Hero’s Downfall Report

117 – Then the devil came in through the front door (complete)

Mary answered Cain’s question by throwing away a leather bucket. She obviously threw it with force, but instead of flying far, it landed near her knees. Was she too tired to even speak? Cain, she thought, sat down next to Mary.

“How’s Lily doing?”

After a while, Maria asked in a hoarse voice. Cain told him about Lily’s situation. She escaped a fatal wound, but she needs proper treatment and stability. She needs to return to Valhalla, the home of White Blood Knight Dankook. But there shouldn’t be any problems on the way…

Cain told her story on her bright side. While reassuring Mary, she also wanted to relieve Caine of her own anxiety. Still, it worked. Because Mary tilted her head back, sighing in relief.

“If it wasn’t for Lily, I would have died in Berta Village. It’s not just Berta Village. She did the same at Emmaus… “

Cain also nodded at Mary’s muttering.

“All three of us are like that. “If one of you wasn’t there, we wouldn’t be here.”

Maria lowered her head and laughed, shaking her shoulders. But her laughter soon turned into a cough and a pounding heart.

“No. Are you okay.” Maria hurriedly stopped Cain from standing up. But she couldn’t do that with Cain. She saw her blood staining her hastily clenched hands, but she couldn’t help it.

“Maria. Doctor… “

“It’s okay.”

“My lips have turned white.”

“I heard it’s okay.” The second was irritated. Cain sat down again.

“… I wish I had seen a doctor. Just need some rest. It’s because I’m tired. And even if he saw it, there was nothing the doctor could do for me. “I’ll give you some tonic or something.”

“I’m not okay.” Cain looked at Mary’s bloodless lips.

“I’m not okay and Lily will say she’s not okay. “You can clearly see in his eyes that he is having a hard time, so how can he just get over it?”

Mary smiled weakly at Cain’s words.

“Then just hold my arm. “I’m going to see Lily too.”

Mary stood up holding Cain’s arm. Cain was even more worried about Mary. She knew that Maria was thin for her height, but her grip was now completely weak. She wasn’t holding Cain’s arm, she was almost hanging on to him.

“Big. “This is a bit of a stupid question, but does that sacred fire consume a lot of stamina?”

Maria looked up at Cain as if she felt a little pitiful, but she still gave her answer kindly.

“It’s a matter of mental strength and concentration rather than physical strength. This is an extremely oversimplified example, but how would you feel if you had to stand still and read the same words for three hours while a dog growled in front of you trying to bite you? Apples, apples, apples, apples… “

“… “First of all, I can’t do it.”

“Do you think so? But it has to be done. “To think that other people’s lives, souls, and salvation depend on the tip of my tongue.”

Even though Maria chuckled, she did not forget her smile.

“Is there anything else? “I have to do it.”

“Because you are a good person.”

“Damn.” Mary tried to pinch Cain’s arm, but she couldn’t even pinch the skin properly and slipped. Still, Cain said, “Ah,” In pain. Because it was true that my heart, not my body, hurt.

Cain and Mary passed in front of the ‘package’. Wördem and the two priests are still writhing in their sacks.

What should I do with them? Cain was troubled.

Count Wördem committed an unpardonable crime. But that is the perspective of someone who knows the context. To explain how Wördem got it wrong, too many secrets have to be touched.

Why were the White Blood Knights there? What does that have to do with Roberta’s death, etc.

“Can those scum be governed by imperial law?” Maria seemed to have the same concerns.

“You can see that just by looking at what he has done. But the verification process has become too complicated. Moreover, this is the count’s own land. In order to investigate the count’s charges, we need to get a confession from the priests over there… “

“Then we will have to hand it over to heresy inquisition.”

Cain stopped her steps. Why, Maria, she asked.

“Who will prosecute? You?”

“I have to do it. Then.”

“Wouldn’t the burden be too great? “How are you going to explain how you caught these people?”

Maria, who was rolling her eyes back and forth, frowned.

“Why not say I received a revelation? After receiving the revelation, I went to the Black Forest and found the Count with his joints pulled out and two heretic priests lying next to him. So it is clear that these heretical priests did something to the count’s body. “Wouldn’t that work?”

Cain looked at Mary blankly.

“… “Uh, what?”

“Oh, what are we going to do? They say the Heretic Inquisitor received a revelation while praying. If you do well, you’ll be taken to the hospital, but then… “What will my father do?”

