The Fantasy Adultery Investigator
The gunshot rang out. Asa stepped out of the inn and immediately squeezed her eyes shut at the horrific scene before her. All around, men lay collapsed with shattered legs, none of them dead—only clinging to life. The attack had been so obsessively focused on breaking limbs that it almost felt malicious. As they writhed and groaned in agony, one man stood alone amid the carnage.
He was brushing off his black priestly robes with casual flicks of his hand. A strikingly handsome man with sharp green eyes that seemed a touch colder when he looked down at the broken bodies. His brown hair swayed gently in the breeze. Then Yusuba slowly walked out to join them.
“That’s… him, right?”
Yusuba seemed to recognize the man the instant he saw him. It would have been impossible not to. If a priest who had suddenly arrived in this place displayed such an absurd level of power, anyone would immediately think of him.
“This is straight out of a fantasy novel. The guy himself, I mean.”
Staring at the scene before him, Yusuba muttered with a sickened expression. Was that even human? Subduing a whole group of armed men with guns without killing a single one? For a moment, Yusuba genuinely wondered if the priest had stepped out of some fantasy story or myth rather than reality.
Well… he was the man who had killed Amon. In that sense, perhaps the fantasy comparison was closer to the truth.
“Fantasy, huh… It’s problematic to view a perfectly normal person as some fictional being from a delusion.”
Of course he had heard. The priest turned to Yusuba with a smile and approached with light steps.
‘H-he’s huge.’
Asa’s eyes widened in shock as she looked at the priest standing before her. She was around 168 centimeters tall, yet this priest stood nearly a full head taller than her. While she was still reeling from that realization, the priest smiled and greeted them.
“Nice to meet you. Sir Yusuba, and Lady Asa.”
Even his gentle tone did nothing to ease the tension. Yusuba thought exactly that as he snapped into a rigid salute, face tight with nerves.
“Yes, sir! Inquisitor Jenkinson! We have been waiting as ordered!”
Yusuba answered with perfect military posture. Asa, who had been momentarily stunned, quickly followed suit and saluted as well.
“Speak comfortably. Most inquisitors have to hide their identities quite often…”
Crunch.
In the middle of his sentence, a man who had been crawling forward tried to slash at his ankle. Jenkinson casually stomped on the man’s hand, crushing it completely. He looked down at the man—who was in so much pain he couldn’t even scream—with pity, then continued.
“…quite often. It would be best to change out of those uniforms. Unless you plan on openly advertising that you’re holy knights, that is.”
There were far more situations than one might think where being recognized as a holy knight caused problems. Unless it was a special case like Ilena, holy knights who assisted inquisitors were better off wearing inconspicuous clothing. Simply having a holy knight in tow was enough to reveal that the person was an inquisitor.
“We will change immediately.”
Jenkinson nodded at Yusuba’s crisp reply, then glanced at Asa, who had remained silent. Only then did she speak.
“I-I will correct it at once.”
Despite her words, she clearly looked unhappy about having to change out of her uniform. Watching her, Jenkinson decided she was still quite young and inexperienced compared to Yusuba.
“I don’t know what kind of pride you take in being a holy knight, but…”
It was good to have pride in performing sacred duties. However…
“If you interfere with my work, I will send you straight back to the Holy Kingdom. Keep that in mind.”
He would not tolerate anything that hindered his sacred duties. Jenkinson’s eyes made that perfectly clear. At that moment, a chill ran down Asa’s entire body.
“…I will keep it in mind.”
Only then did she understand. To this priest, the only thing that mattered was the sacred mission he had been given. Anyone who interfered with that…
“Good. Then let’s move.”
Asa realized in that instant that he would eliminate anything that stood in his way.
“By the way, are your robes all right?”
‘Y-Yusuba!’
Asking something like that right now? He was going to get sent back to the Holy Kingdom immediately…
“They’re fine. People usually only fear holy knights, not priests or inquisitors.”
Jenkinson smiled as he spoke.
“There are no villains who are scared of a frail priest, after all. Though I do plan to change once we reach the church. Operating openly as a priest makes investigations considerably more difficult in many cases.”
“…I see. A frail priest. Right.”
Yusuba looked like he had a mountain of things he wanted to say, but when Jenkinson smiled as if daring him to speak his mind, he clamped his mouth shut. How could anyone see that man as a frail priest? If anything, he seemed far closer to a fantasy priest.
“Well then, we’ll be extremely busy here. We’ll have to stay and work until the next orders arrive.”
“By work… you mean?”
They had to stay here longer? With no set timeline? Asa already felt displeased, but Jenkinson simply offered a gentle smile.
“Isn’t the job of a family department inquisitor already decided?”
