Chapter 3
“Bishop, the head inquisitor, Neil, along with 27 other inquisitors, has been dispatched. The purification will be completed without incident.”
Low afternoon sunlight lay across the bishop’s office.
The room was filled with a sweet fragrance.
The wine brimming in the glass looked like flowing blood.
Despite the priest’s voice breaking the silence, the bishop merely stared at his glass.
“Understood. You may leave.”
When the priest withdrew, Nelson tilted his glass.
Red ripples of wine swayed along the glass walls.
Severing an entire village, as if excising rotting flesh, was merely a sacrifice for a greater salvation.
When he had been young and foolish, he had been unable to choose anything.
His incompetence had kept him from protecting anything, but this time would be different.
It would be the only way to stop the plague from spreading again.
Nelson rolled the glass beneath his fingertips and slowly nodded, as if confirming a decision already made.
_____
“Have everyone set up camp. We’ll rest here, then carry out the purification tomorrow morning in accordance with God’s will.”
In a clearing in the forest, now sunk in darkness, people were dismounting their horses.
Not even an insect chirped in the forest; only the sound of hooves rang out.
The white monastic robes that must once have been pure were mottled with dark-red stains, while black cloaks dragged heavily through the mud.
An iron mask engraved with a cross and caked in soot was strapped to each of their waists.
In silence, they set up the tents with practiced movements.
The clearing was filled only with the sound of wood being split and blades being honed on whetstones.
Prayers were recited in low voices, like whispers.
“Captain. The meal is ready.”
Neil, who had been looking at a map inside one of the tents, raised his head.
Dark shadows beneath his eyes made him look gloomy.
“All right. How are the members holding up?”
“You know how it is, don’t you? Under God’s protection, we can accomplish anything. Still, a new mission the moment we return…”
“Well, if it’s an order from Bishop Nelson…”
The corners of Neil’s mouth twisted stiffly.
“It can’t be an ordinary matter.”
The deputy commander drew the sign of the cross without hesitation, his eyes full of conviction.
“Everything is according to God’s will. God will guide us.”
The deputy commander’s eyes were clear.
There was not the slightest trace of doubt in them.
‘…I envy those eyes.’
Neil gave a bitter smile.
The light spreading through the darkness drew their two different faces into the same glow.
_______
Bang, bang, bang.
In a dim room where light barely entered through its only small window, the sound of knocking echoed.
The figure lying face-down on a straw bed in one corner of the room straightened.
“Ethan…? Ella…?”
“Marta! Marta! The village chief says help is coming from the Church! Alex might get better, too!”
At the shouting from beyond the door, her eyelids trembled faintly.
The face that had been full of exhaustion now shone with hope.
“Alex…! Cough, cough. Thank goodness… Thank goodness…”
Her hand began groping over the blanket.
Soon, her fingers closed around something, and she gripped it tightly and pulled it against her chest.
“Everything will be all right. When Dad and Sis come back, let’s greet them with smiles, looking healthy.”
She kept repeating those words, tightening her hold as though she would never let go.
How long had that silence lasted?
The village, which had been quiet save for coughing, suddenly erupted into turmoil.
At the appearance of the men in iron masks and filthy-looking robes at the village entrance, tension settled over the face of the man standing guard.
“Excuse me, is this Liam Village?”
“Y-yes… yes, it is, but… who are you?”
The guard relaxed somewhat at the man’s gentle question and answered.
Perhaps he had heard the answer he was hoping for, the smaller of the two men who had stepped forward continued speaking without looking at his companion.
“Deputy commander. Send the signal. We’ll begin the purification.”
When the man called the deputy commander raised his hand, light sprang from his fingertips and washed the sky white.
Immediately afterward, the ten men standing in formation began entering the village in unison, carrying iron poles decorated with crosses.
“W-wait! You can’t come in like this!”
The young man on guard instantly gripped his spear and blocked their way.
“Everything is according to God’s will.”
“Urk.”
All he could make out was a faint mutter.
A lightly swung club struck his head, and he collapsed sprawled on the ground, blood running from his head.
Soon, clouds of dust and pounding hooves enveloped the village.
Black cloaks advanced in a line toward the marketplace, and the iron masks gleamed in the sunlight.
At the sudden commotion, people began watching them from inside and outside their homes, and an old man stepped forward.
“I’m the village chief. Church officials—”
But the man at the head of the group cut him off as sharply as a blade.
“I’m Neil, head inquisitor of the Lugdunom Church. By order of Bishop Nelson, we are beginning the purification. Everyone, return to your homes. Anyone who resists will be executed immediately.”
“Inquisitor, what nonsense is this?! There are still many healthy people in the village!”
No sooner had the chief finished speaking than one of the inquisitors lunged forward.
After pausing with his club behind his shoulder, he swung it with terrifying speed.
