I'm an Inquisitor, You're a Heretic
"What I want to do..." Agnes chewed over the Goddess's words again and again.
"We have plenty of time, so you may take your time to ponder it," the Goddess said. After watching Agnes for a moment, she turned around and plopped herself back down right in front of Yohan.
"It is rather awkward for us to be gathered like this without even a dining table to sit around." She looked up at Yohan and cracked a silly joke. It seemed she wanted to lighten the heavy atmosphere her story had cast over the room.
"Ugh—"
But at that joke, innocent Billy's face turned completely pale. Well, technically speaking, it was his fault...
Yohan gave the terrified half-troll a reassuring nod, signaling that it was fine. Then, he looked down, staring at the crown of the Goddess's head.
"Speaking of tables, didn't you say this room is your pocket dimension? Can't you just make one?" Yohan finally broke the silence.
At his question, the Goddess raised her head and met his gaze.
"I could, but consider this a part of your training."
With a rustle of her clothes, the Goddess stood up. This time, she walked over to Falco and plopped down right in front of her. Falco looked startled for a moment, but a gentle smile quickly graced her lips. Then, for some reason, she cast a smug, boasting look toward Yohan.
...
Yohan clicked his tongue inwardly. They really would be decent people if they just kept their mouths shut.
Come to think of it, the Goddess, Falco, and Billy were exactly the kind of fantasy companions Yohan had always dreamed of. They had already gone through life-and-death struggles together multiple times, and they had shared their deepest secrets. A righteous goddess wielding divine power, and an elf who looked incredibly cool to anyone—as long as she didn't speak.
But the reality was...
Well, at least Billy was a genuinely sweet and good guy. Yohan beamed a warm, affectionate smile at Billy for no particular reason.
"I-I'm so sorry. It's because I broke the table..."
It seemed Billy had completely misinterpreted Yohan's smile.
"Hey, seriously, it's fine. Don't worry about it," Yohan said, waving his hands to calm Billy down. Then, he pushed himself up and stood. "Screw it."
Since they were on the subject, he might as well try. He had long given up on creating a carriage and bringing it to the real world, but summoning a simple dining table shouldn't be that hard.
Flash!
"Oh."
A clean, sturdy dining table materialized before his eyes. Yohan let out a soft exclamation of awe. This wasn't some shabby table with a broken leg held together by duct tape; it was large and robust enough for a family of four to comfortably dine on. It felt a bit too big for the cramped single-room, but... he could always fold it up and lean it against the wall when they weren't using it.
"Mhm." Yohan rested his hands on the table. He then looked over at Agnes on the other side. Even while everyone else was fooling around, Agnes maintained a dead-serious expression. It was proof of how deeply she was agonizing over this.
Finally, Agnes raised her head. Every eye in the room instantly locked onto her.
"I have made my decision."
"Very well. What is it? Let us hear your resolve," the Goddess asked, gazing intently at Agnes, whose face was set with firm determination.
"What you have spoken is by no means a lie. Rather, the history of our Holy Kingdom that I have known until now was merely a half-truth, with parts of the records deliberately hidden."
"Or maybe those records never existed in the first place," Yohan chimed in.
Agnes's expression grew complicated at his words.
"Therefore..."
Is she finally getting to the point? Yohan held his breath, waiting for her to continue.
"I will return to the Holy Kingdom immediately and reveal the truth to everyone in the Church."
Wait, what? Yohan's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"And then, I will declare to His Holiness the Pope and all the believers that the Primary God we worship is but a mere half, and even that half has leaned in a corrupted direction—"
"Whoa, stop right there!" Yohan shouted before she could even finish.
Everyone, including Agnes, looked at him in sheer shock.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"W-What do you mean?" Agnes asked, utterly baffled by his sudden, frantic outburst.
"I have finally realized that the Central Church has been heading down a corrupted path for a very long time! And since I am the only believer of the Primary God who knows this truth, is it not the right path to make it known to all?"
Ah, this Inquisitor lady. Yohan had thought she was sharp and sensible, but looking at her now, she seemed to be from the exact same mold as Falco. She was definitely the type to charge ahead recklessly once her switch was flipped.
"Argh, that's exactly why you can't do that!"
Slam!
Unable to control his frustration, Yohan slammed his fist down onto the table. Fortunately, the newly summoned table was incredibly sturdy and didn't break. Falco patted her chest in relief, while Billy just stared blankly down at his own hands.
"Inquisitor. Yohan speaks the truth," the Goddess, who had been silent, chimed in to support him.
"But why? Was that not the reason you let me hear your voice and revealed the truth to me?" Agnes looked completely lost now that even the Goddess was siding with Yohan.
"If my suspicions are correct, my other half, the Primary God Justia, has not shown herself to the mortal world for a very long time. Is that not so?"
"Y-Yes, that is correct."
A deity taking a long slumber after achieving their goals was a fairly common trope. Furthermore, the reason Agnes had been losing her faith day by day despite being an Inquisitor was because she had never heard Justia's voice. This meant that, at least for now, Justia was not actively intervening in the world like the Unnamed Goddess was.
"Hey, let me explain the rest. It'll be faster."
"I was just about to hand it over to you."
