Use foreign lands to conquer the whole of Europe

In the church, only Alma and her daughter, Brin's parents, priests and night watchmen remained.

Under the auspices of Father Cesar, the night watchmen untied the hemp rope from Brin's body, which allowed her to move her muscles and bones a little bit, and the stiffness in her body also eased.

But before she could breathe a sigh of relief, Breen heard the priest call her mother to help her take off her shirt.

"We need to confirm whether you have the witch's mark on your body-this is the gentlest way to determine whether you are possessed," Cesar said seriously, "We will check your back first, so you can make sure that you are possessed." Your mother covers your face. Before your sins are confirmed, we will guarantee your most basic human dignity."

Brin and her mother, Julie, thanked her repeatedly, and then Julie stood in front of Brin, covering her daughter's body while lifting her blouse for her.

In the case of showing her back, the back of the young blonde girl is clearly displayed in front of the few remaining people present.As the clothes were gradually pulled up to the shoulders, they finally saw a strange sign.

It was a bluish-black pattern resembling a birthmark, only the size of a coin, and it was extremely conspicuous on the girl's fair and slightly thin back——

Because this is the best evidence of witch possession.

Father Cesar realized this immediately, and immediately called Brin's father to come and identify him.

Nervous Brin didn't know what they saw. This young girl in her 20s could only stand in front of her mother, seeing her anxious and restless expression, her panic grew more and more, and she even seemed to feel the pain behind her. The sharp eyes of those people.

"No, no, my daughter doesn't have this kind of birthmark," Brin's father said in a panic, looking up at his wife, "Julie, does Brin have a birthmark on her back? Am I remembering it wrong? "

Julie's heart sank suddenly.She quickly asked Alma to come over and help Brin to cover her body, and then walked behind her daughter to observe carefully.

There was indeed a strangely shaped birthmark there, and Julie clearly remembered that there was no such mark on Bryn.

Julie hesitated.As a mother, she didn't want her daughter to be judged by the church anyway, even if Brin was really possessed by a witch, she couldn't accept it.

But during her brief hesitation, Father Cesar's voice came from beside her:
"Julie, say what you know. The Lord is watching you."

"Oh, Father Cesar, I was recalling some things just now. After all, I am old and my memory is not very good," Julie said as naturally as possible, "I remember that Bryn did have such a birthmark on her body, Right here, there's nothing wrong with that."

Brin's father was taken aback for a moment, he looked at his wife in disbelief, and immediately caught the panic flashing in her eyes.

The wife is lying, and the reason is self-evident.As a devout believer, this kind of thing cannot be forgiven, she will definitely be punished by the Lord, and she will definitely go to hell after death.

"... yes, Father. I remember, and Julie did mention it to me. It was all Bryn's little thing, and after 20 years, my old guy has forgotten all about it Come on, I'm such an incompetent father."

Brin's father said, responding to Cesar's questioning gaze with a calm expression.

If there is hell, the family should go together - after losing their son, they can no longer accept the only child left to them.

Cesar stared at the couple closely, with an extremely solemn expression: "...that is to say, Brin has this birthmark since she was a child, isn't it?"

"Yes, Father."

The couple responded one after the other, looked at each other again, and understood each other's meaning with a tacit understanding.

The sign of witch-possession is a mark that suddenly appeared. As long as their parents insisted that Brin had this birthmark since childhood, Brin would not be considered "witch-possessed" by the priest.

But at this moment, Cesar suddenly announced sharply:
"Here is the verdict! Brin is a witch, the evidence is convincing, drag her to the gallows!"

This sentence was like a bomb thrown into the crowd, which shocked everyone present.

The night watchmen responded quickly and ran forward.At this moment, it doesn't matter whether the young lady is well dressed or not—because she is no longer a member of the village, but a witch caught by the church.

In the chaos, Brin was pushed to the ground by the swarming guards, and shouted in embarrassment: "I'm not a witch! Let me go!"

"Why, Father Cesar!" Seeing her daughter being detained again, Julie looked at the priest and shouted emotionally, "Brin can't be a witch, that on her—"

"Julie! You have been bewitched by the witch, so naturally you can't recognize her as a witch!" Cesar snapped, "She has a toad mark on her body! That is the symbol of a witch! And you are also a fan of witches." who! Night watchman, take her parents away!"

Julie froze.

She just saw her daughter being declared a witch, and when she got emotional, she naturally began to defend her, and she didn't even realize that the priest's rhetoric had changed——

Yes.Now, their daughter is not "possessed by a witch", but is identified as a witch by Cesar, and is identified as a witch by the church.There is a world of difference between the two, even as parents.

But, how could it be a "toad mark"?In Julie's eyes, it was just a bland, irregular birthmark.

The two old men were surrounded by guards on the spot.They were pressed from left to right, tied with ropes, and looked at their daughter who was pinned to the ground by the guards in a state of despair. They begged for mercy helplessly, claiming that there must be some misunderstanding here.

But Cesar didn't budge.

He sternly scolded the old couple, and even asked the guards to shut the mouth of the Brin's family, saying that Brin's parents were Witch's supporters, their actions were all based on the Witch's instructions, and what they said was the most vicious The most evil language, they must never be allowed to speak again.

At this moment, another voice came from beside the priest:

"Father Cesar, can you confirm that Miss Brin is a witch just by using the mark?"

