Ch. 42 - No Questions

"Father, what's going on?!" Kaleqi dashed over to Paladin and squatted. He looked at the serious injury on Paladin's arm and said that in a concerned but reproachful tone. With a pained expression, Paladin wailed. He glanced at the civilians standing over the doorway, watching him curiously. Immediately, he cried out in aggravation.

"I was listening to the believers' confessions. Who'd have thought he'd break in? He claimed to be the master of Nurba. To prevent me from liberating the town under his control and enslavement, he purposefully planned the death of the Prad family. All of this is simply a plot to take over Prad's ironworks! When he didn't get his way, he became so enraged that he told me to kneel and then tried to kill me with the dagger in his arms!"

Boom! Paladin said it extra loud so that the civilians outside could hear. It immediately caused an uproar. The civilians quickly whispered to each other.

Kaleqi glared fiercely at Paladin. But then, he turned his head to look at the wealthy merchant. With a sad expression, he said, "Grundy, you are also a well known figure in Nurba. I can't imagine that you would do such a thing. You mutilated Prad, whom you've known for over a decade, and plotted to take over his family business!"

"No, no! He's lying! This priest is deceiving you! That is not what happened, he's lying!" Grundy jumped up, his face flushed bright red, as if he'd been beaten with chicken blood. He attempted to argue, yelling and pointing at the two people at the door, "They, the two of them, witnessed what happened. It's different from what this looks like! Kaleqi, these two..."

Kaleqi frowned. He was worried that this bastard would put all the blame on him. So, he immediately responded, "Yes, both of them are people from my escort team, but I have no idea why they are here! Tell me what you saw. You guys absolutely can’t lie and falsely accuse others!" Kaleqi glared fiercely at the two mercenaries, who were at a loss for words and squeaked. That rich merchant Grundy was also looking at them nervously, expecting them to clarify the facts for him and kill this bastard priest Paladin.

Paladin laughed cryptically. Calmly, he said, "You two, as guards, have a family of your own. Nurba's stability is entirely your responsibility. I don't think you will wrong innocent people."

The underlying message was that ‘the two of you now have jobs that don't require you be on the knife-edge, have families like wives, children, mothers, and daughters. Your family will be destroyed if you dare to tell the truth!’

When the two mercenaries noticed Paladin's warning look and heard the words brimming with murderous intent coming from him, they trembled. Exchanging looks with each other, finally they chose family over conscience. They lowered their heads and said, "It was Grundy who wanted to kill Father Paladin. That's the truth."

"Lies! Why are you lying?! Why?!" Grundy shouted in panic, only to be interrupted by a vaguely grinning Paladin, "Grundy, in this holy church, in front of the Great Enos, do you not even have the sense to repent?!"

"Grundy, you bastard! How dare you do such a thing!"

As soon as the words left Paladin’s mouth, the civilians immediately raised the banner of so-called justice and began to criticize with righteous indignation.

"I've observed him for a long time. This fat man is definitely not a good person."

"After all, evil can triumph but the Great Enos will carry out the deed. Let this filthy villain be judged!"

"Trial! Trial! Trial!"

Upon closer inspection, they were not so much enraged by Grandy's crimes. They were happy that justice had been served. It would be more accurate to say that these stupid people in the lower classes simply rejoiced and gloated because they witnessed the fall of a higher-ranked people, who were originally their superior. To put it bluntly, it was caused by their narrow mindset, which was ‘if I can't live well, neither can you.’

Paladin naturally despised these ignorant and greedy commoners, but he wore a holier-than-thou expression. He abruptly raised the cross placed on the altar and shouted righteously, "For killing others, trying to seize others’ property, attempting to murder the priest of the church of the Holy See, I, Paladin Flamel, in accordance with the eternal and indestructible code of law, on behalf of the Supreme Enos, hereby declare that today you will be judged!"

After Paladin finished speaking, Kaleqi said in a hushed tone, "Paladin, he should be handed over to our guard and reported to Count Torch. It is the standard treatment, ah."

"You'd think a count would want to come for these civilians? Bothering him when he’s making love to another nobleman's daughter just because some other commoner was murdered? Don't worry about that Kaleqi. I'm a nobleman too, I know these things very well." Paladin whispered in response. When he saw that Grundy's face was already a deadly pale, he rode the heat and yelled, "Prepare the stake!"

Waaaah! Shouts of excitement erupted from the civilians outside. They'd never seen a fire stand dedicated to the execution of heretics before.

"You can't do this to me, I'm a merchant! Not a heretic! You can't execute me in the same way in which you execute heretics! I demand a fair and reasonable trial!" Grundy yelled, his voice cracking. Only one last hope remained for him, and that was the Count of Torch, the town's lord.

Who would have guessed that Paladin would only shake his head with a sad expression? He took a step forward, gently tugging Grundy's messy hair to lift his head, and said, "You broke into the church with the intent of murdering the Holy See's legal priest. What else could you be if not a heretic with blasphemous ideas? Grandy, may you find your way back to God's embrace and repent of your sins."

Grundy removed Paladin's hand in disgust, pointed at his face, and shouted, "You bastard, this devil in the robes of God! I will not spare you! I won't!"

Paladin, however, simply ignored Grundy's dying struggle. simply ignored Grundy's dying struggle. With a smile on his face, he gently rubbed the red hand that had been slapped. He then faintly glanced at Kaleqi. The latter immediately understood.

Kaleqi stepped forward, knocked Grundy down with a slap, and shouted, "Grundy has murdered people and intended to assassinate the priest. In accordance with the wishes of the priest, burn him at the stake!" After that, he turned to his subordinates and said, "Go, tie him up and take him to the prison for a while."

The surrounding guards swarmed around Grundy and took out a hemp rope to tie him up. Regardless of how hard the latter struggled, it was in vain. The guards dragged Grundy, who was screaming miserably, away from the church.

"I'll go get sticks! I have a lot of thick sticks at home!"

"Torches, get some more torches!"

"I just came back from cutting some wood today, I'm going back to get it!"

"Father, I'll go help you, too."

Seeing Grundy being carried away, these civilians couldn't sit still. They spoke delightfully to Paladin before scattering home to prepare the materials for the stake. After a while, the church was empty. At that moment, there was only the sound of tearing. Kaleqi observed Paladin calmly tearing a strip of cloth from the edge of his robe, dripping some strong wine on it, and then firmly tying the cloth on the wound on his arm. The wound was treated with such a simple manner.

From the beginning of the treatment to the end, Kaleqi watched Paladin. Whether from the excruciating pain he must've felt when he wiped the liquor on the wound or from the way he tied his arms, Paladin’s face stayed expressionless. As if feeling pain was a normal thing for him. At this moment, Kaleqi seemed to feel that the fog surrounding Paladin's true identity had thickened rather than lightened.

‘Which ordinary pampered nobles will treat their own wounds? People who experience severe pain for the first time will scream uncontrollably. Is this Paladin simply a nobleman who spent money to become a priest? Why is he completely different from those people I met before? Paladin finished treating his wound and noticed Kaleqi staring at him in a daze. Displeased, he snorted and sarcastically said, "What's wrong with the captain? Do you doubt my abilities? Stop staring. Instead, go to the prison and meet this unlucky man. I still have some things to do."

While speaking, Paladin unconsciously wore a smug smile on his face, which only made Kaleqi feel a chill run down the back of his neck.

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