Hyde Clashes with Nicholas! #3
Adultery.
Infidelity.
A hideous sin.
To commit lewd acts with another while already bound to a wife or husband—
"Adultery and infidelity destroy the household and tear apart the fabric of the community. Sir Roland, what is the punishment for members of the Black Knights who have committed such acts?"
The barracks of the Black Knights. The military tribunal set up within them.
I put the question to Roland while looking at Nicholas, who sat in the defendant's seat.
Roland made a low sound beneath his wolf's helm—whether the matter was difficult to speak of, or whether he was simply weighing the sentence, I could not tell.
It was Interrogator Onduras, seated in the judge's chair, who spoke first.
"The Black Knights are held to a stricter standard of dignity than any other order. Anyone who commits lewd acts and disorders both public morals and military discipline—man or woman—is sentenced to flogging!"
Flogging, was it.
In a world that had invented and maintained every exotic form of capital punishment imaginable, being struck with a whip might not sound especially impressive—
But the whip was a tool designed to destroy a human being with ruthless efficiency.
They said the tip of a whip, when swung by a true master, broke the sound barrier.
A single blow across the back left a person's hide in a shredded, pitiful ruin.
Even the Lord, who came down to earth in human flesh, suffered the lash at the hands of Roman soldiers.
Of course, the Lord was innocent. Nicholas's guilt was already established. Any comparison was absurd on its face.
Nicholas, however, was not about to accept it.
"I did not commit adultery! That man Rust seized control of my body and forced me to seduce those women…! I am innocent…!"
Nicholas was a petty man of bandit stock.
Which meant he would stoop to any cheap trick to survive.
This was no different.
But his words only enraged the bald interrogator Onduras, who sat as judge of the military tribunal.
"The sinner will not speak the name of Rust so freely!"
Bang—!
Onduras slammed the table.
He had a prior record of being thoroughly outmaneuvered by Rust during the witch trial in which Lucy and the other women had been set in the dock as defendants.
It was obvious he did not care for the name.
"Nicholas! You will watch your tongue before this interrogator!"
And Onduras, it seemed, did not care much for Roland's lieutenant Nicholas either. According to my investigation, the interrogator had deliberately covered up crimes committed by Nicholas and his like until now.
The reason the Black Knights' offenses had never surfaced was that men of power like Onduras had been working behind the scenes to keep them buried.
But now a deep crack had opened between Onduras and Nicholas.
Why?
Probably because Nicholas had fled during the Blood Crusade's rampage.
For a man who had been forced to survive without the Black Knights' protection, Onduras had every reason to be furious.
"Nicholas! As a knight of the Holy Crusade, you abandoned your duty to protect innocent citizens and fled! And you were my escort—yet you cast that duty aside as well!"
See?
The "innocent citizens" were a pretext. What truly angered him was that Nicholas had failed to protect him.
Petty men were always so transparent.
"Lord Hyde, is what this wretch says true? Possession by Rust?"
Onduras turned the question on me now.
His voice was remarkably gentle—almost servile.
Had surviving that rampage raised his estimation of me?
"Lord Hyde, you have met that vile and terrifying ringleader of sin, Rust, any number of times—and yet you live! In your judgment, is Nicholas's testimony the truth?"
The meaning of Onduras's question was perfectly clear.
In the past, crimes claimed to have been committed under Rust's possession had been ruled not guilty. Milione Archibold, watching this very scene from the gallery, was one such case.
So was the Fierenzo artist Michelangelo, and Archbishop Coramdeo as well.
Of course, Michelangelo and Coramdeo had other sins to answer for and had not simply been released—
But the current precedent held that sins committed against one's own will through possession were ruled not guilty.
Which was why Onduras seemed terrified that he might have to free Nicholas.
He wanted to punish the man by any means necessary.
"Your Honor."
I stepped before the bench.
Every gaze in the room gathered on me.
Even Milione, who had been yawning in boredom, looked my way.
In this trial, my authority already surpassed that of Judge Onduras.
"There is no one in this world who knows the man called Rust better than I. And in my view, this case requires a deeper examination. I request Lady Pontina as a witness."
My investigation at the heretics' sanctuary had revealed that Nicholas kept a great many lovers. The woman he had been seeing most recently was named Pontina Arbodeng—the wife of a baron.