‘God. Is this truly the answer to my prayers?’
An old man’s brains, belonging to someone who had asked for nothing more than a thread of hope, were scattered across the ground.
Some screamed, while others covered their mouths.
Neil whispered a short prayer, but its final syllable lingered in his mouth before fading away.
“W-what is this…”
“Follow orders. There’s no time.”
Soon, only one corpse and the ten men remained in the marketplace.
Before issuing an order, Neil closed his eyes for a moment.
“Lord, let their flesh burn and return to Your embrace.”
But there was no longer the same devotion in his voice.
It was merely a mass of words repeated by rote.
“Purify the sick. For the sake of a greater salvation.”
Neil’s voice spread in a low wave, and the inquisitors dismounted.
Once the order was given, the black cloaks scattered throughout the village.
They peered through windows and muttered briefly.
There was no detailed confirmation.
Wooden planks were wedged into the doors of houses from which a sickly aura seeped.
As an inquisitor muttered quietly, a white, flickering flame appeared before him.
Soon, the flame spread to the house.
“Please! Please save us! My child! At least my child!”
Eyes filled with despair stared outside through the narrow gaps in the shuttered windows.
When the screams of people burning alive erupted for the first time, someone began to flee.
But bolts soon struck their heads, and they were immediately set ablaze.
Before long, the village began to reek of burning.
“Marta! Cough, cough! The inquisitors are here! We have to get out now!”
The pounding at the door soon faded when no sound came from inside the house.
“Alex… my baby… I’ll save you. Come on, let’s get up.”
Marta’s words merely echoed hollowly.
But she seemed oblivious to everything else, simply supporting the limp body and cradling it in her arms.
Alex’s hair stirred in the wind, making the child look as though they were merely asleep in her arms.
The alley illuminated by the setting sun was strewn with ash and rubble.
Holding the child tightly, she made her way out of the alley while holding her breath.
Behind her, the sound of iron masks colliding and cloaks dragging along the ground tightened around her heart.
‘Click’
The sound of a trigger being pulled pierced sharply through the air.
She felt something fly past quickly, brushing against her hair.
She had no idea where to run.
She could only run to escape the black smoke and the sea of white flames.
Fortunately, there was no further shooting after the first bolt.
Along with someone’s scream, she heard a house collapse.
Had it been someone crying for help?
But there was no time to dwell on it.
Saving Alex was more important than anything.
As the flames in the alley flickered and illuminated Alex’s face, Marta stopped for a moment.
The child’s chest was not rising.
That was impossible.
Shaking her head, she hugged the child even tighter.
A clicking sound.
The sound of someone collapsing with a groan.
Each time the sound reached her ears, her heart beat more fiercely and her steps grew more hurried.
As Marta’s body grew hotter, cold skin brushed against it.
Even so, she held the child tighter.
“You’ll get warm… You’ll be warm again soon.”
At last, she saw the wall surrounding the village.
She pushed her body through a gap in the wall.
Her palms scraped against it, sending pain through them.
At last, the familiar scene she had seen from time to time came into view.
The setting sun, the low hills, and the trees surrounding the area.
And a sight she had never seen before.
Two iron masks watching over this place.
Some of the seventeen inquisitors who had already surrounded the village.
“P-please… At least the child…”
‘Click’
She had no chance to say anything more.
‘Ah… Alex… Alex, please…’
Marta slowly reached a hand toward Alex’s cheek.
At the edge of her reddening vision, she saw an inquisitor approaching.
“Light of God, burn away sin.”
As the inquisitor muttered, Marta’s body began to burn.
Watching smoke rise from the child’s body, she whispered her final words.
“It… got warm again… Alex…”
The inquisitor watched the scene with a bitter expression.
Soon, just as when the purification of the village began, a white light spread outward.
A moment later, one of his companions approached him.
“The child? Was it infected?”
“The child was already dead—it had been for a long time.”
“What a pointless story. Looks like the purification is over. Let’s go back.”
“Maybe.”
Even so, the woman’s final voice continued to echo in his ears.
As the inquisitor slowly rode into the village, charred corpses and the ruins of buildings lay scattered everywhere.
The village, which must once have been full of life, was now nothing but blackened ash.
A handful of survivors and the inquisitors had gathered in the village marketplace.
Neil surveyed the village, where embers still glowed.
“The purification is complete.”
His voice did not waver, but it felt as though ash still clung to his fingertips.
No matter how much he rubbed them, the sensation would not fade.
Even so, he could not stop.
“You will remain in the forest to ensure the plague does not spread later, after which you will be free to go. Until then, you must accompany us.”
No one dared to resist Neil’s firm command.
“Everyone is back. Good work. Now withdraw to the camp.”
Once even the inquisitors had left the village, all that remained were the cawing of crows, the rich smell of burning, and the stench of something rotting.