Chapter 82
A multiple personality.
And a priestess of the God of Whips.
"Beatrice."
"I found the Demonic Core. There are also many other things here that can be used as research materials."
She said it nonchalantly.
As if she had acted exactly as they had initially agreed, she seemed to think I hadn't noticed yet.
"……That works out well."
There were many things I wanted to ask.
But I didn't bother asking.
Egging me on to raid the basement of Artemion's mansion.
Instigating Viola and getting her killed.
And taking the Demonic Core as a result of that. All of it.
I didn't ask.
'When she was Maria, she was definitely a pilgrim who revered the sword.'
Her divine power was also fundamentally the same as mine.
She possessed two personalities in one body, and curiously enough, she held the divine nature of two gods within her.
Faith is the heart devoted to a god.
Was it because that heart was different when she was Maria and when she was Beatrice?
She was the only being capable of serving two respective gods.
However, the other god just had to be the God of Whips, who had long been forgotten by the world.
The God of Whips, Auste.
She was highly likely a member of Crasion.
Crasion itself was an archaic group composed of such fellows.
Crasion.
I didn't have good memories with Lamatu, one of its members and an elder-like figure, but it wasn't an organization I harbored pure hostility towards.
It seemed there were many of them here, probably because there was a lot to exploit from the ruined nation.
Rather, there were more times I could use them. There were plenty of believers I could poach from them as well.
For example, Cedric.
Beatrice's skill in Sacred Alchemy was evident just from a glance at the laboratory.
If I touched her carelessly, she might drop everything and run away.
Waiting until she revealed it herself wouldn't be a bad idea.
-Woof!
Beatrice, who had set Vivi down, opened a metal box-shaped container behind her and showed me the Demonic Core.
A Demonic Core, just as its name implies.
A mass of condensed demonic energy.
It was shaped like a drop of poison added to blood, solidified into a jelly-like form.
The stench of blood vibrated, and its characteristic ominous energy surged.
Thud.
I immediately covered the box.
"I'd prefer you not to take it out carelessly when Vivi is around."
"Ah, right. I'll be careful."
If a demonic beast consumes a Demonic Core, its demonic energy goes berserk. If Vivi were to swallow this, it would be a disaster, so I had to handle it with extreme care.
"You got it, so that's that. Will you start working on it right away?"
"Yes. With this, extracting the Dragon Blood won't be that difficult either. After some trial and error, it could take as little as three months. At the latest, it will take a year, just as I said. The condition of the Demonic Core is good, so it might be even faster."
That was music to my ears.
Once the Dragon Blood extraction was done, I could just entrust her with the Troll Potion as well.
Of course, before that, I had to completely win her over to my side.
"Then... what should we do?"
What should we do.
Right. Let's play along for now.
"Viola is dead."
I got everything I needed to get.
This time, the Demonic Core and the God of Whips.
Learning that Auste's follower was Beatrice was a harvest in itself.
Unlike the followers of other gods, destroying Auste's followers would be hard, but winning them over wouldn't be difficult.
"I see. What are you going to do now? Count Artemion won't just sit idly by."
"Before coming here. I informed the Kingdom's army in advance. I also told the Order, so they should arrive soon."
"It won't matter for now. But will that be enough? He lost his son, so he'll be quite troublesome."
As she said, there was no need to reveal myself.
Artemion wouldn't be executed just for this.
'He'll probably just pay a fine and be done with it.'
Raising demonic beasts was something that often happened secretly among nobles.
But with this, things would be a little different.
"What is it?"
"An axe."
An axe I had kept just in case.
Of course, it wasn't an ordinary axe.
Just dropping this one item would turn a superficial investigation into a rigorous one.
Then things would become simple.
* * *
"Who dares to bind me!!"
"Captain of the Third Division Inquisition, Orcal. Greetings, Count Artemion."
Everyone inside the Count's mansion was surrounded and bound by the Kingdom's army and the Inquisition.
Artemion protested his innocence.
"My son is dead!! Yet you arrest me, what is the meaning of this!"
The mansion's basement was wrecked by someone's raid, and his son had died.
With no time to even grieve, the Kingdom's army and the Inquisitors stormed the mansion, so Artemion couldn't help but be outraged.
"Do you see this?"
"That's... isn't that just an axe!! Are you insulting me with a mere axe!"
A young man with a boyish face.
Captain of the Third Division, Orcal.
Artemion knew him.
He had only seen him briefly, but he couldn't help but hear the rumors about him.
The Inquisition Captain who handled insects.
He was a Captain who was treated as having a third-rate sword and was secretly ignored by the world.
He heard that his boyish face and personality for his age also played a part in that.
However.
"Be quiet."
"……!"
At Orcal's calm words, Count Artemion shut his mouth involuntarily.
Cold sweat ran down his back.
'He's calmer than I thought. No, has the atmosphere changed a bit since then?'
The atmosphere had changed a little.
If there was an innocent side to him before, now he felt more mature.
"No. This is a relic. And an ugly one from the barbarian tribes, at that."
"Wh-what!?"
The barbarians of the Axe God.
The ones that Orcs carried around.
Such a thing came out of the mansion's basement.
It sounded like a bolt from the blue to Artemion, but it was the truth.
"This is not something that can just be overlooked. And, you have also been illegally breeding and trading demonic beasts."
"...What of it? Most nobles secretly raise and kill demonic beasts for fun."
He had a brazen expression, and it was true.
If it were just the breeding of demonic beasts, it would only cost a small fine to get over.
Yes.
If it were simply breeding demonic beasts, that is.
