Chapter 66 : Inquisitor (8)

They said they killed all the heretics.

“Ugh…”

“If it’s too hard, you can step outside.”

Sister Melody watched me calmly, as if she had expected this.

She seemed so serene, as if she wouldn’t mind if I bolted out of here.

“No, it’s fine. I need to get used to this. So, I just need to clean this up, right?”

A sigh escaped me.

I thought I had come as quickly as possible, but the consequences of leaving the corpses unattended were severe.

Amidst the scattered remains of bodies everywhere.

“Ugh.”

Maggots and flies had already swarmed.

Perhaps it was partly because of the warm weather, but also because the heretics had made their den in this filthy sewer.

“This is already…”

Since the space was narrow, the simple option of burning the bodies wasn’t viable.

The smoke had nowhere to escape.

With a pale face, I silently asked if this was really the only way.

She didn’t hide her pity as she nodded.

“…How about hiring someone to clean this up?”

“That won’t do. These are heretics’ corpses. We don’t know what might be in their belongings, so we can’t entrust this to just anyone. Besides, if word got out about what happened here, it would be problematic.”

True, no hired workers would keep their mouths shut after seeing such a scene.
If news spread that heretics had infiltrated the labyrinthine city, it would cause an uproar.

There’s a reason why the work of Inquisitors isn’t known to the outside world.

“I regret volunteering to help with this.”

“Didn’t I say this isn’t something just anyone can do? You can still stop now. This was supposed to be my job originally.”

It was already too late to regret, and I was the one who insisted on helping.

“Do you think I’d give up after coming all the way here? If I hadn’t started, maybe. But now, let’s get to work, shall we?”

She must have thought I’d quit upon seeing the corpses.

Sister Melody looked flustered but hurriedly handed me the equipment.

I was empty-handed when I came here, so I wondered where she got these from.

“Wear this while you work. Blood doesn’t wash out easily, so you’ll have to throw away the clothes you’re wearing if they get stained.”

As someone accustomed to dealing with blood, she seemed to know what was necessary for this kind of work.

I changed into the provided clothes and diligently started cleaning up the corpses.

“Where did you get these items from?”

“I prepared them when I first came here.”

“Before coming here?”

So, she came here planning to handle bodies?

“Yes. I brought them in advance so I wouldn’t have to go back and forth. But the resistance was rougher than expected, so I couldn’t do it earlier.”

Truly, being an Inquisitor isn’t a job for just anyone.

At this point, I felt lucky I wasn’t qualified to be one.

Carrying around tools for corpse disposal isn’t something an ordinary person would even imagine.

It was shocking, but there was a mountain of work to do, so I had to move quickly.

“This is my first time doing something like this, so if I’m not doing it properly, please let me know.”

With that, I rolled up my sleeves and got to work in earnest.

The heretics seemed to have found the sewer stench unbearable too, as they had made their lair in a relatively clean spot.

Still, the faint sewer odor couldn’t be entirely blocked.

On top of that, the filth and stench from the corpses were enough to numb my sense of smell.

The bugs were revolting, and the innards spilling out of the bodies were even more horrifying.

Suspicious items found in their belongings were set aside, and I packed the corpses into large bags while cleaning.

I scraped up crushed flesh and organs with a dustpan, making sure no chunks were left behind.

In the process, I think I threw up in the sewer about three times.

‘Three times isn’t too bad, right?’

After steadfastly cleaning up, the work was finally done.

“It’s finally over.”

It had seemed overwhelming, but tackling it one step at a time got it done.

“Thank you so much for your hard work.”

Given that we were in a sewer, I had no idea how much time had passed, but it was probably dark outside by now.

The unfamiliar nature of the task made it take much longer.

If Sister Melody hadn’t stepped in when I was struggling, I wouldn’t have finished today.

“What about these bloodstains?”

Just cleaning up the bodies had taken so long that scrubbing out the blood seemed impossible.

“The bloodstains aren’t urgent, so just leave them for now.”

“Well, that’s true.”

If anyone entered the sewer and found this place, they’d have nightmares, but it wouldn’t lead to any major issues.

Agreeing with her, I stood up.

“Phew~ How did you think you could do this all by yourself?”

“Someone has to do it. And I’ve done this many times, so it’s fine.”

“…You’ve done this many times?”

This was supposed to be her first time out in society as an Inquisitor, wasn’t it?

Why does Sister Melody seem so experienced in everything?

