Chapter 12 ─ The terrifying Theocracy

Blood as red as mine splashed like a stream of water from their severed heads.

Their lifeless bodies were dumped in a mountain of bodies.

"You're starting to stink, give them your blessing and then burn them!"

Zald exclaimed after holding his nose.

I watched as the other men in similar clothing to him recited something, then men in different colored embroidery on their ornaments burned the bodies.

Zald approached me with the strange man at his side.

"I'm sorry you saw that, we usually teach the new ones this after several practices. Sometimes it is very shocking to them."

"Zald-dono."

"Sorry."

*Cough*

"Regulus-kun, let me introduce you to my partner."

Beside him stood a man in white robes with a black ornament around him, he was the only one with black on his white robes.

His appearance was frightening, very malnourished and his face was similar to that of a skeleton.

Highlighting how big his eyes were and his small mouth.

His hair was white, he does not appear to be an old man as he moves at a normal pace despite his appearance.

"Zartras Riefenstein. Nice to meet you young man."

He was very polite, he bowed to greet me.

"A-a pleasure to meet you."

"Zald-dono, this is the young man you told me about right?"

"He is."

"I see."

The way he approached me with his hunched back and the way he walked without lifting his legs terrified me more and more.

Suddenly he took my hands, his fingernails were long and some spots on them.

He smiled at me as if I were a father to his son.

"It is a pleasure to have you here. Everyone here is an older man, over 30 years old and having a healthy young man around to learn our practices reminds me a lot of my time where I used to teach, those were great times."

"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't greet you sooner. Zartras Riefenstein, captain of Testament."

"Nice to meet you, Cedric's my name, the pleasure is mine."

He even greeted Cedric, despite being in a place where several dark elves had just been killed, the others came over to greet us.

They were very polite and even joking some of them.

It was almost like it was a slaughterhouse, they were doing their jobs and chatting like normal co-workers.

It was a scene that was a little, no, very creepy but warm at the same time.

It was weird to say.

"Zald-dono, we should start the meeting."

"Sure."

"You two, since you'll be around for a day there's no need for you to listen to it, but since you'll be part of a squad, it's necessary for you to at least know what your coworkers will be doing, so I recommend it."

"S-Sure."

"Understood."

"Okay, we'll meet at the center of the camp in five minutes. You guys can walk the place in the meantime."

Zald walked off leaving us alone.

I immediately grabbed Cedric's shoulder.

"Hey, what the hell was that? What the hell was that they did!"

When they left, I got upset, it was the first time I saw a person cursing others to die.

It was different from the bandits begging for salvation.

That elf was spitting on them because they took them from their homes for no reason and started killing them.

Does that mean they were innocent?

No, Zald said they were heretics so they had to investigate them first and kill them.

Yes, that must be it.

It would be very ridiculous for some guys to come into your house for no reason and call you a heretic just because of your race and then kill your family.

Cedric reassured me.

"I understand how you feel now. I'm repulsed too."

"But it's like he said, they have the Kingdom's permission to punish heretics."

"So... I believe they really are criminals. I want to believe that they really didn't commit a crime despite the fact that elves in this country are rare to find."

Usually, if someone outside of my acquaintance died I would care a lot.

But the way that guy expressed himself... it made me feel really bad.

He better has really been a heretic.

The 5 minutes were about to pass so we went straight to the meeting.

◇

The meeting place was a big tent that covered at least the size of a small but spacious house.

We sat on some logs that we used as seats and listened to what Zald and the guy with the googly eyes were reporting.

"As you may know, the eleven ordered us, Testament and Judgment, to take care of the heretic problem that informed the southern empire."

"But that's not all, an informant discovered months ago a figure wandering the nights of the city."

"That wouldn't be important except that figure was a ghostly one."

"That's right. The magic capable of doing that is only one, [level 7] magic."

The people around us began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Level 7 magic is something that only high level mages."

"The only way it's not a witch using it would be a spy from an enemy country."

"What would be the possibility that it's not a witch?"

One of them asked, Zald answered pointing to the map.

"No one person would go into this forest, alone, at night and especially not using magic that would expend much of the individual's magical power."

"Our informant said he saw her making the same journey since his stay."

"For that reason, we will search for the witch. And if we are not mistaken, we will proceed to perform the blessing before making her pay for her sins."

"We will divide into twelve squads, the formation will be─"

Zald kept mentioning things I didn't understand, but Cedric and I ended up in a squad of 12 people.

Five of them were men in white robes and 5 others were in black armor with a blue precious gem in the center.

After we separated as a group, Zald stood in front of a box and gave us parting words before leaving to search for heretics.

