Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 42
Chapter Title: The Inquisitor's Warning
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"Amen."
At Leviham's lead, the congregation bowed their heads and echoed the word.
As the worshippers finished the service and naturally rose from their seats, beginning to file out of the cathedral one by one, a mix of reverence and bustle filled the air.
Leviham was packing up his personal items from the pulpit to leave the cathedral himself when an inquisitor in black priestly robes approached with a troubled expression.
It was Hamtarshin, who had been dispatched to the Deharem estate before.
"Um, Bishop."
"Ah! Priest Hamtarshin."
Leviham greeted him with his characteristic kindly smile.
"Do you have some business with me?"
"Well... I heard that Your Excellency plans to visit the Deharem estate today."
"Oh, yes. I'm curious about that tremendous magic that occurred at the Deharem estate yesterday, and I also wanted to pay my respects to Family Head Theorad, a devout follower."
At the words "devout follower," Hamtarshin's brow furrowed.
As long as the elf's mark remained on his body, he couldn't speak the truth, but since it was the bishop he respected, he wanted to offer at least some warning.
"This is just my personal opinion, but stepping foot in the Deharem household doesn't seem like a good idea."
"A bad idea..."
"Hmm." Leviham stroked his chin and asked innocently,
"Could you tell me why you think that, Priest Hamtarshin?"
"...My instincts tell me so."
"Your instincts."
Leviham tilted his head.
"Is an inquisitor who serves the divine trying to block my path just because his instincts are bad? That doesn't seem like a valid reason. Or is there some shady deal happening at the estate that I don't know about?"
Hamtarshin's shoulders twitched.
It felt like Leviham was testing him.
He could sense a sharp clarity of suspicion lurking behind that smiling face.
But he wouldn't know the full details. He had just noticed that "something" had happened at the estate.
'I have to stop him...'
No matter how exceptional Leviham, the diocese bishop, was at holy magic, there was no way he could stand against that monstrous elf.
To stop the elf, it would take at least the church's holy knight order...
Or perhaps His Holiness the Pope or Her Grace the Saint personally visiting the estate to purge the unholy.
And yet, Hamtarshin couldn't bring himself to speak. The elf's chilling warning echoed relentlessly in his mind.
— With this, I can kill you anytime. A pathetic wretch who mistakes blind faith for divinity. Do you understand what that means?
The imprinted memory overwhelmed his conscience.
Ironically, in the holiest of places—the cathedral—Hamtarshin feared defying the elf more than the sin of lying repeatedly.
Thus, he couldn't block the bishop's decision.
"...Nothing happened at the estate."
He had always believed faith mattered more than life, but when his life was truly at stake, he couldn't act on it.
"Still, please be careful, Bishop."
He hid the tremor in his voice by bowing his head.
Leviham turned his suspicion into certainty from Hamtarshin's behavior but didn't show it.
After all, his true purpose for visiting the Deharem estate was to obtain clear evidence of whatever had turned a once-devout inquisitor into a coward.
"Yes. I'll be careful, Priest Hamtarshin."
Discussing the great magic was merely a pretext for the visit.
If it turned out that Theorad had intimidated Hamtarshin and tried to bend a servant of the Lord to his whim, he deserved divine punishment.
For the God of Light willed it so.
"And don't worry too much."
Leviham looked up behind him with a benevolent expression.
A massive statue of the goddess reached to the cathedral ceiling, gazing down upon them with divinity.
Before that majestic sight, Leviham recited with conviction,
"The God of Light does not betray the faithful."
*
"Puhahaha!"
Inside the carriage heading back to the estate, Baynon suddenly burst into laughter.
He slapped his thigh repeatedly, wiping away tears from whatever amused him so much.
"...Are you mad?"
"No. Isn't it hilarious, young master?"
"What is?"
"Dremes using formal speech with you. 'I'll serve you properly, young mastah... Puh-huh!"
His impression was overly exaggerated. Seeing my displeased glare, Baynon wiped the tears from his eyes and steadied his breathing.
"Anyway, thanks to you, I got a good laugh. Thank you, young master."
"A laugh? You said witches establish hierarchy on first meetings by acting bitchy."
"That's true too, but it was still funny. Dremes is probably at her shop right now, spewing every curse in the book and breathing fire. With a bit of exaggeration, she might even come to kill me soon."
"...Wouldn't that be a problem if she came to kill you?"
Baynon smirked at my question.
