Berserk: The Prophet

"Snap!" "Thud!"

In the freezing cold night, the sound of whips cracking against flesh echoed. Green knelt naked in the snow, silently enduring the excruciating pain of his skin being torn open.

............

In the afternoon, because of what happened in the morning, Akro's Knights investigated the soles of every soldier and knight's shoes and personal clothing, especially targeting several men with pageboys, and even thoroughly searched their mattresses.

"You are Grin?" The captain of the four Aklo knights, who were conducting a routine check, asked with a serious expression. Although they did not think that a knight's squire would be involved in that matter, it was still necessary to search him thoroughly.

"Yes, sir," Green replied calmly, after all, the entire dormitory was being checked in this way.

"I heard someone saw you go to the city yesterday?" As Captain Aklo asked, his men had already searched through Green and Bazso's bedding and any place where they could store their belongings.

"Yes."

"What did you do?"

"I've been in the castle for almost a month now. I originally wanted to buy some things to improve our meals, but I didn't expect the area outside the city to look like that, so I came straight back." Green waved his hand helplessly, after all, this was the truth.

"Hmm...that's consistent with what was reported."

Captain Yaklo also observed that Green's leather boots were very clean and there was no mud on them, which was typical of the city. Based on the marks on his shoes alone, they had already arrested quite a few suspicious people today.

"Captain, nothing unusual has been found." The three Aklo knights found nothing unusual; there were no tattered black and gray clothes, nor any strange hidden weapons or daggers.

"Yes, you all know what happened today. We must be on high alert and not go out anymore."

"no problem."

"You lot, come with me," said the leading knight, Alot. Although he didn't doubt that Alot was one of these kids, he still had to do the job assigned to him.

After the dormitory inspection was completed, the stone house was mostly filled with noble squires of knights. Like the noble knights themselves, they underwent only a routine check. However, the commoner soldiers below were a different story. After being roughly inspected in the freezing cold, they were collectively driven outside and stripped naked to check for any new wounds. A group of knights were already blocking the way outside. This method uncovered many Juda spies, but those Juda assassins with obvious wounds, seeing that they could not escape, immediately bit through their poison sacs and committed suicide, leaving not a single survivor.

Despite the thoroughness of the investigation, some lucky Judas assassins and spies remained unharmed and continued to infiltrate, though their numbers had clearly decreased significantly, and some areas were no longer under their control.

After a day full of twists and turns, there are three things worth investigating and considering.

First, there was the horrific incident in the city. At the scene, the heads of more than a dozen male refugees were found boiled in the same pot, a truly gruesome sight, something only heretics would do. Some of their bodies had throwing knives stuck in them, while others were pierced by crossbow bolts. Based on the type of weapons used, it was speculated that they were likely part of the group that assassinated Lord Laban. However, a child's footprint was found on the ground, which matched the one of the imps that had pierced Bulkan's leg in the soup kitchen. So, several pageboys were taken to an empty room by four Alot Knights, stripped of their clothes, and examined. Fortunately, Green was not left with any injuries, and the incident was well covered up. Now, the Alot Knights have set their sights on the heretics who may be lurking in the city.

Secondly, how did Juda's spies incite the refugees and become so easily provoked? It's not hard to guess from the spies mixed among the refugees that they had infiltrated with them from the beginning. But even in chaos, they were just a mob afraid of starving to death. No matter how much they were protected by the army, they wouldn't dare to act rashly. Being incited on such a large scale is not their usual style.

Thirdly, during the riot, not a single sentry on the city wall sounded the alarm, many guards on duty were killed, and the collapse of the city wall and the city wall all indicate that the infiltrated Judas had gained a certain degree of control over the guards inside the city.

Investigations among the refugees revealed how thin and watery the porridge had been in the past. The guards had embezzled and skimmed from it, and even some of Juda's spies had gotten involved, making the porridge even thinner. This only worsened the already hungry refugees' plight, and their resentment grew daily. When a riot broke out, these people were extremely easy to incite.

As a result, all the captains of the guards in charge of disaster relief in Orl City were immediately imprisoned and questioned. Perhaps Green was just trying to exonerate himself, but he was clearly fooled by Green's natural answer.

However, the fact that the page was being examined was clearly beyond Cady's expectations. So, that evening, Cady summoned Green to an underground storage room.

A bad feeling crept into his heart, but he still silently followed behind Kadi, stepping down the damp and cold steps. Kadi walked in front without saying a word, while Best followed behind Green. Although he was injured in the waist, he was not discovered because he was a nobleman's servant.

The storage room was dimly lit, and only by sticking their torches into the flames could Cardi and Best see everything clearly.

"Did you commit the crime of decapitation outside the city?"

Kadi asked in a neutral tone, though it was a question, the tone clearly conveyed a statement of fact.

“...It’s me.” Green readily admitted it; Best should have told Cardi a long time ago.

"..."

Kadi stared at Green with his deep blue eyes, his anger still palpable despite his earlier preparation; the boy was far too reckless.

"Kneel down!!"

Seeing that Green had admitted it, Best roared and kicked Green hard in the back of the knee, forcing him to kneel on the cold, damp ground. Green groaned and silently endured the pain in his leg, kneeling on the ground. There was no point in explaining; at worst, he could just kill himself.

"...Why?" Looking at Green kneeling on the ground like a stubborn mule, he seemed to refuse to admit his mistake, just like last time.

"For no reason other than I can't stand the state of the world."

Thinking of the tragic state of the mother and child in the city, Green gripped the fabric on his legs tightly with both hands, gritting his teeth.