I'm an Inquisitor, and You're a Heretic, Part 3
"Mmm..."
How the hell was he supposed to answer that? Yohan let out a low groan, pondering his options. The correct answer was definitely the latter. From the Holy Kingdom's perspective, Yohan was indeed a heretic who worshipped a false god.
"First of all, I've confirmed through the holy water that you aren't a demon worshipper," Agnes said.
Right, she had mentioned earlier that if he were a demon or a cultist, his skin would have melted the moment it touched the holy water.
"But Yohan, you've not only slain multiple low-level devils with the body of a mere human, but you also have experience fighting and defeating demons far stronger than them."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
For now, play dumb. Yohan decided to hold his ground, trying to avoid outright lying while still playing coy.
"Are you really going to try and hide it at this point? You were the one who defeated the high-level devil in the Undercity of Balifield and blasted a hole through the ceiling, weren't you?"
"..."
There was no wiggle room left. Yohan glanced over at Falco, but she only shook her head, looking just as stumped as he was. Ah, screw it. Might as well own up to what's already out there. Yohan gave a casual shrug.
"Yeah. The guy who blew a hole in the bottom of Balifield? That was me."
"I-I see."
He admitted it so readily that Agnes was the one who ended up looking slightly flustered by his breezy attitude.
"I'm also the one who beat down the demon-possessed, man-eating troll, and I'm the one who clashed with those Pandemonium bastards around here not too long ago."
Since the cat was already out of the bag, there was no point in hiding anything. Yohan rattled off the list of enemies he had recently dispatched.
"So, what are you gonna do about it?" Yohan asked, looking Agnes dead in the eye. "You gonna arrest me? Take me down to the Inquisition's basement torture chambers and pull out my fingernails because I use some sketchy-looking power?"
"I... I didn't expect you to admit it so honestly."
"Hey, I've decided to live a good life, believe it or not. I don't go around telling pointless lies."
Indeed, he didn't lie. Yohan smirked inwardly. He would try to smooth-talk his way out of this, and if things went south, he'd just look for an opening and bolt. Of course, if he actually ran, he'd be hunted by Inquisitors for the rest of his days. If possible, it was best to settle things with Agnes right here and now.
The problem was how to settle it... No matter how much he racked his brain, he couldn't think of a plausible solution. Asking Agnes, a Heresy Inquisitor, to just let him go was like a prime suspect asking a cop to let them slide. In this godforsaken fantasy world, merely believing in any religion not officially sanctioned by the Holy Kingdom was a capital offense.
Should I just knock her flat and run? Yohan briefly entertained the thought.
But no, that was a terrible idea. For one thing, Yohan didn't actually dislike Agnes. In fact, he thought rather highly of her. Despite holding the title of a Heresy Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom, she didn't throw her weight around blindly. She was usually easygoing, and her willingness to put her life on the line for innocent people gave her a genuine, human charm that Yohan respected.
Even now, she could have easily used her authority to wipe a lawless settlement like Junk Town off the map. Instead, she had respected Sheriff Wilhelm's position and had gone out of her way to give Yohan a private chance to explain himself.
—This is quite a headache. If she were simply a wicked soul, we could have just punched her in the jaw and gone on our way.
The Goddess seemed to share Yohan's sentiments. Her sigh echoed in his mind.
"Anyway, you're giving me a chance to explain myself right now. Is that right?"
"Indeed," Agnes replied curtly.
"Fine. To be honest, I don't want to fight you either."
Saying so, Yohan raised his right hand. He channeled his Apostle's Authority and summoned the Light Sword. Agnes instinctively reached for the mace at her waist, but stopped herself when she saw the weapon fully manifest.
"That is no ordinary magic. In fact, rather than magic... it resembles the Miracle Arts of the Holy Knights."
Agnes offered her honest assessment as she scrutinized the glowing blade. Yohan nodded slightly.
"Wait, those Holy Knight bastards from the Holy Kingdom can do this too?"
"You truly do not know. To be precise, they imbue ordinary weapons with divine power, causing the entire weapon to radiate a brilliant light."
"Huh."
Apparently, in this world, sword-qi-like techniques were the exclusive domain of Holy Knights rather than Swordmasters.
"Well, if that's the case, I guess they are pretty similar."
"Yes."
While the Light Sword Yohan wielded took the shape of a blade and could physically cut through objects, its essence was rooted in the power of the Unnamed Goddess. It was less of a physical weapon and more of a materialized form of divine energy.
"So, you have been slaying demons with that sword all this time?"
Yohan nodded at Agnes's question. "Yeah. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve, but I'm not really the type to go around naming my moves."
"Then the hole blasted through the ceiling of the Balifield Underworld, and the wasteland nearby being turned upside down recently... those were also the work of this sword's power?"
"To be exact, it's not the sword, but the power of the god I worship."
Yohan promptly dismissed the Light Sword.
"A god?"
"Yeah. As you probably guessed from what you just saw, I'm one of those guys who worships what you'd call a heretical god."
The moment the word "heretical" slipped from Yohan's mouth, Agnes's brow twitched slightly.
"But I'm not a bad guy," Yohan preempted before Agnes could even formulate a response. "Seriously."
