Between Glory and Faith (4)

The choices were shoved in my face as blatantly as any game menu.

Saintess Emilia had decided to stay at the castle for a day to rest. Which meant I had to make my decision before the day was out.

Becoming a Heresy Inquisitor meant becoming a cleric of the Lumenic Church. Did I really need to become some holy man standing against evil?

The Undead King, currently the greatest evil on the continent, would be put down whether I intervened or not. As for the two ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠great evils still to come — Maria and Karl — I had already done everything I could.

Having a little more power than everyone else, knowing a little more than everyone else — none of that is enough to change anything.

You need to know more, Karl. Once you leave this swamp, go somewhere wider. See more of the world.

The words of the Goddess of the Black Swamp came back to me. As a Heresy Inquisitor I would travel to any number of places, so in a way I would be following her advice. I tried not to attach too much weight to it, but ignoring the counsel of a being who might be older than the continent itself was harder than it sounded.

Working as an Inquisitor might also lead me to any number of useful curses. Not that I had any intention of actively collecting them. I wasn't desperate to live a long life, but if I started hoarding curses without restraint, I would be dead in no time.

"Young master! What are you fretting over so hard? Come with us!"

"I… I agree… The more companions, the better… You seem like a good person, young master…"

We were in the room where ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Special Task Force inquisitors were staying — the three of them, plus me and Dorothy. All five of the cursed people currently in the castle, gathered in one place.

Everyone except Veronica was talking over each other, but my head was too full for any of it to stick.

"Master. Where. Do we have to go? I want to go too."

"Yeah! The wolf girl can come along!"

Of course I would take Dorothy if I went. Her Heretic's Offering trait meant she had to share the burden of my life force consumption, and I could hardly dump a child I had taken in on the castle and walk away.

Squad Leader Veronica was quiet. The pain of the Curse of Severance meant she rarely spoke at all. I found myself wanting to hear her thoughts. Something important had just occurred to me.

In Luke's Biography, Veronica appeared as a high-ranking officer of the Demon King's army. Why had a cleric like her turned traitor? And what had become of the rest of her comrades?

I had always liked attaching meaning to things. A choice that would let me confirm Veronica's path — something I had never known from the game — felt like it would give my presence in this world a little more weight.

"What about you, Squad Leader?"

"……Pardon?"

"Do you want me as a subordinate? Or is it the other way around?"

"……"

Every eye in the room locked onto Veronica. She seemed to deliberate for a moment, then opened her mouth.

"……I will not state my opinion. ……I would prefer you decide based entirely on your own judgment, young master."

"Squad Leader! You need to persuade him properly!"

"I… I think it would be good to have the young master… At least within the Empire… we wouldn't need an escort…"

Alexander had a point. Whatever else I was, I was still a noble of the Laviart Empire. Being cursed was not going to void my credentials. The Lumenic Church might not belong to any one nation, but becoming a cleric did not erase a rank you already held.

"……Dragging someone else in for our own benefit is not right. ……We have to risk our lives often enough as it is."

"May I take that to mean you don't object?"

"……"

"Young master! Nice one!"

"No! Big brother!"

The door burst open and Clara stormed in. It was about time for her to leave for the Academy. Originally I had planned to see the Special Task Force off first, then Clara.

"Ah. One moment."

"All of you! You are not taking my big brother!"

"Calm down, Clara. Dorothy, get her outside."

Dorothy wrapped her arms around Clara, and Clara froze with a blissful look on her face. The wolf girl shoved the noble young lady straight out the door. I followed after them.

The moment Dorothy let go, Clara rounded on me with a furious expression.

"Have you lost your mind?! Joining the Lumenic Church?! Even if they leave you alone for now, the second you're no longer useful they'll burn you at the stake!"

I couldn't immediately argue. It wasn't an entirely baseless claim. I trusted the Saintess personally, but I had no faith in the Church itself.

"How did you even hear about this? Father again?"

"Yes!"

I had reported my conversation with the Saintess to the baron, yes. But for his mouth to get this loose in front of his own daughter…

"Time to leave, then?"

"Yes! Escort me already! And stop changing the subject!"

"Fine… We'll talk on the way."

As we headed for the carriage waiting outside, Clara poured out every conspiracy theory about the Lumenic Church she had ever heard — starting with the claim that the Saintess was no virgin and ending with the Pope bathing in the blood of the cursed.

"You don't have to go that far. I'm already being careful enough…"

"Careful isn't enough! Just stay at the castle!"

"Your brother will handle his own affairs. Don't push so hard."

Cain took my side. The entire Manfred family had gathered in front of the carriage to see Clara off.

"If Big Brother Karl leaves, Big Brother Cain will have to become the baron!"

"What? If Karl doesn't want it, you should do it. Why dump it on me?"

