Chapter 20
“… It’s more underwhelming than I thought.”
Following Isaac’s orders, Randolph and Carlson only used violence against those who posed a threat.
There was no need to even draw their swords.
Most of the cultists claiming to worship the Goddess of Fire were vagrants who had lived in the sewers or slums.
When Randolph grabbed one and beat him into a pulp, the rest, terrified, fled in fear.
“If you turn your back on the goddess, a curse will fall upon you! A curse…!”
The desperate warning of an old woman fell on deaf ears.
“Anyone who wants to die, come at me. I’ll send you off before you even feel pain.”
As Randolph drew his sword and released his aura, those overwhelmed by his killing intent fled the catacombs, trampling over the old woman without a second thought.
“I was wondering what kind of people had enchanted Nias so deeply. Turns out, they were just blind beggars.”
Randolph let out a hollow laugh as he watched the cultists scatter like the ebbing tide.
“It must be a religion someone deliberately created. Can you stand?”
Carlson handed a cane to the fallen old woman.
The old woman, her face a bloody mess, simply clutched the cane and stared blankly at a spot.
“There’s really nothing here. Aside from chunks of meat treated like offerings.”
After thoroughly searching the room where the cultists had held their rituals, Bill spoke.
“Search the other rooms too.”
Isaac surveyed the room, stained with dried blood.
It was the largest stone chamber in the catacombs.
There were dried bloodstains scattered everywhere, with flies and maggots swarming.
Since it was underground and warmer than aboveground, it provided a good habitat for insects.
As a result, flies, beetles, cockroaches, and ants had made homes all over the place.
“It’s at least a paradise for bugs.”
Randolph clicked his tongue as he watched the feasting insects.
Though he wanted to leave this horrid place immediately, they hadn’t found what they were looking for yet.
“What should we do with them?”
Randolph asked Isaac, referring to the battered vagrant and the old woman.
“Take them once the search is complete.”
“Understood.”
Isaac and the other three thoroughly searched every part of the catacombs.
They were looking for just one thing.
Evidence that could link to the old religion.
‘It was around this time.’
The cult that later began to corrupt Goethe under the name “Dark Order.”
The reason the old religion expanded its influence in Goethe was because of the Dark Order.
Their gruesome murders and incomprehensible mysterious rituals.
Gradually, fear spread among the citizens of Bernshi.
And the old religion benefited the most from it.
They summoned inquisitors to root out the Dark Order’s fanatics and held public burnings in the plazas, proclaiming a holy war.
Furthermore, as part of their service, they provided food and education to the commoners, and public sentiment began to lean more toward the bishop of the old religion than the local lord.
It was only natural for the people to favor the bishop, who showed mercy before their eyes, rather than the lord who stayed in his fortress.
From then on, the bishop began making absurd demands of the count.
Demanding tithes twice a month, requesting manpower from the fortress, which was under siege, for expanding the cathedral, and asking to use the serfs for church labor.
The result soon led to food shortages and the failure to defend the fortress.
‘Nias’ obsession with black magic and the Dark Order had many similarities. They openly spoke of souls and committed acts of cannibalism.’
Randolph and Pyke had merely blackmailed Nias’ organization and extorted money.
They didn’t know exactly where the money came from.
Although they said it came from slave trading, selling only one or two people a month couldn’t possibly supply two full companies of soldiers.
Isaac’s deductions started there.
Nias was engaged in other businesses unknown to Randolph and Pyke.
Moreover, the silver coins the two knights had extorted were minted directly by the royal family and had a high silver content.
Not just once or twice, but every time it was the same type of coin, according to Randolph’s testimony.
Where had Nias obtained such quality currency?
One question led to another.
Isaac pieced together the scattered information like a puzzle.
A method for Nias to regularly obtain royal-minted coins.
With the clues at hand, only one possibility remained.
The connection between Nias, the Dark Order, and the old religion.
“Nothing here.”
“Even after thoroughly searching, there’s nothing. Maybe you were wrong?”
Randolph and Bill reported.
Carlson also shook his head, showing he hadn’t found anything either.
“Is that so.”
Isaac began to suspect that his deduction might have been wrong.
Where had his thinking gone astray?
As he retraced his thoughts—
“Let’s go. Where’s your home?”
“Dear, where are we? Please don’t hit me, please.”
“…?”
Just as Kyle was helping the old woman up, she muttered incomprehensible words.
“What’s happening? Please, please, don’t kill me.”
The old woman, seeing the dismembered and half-rotten corpses and skeletons, curled up and trembled violently.
She was completely different from the frenzied woman who had earlier called upon the goddess with a fervent voice.
Yellow urine trickled from between her legs as she squatted.
“Was the old hag just senile?”
Bill clicked his tongue in disbelief.
“Please save me, save me, deacon. My husband beats me almost to death. Save me. Oh, apostle of the goddess, save me, deliver me.”
The old woman kept begging weakly for her life.
At the same time, her memory seemed to be slipping in and out.
“Grandmother, where is your house?”
Isaac asked.
***
“…Ha.”
“Crazy.”
“My God.”
South of Bernshi.
A residential area not far from the slums, near the red-light district.
The place where old wooden planks screamed with every step.
In the attic of the house, Isaac’s group found a chest.
Inside the chest were piles of royal-minted coins and silver ingots.
Even by rough estimate, there were thousands of coins and dozens of silver bars.
It was enough money to buy at least a quasi-noble title.
“Where on earth did they get this much money…”
Especially for Randolph, who held the title of quasi-baron, the amount felt even more staggering compared to Bill and Carlson.
It was enough money to buy two or three estates like his own.
