First, I took Hannibal outside the barracks to separate him from the other men.
Crouching in front of Hannibal, I touched my aching forehead and asked,
"You said you were fifteen when I hired you."
Then, Hannibal, hesitatingly watching me, said in a shrinking voice,
"I lied about my age then... But Kellibey realized it right away when you accepted me as an assistant."
I immediately opened the door and shouted at Kellibey inside the barracks.
"Kellibey! Why didn't you tell me!"
"Ah? You should have filtered out something like age! Hey! And how many times do I have to say it? Dwarves dig holes from the moment they're born! You're the weird one for waiting until they're of age!"
Oh, this barbarism... romance... anyway, it's like a fantasy world!
Pulling at my hair, I sighed and then asked Hannibal,
"So how old are you now?"
"...I am now fourteen. I was thirteen when you hired me."
Boom!
It felt like lightning struck behind me.
Thirteen years old? Thirteen years old?
Am I... violating child labor laws? A wicked boss, no, a wicked lord?!
"Aaaargh! I am... I am a terrible adult, carelessly exploiting a child on the front lines...!"
As I writhed in agony on the floor, the men poking their heads back inside the barracks took turns speaking.
"No, seriously, you're the only lord who worries about that."
"We've been stealing, robbing, and fighting since we were kids!"
"Everyone shut up! Kids shouldn't have to fight for their lives! Kids should play to their heart's content!"
I slammed the door shut, furious.
Hannibal, more unsure of what to do, glanced at me.
"...Anyway, when I was living at that orphanage. I secretly heard something from the director."
"What?"
"That I was born to a princess from the Western Mist Kingdom..."
Hannibal glanced towards the closed door.
"And that my father, he has been sending child support to the orphanage."
"..."
"And a few years ago, assassins from the Mist Kingdom came to the orphanage to kill me, and I barely escaped..."
So, somehow he ended up here after drifting from there.
"Okay. I get the gist."
I put Hannibal in the dining facility attached to the barracks.
"Rest here for now. I'll sort things out with Zenis and come back."
Then, I rushed back into the barracks.
Inside, besides the usual men, other curious men had gathered, crowding around Zenis in a corner of the hallway. I pressed my throbbing temples with both hands.
"Alright, Zenis... let's start with a cross-check."
After matching the name of the orphanage Hannibal mentioned and Hannibal's age, it was confirmed that the details matched those of Zenis's son.
"Huuaaah..."
Zenis exhaled deeply as if the ground was sinking and swept his forehead several times. I cautiously asked,
"It seems like he's your son, doesn't it?"
"...I don't even know where to start."
Zenis covered his face with both hands and muttered softly,
"The child is indeed my son... but also not my son."
"...?"
A moment of silence passed.
The next moment, the surrounding men began to beat Zenis all at once.
"This damned fool! Acting like our father!"
"Even now, spouting such nonsense in front of your son!"
"We were wrong... Zenis! You deserve more scolding!"
"Leaving the kid in an orphanage for his whole life wasn't enough, now what?! He's your son but not your son?!"
"Damn you, wicked noble! Damn, damn!"
They beat Zenis until he declared surrender.
I growled fiercely at the man lying on the ground, making groaning sounds.
"Come on, give me a satisfactory explanation. Or you might not make it out alive from these men..."
"..."
Zenis, with a bruised face, clenched his eyes shut. Then, slowly, he began to speak.
***
17 years ago.
Bang!
A fist filled with holy power crushed a man's head like a watermelon.
The head belonged to the captain of the knights of this small city-kingdom. And the place where the head burst open was right inside the king's bedroom.
"Ah, ahhhh!"
The king screamed.
He was in a panic. An assassin who had suddenly broken in during the night had killed all his guards with nothing but bare fists.
"Please, spare my life! Only my life!"
"..."
"I'll give you as much money as you want! I have plenty of wealth! Anything, I'll give you anything! So..."
Despite the king's pleading, the muscular assassin standing before him remained silent, just staring down at him.
Softly, softly.
Next to the muscular assassin, a female assassin in the same attire approached with light footsteps.
"Your Majesty. Have we not told you several times? We have no interest in wealth..."
When the female assassin removed her face covering, a beautiful face familiar to the king was revealed.
It was Priestess Rosetta, sent here for the proselytization of the Goddess's order.
"Ro, Rosetta!"
The king hastily knelt before Rosetta.
"Is it because of last week, when I executed followers of your religion? I'll apologize now. If necessary, I'll make a formal apology on behalf of the kingdom. So..."
"Had you thought properly from the beginning, it wouldn't have come to this."
Rosetta showed a slight smile.
"Had you stopped persecuting our Goddess's order earlier, things wouldn't have escalated to this point."
"I was wrong. My thinking was too short-sighted. I'll declare religious freedom now. So...!"
"It's too late. Your cousin has promised to convert the state religion to the Goddess's order entirely."
Rosetta slowly gripped the whip at her waist.
"So... there's no need for negotiations anymore. Once you're gone, your cousin will take over this country."
"That... That traitor...! He betrayed me, sold out the country...!"
Rosetta slowly approached the king, who was crawling backwards on the floor and shouted,
"Aren't you a priestess of Goddess! Do you think your Goddess will forgive you for this!"