"Normally we don't say parting words, we know we will all return because God is on our side."

"But on this occasion it is special because we have two guests from the Kingdom who will observe our sacred work."

"Be sure to show them how theocracy makes sure to improve the world."

"All of you, say goodbye! Deus Vult!"

"Deus Vult!"

After shouting in unison, each group dispersed.

◇

We went into the forest and there, the squad leader explained what they did.

"A long time ago, when humans live in peace, we received an attack that wiped out most humans."

"That attack was the work of the Demon Emperor along with his commanders, the [Four Demon Kings]."

"Our Six Gods decided to protect the humans. But an extra God betrayed them, causing their death. That is the God who represents darkness."

"Each of our gods represents the archaic elements."

"After eliminating the threat, the God of light who was the only one still alive, before he died told us this 'Eliminate evil so that this tragedy will not happen again', that was how our sacred commandment is in every raid to eliminate heretics."

"Deus Vult means 'God commands it', therefore, obeying his last will is a sacred act."

"I understand, it was very interesting."

I didn't pay attention for most of his explanation, but what he said at the end was what mattered to me.

They are similar to me, they follow their creator's orders to the letter.

That's what I do.

So, I don't really think the heretics are innocent.

Their way of doing things is again similar to mine, eliminate anything that is a threat to my mission.

"I have a question."

Cedric said brushing branches away from his face.

"How long have you been hunting heretics?"

The captain answered him making a memory.

"I wasn't born at that time, but according to my father, exactly since 50 years ago we started hunting heretics."

"Before we didn't do it because we considered them humans different from us, but now we don't see them as such."

"How did you find out they were heretics?"

"God told the Holy King."

"The Holy King is the voice of God."

(Huh?)

(God is not dead?)

(How then do they receive those messages?)

(Or is God on a different celestial plane?)

I did not want to ask as I remember that My Creator is now elsewhere and to know that he is well would make me seem to know something I do not know.

I know he is fine, so I better just nod so as not to explain.

The captain continued to add to the conversation.

"Of course. There was a second piece of evidence so as to teach the heretics so they wouldn't think we were hunting them for no reason."

"The Holy King was ordered by God to go to a place that was the ancient capital, where many innocent people died."

"In a secret dungeon he found a very old letter, which was a confession. The king of the dark elves betrayed the humans, but since they won the war, he decided to keep silent so that no one would judge them."

The captain suddenly became furious.

"Those wretched heretics mocked us. They betrayed us and then rejoiced at our help in times of crisis."

"After knowing that and having the evidence, along with the seal of the royal family of the dark elves. We coordinated our attacks to destroy their country."

"Unfortunately many fled and we were only able to eliminate the royal family."

"Right now we are trying to find out if the [high elves] also supported them."

"It would be very bad for the economy and our treaties, but... the word of God is something we must follow to honor His sacrifice. We will not let any heretic escape!"

The anger on the captain's face was truly frightening, but more frightening was the next thing he said.

"Oh, that's right."

"We also despise beastmen. After all, they do happen to be helpers of the current demon king, we even have a theory that they are not children of God, but are human heretics who fornicated with animals, explaining why they have animal traits like extreme strength, tails and ears."

Cedric responded irritably for some reason.

"Isn't that an accusation without proof perchance?"

"It would be the same as wanting to kill people for having different skin complexion than the rest."

"You are wrong, honorable old man. Skin is a feature of no relevance to us, we find it ridiculous to see humans of different skin as aberrations from God."

"Sure, to us having blond or white hair is synonymous with being primordial, but that doesn't mean we will look down on others for being different."

What he says sounds like it is both false and hypocritical and then honest.

The theocracy way of thinking seems to be a mix between abnormal things as normal and vice versa.

"By the way, young man, I have a question?"

The captain suddenly focused on me, we sat down to rest for a while, all of us drinking our water bottles while the second in command did something on a map.

I answered the captain.

"Yes?"

"Is it true that you defeated an S-rank adventurer? In our country we usually don't need them, but it's an honest way to make a living."

"Yeah, it was me. It was no big deal─"

Suddenly, I reacted to it.

"How do you know I defeated an S-rank adventurer?"

(I don't remember commenting that to Zald. Moreover, I don't recall at any point telling anyone here that I defeated one).

(How do you know?)

The captain terrified me when he revealed something I never managed to realize.

"Huh? Aren't you Zald-sama's guest?"

"That means you two are very good friends. You even told him about the capital's promotion. An official would come to give you your promotion."

"... Or am I wrong?"

As I did, the captain became alert, his relaxed look becoming tense just by looking at his eyebrows.

I never said anything to Zald.

But... that only means one thing.

