Volume 18 - CH 10

The Inquisition was held in the auditorium of Rubidoux Castle in the Holy Kingdom of Ufa.

The accused is the Temple Knight Elisa-Michel.　

I and Serina were allowed to participate as witnesses.

It seems that Howell and Serina have screwed things up well.

「Listen, Alec-san, you have to be careful with your facial expressions. Don't smile, either. There have been cases where people have been executed for ridiculing the gods. It's safer to keep your face expressionless.」

This Howell told me in a whisper, but I was afraid that he would go that far.

「Eh? You can't even smile? That sounds like a troublesome.」

Serina also looked up at the ceiling in dismay.

「Is your face okay, Howell? Even when you're acting normal, your face looks like you're smiling.」

I said, because I was curious about that plump, thread-eyed face.

「Yes, but don't worry, I'm top notch at keeping a low profile. I've had a lot of trouble in my young life, so...」

「Well, you're certainly plain.」

He's a dull thirty-year-old man with no distinguishing features. He's neither good-looking nor ugly.

Even when we were diving together in the Labyrinth of No Return, he was fighting in the rear guard with little presence.

「That's my strength here. Well, as they say, the stakes are always high.」

A stake? You must be talking about Elisa.

「You're right」.

「But thank you for your cooperation, Alec-san.」

「I'm not cooperating with you. Don't get me wrong.」

「Yes, you are. And you too, Serina-san.」

「No, don't worry about it, Howell-san. You and I have fought together before.」

「Haha, it's true that you and I have fought together. As enemies.」

There was such a thing, wasn't there? It was a misunderstanding on Elisa's part, though.

「That was ......」

Serina smiled bitterly and was about to say something, but the door opened and the inquisitor entered.

「I'll see you later.」

Howell left it at that and quickly returned to his seat.

But ......  it's the entrance of a villain, isn't it? No matter how you look at it.

All of the inquisitors, with the exception of one, were completely covered in black pyramid-shaped cloth over their heads, hiding their faces, with only their eyes glaring through small holes.

Jet-black vestments.

They were dressed more like an executioner than an inquisitor.

The only man in the room who shows his face is .......

The look in his eyes is kind of amazing, so I guess that's Lord Bodine, the head of the Inquisition that Edgar was talking about.

His eyes are looking straight ahead, but it's hard to tell where they're focused.

It was as if he was looking into a faraway world that we could not see.

His face was tense and expressionless, as if he was trying to hold back a feces.

「So, in the name of the Child Spirit and the Great Father God Falbas, I now open the Inquisition. Bring forth the accused, Elisa-Michel.」

The chief of the Inquisition said in a tense voice, and Elisa was brought in, flanked on both sides by two executioners whose faces were also hidden.

She even wore iron balls and chains on her feet, which made even a stranger like me raise an eyebrow at the way they treated the Templar Knight.

「What are the charges?」

「Ha, the charges are premarital sexual intercourse, cheating on your fiancée, and defamation of a Templar Knight.」

「「「Ooohhh」」」

There was a groan from the surrounding audience, but it seemed that charges that hadn't been revealed beforehand had been added.

「An affair, you say?」

「Is that what you call adultery?」

「But she would be unmarried.」

「But her fiancé, Lord Denwein, would be unfaithful to him if it were another man.」

「Be quiet! Be quiet! Shut all your mouth! Silence!」

The Chief Inquisitor struck the mallet relentlessly and repeatedly, with such fury that it seemed as if he had something against it.

The mallet broke and flew away. That's dangerous.

Another mallet was reverently held out from underneath by one of the inquisitor's underlings, and the chief inquisitor took it quietly as if nothing had happened.

All the while, no one spoke up.

It was so quiet.

「Ahem, this is a serious case, so the arraignment will take place first. Elisa-Michel, do you acknowledge the previous charges or not?」

When the chief inquisitor asked, Elisa looked ahead and said,

「No, Chief Inquisitor. I deny all charges except for the libel.」

Elisa said.

