Chapter 320: 168. Heresy Inquisitors -2 (Part Two)

Translated by A Passing Wanderer

Edited by RED

“What’s going on?”

“N-not sure why, but they said our neighbour Mister Hamus was a devil worshipper!”

“Say what? Wait, wasn’t his whole family in mourning after their child went missing not too long ago?”

Citizens began gathering in the city’s plaza. That’s where the people accused of being devil worshippers had been brought together.

They numbered thirty in total. All sorts of parchments with Runes for devil worshipping, as well as the idols of a devil were thrown among them, while various symbols and signs could be seen etched directly onto their bodies.

Those things were evidence of their guilt.

The matters were taken care of quite rapidly, with not even a single mistake anywhere.

Seran was so shocked that she ended up covering her mouth, while the twins Marcel and Marvel looked on with hardened expressions and tightly-shut mouths.

Some among the devil worshippers were people they knew. While they were out patrolling, these ‘innocent’ citizens greeted the trio and even shared some food with them sometimes.

“But, this doesn’t make any sense… They really were…?”

“We have proof.”

Seran turned her head after hearing that reply. Allen was approaching her on horseback.

His glare landed on the devil worshippers splayed on the ground. “However, this is merely a portion of them. We haven’t concluded the search outside the city limits, after all.”

“…”

“The Crimson Cross should be searching through the villages found outside the city as we speak. I’m sure they will speedily apprehend all the remaining devil worshippers.” Allen grinned widely and shifted his gaze back to Seran. “So, what do you think, sister? Although it may not be enough to completely ferret out every single one of them, isn’t it still the best way to exterminate the devil worshippers in the end?”

“Just how… Can you really see… something?”

“Please think of it as my Divine Aura.”

Seran nodded, then looked at the devil worshippers again. “It’s true that we may never have found all these devil worshippers through normal methods. However, the citizens will be even more scared now.”

“Scared, you say? Yes, they should be. But even that emotion will be suppressed by their overwhelming rage, instead.”

Seran was stunned by what Allen said, and hurriedly turned her head to look.

“You demons-!”

“Dammit, are you saying my daughter was abducted by these bastards?!”

“My dad! Where is my dad! Answer me, where is he?!”

The citizens were clamouring to get closer to the devil worshippers, but the Duchy’s soldiers were barely managing to keep them at bay using their large shields.

Their families had gone missing, abducted by these devil worshippers and used as offerings to The Farmer.

Allen silently scanned the captured devil worshippers. Through his [Mind’s Eye], he peered deep into them.

{Dammit, I shouldn’t have served the Farmer!}

{I wanna live! I want to live!}

{Ohh, Lord Farmer, please save us. Punish these sinners and grant us your everlasting life!}

None of them seemed to be reflecting on their sins. All Allen could see was their petty obsession of wanting to live on no matter what. But all that meant was that these bastards only amounted to this much in the end.

“They shall be judged according to the laws of the Theocratic Empire. It shouldn’t be an issue since we have apprehended them, I hope?” Allen asked Seran.

She nodded. “…It’s fine.”

“Very well, then.”

Allen dismounted with the ease of much practice and walked up to the devil worshippers.

He chose the one among them with the most selfish attributes and the worst obsession over his life, then grabbed this individual by the throat and lifted him clean off the ground.

Allen asked, “Do you wish to live?”

“Y-yes, I do! I want to live!”

“In that case, tell me this. Where can I find The Farmer?”

“T-that’s…”

“Do you want to die and be revived as an undead?”

Holy undead were abruptly summoned all around Allen.

The man saw these bizarre creatures and stuttered haplessly. “I, I, I don’t know!”

“…You don’t?”

“Yes, I don’t know! Of course we don’t really know anything. All we did was just abduct people, hand them over, and create evidence and eyewitnesses for plausible excuses, that’s all!”

“Who did you hand the victims over to?”

“I-in the village of Tinia! The village chief and his group over there have been serving The Farmer for a very long time. I-if it’s them, they might know!”

Allen shifted his gaze over to the Crimson Cross members present.

One of the crimson-robed heresy inquisitors lowered his head and spoke. “Your Majesty. Five of our members have been dispatched to that village. They should have completed their subjugation efforts by now.”

