How a Former Pastor Lives in Another World

12

The First Mission

Eclipse, the internal inquisition agency of the Papacy.

Ray, having received the summons, encountered a familiar face in front of the inquisition building.

“Ah, Brother Ray!”

Sister Jenny with her red hair greeted Ray with a genial smile.

“Sister Jenny? What brings you here?”

“I was summoned. Were you, Brother Ray?”

The newly inducted probationary members had all been summoned to the inquisition office at the same time.

An intuition told them this was no ordinary matter.

As they weren’t official members yet, they applied for entry and waited at the entrance, while Jenny looked around the inquisition office with sparkling eyes.

The exterior of the inquisition office was a heavy and dark Gothic style.

Walls like ramparts and a somber exterior color.

The large building had no flower beds or landscaping trees that one would expect, just a hard floor covering.

It was a place with a gloomy atmosphere that felt very much like a gray area in every sense.

But to Jennie, it seemed to feel quite different.

“Wow~ This is the heresy interrogation chamber. It’s got a different vibe. An unyielding aura? It’s like, bam! Can you feel it?”

“Isn’t that just a fancy way of saying it’s gloomy?”

“Isn’t that the charm of Eclipse? The heresy interrogation agency should feel like this~ right?”

Ever since she boldly confronted the nobility, it was clear that Jennie’s sensibilities were far from ordinary.

Usually, she’s a lively girl typical of her age, but the venomous look she shows when wielding a halberd reveals a significant gap.

“By the way, Brother Ray. How old are you this year?”

“Sixteen.”

“A baby, then, a baby.”

“And how old are you, Sister Jennie?”

Puffing out her chest proudly, Jennie replied,

“Seventeen! I’m your elder.”

‘Just a baby, a baby.’

In fact, at seventeen, one is considered a full-fledged adult in this world.

In a world where most marry before twenty, seventeen cannot be called young.

“Ray, why don’t you call me ‘sister’ casually? And speak informally too.”

“Should I? Sister Jennie.”

“That’s refreshing!”

In truth, Ray had said something similar to Henry.

Since he had started speaking informally to fifteen-year-old Henry, calling him ‘brother.’

“Let’s get along, fellow commoners. Those annoying nobles keep trying to press us down with their status.”

“Are you referring to me as that annoying noble?”

The owner of the voice was Aaron Graham, the very noble Jennie had called annoying.

“Oh my~ Young Master, have you arrived? Did you hear everything?”

“Who are you calling ‘Young Master’? You really can’t understand, can you.”

“Did you hear that? Brother Ray, this second-seat young master is trying to oppress a poor commoner girl. Senior, say something!”

“Why me······.”

Regardless of Ray’s embarrassment, Aaron was irked by the ‘second-seat’ jab.

“Based on the admission scores, you should be in the fourth seat! What’s someone with lower scores than me talking about!”

“Young Master, are you boasting about having better scores than an uneducated commoner? Isn’t it natural for someone who’s been raised in a different environment since birth to have good scores?”

“Ugh…!”

Aaron was left speechless by Jenny’s scathing remark.

Watching him, Jenny sneered and pressed on with her chatter.

“Really~ Our little Ray is the top student~ Not like some young master from a rich family, no private tutors, no Cardinal Papa or Paladin Mama to speak of~”

“Urk…!”

Grinding his teeth, Aaron trembled with rage.

Observing them, Ray made a contrasting judgment of the two.

Jenny was mean-spirited, and Aaron was generally good-natured.

‘In name, we don’t care about class, but in reality, it’s different… She really knows how to scratch where it itches.’

The girl named Jenny that Ray had been watching was no naive child unaware of the power and authority the noble class held.

Jenny’s attitude towards the nobility contained some ‘malice’.

There must be some difficult circumstances she’s dealing with.

‘In fact, it would be easy to suppress her with class status.’

If Aaron decided, he could easily crush Jenny.

But whether it was because of his principles or pride, Aaron did not actively confront Jenny’s spitefulness.

He might have the arrogance or insolence typical of a noble young master, but he wasn’t a bad person.

Clap!

Finally, Ray, who had inserted himself between the two, clapped his hands to clear the air.

“Aren’t we all summoned? Let’s go in.”

