How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 168

Chapter 168: Slave Trader (1)

Escaping from Hesterica, filled with chaos, wasn’t that difficult.

Having finished the task at the hidden place, the Altar of White Flame, I didn’t join the rest of the Inquisitors who were busy with the purification and restoration work.

Anyway, the main force of tens of thousands, who survived the battle with the Radechione Catacomb, would return soon. There was no need for me to stay there.

After briefly informing a few Brothers I encountered, I immediately left the burning city and headed east.

The first thing I had to do was send the Magic Engineering Corps, who were waiting for me at the pre-designated location, back to the Empire.

Even if it wasn’t decisive, they were helpful. There was no reason to hesitate.

Of course, the Corps wasn’t in perfect condition due to the rather rough usage, but the Empire would have expected that to some extent. There are always countless variables in battle.

After confirming the Magic Engineering Corps’ return to the Empire through the Steel Mountain Range, I turned back. I didn’t follow them back to the Empire.

There was no need to repeat the long journey back and forth when I still had things to do. Of course, traveling from Hesterica to the vicinity of the Steel Mountain Range in the east was also quite time-consuming.

But it wasn’t bad. Rather, it was a long-awaited break.

And, after finishing the task and moving westward again, it was a natural course to stop by the Holy See.

🔹🔹🔹

The well-maintained road of the Church, leading from east to west, leads to the Holy Land of Delphaud and the Holy See located in its center.

Unlike before, I strolled inside the city, which felt quite lively.

The atmosphere of the Holy Land of Delphaud was quite lively.

The sanctuary of the Holy See had lost its light, but since it wasn’t invaded like Hesterica, the burden on ordinary citizens wasn’t that great.

No, it seemed even brighter than before. In the end, the Catacombs that threatened the citizens were gone.

The noisy yet peaceful sounds coming from all directions seemed to ease my mind a little, but I didn’t stop walking.

For nearly a month. Starting from the Cloud Mountains, I moved busily and finally succeeded in accomplishing many things, but it wasn’t over yet.

The last Catacomb remained in the north, where the cold winter wind blows, and the Cradle of Lactya Sibellia still maintained its light.

“……”

I organized my thoughts for a moment. Industriousness in the north, the last of the seven, isn’t a place I can head to immediately without any preparation.

The journey to that massive fortress hidden in the north, where the cold is so severe that even time freezes, would perhaps be the toughest battle.

But now that six Catacombs have closed, the one crouching under the ice will surely react. Maybe it has already begun to move.

Gathering information about it was the priority.

“How can I help you?”

Then, a voice broke my thoughts. A guard at the entrance of the Holy See.

The armor, which seemed to have been carefully polished with soft oil and linen, glistened in the sunlight.

As if to prove that the sanctuary had lost its light, but peace had returned to the citizens’ faces, the city guard, who had been somewhat tired and fussy last time, now had a rather relaxed face.

“I’m here to meet a friend.”

I spoke lightly and showed the Inquisitor’s Badge from my pocket. Upon confirming it, the guard immediately straightened his posture and gripped his spear, which he had been holding loosely, upright.

“Confirmed!”

I nodded lightly to the guard, who was slightly frozen with tension, and stepped inside. There were no further questions or interrogations, of course.

With the death of Chairman Markel Pavlino and the collapse of the Inquisition, my secret was buried forever beneath Hesterica.

“……”

Stepping inside the city, I looked around again.

The city of the Church, which had lost its function as a sanctuary.

The appearance of this place, which I visited without any evil purpose, with a pure heart, was quite lively even when I saw it again.

🔹🔹🔹

“Oh my, Inquisitor-nim!”

Brother Jerit, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, was more energetic than he looked outside. It wasn’t a reunion that could be considered long overdue in terms of time, but he seemed very pleased.

He reacted as if he hadn’t expected me to visit. But there was another unexpected reunion.

“……Inquisitor Luciel-nim?”

