How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Movement (2)

A corpse with all its teeth missing.

Although it was an unexpected situation, it wasn’t enough to surprise me, who had witnessed countless kinds of death.

Unlike the initial shock, Jerit seemed to have quickly regained his composure.

A dead person found in a remote field.

It wasn’t a common occurrence, but it wasn’t unheard of either. Especially in these times.

“At this rate……”

Jerit, who took out a coin to place in the corpse’s mouth, muttered with a look of pity. It was impossible to properly place the coin in the mouth of the corpse, which had been practically mutilated with all its teeth missing.

It was clear that someone had intentionally inflicted the damage.

There were about three or four possible causes that came to mind, but there wasn’t enough evidence to be certain of any one of them.

“─Casting off all transgressions, may you find peace……”

His expression was quite devout as he muttered a prayer for the dead towards the corpse in the field, unsure whether it was a bandit or a heretic.

Being inexperienced and naive, in other words, meant that he hadn’t become jaded yet.

I quietly bowed my head and waited for Jerit to finish his prayer.

He even seemed to be trying to maintain some form, taking out a small stick from his waist and waving it in the air.

‘Wait a minute.’

I slowly opened my mouth as I watched him.

“Jerit.”

“Yes?”

A mysterious energy emanated from the short stick he was holding. Intricately engraved letters and pictures on the metal stick, gleaming with a mystical luster, sparkled in the sunlight.

I asked him with a dubious tone.

“Isn’t that Rokellan’s Requiem Rod?”

Before the final test to select Inquisitors. And after returning from the first mission on Mount Pehern.

During the remaining free time, in addition to learning various kinds of holy spells, I spent time studying the various holy relics that remain in this era.

The Inquisition’s library was vast, and there was a variety of knowledge that I hadn’t been able to access before when I lived as a black mage.

Everyone has something to learn. I always welcomed new kinds of learning.

I carefully examined the stick in Jerit’s hand. There was no mistaking it.

Named after a legendary monk from three hundred years ago, that stick was a rather precious holy relic.

Of course, since it was an object created for the specific purpose of comforting the soul, or for purification rituals, it wouldn’t be able to demonstrate its true power in actual combat.

“Oh! As expected, you recognized it right away!”

“Why are you holding that?”

Jerit, who rolled his eyes for a moment at my question, soon nodded and answered energetically.

“It was a gift!”

“……”

I looked at Jerit, who was waving Rokellan’s Requiem Rod in the air as if it were a wooden stick he had picked up from the ground.

He must have come from a considerably well-off family.

I nodded and mentally adjusted my evaluation of him up a notch, no, half a notch.

🔹🔹🔹

After encountering the nameless corpse, the next few days of the journey were smooth.

The deep autumn weather was quite suitable for traveling, and Jerit and I steadily closed the distance towards our destination, Sitdria, without any particular difficulties.

“It feels like I’m on vacation, haha.”

Jerit said, looking at the rabbit meat sizzling and cooking over the crackling bonfire.

Perhaps because the journey was much more peaceful and comfortable than expected, aside from encountering one corpse, his tension completely dissipated, and he asked me various questions.

I silently turned the skewer with the dressed rabbit on it. Oil was dripping from the rabbit meat, which was cooking just right.

While I didn’t indulge in luxury, cooking was included among the minor skills I had acquired while wandering the continent for many years, so it was a little disappointing that there weren’t many ingredients available.

“By the way, Inquisitor-nim, I heard the demon that appeared in Browell village was a Mongma? Does a Mongma really take the form of a beautiful woman?”

Jerit asked, munching on the steaming rabbit meat seasoned only with salt.

I felt that if I left him alone, his curious questions would never end, so I answered briefly.

“They don’t have a fixed gender. They’re quite unique even among demons. They have slightly different eating habits compared to ordinary demons who feed on human despair and fear. Of course, the result is the destruction of the sacrifice, which is the same.”

“Oh…… I see!”

Jerit, who swallowed the meat that was clearly quite hot with a pained expression, reached for his water bottle.

After gulping down the water, he sucked on his oil-slicked fingers and asked another question out of curiosity.

“Have you…… ever seen a witch, Inquisitor-nim? No, of course you have. What kind of beings are they?”

He’s quite curious.

I briefly considered ignoring him, but since the next mission was related to witches, I decided to answer that question.

“Witches……”

I looked at the crackling bonfire.

Just as ordinary elemental mages are divided differently depending on their respective schools or magic towers, those who turn their backs on God and use wicked magic are also classified in quite a variety of ways.

Black mages of the Catacombs, necromancers of the Cloud Mountains, witches of the forest, necromancers of the desert, and so on.

The differences between them are so great that it’s safe to say they use completely different systems of magic.

Of course, from the Church’s perspective, they are all the same heretics.

Even if I explained the differences and gave an in-depth explanation of witches here, he wouldn’t understand half of it.

So I glanced at him and summarized it simply.

“They are adept at deceiving appearances, making them quite tricky opponents. However, if you grasp their essence, they are not that difficult to deal with.”

“Hmm……”

Jerit, who frowned and pondered for a while, eventually shrugged with a look of not understanding.

“……It’s difficult.”

He swallowed the rabbit meat he had been chewing and said, wiping the greasy residue on his empty hand on the grass. He scratched his head as he smacked his lips and his gaze fell on the wooden skewers stuck in the ground next to the fire.

“Why aren’t you eating? Do you perhaps not have an appetite……”

Jerit asked, staring intently at the rabbit meat that had been grilled for me. He looked as if he would snatch it and put it in his mouth if I gave him permission.

Looking at him, I answered simply.

“It’s hot.”

