Chapter 9: Examination (2)
“Under the holy and shining name of God, gathered here today─”
The Head of the Inquisition, Markel Pavlino, was speaking in a loud voice from the podium with a stiff face.
An elderly man with a somewhat rigid impression.
It was a different kind of poker face from Anton, who seemed to maintain a calm expression even while killing heretics, except when he was bickering with Head of Support Barok and teaching me holy spells.
Suddenly, Anton’s words came to mind, that Inquisitors, due to the nature of their profession, must be more ruthless than anyone else.
Indeed. Even five hundred years ago, weren’t Inquisitors the ones who burned (those judged as guilty, the innocent) alive without batting an eye?
Now, without the sharp senses I once possessed, I focused my gaze on the Head, who was giving a boring speech with an unreadable expression.
It wasn’t that I suspected the Head of the Inquisition of hiding some suspicious intentions, or that his speech was so deeply moving.
“That road back then, it was incredibly complicated. I wandered around for over an hour, you know?”
The girl standing next to me, who had introduced herself as Daena, was whispering to me with a somewhat pleased expression.
Was one of the qualities of an Inquisitor the ability to hide one’s emotions?
At least in that respect, this girl next to me would probably be more than enough to fail.
It was a little annoying to be glanced at by her from the side, but not enough to bother me.
Inquisitors are those who take on individual missions and wander all over the continent alone. After this exam is over, there will be almost no chance of encountering each other anyway.
And even more so if this Daena fails the exam.
“Brothers who walk the thorny path toward the light from the lowest and darkest places. May God’s paradise be at the end of the path you walk.”
Meanwhile, the Head’s speech was coming to an end.
Is it finally starting?
He stepped forward to the podium and raised one hand to point to the sky. His eyes were somewhat bloodshot.
“Brothers!”
It’s a familiar sight.
The expression that those who have no doubt about their actions can make.
That expression, which can be seen in both ardent demon worshippers and devout believers in God.
The faces of many candidates watching him were filled with enthusiasm and tension stemming from various reasons.
“……”
A moment of silence.
Everyone held their breath and waited for the Head’s next words.
Finally, the Head of the Inquisition, Markel Pavlino, looked at everyone, waved his hand pointing to the sky, and shouted as if spitting out the words.
“In the name of God, we will purify the darkness that covers those who have committed unforgivable sins. Heresia Cadiere, destruction to the heretics!”
“Destruction to the heretics!”
Existing Inquisitors, the brothers here, and the candidates all shouted loudly as if responding to his words.
“Destruction to the heretics!”
Soon, the vast hall of the Inquisition was heated up with the fervor and shouts of the believers.
“Destruction to the heretics!”
The sound I had heard so much of, and the sound I never thought I would hear again.
I smiled faintly and closed my eyes. The shouts echoing from all directions made my ears ring.
The loud shouts of the Inquisitors.
It was the end of the speech and the signal for the start of the final exam for the candidates who would become new Inquisitors.
🔹🔹🔹
“Next.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Good luck.”
“Th, thank you!”
A long wait.
“Next.”
“Yes!”
The entrance of the Inquisition.
Candidates lined up in a long line, each receiving a small piece of paper with an explanation of their mission, and immediately left the Inquisition.
Fear, trembling, worry, confidence, excitement.
I could feel various emotions leaking from the candidates who were not yet accustomed to completely hiding their feelings.
The one handing out the small pieces of paper was Anton Lebecht.
He was the Inquisitor who was almost the most senior in the Inquisition, and the one who brought me here and initiated me.
Swish.
The long line gradually shortened, and it was my turn. I walked towards him with a calm gait.
There was no tension. I was a little far removed from such emotions.
“……”
Anton, who stared at me as I approached him, uttered a short word, a little different from what he had said to the other candidates.
“Good luck, Luciel.”
Anton Lebecht said in a low voice, looking at me. There was no significant change in his expression, but I could read the faint worry in his voice.
Perhaps it wasn’t worry about the child named Luciel himself, but worry that the talent to carry out God’s will more effectively than anyone else might go wrong.
Of course, I can’t read his emotions perfectly, not yet.
I just smiled slightly, looking at the Inquisitor.
“You don’t have to worry.”
I answered him sincerely, and Anton, as if believing me, nodded and handed me a small piece of paper he had taken out.
A paper containing information about the final exam given to each candidate to become an Inquisitor.
It was a rough and coarse blank piece of paper, with nothing written on it.
“……”
Turning my head briefly, I saw several Inquisitors and brothers watching Anton handing out the papers to the candidates.
Barok, who had bickered with Anton and taught me a few holy spells, winked at me, and Lephra, still completely covered in armor and robes except for her face, stood with her arms crossed, her eyes narrowed as she looked this way.
‘Shall we go?’
Putting the paper I received in my pocket, I walked out the entrance without any hesitation.
Not the main entrance connected to the cathedral on the ground, but the second entrance at the back.
Since the papers were handed out one by one with a considerable distance between each person, the simple stone passage was quiet.
Drip, drip.
Instead of the sound of sacred music that I had heard when I first passed through this place, I could hear the sound of water droplets falling from various parts of the passage connected to the ground, and the faint sound of footsteps of the previous candidates, who seemed to be quite far away.
“……”
Wooong.
I infused the paper with a little holy power.
Swoosh.
Then, as if ink had been dropped on the blank paper, various symbols began to appear.
Symbols and formulas in a somewhat difficult shape, not ordinary letters.
