The Inquisitor's Broken Dreams
Justina screamed, “Aaaagh! Fuck!”
The moment the Grand Inquisitor opened her eyes, she let out a string of curses and rolled violently across the bed. Her life had become so suffocating that only profanity could express the frustration boiling inside her.
Back when she lived in the orphanage.
Even when the priests of the Holy Kingdom came to test her mana, she had truly believed her life was finally turning around.
That damned white mana…!
The moment the priests confirmed her power, they made a huge fuss and dragged her off to the Holy Kingdom. At the time, she genuinely thought it was a good thing. She had been sick of chewing on stale bread crusts and wearing hand-me-downs from her older siblings. She had imagined that in the Holy Kingdom she would wear warm clothes, eat delicious food, and live happily ever after.
Especially once they told her she possessed extraordinary talent for holy power—she had been certain her future was secured.
But after being appointed as an inquisitor and actually living the life, reality proved suffocating. The Holy Kingdom’s actions across the continent of Lorencia were no different from those of common thugs.
She found herself sprawled on the floor, staring up at the ceiling as she hurled curses at the Pope.
What was the point of working so hard to become Grand Inquisitor? She couldn’t even go outside freely, and she had to do her own laundry. The church’s food tasted like garbage, too.
“That bastard Pope… Urgh….”
A sharp pain stabbed through the heart bound by her mana oath.
“Saint bastard!”
Fortunately, cursing the Saint didn’t trigger the pain. After all, the one she had sworn her oath to was the Pope.
“I hope the Saint goes bald! That piece of shit!”
Daily cursing of the Saint while staring at the ceiling had become her only method of stress relief.
If I’d known it would be like this, I should’ve run away from the orphanage and become a mercenary.
Watching the Holy Kingdom commit every kind of atrocity in the name of a god that didn’t even exist made her nauseous. Perhaps that was why she felt a strange sense of kinship with black mages and witches who opposed the Holy Kingdom.
Honestly, it’s kinda cool.
A rebellious life where they did everything they were told not to do! They were already living the independent life she had always craved.
Come to think of it, they said there was a black mage where I’m going today.
The mission the bald eagle of a Pope had given her last night was to find a black mage hiding in Verdin.
We might actually get along.
They already had common interests, after all. Cursing the Holy Kingdom! Cursing the Saint! Cursing the Pope! Since she couldn’t directly insult the Pope herself, she figured she could at least get some vicarious satisfaction by listening to them do it.
With that thought, Justina gathered her armor and her mace.
“Tch.”
Even the Holy Kingdom’s fashion sense annoyed her. She preferred black, but those white-obsessed lunatics forced everyone to wear white robes.
Cleaning them when they get dirty is such a pain.
Grumbling, she picked up her mace—the only black item she was allowed—and left the room. The head-sized weapon was her sole permitted exception to the color rule.
@@@
That night, in Verdin.
Justina arrived at the address provided by the Holy Kingdom’s intelligence network and stared at the building before her.
“A flower shop?”
Expecting a gloomy, damp cave befitting a black mage, she instead found herself facing a well-decorated flower shop on the second floor of a commercial building. Her romantic image of black mages shattered instantly.
“No, this can’t be right.”
She erected a barrier while harboring discriminatory thoughts about how black mages ought to live in more sinister places. Then, gripping the mace in her left hand, she swung it mercilessly at the door.
—Kwaaaang!
After smashing the door open and stepping inside, Justina smiled sweetly and waved at the black mages who had leapt up in surprise while eating a late-night snack.
“Hey there? I’m an inquisitor, but I’m not here to fight. Have a seat.”
Normally she would have knocked or picked the lock, but since she believed black mages preferred a rough image, she had deliberately broken the door down.
If I do this, they’ll think it’s cool and like me more, right?
But their reaction was nothing like what she had expected.
“G-Grand Inquisitor?!” “That crazy fanatic bitch actually found this place…!” “Everyone, attack! She’s the Holy Kingdom’s hunting dog!”
They ignored her words completely and began unleashing curses and black magic at her, mana flaring wildly.
—Ting. Ting.
However, the magic circle engraved by the Saint on her armor rendered most curses ineffective.
“No, just listen to me for a second….”