「Unuu ...... part of it? Can you swear to God?」

「Of course. I swear by the God I believe in.」

「Wait, waait! What god do you believe in, Elisa? Not the demons those Demi's believe in, is it?」

「No, Chief Inquisitor. I only believe in Falbas, the same as you.」

「...... All right. Now, Counsel.」

「Yes, sir. I'll be the presumptuous one to do it.」

A mild-mannered-looking old man stood up. His white vestments were embroidered with jewels, and he appeared to be a very high-ranking official.

「Oooh, High Priest Kabler himself?」

「The high priest is acting as an advocate,. ......」

「Be quiet! Be quiet! Be quiet! Silence!　...... mallet. Ahem, High Priest Kabler, I admire your courageous offer, but as you are Elisa's immediate superior, it is not acceptable.」

「What? Why not?」

Serina inadvertently raised a question, but this idiot...

「You! You dare to question the decision of me, the sacred chief inquisitor! Give me your name!」

「Y-yes, my name is Shiraishi Serina, an adventurer and hero from the Kingdom of Vernia.」

「Hmph, you think that a hero from another country can interfere with the inquisition of the Holy Kingdom? But why is an outsider here?」

The chief inquisitor leaned forward and glared at her. Serina looks troubled, but I'm not allowed to speak here. If I don't get permission, I'll be in even more trouble.

「I'll answer that for you, Chief Inquisitor. Could you give me permission?」

「Very well. High Priestess Kabler, you may answer.」

「In the Kingdom of Grandsword, she worked with Elisa for a time in the Labyrinth of No Return, and is also a member of Alec's party who is said to be having an affair. Therefore, I've invited her here as a witness to confirm the facts.」

「I see. But isn't Alec alone is enough as a witness?　」

「No, they are infidels. We may need to verify the authenticity of his testimony in case Alec perjures himself.」

「Infidels, huh ...... Infidels are the one to blame!」

「Eh?」

「One of the guys is a cheater, too. Take those two people into custody and place them on the stand!」

「P-please wait, Chief Inquisitor. The affair hasn't been proven yet, right?」

「Hmph, but it's very possible. Therefore, we will proceed with the hearing on the assumption that he may perjure himself. However, he will be released only if it is proven that it is not true.」

There was a stir in the audience, but it was indeed unusual to detain a witness at the stage of suspicion.

After another sacrifice of the mallet, Frederick took the stand.

「Frederik-von-Denwein, you were engaged to Elisa, weren't you?」

「...... No, Chief Inquisitor, I checked this morning, and I hereby testify that I was mistaken about that, and that no engagement has taken place.」

「What did you say!」

The murmur grew louder and three hammers went flying.

I was beginning to wonder how many spare hammers they had on hand.

「It's my misunderstanding. The engagement is off.」

「Can you swear to that by God? You're not perjuring yourself to protect your fiancé, are you?」

「No. I'll explain the situation――」

Frederick gave the same explanation I'd heard before. It's a custom for a Templar Knight to take a priestess as her wife.

「Elisa! Is it true what he say?」

「Yes, Chief Inquisitor. I am embarrassed to say that I did not realize that Frederick was proposing an engagement, and I thought that I was going to marry a woman!」

「That's such bulshit! Marriage between a man and a woman is the norm! How can a woman marry a woman!? A woman loves a man, and a man loves a woman, and that is the universal and eternal law of God!」

「Nay! Even between women, love can be nurtured!」

Kaede?

Why are you here?

I looked around, but Kaede was nowhere to be seen, her skills seeming to have made her invisible.

No, but whatever it is, you've got to stop stirring up this tribunal.

「W-Who the hell are you!?」

「Whoever spoke just now, raise your hands! All others, silence! Silence! Eihh, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!」

The audience was in a turmoil, and wooden mallets were flying one after another. There were a total of thirty-two of them.

「Mallets!」

「T-that's the thing Chief inquisitor,......, we're is now gathering hammers from houses all over the castle and whipping woodworkers to hurry them up, but they have all been used up,....... There is not a single thing in stock, sir.」

「What did you say!」

「We have a few large ones and a few small ones.」

「No, you can't have that! We can't have anything substandard in this sacred place. We have no choice but to postpone the hearing until the mallet is ready!」

Kaede appeared and gave me a thumbs up with a proud look on her face, but no.

We haven't solved anything yet, you know