Faith, theology, and verification of miracles were areas that Cain was unfamiliar with. And Cain does not carelessly judge areas he does not know. That’s why she nodded her head hesitantly. Maria laughed.

“Why? Do you think you’re the only one leaving? “I do it when I can too.”

Cain, left with nothing to say, hurried her steps back to Lily’s tent.

* * * * *

As night rose, the carriage carrying Lily departed. Count Wördem’s carriage was luxurious and spacious, making it ideal for transporting patients.

She was able to quickly remove unnecessary decorations and things like the boar shield, and instead hung rags and placed luggage on them. Then, the luxurious carriage looked like it had ‘some defect and was sold to others.’

Lily was fast asleep and did not wake up when she was carried into her carriage. Cain and Mary kept eye contact until the carriage door closed.

“Thank you.”

Cain rode on his horse and thanked Grand Executor Astrid. Because she had her back to the moon, her expression was hard to see.

“Do you know the way there?”

“I know.”

“Tell the gate guard, ‘I’m here to catch rats.'”

“… What are you holding?”

Maria looked back and forth between Cain and her grand executor as if he wanted to read her strange questions and answers, but Cain nodded her head instead of answering her.

“Then, a peaceful return.”

“That’s right. And, Heretic Questioner.”

Maria, who was suddenly singled out, looked up at Astrid.

“What?”

“I’ll expect better manners next time.”

Then the Grand Executor raised his fist and extended his middle finger. Before Maria could express her confusion, she said, “Hey,” And turned around.

* * * * *

The next morning.

Cain and Mary mounted their respective horses. Three of Alvin’s colleagues and ‘people who know how to ride horses’ were also there.

“It’s a bit embarrassing, though. He was a horse thief. “All three of us.”

Cain thought there was no need to ask about their horsemanship. The three men each had one gun bag mounted on their horse. Count Wördem, whose limbs and joints had all been torn out, and the two priests he brought with him.

Alvin and his wife, holding their newborn baby in her arms, saw off her group.

“… We will take responsibility for sending those children back to their homes. If you look through the count’s ‘ledger’, you’ll find something. Or go find the people who brought those kids in.”

Alvin’s colleagues appeared from all directions. Each person was holding the hands of the children they had taken out of the cave. They silently nodded to Cain. Cain stood silently, not knowing what to say.

“That… ” Alvin scratched the back of his head. “Know. What do you want to say? “It must be hard to believe that thieves would send a homeless child back home.”

“Honey.”

Alvin’s wife growled, but Alvin shook her head.

“That. Even so. Me too… There is such a thing as a line. No matter what, you shouldn’t take her child away from her home. f*ck, that’s kinda… That’s a bit too much. Really.”

Alvin’s child opened her mouth wide and muttered. As Alvin’s wife soothed her child, she soon fell asleep. Alvin looked at his child with eyes filled with happiness.

“What are you going to do after dropping off the kids, Alvin?”

In response to Cain’s question, Alvin rubbed her forehead. But her worries were short-lived and the answer was cheerful.

“I have to go down. The reason we came up here was because we couldn’t live because of Count Wördem. Since the Count is dead… Well. “No matter who comes, it will be better than that.”

“If a worse person comes, will you go up the mountain again and do the same thing?”

“No.” Alvin’s answer is cheerful. “Never do that. She can’t pass this life on to her child. It shouldn’t be shown like this. Something… I’ll try living a little differently. If there was any way to atone, I would do anything. Because it is true that I committed an evil deed. In fact, that’s why I want to send those kids back.”

“Sin and atonement are up to you.” Maria scolded harshly. Alvin shrugged her shoulders.

“… Sorry. “Priest.”

Just right.

Mary lit the sacred fire. It wavered like a candle on her porcelain fingers. She erased it again with a click.

“I feel like giving this fire to all of you. “If you don’t do good, this fire will burn you.”

The heretic inquisitor’s threats scared the innocent bandits, although they were not innocent. Maria looked around at them all with her stern eyes.

“… But I will trust you one more time. Please don’t misunderstand because I am not forgiving your sins. Because I don’t even know your sins yet. You probably know best the sins you have committed.

Lifetime. Remember that sin. But don’t let sin hold you back. Always consider why you committed a sin, and make sure you don’t repeat the same mistake. The God in the sky is watching your every move. Last day. He will measure your right and wrong deeds, your good deeds and your evil deeds.

