Episode 5: The Honorable Traitors
Two hours ago, the sudden appearance of the Malkion of the Inquisitor General was a surpriseIt was enough to rattle both the villagers and the Eric.
Everyone in the village pointed at Eric, calling him a devil,
Whether the men who beat up the ordinary-looking boy are evil or not is ultimately up to the Malkion's interpretation.
"Well...""
"Why don't you be the devil for once?"
As the Malkion gazed down at the Eric, he said,
The expressions were starkly divided.
The Eric's face fell, but the villagers' spirits lifted.
"Just as I thought! You're the Inquisitor of Heresy!"
"You're really seeing the devil for what he is!"
"Get rid of that devil!"
The atmosphere was electric, as if the event had already taken place, and the villagers' joy was palpable.
Malkion's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in their appearance, but he quickly reached out to grab Eric's bound arms.
"Let's go, you devil!"
"It's not me, though..." What's wrong with people…"
Eric was dragged to the Malkion, where he vehemently denied the reality of the situation.
The villagers moved forward step by step.
"Inquisitor! Get to work on this devil already!"
"You have to kill him!" Come on
"Kill him! Kill him!"
"Don't worry, I've got it covered."
The village resident, seemingly in a daze, turned around and replied calmly, his eyes fixed on the Malkion.
The Malkion's words fell silent in an instant, and the villagers stood there, looking uncertainly at him.
The Malkion was still crying, having been caught by the Eric.
"But!!" "You have to kill him right now, interrogation officer!"
"Get rid of him right in front of us!!"
Mrs. Kamodibu stepped forward alone, stumbling as she went, and shouted.
"In the name of God, I swear to take action!!" "Whatever you do, whether it's burning or beheading, it's all the same to me!!"
The Malkion walked silently, his Eric slung over one shoulder, towards Mrs. Carmody.
"Just as I thought! You're the interrogator!"
"The Inquisitor himself is going to question me about this devil!"
"Phew!!! "Kung!!"
The Malkion punched Mrs. Carmody in the face.
The villagers around them were left gasping for air, and Mrs. Carmody tumbled backward.
"I'll take care of it"
"So loud"
Eric was taken aback by the situation and stopped crying, while Malkion turned around and walked out of the village.
Four days before February 18, 960
The Alberetto was strapped to a chair in a dimly lit, nameless basement.
As the door swung open, a woman in a Vatican official's attire, not a Malkion, stepped inside.
"Hey, wake up! It's time for the interrogation!"
Alberetto's eyes widened as he listened to the woman's voice.
"Malkion is going to torture you!"
"You're really a priest, aren't you?"
"I'm a El Nor!"
Alberetto was unable to grasp the situation.
He had a clear memory of fainting in the carriage, but nothing after that.
"Where am I?"
"El Nor? What's wrong with me.. Here
Despite having many questions, Alberetto was unsure where to start.
"Don't worry, don't worry, if you can just hold out, you'll see everything!"
El Nor's cheerful yet unsettling response only added to my puzzlement.
"Why did I..."…"Torture...?"
"I don't know anything, do I?"
"Can you tell me the names of all the kids at the orphanage?" "If there's someone we're looking for..."
She began to slowly snap one of the Alberetto's fingers, chatting away as she did so.
"What's going on? Why are the kids...?" "What's the point of all this to me?"
"Ugh!!"
She soon broke the Alberetto's finger.
The Alberetto's cries echoed loudly through the basement.
"That's all I need to do, just say their names."
"So, you'll be super relaxed!"
"Hurry up"
Alberetto's broken finger was throbbing with pain, and they had no idea what they were up to.
Why do you subject your own children to such torture by asking them their names,
I had no idea whether it would harm the children, but I was left with a million questions.
"What have you done to the kids?"
"What's the point of even knowing your name?"
Despite the Alberetto's angry outburst, laced with pain, El Nor remained calm and broke another finger.
"Crying!!"