🔹🔹🔹

To wish for an ideal journey, peaceful and happy without any incidents, is too much of a luxury to hope for in these times.

About two hours after daybreak, when we started moving towards Sitdria on horseback again.

We slowly slowed down and stopped when we spotted something.

Thud!

About a dozen men were digging the ground with shovels. I rode my horse slowly towards them.

Digging the ground with shovels is not a particularly strange act.

But unfortunately for Jerit, who wished for a peaceful journey, what they were burying in the ground was not seeds or saplings, but the bodies of people.

To be precise, they hadn’t finished burying them yet. Behind them, five or six corpses lay scattered, splattered with blood.

“In, Inquisitor-nim……!”

Jerit called me softly with a slightly worried face. As expected, he doesn’t seem suited to be an Esquire who assists the Inquisitor and burns heretics alive.

Since it was a wide-open area with no terrain to hide in except for the distant rugged cliffs, the men seemed to have noticed us approaching from afar.

“……”

The men slowly raised their weapons as they watched me approach them on horseback.

That’s a good attitude.

A clear expression of intent that avoids unnecessary misunderstandings.

“Don’t come any closer.”

One of the men said, aiming a loaded crossbow at me.

A large, burly man, who appeared to be the leader, looked at me staring at them and threatened in a low voice.

“Get back to your mama’s arms quietly while you still can, kids. Or should I tell you to dig the hole deeper?”

“Hmm.”

Quite a sophisticated warning. I quickly scanned the men’s level of armament and attire.

They weren’t trained soldiers. Judging from the lack of any trace of black magic, they weren’t connected to the Catacombs either.

‘Are they just ordinary bandits?’

The adjective”ordinary”didn’t quite fit a band of bandits who kill people, but in reality, starving farmers and bandits are only a sheet of paper apart.

To be precise, the difference lies in whether they choose to eat or not.

“……”

There was a slight tension in their expressions.

Perhaps they also instinctively sensed that we weren’t easy opponents. To be precise, it was me, not us.

A large black horse that was not easily found and a calm demeanor that seemed to ignore the clear numerical disadvantage.

Of course, the black cloak, a symbol of the Inquisitor, could appear to be that of ordinary travelers at first glance, so they didn’t seem to have realized who I was yet.

In the first place, Inquisitors weren’t that common.

I glanced at the corpses scattered here and there behind the men. Judging from their clothing, the people killed by this band of bandits were ordinary farmers.

A sudden question came to mind, and I asked myself.

Even without Jerit, the devout Inquisitor-to-be, behind me, would I have bothered to question their crimes, despite the inconvenience?

“……”

The deliberation didn’t last long. Perhaps I would have.

It was they who had first pointed their weapons at me and threatened my life. I wasn’t naive enough to run through an open field with a crossbow at my back.

I calmly spoke to the men who were aiming their weapons at us with a menacing look.

“Yes, that would be better. The hole seems too small for all of you to fit in.”

“……!”

“……Crazy bastard.”

The men hardened their expressions and gripped their weapons at my response.

“Jerit.”

I called the Esquire behind me in a flat tone.

“……Yes.”

“Do you know how to handle a sword?”

Shing.

I heard the sound of Jerit, armed with light chainmail and a longsword, drawing his sword without a word.

He’s an Esquire of the Holy See, after all. He has the basic posture down.

“Crazy bastards, you have no fear!”

“Shoot!”

“Kill them!”

As if Jerit drawing his sword was the signal, the men began to rush at us, shouting menacingly.

Whoosh!

The first thing I saw was an arrow flying towards my head, cutting through the wind.

It was flying straight towards me, who was on horseback, as if the archer had considerable experience.

Clang!

But then, it bounced off harmlessly in front of me.

“Wh, what!”

Gabras’ Silver Shield.

A defensive spell specialized in blocking black magic spells, but it possessed enough physical strength to easily block an ordinary arrow.

The faint silver shield that appeared out of nowhere and lightly deflected the arrow.

The men froze for a moment, caught off guard by the situation that surpassed their expectations.

“……!”

“Damn it. A, a mage!”

It seemed they weren’t the kind to have killed just one or two people, as they quickly regained their composure.

Crack!

The brief moment of hesitation from the bandits’ surprise was enough time for me.

Jumping off my horse and into the midst of them, I swung my sword high.

Crack!

With an abnormal sound, blood splattered into the air.

“Gah……!”

My sword, which had drawn a clear red line across the bandit’s chest, continued upwards, shattering his jawbone and exiting into the air.

Without even looking back at the man who had instantly died, I immediately turned my body and swung the raised sword diagonally downwards.

Crack.

The sword, struck with force that easily surpassed that of a normal adult male, sliced through the bandit’s light leather armor and embedded itself in his body.

“Ugh, uaaaaaaaaah!”

From his right shoulder to his chest.

I kicked the bandit, who was screaming while looking at his half-split body, to the ground and pulled out the sword embedded in him.

Thud.

The bandit’s body, already lifeless, rolled limply on the ground.

Due to Jerit watching, I couldn’t use black magic, which is extremely effective against multiple opponents, but that restriction wasn’t significant enough to hinder me against these small fries.

“A, a monster!”

As two men fell in a gruesome state in just a single breath, unrest spread among them.

Fear replaced anger and hostility.

They began to back away hesitantly. My gaze, which had been watching them, suddenly fell on the corpses in the pit behind them.

“……”

The corpses in the pit that the men had dug all had their mouths mutilated.

Just like the one I had seen a few days ago.

“Ah.”

I smiled ferociously and looked at the remaining bandits.

“You were the ones who did this.”

At my brief words, their faces turned pale.

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