Do not let sin go unnoticed. This means that you should not go around saying ‘I am forgiven.’ But don’t get caught up in sin and close your eyes. It means not to conclude, ‘I cannot be forgiven.’

You can choose to be different. I hope you choose something good this time.”

People didn’t understand what he was saying. Mary’s words were too difficult and complicated for those who could not even properly understand the Sunday sermon. But at the same time, she felt that Maria’s words were warm.

“Hey… “

Alvin’s wife swallowed her saliva. She remembered that she had threatened to tear open Cain’s stomach, and that she had heard Mary say, ‘Do it if you can.’

“I was truly sorry about what happened back then. I said something I shouldn’t have said. Sorry.”

“Me too…” “I’m sorry for staring at you carelessly.”

Alvin also apologized.

“I’m sorry too. “I was a bit sensitive back then.”

After hearing Cain’s answer, Alvin sighed happily. Then she searched in her arms and took out her money bag.

“True. This. Take it back. “Now that I have a baby, there is no need to go to a big city.”

Cain and Mary’s eyes met. They raised their eyebrows at each other, and eventually Cain nodded her head.

“Use it for good.” “Give a little bit to those in need.”

Alvin thought for a moment before nodding her head.

“Then I’ll give it to the kids. “I’ll give you a penny each time you look for your parents.”

Cain turned the reins. Maria and the other three riders. The people of the Black Forest greeted everyone, wishing them peace.

The forest path is narrow and the branches stick out here and there, making it dangerous for horses to run fast. Because of that, Cain and his party drove their horses a little slowly.

“Anyway.” One of Alvin’s fellow riders steered his horse forward. “This is my first time going to Palatinate. “It’s a city that’s relatively close to here.”

“It doesn’t matter since I’m not going into downtown Palatinate. To be precise, we are going to the Battle Monastery affiliated with the Knights of the Holy Grail, located on the outskirts of Palatinate.”

“… “It’s kind of complicated.”

“To put it simply, it is a place that raises priests and nuns who cut their teeth. The Knights of the Holy Grail are, after all, an order of knights affiliated with the Pope and the Vatican, and are not all priests. “It’s just like not all knights are nobles.”

“We just need to move these ‘packages’ there, right?”

“Just do that and go back. The price is the horses you ride. Would that be enough?”

“It’s enough. Judging by their long experience, these guys can sell for quite a bit of money.”

It was a ridiculous joke from a former horse thief, but Maria smiled brightly. She had to smile beforehand, because she wouldn’t have to smile again for a while.

The horse thief fell backwards. The branches that covered his head gradually disappear. The road gets wider little by little, and the speed of the horses increases.

The Battle Monastery in Pfalzburg has other functions. Because it is also the branch of the Heresy Inquisition that interrogates those guilty of heresy and receives confessions.

No one knows what kind of hideous thing is attached to wizards and witches. Therefore, only those who have ‘thoroughly eliminated and neutralized’ such dangerous elements in the local branch are judged at the headquarters in Magdeburg.

Of course, there are political reasons as well. From the perspective of an outsider who does not know the truth, Count Wördem went into the forest and had all his limbs and joints ripped out by unknown thugs. However, if two ‘heretic priests’ were found next to this person, this case could be treated a little specially.

The Inquisition does not discriminate between the top and the bottom. No matter how Elector Reinhardt is, he will not be able to stand against the Pope. That also means that Wördem’s future has already been decided.

At best, the gallows. However, most of the punishment will be paid by those who ’employ’ witches and wizards. It will never be fun.

“Cain.”

“Huh?”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to follow Lily? Why did you decide to go with me? “Lily would have wanted that too.”

“I’m just Lily’s burden there. “That can’t be possible.”

“If you go with me, you won’t see anything.”

Cain tried to say that there is something to see and something to know. Wördem and the Black Fire Priest, Roberta, the Knight of the Sheath… All of these things are vaguely intertwined.

But there is a correlation, I don’t know what cause and effect there is. This means that it is not a meaningful cause and effect. We have some pieces of the puzzle, but we still don’t know the whole picture. Cain muttered.

“‘See what you need to see, hear what you need to hear. She says only what she has to say and keeps her mouth shut about everything else.’”

“What is that?”

“Security Bureau Regulations.” Cain imitated Astrid’s tone of voice. “You have to follow the rules.”

“Don’t do it.” Maria threw up her hand. “Don’t do it because it doesn’t suit you terribly.”

Cain burst out laughing.

It was a laugh after a long time.