Chapter 95

INTERLUDE ONE …The kindly priest spoke. “Have this girl hold a burned stone. If our Lord would attest to her innocence and protect her, then she will not be burned. However, if she is burned, then she is a witch.” …The kindly priest spoke. “Sink this girl deep underwater. If our Lord would attest to her innocence and protect her, then she will not suffer even in the water. However, if she comes back up for air, then she is a witch.” …The kindly priest spoke. “Hang this girl from the tower in a large cage. If our Lord would attest to her innocence and protect her, then she will not suffer even hanging there for a month. However, if she becomes tormented by hunger, then she is a witch.” …The kindly priest spoke. …The kindly priest spoke. …The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. The kindly priest spoke. “Ahh, ahhhh. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh-hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!” As the kindly priest looks at me, he opens his eyes wide and falls down onto his rear. But what could possibly be the problem? Am I dressed that strangely? I don’t recall doing anything vulgar or improper. “Wh-wh-why, why? How?!” The entire stone plaza in the center of this small town is abuzz, too. How very odd. What has them all so mystified? The kindly priest, his head cocked, points at my face and wails about something. But the words go in and out of my ear, stopping and starting. I can’t hear them. “Y-you, you, Fräulein Kreutune… What…? You…?!” “Yes? Excuse me, but what about me?” “You! You!!! All those trials forced upon you!!! So, so many!!! And yet you still live! How?! Why does your skin glow like that?! How? Why?! How?!” What a strange thing to say. I cock my head. A smile slips out. “Oh, kindly priest, did the words not come from your very own lips?” “Huh? Eh?” “If I am innocent, our Lord will protect me.” “…Ngh!!!” The kindly priest squeezes the cross on his necklace so tightly that it digs into his skin. Red drops fall from his hand, and soon, the force of his grip begins to distort the small piece of metal. “You… A monster like you… How dare you speak of our Lord!!! We bound you hand and foot and threw you in the lake. We tied you to the top of the tower. We let you be struck by lightning. We incinerated you with flames! And yet you still smile! You…you witch!!!” “Now, let me ask you, kindhearted priest.” I spread my arms wide, accepting everything with the same generosity with which I would welcome a friend, and ask my question. “Have you at last run dry of ordeals to set upon me? Umm, and just to be certain… If none of the ordeals have wounded me, then what treatment am I to receive?”