There were a few churches in Esma, but Claré Church was a small building located on the outskirts of town. It was common for witch trials to take place in secluded, rural locations to avoid rubberneckers or casualties in the event that the witch went on a rampage after having their identity exposed. We had already lost time as we needed to dash into the guild to check a map of Esma to find out where we needed to go.
Running for as long as we had was enough to make even an adventurer get a little out of breath.
“There!” I exclaimed.
Up on a little hillock sat a small, one-story church all by its lonesome. In front of the door was the nun with twist bread hair.
“I-It’s you two!” she said as we approached.
Evidently she hadn’t forgotten us in the past few hours. She guarded the door to bar us from barging in.
“The witch trial is currently underway! No one is allowed inside! Please leave!” she went on.
“Awesome, we made it in time! It’s not over yet!” I said.
“I said you can’t go in, so plea— Hey!”
The worst-case scenario would’ve been if everything had already concluded, but it looked like we still had some time. I pushed the twist bread girl aside and grabbed the handle of the old and thick door. It merely rattled with a heavy sound.
“Heh, it’s locked from the inside with a bolt! No one can open this door until the trial has finished!” the twist bread girl said, evidently proud of herself. The church was old and was locked in a suitably old-fashioned way.
“Leave this to me, Hakura. My lineage has a traditional unlocking method that can cause even the toughest door to pop open as easily as a well-boiled killer shell!” Leen declared confidently before she walked to the door.
“Great,” I replied.
“Gwah!”
I knew very well what the twist bread girl was going to do, so I grabbed her collar and pulled her aside.
“H-Hey! Ow! What are you—?!” she protested.
Her question was answered with Leen’s actions.
“Leeet meee iiin!” Leen shouted.
Leen had grabbed onto the bottom part of her supposed family heirloom and everyday partner, then performed an incredible swing, done so smoothly that I could tell this wasn’t her first time. The end of her heavy staff smashed right through the door, bolt and all, as the hinges clattered to the floor.
“How was that, Hakura? It is very open now,” Leen said.
“Shame you had to damage a historic building.”
“Don’t quibble about it; what’s done is done. Let’s look to the future.”
“That is the one thing the vandal shouldn’t be saying.”
Well, it was open, so whatever. It would’ve been a pain for me to do it and a blunt object was the best measure here. Her staff was like a damn battering ram.
On the other side of the door was a thin lobby with a door at the very back of the room. The witch trial was being held beyond it, in the chapel.
“Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What are you DOIIIIIING?!”
To no one’s surprise, a certain someone was furious. I was sure Leen had tried to do this without any door pieces hitting anyone, but well, no one was perfect.
“Y-You broke this holy space’s door! This will be a problem between the guild and the church, mark my words!” the twist bread nun said.
“Nah. We’re not here on a quest,” I stated.
“Yeah. Let’s chalk this up to a...personal mistake,” Leen said.
If things got really hairy, we’d have Erifell and Derg take the responsibility. There were worse things that could happen than this turning out to be a case of bad paranoia.
“You are not getting off the hook! I told you that you weren’t allowed inside! If you dare to go in there, then you will be punished by—”
“Punished by who? For what?”
I couldn’t be bothered with her anymore. I raised my voice a bit and tried to give her the coldest stare I could.
“Huh? Like I said, the church rules state—”
“Then you stop me. Let me warn you,” I said, looking into her eyes as I placed a hand on my sword, “I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a kid or a girl.”
“Ngh...”
After I saw her quivering shoulders and blood-drained face, I proceeded inside.
“Wasn’t that overkill?” Leen whispered.
“What choice did I have? I didn’t want her wailing any more than that!” I hissed back.
I sighed. I wasn’t in this to be liked.
We walked over the sooty carpet, now so brown and blackened that I couldn’t tell what color it had originally been, and was about to place a hand on the door when something stopped me.
“A-An adventurer...cannot go inside...without permission,” the twist bread girl said, looking up at me.
Both her voice and her hand, clutching my sleeve, were shaking.
Inwardly, I reevaluated her for her guts, but now wasn’t the time for that. At this point, I readied my hand near her forehead...and gave it a light flick.
“Urk!”
I’d tried to hold back, but adventurers were stronger than your average person. She gave a little squeak before she fell over onto her behind.
“Lad...”
“I know, I know, I’m the one in the wrong! But you can’t blame me!”
I didn’t feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, but I did feel bad.
Now, I needed to hope that the situation wasn’t bad behind this door.
I put my hand on the handle. It wasn’t locked, so we wouldn’t need Leen’s special door unlocking technique. As it opened with a creak, I heard a woman’s husky scream.
“No... This can’t be!”