Eve of the Inquisition

#87

For the past few days, Enkarosha had been abuzz with talk of the Marchioness Scarlet.

Fortunately, her crime had not yet been confirmed, so she had reportedly entered the city in her family’s carriage. At the head of the escort rode the Inquisitor who had branded her a witch, entering with an air of great dignity.

Many onlookers gathered to witness the scene, but Jeha did not go out. He had no desire to become one of the spectators.

She was said to be confined in a secluded area of the Grand Temple. The ecclesiastical trial would take place tomorrow.

Perhaps mindful of the affair’s repercussions, it had been decided to hold a public trial. Besides the Marchioness, several witnesses had also entered Enkarosha. Jeha surmised that every single one of them would testify against her.

Amid the uproar over the Marchioness Scarlet, a clandestine movement was stirring beneath the surface. The obscene novels Jeha had ordered to be written were now spreading through Enkarosha in earnest.

One and all, they were wildly popular. Even as countless scribes labored through the night to produce copies, the supply could not keep up with the insatiable demand.

Priests and noblewomen, priests with priests, priests and nobles, noblewomen and servants, even the Pope with a noblewoman.

The rumor that such obscene novels—featuring mostly the upper class—were all the rage among the common people eventually reached the Grand Temple. Hereis reported that a massive uproar had erupted when the Grand Temple obtained the books and examined their contents. Well, with the Pope himself appearing as a protagonist, it was hardly surprising.

The greater problem was that most of the novels were grounded in truth.

Jeha, himself one of the protagonists, could neither laugh nor cry upon hearing that his own story was among the most popular. What visions would fill the minds of countless readers as they consumed such explicit depictions of his intimate acts with Hereis? The mere thought made him want to crawl into a hole.

If Jeha, the very one who had set this in motion, felt this way, how much worse must the other protagonists feel? He would take grim satisfaction in that thought, only to recall his own novel and once again search for a hole to crawl into.

“If I’d actually done those things, at least I’d have something to show for it,” Jeha grumbled, flipping through the book Zephyr had brought him.

He lacked the courage to read the entire book, merely flipping through a few pages, yet even those were packed with explicit, face-reddening language. In the novel, he and Hereis appeared to have done every conceivable act.

For a Confucian lad from South Korea who had yet to lose his chastity, it felt utterly unjust.

“They said it was the masterpiece of a lifetime, and indeed… I have never encountered such a lewd, coarse, and explicit novel.” Zephyr closed the book’s final page with admiration.

“I told you not to read it!” Jeha shouted. In Zephyr’s hands was the very novel starring him and Hereis.

“Is this not a novel in which my master appears as the protagonist? As your most trusted attendant, how could I possibly refrain from reading it?” Zephyr said with a decidedly solemn expression.

“In any case, I look forward to the future. Once you and your contractor begin your acts of love in earnest, the entire continent will be brimming with life. Trees will hang heavy with fruit, and new demons will be born everywhere, wailing for attention. Even the magical beasts will be busy raising their young. Would that not be a true blessing?” Zephyr’s eyes sparkled as if envisioning a glorious future.

‘Oh, my god.’ Jeha covered his face with his hands and let out a deep sigh.

“By the way, will you be attending the ecclesiastical trial?” Zephyr asked, deftly changing the subject, clearly aware that further talk would anger Jeha. Jeha lowered his hands from his face and exhaled a short breath.

“I don’t know. It’s not like my presence would make any difference…” Jeha muttered in a somewhat listless voice.

According to Hereis, as soon as the Marchioness Scarlet entered the Grand Temple, she was meticulously examined by a priestess. They were checking for any signs of a pact with a demon.

Given that no statement about the results had been issued, it seemed they had found no mark of a contract.

If she had not made a contract with a demon, then she was no heretic. That left only one question: had she truly killed virgins and bathed in their blood?

“So it’s certain she never made a pact with a demon?” Jeha asked, his voice tinged with doubt.

“Most likely. The Temple is not filled with complete fools—they know that a contract mark is usually invisible to the naked eye. They would have examined her by infusing divine power. The fact that no mark appeared means she at least did not make a pact with a demon.” Zephyr replied with conviction.