Yohan immediately took the baton from the Goddess.
"So, basically, your Holy Kingdom's Central Church has been running solely on its followers' whims for at least a thousand years without any divine intervention."
"Well... yes."
Yohan let out a small sigh. "And you're an Inquisitor. You of all people should know exactly what the Holy Kingdom has been doing using their religion lately, right?"
Agnes fell silent at Yohan's question. After a long pause, she gave a heavy nod.
"The Holy Kingdom uses religion as a political tool. To put it bluntly, your higher-ups are running a business using faith."
Regardless of how devout individual believers were, the Holy Kingdom had long been using religion to expand its territory.
"In a situation like that, what do you think will happen if a mere Inquisitor goes around shouting, 'I found the truth! I will correct our faith!'?"
"..."
Perhaps because he had pressed her too hard, Agnes's face flushed bright red as she breathed heavily.
"T-Then..."
"Then?"
Thud!
Agnes suddenly leaned over the table, thrusting her face right up to Yohan's. Startled, Yohan fell backward onto his butt.
"What am I supposed to do then? Now that I finally know the truth and have barely managed to pull myself together, what can I possibly do?"
Agnes asked with desperate urgency. Her raw, agonizing plea made even Yohan soften for a brief moment.
"Sigh. What else is there to do?"
But he quickly composed himself and flashed a confident smirk at Agnes.
"Our Goddess is right here."
"Y-You mean..."
"Don't worship the Holy Kingdom's Central Church. Worship the Church of the Unnamed Goddess instead."
"Well, maybe not apostasy... more like switching denominations."
Agnes's eyes widened at Yohan's follow-up. After a moment, a flicker of anger crossed her face.
"Are you telling me to become a heretic?"
"Yeah."
Agnes asked in a stiff voice, and Yohan gave a curt reply.
"Even though you know exactly what my position is?"
"Yep."
Yohan's resolve was unwavering.
"They call it heresy, but at the end of the day, both sides share the exact same roots. Don't they?" Yohan asked.
Agnes looked troubled, but she reluctantly nodded. "W-Well, that is true..."
"And can you honestly say the Central Church has been acting righteously lately?"
Yohan saw right through her. Agnes was still struggling to let go of her identity as an Inquisitor. It was only natural, of course. She had grown up under the Central Church ever since she was a child.
Even so, Yohan was confident he could sway her. The reason lay in her reaction from earlier. The moment she instinctively realized the silly Goddess before her was of the same essence as the Primary God Justia, she had wept like a devout believer witnessing a miracle.
It felt a bit like corrupting a pious believer, but Yohan decided not to sweat the small stuff.
"If you go back to the Holy Kingdom right now and tell them the truth, do you really think the high and mighty lords up there will go, 'Oh dear, we must have made a mistake!'?"
"Ugh..."
Agnes couldn't find a single word to refute him. After all, her own request to dispatch troops to Junk Town had been utterly ignored and shot down by her superiors.
"If anything, you'll just be branded as a heretic yourself and suffer a terrible fate."
He wasn't just saying this to scare her. While they had some flexibility, the Holy Kingdom was still an institution that ruthlessly eradicated any unauthorized faiths. And as an Inquisitor of that very kingdom, Agnes knew this better than anyone else in the room.
Yohan's guess was spot on. Instead of arguing, Agnes merely let out a heavy, complicated sigh.
"In that case, wouldn't it be better to just join us?" Yohan said, extending his hand to her.
"Agnes. I, too, would be delighted if you joined our side," the Goddess added, backing Yohan up.
"Of course, traveling with us won't be a walk in the park. Frankly speaking, you used to be the one hunting down heretics. But now, you'll be the one running from them."
That was the real issue. The difference in scale between the Central Church and the Church of the Unnamed Goddess was astronomical. The only followers of the Unnamed Goddess were Yohan's party, Charles, and the villagers in the mountains.
"So, I won't force you. But going back to the capital and blabbing about this won't put us in danger—it'll put your own life on the line."
Yohan spoke with genuine concern. Once he finished, a heavy silence fell over the single-room.
"Very well."
Finally, Agnes broke the silence. She nodded, her face filled with absolute resolve.
"I have dedicated my entire life to the Church, praying every single day to hear the voice of the Primary God," Agnes said, her voice low as she looked at Yohan. "But the Church was nothing more than an interest group driven by power and money, and the god I served never once answered my prayers."
Agnes walked around the table toward the Goddess. Once again, she dropped to one knee.
"Goddess. I hereby renounce my position as an Inquisitor of the Holy Kingdom. I will believe in you and follow you, trusting that you will restore true justice to this world."
With that, the matter was settled. Agnes had officially declared her conversion to the Church of the Unnamed Goddess.
But...
"W-Wait a minute. What did you just say?"
Yohan caught onto a phrase that he absolutely could not let slide. He immediately pressed Agnes for clarification.
"Restore true justice...?"
"Of course. Is that not the reason the Goddess has returned to action? To punish the corrupt Central Church and reclaim the true, righteous values of our faith?"
"No, wait. No, no, hold on a second."
She was putting it in polite, noble terms, but if you boiled it down to a single sentence...
Wasn't she basically saying she wanted to start a holy war?