How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 109

Chapter 109: Monastery and Idol (2)

“Just what kind of bastard is it?”

As always, Lephra’s reaction was quite straightforward.

On the way back to Hesterica. We stopped by a village along the way.

The story we heard in the village, where we stopped simply to give the horses a rest and buy some food, was quite interesting.

The misfortune that befell the village and the very suspicious monastery.

The former was something that could be encountered anywhere on the continent, but the latter was not.

Suspicious, wicked, doubtful.

These words were not suitable to describe a monastery.

Of course, it’s not like there are no rumors that the priest of a small rural village turned out to be a person who worships heresy.

However, the monastery in this village is not a place where a clumsy, half-baked priest with no holy power fills in the gaps.

According to the villagers, the abbot of the monastery in the back mountain is a dispatched Brother from Hesterica.

In other words, he’s not some clueless nobody.

“Hmm.”

The villagers seemed somewhat intimidated by me, an Inquisitor. But at the same time, they didn’t seem to want to miss this opportunity, whether it was misfortune or good fortune, that came by chance. I pondered, piecing together the somewhat jumbled explanations in my head.

Just because someone is a dispatched Brother from Hesterica doesn’t necessarily mean they have a noble character. There were often cases where they would push the work of ambiguous jurisdictions onto others.

In fact, I had met a Brother from a branch who wasn’t very devout while dealing with a mountain bandit leader who was tainted by the Catacombs before.

But it was a little strange that they would openly ignore the suspicious things happening right in front of them in this village.

“Could it be an impersonation?”

Jerit asked with a suspicious expression. It was a plausible guess. But at the same time, it was also a guess with low probability.

What kind of lunatic would dare impersonate the name of Hesterica? And not in a remote wilderness, but in the central part of the continent where the power of the church is the strongest.

“Bruen.”

After hearing Jerit’s guess, Lephra frowned and searched her memory. It seemed like she was trying to recall information about the dispatched Brothers of Hesterica.

However, this was a village in a region quite far from the Inquisition. No matter how elite she was, having ascended to the position of Inquisitor at a young age, there was no way she would know the information about this place.

“Ah! I have a booklet.”

As if he suddenly remembered, Jerit started rummaging through his large backpack.

Soon, what appeared in his hand was a small booklet listing the branches of Hesterica and the dispatched Brothers.

After searching through it for a while, we were able to find the name Bruen. In other words, the monastery located in the back mountain of the village was real.

“Tsk, what a negligent person. He must be held accountable.”

Lephra muttered with a displeased expression. Perhaps she thought the Brother of the monastery was ignoring the village’s affairs due to laziness or some other similar reason.

“……Why did the young men die?”

Jerit asked with a somewhat dubious face.

The mysterious deaths of the young men who visited the monastery, which the villagers found most suspicious. It was too suspicious to be considered a coincidence.

“Whether there really is a connection between the suspicious things happening in the village and the monastery.”

I said lightly, looking at him.

“We’ll find out when we go.”

🔹🔹🔹

Finding the way wasn’t difficult. After all, monasteries aren’t built to be hidden.

“I think that’s it.”

When we reached about halfway up the mountain, we were able to find the monastery in question.

The rusted outer gate of the monastery was already dangling with its hinges broken off. The yard was overgrown with weeds due to lack of maintenance, and there was a faint stench as if something was rotting.

“It’s a mess.”

Lephra, with a frown, muttered as she looked around. The way she was holding her hand on the hilt of her sword with a displeased expression, it seemed as if she was going to swing it as soon as she found the lazy and irresponsible Brother.

“……”

I briefly scanned the exterior of the monastery. Then, I moved my steps and headed towards the stable on the side, not the main gate.

The places where the dispatched Brothers from Hesterica were located were all bound to have large stables.

For use in emergencies, for escape or pursuit.

And there it was here as well. The moment I opened the tightly closed stable door after moving for a while.

“……Ugh!”

Jerit hurriedly stepped back, clutching his nose.

At the same time, a swarm of buzzing flies surged out from inside.

“……”

I stood still and looked inside.

The corpse of a horse that had been dead for who knows how long. It was the source of the faint stench from before.

There were traces of the horse struggling, unable to overcome its hunger. But it seemed to have starved to death, unable to break out of the sturdily built stable.

Judging from the state of decay and the villagers’ words that they had last visited and seen the Brother himself, it wasn’t that the Brother had been unable to manage this place due to some unavoidable circumstances.

“Interesting. There seems to be something here.”

With a faint smile on my lips, I closed the stable door again, except for the various bugs.

Creak.

“……”

“……”

Their expressions were stiff.

They instinctively realized that this wasn’t simply due to the Brother’s laziness or negligence.

I could see Lephra biting her lip slightly.

But unlike me, she didn’t say anything.

No matter how much she wasn’t a devout believer in the church, corruption and betrayal weren’t things to be spoken of lightly.

