The village chief made a public announcement before the villagers and the believers who had come to the village.
"Tom, your son must take responsibility for this incident."
"Village Chief, what are you talking about? Are you saying you’re going to abandon my son now?"
"Silence! Your son has stained the name of our village! Be grateful you aren’t being driven out of the village immediately!"
"No, since when did you care about that...?"
Tom was dumbfounded.
The village chief, who normally only cared about money, was invoking the village’s reputation as he tried to shift the blame onto him.
When he thought of all the bribes he had paid the village chief until now, Tom felt utterly wronged.
But the village chief had already made up his mind.
As Ian had said, he needed to settle the matter before an Inquisitor came to the village.
"Since we were at fault, we will do as they wish."
"If you castrate him according to doctrine, there will be no further disturbance."
The Church of the Sun had a doctrine requiring the castration of anyone who raped a woman.
Considering Torm’s crime, it would not have been surprising for him to receive an even harsher punishment.
Still, the girl’s father wanted to bring this to a quiet end, if only for the sake of the Ceremony of Light.
"Very well. We will proceed with the castration. Someone bring a hammer."
"Kuhup?!"
Torm’s eyes widened at the village chief’s sentence.
Castration?
That would be the end of him as a man.
He had not even married yet, nor did he have children.
"Kuhup, John, help me!"
Thinking he could not let this happen, Torm called out the names of his gang in a final desperate struggle.
"Kaelen! Daevon! Finn!"
The moment their names came from Torm’s mouth, John’s gang froze stiff.
"John, what is that supposed to mean?"
The village chief pressed his son, and John answered with an awkward smile.
"Ha ha, we felt sorry for him and let him tag along with us lately, but I think he mistook us for friends. Father, please do not pay him much mind."
John tried his utmost to make it seem as though neither he nor his gang had anything to do with this.
But Torm did not stop talking.
"Kuhup! I did exactly what you told me to do! Kuhup, it was the sleeping pills you prepared!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Thud!
"Guhk?!"
Unable to stand by any longer, Kaelen, the captain of the village guard, punched Torm’s piglike face to shut him up.
"Guhk! Wh-why are you doing this?! Kuhup, we’re in the same gang!!!"
"I said shut up, you pig bastard! Someone bring the warhammer already!"
"H-here it is."
Receiving the hammer from his subordinate, Kaelen raised it high for everyone to see.
"Commencing the castration!"
Then he brought the hammer down on Torm’s testicles.
Crunch!
"Guaaaaaaagh!!!"
A shriek like a pig being slaughtered rang through the village.
"There’s still one left. One more time."
"N-no!"
Torm tried to resist, but held down by the village guards, there was nothing he could do.
He could only watch with wide-open eyes as the hammer fell toward his remaining testicle.
Crunch!
"Guaaaaaaaah!"
Torm writhed in agony, then eventually passed out, drooling heavily.
Clang!
"That does it, right? You’re all satisfied now, right?!"
Kaelen threw the hammer onto the ground and shouted at the believers.
But the believers’ expressions remained grim.
They wanted to question the people Torm had named.
They had begun to suspect that this might not have been an isolated incident.
"Fuck, this is enough, isn’t it? What more do you want?"
Growing impatient, Kaelen glared at the believers.
Just as the atmosphere was about to turn ugly again—
Clap, clap!
Someone applauded.
It was Ian.
Drawing everyone’s attention with the sound of his applause, he calmed the gathering in a composed voice.
"Everyone has had a difficult night. Though something unfortunate occurred, the Ceremony of Light begins tomorrow. Since it is a day to give thanks to Goddess Helia, why don’t we end matters here?"
The believers quickly agreed with his words.
"It would be best to end it here."
"The village has shown sufficient sincerity."
"We apologize for breaking your property."
They too knew there was nothing to gain by continuing their confrontation with the village guard.
They had merely been dissatisfied because they could not easily accept it emotionally.
"Thank you for your understanding. I pray that Goddess Helia’s protection will be with all of you."
But when Ian, representing the village, humbled himself first, the believers’ hearts softened.
Thanks to Ian’s handling of the aftermath, the incident was brought to a close for the time being.
. . .
"Ian, thank you. Thanks to you, it ended well."
The village chief approached Ian and praised him, and Ian accepted it naturally.
"You were the one who had it difficult, Village Chief. It was a hard decision, but you made the right choice for the village."
The village chief smiled at Ian’s answer.
At the very least, Ian had preserved his dignity.
