The collective frenzy sweeping Kapatia quickly spread throughout the Duchy of Kapatia.
It’s not easy for something that started in the Infura Church Region to spread across every corner of the empire just like that.
But the swift messengers racing towards every nook and cranny of the empire far surpassed anyone’s imagination.
No matter how small the village, the requested bounty flyers they carried were impossible to overlook,
And along with those flyers, news filled with distortions and lies began to rattle the empire.
And Evian was no exception.
*
“What the hell is going on?! Stop right now!”
Men clad in dark armor.
Only their eyes were visible through the dark helmets, which were covered with black veils.
They abruptly halted at the sudden shout and turned back.
“Where are you taking those children? Let them go immediately!”
She still bore the traces of youth, but her demeanor was ripe with wisdom from the years—a nun.
As a priest, she held the title of head priest, granting her authority to speak privately with Bishop Poby in the Evian Diocese.
Aege.
With malevolence in her gaze, Aege glared at the men who were taking the three girls away, ready to pounce at any second.
“Who are you? You seem to be a priest.”
The man’s voice was unnaturally calm.
The tone resonated softly from beneath his helmet, giving it a strange and somewhat oppressive quality.
But Aege didn’t seem to care about that, as she strode forward and blocked their path.
“This isn’t the time for introductions! Where are you trying to take those girls?! Answer me immediately!”
The girls looked at Aege with desperate eyes, as if they had met their savior.
However, being dragged away simply for having a certain hair color filled them with immense fear.
With Aege standing in their way, she truly was their savior.
“We’ve already received permission from Bishop Poby. We are taking them for an investigation regarding apostates, specifically those who bear similar appearances.”
“Taking them? Who’s taking whom here? Let them go right now!”
The men remained silent for a long moment.
In the strangely heavy silence, Aege marched towards the men without hesitation and shoved them aside.
Then she firmly grasped the hands of the girls being taken and pulled them toward her.
“Come here. You were scared, right?”
But before Aege could say anything more, the men were quicker to restrain her.
With a low voice, one of the men forcefully wrenched her hand away from the girls.
With a voice dripping with sarcasm, he said to Aege:
“…What is the meaning of this?”
“Even if you have received permission from Bishop Poby, I shall not allow it. I too am dedicated as the head priest of the Evian Diocese, and such reckless acts are absolutely intolerable.”
“Should I consider this as an attempt to obstruct the investigation of heretics?”
“—Ha!”
Aege scoffed.
The man stood still, unmoving. Underneath his helmet, his gaze shot daggers at Aege, though the actual expression remained hidden—an expression one couldn’t possibly know. Despite that, Aege glared right back at him, her eyes blazing with a ferocity that seemed ready to consume the men whole.
“Is a heretic really going to come this far? Does a heretic sprout wings instead of hands? If they flew in on a demon, there must be witnesses, right? Do you even know how far it is from here to Infura in Evian? You must think you know how a heretic could possibly sneak all the way here, right?”
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“It’s not nonsense. It’s logic. Can you refute even one of my points?”
Aege’s voice was like a finely sharpened blade.
Her rising irritation and anger only fueled her excitement.
“Step aside, head priest. If you keep this up, I’ll make sure you suffer for obstructing my duties.”
That remark was the last straw.
The fury she had been barely containing exploded forth at last.
“Did you just call me head priest?”
“Yes. Now step aside, head priest.”
“Add ‘Sir’ to that, you bastard.”
The curses that could hardly be associated with a priest made the men fall silent.
Aege’s face was flushed red with rage, and she glared at the men as if she were ready to devour them whole.
“Heretics or whatever, these damn fools have messed things up themselves, and why should they come after innocent folks?”
“That’s excessive, head priest.”
“Add ‘Sir’ before that, you bastard.”
“Head priest!”
“Add ‘Sir’ before that!”
A thick silence prevailed in the street.
In the heart of Evian, in the bustling afternoon, a tense standoff unfolded.
The standoff could finally be resolved with the arrival of none other than Sir Alistein, the head of the heretic inquisition in the Evian branch.
“Aege, head priest! Please calm down.”
“I’m not worked up. Go ahead, keep talking.”
“…Ahem.”
It was clear to anyone that she was in a state of agitation, but Alistein knew better than to provoke her further.
“So, please allow us some understanding from our side as well. I know those girls have no connection to the heretics. We have no intention of causing harm to those girls. You are aware of the unfortunate incidents that occurred within the Church of the Celestial God, blessed by the Celestial God, are you not?”
“Don’t you know about the peculiar events?”
“…So what?”
The excitement had significantly died down in her voice.
Sister Aege was also well aware of that incident.
How could she not be?
One of her painful reminders, Yona.
