The Mark of the Demon
The greatest enemy of the Church of Mercy—what could it be? Heretics? Of course, heretics are taken seriously within our order as well. Then perhaps the East, rumored to be teeming with them? Surprisingly, the answer is no. To the Church of Mercy, heretics are not enemies but souls to be eventually persuaded and enlightened. There is only one true enemy in this world: the absolute evil that openly defies, mocks, and desecrates the goddess's teachings. Demons alone.
In that sense, I found myself thinking how unlucky I was to be drinking in this tavern. Whoosh.
"Handsome big brother? Got time tonight?"
I hadn't expected to walk straight into a place reeking of demon. "...I'm on duty," I replied dryly, taking a sip of my drink. I could feel everyone's eyes turning toward us. Still, I paid them no mind and calmly studied the face of the woman approaching me.
She was among the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Her glossy white hair swayed as she moved, and the scent of a female in heat was potent enough to drive any man mad. Of course... to me, it carried a very different kind of madness.
"Duty?"
Crash! The moment she echoed the word, I seized her head without hesitation and slammed it onto the table. The bottle I had ordered shattered with a thunderous noise, and men rushed forward from all sides to protect her. However—
"I am performing my priestly duties. Anyone who interferes will be regarded as a heretic."
At the sight of the reverse-cross rosary I produced, everyone froze. I looked down at the woman struggling to escape my grip and spoke calmly.
"I didn't expect a demon's servant to approach so brazenly in a place like this."
Sizzle! Holy flames bloomed in my palm and seared her flesh. In that instant, demonic symbols erupted across her body.
"Hii, hiiiik!"
The men fled in terror. I let them go for now; my magic could identify which of them had lain with her. "Huh? What's all the commotion... Marane?"
Just then, a fat man came down from upstairs and widened his eyes at the sight of the woman. I immediately understood what needed to be done.
"Well... we should at least secure the one caught in the act."
Swish. Binding the woman—Marane, was it?—neatly with sacred ropes, I turned to the still-bewildered adulterer and spoke in an even tone.
"You are under arrest for consorting with a demon follower. Should you resist, the punishment will be increased. I recommend you think carefully."
"Wh-what did you say...?"
Without answering, I bound him as well and began dragging the pair toward the square. The formal trial and sentencing would have to be carried out in full view of everyone today.
—
"Jenny! Come to the square! Looks like your husband got caught by the Inquisitor!"
That evening, at the words of Hans, the brewer from next door, Jenny untied her apron in surprise and stepped out of the kitchen.
"What?"
He had only gone out for a light look around—how had it already come to this? She thought as much, but Hans, unaware of her circumstances, urged her urgently.
"Hurry! They're holding the trial right now. Almost everyone in the area has gathered."
Murmur. Murmur. Even the guests at the inn, drawn by the news, abandoned their meals and rose from their seats. Caught in the tide of people heading that way, Jenny prepared to leave at once. She already had her suspicions. After all, the Inquisitor had come looking for her husband that very morning.
By the time she arrived, a large crowd had already assembled in the square. Her husband was bound alongside the beautiful woman recently famous in the capital—Marane. What was going on? As she stood bewildered, whispers reached her ears.
"What crime is it?"
"Caught red-handed committing adultery with a demon follower. Still, tsk. I knew from the start she looked suspicious. That woman—she's a man-eating monster."
Jenny still struggled to accept reality. Adultery...? And with a demon follower, no less? It was unreal. Yet the sight of her husband before her eyes made that unreality all too real.
"Are you sure?"
At the skeptical words of a middle-aged man in front of her, Jenny's ears perked up—only for despair to return at the old man's reply.
"Hey, you fool. Don't you know who that is? That's the famous Priest Jenkinson Beckett! He's probably purged thousands of demons by now."
"Thousands... isn't that a bit of an exaggeration no matter how you look at it?"
As the two gossiped, the crowd began to stir. Why would someone so renowned come to a remote place like Rucella? Everyone was thinking the same thing.
Then it happened. Jenny felt her eyes meet the priest's, and in that moment Jenkinson began to speak.
"Before we begin the trial... we shall first identify the sinners."
Identify the sinners...? The crowd flinched. Jenkinson promptly marked the woman's forehead. Well, this should roughly reveal who slept with her.
Jenkinson activated his unique magic. Marking two people would reveal anyone else they had relations with, but marking only one allowed him to simply identify everyone who had been intimate with this woman after a certain point.
In that instant, visions of every man the woman had lain with since becoming a demon follower played in the minds of everyone present. Jenkinson confirmed faces only and skipped through them quickly; the relations with over thirty men were verified in mere moments. Then he spoke.
"It would be wise for the men in the visions to come forward willingly—for your own sakes."
He offered the advice with a serious expression. It did not take long for them all to be dragged before him. Wives hauled out their adulterous husbands themselves, while others were delivered by neighbors eager to avoid any sparks of suspicion, as though discarding trash. The sight of over thirty men kneeling in the square with pale faces was quite the spectacle.
Jenkinson regarded them, produced his rosary, and lightly made the sign of the cross. The matter had grown larger than expected, but it posed no great problem for him. Moved by the sanctity in his gesture, the gathered crowd felt a sense of reverence and paused for a moment of prayer.
How orderly.
Having watched the onlookers pray with satisfaction, Jenkinson began pronouncing judgment in a calm voice.
"The sin of consorting with a demon follower is truly grave."
Flinch! Everyone trembled in fear. Jenkinson swept his gaze over them and continued.
"However, the Goddess Yuno is merciful. Therefore, the unmarried among you shall be ordered to perform ten days of penitential prayer at the nearest church."
"Th-thank you... thank you!"
The unmarried men wept with gratitude at the lenient punishment, while the married ones remained pale and trembling. The crowd, having anticipated harsher sentences, looked disappointed—but they had not yet given up hope, for there were still others left.
"As for the married men... you have lain with a demon follower, forgotten the Goddess Yuno's teaching to be faithful to your families, and committed the heretical act of adultery. Your sin is truly heavy."
Simply associating with a demon follower out of ignorance could be forgiven. The Goddess Yuno does not consider ignorance a sin, and the ignorant can be enlightened through teaching. But those who have already committed the heretical sin of adultery are another matter. Even the lightest punishment for consorting with a demon follower is at minimum—
"You are all hereby declared heretics. Until the church absolves you of this sin, all are advised to keep their distance from these heretics."
It was a heresy condemnation, one step below excommunication. Heresy condemnation branded the sinner as a heretic while directing them to perform service to earn forgiveness from the church. The difference was that excommunication offered no chance of returning to the goddess's embrace, whereas heresy condemnation at least allowed the possibility of redemption and return to Yuno's fold.
The crowd was shocked. The married men wept and begged for forgiveness, while the unmarried men quietly distanced themselves. Jenny still could not comprehend the situation. A demon follower... her husband had slept with that woman?
At that moment, her husband Rober spoke up.
"I-I don't accept this! Marane being a demon follower? She would never do such a thing!"
"R-Rober..."
Marane looked at him with a tearful, moved expression. Rober grew even more triumphant.
"Evidence! Show me the evidence! Proof that Marane is a demon follower!"
Murmur. Murmur. The crowd stirred, and even those condemned as heretics began glancing about with faint hope. Perhaps their own heresy condemnations would be revoked...
"It seems you have forgotten the Goddess Yuno's teaching that those who doubt are not blessed. How unfortunate."
Jenkinson sighed at the words and spoke with genuine feeling. Truly... it was a sorrowful thing to watch a sinner only deepen their own guilt.