Chapter 138: Cobeln (2)
Cobeln is a free city.
However, the scene before my eyes now did not match that fact at all.
“……”
As I fell silent for a moment, the oppressive voices of the soldiers reached my ears.
“Hey, what are you doing!”
“Don’t dawdle.”
Sharp spears held in the hands of the soldiers walking towards me menacingly. The way they brandished them threateningly suggested they would actually swing them if I didn’t follow their orders.
Instead of getting angry or annoyed, I stared at the soldiers.
Outwardly, I looked no different from an ordinary traveler or adventurer. This was because I had changed horses and taken off my Inquisitor’s cloak.
It wasn’t an act I did to specifically disguise myself.
This place, Cobeln, wasn’t an area where the Church had officially assigned me a mission, and there should already be suitable personnel deployed here. Therefore, it was to avoid unnecessary friction or a transfer order from headquarters.
“What are you staring blankly at? Unload your luggage right now!”
“We are those who carry out the Church’s orders. Do you want to be branded a heretic!”
Seeing the state of this place, I thought it wouldn’t have been necessary to do that.
I calmly met the eyes of the soldier shaking the spearhead threateningly and opened my mouth.
“What’s your name?”
An indifferent tone that didn’t feel a bit shaky. The soldiers’ faces hardened in surprise at the completely different reaction from the visitors so far, who would have been frightened by their rough behavior and obediently followed their words.
“I asked for your name, soldier.”
“……!”
The soldiers felt that something was seriously wrong. The tip of the spear, which had been lowered stealthily, was now shaking, having lost its direction.
One of the soldiers, who had been looking at each other and hesitating at my question, which felt ominous, asked in a hesitant tone.
“Ex, excuse me, but who might you be……”
I have no intention of continuing to hide my identity and pretend. I grabbed the hilt of my sword.
There is no better way to prove my identity than this.
“……!”
The soldiers’ faces were filled with bewilderment as I suddenly grabbed my sword.
Hwaak!
Soon, a dazzling halo of light spread from the slightly drawn blade. The faces of the soldiers, who had half-covered their eyes with their hands, were colored with shock and admiration.
“Inquisitor of Hesterica, Luciel Lumineger.”
Words delivered declaratively above the light. And the sound that followed immediately, thud.
It was the sound of a soldier quickly grasping the situation and kneeling on the floor.
“Fo, forgive our rudeness!”
“Inquisitor-nim, we were just trying to faithfully carry out the legitimate orders of the Church─”
“Sp, spare us!”
I stared at the soldiers. They seemed quite afraid of the Inquisitor.
I roughly waved my hand to indicate that it was okay and asked, glancing at the city through the open doorway.
“Two clergymen passed through here recently. Right?”
“Ye, Yes! That’s right!”
The answer was immediate.
The soldiers quickly got up and stood at attention, enthusiastically answering even things I hadn’t asked.
“……”
I listened to their words with my head slightly bowed.
It seemed that Lephra and Jerit had indeed come to Cobeln. They probably visited under official orders from the Church.
Of course, that would only be the beginning. I could roughly guess from the clues so far, but what was happening here seemed to be quite troublesome.
🔹🔹🔹
The first place I visited after passing through the visibly worried soldiers was the city’s tavern.
As I had done in Kaments, which was previously shrouded in fog, it was the most suitable place to quickly grasp the situation of the city.
I glanced at the somewhat subdued atmosphere of the city and pushed open the tavern door.
Of course, unlike in Kaments, the entrance wasn’t tightly locked, nor were the windows nailed shut.
However, instead of a lively and bustling atmosphere, a gloomy and depressed air hung over the tavern I entered.
Instead of drunken mercenaries, merchants, and adventurers, only a few city natives were sparsely seated inside the tavern.
“……”
Gazes focused on me as I opened the door and entered. It seemed that a stranger visiting the tavern was no longer a common occurrence here.
Sure enough, a strange voice reached me as I sat down after ordering a simple drink.
“Are you an outsider?”
An old man with gray hair was looking this way, holding a wooden beer mug.
“That’s right.”
“That’s unusual.”
I waited for the old man’s next words. Then, a sigh followed by his words.
“Cobeln is no longer a city worth visiting for outsiders.”
The man who had drained his beer, which had cooled and lost its foam, continued speaking flatly.
“If you have business here, you’d better finish it quickly and leave the city. This is no longer a place for people to live.”
“Aren’t you leaving, old man?”
At my words, he chuckled.
“Leave where, at my age, with nowhere to go.”
“You look healthy to me.”
The old man chuckled at my words.
“I have to see the trial that will be held soon. My son……”
He coughed, trailing off as if he had unknowingly spoken too much. But I had already heard the most important word.
Trial.
Considering the situation so far, it wasn’t something that was difficult to predict.
Perhaps it could even be seen as a very typical case.
