Chapter 4. Wrath (2)
***
The prostitutes found after searching the entire streets like catching rats all night were imprisoned. Befitting a corrupt city, the number of prostitutes was enormous, and there were hardly enough prisons. Because of this, the narrow prisons were crammed with sinners until they could barely sit.
They faced the court’s judgment in turn. The trials were brief. There were no arguments. They simply recited the crimes they had committed and were notified of their punishment. Naturally there was resistance, but that too was ignored.
“Let the sinner listen. According to the scriptures, the sinner has committed countless unforgivable sins. The sinner’s charges are as follows… The sinner seduced numerous men and had relations with them. She damaged her own flesh, committed adultery with married men, and did not hesitate to engage in fornication purely for pleasure. She repeatedly engaged in relations not for procreation, and even brought young women with no knowledge to make them do the same, so judging her crimes to be extremely vile, we command that her sins be punished by fire. Thus the corrupt city will be purified even a little.”
The prostitutes standing in court had no way to escape punishment. Even the chief judge, who had often found comfort in their embrace until now, avoided their eyes filled only with injustice and anger as he passed judgment. This entire city had been their customers and lovers, but they became sinners overnight and were sentenced.
Countless prostitutes were executed by hanging. Corpses piled up beneath the gallows, and the line of prostitutes waiting for execution stretched long. The corpses were gathered all at once and burned. The smell of burning corpses covered the entire streets.
Male prostitutes were no different. Male prostitutes who had relations with men in male bodies had additional sins. The reason was that according to scripture, male prostitutes’ sins were greater than female prostitutes. Fornication and adultery were sins, and homosexuality was also a sin, so male prostitutes who had homosexuality in addition to the fornication and adultery of female prostitutes inevitably had more charges recited against them.
Thus pimps who brought male prostitutes and women to engage in prostitution were considered vicious sinners and sentenced to death by burning. People flocked to the square to watch the sinners burn to death. Among them, there was no one who had not engaged in prostitution. There were certainly those who frequented male prostitutes.
However, they were not charged with crimes. This was because the prostitutes were charged with seducing and corrupting people.
Eckart walked while scanning the faces of sinners standing in line waiting to be executed.
“What on earth is this?”
Ardwino, who had rushed to the square upon hearing the news, found Eckart and asked. His face too was a mess, mixed with bewilderment and fear.
It had been just one day. Eckart, who had received a secret mission from the Pope just the day before, gathered officials with the same mission and struck Duran, and in just one day, this many prostitutes were disappearing as dew of execution. The city of pleasure Duran was being renamed overnight as a city of corrupt sinners.
Since Ardwino was not a member of the Holy Knight Order, he learned of this fact a bit late like other people, and as soon as he came to Duran, he witnessed this terrible scene. So it was fully understandable that he was so bewildered.
“What is this, Commander! What on earth are you doing!”
“There was an order to purify the corrupt city. We are merely following God’s will.”
The front of the courthouse was also overflowing with people who had gathered. This was because official notices had been posted offering rewards for reporting where sinners were located. Everyone was clamoring to report the prostitutes they knew one step faster than others.
“How many of them do you think are clean? You said it was God’s will? Ah, the scriptures? The sins mentioned in scripture are countless besides adultery, fornication, and homosexuality. How many do you think have kept everything written in scripture until now? Even the Commander eats the meat of four-legged beasts, don’t you? So this is truly a situation where sinners are punishing sinners. To drive them to their deaths as demons overnight, when just yesterday we were the ones putting money in their hands…!”
Eckart’s steps, which had been hurrying as if to escape that place, stopped abruptly. Ardwino, who had almost collided with him, quickly dodged to the side. Eckart, who was as cool and calm as always but covered with an incomprehensible uncomfortable aura, opened his tightly shut mouth.
“Do you think the Ilknur Kingdom wasn’t like that?”
The desert kingdom of Ilknur across the sea was once a prosperous kingdom, but now it was nothing but a defeated nation torn to pieces and absorbed into the Keshet Empire. And it was precisely them, the knights, who had invaded and trampled that kingdom miserably.
