Chapter 395: Institoris the Innocent-Killer

The papacy still holds the right of investiture over the Bishopric of Lanseh, but now that church authority has weakened, a mere priest, unless he happens to be the bishop of Lanseh or an abbot, can do nothing against secular power.

"...Very well. We shall hear the testimony first."

"A wise decision, Father Nikolaus."

Andreas smoothed things over with Nikolaus, who could do nothing but struggle to hide his mounting displeasure. An ordinary lord would have sat back and enjoyed the show.

But I’m a lord who came for the show itself, not the refreshments.

I intended to keep a close watch on this sham performance so that no one came out of it a victim.

Dressel’s gang, who had been gleefully expecting the trial to open with torture, were visibly rattled when it began with testimony instead. Unlike the serene Norman, they balked at even taking the oath.

"My name is Norman Hennings. Thank you for permitting my testimony."

"Do you swear to speak only the truth before the Lord?"

"I swear it before our merciful and holy Lord."

"Do the remaining accusers so swear?"

Dressel hemmed and hawed, unable to answer.

Only when the chief monk asked a second time did he manage to force his mouth open.

"I—I swear."

Dressel went pale at the thought that he had just violated a taboo.

Yet refusing the oath would have meant blaspheming the Lord outright. They had sworn with their backs against the wall, so if their lies came to light here, they would not walk away unscathed.

They had never dreamed things would blow up like this. Thanks to you bastards, I’ve got a headache of my own now. Just accept your judgment quietly before the Lord. No doubt they’d fabricate every lie they could to attack their victim.

"I witnessed that witch seducing men on multiple occasions!"

"She goes around rubbing a strange-smelling potion on her body. It must be a potion for transforming into an animal!"

"I saw her go into the forest in the dead of night to perform a ritual, with my own two eyes!"

"At that ritual site, a demon appeared with the head of a goat and the tail of a pig!"

The accusers testified with fervor. Knowing full well that they were doomed unless they made their lies pass for truth, they dressed their stories up desperately to sound convincing. Norman only egged them on while keeping his own mouth firmly shut.

"To call that nonsense testimony..."

Andreas was flabbergasted by hogwash that not even the faithful would believe, but the audience, parched for an entertaining story, was thrilled. True or not, they were having a grand time.

"Wolf, did we somehow end up fifty years in the past?"

"I doubt they gave testimony this bad even fifty years ago."

"I’m surprised. It’s more of a mess than I expected."

At least the Jews could argue their own case, reciting their scriptures from memory. These clowns were merely parroting popular folklore about witches as though it were fact. And of course, the details of that folklore vary wildly from region to region.

Nikolaus, who had been listening intently to the sham testimony, nodded.

"Hmm. If the testimony is accurate, that seamstress is without a doubt a witch."

Every eye in the room turned to him.

Andreas challenged his ready agreement.

"Father Nikolaus, what exactly do you believe a witch to be?"

"A witch in league with Satan rejects faith in the Lord and gains sorcerous power through fornication with him. Her purpose is to use that power to seduce pure men and lead them into corruption."

"Is that your personal belief, Father? Or does such a standard actually exist?"

"It is the teaching of the esteemed Inquisitor Institoris of Tyrol. He has judged countless witches and rooted out the disciples of Satan to deliver sacred verdicts."

Institoris of Tyrol?

Nikolaus had said he was bound for Tyrol once the trial ended. So it was this man he meant to meet. What’s more, Tyrol was a border territory of the Archduchy of Austria, and the domain of Imperial Crown Prince Maximilian.

It was a name I’d never heard, but the moment it came up, several people in the audience began to murmur. He seemed to be more famous than I’d thought. Ferke, seated beside me, filled me in on the details.

"He’s a famous inquisitor, but he’s also called Institoris the Innocent-Killer."

"Famous in the worst way, then. Why do they call him that?"

"They say most of his victims are prostitutes. He devised a theory that lewd women who copulate with Satan corrupt devout men. Therefore, he argues, since all women are potential followers of Satan, all women must be kept under watch to prevent them from uniting with him."

What kind of blatant woman-hating theory is that?

Did a prostitute break his heart or something?

Even with the Church’s authority in decline, society hasn’t gone so far off the rails as to accept anything that absurd. And yet this priest Institoris remains a professor at the Tyrol seminary and a religious judge to this day.

"With a man like that sitting as a religious judge, that region must be hell for its women."

"That’s why they call him Institoris the Innocent-Killer."

The fact that he keeps his position despite his terrible reputation must mean he has connections in the Roman papacy. The problem is that a man who worships that lunatic is presiding over a religious trial held on my land.

And now part of the audience began voicing agreement with Nikolaus’s claims.

They had swallowed the theory that women are potential followers of Satan.

"Father Nikolaus! Are there other signs as well?"

"Of course. Inquisitor Institoris has said that midwives and herbalists brew potions to make pregnant women miscarry, or even spirit away newborn children to offer them to Satan. There was just such an incident in Innsbruck not long ago."

"Oh, Lord!"

"Heavens, no!"

The audience, apparently deeply shaken, crossed themselves and prayed. At this rate, innocent midwives and herbalists would be branded as witches too. When things start heading that way, the best move is to break the momentum outright.

"Why don’t we take a short recess before continuing the trial?"

"You’re requesting a recess? Baron, this is a religious trial."

"You are not even an official religious judge, Father. Is there really any need to stand on formality?"

"...Very well. I will grant the request for a recess."

Nikolaus clearly had no shortage of complaints, but he couldn’t show his displeasure to a prince, so in the end he consented with a strained smile. The audience streamed out as the recess began. They seemed to regard it as a thoroughly entertaining trial.

"We’d better wrap up this farce of a trial quickly."

"Wolf, will it be all right? He doesn’t seem like the type to back down easily."

"If it means protecting our innocent villagers, then I’ll make him back down."

The trial promised to be shocking in all sorts of ways, so for the sake of Hilda’s peace of mind, I sent her back to the mansion. Andreas approached me with a sigh, looking mentally drained.

Good thing I cut things off when I did.

"I never imagined he would be so fanatical about witch hunting."

"Isn’t being called fanatical the highest compliment for a man of the cloth?"

"Fanatical in this sense is no compliment at all, Baron."

Andreas feared this was no small matter.

"If, as Father Nikolaus claims, His Holiness one day grants legal sanction to witch hunts, a terrible calamity will befall this land. May God’s protection be upon us all."

Andreas crossed himself and prayed fervently that it would all pass without incident, but the winds of the witch hunts were already beginning to stir. They would blow in earnest in the late 15th century.

At the very least, I have no intention of tolerating witch hunts in the lands I rule.