Chapter 26

“I’m weak, you know. These days, every day is so joyful that I think I might have overdone it a bit…”

“Sorry.”

“What are you sorry for… I should be the one apologizing. We were supposed to hang out together, but I couldn’t even do that. *cough, ugh!*”

026

The One Who Turned Away (Middle)

Louis collapsed, exhausted, and fell asleep. Like a doll with its strings cut, he just suddenly went out.

Anne always waited for Louis to fall asleep. Not because she was afraid he might harm her while she slept, but to move him to the bed, as his state was closer to fainting than sleeping.

And, watching Louis’ sleeping face was one of her long-standing hobbies.

“……”

Of course, Louis hadn’t had this narcolepsy for long. She couldn’t be sure since their reunion was quite recent, but at least in the past, Louis was strong and vigorous. In fact, fainting at the drop of a hat was her specialty.

Whenever she reminisced about the past, a smile would naturally flow across her lips like a stream. Back then, it was always Louis who waited for her to fall asleep, so those brief moments when she could see him asleep were especially precious.

The face of a boy who was both gentle and strong. Even now, more mature, there was still a shadow of his childhood lingering, and Anne unconsciously gently stroked his slightly rough cheek.

“……Mmm.”

Unlike when he was awake and consciously tried to keep his guard up, Louis honestly accepted her touch while asleep. Watching him nuzzle his cheek like a cat, Anne smiled softly, careful not to wake him.

A time of mutual liberation. Louis from the various tortures and cruelties carried out under the guise of cleansing darkness, and Anne from the duty of the Inquisition Judge to punish and execute heretics.

Louis might not know, and she would make sure he never knew, but the restraints binding her were far stronger and heavier than one might think.

“Sigh.”

With a heavy heart, she let out a sigh and reluctantly took a step away. Even if she were to temporarily step back from her role as an Inquisition Judge.

The duties and responsibilities she bore were not something that could be easily brushed aside by worldly administrative procedures.

“I’ll be back soon, Louis.”

Anne gently pressed her forehead against the sleeping boy’s and bid him farewell.

It wasn’t strange for Anne to occasionally leave Louis’ side. In fact, it was natural. No matter how enthusiastic she was, staying in the reformatory all day would naturally raise suspicions.

No matter how superhuman one’s physique, one cannot be free from physiological needs. It was a fate close to a blessing that humans must inevitably bear.

Before completely leaving the reformatory, Anne took one last look at the cell where Louis was confined.

The boy still lay asleep like a corpse. She forced her gaze away from him and turned it elsewhere. The cool, composed eyes of the Inquisition Judge scanned the small cell thoroughly.

Some things only become apparent from a distance. Louis’ room, despite having been lived in for several days, surprisingly lacked any sense of life. Even if the light of purification washed away the filth.

No matter how luxurious an item, it cannot withstand the passage of time and human touch.

After a final glance at the chamber pot that hadn’t moved an inch from its original spot, Anne left the reformatory.

*

Strictly speaking, Anne was not currently an Inquisition Judge. The procedures had been carried out, and as punishment for assaulting a colleague, she had temporarily lost her authority.

But nothing really changed. Who wouldn’t know it was all a coordinated act? Anne was still an Inquisition Judge and received the due respect from those who knew her.

“You’ve arrived.”

Among them, this old man’s courtesy was particularly profound.

The Inquisition Temple, larger than the imperial palace, did not have surrounding walls but had various auxiliary facilities. The place Anne was visiting now was one of them.

Unlike the reformatory, this place was located ‘outside’ the Inquisition Temple. A sturdy but low fence made of white stones, neatly trimmed grass with colorless flowers scattered about.

Under the dim sunlight, the scenery was serene and tidy.

The gatekeeper old man only bowed deeply to her once and did not guide her, returning to his original position. Anne was familiar enough to find her way alone.

A maze-like arrangement of white stones. However, upon closer inspection, each wall of the maze bore the touch of a craftsman, with solemn and elegant calligraphy engraved on the stone slabs.

<James Brown, a great warrior who devoted himself to God>

Although what was written was just a name and a single line of tribute.