At those words, Asa thought. The job of a family department inquisitor was, in other words…
“So we’re just going to be snooping around people’s private lives and chasing after affairs?”
She gasped and immediately clapped a hand over her own mouth. Jenkinson understood her reaction. He already knew that even within the church, the evaluation of family department inquisitors was not particularly favorable. It was probably such a familiar phrase to her that it had slipped out unconsciously.
“Yes. We’ll be staying here while doing exactly that—adultery investigator work. Please keep that in mind, Sister Asa.”
“…Yes.”
The moment Jenkinson stopped using the honorific “Lady” with her, Asa had to acknowledge her own mistake. No matter how she thought about it, that last remark had been the worst possible slip of the tongue.
Yurabe, the capital of the Yura Kingdom.
Limia had returned there only to be greeted by an unexpected visitor.
“To be honest, I was surprised. I never expected to meet an inquisitor again.”
‘Again?’
Ilena tilted her head in confusion at those words, but quickly realized where Limia had been and nodded.
“Ah… you mean Jenkinson. That is rather remarkable when you think about it. Meeting inquisitors this frequently isn’t exactly a good thing.”
Ilena smiled as she spoke. Limia was honestly a little impressed. She hadn’t expected an inquisitor—especially one from the doctrine department whose literal job was to root out heresy—to so readily acknowledge that fact.
“It’s not that I’ve caused any problems in the doctrine department, but… to be frank, visits like this aren’t exactly welcome.”
Limia didn’t hide her discomfort. After all, no one understood better than Ilena herself just how unpleasant an inquisitor’s visit was for nobles.
“I apologize for that… but we cannot make exceptions during investigations. If there is no problem, I would appreciate it if you could simply think of this as a welcome guest stopping by.”
Even so, Ilena did not lose her smile. Limia nodded as if conceding defeat and cooperated with her questions as much as possible. You can’t spit in a smiling face… and considering the woman’s status, she wasn’t someone Limia could afford to treat carelessly.
“Thank you. Fortunately, there don’t seem to be any issues on our end, so I’m relieved.”
‘On our end?’
Then what about the other side? Did that mean there was a problem somewhere else?
‘The king’s head must be hurting.’
Limia thought as she lightly sipped her tea. It had already gone cold and lost most of its aroma, but honestly, that no longer mattered to her.
“Will you be returning now?”
That was why Limia asked in a businesslike, curt tone. Ilena nodded.
“Yes. Then may the Goddess’s blessing accompany your future path.”
As Ilena made the sign of the cross in farewell, Limia returned the gesture and replied.
“May the Goddess’s mercy bless your future path.”
The moment Ilena left the mansion, she spoke to Horaya, who had quietly followed behind her.
“Is this the end?”
Yawning widely and stretching, Ilena muttered quietly.
“Suspecting others really isn’t my thing. Truly.”
Her red hair swayed softly in the wind. It was true—her nature had never been suited to doubting people. Horaya understood how she felt.
“…I wonder if that guy is doing all right.”
As she left the mansion and began preparing to head to her next assignment, Ilena thought of him. Given where his next post was…
“It worries me.”
She was genuinely concerned. Horaya shared that worry.
“It certainly is worrying.”
Horaya was worried too. Not about that monstrous priest, of course. She was worried about the people in that place who would become his targets.
‘This is completely fantasy.’
No matter how he looked at the inquisitor they would be escorting from now on, Yusuba could not shake that thought. The reason they hadn’t stayed at the church was because the road leading there was far more brutal.
The people of this country were dead serious about destroying the church. They had been sending wave after wave of attackers every day in an attempt to storm the heavily fortified church that had been turned into a literal fortress. Naturally, the path to the church was packed with armed men.
Honestly, even Yusuba and Asa together would have found it quite difficult to break through. But…
“U-ugh! Everyone, stop that bastard!”
“The bullets aren’t working! Damn it!”
Guns meant nothing to that priest. Numbers meant nothing. Of course, Yusuba and Asa had some countermeasures against bullets themselves. That was why they could still use old-fashioned swords… But their countermeasures weren’t the kind that let them absorb an opponent’s entire firepower with their bodies.
The priest, on the other hand, was literally charging forward like a tank, neutralizing enemies with sheer physical force.
Tap. Tap.
“The path is clear now. Shall we go meet the person in charge of this parish?”
With not a single wound on his body, he brushed the blood from his hands and smiled brightly. At that sight… Yusuba and Asa felt pure terror at the same time.
That was supposed to be an adultery investigator?
If so…
‘A fantasy adultery investigator…?’
Muttering what even he thought was an absurdly ridiculous phrase inside his head, Yusuba followed the priest alongside Asa toward the church that had been wrapped completely in barricades.
They had really ended up with an unbelievable superior.