The Emperor Has Returned

Chapter 18 – Inquisitorial Trial (1)

Huge tongues of flames swallowed up the Tantil Colosseum, the fire spreading all over as if the colosseum was made of straw. Fortunately, the colosseum was built a distance away from other buildings so there was no way the fire would spread over. Otherwise, there would probably be only ashes left in the wake of the raging fire.

“Sina, this...” Haselle, Captain of the Order of the Blue Rose, mumbled as he came a step too late.

Both Haselle and Sina were horrified at the sight left behind by the raging fire—the colosseum looked like hell itself. While most of the spectators had been evacuated, not all of them were; it was a difficult task to accomplish while monsters were roaming around in the colosseum. Even sealing up the colosseum was a questionable decision.

Just then, fire started to rise up in various places all over the colosseum. The monsters and demonic beasts started rampaging behind the iron bars as they could not get out.

“Did you do this?” Haselle asked Sina, since he knew how much Sina hated the colosseum. Sina shook her head, but she couldn’t confidently tell Haselle that she had nothing to do with it.

The fire slowly died down, but it had swallowed everything, not leaving even a single piece of bone behind. The colosseum that had once looked grand was now only left with ashes and soot. Juan stood quietly in the middle of those ashes.

While the fire itself had died down, the heat could still be felt via the hundreds of pathways in the underground cavern. Juan liked the fact that there was no longer the repulsive rotting stench of corpses, nor could they be seen.

There was only one thing that shone brightly in the cavern.

Juan found a short sword stuck at the bottom of the reverse pyramid where he had seen the first pool of blood. His own sword had long melted away from the heat, but that short sword still burned crimson red even after the fire had died down.

Juan pulled out the short sword, feeling its intense heat permeate his body. The sword glowed fervently for the last time and slowly dimmed, as if Juan had absorbed the heat, then returned to its normal dark gray state.

Juan then realized that it was used for Talter’s rituals—it had been absorbing the blood of sacrifices from before people even started recording history. No one had cared about it after Talter had died, so no one knew it was hidden here. Juan had thought the short sword would respond to him since he had absorbed Talter, but nothing happened. Even knowing that Talter would not be killed that easily and would definitely rise again eventually, Juan was confident in taking him down again.

‘In any case, it looks like I obtained a decent weapon.’?

It was a natural thing for the victor to claim the weapon of their enemies.

Juan took a step forward, and an unknown black object crumbled beneath his feet.

***

“I smell something seditious from that place.”

“I can’t believe that blasphemy has taken place within my parish!”

“It’s a blasphemy against His Majesty’s authority!”

The old man shook his head as he spoke each line. He seemed to be constantly moving, with his trembling legs and fidgeting fingers; even his eyes were busy darting around. He looked very bizarre; insane, even. He sat at the farthest and highest spot in the Inquisitorial Tribunal, but no one dared to look at him.

“I could smell the stench of apostasy from the moment that mere merchant stepped onto our holy land!”

“Even if the person who committed apostasy is dead, his body must not be left as it is!”

“It must be flogged until its limbs come apart!” the old man exclaimed, making the others lower their heads simultaneously at what the old man said. Everyone in a position of power within Tantil was involved with Daeron in one way or another. The situation was volatile, and they could lose their lives anytime.

“We need to catch the heretics!”

“Only the blood of the evil heretics will be able to wash their sins again!”

“His Majesty’s great name must be built upon blood and ashes!” The old man shouted agitatedly.

“However, there’s an order to things.”

“Bring Sina Solvane to trial,” the old man mumbled as he calmed down.

***

“...Bishop Rietto is in charge of the inquisitorial trial?” Sina asked, looking taken aback. She had expected to be summoned into an inquisitorial trial, since not only was she involved with Juan, she had also been present throughout the whole incident. She had also abused the knight order’s search pass. But Sina had thought this would be handled within the knight order, or maybe by the Priest. She hadn’t imagined that it would be handled by a Bishop.

Ossrey scratched his head as he said, “I didn’t know he was the Bishop at first glance. He looked a little... agitated.”

“That’s what everyone thinks of him at first,” Sina replied while biting her fingernails. She recalled her first meeting with Bishop Rietto. She had had the same thoughts as Ossrey—that Rietto was a crazy old man. However, he was a truly capable man. Even though he was not the only Bishop of the empire—there were another twenty-three—it took more than just faith to be put in charge of the parishes in six cities, including Tantil.

“Does he have a special talent or something?” Ossrey wondered aloud.

“It’s not so much a talent... It might be the Grace. That’s what Bishop Rietto said himself,” Sina replied.

“Grace?” Ossrey asked.

“He said that he can hear what His Majesty says,” Sina answered.