This was planned!

Zald managed to know that the palace would send an official!

Did any client who was in there that day get to hear about it?

Did some spy of the theocracy overhear?

If so, I was just a pawn.

This is bad Cedric.

I immediately replied to the captain so he wouldn't get suspicious.

"O-Of course it is, hahaha. I'm sorry, I had forgotten that I told you. Sometimes I forget things."

"Like, for example, he told me it was planned about the meeting, but I forgot the rest."

"Oh yeah, he was waiting for you for a long time he told us, the group that was on the ship and following them said they were delayed a long time because of the pirate attack."

"So the captain decided to buy an iced coffee instead of the tea he was going to use to spill."

(It was real!)

(That's why I thought it was strange about the coffee!)

(Who buys an iced coffee instead of a hot one in nice weather?)

"B-By the way, I don't remember if Zald-san said if there were people guarding the count's mansion? Or if he told me?"

"Umm, he said it wasn't necessary since the count is against theocracy, and if we were to put people to guard it, his own lookouts would detect us."

"What we are looking for is that thanks to your help we can get the palace to see that we are still allies. What must they forget the past when we purified an entire village of rabbit men."

"Well, they said that a plague that killed precisely our citizens was released because of it. I consider that was a lie to get rid of all the officials who were in the country."

This is bad.

This is fucking bad.

Starting with how mouthy this guy is.

Really these idiots are manipulating me to accomplish something very bad.

Sorry Mary, you were right, these guys are weird extremists.

We should get the hell out of this place immediately and ask the count to help us.

"Hey captain, look what we found while you were chatting."

Some men in armor who went to watch no one approached us, returned with a small group of dark elves.

There were five of them, four men and a girl.

The hair of all of them was white.

But the girl's was different, near the ends a warm pink color combined with her silver hair.

As I lifted her face, I was in awe of her beauty, along with her long ears, she looked like a delicious decorated chocolate cake.

Her amber eyes did not help to make her look delicious.

She was covered in dust and her clothes were filthy with mud.

The captain stood up and drew his sword.

"I don't know if the question is ridiculous to you, but I'll ask it anyway."

"Where is the witch who dwells in this forest?"

"You have three seconds."

"I don't know, we used to live near the forest until you guys!"

*Cut*

"That's not what I asked."

He turned to the next elf.

"Same question, you have three seconds."

The elf unlike the first one who died did speak.

"Northeast of here you will find a fortress! It is guarded by golems! There lives the witch─!"

*Cut*

"You lie. We passed that way before entering this area and there's nothing there."

"Same question, you have three─"

The elf quickly stood up and used his companion as a shield as they walked away.

"Testament."

These words were uttered by the captain and two men waved their hands to the sky and a magic circle manifested itself.

A great flash of lightning fell upon them.

Killing immediately the one who was used as a shield.

The other elf was convulsing.

The captain went to kill him.

Suddenly, the elf girl let go and ran in my direction.

She hugged me tightly as she cried like she was a baby, and with tears streaming down her face she pleaded with me.

"I beg you please human-sama, save me!"

"I'll be your slave if you want, but please! Spare my life! Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

The elf girl's crying made my skin crawl.

The way she cried.

The way she begged for her life.

Even if it was a feigned act, she really wanted to live.

"How shameless you are. Begging for the miracle of life while being of a heretic race."

The captain reached over and grabbed her hair to drag her away from me.

He tossed her a bit away and before he raised his sword to cut her.

"Captain, allow me a moment."

"What is it?"

A subordinate stopped him, I listened to every word he said.

"The boys and I had a conversation, turns out the last time we eliminated our urges were three months ago. In this place we can't get company, that's why we were wondering if you─"

The captain sighed before replying. Disappointment was marked on his face.

"You guys that's why you don't promote, you're focused on satiating your whims."

"Just remember this, it is punishable by our laws to leave offspring with these heretics. There have already been cases of many of you who by thinking of eliminating your desires have procreated with these demons."

"They have even hidden them from their wives so as not to stain their marriages."

"Hurry up quickly or else I will tell Commander Zald to throw you out of Judgment."

He put away his sword and walked away from there, he was coming towards us.

"I'm sorry about this, I suggest we go somewhere farther away while you finish up."

He said calmly as his subordinates unbuckled their belts and some forcibly grabbed the dark elf.

They lifted her bottom as her dress.

Ah, I see.

That's how it is.

"Cedric."

I turned to the old butler as I stood up.

"Yes, my lord."

"Leave none of them alive."

After uttering that, I ran at high speed and grabbed the captain's sword to plunge it into his belly.

"...!"

Of course, he didn't understand why I did that, but it was obvious.