"There may still be people harboring dissatisfaction. As someone of such devout faith, I believe you can persuade them. May I ask you to do so?"
"You do not need to ask. It is for the village, so I will carry it out with a sense of duty."
"Thank you."
Leaving the believers in Ian’s care, the village chief headed toward the village guard.
"You have all worked hard protecting the village. But we never know what may happen, so remain on alert and stand by. And Captain of the Guard."
"Yes."
"Lock Torm in the barn."
"Understood."
At the village chief’s order, Kaelen took the unconscious Torm to the barn.
The village chief was about to wrap up the incident when Tom shouted at him.
"Village Chief, why on earth did you make this choice?"
"Tom, what happened to your son is regrettable, but find yourself a new bride and make another one. Forget that pig of a son you had."
Tom demanded an explanation, but the village chief ignored him, treating Tom’s son like a worthless cripple.
Tom exploded in anger and shouted.
"That bastard Ian is the one who blew this up into such a disaster! If he hadn’t brought up the sleeping pills, we could have let it pass quietly!"
"Ho ho, so all of this is Ian’s fault?"
"That’s right! If it weren’t for him, there would have been no problem at all!"
The village chief smiled faintly at Tom’s claim.
Then he struck Tom with his cane.
Smack! Smack!
"Then do you not realize that your pig of a son could have gotten all of us killed?!"
"Guhk! V-Village Chief, what are you doing?!"
Unable to resist, Tom collapsed onto the ground.
Looking down at him, the village chief pointed at his own head and spoke.
"You fucking idiot! If you have a brain, then use it! Your son tried to rape a believer’s daughter during the Ceremony of Light. Do you think the church would just sit quietly and accept that?!"
"W-we could have covered it up quietly..."
"And how do you intend to silence all those believers? Were you planning to kill every last one of them?!"
As if frustrated beyond measure, the village chief beat his chest.
"Just because I’ve been indulgent with you behind the scenes, do you think you’re something special? Or has your brain turned into a pig’s too, just like that son of yours who knows nothing but stuffing his face? Why the hell do you not understand that if the church disappears, this village will go back to drowning in poverty?!"
After sighing, the village chief looked at the villagers who had been silently watching.
"I trust you all understand what happens if you do something as idiotic as Torm did. And John."
"Yes, Father."
John flinched at the village chief’s call.
It was a surprisingly emotional display, completely unlike his usual calm demeanor.
John knew that at times like this, he needed to stay quiet as a dead mouse.
"Do not associate with idiots like Torm. Find yourself decent people instead. Keep company with idiots, and you become an idiot too."
"Understood."
"Try to get close to people like Ian. Yes, Ian. That young man is truly excellent. It was good that I accepted him."
Stroking his beard, the village chief thought of Ian, who was handling the believers by himself.
At first, there had been friction because of John and Isolde’s secret relationship, but in retrospect, there was no young man quite like Ian.
He had dignity, and he was capable.
He was devout, maintained close relations with the church, and got along well with his neighbors.
He knew how to respect the village chief, and he sincerely showed appreciation for his guidance as well.
Frankly, compared to the village’s other young men, it was difficult to find anyone as impressive as Ian.
It was true that he heard Goddess Helia’s voice that day, too.
The reason the village chief had completely trusted Ian’s claim that an Inquisitor was coming was because of the story that Ian had heard the goddess’s voice.
Ian had actually shown him John and Isolde’s secret relationship with his own eyes, so the village chief had no choice but to believe in his devotion.
He’s devout, he cherishes and loves his wife, and that makes him easy to use.
On the other hand, what about his own son?
He had associated with an idiot like Torm and brought trouble down on them all. Not only had he carried on a secret relationship with Isolde without telling him, but that affair had nearly humiliated him, his own father.
What would have happened if he had let Ian go then?
They might have tried to cover up an incident like this without knowing an Inquisitor was coming, and the entire village could have been wiped out.
Even now, the thought sent a chill through him, and the village chief could not help but speak harshly to his son.
"John, you should try acting for the good of the village too, like Ian does. Do not rely solely on your father."
"Yes, I will do my best."
"Do not merely try. Produce results. You understand what I am saying, don’t you?"
"...I understand."
"Tch. Anyone can talk. I expect nothing, so just do not cause trouble."
Creak.
At the village chief’s words, John ground his teeth.
After all, his father had compared him to Ian in front of all the villagers.
And so, a crack was slowly forming in the relationship between father and son.
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