Chapter 13: The Key (1)
A prayer for the wicked heretics who had just tried to kill them.
“Such a……!”
At my words, Daena looked at me with a slightly surprised face, as if she had been struck.
Perhaps it was a bit too much for those who had just escaped death, but her expression was not one of bewilderment or anger, but rather of surprise at realizing an important fact that she had completely forgotten.
A prayer for the sinner.
Although it is a part of the doctrine, it is a nominal phrase that no one follows except for a handful of eccentrics in this age where people are dying like flies.
“……Even the wicked will enter paradise if they truly repent.”
Valent, who recited a passage from the doctrine with a deeply impressed face, nodded and continued.
“That’s right, and a wonderful saying, Brother.”
From colleague, a promotion to Brother.
I looked at the two of them, shrugged, and spoke. Remembering the words of a Holy Knight who beheaded a heinous black mage five hundred years ago.
“God is merciful. Even to the most heinous sinners.”
Swoosh.
Hearing my words, Daena nodded with a serious expression, put down her mace, and began to pray with a serious attitude.
I quietly watched her.
Unless there is a sacred object with powerful power that has the effect of blessing. It wasn’t really a meaningful act. I didn’t think this guy would have died repenting.
However, it might be useful in calming the minds of the two Candidates who were tired from the unfamiliar battle.
Anyway, isn’t the biggest effect of prayer basically that the mind of the person praying becomes comfortable?
Looking at the two who closed their eyes and began to pray, I approached the black mage’s corpse located a little further away.
Pretending to pray, I squatted down in front of it and began to examine the body with my back to Daena and Valent.
The body of a black mage exposed to the light mixed with holy power after launching a reckless attack without leaving even the minimum amount of Demonic Energy was not something that even a person with a good stomach could look at for a long time.
But I started rummaging through the guy’s body without any change in expression.
A body that has already lost its soul.
Like me, the soul of this black mage, who died without preparing a separate safety device, would have been dragged straight to purgatory.
It was a bitter end that came with a contract with the devil.
“……”
It was a body that was cracked, wrinkled, and even sticky, but I habitually looked inside the robe.
Swoosh.
While searching the black mage’s body, I soon found what I wanted.
It was a dark green mark that clearly appeared on his body.
A mark that appears when you take a special spring water that flows underground in Mount Pehern for a long time.
‘Bergecia Cult.’
It was a group that almost disappeared after I got into a fight with a black mage and was destroyed during my active days.
Of course, that black mage was me.
‘Like rats, they crawled back in again.’
I chuckled.
A half-baked fake cult. Whether they barely managed to survive or not doesn’t matter much to me now.
But if they’ve made their headquarters on Mount Pehern again, the story is a little different.
Because my legacy was sleeping there.
It was something I was going to find first after becoming an Inquisitor.
‘The first destination has been decided.’
I finished my thoughts and slowly got up. Daena and Valent, who had finished praying around the same time, slowly approached me and hesitated when they saw the black mage’s corpse.
Looking at the two of them looking at the corpse, which reminded them of words that were somewhat far from being able to describe the human body, I tilted my head and asked.
“Is this the first time you’ve seen a real black mage’s corpse?”
The two slowly moved away from the corpse, which emitted black smoke and a terrible stench that evoked instinctive disgust, and answered.
“Oh, this guy…… Ugh─!”
“Th, that is. Um, it seems that Brother Luciel has finished praying for this sinner.”
I chuckled as I watched Daena and Valent backing away.
Yeah, you’re still Inquisitor Candidates.
Seeing them wield their weapons without hesitation against the minions who were just ordinary humans, it seemed like they didn’t have no practical experience at all. But it seems like this is the first time they’ve faced a real black mage who has made a contract with the devil.
I slowly opened my mouth as I looked at them.
“Then let’s go out now.”
The faces of the two, which had been shadowed by the slowly fading light, brightened at my words.
🔹🔹🔹
Nothing special happened while returning to the Inquisition. Unlike when we first left Hesterica and headed here, Daena and Valent were somewhat quiet on the way back, as if they had felt a lot.
Scratch, scratch.
Daena, who seemed to be silently reviewing the battle in the underground passage, looked at me with a puzzled expression as I wrote something down on the paper I had bought before leaving the village.
“What are you writing?”
I showed her the quill and paper and said.
“Mission report. It is effective to organize what you have experienced in clear and organized writing, not in inaccurate feelings and words.”
“……Ah.”
Valent, who was swinging his sword with a serious expression, stopped moving and nodded when he heard those words.
“Learning another thing, Brother. As expected, those from noble families are exceptional.”
“Well.”
To be precise, it should be said that it comes from experience, not origin.
I shrugged and started writing the report again.
🔹🔹🔹
A few days later, when we arrived back in Hesterica, the expressions of the two, who seemed to be lost in various thoughts after passing the final test, brightened a little.
It was too obvious that we had completed the mission perfectly, no, more than that.
Now the future of serving God as Inquisitors was guaranteed.
Of course, the road to that future will be somewhat rough.