"Tell me what's the fucking difference between bandits and you!"

"What fucking God approves of this? I'm going to kill that stupid God of yours like that holy King!"

"I declare the theocracy as my enemies!"

I removed the sword from his stomach, I was going to move towards the guys, but Cedric beat me to it.

He quickly blew one's head off with his fist.

The others went on alert, unfortunately their belts were so big that they didn't pull their pants down yet.

The ones in black armor pulled out different weapons, but one of them had a huge shield.

He approached Cedric to want to wrap it around him, but he picked it up like it was nothing and threw it at the mages.

Crushing them in the process.

I approached the two remaining mages,

My sword went straight for the neck of one of them, but a guy in black armor used a big hammer to block my attack.

They were protecting him.

The remaining armored guys stepped in front of him to protect him.

My sword skills improved to such an extent that I swung it at high speed to try to cut him.

The armor was very tough, the worst thing was the guy's strength.

A single blow of his hammer was strong enough to crack the captain's excellent quality sword.

But I didn't care, the moment his arms went back down to raise them again, I used the opportunity and buried the tip of the sword in the space between his eyes.

It was cracked, so breaking it into pieces was easy.

It was smaller, but the important thing was that I could attack.

Cedric was fighting using his legs to repel the attacks of both of us, he was very agile, but he needed help.

I quickly thrust the sword into the mage who was reciting a spell, and lunged to help him.

"You damned traitor!"

"You're a heretic too!"

I heard the captain's voice.

He was still alive.

He approached me with that wound in his stomach as he pulled out a dagger hidden in his arm.

I had no way to defend myself and at the speed he was going, blocking him was tricky.

To make it worse, the elf girl was right next to me ducking, he could kill her by accident.

I was thinking whether to receive the attack or use the same move Cedric did with no experience in it.

"Regulus-sama!"

But something unexpected Cedric did.

He kicked the two remaining guys to knock them out momentarily as he moved in attacking the captain.

The captain aimed his dagger at Cedric, Cedric was going to receive it squarely to give me a chance.

He could not attack him as due to his height he needed more room to move his legs or fists.

I quickly moved in as he pierced Cedric's right side.

I pulled the dagger out of Cedric's body and buried it in the captain's neck.

I then approached the remaining two who wanted to stand up and used the axe of one of them to stab into the face of the other and with the dagger I stabbed it into the eye of the remaining one.

As they were all dead except us.

It was really the hard part.

How are we going to get back and avoid being killed?

Cedric is wounded and we must get the elf girl out.

I approached him to put pressure on his wound.

"Hang on, Cedric!"

"...Regu...lus-sama."

"What should I do now?"

I can't easily get out of this forest with an injured person and a trembling girl.

What on earth should I do?

"That was amazing, kid."

"...!"

I immediately turned around after hearing a strange voice coming from the trees.

"Up here."

I lifted my head, and on top of a tree branch was a crow watching us.

"I was watching them from the beginning."

"I didn't care what happened to you until I saw how you stood up for that girl. But to be honest, I liked what you said about making the theocracy your enemy and that was enough for me."

"Follow me, I'll take you to my home."

"Wait a minute! Who are you?"

I asked distressed and intrigued by the strange talking crow.

"You'll know when you get there. Don't waste time."

I lifted Cedric up and turned to the elf girl.

"Hey, come on."

"Y-Y-Yes!"

She ran after me.

◇

We went deeper into the forest.

It wasn't weird this, but the strange sensation of feeling like I hit something jelly-like as we went deeper into it.

Even the lighting was weird.

Suddenly it would get dark, then everything would light up and then get dark again following the same cycle until it became sunny for a while now.

"I'll only say it once."

"I'm not 100% trusting you, if you try anything weird, you'll die at that point."

Said the crow as it accelerated its flight.

Due to the thickness of the trees, it became increasingly difficult to walk as they covered their tops from the sun.

I got stuck between two trees, so I got out first without letting Cedric fall.

Then the elf girl came out and I turned around.

"This is it!"

I was amazed at what I saw.

The forest surrounded a part like a wall a big tree.

The tree was more like a house of sorts as it had several windows and a door.

In the distance I could see strange butterflies dancing on plants.

Fields of sunflowers made walking for us straight to the house.

The door suddenly opened and a person came out.

From my position quite far away I heard her perfectly.

"Congratulations adventurer, you have found the witch."

_______________

Instead of fanservice I give the captain's face, some designs of X characters I like, but I don't want to use them, so I'll do this with some.

Barossa is still relevant to at least for me in the plot.

https://overlordmaruyama.fandom.com/wiki/Vice_Captain