, right?"
"Hmph... That's true."
If they were going to maintain the form, they would do it in a place that looked like it.
If they didn't even have the intention to maintain the form, they could just gather the documents.
What investigation was conducted, what inquisition was held, what ruling was made.
Even if such an inquisition was never actually held, as long as the documents were in order, no one would know later.
"We're going down from here. Don't roll off."
Yaroibarov called out in front of the stairs.
That staircase had an iron door, but it was currently open.
And the feeling of the wall was clearly different between the stairs and the Great Cathedral.
"......So, it is the Church Court."
Wagnare's face turned stern after seeing the stairs.
Records state that only those with very serious crimes were sent to the Church Court of the Great Cathedral in the past.
Once you were put in, you wouldn't come out alive.
Such historical facts weighed on Wagnare's heart.
It was the dark history of the Church, not generally known today.
They went down the stairs with Yaroibarov in the lead.
However, almost no Church Knights came from the bottom of the stairs.
"Why aren't they coming out?"
"This isn't a place used regularly, so there's probably no place for Church Knights to be stationed."
"Is that so."
Yaroibarov nodded ambiguously at Wagnare's reply.
Going down the stairs, there were several layers.
But what was there were only cells.
Rubalwarus wondered why such things existed under the Great Cathedral.
Noticing Rubalwarus's reaction, Wagnare said something unexpected.
"You seem quite surprised, but there is one in Sarbengeal too."
"What!?"
Rubalwarus raised his voice in surprise.
He had visited the Great Cathedral in Sarbengeal many times, but he hadn't noticed such a place existed.
Mostly, he hadn't walked around thoroughly, so it wasn't strange that he didn't notice.
"Most Great Cathedrals have such places. However, now the iron doors at the entrances should be buried with concrete so they can't be entered. As far as I know, the only place where the entrance isn't buried is the Royal Capital [here]."
"............I'll ask to inspect it next time."
When Rubalwarus said that with a grim face, Wagnare answered with an expressionless "Please do."
And they arrived at the lowest level, proceeding down the corridor.
The commotion at the rear where Ozendorwa was holding the rear echoed, making it quite noisy.
Noticing that commotion, the wooden door at the end of the corridor opened, and Church Knights poured out like water.
"That seems to be the destination."
Yaroibarov said in a light tone.
Then Yaroibarov cut a path again.
Blowing away the surging Church Knights without difficulty, knocking them unconscious, and advancing steadily.
Without any trouble, Yaroibarov reached the room in the back and found Mika with cold eyes.