🔹🔹🔹

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound of knocking, breaking the silence, echoed through the mountain monastery.

Of course, there was no response, as expected.

Shrugging, I raised my hand and said softly.

“Step back.”

Kwang!

As Jerit and Lephra moved back a few steps, the light that surged from my hand turned into a thick spear, shattering the latch and lock that were holding the monastery door in place.

Creak.

With a kick, the thick door with its lock broken swung open powerlessly.

The interior of the monastery we entered was quiet.

According to the booklet Jerit read and the villagers’ explanations, the number of people here was about a dozen.

This included the Brother dispatched from Hesterica, the apprentice priests, and those in charge of chores.

But the surroundings were quiet.

There was no reaction to the sudden intrusion of breaking down the door and entering. There were no signs of intrusion from the outside, except for us who had just entered.

“……”

Clang. I could hear the sound of Lephra drawing her sword from behind. Jerit also gulped and raised his sword.

Just as we were looking around the dark interior of the monastery.

“Oh my God.”

Jerit, who had found something, gasped.

In what appeared to be a prayer room, an enormous amount of blood was splattered.

The blood splattered on the broken furniture and shattered statues, as if something had happened, didn’t seem like it could belong to just one person.

“Such blasphemy……”

Lephra muttered, frowning.

What caught our attention more than the enormous amount of blood and the messed up prayer room, where the people had most likely lost their lives, was the large picture drawn in the middle of the wall.

A symbol drawn after removing the original symbol of the church.

The crimson symbol, which seemed to be made of blood, was looking down at us as if mocking the church.

Whoosh!

A small flame that arose from a strand of holy power extending from Lephra’s sword began to burn the blasphemous symbol.

Jerit, holding his breath while looking at the symbol emitting black smoke as it sizzled, looked at me and asked cautiously.

“What……whose symbol is that?”

“Hmm.”

Instead of answering, I stroked my chin for a moment.

It’s not the Seven Catacombs. Even after recalling the numerous groups that have disappeared and changed, nothing came to mind.

It’s rare, but not particularly surprising.

It’s probably one of the countless heretical sects that emerged after I died.

“……”

I followed Lephra, who was striding back out of the prayer room in anger. I became curious about who they were.

Whether the Brother of Hesterica had truly betrayed the church and come to worship an idol, and if so, who that group was serving.

🔹🔹🔹

It didn’t take long to find the answer to that.

The last place we headed to, after searching both the ground and the upper levels but failing to find any other traces, was the basement of the monastery. As usual, it was the perfect place to hide the most suspicious things.

Just as we entered the basement and were about to move further inside.

Whoosh!

Out of nowhere, an arrow flew towards me, aiming for my head.

Clang.

Of course, it hit the protective barrier I had prepared in advance and bounced off harmlessly.

I turned my head to look at the one who had launched the sudden attack.

Judging from his attire, he seemed to be one of the apprentice priests here.

“Kuh-huh……”

However, with his eyes half-turned and blood dripping from his mouth, he didn’t seem like he would be able to communicate.

Slash. Before he could make his next move. Lephra’s swung sword cleanly sliced through his neck.

The moment it was revealed where the missing people of this place were.

Soon after, people who seemed to be in the same state, holding various weapons in their hands, began to appear one by one.

It would have been a terrifying situation for ordinary people, but it wasn’t much of a threat to us.

However, Jerit’s expression wasn’t very good while dealing with them.

Even though they were half-mad due to some curse or corruption, it seemed that he couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable about cutting down people of the church without any measures. Leaving behind the dark face of the good-natured, somewhat soft-hearted fellow, we entered the depths of the basement.

“Ah.”

There, the abbot of the monastery, the Brother dispatched from Hesterica, whom the village youths might have encountered, was standing still and muttering something.

Slide.

Sensing our presence, he slowly turned around.

Unlike the rest who had gone mad outside, he seemed relatively sane. Of course, with his hands covered in blood, he couldn’t be seen as an ordinary priest.

Clang.

Lephra, raising her sword that shimmered with holy power, looked at the man and uttered in a low voice.

“Explain yourself.”

“……”

There was no answer. The man, looking at us with coldly lowered eyes, slowly raised his hand.

Whoosh!

Reacting immediately, Lephra’s sword immediately cut through the air, but it was blocked by a translucent barrier.

While Jerit and Lephra, with tense expressions, adjusted their weapons. My gaze was on the symbol behind the man, the corpses on the floor, and the statue next to them.

The same symbol as the one drawn in the upper prayer room, the corpses that seemed to be sacrifices, and the statue that seemed to depict someone unknown, along with the inscription next to it.

After reading the short inscription, I could easily figure out who the statue was meant to depict.

‘Dedication to Astrid Elliger, the great Archmage and prophet ahead of his time.’

I chuckled softly, looking at the statue of the stranger they had made as they pleased.

What’s this? It’s me.

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