East Road Quest

Chapter 4: Lord of Baltion

“Without any torture or interrogation?”

Jade felt somewhat relieved when he heard that the execution by burning was scheduled for tomorrow.

“To die so easily, what good luck.”

When Jade was first captured by the Lord of Baltion, he was dragged roughly and treated like a murderer. However, once imprisoned, he was not treated harshly. The meals were meager, but for someone used to the dry and hard bread of the monastery, it was not a major issue. He was even grateful to receive three meals a day.

The guards visited twice a day to check on Jade’s health. Was this a form of compensation? Or perhaps just an excuse? They often asked Jade for religious lessons or old stories.

Jade told the guards every old story he knew. Tales like the one about the girl who lost her shoe and married the frog prince, or the one about the village girl who avenged her grandmother eaten by a wolf, only to die from eating a poisoned apple. The guards, starved for stories, preferred these to religious lessons.

Jade knew this could have a negative impact during the inquisition. It was a grave religious sin for a Catholic priest to tell old stories influenced by barbaric customs involving fairies, orcs, demons, or ghosts. Yet, Jade couldn’t refuse the guards’ earnest requests.

“Father? Father?”

Jade was sitting on the damp, straw-covered prison floor when he turned his head toward the voice calling him from the door.

An old woman, so aged it was hard to determine her exact age, was kneeling beyond the iron bars of the entrance. Her eyes drooped so much that her pupils were hidden, and her cheeks and chin sagged as if they did not belong to her. Whenever she spoke, it seemed like her wrinkled skin might slide off.

“This old and ugly woman has come for confession.”

It was a face Jade had never seen before.

“If it’s confession you seek… why come to me? There should be a priest in the lord’s castle.”

“It must be you. Because my brother disappeared after confessing to you.”

The old woman lifted her head and revealed her few remaining teeth with a smile.

“Because of that fellow a year and a half ago. What was his name again?”

Jade stood up and approached the iron bars, trying to remember the name.

“Duor.”

Jade sat down in front of the bars.

“Yes, that’s right. Duor. My brother.”

The old woman remained out of reach beyond the bars as she continued.

“This old woman has sinned. Against you, Father. So, I must cleanse my sin. Please absolve me.”

“I do not have the authority to absolve sins. But I would like to hear what happened.”

“Isn’t it proper to say, ‘God is listening, confess,’ or something like that? Isn’t that right? Isn’t it?”

The old woman asked playfully, tilting her head.

Jade responded coldly.

“Does such formality matter to someone like you? You came to tell me, not God, anyway.”

“Quick-witted, aren’t you? Yes, the confession was a lie. But isn’t this also a form of confession? Isn’t it?”

The old woman laughed heartily before continuing.

“This old woman will confess. It was I who reported you, Father, to the Lord of Baltion and had you imprisoned. It was me who revealed your sins to the lord.”

The old woman laughed in short, repeated bursts, as if forcing herself to sew together the fabric of the conversation.

“I suspected someone might have intervened in the Lord of Baltion’s decision…

The Lord of Baltion was not someone who would storm into a monastery over a few irreverent old tales told to his son.

Even though Jade was an unknown priest hiding in a monastery, he belonged to the Lom Priesthood. It was obvious that this would strain relations with the Lom Priesthood, yet he proceeded with the inquisition.

…Here lies the answer. In the guise of an old woman.”

Jade pondered for a moment before speaking.

“I heard a rumor that the Raphael Priesthood is planning to build a cathedral here soon, and to do that, the Lord of Baltion needed to weaken Saint Antoness Monastery, which belongs to the Lom Priesthood. He needed a reason, and that reason is me?”

The old woman looked slightly surprised, then laughed again.

“The lord plans to execute you by burning through a religious inquisition, and then he will threaten to expel all Catholics from Jerba. Then the Raphael Priesthood will step in to mediate. Our lord only needs to reluctantly accept.”

The old woman laughed again with that stiff, forced smile.

The Lord of Baltion had long been dissatisfied with the size of the chapel in his castle. He wanted a larger cathedral, and moreover, he wanted it to bear his name.

“Father Jade will become a martyr, the cornerstone of the cathedral in the heart of Jerba. Of course, no one will recognize that. Just one person, this old woman, will acknowledge it.”

The old woman clapped her hands in delight.