“……Based on the above grounds, it is highly likely that the guards were bribed, so we sealed the basement without informing the other villagers, and in the process, we killed one black mage and fourteen minions who appeared to belong to the cult. There were no casualties in the process, and judging comprehensively─”
Markel Pavlino, the Head of the Inquisition, who had been reading the report I had written while heading to Hesterica aloud, took his eyes off the paper for a moment and looked this way.
“……”
The Head stared at me with an unknown emotion in his eyes as I shrugged as if asking what was wrong, and Daena and Valent coughed awkwardly.
“─Therefore, it is deemed that further investigation is necessary. Over. Destruction to the heretics.”
Thud.
He put the neatly written report on the desk and remained silent for a while before slowly opening his mouth.
“I’ll dispatch the forensic department to Meddlen immediately. Good work.”
“……!”
Daena and Valent’s faces brightened. The Head’s words were no different from officially confirming that the mission had been successfully completed.
The long and long period spent as Candidates was finally over, so it was something to be happy about.
Of course, it was less than a month for me.
“Congratulations, Brothers.”
“Considering they are Candidates, it’s a really great achievement.”
“I’m looking forward to their future.”
As soon as the Head’s words fell, the other Inquisitors and Brothers sitting at the long vertical table looked at us and offered congratulations.
There was no one who objected, because it was a very clean and perfect ending, without even needing the long review that was only given to those who vaguely succeeded in their mission.
Even Inquisitor Lephra, who disliked me, whom she could call Anton’s disciple, just crossed her arms without saying anything.
“……”
As I looked at them, I made eye contact with Anton, who was sitting in a chair with his hands clasped on the desk and remained silent.
Nod.
He nodded slightly at me, and Head of Support Barok, sitting next to him, grinned and gave me a thumbs up.
Clap, clap, clap, clap!
Applause from others poured out towards the three of us who completed the mission first and more perfectly than anyone else.
Listening to the applause of congratulations sent to the Inquisitors who will walk the thorny path, I suddenly looked up at the sky.
Could I achieve my lifelong goal this time, which I couldn’t achieve in my previous life due to numerous constraints and wrong first choices?
‘I don’t know.’
But one thing was certain.
The cornerstone that I am building now, having just taken my first step, with power that is incomparably insignificant compared to before, is incomparably solid.
And this small beginning will be the key to achieving my goal.
🔹🔹🔹
Underground of Mount Pehern, main hall of the Bergecia Cult.
A gloomy green light flickered in the room filled with the musty smell and ominous energy unique to the underground.
In the center of the damp room stood an old man clutching a grayish-white staff that appeared to be made from the bones of something huge, not human.
Whoosh.
In front of his eyes, something wrapped in a flickering mysterious aura was floating slightly on the desk.
A shape that seems to be embedded in a sphere made of hundreds, thousands of glass fragments of colors that are difficult to define as one.
It was an instinctively mysterious sight.
“Hoo……”
The old man, clutching his staff tightly, looked at it with greedy eyes.
Knock, knock.
Flick.
When he heard a knock, the old man lifted a black cloth to cover it.
“Come in.”
The one who opened the door and entered was a black mage belonging to the Bergecia Cult. He pressed his black robe, bowed politely to the old man, and spoke in a small voice.
“……You said contact was lost.”
The news that one black mage who headed to a small village called Meddlen had lost contact.
The old man’s face clouded over.
In this age, when there are overflowing with mediocre black mages who are not proper black mages, it takes quite a lot of time and sacrifices to raise one black mage, but from the perspective of the entire cult, the disappearance of just one black mage is not a big loss. It is difficult to see.
The old man was worried about a different part.
“Did those damn cult bastards smell it?”
Those who worship God.
If those damn fanatics who jump into anything related to demons smelled this place, it would be quite a headache.
The Bergecia Cult was not yet a properly established group. It still takes time and effort to take root deep in the ground.
“We are currently checking.”
The old man stared at the black mage who answered with his head bowed, and then waved his hand as if annoyed.
“I understand. Go away.”
“Yes.”
Click.
“……Useless things.”
The old man stared at the door that the black mage who politely bowed and closed, and then lifted the black cloth covering the table.
Yes. It takes time and effort for the cult to settle down.
But maybe this artifact in front of me will solve both.
Crackle!
Fierce sparks flew from the end of the staff that the old man slowly brought closer. This unknown artifact was still rejecting his touch.
Sizzle.
The old man frowned as he looked at the burnt and blackened end of the staff.
He couldn’t break the seal of this unknown artifact, even using all the methods he knew.
He wondered if the powerful black mages of the Catacombs knew something and thought about asking them for advice, but he didn’t put it into practice.
Basically, black mages are those who will stop at nothing to achieve their goals.
He might even get into trouble if he revealed the existence of this artifact.
“But it’s soon……”
The old man turned his head and looked at the altar in front.
The amount of sacrifices the cult had diligently collected so far was considerable.
If he dedicated all of them, he would surely be able to reach a higher level of demon than now. If that happens, maybe he’ll be able to figure out what this artifact is.
And maybe he’ll find out what the key is to unlock the tightly closed seal of this artifact.
“……”
The dark green light flickers underground.
The old man turned his head again towards the sphere spinning beautifully in the air.
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