/
‘Well, it’s not the first time Carlton has acted strangely.’ Luisen neatly gave up on contemplating the issue further and continued to talk about Morrison.
“You said he was an inquisitor? They really exist?” The mercenary asked.
“…I was utterly surprised as well. I’ve heard of them, but I never thought I’d meet one in my lifetime…”
“I’ve heard rumors that they’re complete lunatics…” Carlton had heard of these heretic-chasing inquisitors; they were legends. Once again, his heart sank. If, at least, a bandit were to kidnap the young lord, then Luisen would have money or status to leverage against them. In this situation, Luisen was as defenseless as an infant; neither money nor power would work on the church.
“I apologize–if I had been more careful, this wouldn’t have happened,” Carlton said.
It wasn’t just Carlton’s fault. In fact, Luisen was well aware that he had behaved recklessly around Morrison, swayed by his previous good memories of the man.
‘However, who could have imagined that the kind merchant who helped me was an inquisitor for heretics?’
Inquisitors weren’t all that common. Luisen, while living as a noble in the kingdom’s capital, met various priests, but inquisitors were beings that only lived in stories. Ordinary folk would not even know they existed.
“Besides, you’re quite tired, right? No matter how keen you may be, it would be hard to uncover an inquisitor,” Luisen said.
In the first place, inquisitors wouldn’t reveal themselves like this. They would go deep into the shadows to catch the heretics that often moved in secret–in the background. Anyway, this organization had operated for hundreds of years, and its members studied how to disguise their identity and deceive others. There was nothing they could do. “In any case, this is a chance to know more about Ruger’s gang. Let’s shake Morrison for all his information.”
“Of course, we should,” Carlton replied, resolutely. Simultaneously, he did his best to not make eye contact with the young lord.
Not realizing that Carlton would fall into chaos after being made aware of his sudden first love, Luisen was eager for this awkwardness to be resolved before Morrison’s return. He just knew what sort of comments the inquisitor would make while observing their atmosphere.
As they waited docilely, Morrison and his men came to the cabin. All of Morrison’s men sported injuries, but none of them were life-threatening. Because finding Luisen was his top priority, it seemed as if the mercenary showed some mercy in his subjugation and consequential interrogation of the men.
“When all this is over, I believe we’ll have to concentrate on resting and recovering for a while. You’ve wounded us deeply.” Morrison said, meaningfully.
“You should be grateful to be alive,” Carlton replied, without backing down–he spoke bluntly as per usual.
Luisen was relieved. He was worried that the mercenary would remain dazed and absentminded, but, when Morrison returned, the mercenary returned to his usual overwhelming, intimidating form, placing plenty of pressure on the inquisitor and his men.
Sitting down, Luisen could now comfortably hear Morrison’s explanation.
***
Morrison, The Inquisitor.
That man was chasing the trail of a demon worshiper who was recently rising in influence.
While the South was still wrapped up in a power struggle–when the political atmosphere was still dubious, he came to the region disguised as a merchant. However, the more he chased, the more the trail became cold. Later, he was left confused as to where he should go.
While contemplating his next move, he came to Mittil to obtain more information and to report to his superiors. That was when he found Luisen.
A false pilgrim exuding an unclean aura.
“How did you know I was a fake?” Luisen asked.
“Each pilgrim’s pass has slightly different designs. All inquisitors have those memorized.”
Luisen examined the pass Morrison returned to him. ‘Looking at his…what is he…supposed to memorize…?’
‘I can’t tell, even as I look at it. Truly, he is an elite priest in the church.’ Luisen neatly gave up trying.
“I was going to arrest you on the spot, but I changed my mind and decided to observe instead. It seemed like you two were traveling with a purpose.” Morrison wondered if the two were going to meet some colleagues or return to their base. He followed Luisen, judging that he could find out more information if he stayed by the young lord’s side. As he observed them, he found out that Luisen and Carlton needed a fast boat; the inquisitor was able to use that desire to lure the two into his party.
“I was scrutinizing you carefully from the side, and, at that moment, the ghoul appeared. Those things don’t occur after normal deaths. Black magic or curses…those that die from those heretical powers become ghouls.”  It was only then that the inquisitor realized Cullen had been enticed by a demon worshiper. Because the relic Luisen held was drenched in an evil aura–the evil power was so strong, the inquisitor noticed the relatively weak snake monster a step too late.
Morrison looked hatefully at the demon worshiper’s dagger In Luisen’s point of view, the knife simply looked crude, but the young lord supposed the inquisitor saw the world with different eyes.
However, Cullen was merely a small fry. If the handyman had more time, he may have become one of the demon worshipers; that had yet to happen, though. Rather than to alert Luisen of his identity as an inquisitor by trying to arrest Cullen, Morisson decided it would be better to feign ignorance and observe the young lord’s actions.
After that long night–the night where the circumstances relating to the snake monster were revealed–Morrison constantly observed the young lord and mercenary, who rarely came out of their room.