“This old woman is very happy because you killed my brother! It’s a selfish desire for revenge, isn’t it? Murder, especially revenge killing, is an unforgivable sin in Catholicism, isn’t it? So, this old, ugly, and smelly woman asks for forgiveness. In the name of God, no, in your name, Father, will you forgive me?”

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Wrong. At times like this, you should say, ‘I absolve you of your sins.'”

The old woman laughed.

Jade continued with what he wanted to say.

“Your brother, whom I killed, confessed to killing five women.”

“They were five prostitutes.”

“He said he came to kill me, the sixth one, a priest.”

“That’s right.”

“I never got to ask why. Why was I the sixth? Why did he kill those women in the first place?”

“He needed their hearts.”

“For what?”

“This poor, hungry old woman wanted to eat them.”

“So, your brother wanted to commit murder, and you needed human flesh. To avoid being discovered as cannibals, you scattered the rest of the body parts.”

“Not exactly. This old, fearful woman enjoys it when people are scared.”

“It was all your doing, except for one thing. You never told him to kill a priest.”

“This old, picky woman doesn’t eat male hearts.”

“Why did Duor come to kill me? Why go to the monastery?”

“‘We’ are naturally drawn to clergymen. Especially a pious priest like you seems like fresh, clean food. Think of freshly caught fish or freshly butchered pork. You appear ten times more delicious than that. Although, not to someone as special and picky as me.”

The old woman scratched her cheek with her long, pointed nails. Her skin tore, and a sticky fluid oozed out.

“So this poor old woman prefers to see you burn rather than eat you. The people of Jerba liked you. But if someone declares you a heretic, they will throw stones at you and cheer at the smell of your burning flesh. If you ask each one about your death, they will mourn and grieve, but if you gather them all at once, they will dance. I love watching such scenes.”

Jade stared at the old woman expressionlessly and said,

“I also enjoy watching creatures like you burn.”

The old woman stared at him with her eyes hidden under her drooping eyelids and said,

“Let’s see if you can remain so calm right before you’re burned at the stake.”

“Let’s see if you can stay as composed before you burn at my hands.”

The old woman laughed twice, then returned to her expressionless state. She quickly moved away like smoke being blown by the wind.

Jade moved away from the iron bars, sat in a corner of the wall, and buried his face in his hands.

As he sat there for a long time, he heard a familiar voice.

“Why are you sitting like that?”

Jade didn’t lift his hands from his face and responded.

“I am disappointed in myself.”

“What kind of disappointment?”

“An old woman just declared that she would kill me to avenge her brother. I replied arrogantly, saying let’s see who dies, as if I were a knight accepting a duel challenge. Even after three years in the monastery, I can’t change my rotten self.”

Jade lowered his hands from his face.

Father Daniel stood beyond the iron bars instead of the old woman.

“You came quickly.”

“Quickly? You’re being burned at the stake tomorrow.”

Daniel smiled as he spoke.

“I heard. So, you did come sooner than I expected. I thought you would dramatically appear just as I was tied to the execution stake.”

“Sometimes I wonder if you enjoy such things.”

Daniel held up the key to the cell.

“Am I being released?”

“Yes.”

“How did you convince the Lord of Baltion?”

“I didn’t convince him.”

“Then what?”

As Daniel opened the cell door, he replied.

“I threatened him. And like you, I’m also a bit regretful of my rotten self.”

About thirty minutes before he went to Jade’s cell, Father Daniel had met with the Lord of Baltion.

The lord’s meeting room was dim, with five guards stationed around the walls and door. Baltion sat in a chair, looking down at Daniel, who stood three steps below. Baltion’s wife, Anna, also sat beside him.

Anna’s face showed a hint of fear disguised as calm. Perhaps her son’s evident fear, sitting next to her, had affected her.

“Jade has led my son down a path of corruption with his heretical actions and thoughts, and he has distanced the people of Jerba from Catholicism. No matter if he is a priest belonging to the Lom Priesthood, no matter if it is a request from a renowned priest like you, I cannot release someone guilty of such crimes.”

The Lord of Baltion spoke continuously, not even pausing for breath, directed at Daniel’s face.

“I heard he also killed a girl in broad daylight three years ago!”

This remark startled Baltion’s son, Ricardo, even more.

Daniel gave the boy a reassuring smile. Ricardo nervously glanced at him and reached for his mother, who held his hand tightly.

Baltion did not like the relaxed smile on Daniel’s face.

