༺ 𓆩 Chapter 19 — Old Faith (1) 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
“Sir Randolph, do you truly believe what the young master said?”
“I don’t know. But how long do you intend to keep using honorifics, Carlson? Now both you and I are nothing more than the young master’s hands and feet. Could you not treat me as you used to?”
Randolph spoke as they walked through the streets of Bern.
“But a knight is still a knight, and I am nothing more than a foreigner. The reason I treated you so freely before was because I thought you were a commoner.”
“I cannot say I know much about that. I only feel bitter, thinking that an old friend is keeping his distance from me because of my own fault.”
“…….”
Carlson looked at Randolph.
Randolph still had bandages wrapped around his head. No more blood seeped through them, but the place where one of his ears had once been was now smooth and flat.
Carlson, Randolph, and Pyke had been comrades from their days as trainees. Carlson had never cared to build merit, and as a result a gap had opened between them in rank, one becoming a company commander and another a platoon leader. It had all become meaningless now, but once it had mattered.
“Hold your chest high and walk with pride, boss.”
Perhaps embarrassed by Carlson’s gaze, Randolph spoke for no reason at all to Bill, who was walking ahead of them.
Bill turned back with a wan face. His eyes fixed themselves on the leather pouch Randolph was carrying. Flies kept clustering around it.
“Even a pig being dragged to the slaughterhouse would walk with more dignity than that.”
“That would be because a pig wouldn’t know it was being taken to die.”
“Who says anyone’s dying? Don’t you trust our skills?”
Randolph smiled faintly.
He almost seemed to be enjoying the situation.
“Are you not the new boss who took the head of the dreaded Niers!? If that infamous name were to see you cowering like this, it would weep from sheer shame.”
Randolph said.
“Yes, yes. It is all because I am lacking.”
Bill let out one sigh after another.
All strength had drained from his upper body, and his waist bent so low that his arms looked as though they might brush the ground. He looked like a man being dragged along by a rope tied around his neck.
Then, suddenly.
Randolph and Carlson came to a stop, and when the sound of footsteps behind them ceased, Bill stopped as well.
“My lords?”
“Pyke……”
Heads had been put on display in the plaza of the city of Bern.
Each had belonged to someone condemned for murder or banditry. Most had been so thoroughly pecked apart by crows that their shapes were no longer recognizable, but Pyke’s head, having been displayed comparatively recently, could still be identified as his despite having been torn at here and there.
“What a pity.”
Carlson spoke in a low voice.
“He was always the sort who would end that way. He used to say it like a habit, that he had been born a wild dog with nowhere to return to.”
“……He said he would go like a wild dog when the time came.”
“Yes.”
“Ralph.”
Suddenly, Carlson dropped the honorifics and spoke more familiarly.
“Hm?”
“Don’t end up like that. You have a family to protect.”
“I will.”
Randolph nodded heavily.
“Black magic is spreading like a plague! The apostles of evil, hiding in the darkness, are raping women and devouring children!”
On one side, heads were impaled on spikes, while on the other, a man in priest’s robes was preaching on the street.
“Starting from the sins and malice inherited from Goethe’s ancestors, demons crawling out from the demon realm are casting a shadow over this city! Thus, Pope Anasius himself has sent holy soldiers to purify this land!”
Waaaah!
Around the priest, men in plate armor stood with solemn faces, and dozens of citizens gathered around them.
There was an eager expectation on the citizens’ faces.
“Through the practice of faith, you will find salvation!
Your belief will be answered! Trust not the lords who do nothing for you, but rely on Him who will protect you from evil!”
“That’s right!”
A loud agreement erupted from the crowd.
“……”
Carlson, Randolph, and Bill shared the same feelings at that moment.
“I can’t believe a tenth of the imports to Goethe go into the hands of those ink-stained fanatics.”
“And that such a religious man would publicly insult the lord.”
Bill agreed with Randolph.
“If Pyke were here, he’d probably ask me how much silver we could get for selling that priest.”
“Never thought I’d miss that guy already.”
“Empty talk with no value.”
The three of them walked toward the sewers without a word.
They passed through the southern market area of the city of Bern, then under the red-light and slum districts.
Finally, they arrived at the entrance of the sewers slightly west from there.
“Boss, you know the way, right?”
“Yes, I do.”
Bill’s face looked like he’d just swallowed something bitter.
“From now on, watch your speech. Speak down to us.
We’re just your capable subordinates, after all.”
“Yes, ugh—”
“Speak down.”
Randolph smacked Bill on the back of the head.
Then Bill, looking determined, said, “Got it, you bastard.”