“Y-You watched everything?” Luisen asked, flustered.
“Yes, everything.” Morrison looked meaningfully at Luisen. His gaze seemed to say, ‘Are you really going to say I’m delusional about your relationship at this point? No, right?’
‘Honestly, just because we kissed we’re not lovers…nor are we in love…’ Luisen’s face flushed from embarrassment. “This is an invasion of privacy, you know.”
“It was my job. My misunderstanding was completely cleared up. Rather than being demon worshipers, I found out you were hostile to them.”
“Then, you kidnapped me to learn the information you lacked?”
“I said I’m sorry, didn’t I? We were desperate as well. Those people are evil.”
Luisen fixed his posture and began to listen to Morrison in earnest.
The inquisitor continued, “Devil worshipers. Literally, that refers to people who worship demons…the Devil. Alternatively, you could refer to them as Black Wizards.”
Devil or demon worshiping was a heretic religion with as much history as the current reigning church. The methods of worship varied slightly from time to time, but this faction seemed to use magic.
They were people who had striven to find the meaning of truth in this world through magical research and, at some point, turned to demon worshiping. They believed that the Devil was a prophet who would destroy the false world and lead them to the truth. All of those followers followed the devil…and they believed that they had gained special powers by worshiping the devil.
“For example, controlling monsters or casting curses. We call that black magic.”
“And, there isn’t really a devil?”
“How could something like that exist in this world?” Morrison snorted. His tone conveyed the convictions of a man who had deep faith in and was devoted to God. “In anycase, these demon worshippers use unusual magic. The problem, though, is their delusions: they believe that the more they please the Devil in hell, the more power they’ll gain. That’s why they’re doing these sorts of crazy things…to please the devil. They make altars and present all sorts of offerings.”
The more terrible their schemes–the more frightened and confused they made their audience–the more effective their offerings would be. Or so they claimed.
“The results of their misdoings are quite visible and conspicuous, so their religion has persisted quite tenaciously. Their modus operandi is quite gruesome and dark as well. They do all sorts of evil deeds resulting in enormous damage, but, since they’re not interested in recruiting others to their cause, it’s hard to catch onto their trail.”
""
After hearing Morrison’s explanation, Luisen was lost in thought momentarily. “So… the reason these people are doing such strange deeds are… because they want to drop the world into chaos?”
‘Are you saying that such crazy, mentally deranged people that can usually only be seen in third-rate power fantasy novels actually exist in this world? In my timeline?’ Luisen could hardly believe in their existence.
The amusing banter he exchanged with Carlton was the truth! Dear lord, the world is doomed.
Luisen looked at the mercenary, who was furrowing his brows. It seemed like his companion was feeling the same way.
“Honestly, but who in the world does that these days…”
“This is the kind of world we live in. The civil war made a mess, didn’t it?”
“This is a little hard to believe. I keep thinking that, even though you’re the inquisitor, that you’re joking with me.”
“Do you really think I’d joke about these heathens?” Morrison’s gravely serious face was a little frightening.
Luisen stealthily made his way to Carlton’s side. The mercenary took the young lord’s hand and stepped forward, as if to hide the other behind him. Only then did Luisen’s flinching heart calm down. Morrison threw them a meaningful smile, but the two could easily ignore that look.
“Now then, I think I’d like to hear from the Duke.” Morrison said.
At those words, Luisen made eye contact with the mercenary. Carlton nodded slightly. At that signal, the young lord also began to talk about what he had been through.
Starting with the attack, the village that had been wiped from existence by monsters, the altar underneath the giant centipede burrow, etc. The young lord spoke for a long while, but Morrison listened to the whole story carefully without ever losing concentration.
“How did you… How could you get tangled up so often with that slippery group?” Morrison exclaimed, startled. That man hadn’t run into Ruger’s gang even once, despite the fact that he had been chasing after them. He couldn’t help but wonder if the heavens were playing a prank by tying Luisen and the demon worshiper’s fates together.
‘Before regression… ghouls appeared here and there–everywhere.’ Luisen had thought ghouls were simply popular in the northern regions, but they may, in fact, be a sign of the demon-worshiper’s increased influence. Furthermore, the reason why no bodies were left in the makeshift bandit’s village may be that those that were attacked by monsters all became ghouls. The corpses themselves may have walked away.
The future was far bleaker than Luisen had realized. The young lord inadvertently thought back to the one-armed pilgrim. The pilgrim had solved many strange cases even after the snake monster incident. Did he know about the existence of the demon worshipers? Somehow, the young lord thought the other would have known.
This conversation with Morrison was truly useful. It filled the gap between Luisen’s memory and the inquisitor’s information, making the young lord look back on future events that he had simply passed by in his ignorance.
PR: Morrison is like that over-sharing aunt at a family gathering who wants to announce loudly that the teenager’s new love interest, whom they’ve brought to meet the family for the first time, is soooooo cute and they’re such a cuuuuuteeee couple, and everyone wants to hide under the sofa from the awkwardness.