"We are the shadows of the Goddess. To illuminate her glory, there must be those like us who stain their hands with blood."
Only then did the king remember the nickname of the opponents before him - the Inquisitors of the Goddess's order known for staining their priestly robes red with the blood of their victims.
The Blood-soaked Executioners.
The Red Priests.
"Yeeeek! What kind of saint are you! You're a witch!"
"A comment I hear often."
"You all will fall to hell!"
"Exactly what we wished for."
As the king's final desperate scream was effortlessly ignored, Rosetta whispered,
"In that hell, we will kill... those who defied the word of Goddess once more."
Immediately after, Rosetta's whip mercilessly struck down on the king's body.
***
After the situation concluded, at the top of a mountain near the city-kingdom.
"..."
Rosetta looked down at the confused city with a cold face.
The king had been assassinated, and his cousin had ascended to the throne, declaring the Goddess's order as the new state religion.
In other words - they had decided to accept the influence of the Everblack Empire.
The empire did not wage war on this small country. Instead, it brought the country into its sphere of influence through the relatively 'peaceful' means of royal assassination and religious propagation.
There were many ways to swallow a country without forcibly subjugating it. This was just one of them.
"...Sigh."
Rosetta let out a short sigh,
"Why do you sigh, sister?"
A muscular young man who had come up from behind Rosetta, tossing his hair back, approached.
He was Zenis, the inquisitor-assassin who had just demolished the palace with Rosetta.
Zenis straightened his official attire with a young, cold face.
It was hard to believe that this was the assassin who had been wildly swinging his fists in the palace, a cold and cool aura flowing along the young man's face.
Rosetta, glancing at her step-brother, adjusted her glasses.
"Zenis, is this the right thing to do?"
"...Are you wavering again? Get a grip, sister."
Zenis looked at his sister with a cold gaze.
"Aren't we conducting a holy war?"
"Are we not just proxying the empire's war?"
"It's a mutual understanding. The empire expands its influence, and we destroy countries that persecute our followers."
Zenis looked down emotionlessly at the burning city-kingdom. However, undeniable pride and fanaticism were boiling in the young man's eyes.
"Everything is for the glory of the Goddess."
"..."
Watching her brother, Rosetta shook her head.
"I don't know. This isn't why I became a priestess."
"Why is that? Are you not the highest-ranking inquisitor of the order?"
"How did we, the internal purifiers of the order, end up roaming outside, assassinating and engaging in political machinations in the name of proselytization?"
Rosetta exhaled a long sigh.
"I wanted to heal people and receive thanks, not kill people and be cursed, like the other saintesses of the order."
"Like that youngest saintess you often praise... Saintess Margarita?"
"Yes."
Rosetta continued, perhaps envious of the other saintesses,
"She went around healing people in all sorts of harsh places and slums. People were so moved by that young saintess that they willingly converted to our church."
Rosetta silently looked down at the city-state they had overthrown.
"Violence can't be the only answer..."
Then, Zenis snorted.
"Come on. Snakes live a life fit for snakes, and birds live a life fit for birds. And we are snakes, sister."
Snake-.
At that word, Rosetta felt the blood in her body turn cold. The fleeting dream of a different life quickly evaporated.
"...You're right. We are shadows. Because we are the Red Priests."
Rosetta nodded and patted Zenis on the back.
"Zenis, continue to stand firm and be the pillar of our inquisitors... of our Holy Knight Division."
"Of course, I will."
Zenis slightly curled his cold lips into a smile.
"That way, you won't waver, sister."
"..."
"What's our next mission, sister?"
"This time, it's a solo mission for you."
Rosetta took out the next mission orders from her pocket and handed them to Zenis.
"It's a place called the Western Mist Kingdom. It's worse than this mission site. Extremely exclusive, guarding against other religions, races, ethnic groups, and cultures."
As Zenis unfolded and read the orders, Rosetta continued,
"You'll enter as a diplomat of the Everblack Empire. Start laying the groundwork for proselytization bit by bit, and make allies among the high-ranking officials. And..."
"If necessary, assassinate the leadership like this time?"
"...Yes."
"Same as always. I'll do well."
Having secured the mission orders, Zenis nodded and then disappeared into the darkness as if melting away.
"This mission will take time. See you next time, sister."
"..."
"Everything is for the glory of the Goddess."
"Let's meet again in the shadows, my brother."
Zenis vanished into the darkness. Rosetta quietly watched the place where the darkness had disappeared.
Neither of them knew.
That it would take 17 long years for them to meet again.
***
"...So what's the reason for telling this story?"
Present.
The men listening to Zenis's past reminisced collectively jeered.
"Trying to say you were a cold, handsome guy 17 years ago?"
"Ah, who's going to believe that? Mr. Zenis has always been a scruffy, poor-shaped guy from the start!"
"When is Hannibal's story coming?"
"Asked how you abandoned your son, and who wants to hear about your glory days?!"
"This guy, ask for bread and he starts with wheat farming!"
Boos and various objects were thrown at Zenis.
"Ah, that story comes right after this! So just listen! And!"
Zenis gritted his teeth and screamed desperately.
"I was really okay when I was younger, it's just I haven't been taking care of myself now!"
Truly an uncle-like statement.
--TL Notes--
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