The North Has Always Been Like This (2)
Kalisa immediately told everyone to go ahead and eat without her before bolting out of the inn.
On her way out, she vaguely instructed the staff to put the meal and room charges on her tab, and even asked if she could borrow a horse.
Neighhh-!
She arrived at the Lord’s Castle in an instant. Looking up, she saw that the office windows were dark.
'Where the hell is that idiot?'
Everyone working in the castle knew that for the past few days, the Administrative Officer had been banned from the office due to a severe cold. The reason Kalisa had planned to eat out with her colleagues today was precisely because Aiden’s inability to work had naturally guaranteed her an evening of leisure.
Conversely, it meant that she had no way of knowing the whereabouts of the guy who usually slumped around the office like a half-undead creature. She was talking about Jamie, of course.
Just a moment ago, at the inn, Jamie’s name had clearly come up in the chatter of the customers. She hadn't even mentally prepared herself, yet this insensitive colleague of hers seemed to have been broadcasting his identity to the entire world.
"Oh? Kalisa?"
Just then, a familiar voice drifted down from above. It was a voice filled with confusion but unable to hide its joy. It was Jamie.
"Didn't you say you had dinner plans?"
"……."
"If they got canceled, come on up! We were just about to eat. Administrative Officer, that’s fine, right?"
He was waving from the third-floor terrace, and of all places, it was Aiden’s bedroom.
'I really don't want to have a brawl in front of the Administrative Officer.'
Wouldn't it look a bit unseemly to cave someone's jaw in right in front of her benefactor?
Grind-.
Kalisa gnashed her teeth and suddenly felt a wave of regret.
'I should have learned curses when my master offered to teach me.'
She shouldn't have wasted time learning useless things like memory sharing; she should have learned actual curses! This stupid memory sharing ability did nothing more than let her exchange thoughts with her colleagues without opening her mouth. Her oblivious colleagues even mistook their ability to communicate through eye contact as, "Wow, I guess we've become really close!"
"Wait right there."
Kalisa said it in a chilling tone. She barely moved her lips, keeping the volume low enough that the workers passing by wouldn't have a clue what she was saying.
"I'll leave the door open for you!"
However, Jamie understood her immediately, as always. He didn't know it was her ability, of course; he just assumed that since they had worked together for so long, they could naturally understand each other just by looking.
"Just how much have you been blabbing about?"
"Huh?"
"Answer me properly. Who did you tell, and how much detail did you give them!"
A short while later, Jamie, who had been waiting with food laid out, was grabbed by the collar by Kalisa. The sheer intensity of her aura made the giant Jamie stumble back until he was pinned against the wall, unable to move.
"Gack, gack!"
Kalisa was driving her colleague, who was gasping with eyes as fiery as her hair, into a corner as if she were about to knock him unconscious right then and there.
"Breaking into a patient's room and causing a scene. Well done, very well done."
At the sound of Aiden clicking his tongue, Kalisa finally snapped back to reality and released Jamie’s collar.
"I apologize. I have behaved unseemly."
"You seem like a completely different person. Were you always this emotional?"
"……I apologize."
Aiden’s words made Kalisa bite her lip. 'It seems Jamie went around talking about witches.' Aiden had already pieced together why Kalisa had abandoned her dinner plans and come running to grab Jamie by the collar.
"What are you angry about?"
"…Pardon?"
"You need to be clear about that so I can decide whether to intervene or not."
"That is…."
"If you're angry that he revealed your identity without permission, take him outside and tie him up or beat him until you feel better. That’s basically self-defense."
"……."
"But if the point isn't the 'without permission' part, but rather the fact that he 'revealed you are a witch,' then I don't think there's any reason to be that angry."
Kalisa was momentarily speechless at Aiden’s words.
'They say a monk can't cut his own hair, but it seems he's more emotional than rational when it comes to his own affairs.'
Aiden felt a pang of pity seeing his subordinate’s dazed expression, as if she were genuinely thinking, 'Come to think of it, why was I so angry?' Perhaps the cold, cynical, and indifferent Kalisa he had known until now was just a facade. A mask worn to keep her identity hidden. A mask worn to prevent herself from getting hurt.
Aren't there people like that sometimes? Like a hedgehog that refuses to form relationships in the first place because it doesn't want to be pricked. Aiden wondered if, rather than being someone who didn't feel lonely by nature, she was someone who had built walls because she didn't want to be utterly alone.
"I believe I said it clearly. I have no intention of hiding the fact that witches have settled in the North."
He wanted to alleviate some of the fear in his subordinate, who was so terrified and had her quills raised. He couldn't have one of his top three adjutants losing her composure like this. He was already unable to work because of the butler who wouldn't let him leave this bedroom until he was fully recovered; if Kalisa lost her head too, the territory’s management would inevitably fall into chaos.
"And besides, if you advertise it loudly, won't all the witches who have been living in hiding without any connections or strings—witches that neither I nor you knew about—come flocking to the North?"
Aiden added that witches were basically a loose network anyway, and even they didn't know exactly how many there were in the Empire. Kalisa remained silent.
"Surely, the witches you and your colleagues are in contact with aren't the only ones who count as your sisters, are they?"
"…Thank you."
"Right, spread the word. Spread it far and wide."