The two of them had gone to great lengths to keep their meetings secret—
But according to the report of my foremost servant Hans, Baroness Pontina had claimed she was leaving her estate to travel with Baroness Normondi… when in truth she had come here to Veneto.
There was no such thing as a perfect crime in this world.
The Lord was watching everything.
Could the word "perfect" even be attached to anything a human being did?
"Bring the sinner forward!"
Lady Pontina, mistress of House Arbodeng, was dragged into the military tribunal bound in rope.
Whether it was the black-armored knights or the grim face of Judge Onduras that frightened her, she was trembling violently, her eyes wet with terror.
Her gaze darted anxiously this way and that—until she spotted Nicholas, likewise in manacles, and her face brightened as she called out.
"Nicholas! Nicholas! Are you all right?"
Her expression bloomed like a flower.
In a situation like this, she was still fretting over that piece of garbage?
What the hell had Nicholas done to make women fall for him like this?
I spoke with genuine irritation.
"Judging by that reaction, I see no need to prove the nature of their relationship."
Nicholas, however, flared up at once.
"Shut your mouth, you devil-whoring bitch! Don't dare speak my name with that filthy tongue!"
"In league with a devil? Nicholas! What are you saying! The one I loved was neither my husband Arbodeng nor Rust! It was you, Nicholas!"
"That wasn't me! It was Rust, controlling my body! If I'd been in my right mind, do you think I'd have so much as touched a woman like you? You filthy whore!"
Ptoo—.
Nicholas even spat at Baroness Pontina.
The spit never reached her, but the flush drained from her face until it turned the color of dirt, and her expression became so pitiful it was hard to look at.
Even the Black Knights watching the scene scowled and muttered, "That piece of trash Nicholas—even if it was adultery, how can he treat a woman who says she loves him like that?"
From my perspective Pontina was just as filthy a woman, but Nicholas was so thoroughly irredeemable a villain that she came off looking sympathetic by comparison.
"Release me at once! I am the mistress of House Arbodeng! Even if you are knights of the Holy Crusade, you cannot treat a noble this way! When my husband Arbodeng hears of this, he will not stand idle!"
Pontina now raised her voice boldly toward the room.
Hoping for the courtesies due a noble, was she?
At that, Judge Onduras produced a tightly rolled letter.
"My lady, the very man who sponsored this trial so that it could be held is your husband, Baron Arbodeng. We are obligated to establish the full truth of the matter by any means necessary."
"What? My husband Arbodeng?"
Interesting.
The husband who had had his wife stolen from under his nose was a nobleman too.
He wasn't about to take it lying down, was he?
I glanced out the window at the sky.
The sun was climbing toward noon, dazzlingly bright.
Come to think of it, I hadn't even eaten breakfast before coming out.
Better wrap this up and get some lunch.
"Well then—everyone here is a busy person, so I, Hyde, shall settle the matter decisively. In my judgment, Nicholas was indeed possessed by Rust. He is not guilty."
Nicholas.
He considered himself a clever and wise man.
When his stepmother poisoned his younger siblings and he alone escaped alive—
When his bandit gang was massacred by that monster Roland and he alone survived—
When Rust appeared and ran amok and he still lived—all of it, he believed, was thanks to his own cunning.
A crisis is always an opportunity! When I fled my family I became a bandit, and when I fled the bandits I became a knight!
Nicholas had always found a path through crisis.
A crisis was an opportunity.
This time, too, he intended to sell the name of the man called Rust and walk free.
"He was possessed by Rust—therefore he is not guilty!"
Priest Hyde.
This stupid man had even stepped forward to defend Nicholas's innocence himself.
Hyde, you pathetic bastard! You don't even know I was planning to steal your wife, and you're defending me. How much of a softheaded fool can one man be?
Nicholas now looked toward Judge Onduras.
Onduras's face was twisted with fury and resentment.
"Lord Hyde, then what are we to do? Are you saying we must release him as not guilty?"
"He is not guilty—but he must not be released. To say he has been possessed by that man Rust multiple times means it could happen again."
Nicholas felt a cold shiver brush the nape of his neck.
It was like an icy brush sweeping down the length of his spine.
His instincts had caught the scent of something going terribly wrong.
Priest Hyde continued.
"That man Rust primarily possesses males. To prevent any recurrence of such incidents, Sir Nicholas must be castrated. Without fail!"
"What the fuck did you just say!?"
