Inquisitor Diego finishes up his inspection and then asks if Alejandro wishes to denounce anyone anonymously, only for the Inquisitor to become quickly annoyed again when Alejandro begins mentioning witches…
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After Alex’s Andalusian artistic and academical ancestors were awfully, abruptly chased from Granada’s sophisticated capital city-life to become backward converso rustics, they embraced Catholicism at peasant-level, coming with tons of superstition, often with dark heathenish roots, clueless which were canonically sanctioned, further confused by ignorant country clergy without seminary training, so they passed on the deplorable mixed mess of ignorance and idiocies, sustaining stupid superstition, centre-stage being taken by stories about witchcraft, sadly abused by some clergy as boogie(wo)man, which also got out of hand.
Unlike the proverbial dumb, brutal fellow inquisitors who terrorise subjects of the Spanish crown, Diego doesn’t try to trick people into confessing/inditing black magic, realizing the supernatural -if real at all, notably if not Biblical- is better left to God Almighty, his own task is to bridle sinful human vices. Knowing witch-hunts tend to be manipulated, often getting out of anyone’s control, Diego is disgusted by those deviations destroying decent people while profiting pricks and predators, therefore discourages them diligently.
Having seen neighbouring and even fellow village people, especially conversos, haunted by local authorities blindly going after witchcraft rumours till some scapegoats were arrested, Alex alas also assumes, falsely though understandably, a real, high and mighty inquisitor, which even the diocese had no control over, will expect to find and stamp out a whole witches coven, and always-helpful Alex is eager to offer any help unsolicited.
Actually starting a witch-hunt and haunting conversos or others is the last think Diego wants, so he hastily endeavours to stamp out such rumour from the source, swiftly stripping and soundly spanking the slippery-spoken squirt, whose converso family would probably and up as counter-accused victims themselves. A bonfire-brightly burning badmouth-brat-bottom is a bonny business, his bared boyish beauty a bonus to behold, beneficious to both. Alex is surprised and confused to be scolded, stripped and spanked for his serviceability, but(t) soon relieved it’s just to make him stop what he only did on false assumption, without punishment, and even to counter those wicked witch-hunts his converso community fears: end good, all good, his eerily-exposed-excruciated end will heal as always, a small price to pay for keeping the pyre away from the pueblo!