"She can come to kill me, but she won't. Witches don't harm their 'friends.' It's an unwritten rule in witch society."
"That's new to me. Is it hard to befriend a witch?"
"Hmm. Yeah, pretty hard. I heard even non-church folk joined the church's witch hunts back in the day. So witches basically don't like humans."
"Yet you managed to befriend one, Baynon. What's the story there?"
"It's a long explanation... Not very entertaining, so you probably don't want to hear it. More importantly, did I ever tell you about the time I fucked an orc?"
Sly fox. He changed the subject so smoothly it was like breathing. And the biggest problem here was that the 'orc story' piqued my curiosity immensely.
But I was the head of the prestigious Deharem family and a viscount trusted by the earl himself. For the sake of dignity, I couldn't just say I was curious.
Instead, I gave a subtle glance to hint at it.
"May I tell you?"
"If you really want to."
"Heh heh. Understood."
Leaning back in his seat, Baynon reminisced.
"Back when I was a mercenary—long before the orc subjugation war. I was taking on every commission that came my way, and one day, I got a request to clear out an orc tribe in the nearby mountains."
"And?"
"I figured I couldn't handle it alone, so I gathered some skilled adventurers. There was even a wizard among them. But when we got there, the orcs were way too strong. My skills were crap back then, too."
Baynon clicked his tongue and continued.
"We got utterly crushed and ended up as hostages of the orc tribe. I thought we were done for, but get this—the tribe chief was a female orc. So I used my wits."
"Baynon. You don't mean..."
"Yeah. I yelled that we'd have a go, and if I satisfied her, she'd let us go alive. The chief must've found me amusing because that night, she had me attend her. But once I entered her hut, panic hit me."
It was getting hard to listen to.
"How was I supposed to match that massive bitch with a human dick? I'm not small, but not enough to blow an orc's mind. So I decided to use tools. I borrowed the wizard's staff, strapped it to my dick, and went all-out survival sex..."
I raised my hand to stop him, unable to hear more.
"That's enough."
"Huh? The fun part's just starting. This is pretty famous among mercenaries, you know?"
"Famous or not, the fact you're alive here lets me guess the rest. I don't want to hear what I don't need to."
Baynon scratched his cheek and nodded indifferently.
"If that's how you see it, young master."
Even without me, no one would want to hear the nitty-gritty of orc-fucking.
Feeling queasy for no reason, I turned to gaze out the window. As I calmed my rattled mind with the breeze on my face—
Clunk!
The carriage stopped, and the coachman opened the door.
"Family Head, Knight! We're here."
"Right. Good work."
Baynon hopped out first with the crystal orb. I followed, walking beside him toward the estate entrance.
My eyes were fixed on the crystal orb in Baynon's hand. Seeing the orb marked by the witch stirred my curiosity.
"By the way, Baynon. The church and witches had a big clash in the past. Is it okay for witches to do business in a territory with church folks around?"
"No big issue. We acknowledged each other's freedoms on Walpurgis Night. Of course, if church people find out you're trading with a witch, you'll get misunderstandings."
"Misunderstandings like?"
"Usually just a scolding, but if it's someone devout, it could give them grounds to brand you a heretic...?"
Baynon stopped mid-sentence and froze in place.
I naturally halted too, following his gaze—and ended up just as rigid as ice.
'Bishop Leviham?'
Dressed in pristine white priestly robes with a blue stole around his neck, Leviham was examining the magic circle etched in the front yard.
Keeping the stole on—did that mean he was here on official church business?
He wandered around post-service sometimes, but this situation was extremely awkward.
Because we were holding a crystal orb stamped with a witch's mark.
"Uh... I think he saw us, young master."
To make matters worse, Leviham had spotted us.
Seeing him wave lightly with a smile sent chills down my spine.
I swallowed hard and forced myself to speak calmly.
"Baynon. I value the family’s prestige and the safety of our retainers above all else. Even if I die, the family’s honor and the lives of our people must be guaranteed."
"I know that well."
"That’s why, sometimes, for the greater good, one person has to sacrifice."
"Young master? What are you...?"
It was fine if he didn’t understand. I turned to Baynon with a solemn tone.
"So from now on, that crystal orb is yours."
Baynon blinked for about three seconds before asking in disbelief.
"...Mine?"
Baynon stared blankly down at the crystal orb, then lifted his head to look at me, opening his mouth as if he couldn’t comprehend.