"Come on, stop it! Please...""
"So, are you going to tell me now?"
El Nor gritted her teeth at Alberetto's words, her eyes narrowing as she glared at her.
"You're literally a Malkion, aren't you?"
El Nor gazed at the Alberetto with a look of great curiosity,
After a moment's thought, I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of the Alberetto.
"He's definitely a weird guy, but why didn't he say anything?"
"You said you were a heretic, didn't you?"
Alberetto's question only led to another question.
Alberetto started to rummage through his memory again.
When he first met Malkion, he showed a greater interest in the inner workings of the Church than in himself.
It seemed more like trying to gauge the Alberetto's scope of action than searching for a heretic,
I had mentioned that I was going to report it.
The pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling into place in the Alberetto's mind.
"It's clear that Malkion wasn't interested in me at first."
"I took a look inside the church first and mentioned the reward for reporting it."
"Of course, I'm not a heretic, so I said I don't exist."
El Nor's eyes narrowed in a scowl as he listened intently to the sudden Alberetto's words.
"I wouldn't have been on your radar as a potential partner even back then, would I?"
"But it all started from the orphanage, I guess."
"I was intrigued by my own mistake."
El Nor's face hardened with each passing moment.
"Malkion was really pushing me to do something I didn't want to do."
"They just accused me of being a heretic without any evidence."
"That's why I was able to see my true self."
El Nor's expression subtly changed.
"In fact, the carriage was openly trying to win him over."
"If anyone says it's okay to be a heretic, I'll be set free."
"If it didn't matter who it was, it would have been easier to just take me without a word."
Despite the pain in her broken finger, Alberetto gritted her teeth and kept talking.
El Nor's expression had already begun to twitch with his eyebrows.
"It's like a gateway to everything."
"You're all heretics and traitors."
"Hey, Malkion!"
"Wow, you're really a princess, aren't you?"
El Nor pointed at Alberto Duque with his finger, his anger evident,
The Malkion stepped out from behind the Alberetto, placing a hand on his shoulder as he spoke.
The Malkion exploited the fact that Alberetto was bound to a chair in the dimly lit basement, unable to move,
He was watching from the corner of his eye.
"No way! I'm never going to torture you again!" "I wasn't exactly thrilled about it!"
"This guy is really smart!" "Is this good enough to pass?"
"Sorry, I'm good now, you can go."
El Nor glared at Malkion with a hint of anger, his eyes fixed intently on her as if waiting for a reaction,
The Malkion stood before the Alberetto and spoke.
"So, what's your goal here?"
Between them, the Alberetto asked slowly.
Despite being right about his reasoning, he still felt trapped.
"Exactly, exactly."
"Do you believe in rumors?"
"Rumors"
Alberetto was taken aback by the sudden Malkion's words, and the thought of it being a test crossed his mind.
El Nor had somehow managed to get a bandage and was tending to his finger.
"I believe the rumors about the new continent."
"I was wondering if you could help me out a bit."
Alberetto was speechless, unable to respond to the Malkion's words.
The reason the Inquisitor betrayed the Vatican was partly because the rumor was a tantalizing prospect,
I just couldn't understand why I had to be myself.
"Who's going to understand that?"
"You know what? The Vatican is actually in a pretty bad shape right now."
"We get dozens of people a day who are caught up in the same situation we were in."
"Of course, we were just trying to test you, but..."
"Malkion and I had been planning to take down the Vatican for ages."
"Just a minute, wait..."
"So, you're saying the Vatican is your goal, right?"
The El Nor explained it in place of the Malkion,
Alberetto was still bewildered by the unexpected situation.
"That's right, so you'll have to go to the New World for us."
"What..."What's wrong with me?"
"I had no idea where I was, and I didn't even have a map."
Malkion shook his head in response to the Alberetto's command.
"So, are you a heretic or something?"
"Why did you only have faith when I asked you to report?"