"Technically, Big Brother Cain is the one dumping it on us!"

"Damn it! Karl! I've changed my mind! Don't leave!"

"Brother…"

"What… are you… all… talking about…? Karl… doesn't want… to be… baron…?"

Baron Manfred blinked at us, eyes unfocused. His flushed face made it obvious he had already had a few. The man who had heard first that I might become a Heresy Inquisitor was now speaking as if he had forgotten the entire conversation.

"Father! You heard that Big Brother Karl might go to the Lumenic Church!"

"I did…?"

"Then the only candidates left for the barony are Big Brother Cain and me!"

"Why…?"

He was thoroughly drunk. He did not seem to be following a word of it. Clara looked exasperated, and even Cain — whose thinking was about as straightforward as the baron's — let out a sigh.

The baron, utterly unbothered, pressed on.

"He can… be a baron… and… a Heresy Inquisitor… can't he…?"

"……What?"

A brief silence fell. Then Cain started cheering that Father really was something else, after all. Clara's face lit up; she kissed the baroness on the cheek, forcibly hugged Dorothy goodbye, and climbed into the carriage.

Maybe I was the one who was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drunk. I could not make sense of what the baron had just said.

The reception room of Baron Manfred's castle.

The moment I decided to become a Heresy Inquisitor, things began moving at a staggering speed. Surprisingly, neither the baron nor the baroness objected. So long as my health was genuinely sound, they said, seeing a bit of the world would do me good.

"O~hoho! A truly excellent choice, Baron! Or should I say Acting Baron now!"

"Not yet, Father. At the very least, shouldn't we do this while you're sober?"

"Quiet~~!! I have… never… made an important decision… sober~~!!"

"How proud. Really. Ugh."

"Mother, please object a little…"

"One does not oppose a lord's decision. If you can't accept this situation, reverse your own choice."

"……"

Still thoroughly drunk, the baron was signing every document the Saintess kept sliding in front of him. I had made Dorothy's acceptance as an inquisitor a condition, and the baron had conditions of his own: when he could no longer fulfill a lord's duties, I was to be sent back to the territory without fail — so that I could inherit the lord's authority.

It was a necessary arrangement. It gave me a pretext to leave the Church whenever I wanted. The Saintess accepted every condition.

The problem was that the baron wanted to hand over the title immediately — insurance against the possibility that I might change my mind and decide to bury my bones in the Lumenic Church.

Karl would become Baron Manfred, and Christopher would become Acting Baron Manfred. Practically speaking, nothing much would change. The meaning, however, would shift entirely. From now on the baron would not be exercising a lord's authority in his own right; he would be acting on mine.

"Father… You're handing the title you spent a lifetime fighting for — a commoner mercenary who seized every chance he got — over to a son who's about to leave the territory. I've only ever taken from you. I've never given you anything…"

Was that what I wanted to say? Or had Karl's memories bled through so thoroughly that the words came out on their own?

Probably the latter. To me, Baron Manfred was simply someone I had grown fond of. To Karl, he had been a father full of love.

"I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't have you because I wanted something from you! I had you because I wanted to give you something!"

So the moisture gathering at the corners of my eyes was also Karl's memories bleeding through. Or maybe it was sheer absurdity. Nothing else could explain a reaction like this from someone under the Curse of Emotionlessness.

"O~hoho! In that case! I shall prepare and send someone in about a month's time! Please have the succession procedures completed by then! Farewell!"

Saintess Emilia, who had been watching my face the entire time, bolted from the reception room the instant the papers were in order — terrified, apparently, that I might change my mind. She even cancelled her plan to stay the night; her departure preparations were already complete.

Sylvester bowed to us in farewell and followed after her.

"……Young master. ……Will you be all right?"

"……This is all your fault, Squad Leader. If it weren't for you, I never would have considered becoming a Heresy Inquisitor."

I was so rattled I ended up dumping my complaints on Veronica. If I hadn't known she was slated to appear as a high-ranking officer of the Demon King's army in the next expansion of Luke's Biography, the thought of becoming an Inquisitor would never have crossed my mind.

"……That phrasing. ……Surely not."

Something felt off. I turned my head and found Veronica covering her mouth, her face flushed red. Only then did I realize I had put my foot squarely in it.

"That isn't what I meant……"

"……Then what did you mean?"

"……"

Had the Curse of Emotionlessness broken down? I had been unable to keep my composure for a while now. Or maybe the situation had simply exceeded what the curse could handle. It dulled emotions; it did not erase them.

"……Heh. ……Then I shall take my leave as well. ……I will see you at the Heresy Inquisition."

"……Understood."

Veronica offered a faint smile, bowed to us, and left the reception room.

Maybe I had gained too much at once. This time, it didn't even bother handing out a reward.