While the three couldn’t hide their amazement, Isaac twitched the corner of his mouth slightly.
He couldn’t determine the silver content of the coins on the spot.
However, the coins were clearly stamped with the royal emblem.
The texture of the lion’s mane was so detailed that you could feel every strand.
It was a level of minting impossible for counterfeiters to imitate.
It was the moment Isaac’s suspicions were confirmed.
Thus, Goethe now had grounds to sever ties with the Old Religion.
“Sister, are you here?”
At that moment, a young man’s voice was heard from downstairs.
Randolph and Carlson exchanged glances quickly.
Isaac checked the man’s appearance through the floorboards of the attic.
Snake-like eyes and a scraggly goat beard.
It was a face he had seen somewhere before.
“Ah, Apostle.”
The old woman lying on the bed stared blankly at the goat-bearded man who visited the house.
The goat-bearded man was wearing the robes of the Old Religion.
“How did it go? Did you meet the Goddess?”
“I did.”
The old woman gave a gentle smile.
The goat-bearded man held her hand.
“Then, did the ritual succeed?”
“Ah… that is…”
The old woman’s smile slowly faded.
Then suddenly, her eyes widened.
“Demons, demons! They trampled the altar and slaughtered all the believers. Apostle, please, grant us another miracle…!”
“Demons? Please explain in detail, Sister.”
The goat-bearded man’s face hardened.
He shook the old woman’s hand, urging her to answer, but the old woman’s eyes suddenly changed.
“Deacon, Deacon, my husband beats me like he’s going to kill me. Please save me.”
“…Damn.”
The goat-bearded man released her hand.
He realized there was nothing to be gained from the old woman whose memory was fragmented.
“Who the hell…”
While the goat-bearded man gritted his teeth and muttered—
Creeeeak—
There was a sound of movement from the ceiling.
The old wooden planks creaked as if under weight.
It was not the kind of sound that rats or cats would make.
It meant there was a person in the attic.
The goat-bearded man quietly gathered mana at his fingertips.
In the doctrine of the Old Religion, magic was a privilege permitted only to clergy.
Anyone else was labeled a heretic.
Of course, because of the practical structure of power, countless impure elements still remained within the kingdom.
But they would be eliminated one by one.
It was a holy mission.
The goat-bearded man glanced at the old woman.
The senile old woman was no longer of use.
If any secrets leaked out from here, everything would be ruined.
The treasure hidden in the attic was regrettable, but the Old Religion was wealthy.
If necessary, support would be plentiful.
Fwoosh—
Mana gathered by the goat-bearded man burst into flames.
The method he chose was to purify the place with holy fire.
However, the flames he ignited failed to spread anywhere.
A cold, sharp object pressed against his neck.
“They say demons hide within the light.”
Carlson, who had placed a blade against the goat-bearded man’s neck from behind, spoke.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“If you do anything stupid, your head will fly off.”
The goat-bearded man retracted his mana and raised both hands.
“S-Spare me. If you kill me, the Holy See won’t stand idly by.”
The goat-bearded man said, rolling his eyes quickly.
In front of him—
Creak, creak.
A boy climbed down the ladder from the attic.
“Now I remember. Hello, Deacon Silvio. Have you been well?”
The eyes of the goat-bearded man, Deacon Silvio, widened.
“I think this is the first time we’ve met since Elder Johann’s deathbed prayer.”
Isaac said with a smile.
***
Deacon Silvio had done his best.
He had prayed countless times not to yield to the heretics’ violence.
Yet soon, he sighed.
How frail the human body was.
How deceitful the human heart could be.
He prayed to God not to be swayed by the heretics’ brutality.
But God gave no answer until Deacon Silvio’s patience ran dry—much sooner than he had expected.
Before long, he began to resent the God who did not save him.
Before long, he cursed the bishop who had orchestrated this entire situation.
All of Deacon Silvio’s emotional breakdown was achieved by three punches from Carlson.
Carlson was not one to use violence frequently.
Nor did he shout.
“You think anyone’s going to recognize you for this?”
“If you keep your mouth shut, your superiors will be pleased. It’ll mean the cover-up went cleanly.”
“Let me tell you what’s going to happen until you talk. I’ve learned a lot from your inquisitors. You’ll know better than anyone. We start by pulling out your fingernails and toenails one by one. Then your teeth. After that, we’ll break each toe bone one by one. Then we’ll tear your asshole open and let the rats eat you.”
Carlson’s voice was calm and chilling.
The process was so vividly described, it was as if Deacon Silvio could see the torture happening before his eyes.
Above all, what terrified Silvio was that Carlson truly seemed capable of doing it.
There was a gleam of killing intent in his eyes.
“Why do you think I know this so well? Hmm? I wouldn’t feel satisfied even if I devoured every last one of you Old Religion bastards. There may be a one-in-ten chance that the people outside waiting for your confession might show mercy, but for me, it’s less than one in a hundred. I really want to see how far your proud faith holds out.”
A demon.
In Deacon Silvio’s eyes, Carlson was nothing short of a demon.
Every punch that landed on the terrified deacon was dozens of times more painful than usual.
After just three punches, Silvio already felt like his body had become a pile of minced meat.
He saw the lowest depths of himself.
“S-Spare me. I-I’ll tell you everything. Please, no more…”
Deacon Silvio wept.
When Isaac came down to the underground prison, the goat-bearded Deacon Silvio was extremely cooperative.
“What did you do to him to get him like that?”
“Just hit him a few times, and he agreed to cooperate.”
Carlson shrugged at Isaac’s question.
“Seems his faith wasn’t all that strong.”