Alberetto was left speechless and felt the weight of Malkion's pressure all over again.
El Nor smiled triumphantly beside him.
"No, not that one!" "What's the connection between the Vatican and the New World?"
"Honestly, we have no idea if you have any real wishes or not!"
"If there is one!" "You can borrow what you want, but don't take anything that could be misinterpreted as a lie from the Vatican."
"Don't worry, we've got this!"
It wasn't until then that Alberetto finally understood.
The Vatican dismissed the rumors as baseless and inflammatory,
Furthermore, it also put pressure on the search for heretics.
If he had seen the truth, he couldn't help but think that all their words were a lie.
"I guess you get it"
"Are you going?" "Are you going to tell me?"
"You have plenty of time to make a choice."
At the end of Malkion's final words, Alberetto remained silent, having grasped the full extent of the situation, but unable to make a decision.
February 23, 960
Despite the increasing complexity of events, traitors existed even within the prison of the Basra Empire.
The elderly Barnell was still being held in custody.
As time passed, Will and Barnell grew closer, and Will found herself increasingly drawn to Barnell's sympathy.
The security Will came down and briefed the Barnell on the latest developments outside,
The Barnell shared with the Will a story of war that dated back several decades.
"Excuse me, Mr. Barnell..."
"Have you ever thought about breaking out of prison?"
"I used to do it a lot when I was younger." My hometown.. "That's because there's a country."
The Will's cautious question elicited a calm response from the Barnell, but one that betrayed a deep sense of longing.
Will was filled with compassion at the sight of him.
The story I'd heard from the Barnell was that.
As a journalist in his own country of Noema, he had gone to war, but the conflict dragged on and on,
Before the ceasefire, he was captured by the Basra and brought in as a prisoner, but the Noema didn't come to his rescue.
"Can I help you with something?"
Will's eyes widened in surprise at the Barnell's words.
A glimmer of hope flickered, but Will's worries soon swirled in his mind, causing his head to jerk back and forth.
"Oh no, I'm not!" "I've got an idea..."
"If you're faking your own death..."
"I'd be happy to help you out."
Will's plan was convincing to Barnell, who longed to return home,
The Barnell spoke cautiously.
"Can I ask you to do this for me?"
"Trust me"
The Will began filling out the forms as if they had been prepared in advance.
That day, the Barnell was particularly well-lit, with a lot of light streaming in through the bars.
February 25, 960
The Will had provided the Barnell with fake documents.
Barnell felt most alive among the corpses in the water, a sense of life that was more intense than that of the living,
To deceive others, I had to be dead, even more so than the corpses in the coffins.
"Excuse me, Mr. Barnell..." We're here
"It's near the Noema border."
Barnell subtly shifted his weight in response to the Will's words, and sat up slightly.
"Will..." Thanks to you, I was able to.. "I feel like I'll get to set foot on my hometown one more time."
Barnell's words brought tears to Will's eyes,
I had hoped that Barnell would at least be able to enjoy some freedom.
He had no regrets about betraying the Basra Empire.
"Have a good day/night...""
The Barnell wrapped his arms around the Will, and that was all the words needed.
The two turned their backs on each other and returned to their respective positions in their own countries.
"Who are you? Stop right there!"
The guard's voice echoed from the Noema in front of the gate.
The Barnell came to a halt, his body tense with anticipation.
"I'm Noema..." The Order of the Silva.. "Barnell Katzman, I believe."
Despite decades of imprisonment, the Barnell proudly displayed the Order of the Garter emblem.
The emblem features a male figure at its center,
Various animals were depicted following him.
The guards looked on in confusion at the emblem.
He began to drag the Barnell along, grasping it with both arms.
"You think you can fool us with something like this?" "The spy..."
The Barnell echoed back, its voice heavy with a sense of deafness,
Will's Barnell, whom he had longed for, was unable to set foot on the land of his hometown by his own choice.
Noema betrayed his trust.