“I see.” Allen released his grip on the man. “Transfer them.”

“As you command, sire!”

As the Crimson Cross members dragged the devil worshippers off somewhere, Seran walked up to Allen and asked him, “What will you do now?”

He lightly stretched his neck muscles and replied to her, “I’ll be heading out to this Tinia village. Where is it located, sister?”

“It’s not too far from here. About ten minutes away on horseback, I think.”

“In that case, we’ll head out there immediately.” Allen mounted his ride.

“Let me come along with you.”

Allen shifted his gaze back over to her.

“I wish to see the vampire that has been tormenting our subjects with my own eyes. And also…” She inhaled deeply and continued on. “The hint to stop the end of the world. I wish to learn about it, as well.”

“…Understood.”

Allen reached out to Seran. She took his hand and climbed up on the saddle behind him.

**

Laurence’s wife was shuddering in deep worry while carefully holding onto the baby.

Out of the blue, some people wearing crimson robes with hoods and bird-beak masks had descended on the village. Screams followed soon after, and some people, including the village chief, were forcibly dragged out to the centre of the village, only to be thrown into a heap there.

One of the Crimson Cross members turned his head and glanced at Laurence’s wife. Through the power of the [Mind’s Eye], he confirmed her information.

[Name: Alina.

Age: 4-

Attributes: High de- of empa-, –, –, instinctive maternal love, –

+ Laurence, my dear… Just where are y-? Please don’t aband- us. I pray that y- are safe…]

The Crimson Cross member’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the baby in her arms. But the child was wrapped up in fabric and he couldn’t get any information on it.

But then again, the baby must have been the offspring of this woman, Alina, and her husband named Laurence. It seemed rather certain that she was yet another victim of the Farmer incident as well.

‘Indeed, she’s not one of the devil worshippers.’

He turned his head away from the woman and the baby, then glared at the devil worshippers on the ground. But right at that moment, he sensed a very faint holy aura coming from somewhere behind him.

He flinched a little in surprise, and tried to look back, but then…

“We, we shall worship Lord Farmer until our last breath-!”

The Crimson Cross member turned back and locked his gaze on the village chief.

“We shall be rewarded with eternal liiiife!”

The old man was already halfway through death’s doorway. He had probably started serving The Farmer out of fear of his own encroaching demise.

Too bad for him, though, the vampire was merely using them as its tool. It would not do something like granting a portion of its strength to some random villager and turn them into a blood-creation.

This Crimson Cross member waved his hand curtly as a signal, and his colleague grabbed the village chief’s head before planting it hard on the dirt below.

After watching that happen, he looked behind him, where he had sensed that holy aura just now. He could see the worried faces of countless villagers watching the proceedings.

The Crimson Cross member could only frown at that. He was unable to sense that aura anymore. He glanced at his colleagues, but they didn’t seem to have noticed it. Which wasn’t all that surprising, since that aura had been so tiny.

Could it be that he was simply mistaken?

No, it was always better to make sure.

He began scanning the faces of each and every one in the crowd.

“Oh, dear Goddess Gaia, please protect my husband Laurence and our child…”

The Crimson Cross member heard Alina’s prayer and turned to look at her and the baby in her arms. He then silently walked up to her.

After taking a closer look at her face once more, he tried to stare at the baby still wrapped in fabric. But then…

The village chief with his head pressed to the dirt suddenly cried out. “Ohhh, our Lord Farmer! Please come and help us!”

The ground began rumbling ominously.

The Crimson Cross members flinched in surprise and stared at the ground below.

The earth was splitting apart, and this unknown aura began erupting out, writhing violently.

In the blink of an eye, something shot out from the cracks in the ground and stabbed cleanly through the Crimson Cross member’s torso.

That something was a lengthy ‘leg’ of an insect. It was covered in some kind of hard shell, while its surface bulged out here and there like sharp sawtooth.

The Crimson Cross member vomited a mouthful of blood and stared into the splitting crevasse in the ground.

There it was, a monster with long and hard insect legs extending out from its back.

The Farmer was now glaring at the Crimson Cross.

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