She felt her mood sink. She had already been imagining them becoming friends and gossiping together, only to find herself under attack instead.
“Shut up, you Holy Kingdom lapdog!”
Realizing their attacks weren’t working, one black mage stabbed a dagger into his own chest near the heart.
“Hey, wait!”
Justina tried to stop him in panic, but his heart was already pierced. Space distorted as an enormous amount of mana gathered—enough to crack even the black magic defense circle engraved on her armor.
—Crackle. Crackle.
It was a spell cast at the cost of his own life. Because he had narrowed the range to increase the density of power, the barrier remained unaffected. Without the slightest hesitation, he hurled the gathered mana straight at her face.
“Agh…!”
Feeling threatened, Justina swung her mace with all her strength and knocked the black orb away.
—Kwaang!
The black magic she barely deflected exploded against the building’s wall. The flower pots decorating the shop shattered into pieces.
“Cough.”
Justina coughed amid the dust cloud that filled the room and scanned her surroundings.
“……”
The dream she had harbored of having a friendly conversation with black mages before arriving here was crumbling to dust.
These… these bastards…! They don’t even understand my feelings…!
Justina’s hands trembled as she glared at them. The black mages, wary and preparing their next attack, showed no intention of talking whatsoever.
“You Holy Kingdom dog! Die!”
On top of everything, they kept calling her by the nickname she hated most. As if completely disregarding her fragile feelings, they unleashed a barrage of curse-infused spells. Magic flew from all directions, smashing the floor, and muddy water mixed with soil from the broken pots and blood splattered across her white boots and pants.
“Ah.”
Looking down at the filth staining her clothes, Justina’s eyes filled with rage. She had just realized she would have to hand-wash these damn white garments all night.
“I fucking… tried to talk nicely.”
—Hummm.
White mana erupted from her body. It was the mana of a peak Expert, just one step away from Transcendent.
“Just die already.”
Justina simply brought her mana-filled mace down from above.
—Kwaaaaaang!
Her crude fighting style absorbed every attack the black mages threw at her while brutally crushing them. Before long, she stood atop a pile of mangled corpses that were barely recognizable.
“Haa….”
Her golden hair was already soaked in blood, and crimson liquid dripped from her white armor and mace. Even her white undergarments and socks were drenched.
“Ugh, shit… Disgusting.”
She was still cursing at the bloodstains clinging to her body when three figures appeared silently at the entrance: a man in a black cloak pulled low over his face, holding a strange staff and a spear, and two women beside him. A faint trace of black mana emanated from the man and one of the women.
“What the fuck.”
In a foul mood, Justina gripped her mace and charged at them.
@@@
“What the fuck.”
The moment Ian stepped inside, he was greeted by a blood-soaked madwoman.
Holy Kingdom, and a crazy woman… Justina.
Justina was one of the original novel’s villains. Originally the Holy Kingdom’s Grand Inquisitor, she had encountered Elisha before the latter awakened as the Great Witch and became fascinated by her. Ultimately deciding to betray the Holy Kingdom, Justina became Elisha’s subordinate and took her as her master.
But I already took Elisha with me.
Perhaps because of that, Justina—who seemed to have accumulated far more stress than in the original—looked even more unhinged. Watching her charge forward with those blue eyes flashing…
I pulled the trigger of the carbine I had already loaded and shot her squarely in the forehead.
—Bang!
“Kkyang!”
A stupid scream burst from Justina’s mouth as the bullet struck. Her head snapped backward mid-charge, and she collapsed.
—Thud!
“……” “……” “Oh…”
Seria and Elisha blinked at the scene that had unfolded in an instant and looked down at her. I applauded in admiration at the incredible hardness of her forehead.
—Clap clap clap.
As expected of Justina. Even without aura, she’s ridiculously sturdy.
She truly had the durability worthy of ranking third among the original novel’s strongest villains.
“……”
Justina’s body, sprawled on the floor, began to tremble with shame.
“Ugh… Urgh.”
Groaning, she pushed herself up and fumbled at her forehead with teary eyes. A fist-sized lump had risen where the bullet had struck dead center.
“…Pfft.”
When someone let out a laugh at the ridiculous sight, tears welled up in her already aggrieved eyes.
“Ugh, uwaaaah…! I hate everything…! Uwaaaang!”