"It won't just be witches who come flocking."
However, this was what Kalisa was ultimately worried about.
"The Solar Church will come."
Blind faith commits irrational acts without feeling a shred of guilt. This is even more true when it is tied to a god. No god in the world, other than an evil one, would command their followers to slaughter and destroy, but since humans are imperfect, they sometimes commit acts that are perfectly contrary to the teachings of the god they believe in, all while priding themselves on having upheld their honor by saying, "It was all for the sake of the god." It is only the victims who are left with burning resentment.
"The Inquisitors, in particular, will do anything to 'judge' the witches. The residents of the North might get hurt."
"That’s perfect."
"…Pardon?"
Kalisa thought she had been asking "pardon" a lot today. Come to think of it, people talking to Aiden always had that same foolish look, frequently asking, "Pardon?", "What?", or "What did you say?". It was because her superior was on a completely different wavelength than everyone else. Now that it was her own situation, she fully understood how those people felt.
"They say the hunters in every village are very sad lately because their side income has dwindled due to the lack of criminals."
The hunters of the North, you see, are very keen on bounties. Kalisa’s face turned pale at Aiden’s chuckling remark.
"That’s absurd! The Inquisitors of the Solar Church are not mere neighborhood thugs. Have you not seen them? You would have the residents face them!"
"Soldiers are residents, and knights are residents, too."
"……."
"The soldiers have been twiddling their thumbs while the residents were making side money from bounties, so why not let them have a go at it this time?"
"But…."
Kalisa hesitated. The Northern Army stepping in? 'Wait, maybe that could actually work…?' While there weren't many knights who used mana, the military power of the Northern Army was undoubtedly substantial. The only reason such a powerful group hadn't attracted the attention of the Central government until now was the lack of a command structure to lead them for decades. The previous Administrative Officers, who had been demoted from the center and only cared about taking bribes and drinking, had no intention of properly managing the military, which was a money pit to begin with.
Furthermore, what of the temperament of the Northern warriors? Those who wanted to get ahead had already left the North to find new masters. What remained were only the stubborn ones or those who had lost a few screws. They wouldn't have listened to the Administrative Officers from the outside anyway, so these excellent talents had essentially been buried in the Northern snow all this time.
'No, that’s not the point.' Kalisa shook her head, trying to dismiss the thought that this might actually be feasible.
"It still won't do. If the Northern Army steps in to capture the Inquisitors of the Solar Church, it’s tantamount to treating them as a public enemy of the territory. The political burden will be severe."
"I looked into that, too. Witches aren't exactly branded as a criminal organization or an official heresy by the Holy Empire, are they?"
"Of course not. We do not harm people, nor do we defy the laws of nature. The power of the moonlight is—."
"Ah, I’m not really curious about where that power comes from. In any case, those guys have been persecuting innocent Imperial citizens at will, haven't they?"
"…Pardon?"
"That won't do, that won't do at all. Imperial citizens have freedom of religion."
Our Emperor, you see, said that regardless of the religion, as long as you pay your taxes properly, it’s fine. Isn't that the reason our Empire is polytheistic?
"So, in the end, those damn bastards are arbitrarily harming innocent Imperial citizens and wanderers who traveled a long way to settle in the North and try to live a decent life. Naturally, the Northern Army should move. Don't you agree?"
"……?"
The North welcomes refugees, after all.
"Hah, hah, huff!"
A snow-covered forest path in the North. A man was being chased, drenched in sweat. His eyes were hollow and his body was gaunt; he gasped as if his breath might stop at any moment, but his feet kept moving, over and over again.
A village with smoke rising from cooking fires appeared before his eyes. The goal was right in front of him.
'There, just until there…. Please!'
He thought that if he could just get into the village and hide, he might be able to buy himself some time to catch his breath. As he struggled to move his leaden legs,
Thwack-!
"Aaaargh!"
A scream erupted from the man’s mouth as his body pitched forward. The snow where he fell began to stain a deep, dark red.
"Direct hit."
Three people appeared behind him, their faces covered with white cloth. Seeing them, their breathing not even disturbed, the man who had fallen with an arrow in his leg realized a cruel truth.
"…Did you let me go until now on purpose!"
"Oh, you noticed that?"
"For a mongrel, you’re quite perceptive."
"It’s because we wanted to see the look of despair on your face."
The three hunters approached. On the back of one of their hands was a burning sun engraved. They were Inquisitors of the Solar Church.
"We’ll let you have your last words. Of course, wishes from mongrels like you won't come true."
"You bastards, do you not fear the heavens!"
"You still don't understand that the heavens are on our side, not yours? I thought you were perceptive, but you’re completely clueless, aren't you?"
The Inquisitor smirked and tapped the cheek of the man, whose eyes were bursting with blood, with a blade.
Thud-.
"?"
"What is it, why did he suddenly collapse?"
"Did he fall asleep or something?"
The other two poked the body of their colleague, who had suddenly collapsed face-first into the snow, and rolled him over.
"You, XX!"
"Who’s there!"
A small, one-span-long arrow was embedded in the forehead of the Inquisitor who had been chuckling just a moment ago. The principle that even priests who use the power of gods are mortal and will die if an arrow is lodged in their heads was proven once again.