Picus – Part 01
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Translator: Kell
Interlude: Paradise
The temple stood in a space isolated from the outside world, surrounded by cliffs on all sides.
The lush greenery in the middle of the wastelands was a boon from the cool underground water seeping out of the ground.
The flowers bloomed not only on the ground, but also on the walls of the cliffs. Long ivy threatened to swallow the whole temple itself.
Carvings depicting rituals were carved into the outer walls of the temple. The structure itself was surrounded by alternating rows of crumbling stone statues and pillars.
The temple was dedicated to the god of water, who was worshipped in these lands long before the Church took over the world five hundred years ago.
After throwing the beast mercenary into the sand pit and capturing the witch Zero, the party rode fast in their carriages and arrived at the temple a little after midnight.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Corruption said. “My old cemetery is full, so I’ve been looking for new property. This will be my base for a while.”
Secrecy took off his eye patch and squinted. The temple was illuminated by bonfires in the darkness of the night.
“An adjudicator using a witch’s lair as a base sounds gross, if you ask me,” he said. “In any case, I think we should take Zero to His Excellency first.”
“I received permission from him to do whatever I wanted with the witches I captured. First of all, if we take the witch to Lutra, they’ll burn my precious collection at the stake. I’m sure they’ll send a messenger if they have to. Come. While I’m throwing the witch in jail, I’ll show you around.”
Corruption pulled on the chain, and Zero quietly followed. The witch was still holding Mercenary’s arm to her chest. It might be heavy, but since his arm was chained to Zero, she couldn’t just throw it away either.
“This temple was built to live in, apparently,” Corruption said. “It’s surprisingly quite comfy here. It has a kitchen and bedroom, although old. To tell you the truth, I’ve been ordering the dogs to bring in things since this morning. Beds, food, tools for torture.”
“That too?” Secrecy pointed to a huge crate the dogs were carrying. It contained the Church’s Divine Annihilation Machine, disassembled into several parts, and brought here through the complex cavern.
“We can’t get it to the temple by carriage. That said, we can’t just leave something the Church lent outside the cave, can we?”
“It was only lent for testing. You can just return it.”
“It’s mine until they ask me to return it. That thing was very useful in taking this place. It’s a far cry from these puny weapons.” Laughing, she glanced at the steel shovel she was shouldering.
Although it had been modified as a weapon, it was still a farming tool to begin with. Telling someone to use it to hunt witches solo was basically the same as asking them to commit suicide.
Indeed. An adjudicator’s life didn’t amount to much. Not to be disappointed now, but even Secrecy understood what Corruption was trying to say.
“But it’s still a prototype,” Secrecy said. “What if there’s something wrong with it?”
“I can’t say that there aren’t any problems. It uses lead bullets. If the barrel gets too hot, the bullets melt and get jammed inside.”
“I see. That’s a big problem.”
“I can handle it.”
Stepping into the temple, they entered a vast hall made of marble. A huge water basin sat in the center of the hall, filled with cool and refreshing water pumped from underground.
On the other side of the basin was a grand staircase that lead to the second floor. At the end of the stairs stood a sublime door that seemed as if it led to heaven. At least that’s what it would look like if there weren’t any dead bodies lying around everywhere.
Secrecy frowned. “Shouldn’t you at least bury or burn them?”
“We killed the witches and took control of the temple, but we couldn’t find our main target Zero. Can you blame me for prioritizing her search than the corpses’ disposal?”
“Yet you had the time to order your dogs to bring in food.”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Who cares about the bodies of dead witches anyway?” Corruption turned to Zero. “You think so too, right?” It sounded as if she was testing the witch. “You should be relishing in the beauty of this structure.”
Zero was known as the leader of the dead witches—the Coven of Zero. It was clear that the adjudicator was trying to see how the witch would react, but Zero was unconcerned.
“Yes, it is a magnificent building. It is hard to believe it was built more than five centuries ago. I feel lucky to be here.”
Corruption lifted an eyebrow and looked at Secrecy with disgust. “If you’re going to prepare an impostor, you should try harder, Secrecy. If this woman was the real Zero, she would have made this temple her stronghold. She wouldn’t say she feels lucky to be here like it’s her first time.”
“It sounds like you knew she was an impostor all along.”
“So you admit she’s an impostor? That’s a grave offense. I’d even go as far as to say it’s treason against the Church.”
“His Excellency is well aware of it.”
“…What?” Corruption’s face froze.
“I’m saying that His Excellency knows that the witch we were transporting was not the real Zero. After doing some investigation, I concluded that Zero was nothing more than a rumor, and that the Church will be wasting its time by continuing to pursue someone that doesn’t exist.”
“That’s absurd! What’s your basis—”
“Experience and the circumstances. You probably don’t know this, but the witch behind the incident, Sanare, is a cunning woman.”
Secrecy knew that Sanare was involved in this case. Although it was Zero who declared that there were no more witches in this area, Secrecy determined that information to be credible.
“This woman was assisting us in thwarting Sanare’s plans, and you attacked her convoy. What’s more, you sent a report that said you captured Zero.”
Corruption wasn’t stupid; she knew exactly what that meant. The Bishop agreed to the plan to put an end to the fruitless witch hunt, and she interfered with it.
“His Excellency must be furious,” Secrecy continued. “Your report that the Beastfallen went wild and tried to escape with the witch is clearly inconsistent with the plan. This woman decided, of her own volition, to help put an end to the witch hunt. She would not slaughter the Knights Templar and escape.”
“Y-You tricked me!”
“I merely played it safe. I am an adjudicator given the sin of Secrecy. I excel at detecting lies. Although, anyone else could tell that the reason you didn’t head straight to the Church was to kill me.”
Secrecy knew that engaging them in an ambush was not a good idea. Zero couldn’t use Magic, and Mercenary was carrying her. There were also dozens of thugs surrounding them. To top it off, Corruption had the Divine Annihilation Machine, a weapon capable of attacking a wide area over a long distance.
Secrecy then decided it would be better to pretend to have surrendered to Corruption and let her send a suspicious report to the Church.
The Bishop of Lutra doubted Corruption’s loyalty to begin with, so he ordered Secrecy to conduct a separate investigation. If Corruption reported that Secrecy was dead, along with the Knights Templar, the Bishop would surely realize that something was wrong.
“If you kill me here now, His Excellency will strip you of your title and force you to return the life you borrowed. However, if you hand over Zero and the Grimoire of Zero to me, I will report to him that the Beastfallen lost its mind. That way, you can still continue your life as an adjudicator for a while.”
Corruption gave a soft sigh. Her intermittent shallow breaths eventually turned into a full-blown laughter.
“Well, well. You really got me there! I underestimated you a bit. I thought your beauty was the only thing you got going for you. I assumed you were incompetent and stupid.”
“I’ve survived this long as an adjudicator.”
“But it seems you’ve underestimated me a little, Secrecy.”
He didn’t feel any hostility, but he sensed something unpleasant crawling up his spine. Secrecy immediately brandished his scythe and sliced as he turned around.
As soon as he felt resistance, the head of the attacker fell off. His momentary relief proved to be fatal.
“Not yet, priest!” Zero’s warning was swift. “That is a corpse! You can cut its head off, but it can still move!”
But Secrecy’s response was too late. The witch’s corpses—there were five of them—were all standing like puppets, weapons in hand. They made no sound, did not breathe, were not hostile, yet he sensed their approach solely based on a strange feeling.
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