Holy City. Inside the Heresy Tribunal’s Atonement Room.
It was already very late at night. Yet, the Atonement Room was filled with the pure and holy radiance. The bright light was being shined into the room from the God’s sculpture in the center of the prayer room.
“Lord Father! Please allow me to listen to the choir’s singing... I can definitely...”
But, the scenery inside the prayer room was far from pure and holy. A group of people were kneeling before God’s sculpture and praying. One of them had already fallen to the ground, dead.
A strange sort of branding was imprinted on his forehead. Scalding heat was being emitted from that imprint. That intense heat burned through that man’s skull and brain matter.
Judging from these people’s attire, they were all inquisitors of the Heresy Tribunal.
“The great chant of the choir is echoing in this room. My child, you’ve not been showing any reaction to the God’s whispers and the choir’s hymns. This means that your heart has already departed from God’s glory,” said an inquisition leader wearing a black gown with a grieving tone. He held a canon of the Holy Church in his hand.
“Return to God’s side and repent.”
“No... no... Lord Father! I’ve lied! I’m not hearing any mutterings at all! The choir’s singing has cured me!”
No matter how that person tried to resist it, it was all useless. A robustly built executioner grabbed the inquisitor. The next moment, the scalding imprint appeared on his forehead.
Although he was resisting it, that terrifying imprint burned through his skull and all the soft tissues in his brain.
The cruel execution did not last for long. After ten minutes passed, the four ‘unqualified’ inquisitors had all fallen to the ground. After the executions were complete, the presiding priest turned around. Seated behind him were all the inquisitors from the Heresy Tribunal.
There were over a hundred people total, the maximum capacity of the Atonement Room.
Cheryl was seated in one such seat and watching the ‘trial’ in the prayer room.
The priest began to declare that they were deviating from God’s glory even though God was who gave them everything.
A great number of inquisitors began to pray. They were all zealots of the church.
No one will join a shameful organization like the Heresy Tribunal for no reason at all.
Before joining the Heresy Tribunal, most of them had badly damaged bodies. Some might be missing arms, legs or inflicted with terminal illnesses and could die in a day or two.
But, after they joined the Heresy Tribunal, God responded to their prayers and cured their wounds that not even high level Holy Light magic could cure.
Adding on the long period of brainwashing, the majority of the inquisitors in the Heresy Tribunal ended up being zealots of the Church.
Cheryl was an exception. She has already seen through these cheap tricks.
The so-called ‘deviating from God’s glory’ was merely having the thought of ‘Wow! The choir’s singing sucks!’ That thought was enough to court death.
If an inquisitor believed the singing to be bad, the choir’s hymns would no longer be able to help rid them of the mutterings in their heads...
The inquisitors that ended up suffering from the mutterings for an extended period of time will be deemed traitors that turned their backs upon God and be executed.
Stricting speaking, Cheryl could now be considered as an apostate who has deviated from God’s path. She had converted her faith to the Magic Network and Mage Forum.
How could listening to the choir’s singing be better than playing Hearthstone and writing diary entries?!
The choir and the Saintess’ hymns would only cause her to yawn. The Magic Network, on the other hand, was able to bring Cheryl joy and rid the mutterings from her head.
Soon, the Atonement Ceremony ended. Cheryl had her wish fulfilled and was allowed to return back to her room.
She opened the Mage Forum like usual. The diary she uploaded to the ‘Motionless Library’ sub-forum days ago, ‘Diary of an Inquisitor,’ has already received over a thousand replies.
Seeing that many people discussing her work, Cheryl had a sort of indescribable sense of accomplishment.
The accomplishment she felt far surpassed what she felt after assassinating a certain heretic for the Church.
Compared to the looks of despair in the eyes of the deceased, she enjoyed the praises and attention from other people much more.
But, as she was called to the ‘Condemnation’ Ceremony at the last minute, she returned to h er room much later than usual.
It has long passed her usual hours of uploading new entries to ‘Diary of an Inquisitor.’ Because of that, when she was reading the comments, she could see a whole bunch of people asking why there wasn’t a new update out yet.
‘Writing it now.’
Cheryl made a very short response to appease the users and took out her old diary. She was planning to write the latest entry.
But, at this moment, a knock came on her door.
“Who is it?”
The Mage Forum interface disappeared. Even the flickering candle in her room was extinguished.
“Cheryl, it’s me.”
A gentle voice sounded from outside the door. The look of alert disappeared from Cheryl’s face. She immediately ran over to the door and opened it.
A woman who appeared much more mature than Cheryl was standing outside. Whether it be her figure, her height and especially her chest...
Her golden hair could be seen scattering out from her nun’s veil. Cheryl’s young silhouette was reflected through her jade-blue eyes.
Even though this woman looked very mature, her age was younger than Cheryl. She was a junior inquisitor to Cheryl... She was also one of the juniors that had the closest relationship with Cheryl.
“Teresa... for you to come to my place this late at night, is there something you need?”
As a senior showing guidance to her junior, Cheryl invited Teresa into her room and indicated for her to sit on her bed.
The reason why Cheryl returned to the Heresy Tribunal was all so that she could rescue this junior of hers.
But, Teresa was different from her. This nun-outfitted inquisitor had a very deep faith...
Trying to persuade her to betray the Holy Church and escape to Norland, to a Chaos Demon’s tavern, to play cards was a very difficult task.
But today, at such a late hour into the night, Teresa suddenly came to find her. Cheryl found this to be an opportunity.
Teresa had a hesitant expression. Her hands were locked before her chest in a praying posture the entire time.
After hesitating for over a dozen more seconds, “Cheryl... I’m no longer able to accept the choir’s hymns, their blessings. Those voices were echoing in my head nonstop... The choir’s blessings are simply unable to drive them out.”
Teresa looked to Cheryl seated before her with an extremely uneasy expression.
“I’ve never had the thought of denouncing God, renouncing my faith. But, why is it that I’m unable to receive the choir’s blessing?”
That’s because your taste has changed! Stop listening to the hymns! You should try out rock ‘n’ roll music! Girl!
Cheryl admits that the choir’s hymns had magic that could affect one’s mind. It will help one relax, feel enjoy and whatnot.
But, Cheryl had tested it and found out that the effect of the magic will lose effectiveness over time as people become tired with the hymns.
As Cheryl had listened to the hymns for tens of years, she had long grown tired of them. Even though Teresa had only entered the Heresy Tribunal for less than five years, she was already starting to become immune to the hymns. It would appear that her taste in music was better than Cheryl’s.