“Su-suddenly why that place…”
“It was just an ordinary kingdom, ordinary people who simply believed in a different god. How do you think we appeared to them?”
Ardwino lost his words and bit his lips tightly. Though they had wielded swords under the pretext of punishing heretics and spreading the will of the one true god, in reality, in their eyes, they too would have been the same heretics. In the end, they had their country taken away by heretics. It was just violence and invasion with justification.
Ardwino, who realized the contradiction of pretending to fight for justice then but now feeling sympathy for the prostitutes, let his shoulders droop weakly. Then and now, it was God’s will. If he pitied those sinners now, he should have done the same for the Ilknur citizens who were trampled by them.
“Ardwino.”
“…Yes? Yes!”
“Why don’t you go on a vacation somewhere? Your hometown would be good.”
Eckart’s gaze looking back at him was still straight. There was firm faith underlying it that did not doubt his actions in the slightest.
“You’re not a knight belonging to the Papal Court either, so there’s no need for you to commit another sin to carry out God’s will like me.”
Leaving the speechless Ardwino behind, Eckart walked away from him with unhesitating steps. Ardwino couldn’t bring himself to follow him.
***
It had been several days since they ransacked Duran’s most famous red-light districts. Everyone was hiding and fleeing to avoid the officials, so the streets had become completely empty.
The streets with only empty houses left behind were somehow even desolate. There was only the sound of officials searching inside houses looking for prostitutes, and though they didn’t say it, they all felt a strong sense of déjà vu. It was exactly like the refugees who had left without properly packing their belongings to escape the empire’s invasion. Memories of searching empty villages for food overlapped.
“This place is completely finished. We should try going over there.”
“They’re exactly like rat bastards hiding in sewers to avoid rat poison.”
“Well, anyway, it’s true that the streets have become clean, isn’t it? Even if they’re just not visible. They can’t keep hiding forever, so they’ll eventually show themselves.”
“Right. We have plenty of time anyway, so let’s wait and catch them slowly… Until then, let’s focus on finding the prostitutes listed on the roster.”
Lef pulled out a list. It contained information about prostitutes provided by informants. They crossed out prostitutes who had already been imprisoned or executed and went searching in order.
“Can’t you open the door right now? We know you’re inside!”
“It seems we should break down the door.”
“Good! When I count one, two, three, kick with your feet simultaneously!”
“One… two… three!”
The old wooden door kicked by two strong men shattered with a loud crash, and officials stuck their hands through the gap to open the door and rushed into the building. Soon the officials came out dragging one woman each in their arms. They were prostitutes in heavy makeup and clothing that revealed almost all their skin.
“We haven’t committed any crimes!”
The women’s cries were ignored. The men pushed the women against the wall, and prostitutes who had already been caught hiding there were lined up with terrified faces.
“What on earth is this?”
“What did we do wrong to be treated like this?”
“Hey, say something! Who are you people to do this to us?”
One of the officials watching to prevent the women from escaping muttered with an annoyed face.
“Geez, they’re so noisy I could die. Dozens of people reported you, so where do you get off pretending not to know? You’ll find out what crimes you committed when you stand in court.”
“Reported?”
“What does that mean?”
“Reported? What does that mean?”
The officials mimicked the frightened prostitute’s tone and giggled. Anyway, these were people who would be executed in a few days after their crimes were revealed in detail. Rather than feeling sorry, they were just displeased that these sinners were raising their voices.
Lef, who had swung his scabbard at the prostitutes to make them quiet, checked the list and marked them off one by one. As he was flipping through to see how many were left, he suddenly discovered something and began giggling.
“What’s so funny?”
“Did you guys see this too? This male prostitute here, his nickname is ‘Angel of the Back Alleys.'”
“Angel?”
The officials who saw the list Lef pointed to also let out absurd laughter. Some showed disgusted expressions.
“Wow, angel… They gave such a nickname to a male prostitute?”
“That’s what I’m saying. They have good stomachs.”
“Still, I’m curious. What does he look like to get such a nickname?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