“……”
The moment Bill said that, Randolph instinctively reached for his sword hilt.
“Ah, but you told me to!”
“Ralph.”
“I know.”
At Carlson’s restraint, Randolph took a deep breath.
“Good job, boss, just like that.”
“Alright. Let’s go, you bastards.”
Bill muttered again and hurried ahead like he was running away.
“Carlson.”
Randolph placed a hand on Carlson’s shoulder.
Carlson realized he was gripping his sword hilt without thinking.
Luckily, Bill reached the destination before his head could fly off.
“We’ve come to trade on behalf of Nias.”
Somewhere deep within the maze-like sewers.
In a place so dark even vagrants avoided it, a figure in a black robe was crouching.
“Nias?”
When Bill tilted his head, Randolph threw the leather pouch.
The figure in the black robe opened the pouch, and a swarm of maggots and flies revealed a rotting head.
It was the decayed head of Nias.
“Now, I am Nias.”
Bill said, his voice trembling slightly.
***⚜***
“Do we really have to go this far? Even if it isn’t you, we could find another bait.”
“This is my choice. With Carlson and Sir Randolph here, we’ll be fine.”
A sunny day.
Isaac and the Margrave strolled through the garden. It had been a long time since the father and son walked together like this.
The Margrave searched his hazy memories.
It was back when Jonas was still in the womb. Every time the Margrave visited the mansion, he would often give Isaac piggyback rides.
Adele, whose belly was steadily growing, would always watch with anxious eyes, worried that Isaac might fall.
The Margrave enjoyed teasing Adele like that.
It was amusing to see such a strong woman, capable of cutting down monsters with ease, fret over the smallest scratch on Isaac.
Now, that boy had grown enough to walk beside him. He had thought Isaac would always be a troublesome child. He had worried that Isaac would forever remain holed up inside due to his rare and burdensome constitution.
Yet now, that boy was worrying about the family.
He was even prepared to jump into danger for the family’s sake.
Thus, for those cultists, there was no greater prize.
A child possessing so much mana and carrying the title of Goethe’s heir would attract all eyes.
They needed fame, and Isaac was the perfect bait for them.
“You really are just like your mother.”
The Margrave said after listening to Isaac’s calm explanation.
The way Isaac coolly laid out the reasons why he had to offer himself up as bait was exactly like Adele. His thinking was logical and rational. Above all, he was sharp and bold.
“I see.”
The old faith condemned interest gained from loans or currency exchange fees as sinful.
Bound by that doctrine, Goethe could never amass wealth.
If they tried to sever ties with the old faith one-sidedly, the Holy See would never remain silent.
They needed a justification, and Isaac had found a way to create it.
“Oh dear, my lord, young master, I’m so sorry, so sorry!”
As they finished a lap around the garden, servants who spotted the Margrave and Isaac quickly apologized and scurried away.
They looked startled upon seeing the Margrave, and then terrified upon noticing Isaac beside him.
“Father, may I ask you something?”
Isaac watched the retreating backs of the servants.
“What is it?”
“If I no longer cause mana explosions, will Mother return?”
“……”
The Margrave stopped walking.
Adele had been wandering across the continent in search of a cure for Isaac.
It was the path she chose as a mother.
The Margrave had never thought that Isaac would be worried about it.
“Yes. If you recover, she will surely come back.”
“How can I prove it?”
“What do you mean?”
“How can I prove that I no longer cause mana explosions?”
“……What do you mean by that?”
The Margave asked, wearing an expression as if he had heard a bad joke.
***⚜***
A few days later, at a dawn filled with thick clouds.
A carriage set off under Hans’ farewell.
The Margrave, an early riser, stood by the window watching the carriage leave the mansion.
His face was full of worry.
“Please don’t worry. Sir Carlson and Sir Randolph are with him.” Schiller said.
Even though it was early morning, he was immaculately dressed in his formal uniform without the slightest disorder.
“That’s true. Both of them were among the best in Winterband.”
“Is there something else you are worried about?”
“Isaac is twelve this year, isn’t he?”
“Yes.”
“……He is growing much faster than I expected.”
The carriage had long since disappeared from the Margrave’s view.
Hiss—
The Margrave sat at his desk and took his pipe.
Through the rising smoke, he gazed at a silver coin placed on the desk.
The royal family’s emblem was engraved on the coin.
***⚜***
In the southern forest of the city of Bern, there stood the ruins of an abandoned monastery.
Once, it had been a place where monks of the New Faith lived together in a community. But after the persecutions of the Old Faith, it had become a place where no one lived at all.