Originally, a cemetery should be gloomy and eerie, but even as the sun set, it remained peaceful. As if all the souls resting here had found peace, and even resentment and malice had completely subsided.

Of course, that couldn’t be true. Where in the world is there a death without grievance?

It’s just that the Inquisition Temple was so close that even after death, the spirits couldn’t stretch their energy.

She walked past the graves. Some names she remembered, others she didn’t know at all.

<Willer Green> <Jessica Ennis> <Eric Ross>

But there was one commonality: all these names were extremely ordinary and common. Perhaps the tombstones decorating their deaths were the most expensive luxury they enjoyed in their lives.

This was the Temple Knights’ cemetery.

A place where those who, with only a flame of faith burning in their hearts, willingly threw themselves into the darkness and died, were buried.

Originally, nobles followed the path of knighthood, so most of the Temple Knights were poor commoners. The divine blessings bestowed upon them were truly meager, not even comparable to the candles lit in the reformatory.

The religious order was not poor, but it did not pay for devotion with wealth. Prayers and blessings given after death were the highest rewards for their service.

<Ronil Horas>

Finally, Anne’s aimless wandering steps came to a halt.

Anne did not know the owner of the name engraved on the tombstone. What Anne found was simply the most recently erected grave.

Since the other Inquisition Judges had not yet returned, the most recently buried here would be the Temple Knights who had fallen victim to Anne’s ‘judgment.’

Even an Inquisition Judge, as superhuman as they might be, has limits when acting alone, so naturally, the religious order’s army followed behind. Of course, it wasn’t a completely vertical relationship, and there were separate commanders.

But at least as the one who led the charge, Anne couldn’t help but feel deeply responsible for their deaths.

“I’m sorry……”

Eight tombstones. Of course, not all Temple Knights were buried here, so the actual number of dead was likely much higher.

Naturally, Anne knew almost none of the names. Naturally. Busy with crushing the evil before her eyes, where would she find the time to look back and exchange names with people?

Even if she engraved the names of those she fought alongside in her heart, in the end, all that remained were empty spaces.

“I’m truly sorry……”

Thus, the most Anne could do to mourn was to shed tears before the graves of those whose names she didn’t even know.

This, too, was not strictly a written rule, but it was an extremely natural custom for Inquisition Judges to visit the graves of those they fought alongside after a judgment. As comrades, and as humans.

The eulogies also varied, but today, Anne found herself particularly unable to speak before the clean, white tombstones.

‘Your deaths were valuable.’

A phrase she had always uttered without a hint of doubt, filled with conviction.

At this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Even if their deaths were truly valuable, and their sacrifices were to drive away darkness and protect the world of light.

Hadn’t she herself tarnished that ‘value’ and desecrated their deaths?

Just as Louis was only free from illusions when Anne was by his side, Anne was the same. The sticky past clinging to her ankles, the bleak present strangling her neck.

Sometimes, she had to face them, but after all was said and done, she could dream of an uncertain but happy future.

The time she caused Louis pain was also painful for Anne.

But that didn’t mean the time without Louis brought her peace. Under the clearest priority, everything else became tangled.

A girl without parents, a child raised with love from only one person.

“Anne.”

At the familiar voice calling her, Anne wiped her tears and looked up.

Despite his aged body, the old man with eyes as clear and blue as a lake was approaching her. His slow steps made no sound as they pressed against the cemetery’s grass.

His attire, aside from the golden cross on his chest, was even plainer than Anne’s priestly robes, but that didn’t hide his dignity.

“You were here after all.”

“……”

Cardinal François.

He approached her with a demeanor so soft it was almost friendly, completely different from when they met in his office.

“Speak freely. No one’s gaze reaches here now.”

But on the contrary, Anne’s demeanor was colder than ever. Her eyes, frozen like glaciers at their peak, stared unwaveringly at the noble figure.

What came from her lips was a language wrapped in courtesy and pretense, hiding her true feelings so thoroughly that even the friendly François might feel embarrassed.

“What is it, Vito François?”