Sassel patted Jeanne's shoulder, signaling her to turn her head. He cast a faint light over her eyes.
Jeanne looked puzzled, but when she turned her gaze back to Saya, her face paled immediately.
The inquisitor's pupils first flashed with the cold gaze of an executioner, then quickly extinguished, replaced by a calm, predatory indifference, like a bird of prey crouching before striking. Even the most terrifying cultists would have quailed under that look.
Conversation briefly halted. Each of the four people—and the Black Goat's offspring—fell into their own thoughts.
The light of spirit vision gleamed in Sassel's eyes too.
Though the Black Goat's offspring before them was among the smallest of its kind, its appearance was still enough to make any sane person nauseous. Its black, tree-trunk-like body sprouted over a dozen slimy, writhing tendrils, resembling the tails of serpents, with eyeballs the size of a human head embedded within the writhing mass. A central, murky green eye swiveled about like a marble packed with mud and weeds.
Though it had four thick, root-like hooves, when it came down the stairs earlier, it had moved not by walking, but by flowing—like a mass of slick, writhing black serpents squeezing against each other.
Moreover, although its body sported numerous mouths, they all remained tightly shut. It wasn't drooling slime as ordinary Black Goat offspring would. It seemed to have been tamed—or even trained.
Sassel felt utterly defeated—defeated by this man who had married a Black Goat's offspring.
"Um—hello? I'm A... cough, Eve. You came all this way alone out of love to find the memory-lost Mr. Plain? It sounds just like a knightly romance!" Astolfo said excitedly, addressing Saya—the Black Goat's spawn. Of course, in his eyes, she was nothing but a beautiful young girl—her soft, white cheeks, her clear eyes, her petite form, all unmistakably a vision of youthful beauty.
"Something like that," Saya said after thinking for a moment. She clasped Plain's hand as she spoke.
"I've been with Plain since long ago, and coming here didn't change that. Even though he lost his memory, it doesn't really matter—life here isn't so different from life outside."
While they chatted, Jeanne fixed her gaze on the Black Goat's spawn, who had rested one slimy tendril on the young man's hand. She nudged Sassel with her elbow, prompting him to link their souls:
"Truly eye-opening. Do all black sorcerers fall in love with creatures like this? Sassel, have you ever married some kind of slime monster? I suppose the more tentacles it has, the more beautiful you think it is? Would being stared at by one of those grotesque eyes make you so happy you'd lose your mind?"
Sassel replied expressionlessly:
"If you fell into a pit of tentacles, I would indeed be ecstatic."
"If that happened, I would immediately immolate myself with sacred fire and drag your soul down to the lowest labyrinth with me."
"Fair enough. You'd probably kill yourself before ever sleeping with a man anyway."
"I think you're far better suited to sleeping with men."
"Your language is getting filthier," Sassel said.
"That's exactly how I talk to heretics," Jeanne retorted coldly. "But never mind that—do you think he's trustworthy?"
"No black sorcerer is trustworthy," Sassel replied simply.
"Exactly. That's why I support exterminating all of you," Jeanne said.
"Can you have a serious discussion?"
"I am having a serious discussion," Jeanne shot him a glance. "Though I dearly want to draw my sword and strike down this black sorcerer and Black Goat spawn right now, the time and place are... unfavorable."
"With enemies everywhere, making new ones would be fatal," Sassel said. "True or false, what he said so far isn't too dangerous. We'll be able to leave this damned place in less than half a month. Still, we don't know what might happen if we stay longer. At least, I want to figure out here in this little library whether this dream will just scratch my skin—or ulcerate my organs entirely..."
"You said all that, and it's nothing but useless speculation. You think piling on words makes you more persuasive?"
"At least he seems friendly enough, doesn't he?"
"The nun who baptized me once said: men who seem kind are the least trustworthy."
"Then she must have been deceived in love before," Sassel muttered. "You can't take a few examples and generalize about everyone."
Jeanne rolled her eyes. "Don't you dare talk to me about logic. I hate that crap."
"A real country bumpkin! No education and proud of it! How did a bumpkin like you become an inquisitor?"
"Before I became an inquisitor, I helped crush three cults where Black Goat spawn led sacrifices of villages and civilians."
"And how many knights under your command died in the process?"
"I led my troops in destroying five heretic strongholds—from the cultists summoning the King in Yellow's spawn in Saenz, to the Skin Brotherhood's slaughterhouses in Lado Valley summoning the Skinless Ones. Their sacrifices were noble!"
"Other than massacring cultists, what else can you do? Eat and sleep?"
"I led French provincial forces to defeat a Celtic barbarian advance, cut off the expansion of those disgusting Round Table knights, almost lopped off that fool Gawain's head, and covered the Ardennes with their bleached bones! I hanged traitorous petty nobles from the trees lining the entire length of Rostone Avenue!"
"You abused your power, you lawless country witch!"
"Damn right I abused my power! And what can you do about it?! That local bishop Pierre tried to block my retreat at the city gates—so I brought him up for summary trial before the Iron Inquisitors! Three votes for execution, one abstention, one against—off with his head! I left his headless corpse rotting on the gates for three months and nailed his skull atop Rostone Avenue for a year! Do you think a judge who destroyed five heretic nests has to bow to a French duke?!"
"And you have the nerve to claim you 'sacrifice everything for God'!?" Sassel snapped.
Jeanne slammed the table, shoving her chair back as she roared:
"My village sacrificed everything for God! And when those stinking Celts tried their tricks, I showed them exactly what 'abusing power' means!"
"Uh, excuse me," Plain coughed gently. "Miss Eve seems to have disappeared. I believe she may have awakened."