He threw the claim out there, but internally, Yohan worried whether Agnes would actually buy it. From his perspective as a modern Earthling, whether it was the Central Church of the Holy Kingdom or the Church of the Unnamed Goddess, they were just different religions worshipping different deities. However, in the worldview of Agnes, a native of this world, every single religion outside of the Central Church was synonymous with heresy and evil.
This wasn't Yohan looking down on the people of this world as fools. It was simply the common sense of this world—specifically, of the people from the Holy Kingdom at the heart of the continent.
"A heretic who worships a false god, yet is not a bad person..."
Sure enough, Agnes reacted exactly as Yohan had anticipated.
"Look, I get that it's hard to swallow. You've probably been taught your whole life that anything deviating from orthodoxy is evil."
Agnes remained silent at Yohan's words. Her brow furrowed slightly, her mind clearly in turmoil.
"You've spent your entire life believing that being different means being wrong, haven't you?"
Though she had recently shown a deep-seated annoyance toward her duties, Agnes was still someone who had lived her entire life with devout faith.
"So—"
Just as Yohan was about to continue, Agnes suddenly raised a palm to stop him. Yohan swallowed his words and blinked in surprise.
"No, that is not what I meant. Yohan, you are misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding? Me? Why?"
What the hell was she talking about now? Yohan tilted his head, completely bewildered.
"Pfft."
Instead of answering, Agnes let out a dry chuckle. She cast a strange look at Yohan.
"If you were a Holy Knight of the Holy Kingdom operating under a hidden identity, my task would be simple. Your innocence would be proven, and I could simply return to the capital."
Yohan remained silent as she spoke.
"Or, if you were a great mage or a warrior who had trained their body to its absolute limits, that too would pose no issue. For an exceptionally skilled mage, firing a beam capable of melting solid rock is hardly a difficult feat."
"No, wait... isn't the whole problem that I'm worshipping a heretical god and using that power?"
In the end, wasn't she just saying, "I'm trying to figure out how to execute this heretical bastard"? Yohan raised his voice slightly, demanding an answer. Behind him, Falco and Billy's expressions darkened instantly.
"No. You are still misunderstanding. That is not the issue."
"Damn it, then what the hell is it?"
"Hehehe..." Agnes chuckled once more.
"Ordinary heretics are not as strong as you, nor do they act like you. Even if they do worship some deity, most of them are incapable of channeling divine power, focusing instead on lining their own pockets."
Cult leaders who used faith as a scam to swindle money and goods from their followers—those were the kinds of heretics she was referring to.
"Furthermore, even if they do possess sincere faith, more often than not, the object of their worship is a demon, not a god."
This was precisely why the Holy Kingdom equated heresy with evil. While heretical faith itself wasn't inherently malevolent, any heretical faith that wielded significant power was, nine times out of ten, evil. That was why the Holy Kingdom would overlook the folk religions of remote mountain villages—either letting them off if they apostatized and joined the Central Church, or treating them as targets for missionary work. However, they would hunt down any heretics who actually wielded the power of a divine entity to cause chaos, stopping at nothing to eradicate them.
"But you fit into neither category," Agnes said, staring intently at Yohan. "Your power is far too immense to be some local folk religion born in the borderlands. This means the status of the god you serve is of an entirely different caliber."
Her observation was incredibly sharp. Yohan swallowed hard without realizing it.
"When a mere human displays such martial prowess and slays demons, we call it a miracle."
Her next words coincidentally mirrored what the villagers of the mountain hamlet had said not long ago. The only difference was that the villagers had been saved by the miracle they witnessed, whereas the miracle Agnes spoke of was, depending on the circumstances, something that might need to be judged.
"The status of a god, huh..."
"Just as there are low-level devils and high-level demons, there are also tiers among divine existences."
"Yeah, I know that much."
Yohan mulled over the words Agnes had just spoken. The Guardian Deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe they had encountered earlier had said something similar. The status of a mere tribal guardian deity and that of the Unnamed Goddess were worlds apart.
"And yet, you do not commit evil deeds. Despite possessing such formidable power, you do not hesitate to fight the dangerous demons of Pandemonium."
Agnes suddenly took a step closer. Yohan instinctively took a step back.
"Yohan. Do you realize that your actions up until now align perfectly with the doctrines of the Central Church?" Agnes asked, unfazed by his retreat. "Our Holy Kingdom's faith in the Primary God contains countless teachings within its scriptures. But there is a single, core value that pierces through all of them."
"And what's that?" Yohan asked.
"It is..."
Flash!
Just as Agnes was about to answer, a brilliant light flared beside Yohan. Suddenly, the Goddess manifested, taking the form of a beautiful adult woman.
"Ah, shit! You scared the crap out of me!"
Startled, Yohan cursed reflexively. His eyes went wide as he stared at her.
"..."
Agnes was equally shocked. In fact, she couldn't even squeeze out a single word. While Yohan and his companions were relatively fine, having encountered the Goddess's true form multiple times, Agnes was completely frozen in place by the overwhelming divine majesty radiating from her.
The Goddess cast a brief glance at Yohan, then turned her head and stepped toward Agnes.