‘The ancient holy language of Behjant. And a bit of cryptography.’
I smiled faintly, looking at the diagrams.
As expected, they don’t tell you easily from the start. Maybe some will be eliminated from here.
Only those who show excellent talent in all fields, even among those who have been carefully selected and trained from all over the continent, can become Inquisitors.
Basic linguistics, cryptography, and a bit of creativity and application are virtues that an Inquisitor should possess.
And that’s.
‘The same goes for an excellent black mage.’
「The third highest place in the City of the Sun. Form a group of three……」
I easily deciphered the letters and symbols and headed out of the passage.
Outside, which had already entered autumn, was chilly and dark.
The time for heretics and the Inquisitors who hunt them to be active.
Flicker.
As I moved a little holy power, flames quickly rose from the thin and rough paper. The flame, which had been shining in the cold and exciting night air, burned the small paper with a flicker and quickly died out.
I flicked my hand to shake off the ashes and then walked towards the location written on the paper.
🔹🔹🔹
The highest place in the City of the Sun, that is, Hesterica, is the top of the shining spire, shining with the magic of wizards who seek the truth.
The light of the spire, which was installed to commemorate the City of the Sun and boasted an incredible brightness that was visible even during the day, was somewhat dim. Well, if it was lit up as brightly as day even at night, it would probably be difficult to live a normal life. Of course, it would be a severe waste of magical power as well.
I walked, looking at the soft light of the spire located on the opposite side of the vast city.
The second highest place was the Hesterica Cathedral. In other words, it was the large and magnificent building that rose above the basement I had just left.
Seeing that most of the rooms in the large building were lit up even in the dark of night, it seemed that those devout believers were working hard again today.
‘Is it there?’
And the third highest place in the City of the Sun was a low hill located on the outskirts of the city.
The so-called ‘Hill of Sacrifice’.
It was a place with a rather bland story that a saint, before this city was even built, climbed the hill with his injured body and informed them that the enemy was approaching.
The top of the hill, where a chilly wind was blowing, was quiet.
‘Has no one arrived yet?’
Well.
The ancient Behjant holy language and cipher written on the paper are not things that can be easily solved. It would take some time for an ordinary candidate to decipher and understand it all.
The night view of Hesterica, with lights twinkling from the spire and tall buildings, was quite a sight to behold.
At least for me, the night view was more appealing than the daytime view. I looked at the tree in the center of the hill for a moment and then sat down.
Rustle.
After about thirty minutes of relaxing and enjoying the wind.
I heard a presence behind me.
‘That’s faster than I thought.’
It wasn’t something I, who took less than 30 seconds, could say, but it was quite fast for a young Inquisitor, no, a candidate. As expected, are they those who have been selected and trained from all over the continent?
I turned around to check the face of the one who arrived first among the remaining two members of my team, excluding myself.
“Huh?”
The one who lightly climbed the hill with a refreshing gait was the girl I had already encountered twice, Daena.
A smile spread across her face as she saw me sitting at the top of the hill, looking at her.
“We meet again?”
“Unfortunately.”
After briefly responding to her greeting, I stood up, dusting off my clothes. The other one will probably arrive soon.
She, who was looking at me with interest, having arrived before her, looked me up and down and spoke curiously.
“What’s your main weapon? Mine is this.”
She said, unfastening the mace tied to her back and holding it in one hand.
“……”
The heavy mace, which even a sturdy adult male would struggle with, was lightly held in Daena’s delicate arms.
Did she learn body strengthening holy magic? Barok would be pleased.
“……I don’t really use weapons.”
While Daena tilted her head at my words, I examined her a little more closely.
Not bad. Not to the point of being a burden.
Of course, from my point of view, it didn’t matter who I was teamed up with. The exam that these youngsters were taking to become Inquisitors was not a big concern for me.
And above all, since the number of Inquisitors is small and the land of the church is vast, Inquisitors basically work individually.
After this exam is over, I’ll probably spend most of my time alone and freely. It’s okay to spend a little time with the youngsters before that, I can accept it with pleasure.
“……”
My thoughts changed a little when I saw the last candidate, who arrived after an hour and thirty minutes after Daena, climbing the hill, panting.
“Huff, huff…… W-wait!”
The guy, drenched in sweat as if he had run across this huge city, shouted while looking at us, who hadn’t left yet, while catching his breath.
He, who had barely reached the top of the hill, using his sword as a staff, placed his hands on his knees for a moment, exhaled roughly, and then opened his mouth with a somewhat embarrassed face.
“Sorry. Phew. I couldn’t decipher the latter part of the sentence, so I had to visit several places……”
From the cathedral in the center to the spire at the edge of the city. And then across the cathedral again to the hill on the opposite outskirts.
It was commendable tenacity to have crossed this large city with a body that didn’t seem to have been enhanced physically.
But he failed the theory.
“At least you managed to decipher the first part.”
Daena said, stepping back a little from the guy who was wiping his sweat profusely and collapsing on the ground.
It took a little more time for the guy, who was gasping as if he was about to lose his breath, to calm down a bit.
“……But you know.”
He turned his gaze to Daena, who was looking at him like an idiot, and slowly opened his mouth in a small voice.
“Do you know where we should go next?”
“……”
“W-well. The paper only mentioned the fact that there are three members. And the location of this place……”
Daena, who received his gaze, coughed awkwardly as if making excuses and turned her gaze away.
Towards me.
Receiving the gaze of both candidates, I slowly stood up.
This damn church, it seems to have gotten worse than it was five hundred years ago.
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