Weeds had grown rank and wild, and in place of men, birds and insects and mountain beasts had made their homes in every corner. Across the shattered buildings, the marks of scorching and blackened residue still remained, plain as ever. Some years ago, the monks of the New Faith had been trapped here and burned alive. It had been an act of force carried out by inquisitors sent by the Old Faith.
Because of the overcast sky, the monastery looked especially bleak today.
Toward that place where no human shadow could be seen, the carriage advanced slowly.
When the carriage reached the entrance to the monastery, a figure in a black robe appeared from somewhere. Even in broad daylight, he held a lantern in his hand and stared fixedly at the carriage. When the coachman pulled on the reins and brought it to a halt, the black-robed figure opened his mouth
“When you kiss the entrails of the black calf.”
“……”
“When the black calf kisses the entrails.”
When the coachman did not answer, the black-robed man spoke again.
“……Joy shall make sport of you.”
“Bring forth the gift for Him.”
Two armed men climbed down from the back of the carriage, and after them came a boy bound with rope and gagged.
“In the name of the Goddess of Fire, welcome, you who are suffering.”
“Cut the bullshit and just take us to your boss.”
The coachman said.
“Is that boy truly the promised offering?”
The black-robed man stared at the boy, who was tightly bound and gagged.
The boy’s ash-gray hair and blue eyes were as described, and his noble appearance was clear, but it was still hard to be sure if he was the promised offering.
More than anything, what bothered the black-robed man was how calm the boy was.
There was neither anxiety nor fear in his eyes.
His gaze was detached, as if he had accepted everything.
“Shit, if you can’t even recognize him, why the hell did you hire us?”
The coachman grumbled.
“If you nitpick over useless things, we’ll just leave, got it?”
“We have to confirm it from our side too. After all, we must give you the reward you desire.”
The black-robed man replied calmly.
A glimpse of his face revealed he had no nose and no lips, his teeth bared grotesquely.
The coachman flinched in surprise but hid it well.
“Your boss ordered this, right? Then your boss should recognize him too! What, do you expect a kidnapped noble brat to carry proof of identity? You idiot.”
“……”
When the black-robed man glared at him, the coachman turned his gaze away awkwardly.
His face was terrifying enough to haunt one’s dreams.
“Now that the promised sacrifice has arrived, offer the true gift. The Goddess of Fire shall receive it gladly.”
At that moment, an old woman leaning on a cane emerged from the ruins.
“As the Goddess wills.”
The black-robed man bowed his head.
“Follow me.”
Following the black-robed man, the group dismounted the carriage and entered the ruins.
“This way.”
The black-robed man carrying the lantern and the hunched old woman led them underground.
It was a catacomb.
***⚜***
“Never thought they would set up base in a place like this.”
Randolph muttered.
The catacombs consisted of narrow stone chambers connected like an anthill.
Aside from the lantern carried by the black-robed man, it was complete darkness.
“Everything began here. When the Old Faith’s fanatics burned this place down, three saints survived the flames.
Covered in burns, the three saints claimed they saw the true visage of the divine between life and death. An indescribably beautiful goddess.”
The old woman talked incessantly about things nobody had asked, hurrying her steps.
“The human body carries the soul. By consuming flesh imbued with a soul, they are reborn within us. Their intelligence, abilities, vitality, and even the pains and joys they experienced in life, all of it. The fragile existence of humans thus reaches eternity. This is the Goddess’s teaching.”
At the end of the catacomb.
They spotted a room that seemed oddly bright.
And when they entered the room—
“Shit.”
Bill cursed involuntarily.
At least Nias had been civilized.
Even if it was human flesh, he had at least cooked it.
Crunch—!!!
Crunch!Crunch—!!!
If there were a hell, it would look like this.
Naked cultists were tearing raw pieces from the butchered bodies piled on the altar; the face of the corpse being devoured was grotesquely twisted.
It had long since died.
“Hear me! The sacrificial prophecy has arrived! Feast upon the noble soul and become noble! Feast upon the wise soul and become wise! Feast upon the pure soul and become pure! Today, we have brought a soul possessing all three to the house of the Goddess! Feast, fea—”
“Goddamn it, I can’t listen to this crap.”
Thunk—!!!
The coachman kicked the old woman.
Her raving voice was cut off.
The cultists who had been enjoying their meal turned their gazes towards them.
“How long do we have to keep up this shit, young master?”
The coachman asked the boy.
“Sigh. In the end, you caused a scene.”
One of the men who had come along clicked his tongue at the coachman.
Another man untied the boy’s ropes.
The boy removed his own gag and spoke.
“Only deal with the ones who attack. Don’t forget the goal.”
END σϝ CHAPTER