As Ray said, the entrance to the heresy interrogation chamber was opening.

***

As expected, all three had been called for the same reason.

“Greetings, I am Moro, an inquisitor and armed priest from Eclipse. Brothers and sisters.”

Introducing himself, Priest Moro had a seemingly gentle demeanor.

But no one let their guard down around him.

The Inquisition of Eclipse.

If the Paladin Order is the hammer that crushes the enemies of the Church, then Eclipse is the dagger that stabs heretics in the dark.

Their infamy for interrogating heretics across the continent was well-known even among their fellow believers.

“Ray Anderson. Aaron Graham. Jenny Delilah. The three of you will join me on a mission.”

Mission!

It was the most crucial task of the armed organization.

Already being deployed on a mission, the members wore excited expressions, thinking it was a recognition of their abilities.

Aron, too, contained his excitement and asked calmly, “May I know what it’s about?”

“It involves a witch. We are to judge the captured witch and, if she is indeed one, escort her to the heresy interrogation chamber.”

The word ‘witch’ turned the trainees’ expressions grave.

A witch, a contractor of the devil, was the most representative enemy of the religious nation.

And these who would one day become official members of the armed organization would inevitably have to face such an enemy.

“Do not be too nervous. Generally, the witches we capture are not real witches.”

“What do you mean?”

“Many are accused out of small misunderstandings. There are also brothers and sisters who misinterpret the doctrine due to excessive zeal.”

Priest Moro said that most heresy accusations stem from vile emotions.

“It could be coveting a widow’s wealth, resentment for a rejected love confession, or jealousy from neighbors… Those who neglect the teachings of Soltera often commit false accusations.”

It seems that the crowd mentality of ‘accuse first, investigate later’ is prevalent.

“In fact, there’s a high chance that this time, too, it’s not a witch.”

“Is there a reason?”

“Yes, the accusation is related to ‘the plague.'”

“……?”

The trainees looked puzzled.

But Priest Moro shifted his gaze to Ray.

“The contractor of the plague was recently defeated by Brother Ray.”

“……!”

Aron and Jenny’s gazes turned to Ray.

“Yes, the sorcerer I killed recently was a contractor of the demon of corruption.”

“When a demon loses a contractor, it usually takes years to find a new one. Even if they find one immediately, it takes time to learn the spells.”

That’s because the contractor must offer sacrifices to the demon.

Especially a spell that could plague an entire village would require a witch of considerable level, which was impossible in the given time.

“Now, there’s no need to be too tense. Still, we’ll prepare thoroughly before we depart, so request the necessary items from the Papacy. Consider this all part of your experience.”

***

Inquisitor Priest Moro.

Here, trainee members Ray, Aaron, and Jenny were together.

Their mode of transportation was a carriage, and along the way, they also learned how to drive it quickly from Father Moro.

“Show this badge, and you can receive horses and lodging at the cathedrals connected to the Holy Nation. Depending on the situation, you might even get financial support for your activities.”

“Oh…”

“Can we also get meal expenses?”

“Of course, Sister Jenny.”

Any cathedral under the Solar Church could provide such support.

In return, the requesting clergy’s name was used to issue a promissory note, and each cathedral would send these notes back to the central church to replenish their resources.

‘Like a check.’

It wasn’t for nothing that the church also served as the bank of this era, issuing promissory notes that stored the gold of nobles and merchants in a similar system.

Anyway, they received such common knowledge teachings while on the move.

As they moved further away from the Holy Nation, the roads became rougher, and the carriage jolted.

“Ugh…!”

Aaron flinched from the shock transmitted through his seat.

Though it was a medieval carriage without suspension, there was a clear difference between a noble’s carriage and a freight carriage.

“Can’t you drive a bit more smoothly?”

A sweet voice came from the driver’s seat in response to Aaron’s complaint.

“I’m sorry, young master~ I’m not a professional driver for nobility~”

“That woman…”

Aaron swallowed his frustration.

It was now a daily event, no different from a daily special.

“Everyone, have some snacks. I got some good ones from the village we passed earlier.”

Ray intervened between the two who were about to fight again and brought out the snacks.

Dried jerky and pickled egg pickles, expensive, but they managed to buy them easily thanks to the generous support funds.

