The Inquisitor's Hammer
The soldiers who had been in the middle of endurance training were all driven like startled animals into the far corner of the drill ground by the sudden, unexpected situation.
In truth, no one had ordered them to clear out or vacate the field.
They had simply felt the threat to their lives and retreated on their own.
Because they had witnessed a massive woman with an unmistakably ominous appearance approaching with furious strides, followed by Lucie with a twisted expression on her face.
“The weather is truly lovely. A picture-perfect sky that suits this peaceful afternoon~”
Standing alone in the center of the emptied drill ground and gazing up at the sky, Lenka looked, in her black-and-white garments, like a giant nail hammered straight into the earth.
“Let me say this in advance. Even if you regret it later, I won’t show mercy. Naturally, I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a woman. That is the courtesy due to a warrior.”
“Oh my, did I look like a warrior to you? Where exactly did you see that?”
Lenka turned to Lucie, who had been following behind her with a displeased look, and gave a gentle smile.
“And please don’t use such strong words, Miss Lucie. It makes you sound weak.”
“…….”
Lenka’s provocation, spoken with more force than usual, was loud enough for the gathered spectators to hear clearly.
“W-what did that woman just say? Who is she calling what?”
“That was the most incomprehensible thing I’ve heard all year.”
“But those two… they’re not seriously about to duel, are they?”
Not every soldier had personally witnessed Lucie fight. However, after nearly a month of her overseeing the Silenia soldiers’ training and displaying her bizarre behavior, the title of “strongest” had already become hers among them.
She would suddenly swing an axe once and slice a tree clean through to create a stump because the lined-up soldiers were too short to see properly. She would move boulders pre-loaded into catapults for wartime use all by herself. When bored, she would head to the logging site near the fortress alone and fell more trees than all the lumberjacks combined.
So naturally, everyone’s attention turned to the woman who had dared to call such a Lucie “weak.”
“By the way, that outfit looks like something the church people wear, but it’s a bit different, isn’t it?”
“Her face is pretty, but her height and build are no joke. She might actually be my type…”
“Oh please, get a grip.”
“Wait… looking closer, isn’t that the uniform of the Inquisition?”
At that single muttered remark, silence fell over the soldiers.
The Inquisition.
The Triangular Faith, one of the foundational pillars of the empire, possessed influence as vast as its prestige. Most of the doctrines it valued most highly concerned heresy.
Show no mercy to heretics.
Do not forgive heretics.
Always suspect heresy, and report anything that breeds suspicion to those who hear the voice of God.
That was why both the empire and the church were merciless toward heretics, subjecting anything labeled as such to judgment without exception. Consequently, the power and notoriety of the Inquisition had been seared into the minds of ordinary people as pure terror.
“Hmm, the audience seems to have quieted down. Shall we continue the ‘interrogation,’ Miss Lucie?”
Lucie no longer even bothered to look at Lenka, let alone answer. Instead, she clenched and unclenched her fists, simply waiting for the axe that would soon appear in her hand.
“You cannot heal the wounded young citizens injured in the war with your holy power, yet you squander that immense strength on nothing but creating axes and tarnishing the dignity of a saint. What a wicked child you are.”
Lenka slowly, yet without leaving any openings that could be exploited for a surprise attack, unwrapped the cloth covering her hammer. The head of the hammer, forged from black iron, was stained with the ancient blood of its victims, rust-red like dried gore. Crimson ancient runes glowed along the handle, making it look as if the grip itself were engulfed in flames.
“Rather than a sacred weapon wielded by one who carries out divine judgment… it looks more like something infused with demonic power…”
The words had been a small, muttered comment from one of the watching soldiers. But Lenka’s usually half-lidded eyes snapped wide open, fixing sharply on the soldier who had spoken.
“It would be wise not to utter blasphemous words lightly. Especially in front of one who acts on behalf of God’s will.”
“H-hieeek…! I-I’m sorry!”
The soldier trembled in terror as Lenka glared at him like she might devour him whole. Then, as if flipping a mask, her expression instantly changed into a bright smile.
“That’s right! Since you reflected so quickly, I forgive you!”
“Stop tormenting innocent people and are you done preparing yet?”
Lucie asked, apparently growing tired of waiting. In her hand was already an axe formed of holy power. However, it was not the usual massive axe she summoned; this one was quite small, more like a hatchet.
“Good heavens. You really do make axes with that power…. No, more importantly, what is this? According to the testimony, you ‘slaughtered enemies with a two-handed axe larger than your own height, or with one in each hand.’”
“Yeah. I prefer that too.”
“Does that mean you think I’m only worthy of an opponent at that level of strength?”
“If that’s how you took it, then I suspect the cause of that feeling lies with you yourself.”
“…Ah. I see.”
“…….”
The moment their brief exchange ended, Lenka’s long black hair suddenly stood on end.
Whoosh—
Lenka vanished, only to reappear swinging her hammer down at Lucie’s head.
Boom—!
Instead of the clear ringing of metal against metal, a sound like a massive explosion tore through the air toward the sky.
“Hmm, so you’re not at a level that would fall to something like this?”
Lenka laughed out loud, as if impressed that Lucie had blocked her hammer using the side blade of that tiny hatchet.
“But I’m curious how long you can keep that up.”
