The Unbalanced Scales
The princess and the attendant. And the Inquisitor.
In a dark room illuminated only by a crimson lantern, two figures stood—a man and a woman.
"Ah, no... I belong to the Goddess..."
The beautiful holy knight clutched the disheveled collar of her uniform, her voice trembling as she voiced her refusal. Beneath the flickering red lantern swayed by a faint breeze, the handsome priest gently cupped one of her soft breasts with his hand and asked,
"Do you intend to sully the Goddess's name with such a lewd body?"
"H-how can you call it lewd..."
Her vibrant light-green hair clung damply to her skin, glistening with sweat. The holy knight's voice broke into a sob at his words. The brown-haired priest leaned in and tenderly licked away her tears with his tongue.
"Then I suppose I must teach you the Goddess's love."
Watching him speak in that suggestive tone, the holy knight pleaded,
"No, please, Priest Jenkinson... Ah!"
In that instant their lips met. His tongue slowly pushed past her tightly closed lips. Chuup. Churup. Their tongues intertwined as her uniform began to slip away. The priest's powerful body pressed down upon her delicate frame, crushing her against him. Her breasts—far larger and softer than she herself realized—rubbed against his chest, their nipples stiffening beneath the fabric. Though hidden by her uniform, her body was undeniably lascivious.
Fuha! Their lips parted, leaving a glistening thread between them. The holy knight gasped for breath, her face flushed crimson. Looking down at her, the priest drove his thick shaft straight into the sacred place she had kept hidden. The moment he entered her, her flawless white body writhed in his arms like a live fish. Chigeok. Chigeok! Their flesh met with obscene sounds. The holy knight, her face now slack with pleasure, gazed up at the priest...
--
"...What kind of delusion are you entertaining?"
Karin jolted awake from her fantasy at Eirelos's voice, which had shattered the pleasant scene. She wiped her fingers—slick with her own arousal—on a towel and thought to herself that the holy knight traveling with that priest was also an extraordinary beauty. A pair of such handsome man and woman traveling together... They must have slept together. Perhaps their affair was even more intense than the one in her imagination.
Even as these thoughts ran through her mind, Karin adjusted her clothing and straightened her posture. Then, meeting her father's unusually dark expression, she asked calmly,
"Did the conversation go well?"
Faced with his daughter's complete lack of tension, Eirelos had to suppress the urge to slap his own child. "...If it had gone well, I wouldn't have come looking for you."
His voice was cold. He had no words for a daughter who spent such a moment fantasizing and pleasuring herself. How had he ended up with such a wanton daughter?
Eirelos sighed and recalled the events of the day. No matter how many times he turned it over in his mind, the priest's reaction made one thing clear: the situation had become dire.
--
"I hope it proves constructive."
The priest had spoken in a calm tone. Eirelos's entire body trembled at the monster's words. The soldiers had merely been a precaution. One could not stand before a monster without some form of protection. Yet...
'I never imagined they would prove so meaningless.'
It had been nothing but a futile gesture. Worse, it had only succeeded in offending the monster. Only then did Eirelos realize he was standing on a razor's edge where death could claim him at any moment.
"The punishment... what level do you expect?"
Eirelos asked with a tense face. Jenkinson stroked his chin, pondering the question.
"Hmm. I'll have to see, but..."
Jenkinson appeared to be thinking simply, yet in truth he was sifting through memories, analyzing precedents, and calculating the appropriate punishment.
"A heresy condemnation is unavoidable. At minimum, two years of church service under heretical status. If the other party submits a petition, it could end with a suspended sentence and thirty days of penitential prayer in solitary confinement."
Though that won't happen, Jenkinson added with a smile. Eirelos found nothing amusing about the severity.
In other words...
"Could you... grant us some time?"
If they failed to obtain a petition written by Prince Maxim, the heresy condemnation could not be avoided. And once condemned as a heretic, the engagement with Prince Maxim would naturally be terminated. At that moment, York would lose both its connection to the powerful Yura Kingdom and the opportunity to deal with its problem child. Therefore Eirelos made his trembling request, and Jenkinson replied with a smile that belied the sharp edge in his words.
"Did you grant time to the attendant whose head you severed?"
"!"
Eirelos's eyes widened. Jenkinson's mouth smiled, but his eyes remained calm. He regarded Eirelos with that chillingly composed gaze and continued,
"Punishment must be fair. I have no intention of questioning your decision to punish the attendant. After all, it was the correct punishment under the kingdom's laws. However..."
Jenkinson rose from his seat as he spoke.
"When the scales tilt too far, it becomes rather unsightly. One cannot help but frown at the sight."
"!"
Eirelos felt the hairs on his body stand on end. In other words, while the attendant had been punished, what punishment had the princess received? The priest was pointing directly at that discrepancy. And Eirelos had no answer. If the attendant's punishment had been just, then the princess—who had used her status to consort with attendants—should have faced an even harsher sentence. Had the kingdom's strict laws been followed, Princess Karin should already have become dew upon the executioner's blade.
Jenkinson stood, apparently seeing no need to continue the conversation.
"Unlike those tilted scales, the Goddess's scales do not discriminate by status. I suggest you keep that in mind."
"..."
Eirelos remained silent before the priest's pointed words. Taking the silence as his answer, Jenkinson withdrew for the moment. Regardless of the method, he intended to make contact with the princess and establish her guilt.
--
"That was quite something."
Once outside, Asa spoke with feigned nonchalance. To the inexperienced holy knight, the fierce battle of wills between the two men had been nothing short of astonishing.
"...Such confrontations are commonplace for Inquisitors. What would have happened if we had been weaker?"
Jenkinson asked her calmly. Asa pondered for a moment.
"Um... They might not have let us into the palace?"
Jenkinson sighed at her innocent reply. If everyone were so moderate, Inquisitors would not be dying in such numbers. He spoke in a composed tone.
"We would have been killed. And you and I would have been declared missing. The Church would have no evidence with which to protest."
"..."
Hic! Asa was so shocked she hiccupped, but Jenkinson remained impassive. The act of hiding soldiers itself had signaled a willingness to resort to force if necessary. He did not know how the other man viewed it, but Jenkinson had interpreted the gesture exactly that way. And in truth, ever since the day he had accepted the role of Inquisitor, Jenkinson had understood better than anyone that his life could end at any moment.
"It seems they have no intention of letting us meet the princess. What should we do?"
Asa asked with a worried expression. Jenkinson considered the matter with a calm face. In the end, it was a race against time. The other side would do anything to secure a petition from Prince Maxim before punishment could be decided, while this side intended to finalize the punishment as quickly as possible. Jenkinson believed that was the only way to ensure a fair judgment. After all, how many people had already lost their lives to her schemes? And yet she herself had received no punishment, and now she expected leniency again? He could not accept it.
Jenkinson had no desire to accept this reality. The Inquisitor's office had been created from the beginning to protect the weak. Unlike the socially vulnerable who suffered harsh punishments, the powerful faced none at all. At the very least, they deserved far fairer treatment. That was the reason the Church had established the Inquisitor's role. Therefore...
"I am prepared to force my way through if necessary."
Jenkinson's eyes burned with quiet determination. No matter how despised or insulted the position might be, it was a duty one could only fulfill with a sense of mission. He was no different. Even if mocked as an Adultery Investigator and subjected to contempt, he still carried a sense of purpose in this sacred office.