Wasn’t Aege the most shocked upon hearing that Yona had become an apostate?
“So, an investigation is necessary. This is a directive from the Church of the Celestial God, particularly from His Holiness the Pope himself. We must comply, and my friends here are just doing their jobs. It’s merely a matter of investigating their actions that day before sending them home, so there’s no need to worry too much. It’s also a public display to show we’re tracking the apostate, after all.”
“But—”
“Hey there, Priest. Aren’t we all people from the same diocese? We’re just following orders, me and my buddies. If there’s no crime, it will be revealed, so please understand.”
Aege took several deep breaths.
It wasn’t wrong, but—yet, yet.
Her adventurer’s instincts were feeling uneasy about this.
There was an ominous feeling that something dark was looming over this continent, and that feeling was quite unsettling.
“…Understood. Branch Chief, you promised. If there’s no crime, you’ll let them go as promised.”
“Of course, I promise that.”
“Understood.”
Aege lightly closed her eyes then opened them, taking a step back.
Before her, the inquisitors and the girls slowly passed by.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Priest.”
“…No, Branch Chief. I beg of you, please take care of this.”
“Of course. If there’s no crime, I assure you.”
“Understood. Then.”
With that, Aege swiftly turned to head somewhere.
Watching her retreating figure, Sir Alistein thought to himself.
The one who decides whether there is a crime or not is the Celestial God, so it’s up to Him to determine.
*
“What on earth is going on, Bishop? The whole of Evian looks like a disturbed beehive, doesn’t it?”
“What sharp solution do you think I might have?”
Poby sighed heavily and lit a cigarette.
Through the thick smoke, he could see Sister Aege, visibly agitated.
Recently, it had been a series of annoyances.
It was nice that Evian began making a name for itself as a diocese that produced a Saint,
And that the Hero and the Saint had finally declared that their quest against the Dark Cult had commenced.
But shortly after that, the news broke—
A healer from Evian had become an apostate.
And that apostate had attacked the Church of the Celestial God.
Not only did they attack the Church of the Celestial God, but they also caused massive damage to five of the Holy Knight Brigade, escaping afterward.
It felt like the position of the next Pope had slipped away from his grasp.
“What am I to do if the one running the diocese says he has no sharp solution?”
“What’s there to say about something that doesn’t exist?”
“Does it make sense to rummage through the diocese and arrest all the women with hair color like Yona’s?”
“…Mentioning Yona, what a name to bring up.”
“To me, it’s Yona. The idea that Yona has become an apostate is utter nonsense. I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”
“There are hundreds of witnesses, Priest Aege. No need to be so stubborn about it.”
“Are we inside or outside here?”
“…Please don’t say such strange things, Priest Aege. Calm yourself. It has become painfully clear that that Healer has become an apostate. It’s no longer a matter of belief or disbelief.”
“That situation and this one are different. Do you really think it’s logical to arrest everyone just because they have similar hair color?”
A furious Aege.
Seeing her like this, Poby thought persuading her was a lost cause.
It was Poby who was truly upset.
The honor of Evian soared high with the emergence of the Saint, only to be dragged down into the mud by the emergence of an apostate.
Given that situation, Priest Aege, who should be putting in all her effort to capture the apostate, was just spouting nonsense about disbelief.
No wonder Poby was ready to blow his top.
“Anyway, you need to put a stop to this. This is madness, Bishop. How could such a thing happen? Even in that silent era when the Heavenly God departed from us, nothing like this occurred!”
“But there weren’t any apostates back then!”
Finally unable to contain his anger, Poby slammed his fist on the table.
With a loud bang, the ashtray on the table wobbled violently, and a thick silence descended between Poby and Aege.
“I’m sorry, Priest Aege. I’ve just been under too much stress lately.”
“…It’s alright.”
“Anyway, what’s happening now falls within the realm of the Inquisition. So, Priest Aege, it would be best to refrain from interference from here on out. The current situation is akin to a direct insult to our Heavenly God. The main unit is busy trying to capture the apostate, so we have no choice but to comply.”
Hearing this, Aege shut her mouth.
Rationally, Poby was right.
This was an order directly given by the Pope, and it was a command issued to the Inquisitors.
As a Priest, she had no authority to dispute it, and even Bishop Poby couldn’t casually defy it.
Understanding the situation left her with no words.
Yet Aege’s faith in Yona was stronger.
She couldn’t believe it until she saw it for herself.
Even though she may have been foolish, and had an extreme aversion to studying,
Yona was a girl with a truly kind and righteous nature, who also pursued what it meant to be a Priest.
To think that Yona had become an apostate was something Aege vowed she wouldn’t believe until she witnessed it firsthand.
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