The Inquisitor Is More Merciful Than He Appears

The road through the provincial city was surprisingly well-maintained for a place of its size. When I finally arrived at the massive castle, the sight felt all too familiar. Without any interference, I stepped inside and quietly observed the lord of the castle who had come out to greet me.

A middle-aged man with fierce eyes and a wild, impressive beard immediately began mocking me. I pressed a hand to my forehead. Please, not this again. Really.

To be honest, suspecting my own father wasn’t exactly pleasant for me either. But…

Under normal protocol, I should never have been sent here. In that sense, this could actually be seen as a gesture of mercy from the Church. Yet the teachings of the merciful Goddess Yuno still seemed far too early for my father to accept.

Oh dear… He’s really furious this time.

For a moment I instinctively reached for a cigarette, only to remember that I had quit completely after becoming a cleric. My empty hand awkwardly patted my pocket instead. Dealing with my father had always been exhausting. Whether it was deciding on Mother’s funeral arrangements after her death, or choosing his next marriage partner afterward—Father had never once bent his own will.

Even so, that unbending will of his would have to yield before the gods. Watching me speak in such a businesslike tone, Father clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Getting angry won’t change anything for you. The days when those thick fists could scare me had ended long ago—well after I turned twenty. The same fists that had terrified me as a child now only looked like the desperate flailing of a has-been. It was almost pitiful.

"Then I will begin the investigation."

Normally the accuser would have been my father’s new wife, Drina Abnaigel. But in this case, the one who had filed the report was Ruth Anophil, the family’s senior knight.

She—Drina Abnaigel—was the daughter of a minor noble house without any territory of its own. Her face was quite attractive. Her lush brown hair looked soft, her breasts were large, and her hips were wide. Exactly Father’s type. Her age was roughly… the same as mine? Well, such age gaps were common among the nobility.

Not surprising at all.

When Mother died, Father had openly rejoiced that he could finally pursue younger women. In that light, this choice was almost inevitable. I evaluated her with a dry, emotionless gaze. She trembled under my cold stare.

People usually feared the title of Inquisitor, but in truth most inquisitors were powerless scholars. Without holy knights to protect them, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they were helpless. It was common for investigation targets to kill inquisitors the moment they were separated from their escorts. In that sense, the fact that I worked alone made me the odd one out.

In any case, I had been born with a unique magic that could accurately detect whether adultery had occurred, provided only the parties involved were present.

Unique Magic.

Every human is born with at least one unique magic, but only a tiny fraction can actually manifest it. Mine, among that rare few, was particularly bizarre.

Scratch. Scratch.

I carved a magical mark onto Father with my mana, then did the same to the woman. Father ranted and raved, but I paid him no mind. I continued preparing the spell without concern.

That should be enough… Should I set the timeframe from after their marriage?

Having roughly finished my preparations, I muttered to myself and spoke to the two of them.

I didn’t care what they answered. My only interest was the mission I had been assigned. Therefore, this was not a request but a notification. Regardless of whether their mouths opened or not, I activated the magic at that very moment.

Please, just this once… let there be nothing.

I was transported into an unknown space. And in that instant, I confirmed—sadly, but undeniably—that adultery had taken place.

This was my magic. It showed me the time of two people.

I still didn’t understand why such a power had been given to me, but… I could see whether those I had marked had engaged in sexual relations with anyone other than each other. The period was whatever I designated. This time I had set it from after their marriage, yet something still appeared. That meant one of them had slept with someone else even after the wedding.

I see.

I really hadn’t wanted to see this… That was the honest truth. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching other people intertwine their bodies. So I watched the scene unfolding before me with a bitter smile.

In a way, Father was an extremely rigid man. The fact that he had never touched another woman while Mother was alive proved it. The fact that he raged at me for being an inquisitor yet never once considered laying a hand on me proved it as well. So what were the chances that such a man would commit the clear sin of adultery?

Honestly… they had been low.

That was why, on my way here, I had placed the highest odds on his innocence. But now that possibility had completely vanished.

If it wasn’t Father, then the real heretic had already been obvious.

So the heretic was this side.

I looked at the woman panting on the bed—my stepmother, whom I was seeing for the first time—and smiled bitterly. I didn’t know who her partner was, but it clearly wasn’t Father.

The timeframe… I see. Quite recent.

Since this magic showed events starting from the most recent, that was only natural.

As I continued watching the footage, I eventually identified the adulterous partner. So that’s how it is… In that case, the charge of false accusation would also have to be added.

I hope Father doesn’t lose his mind over this.

I smiled wryly as I continued checking the footage. They had sex in all sorts of places. Just now it had been the lord’s bedroom, and now it was the stable. He had lured her by saying he would teach her how to ride, and the naïve woman had followed him obediently. They consummated their passion there.

Lying on a pile of straw, she accepted his large body and let out heated breaths. He roughly kneaded her ample breasts and devoured her cherry-like lips. At first she had hesitated, but she soon drowned in the pleasure he gave her, panting in his arms.

Quite passionate, wasn’t it? Seeing him casually finish inside her, it looked like he was used to creampies… Goodness. Was he trying to plant a cuckoo in the family nest? If the other party hadn’t been so greedy, it might have actually succeeded.

I continued skipping through the footage with a calm expression, entertaining such thoughts. The next location was the kitchen. After sending all the cooks away, he thoroughly ravished her while she wore nothing but an apron. At first she had bowed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠her head in shame at the embarrassing outfit, but she soon responded to his movements, dripping her juices onto the kitchen floor.

After that… he simply made her stand against the wall from behind and pounded her like a dog. I observed it all in a businesslike manner, occasionally listening to their words to gather information. Most of it was meaningless, but the man’s solitary mutterings after sex contained quite a lot of useful details.

They enjoyed themselves in a surprisingly wholesome way?

I was slightly surprised. In truth, compared to the things I had seen in this line of work, this was relatively tame. I had witnessed far worse—men committing the horrific heresy of discarding sacred seed by penetrating anuses, heretics who took goats as lovers, and even those who sinned against their own sons. But none of that was relevant right now.

Skip to the next.

There didn’t seem to be any information worth gathering from their sex itself beyond the simple fact that they had committed adultery. So I skipped, and skipped, and skipped again.

They really did have a lot of stamina. How many scenes were there?

Just counting roughly, I’ve passed over a hundred.

Checking them all would be impossible, and at this point I had already seen everything worth seeing. The woman’s monologues were mostly just about the sensation of that day’s sex or her fear of the forbidden act… but the man’s mutterings contained far more useful information.

So, for the last one… I decided to check only the very first time they had come together. I checked my remaining mana. This much should be enough, right? Because Unique Magic consumed so much power, the fact that I had been this careful was already quite unusual. Normally I would have only watched the very first act of adultery and moved on. Still, since this involved my family, I had investigated with the utmost caution.

Such filial piety from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their son. Father would never know.

Muttering what even I recognized as nonsense, I reached for the very first scene. Maintaining this magic for too long was difficult, so I planned to watch only this and end it.

"…I see. So it started from then."

I nodded as I watched their first intercourse. There had indeed been adultery. But the heretic who had been reported was not my father. The true heretics… were my stepmother and this man.