“God have mercy on your soul, poor man. You needn’t carry this burden anymore. I’ve spared you the pain. If you were a believer, He would take you into his embrace now. I’ll see you at the golden gates one day.”

The visitor walked out of the chapel, carrying another man’s emotions inside of him. It was a blessing and a curse to wear the black cloak. You were able to feel any man’s emotions except your own.

“Take me to the house. I found out what I needed to know.” - he ordered the speaker and his companions.

“What about the boy? How is he?” - the speaker asked.

“He’s better now.” - the man in black answered.

The four men once again walked in uncomfortable silence, and the visitor felt their surprise when he broke it.

“Has anything else happened before the killings?” - he asked.

“Not that we’re aware of.” - the speaker said.

“Think, please. Anything out of the ordinary. Anything that has broken the routine of the villagers. Small things can have big circumstances.”

“We didn’t celebrate the coming of spring this year.” - the priest said - “We didn’t burn Mora’s statue.”

“Is this town not baptized?” - the man in black asked.

“No, no - it is. Everyone follows the dead god here…” - the priest started.

“The only god.” - the visitor interrupted him.

“Yes, yes, but some customs die hard. You know how it is. We still keep some of our old holidays.” - the priest said.

“Double faith… That explains the witch in the chapel. Desecrating holy ground with her mere presence… But I’m not here for her today. So you skipped praising the local gods this year, and you think it was a coincidence that your people got butchered?” - he asked.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before, father.” - the priest continued.

“Because you’ve been paying your dues to them until now. Praise the lord who’s come in your lands to rid you of this evil.”

The speaker stopped in place.

“Father, we are thankful for your visit. But we don’t want any more trouble. We’ll just keep things as they were, we’ll make an offering every now and then and we’ll have peace.”

“No, you will not. You will have peace, speaker. Once I’m gone, you can forget about all the pagan beliefs you hold. No one is going to bother you from now on. You’ve found God, hold prayer on the last day of the week, and there is nothing you should fear.”

The speaker led the way to the victim’s house, thinking if they had just traded one cruel master for another.