At this moment, the Brin family, the guards who tried to seal the mouth of the Brin family with cloth strips, Alma, and Father Cesar were all slightly startled, and looked at Susanna who was standing beside the priest.

Her immature face looked calm, but just now, this girl who had been silent and watched the adults quarrel the whole time, actually questioned the highest-ranking priest in the village, Cesar.

Before the priest could speak, Alma, who was standing next to the girl, bent down and reprimanded in a low voice:

"Susan, what are you talking about. The church has made a judgment, go home with mom!"

Alma was extremely flustered.When the night watchmen swarmed up and held down Brin, Alma was already pushed aside by them, and then returned to her daughter.

She noticed that Suzanne's behavior was very different from usual, but she didn't have the time to pay attention to it—but she never thought that her daughter would want to defend Brin who had been identified as a witch!
However, Susanna did not look at her mother beside her.She was still standing there, even though the venerable priest was looking at her with cold eyes, she looked at him without timidity:

"Father Cesar, shouldn't the procedure for determining a witch be stricter? Miss Brin is by no means a witch. She has never done anything harmful. Even if the procedure was wrong when she cleaned my sister's wound yesterday, it was only her. I was confused for a while, and didn't really want to murder Elena - if she really wanted to hurt us, as a maid, she could have many ways, and even get rid of us without anyone knowing, right?"

"Susan?!"

Alma couldn't help but let out a small exclamation.Suzanne's long series of speeches were extremely coherent in logic, and it was almost impossible to find faults, but the biggest problem was——

Her 12-year-old daughter can never say such a thing!
As a mother, she knew her daughter very well, and even Cesar, who was not familiar with Suzanne, could feel that the girl was in a very abnormal state today.

Under the shocked eyes of the surrounding crowd, Cesar stared at her blankly, and said after a moment of silence: "...Your name is Susanna, right?"

"Yes." Susanna's expression remained calm.

But Alma couldn't stand anymore. She quickly grabbed the girl's hand, dragged her to the outside of the church, and hurriedly explained to the priest:

"Father Cesar, Susanna was a little hit today, please don't take the child's nonsense seriously, I will take her back..."

"……Do not."

Cesar said so, looking at the stubborn girl who was dragged away by her mother without saying a word, but instead looked at him the whole time, suddenly smiled:
"I remember that none of your family has joined the religion, right? This is a good opportunity for her to experience the divine trial—keep this child, the trial of the witch will begin soon."

"You haven't answered my question yet," Susannah said calmly, as if she couldn't feel the strength of her mother's grip on her arm. "Shouldn't the process of determining a witch be more rigorous? Miss Brin is definitely not a witch." .”

"Whether she is a witch or not is not determined by you as a child," Cesar said in a deep voice, "The imprint on this person is the sign of a witch. This is a judgment based on my experience and knowledge. .”

He waved his hand to interrupt Alma, who was about to say something, and said to the dissatisfied Susanna: "I won't argue with ignorant children, but if you continue to question the church's decision, maybe you won't be able to go home during this time .”

"Father Cesar!" Alma panicked immediately, then tightly covered Susanna's mouth, looked at the priest and said again, "I'm sorry, I didn't discipline the child strictly! I will take her home and educate her well -"

"Alma," Cesar's expression softened, "Although your family is not religious, you and Jed also have good and noble morals..."

He closed his eyes slightly, paused, and suddenly said sharply:
"...So! Suzanne must have been educated by you in normal times, it is impossible to say such words that question the church's decision! She must have also been bewitched by the witch!"

"Father Cesar!" Alma couldn't help exclaiming.

"Okay! No need to say anything!" Cesar looked at Alma and Susannah who was covering her mouth and looking at him coldly with an unhappy expression, then turned to look at the guards beside him, and gave an order :

"Call the villagers and take the witch's family to the gallows. The trial will begin immediately!"

------

Judgment has been handed down.

The door of the church opened again, and what greeted the villagers was the priest's sentence.

He impassionedly announced his sentence, declaring that Brin is a witch, and the witch family will be judged.

The crowd outside the church boiled instantly.They began to loudly reprimand the witch and the witch's family, the crimes committed by the witches of the past generations, and the Brin family who seemed to be good on weekdays, but they had such an ugly soul.

The tied-up Brin family appeared in front of the villagers.They were forcefully escorted by the night watchmen and sent to the gallows at the northernmost point of the village.

Along the way, countless stones, eggs, and even dirt were thrown at Brin and her parents by the villagers, but after several night watchmen were accidentally injured, Cesar sternly stopped this behavior.

In the eyes of people's resentment, they were sent to the gallows.

They struggled, with helpless and desperate expressions, and were mercilessly hung up by the night watchmen, and died one by one.

Fresh life turned into cold corpses, people cheered, people celebrated, and the church bells rang loudly in the clear sky:

Since then, there has been one less family polluted by the witch in the village. Under the sacred protection of the church, the peace of the village has been protected today.

In the crowd, there was a girl who was hugged tightly by her mother with one hand and tightly covered her mouth.She listened to the cheers of the crowd, watched her close relatives and her family members being hanged one by one, and watched their painful and fierce struggle gradually calm down, and the unprecedented intense anger and hatred broke through her reason.

Her eyes were about to burst into tears, and tears welled up in her eyes. Under the dizzying emotional shock, she finally remembered her own name and the surname she had given herself——

Angie Glaske.