“Tch. Just give me the jerky.”

“Don’t eat too much. You’ll get seasick.”

“I’ll manage.”

Aaron took the jerky and chewed, looking away.

Ray also packed some snacks for Jenny and poked his face into the driver’s seat.

“Sister Jenny, keep yourself busy with these so you won’t get bored.”

“Feed me since you’re driving~”

“No, there’s a proper distance between men and women.”

“Don’t be so stiff~ Ah, feed me the egg pickle.”

Indeed, Jenny’s hands are full steering the carriage.

Reluctantly, Ray took an egg out of the jar, and Jenny made a fuss upon seeing it.

“Wow~ A pink egg? That’s new to me.”

“It’s colored from the beets we put in the pickle. Now, say ‘ahh~'”

“Ahh~”

Jenny quickly takes a bite.

Ray watched, worried the dry egg might stick in her throat.

“Why? Is it pretty?”

‘This thing.’

After all, Jenny is not just a little mischievous.

As much as a woman who knows she’s beautiful, she’s skilled in fox-like wiles.

But there’s the seasoned experience of Pastor Kim, who’s been through the youth ministry.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Oh, oh?”

Her cheeks puff up as if aflame.

With a dazed look, Jenny turned to Ray, who gave a sly smile.

“You’d be even prettier if you didn’t fight with our brother Aaron.”

“Oh, oops! Oops!”

Flustered, Jenny grabbed the reins wrong, and the carriage veered off course.

“Front! Be careful!”

“Eek! Ack! Sa, saved!”

Jenny just managed to regain control of the reins and steered the carriage.

“Anyway, be careful. Careful. If you want more eggs, just say so.”

“Oh, no… I’m good.”

Kids.

Ray returned to the luggage compartment.

Father Moro watched him with a kind smile.

“Hehe, Brother Ray, you’re quite adept.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, you have a good balance. You seem like an expert who has dealt with children for a long time.”

“Well… the cathedral in the wallpaper also serves as an orphanage.”

Ray was the pastor in charge of the youth department, crowded with teenagers.

In modern Earth’s tempestuous times, he had to lead the monkeys through Holy Spirit conventions and retreats, regularly organizing recreation, making him quite skilled in this area.

“Yet, Father Moro, you don’t seem to take the lead often.”

“Brothers in faith can’t always get along. It’s their spirited age, isn’t it?”

“True, that’s right.”

The kids in their prime would often fight, so sometimes letting them do so was a strategy.

Unless it was one-sided bullying, kids tend to grow up through fights.

It’s the adult’s role to mend the relationships between the children after the fights.

Ray spoke this way, though to others, he was the youngest boy, only sixteen.

“Father Moro, try this. It’s more of a delicacy than you’d think.”

“Thank you, Brother Ray.”

The jerky was bland, perhaps less salt was used, but the eggs had absorbed the vinegar well, giving them a tangy taste.

‘Would be perfect with beer, wouldn’t it?’

On this continent, beer was the common drink, so perhaps the snacks had evolved to complement it.

Maybe I’ll have a drink when I reach the city.

The doctrine didn’t explicitly forbid alcohol, so it might be alright.

Thus, passing cathedrals intermittently for supplies and continuing the journey for about ten days.

The condition of the jolting road gradually improved, signaling the city was near.

“Stop!”

Just as Aaron was about to switch the reins, the carriage he was leading came to a halt.

“Ray, Father Moro. There are several armed men?”

“Hmm~ I hope they’re not bandits.”

Moro said this while concealing a dagger in his sleeve.

He seemed accustomed to such situations.

‘More bandits? I thought they wouldn’t show up.’

But bandits, so close to the city?

The road being in good repair means the guard is close by, and there are patrols as well.

It’s not a place for bandits to roam…

‘Those bandit scoundrels have a high karma debt; it’d be good to collect on that.’

Let’s try to increase our spiritual power~ With such hopes and the mindset of a would-be assassin, Rei set out, but what stopped the carriage wasn’t the anticipated bandits.

“Ah.”

A knight in plate armor. And well-armed soldiers.

“We are the territorial army of the Violet Borderlands! This area is off-limits!”

“…”

Crimson red.

They are not the soldiers of the Borderlands.