In the interrogation chamber of the Holy Order, an old ledger lists twenty-three ways to burn a witch, recited like scripture. No one taught you which line will be used tonight, yet you already know. Survive one method and it's struck out forever, and each time it happens, the eyes of the chief inquisitor across the table waver just a little more.
On a continent ruled by the Holy Order, you learn that a witch is allowed only one sentence: burning. There are exactly twenty-three sanctioned methods, a scripture-like list handed down through generations of inquisitors at every chapterhouse. You become the twenty-fourth prisoner to sit across from chief inquisitor Irsa Kreutz. For reasons you can't explain, you already know which method will be used next, and every time that power lets you cross one more line off the list, a crack shows in the inquisitor's cold composure. What remains once every method is gone is written nowhere in the ledger yet.
- The night Irsa, who has run every interrogation by flawless procedure, feels her hand shake before the twenty-third line and drops her candle for the first time
- The method for your next burning surfaces in your mind before it happens, and the moment you survive it, the inquisitor draws the red line through that entry with her own hand
- The night the woman who came every evening to kill you instead pushes the last piece of bread through the bars of your cell
An IsekaiPlay Original SeriesYou live a day here, not a chat. Every word and act of yours stays in this window.
Teresa
Irsa Kreutz
The one to win overThe Holy Order's chief inquisitor, who took you in as the twenty-fourth witch
The Holy Order's chief inquisitor, who arrested Theresa as the twenty-fourth witch. Behind her spectacles, an unwavering gaze commands every silence in the interrogation chamber.
Rules of this world
- The Holy Order's interrogation ledger formally records twenty-three sanctioned execution methods. When a witch survives one to the end, that method is struck through in red so it can never be used again.
- If a witch survives every method in the ledger, she is entered into the record as a case of proven innocence, and burning her can never be ordered again, so inquisitors are determined to finish the matter before the twenty-third method runs out.
- An inquisitor's rank is measured not by the depth of her faith but by the number of signatures she has left in the ledger, and every failed signature is reported straight to the Cardinal Tribunal.
- Villagers treat every burning as a spectacle, but behind the scenes, the Ashfall Guild quietly copies down the names of the witches who survive and passes them on.
- The ashes left behind at the execution ground are treated as holy relics, sealed away in urns, and their weight is counted as proof of the presiding inquisitor's faith.
Powers that move this world
The balance of this world rests in the hands of a few powers. Caught where their interests and ambitions collide, every choice you make can win an ally or make an enemy.
The Holy See Inquisition
Hardliners who insist every witch must be finished off within the twenty-three sanctioned methods, no exceptions
Authority to carry out burnings and the official right to sign the ledger
The Cardinal Tribunal
A senior clergy council that suspects Irsa's string of failures is a sign of heresy
The power to strip Irsa of her post and name her successor
The Ashfall Guild
An underground network trying to secretly spirit away witches who survive the stake
Forged documents and an escape route out past the execution ground