"Not long ago, a war broke out in the North due to a massive Orc ambush. At that time, the Orcs tamed demonic beasts to make up for their lacking numbers and mobility."
"What!"
The traces of demonic beast breeding found in the basement.
And the axe that appeared there.
"It seems you were quite strapped for cash. To think you would aid the Orcs, one of the Kingdom's age-old enemies, with demonic beasts..."
"I-It's a frame-up! You son of a bitch!!"
"Shut that mouth! Traitor!!"
Orcal, who had been explaining calmly, contorted his face viciously, and a shout rang out loudly enough to shake the mansion.
The Inquisition Captain's voice, imbued with divine power, shook the entire body and invoked a sense of terror.
Count Artemion, who had secretly underestimated him, felt a chill run down his spine.
Shing! Shing! Shing!!
Sharp swords were drawn from the scabbards of the Inquisitors guarding Orcal, pointing at Artemion's neck.
Gulp.
Artemion suppressed his excitement.
A surge of anger boiled up, but to survive, he had to remain calm and composed.
Otherwise, his head might roll right here and now.
'Who. Who could have done such a thing.'
There shouldn't be anyone who hadn't taken his bribes, so who could have screwed him over so royally!
He was extremely indignant, but he had to somehow defuse this situation.
Otherwise, he would really die.
No, his entire household might disappear.
"I-It is a frame-up. Even if an Orc's axe was found, that doesn't mean it's connected to me. Someone might have intentionally placed it there! I request a proper investigation."
"Of course. That is why we have specially invited someone."
"And who would that..."
Tap, tap.
The heavy sound of dress shoes echoed quietly through the mansion in the silence.
The front yard of the mansion.
The captured servants of the mansion.
And the armed Kingdom soldiers and Inquisitors standing in formation parted to the left and right to make way.
Black hair fluttering in the night breeze.
Emotionless ash-gray eyes.
A noble who looked as if painted into a picture, suiting the uniform better than anyone.
It was Callius von Zerban.
"Callius...?"
Why was he here.
The moment that question arose, scenes of the past flashed through his mind like a panorama.
Viola meeting Callius.
Debt. Demonic beasts. Axe. North. Hero!
All of those intertwined and matched with Callius's appearance.
Soon, Artemion's face filled with anger.
"Callius, you bastard!! Was it your doing!!"
"Who do you think you're yelling at."
Thud!
Orcal kicked the bound Artemion, who was trying to stand up, forcing him to his knees.
Callius swept his gaze over the crowd and pointed the sword in his hand at him.
A transparent blade tinged with a blue aura.
A sword that seemed to harbor the moonlight of the night sky.
The Sword of Judgment—Mida.
"T-The Sword of Judgment..."
His anger was short-lived.
The moment the stories of the Sword of Judgment and the Judge that had been spreading word of mouth came to mind.
Artemion was seized by fear.
It was an instinctive terror.
"Count Artemion."
A heavy calling weighed down on his shoulders.
"……"
There is no one in this world who is perfectly clean.
Where would you find someone who doesn't have a speck of dust when shaken?
Dirty money.
Money that shouldn't be received.
Nobles who live without accepting such things are rather more rare.
Especially for a noble of a Kingdom that had properly taken the path to ruin.
Thus, for the same reason, Artemion couldn't look straight into Callius's cold eyes looking down at him.
He too was originally a citizen of Carpe and a noble who lived with pride.
However, while watching the state slowly crumble, he had grieved, he had begged, and he was one of those who were more outraged than anyone by the Empire's mockery, but...
Measures that would allow his family to live full and safe if he just closed his eyes once, piled up one by one like a fence.
Before he was a noble, he was the father of an insolent child, and the husband of a wife who lacked love but was full of affection.
He closed his eyes.
Back then and now.
The act of closing his eyes was the same, but the problem he faced was completely different.
"Have you ever been an enemy for the Empire?"
At Callius's single question.
Artemion bowed his head deeply.
The bowed head spoke of silence.
And a sharp sword cleaved the silence.
A full moon night without a single cloud.
A Count of the Kingdom met his end.
* * *
"Extra! Extra!!"
The newsboy, excitedly passing out newspapers, scattered papers everywhere, the news contained within drawing extreme reactions wherever he stepped.
Nobles swallowed bitter groans, and commoners rejoiced with beaming smiles.
[A Sinner Judged]
"Count Artemion, beheaded by the Judge. Wow~ He became a Count, and now he goes and cuts off another Count's head. Chop, chop! It's really funny. Right?"
"A person died. It's not that funny."
"You're so stiff. It's just a figure of speech."
Helena and Esther, drinking tea and chatting at a cafe terrace, exchanged a few words and then fell into thought.
Who they were thinking of was as natural as flowing water.
"I heard that his appointment as Inquisition Captain is under discussion."
"Why? They should just appoint him. He'll take care of beating down all the nobles on his own."
Originally, the Order couldn't treat the nobles of the Kingdom carelessly. Even as Inquisitors, there were limits.
Politics and religion were strictly different things.
However, Callius was a Pilgrim belonging to the Order, and at the same time, a Count.
So the problem was a different matter.
"He is still a Pilgrim. Like me, a Pilgrim who has yet to find the sword he will spend his life with."
Besides, there was no precedent of a Pilgrim becoming an Inquisitor in the first place.
"They're probably fighting among themselves, saying 'what tradition' and 'there's no precedent.' It's so obvious without even looking."
Just as Helena said.
The moderate and radical factions were in the middle of raising their voices at each other and engaging in a war of words within the Order.