“Did she really bathe in virgins’ blood?”

“Shall we investigate?” Zephyr shot back. Jeha considered for a moment, then shook his head.

Whether she had actually done such things or not, there was nothing Jeha could do. The trial was merely a spectacle for the masses.

The Emperor and the Temple would never let her immense wealth slip through their fingers. She would surely be convicted.

“It may be that a burning will take place in Enkarosha Square after a very long time,” Zephyr said, as if recalling the past.

“She’s a high noble. Even if convicted, would they go so far as to burn her?” Jeha frowned. In the history of his previous world, Countess Báthory had been walled up in a tower rather than burned at the stake despite being found guilty. He had assumed the Marchioness would receive a similar fate.

“Of course, burning a noble is rare,” Zephyr admitted. “But there have been precedents.”

“For what reason?”

“It was used to pacify a particularly noisy scandal at the time.”

“To pacify a scandal…” Jeha narrowed his eyes. Then something occurred to him. Weren’t there the obscene novels spreading through Enkarosha, featuring priests and nobles?

“Surely they wouldn’t burn her publicly just to quell the uproar over the novels…” Jeha said with a disbelieving look, and Zephyr promptly nodded.

“Would not the public burning of a noble be a tremendous spectacle? It would also serve to pacify the public’s animosity toward the aristocracy. With such a sight, the popular discontent fueled by the novels would subside—at least temporarily. In that window, they would likely declare the books forbidden, confiscate every copy, and burn them all.”

Jeha’s head spun.

It seemed that every time he made an appearance in this human world or took any action, unforeseen harm followed. His summoning by Hereis had resurrected the Office of the Inquisitor. Searching for Kkamangi had caused demonic energy to leak, leading to an old woman being accused of witchcraft. Now, because of the obscene novels he had written and disseminated, the Marchioness Scarlet was on the verge of being burned.

“I need to find a way to prove the Marchioness’s innocence,” Jeha said, his expression quite serious.

He had already caused harm, and he did not wish to add more victims. At the very least, if someone could be saved, shouldn’t he save them?

“What if she really did kill virgins and bathe in their blood?” Zephyr asked.

“If it’s true… then she deserves to be burned.” Jeha narrowed his eyes. He paused to think, then stood up.

“Where are you going?” Zephyr asked.

“Where did you say the Marchioness Scarlet’s witnesses were staying?”

“I heard they are staying at the Fanucci mansion’s annex.”

“The Fanucci mansion’s annex…”

“Shall I go in your stead?” Zephyr offered. Jeha shook his head. He wanted to confirm it with his own eyes and ears.

Jeha waved his hand in the air. A giant mirror floated up.

Inside the mirror, a modest room appeared. It had a small window and contained only a single bed, a table, and a chair. All the curtains were drawn, leaving the space dim.

On the bed sat a young woman in a maid’s uniform. Her face was etched with anxiety, and she kept biting her nails. Blood seeped from her fingertips, yet she seemed oblivious to the pain.

Jeha slipped into the mirror as if melting into it. Then he immediately set up a sound barrier in the room.

The woman, still gnawing her nails, was startled by Jeha’s sudden appearance and tried to let out a scream.

“Shh.” Jeha placed a finger to his lips, silently asking for quiet. The woman still tried to scream, but no sound escaped her throat.

“……!” The panicked woman clutched her throat, trying to force out a sound. But no voice emerged. Jeha stepped closer until he was right in front of her. Before she could turn away, he locked eyes with her precisely.

A viscous darkness spread through Jeha’s pupils like spilled ink. His already black eyes turned obsidian, as if holding the abyss within. The woman, caught in his gaze, trembled violently at first, then gradually grew vacant.

As her mind fell into a completely defenseless state, Jeha quietly began to speak.

“What is your name?”

“Hanna…”

“Good. Hanna, you must answer every question without a single lie. Understood?”

“Yes…” The woman replied slowly, her pupils completely unfocused.

“Who are you?”

“I—I am… the Marchioness Scarlet’s… maid…”

“Did you see the Marchioness Scarlet kill virgins and bathe in their blood?” Jeha tensed a little as he asked. He had no idea what answer would come from her lips.