“Are you listening to me, Father Daniel?”

“I am. Your son seems frightened by this situation, so it would be better to discuss this privately.”

“My son fears nothing. If there is anything he fears, it is the brief moment of heretical faith he almost had because of Father Jade.”

“While I don’t necessarily think it’s wrong for a father to speak on behalf of his son, it doesn’t seem like you truly understand him.”

“What did you just say?”

Before Baltion could issue an irrational command in his agitation, Daniel produced a royal document.

“This is an imperial pardon signed by the emperor himself.”

Baltion instinctively turned to his wife.

Anna asked,

“Did you just say ’emperor’?”

“Yes. You must be familiar with the signature and seal of Emperor Benclaus of the Lom Empire.”

Daniel smiled as he spoke.

Anna’s eyes widened, indicating she realized her worst fears were coming true.

Anna was a princess from the small southern country of Sopanya, married to Baltion for political reasons.

Sopanya had been invaded three times by the Lom Empire. To the people of that country, the Emperor of Lom evoked an instinctive fear akin to that of the devil.

Given this, it was unlikely that Anna had agreed to accuse a priest from the Lom Priesthood, which had close ties with the Lom Emperor, of heresy and have him burned at the stake. Daniel had exploited this by repeatedly mentioning the ’emperor.’

“This is His Majesty’s promise not to pursue charges regarding Jade’s alleged murder three years ago. As the Lord of Jerba, shouldn’t you ‘still’ follow the emperor’s words?”

Daniel glanced at Anna. The young woman, not yet twenty-five, couldn’t withstand the gaze of the elderly priest and turned her eyes to her son.

Baltion, without taking the scroll Daniel offered, spoke.

“This is not about the incident from three years ago.”

“I heard from Abbot Thomas that Jade merely told some old stories, didn’t he?”

“It’s not just that!”

“What’s so significant about it? Stories of fallen angels are common even in Lotican. Ah, but I guess such jokes might not be as well received in places further from Lom, like Jerba.”

Daniel subtly prodded Baltion’s sensitive point, which also affected Anna.

Daniel knew she was originally meant to marry a young noble from Lom. Had that happened, she would be living comfortably in the heart of the largest city in the human world, enjoying the warm sunshine and a plentiful lifestyle. Although she might have been unaware of the political circumstances surrounding her life, her childhood was likely quite happy. Now, however, she had to live in a dark castle with a warlike and devout husband, with nothing outside but fields of wheat and a fish market reeking of fish.

Although Daniel preferred this village over the flashy Lom, it was different for a princess. For a princess from the south, wearing luxurious clothes and jewelry in a place where no one appreciated it was challenging.

Daniel had just shaken her pride by implying that Jerba was behind Lom in terms of fashion.

“The stories Father Jade told about angels…”

Anna finally spoke.

“…are not necessarily heretical?”

“You would be surprised at the obscene angel stories that the children of Lom’s nobility hear. Lady Anna, having lived in Lom, you might know a bit about this…”

“That’s true, but I heard things have changed a lot.”

Anna asked hesitantly, and Daniel shook his head firmly.

“If you knew how much paintings depicting angels as women for sexual pleasure sell for…”

Daniel deliberately trailed off.

“Are we overreacting, then?”

Anna continued, turning to her husband.

“If people find out we held a religious trial over such trivial tales, Jerba might be ridiculed.”

Honestly, it wouldn’t come to that. The citizens of Lom wouldn’t care about a religious trial in Jerba. But Daniel didn’t deny it, speaking gravely.

“I don’t mean to misuse His Majesty’s orders, but I am obligated to follow them. While the priest should be accountable for involving himself in the education of the young lord, such a minor issue should be met with leniency.”

“Why is an old priest like you delivering the emperor’s orders instead of an imperial envoy? It must have been difficult to come all this way.”

Baltion asked hesitantly. Daniel felt relieved internally.

The way he spoke indicated his mind was already made up. Now, he was merely going through the motions of surrender. After all, as the lord, he had to maintain his dignity.

Daniel decided to follow the procedure to preserve his dignity.

“The truth is, I have a personal relationship with His Majesty the Emperor, and I was given a secret mission this time.”

“Does that mean… His Majesty needs Father Jade?”

“I would appreciate it if you could keep this a secret. I might need to ask everyone in this room to swear an oath of silence.”