She immediately pulled her hammer back and repeated the motion, vanishing and reappearing from different angles to strike again and again. Not only the soldiers, but even Milos, Jiri, Dolia, and Jindrich watching from the corridor connecting the citadel and barracks could not follow Lenka’s speed with their eyes.
“Amazing… how can she move like that while wielding such a huge hammer….”
Jiri added to Milos’s admiring words.
“And it doesn’t seem to be just speed. The saint is gradually being pushed back.”
Just as Jiri said, every time Lenka’s hammer clashed with Lucie’s axe, Lucie’s feet were driven farther and farther from her original position.
“The saint is losing in strength… that can’t be….”
Jindrich stared with his mouth agape, too shocked to close it.
“Hmph, so what if she is? Just look at the size difference between that inquisitor and the saint! Stop being surprised by something so obvious and cheer for the saint already!”
Only after Dolia’s sharp rebuke did the three begin to cheer for Lucie, though with somewhat intimidated expressions.
“Miss Lucie seems more popular than I expected? I thought she would be far from a merciful saint… and yet—!”
Lenka, who had been pressing with only downward and sweeping strikes while waiting for Lucie to adapt, suddenly changed tactics. She swung the hammer upward from below in a threatening blow.
“Kgh!”
The full-powered strike momentarily broke Lucie’s defense. She had no choice but to kick hard off the ground and create distance from Lenka. Instead of pursuing, Lenka stood still, watching with satisfaction.
“Finally a clean hit, yes?”
Lucie, having retreated, stared silently at her own hand, which was trembling slightly from the aftershock of blocking the heavy impact.
“…Heh.”
And she laughed.
“…Did you just laugh?”
Even Lenka looked dumbfounded; for the first time, her brows twisted asymmetrically.
“With skill like yours, you can withstand a single blow from me.”
“……Huh?”
At that moment, a chilling killing intent washed over Lenka like a wave, soaking her legs.
“Ugh!”
Instinctively sensing danger, Lenka retreated even farther than Lucie had. But Lucie did not rush in like Lenka had. Instead, she approached with short, deliberate steps—slow, heavy, yet unmistakably closing the distance.
‘The mood has changed… But I don’t want to hand over the flow like this.’
Lenka vanished once more. When she reappeared, she was in the exact same attacking stance as the blow that had pushed Lucie back earlier.
Clang!
“…Eh?”
But the result was completely different.
Lucie’s axe struck the side of Lenka’s hammerhead with far greater speed and tremendous force. The hammer was driven into the ground, and Lenka dropped to one knee.
“Haaap!”
The smile had vanished from Lenka’s face. With a sharp shout, she forced the embedded hammer free and tried to strike Lucie again.
Clang!
“Kghh!”
Clang!
“Kraaagh!!”
Clang!
“Uwoooogh!!”
…Clang!
There is nothing more draining than repeating the same failure over and over.
“Uwaaaaaagh!!”
Finally giving up on attacking, Lenka created distance again and roared like a monster, venting her rage. She then ripped off her inquisitor’s robe and hurled it aside.
Her trained muscles gleamed under the sunlight. Scars that looked like medals from long training and battle covered her entire body. Her shoulders were broad and powerful, and the veins on her arms writhed like living things. The moment she removed her robe, even the soldiers who had been cheering froze in silence at the sight of her physique.
“Hoo… Very well. I understand your strength. Then I shall face you seriously as well.”
With those words, light began to pour from the handle of Lenka’s hammer, where the red runes were engraved.
“…Flame Wheel.”
Mana-made flames soon wrapped around the hammer, forming a large rotating ring of fire at its head. Lucie watched with interest, then glanced at the small axe in her hand before channeling more holy power to enlarge it back to its usual massive size.
“Haa…”
“Hoo…”
Both of them adjusted their stances at the same time, preparing for a final strike.
And then.
……
Clang!
……There was light.
Present time.
“…If it’s that, then isn’t it obviously because you, who claim to be a saint carrying out God’s will, left me in this state? Especially when you can’t even use healing magic.”
With bandages wrapped around her right arm and head, Lenka held a pen in one hand and wrote the interrogation record with a pouty, discontented expression.
“…Mm, I do feel sorry about that. I thought someone of your caliber could endure even if I went all out…”
Lucie pressed her two index fingers together and apart on the desk while puffing out her lips. Watching her, Lenka looked stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.
“Pfft.”
“Hey! You laughed just now! You definitely laughed!”
“Well, does me laughing erase your sins or something?”
“Ah, does it not?”
“Who knows. At the very least, it probably means my mood has improved a little.”
Lenka seemed to ponder for a moment, then crumpled up the interrogation record she had been writing.
“What are you doing?”
“…At the very least, your holy power was real. The power of God that I could never obtain no matter how much I wanted it. That means you are not a fake.”
“…Then?”
Lenka’s narrowed eyes slowly opened fully. With an oddly serene face, she pronounced her verdict toward Lucie.
“Lucie Riccioli. I hereby clear you of the heresy charges that had been placed upon you.”
“Yessssss!!”
Lucie thrust both arms into the air and rejoiced with genuine delight. It was as if she had won a battle against the church itself.
“…However.”
But Lenka’s single word flipped the atmosphere once again.
“On the condition that you go to the church headquarters and receive official appointment as a saint.”
“……What?”