Castration.
Nicholas felt the world tilt before his eyes.
To him, castration meant the end of a man's life—the end of a human life itself.
No! Fuck! What do I do? If I stay like this I'll be castrated! Not guilty and still castrated!? What kind of fucked-up bullshit is this!
Nicholas was thoroughly stunned.
Wouldn't flogging be better? Yeah! Flogging hurts like hell, but it doesn't kill you! Compared to castration, that might be the better deal!
He drew a steadying breath, marveling at his own wisdom.
"I—I am not actually certain whether Rust possessed me or not. No—I understand it now. I committed adultery of my own free will after all! Pontina—I love her!"
"Nicholas! I knew it! You did love me! Yes! We loved each other! We even planned to marry! Is it a sin that we loved one another…!?"
Love was not a sin.
Watching Pontina shed tears, drop by drop, Nicholas crowed inwardly with triumph.
Women really are idiots! They don't even realize they're being used! Then again, Pontina—better to be used by a handsome man like me than stay married to that ugly, potbellied baron, right?
All eyes turned to Hyde.
Priest Hyde had been humming thoughtfully for some time. At last he wiped a hand across his brow.
"Ah. I nearly made a grave error of judgment. Indeed—now that I look again, Sir Nicholas is not a vessel of Rust's possession. He is a man of perfectly clear and unclouded mind. In that case, Sir Roland, I shall leave the disposition of this case in your hands."
Roland took up the whip at once.
Nicholas cried out toward him.
"Commander! Forgive me! Loving someone is not a crime! We merely met at the wrong time, and that love became a 'sin'!"
"……."
Roland—
Nicholas could feel him stir at the word love.
As a lieutenant, Nicholas knew well that his superior Roland was a man of considerable sentiment, and just as he had in his bandit days, he meant to appeal to that sentiment now.
"Commander! Forgive me!"
"Seize the sinner's arms. Ten lashes."
As the knights gripped Nicholas's arms, he steeled himself.
Flogging.
Endure it somehow, and he would live.
Whoosh—CRACK—!
At last the whip tore across Nicholas's body.
He never even saw the swing.
But the lash had unmistakably struck from collarbone to flank—and with that single blow, Nicholas's bones shattered completely. He was at the brink of death.
"AAAAAARGH! AAAAAAAARGH!"
The pain was beyond anything Nicholas had imagined.
Flogging.
They expected him to endure ten of these?
No—he would clearly be dead before the third.
Nicholas screamed desperately.
"Wait—after one lash, cough—I understand now! I am innocent after all! Rust—that man—made me, like this, cough—please, spare me… I'll take the castration…."
Roland of the Black Knights looked to Hyde.
Hyde shook his head.
"As a priest more devout than any other, I am incapable of falsehood. Nicholas is innocent of Rust's possession. He possesses a will so strong that Rust could not take him."
"Then two lashes. But Nicholas—I will give you a chance. If that woman you claim to love so dearly will take the punishment in your place, I will reduce it to five. Prove your love. If you truly love each other, one of you can become the substitute sinner and bear the lashes for the other."
Roland pointed a gauntleted hand at Baroness Pontina.
Nicholas shouted at once.
"Pontina! You love me! Take a few for me! If you love me you can do that much, right!? It's five! Five lashes! Only four left after this! Pontina! I love you! Let's get married! Huh!? You were going to divorce the baron!"
"I—that—I—"
Pontina was thrown into complete panic.
Perhaps because she had just watched Nicholas's body shatter under a single stroke of the whip?
She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away.
"I—I know nothing of this! I never loved that man! My husband is Baron Arbodeng! I never agreed to any divorce!"
"…What?"
Nicholas's eyes flew wide as if he had taken a tremendous blow, and he bellowed even louder.
"You fucking bitch! You goddamn whore! You piece-of-shit cunt! You fucking cumdump—!"
"Second lash, Nicholas."
Whoosh—. CRACK!
This time the opposite collarbone and every rib on that side were pulverized.
Nicholas could not even scream.
Two lashes.
That was all it took to kill a hardened knight.
"Third lash."
Whoosh, CRACK—!
But Roland delivered all ten of the predetermined lashes upon the corpse.
Even those in the gallery who had been waiting for Nicholas's death averted their eyes from the hideously mutilated body. At last Roland set down the whip and spoke.
"Keep the regulations."