Daniel turned his gaze to the guards holding spears, as if to imply that if the secret got out, it would be their fault. The soldiers, who had tried to intimidate Daniel, were now flustered.

Baltion finally took the scroll Daniel offered and unrolled it. Written in the emperor’s handwriting, it read, “I pardon all of Jade’s past misdeeds and consent to any measures for his reinstatement as a priest of the Lom Priesthood.”

Baltion rolled up the scroll and handed it back to Daniel.

Baltion stroked his chin with a stern face.

‘I hope this man is not the type to sacrifice his life for his pride.’

Daniel waited anxiously, worried.

“Imprisoning Jade and preparing for the religious trial was all done according to established rules.”

Baltion spoke.

Daniel nodded.

“I understand.”

“My father conscripted up to two hundred soldiers during the First Holy War, and I donated silver worth ten thousand hass during the Second Holy War to Lotican.”

“I know.”

“I do not wish for any discord with the Lom Priesthood over this matter.”

Daniel nodded.

‘I misunderstood. Baltion was more concerned about his relationship with Lotican and the Lom Priesthood than his pride as a lord.’

Daniel reassured him.

“I will consider this matter as never having happened. Once I take Jade away, you can treat him as if he was never here in the first place. In fact, that is what I would request.”

Baltion nodded in satisfaction.

“Take him away.”

Daniel immediately left the room.

As he opened the meeting room door, he encountered an old woman. Her wrinkled face showed anger and disappointment. Despite the thick wooden door, it seemed she had overheard the conversation between Daniel and Baltion.

Daniel ignored her and kept walking, but he felt her gaze follow him. He turned back, and indeed, the old woman was still staring at him.

Daniel then went straight to the prison and listened to Jade recounting the old woman’s visit for confession.

Jade spoke with a worried expression.

“It seems she spoke with me and then went to hurry the lord.”

Jade took out a book he had hidden under the straw. The pages rustled quickly under his hand, releasing dust and a musty smell.

“You kept it well.”

“It’s not so much that I kept it well, but that it keeps well. When I first received this book from you, I tried soaking it in water and even burning it. But the pages didn’t fray, nor did the binding get damaged. Humidity and mold in this prison aren’t an issue either.”

“You tried burning it? My goodness, I’m starting to regret giving you that book. Moreover, a novice monk at the monastery saw young lord Ricardo drop it in water.”

“You mean Poi.”

“Be careful. If anyone other than Poi saw that your book was soaked yet still as crisp as a newly bound book, they’d suspect it was demonic.”

“I suspect it’s a magical item myself. It’s about time you tell me. What is this book, ‘The Fourth Holy Scripture’?”

“If you keep it, you’ll eventually find out.”

“You will understand one day why I didn’t tell you.”

The two walked side by side down the prison corridor. A guard waited at the door, taking the iron key Daniel handed over.

“Father Jade, if you leave now, will you never return?”

The guard asked Jade with a desperate expression.

Jade replied gently.

“Probably not.”

Jade, also regretting the farewell, spoke.

“If you leave, Father, to whom should we offer our prayers?”

“Prayers are meant for God, not for me.”

“But I don’t know how to pray.”

“I don’t know either. I was merely listening.”

Even after they left the underground prison, darkness continued to greet them. It had been a long time since the sun had set.

Daniel observed Jade’s expression and asked.

“You don’t seem happy, Jade. Aren’t you glad to be out of prison?”

“I’ve thought more in the past few days in prison than I did during the three years in the monastery. It seems I’m not fit to be a priest. I was going to tell you this first. I’m quitting.”

“You wretched boy! If you had told me that five minutes ago, I wouldn’t have let you out.”

Daniel scolded him angrily.

Jade just shrugged and walked ahead. Daniel gestured.

“Where are you going? That’s not the way to the gate.”

“I still have some business to attend to.”

“What business? You’re not going to use that book, are you?”

“Yes.”

“You must not use that book in front of Lord Baltion! I barely persuaded him to stop the inquisition. If you open that book, you could be executed on the spot.”

“I don’t care if I’m executed. I was prepared for it anyway. That’s also why I told you I was quitting first. From now on, whatever I do is unrelated to Father Daniel. But follow me. If I die after this, you’ll have to retrieve this book.”

Daniel shouted at Jade’s back.

“You wicked brat. I freed you, hoping you’d entrust me with the cleanup, and now you’re dumping the cleanup on me? I’m the fool for raising such a disciple!”