The highly oppressive and authoritarian soldiers, the depressed atmosphere of the city, the heresy trial, the unjustly imprisoned people.
“……”
I slowly stroked my chin. I see.
It seemed clear at a glance what kind of meaningless struggle Jerit and Lephra would be having here.
Bang!
At that moment, a noise interrupted my thoughts.
“Out of the way!”
“Kyaaak!”
A sudden shout and scream seemed to come from nearby. The faces of the people in the tavern stiffened.
It was definitely not a normal situation, but no one got up from their seats.
Except me, of course.
Swish. The old man, who saw me rise from my seat without hesitation, spoke in a mournful and self-deprecating tone.
“It won’t do you any good to go there. You’ll just see something unpleasant.”
“Is that so?”
I replied flatly and pushed open the tavern door, accompanied by a sigh from behind.
🔹🔹🔹
The sound of breaking glass and a shrill scream. The low growl of a soldier.
Since they seemed to have no intention of hiding their location or actions, it wasn’t difficult to find them.
The scene I found after turning the corner of the alley was as expected.
A half-broken door and a messy interior. A woman collapsed on the floor and soldiers trampling all over the house.
I looked at the emblem engraved on the torches they were holding.
The emblem of the Inquisition. They were currently carrying out the orders of the Church, or rather, the orders of the Inquisitor managing the city.
“Who are you!”
The soldiers, who had discovered me suddenly appearing at the entrance, came out and surrounded me threateningly.
But that was only for a moment.
Confusion appeared on the faces of the soldiers who recognized the emblem of the Inquisition engraved on the cloak I had put on after passing through the city entrance.
“In, Inquisitor-nim……?”
They didn’t know my face or name, but they immediately recognized that I was an Inquisitor of Hesterica.
Naturally, no soldier dared to utter the insolent words of asking me to prove my qualifications. In the first place, there was no way a crazy person impersonating an Inquisitor could have entered this city.
Chuck. I calmly spoke to the soldiers who instantly stood at attention, holding their spears and torches vertically.
“What’s going on?”
“Th, that is……”
The soldiers hesitated and looked at each other at my question. They couldn’t bring themselves to speak honestly.
Of course, there must have been something to find fault with. Even if the soldiers of the Church, intoxicated with wielding power, were acting recklessly, they wouldn’t be vicious enough to fabricate a story and punish the citizens of the city.
They might have stolen a loaf of bread, or perhaps they had a small statue that could be considered an idol.
But whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t a mistake deserving of this inhumane treatment and being dragged into a cold underground prison.
“……”
The silent soldiers before me were the most definitive proof of that fact.
“……Good heavens, Luciel?”
“In, Inquisitor-nim!”
A long commotion. And a familiar voice from behind.
I turned my gaze to Jerit and Lephra, who were approaching with surprised expressions. Judging by how quickly they found the scene of the commotion, they must have been patrolling the city as well.
Of course, for the opposite purpose of these soldiers.
“Stop it right now!”
The soldiers flinched at Lephra’s shout and hurriedly lowered their weapons. It was a welcome reunion after a long time, but it wasn’t time to leisurely exchange greetings.
“Are you alright?”
Jerit quickly approached and helped the collapsed woman to her feet.
However, perhaps as expected, there was a person in this city who wouldn’t let them be.
I felt a presence. I slowly turned around.
“Ah.”
The person who seemed to have been following Jerit and Lephra. A tall and bulky Inquisitor, exuding an air of authority, slowly walked out from the shadowed alley of the building, drawing everyone’s attention.
The man, radiating an overwhelming presence, walked past the soldiers, Lephra and Jerit, and me, towards the woman.
“Honestly.”
The Inquisitor, who at first glance seemed to possess considerable experience and stubbornness, opened his mouth under the gaze of everyone directed at him.
“I can’t stand the deceitfulness of these detestable heretics.”
As he calmly spoke, his hand rested on the hilt of his sword. A simple and nonchalant gesture, as if he were raising his hand to cut bread.
His arm swung with incredible speed, unbefitting his size.
Puk, and then a splash of red blood.
“Anyway.”
As shock registered on everyone’s faces, the woman’s severed head slowly rolled on the floor.
It was truly instantaneous.
“You shouldn’t talk to wicked heretics. Don’t you agree, young friend?”
“Peters Bolter!”
Ignoring Lephra’s shout as she drew her sword, seemingly enraged, the man’s gaze turned towards me.
He glanced at the cloak, the sword at my waist, and my balanced posture. He opened his mouth again nonchalantly.
“An Inquisitor, are you? I wasn’t informed.”
The man’s thick hand, stained with the woman’s splattered blood, was extended towards me.
“Nice to meet you anyway. My name is Peters Bolter. I’m the Inquisitor entrusted with full authority over this city by the Church, tasked with rooting out the heretics here.”
An intense energy emanated from the fierce gaze of the Inquisitor as he offered his red hand with a smile. I met his gaze without flinching.
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