At first glance, she looks young, and there’s no reason for her to lie about her experience, so this must be her first time…

‘Could it be that they train her in real-life situations from a young age?’

If that’s true…

‘That’s abuse.’

Is being an Inquisitor a position somewhat like divine power?

Is that why the Master gets so upset whenever Inquisitors are mentioned?

‘Just like they advertise divine power as omnipotent, if becoming an Inquisitor is such a great thing, but their work involves these horrifying tasks…’

What kind of mentality would a child develop if they were trained to kill from a young age?

‘No, that can’t be right.’

Let’s not doubt.

The Church would never do something like that.

If they did, wouldn’t God intervene?

“What should we do with these bags?”

Just as my thoughts were getting too deep, I interrupted them.

This wasn’t the time to be lost in thought.

In front of me were dozens of bags filled with “corpses.”

“They need to be burned. No leftovers.”

“All the pockets have been checked, so how about burning the bodies tomorrow?”

Cleaning the surroundings was manageable as long as I could overcome the nausea, but moving the bodies was too physically demanding for me to do alone, so I couldn’t avoid asking for her help.

In the end, I came all this way, intending not to strain myself, but I had to admit that I had failed spectacularly.

If I were to clean up all those corpses by myself, it would clearly take me the entire day.

The problem was that I had no more strength to help, even if I wanted to.

And Melody, who had been helping me, was just as exhausted.

She had only just healed from her injuries.

“…Understood.”

What surprised me was that she agreed so readily to my suggestion.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“After helping this much, I can’t just refuse. And I know my body has reached its limit. I’m also a priest, you know.”

It felt rewarding and fulfilling to see her agree to rest after all my complaining!

She wasn’t usually such a well-behaved patient.

As expected, the best way to win a person’s heart is by being sincere.

“You made a good decision. Ah… but we need to change clothes and wash up. Where should we do that?”

“Follow me. I’ll guide you to a place where we can wash up, away from people.”

Fortunately, it seemed I wouldn’t have to enter the lodging covered in blood.

I was exhausted, and once I washed up, I just wanted to jump into bed, but I felt like I’d have nightmares if I didn’t pray before sleeping, so I decided to hurry.

The next day.

“Ha. I didn’t sleep well after all.”

I did pray, but it seemed that it wasn’t enough, and I ended up having a nightmare.

I spent almost the entire night awake, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say.

I got up as I saw the sun rise, washed my face with cold water, and began the day.

It was an uncomfortable start to the day.

As I washed up, I cleared my head, but once I got to work, I realized that I was the only one thinking like this.

“Goodness! What happened to your face? Are you sick?”

“No. I didn’t sleep well.”

On top of that, I had done a lot of work yesterday, so it was impossible not to be tired.

“How about taking it easy today? You don’t look like you just had a bad night’s sleep.”

“That’s right, Father. Today, we’ll take care of everything. You should go rest.”

“Your face looks half the size it was yesterday.”

“How can your face look like that after just one night of bad sleep…”

“……”

Did I really not get enough exercise?

I didn’t expect to be this worried over a day of hard work.

Both my body and mind were tired, so it made sense my face would look bad, but I didn’t expect others to be so concerned about me.

“Is it really that bad?”

“I’m not sure how to put this, but it’s rotting!”

“Gasp!”

It seems I really need to take a day off.

“Well then, I’ll just visit the infirmary and rest there.”

“Ah~ I’ll go in your place. Which infirmary are you talking about?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s a patient I need to take care of.”

“Please go and rest, you need it!”

“Okay. Thanks.”

The infirmary I was heading to was the one where Sister Melody had been admitted.

‘I wonder if she got some sleep.’

She said she was used to things like this, so unlike me, she might have slept soundly.

Knock knock—

“Excuse me.”

I knocked and opened the door to enter.

“Huh?”

The person who should have been in the infirmary wasn’t there.

‘Could she have already gone to clean up the corpses?’

Honestly, after having a nightmare, I don’t think I would have been able to ask her to come with me.

But I was planning to give her a boost of divine power before going.

It seemed like she had been more diligent than I thought.

“I told you to be careful for a while…”

Since there was no patient to care for, what could I do?

In the end, I returned empty-handed and took a short nap in the break room.

After waking up, I focused on work until it was almost time to leave, then headed back to the infirmary.

I wondered if she still hadn’t returned, so I went to check.

“Ah, you’re back.”

“Father?”

“Seems like you just got back.”

Her hair was still damp, so it seemed she had only just finished her work.