Ossrey looked at Sina with disbelief; there were tons of madmen who said they could hear His Majesty’s voice. There were even people who claimed themselves to be His Majesty himself. Ossrey wished to ask more, but Sina didn’t want to discuss further whether that was true or not.

“It’s said that Bishop Rietto’s mind was split because His Majesty’s voice was too strong, and so he now has several personalities. The personalities would discuss among themselves and speak on behalf of His Majesty,” Sina explained.

“If he’s able to hear His Majesty’s voice, then can’t he just do as the emperor says without any discussion?” Ossrey questioned.

“It’s as you said: just a discussion with its topic repeated over and over again. The conclusion has been fixed from the get-go. Just think of him as an elderly man who has the habit of repeating his words,” Sina said.

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“While I don't know if it's real or not, his habit makes him quite hard to understand...,” Ossrey remarked.

“Regardless of whether it’s real or not, he wouldn’t be a bishop if it were all nonsense. There were also instances when he knew about things that he couldn’t have known about. While he might be a fanatic, he’s not just any fanatic. Even though he might look a little out of his mind, he’s greatly respected by the Priests,” Sina added.

The power struggle among the Priests that Sina had seen in the capital was pretty intense; there were times when a Bishop was changed four times within a six-month period. But Bishop Rietto survived in that cutthroat environment and had led as Head Bishop for eight years; that was proof that he was not just the average zealot.

“If he’s the real thing, then... you don’t have anything to worry about, right? All of us at the Order of the Blue Rose know of your innocence after all,” Ossrey said.

“I hope so...” Sina trailed off; she didn’t know if what she had done was acceptable in the eyes of Bishop Rietto, who was His Majesty’s ardent worshiper. After all, she had been expelled from the capital because her faith had been called into question. Rietto would definitely condemn someone if he suspected even a whiff of heresy from them.

“In any case, it’s not a good thing if he’s the judge, since there aren’t any jurors.” Sina continued.

“There aren’t any jurors?” Ossrey asked.

“Bishop Rietto insists that there is no need for jurors, since he’s able to represent the opinions of multiple people. He says that he is able to evaluate, judge and decide on the sentence by himself,” Sina explained.

Such a ridiculous act could only be done by someone who was at least a Bishop.

The door to the trial room opened and Haselle came out of it. They could see how tired he was by the dark circles under his eyes.

“Sina, it’s your turn.”

Ossrey’s face stiffened as Haselle spoke to Sina. She elbowed Ossrey lightly to tell him that everything was going to be okay, and walked to Haselle.

Haselle was so fat that it was hard to believe that he was the captain of a knight order; in fact, one would question whether he could even wield a sword properly. Nevertheless, he indeed held the highest position in the Order of the Blue Rose.

“Captain, I’m sorry for causing you trouble.” Sina apologized.

“You should have thought of that before you entered the colosseum,” Haselle replied.

While Sina couldn’t retort to that, Haselle did not actually blame her for what she had done, since no one could have foreseen everything that had happened. There had been four hundred casualties during the disaster in the Tantil Colosseum two days ago. A disaster on such a scale was unprecedented in Tantil. The whole city was in shock, and even the capital paid attention to this incident. There were also rumors that this was all done by a heretic teenage boy.

There were rumors that the heretic teenage boy came from beyond the borders and brought disaster with him, that he was a corrupted child who had gotten sucked into evil because of the arduous slave life, or that he was a heretic priest. There were all sorts of unpleasant and ominous guesses as to who that heretic teenage boy was...

“...Is it true that you met that boy?” Haselle asked Sina in passing.

“It’s true,” Sina replied.

“I don’t know what to say here. Damn it... Please tell me that boy was the arsonist,” Haselle pleaded.

However, Sina couldn’t simply answer ‘no.’ Juan was definitely no ordinary child but he did not look like an evil heretic to her, like what the rumors said. Juan felt somewhat noble, yet also like a walking corpse; he was filled with anger, yet also felt somewhat pitiful. He felt holy, yet also ominous to the extent that he should not be left alone. Sina didn’t know if Juan could even be considered a human, based on all of these things she felt from him.

Before Sina entered the inquisition trial, Haselle grabbed onto her shoulders and said, “Whatever you’re going to say... you don’t need to be too honest.”

Sina smiled bitterly.

Haselle continued. “I know how you think of me, and you might think I’m saying this for my own good, but I’ve already given up on becoming successful a long time ago. What I’ve gone through can’t even be compared to what you’ve gone through. Those capital bastards, and Bishop Rietto….”

“I know that, Captain,” Sina replied. While Haselle was one of the most materialistic people Sina knew, he was not evil. He had escaped from the capital to the borders because he wanted to live in luxury while accepting bribes. He acted more like a corrupted official than a captain, but he wasn’t heartless. That had been good enough so far, but it seemed like he would need to become a more honest knight after this incident.