Next to the desk piled high with documents, Saintess Sophia was looking at me with a somewhat surprised face. They seemed to be having a boring conversation about work.

Seeing her mixed with surprise and pleasure, I lightly extended my hand. A gesture that believers who perceive the Saintess as a transcendental and symbolic being would never dare to do.

But to me, she was just a young girl who had been forced to walk a path she didn’t want.

Swoosh. Hesitantly, Sophia, with a slightly flushed face, took my outstretched hand.

“It’s been a while.”

After a light handshake with the Saintess, I turned my gaze to the pile of documents and said.

“It seems like this place isn’t very relaxed either.”

Phew. At my reply, Brother Jerit sighed and shook his head.

“Don’t even mention it. The remaining people are taking on three or four times the work to fill the void left by the martyrdom of all the Holy Knights and high priests in the expedition to the Bone Fortress.”

As if to prove his words, dark shadows from fatigue were cast under his eyes.

“But the good thing is that all the Catacombs that threatened the citizens are now gone. I hope this situation continues.”

Saintess Sophia’s calm words. She also seemed to know that the citizens’ lives had actually improved.

Ugh. Brother Jerit, recalling the excessive work he was taking on, made a briefly disgusted expression, but then nodded as if agreeing with the Saintess in some way.

“……Well. That’s true. It’s slow, but it’s recovering. Now that all the Catacombs are gone, it can’t get any worse, right?”

I glanced at Brother Jerit and said softly.

“No. To be precise, there’s one left.”

A fact that everyone had almost forgotten because it was far away. The expressions of the two hardened at my mention of the last Catacomb, slumbering beneath the freezing earth at the northern tip.

“Inquisitor-nim, are you perhaps……?”

It seems that the same words carry an unknown weight and seriousness when I say them. These innocent two seemed to think that I would jump out of my seat and head north right away.

Snicker. I looked at the two and lightly waved my hand.

“I just corrected the fact. It’s important to be aware of the enemy, anyway.”

Phew. Brother Jerit, who breathed a sigh of relief at my words, opened his mouth as if he suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, how is the situation in Hesterica? I heard that thanks to the city’s Holy Barrier, there wasn’t much damage……”

They also seemed to know the general situation. Well, it’s been almost a month since fireballs rained down on Hesterica.

As he said, the damage to ordinary citizens wasn’t that great. Only a part of the central area where the barrier was lifted was directly hit by the flames.

“Well, that place is also having hectic days.”

I shrugged and answered.

Although the Chairman had died, Anton Lebecht-nim and other veteran Inquisitors would have all returned with the main force by now. The restoration work on the city that was engulfed in flames would be underway.

“……You seem very relaxed.”

Brother Jerit’s words, somewhat envious.

I chuckled. He wasn’t wrong.

I was out of the tedious and cautious restoration work of the Inquisition and the Cathedral.

Of course, I had an excuse. The order to handle the remaining heretics under the Chairman’s last message.

I had already informed them of this fact before leaving the city, so there was nothing to worry about.

“……”

Glancing at Brother Jerit’s face, who looked like he wanted to jump out of his seat and embark on another adventure with me through forests and wilderness, I lightly scanned the piles of documents in front of him.

Most of them were boring and tedious things, like payment reports.

But I spotted a report that he seemed to have set aside and looked at it for a moment.

“Ah.”

Brother Jerit, confirming where my gaze landed, picked it up with a bright face.

“It reminded me of the past. Would you like to see it?”

It seemed to be a matter that required some security, as it had the Holy See’s seal on it, but there was no hesitation in Brother Jerit’s gesture of handing the document to me.

Swoosh. Lightly taking it, I carefully read the report written in neat handwriting.

There was nothing special.

It was about slave traders rampant in Schwarzcolm, a somewhat remote area, taking advantage of the void left by the two great powers.

But it wasn’t difficult to see what stimulated him. It was probably because of a sentence written at the end of the report.

The sentence stating the possibility that the remnants of the Modesta Catacomb are connected to the slave traders who are rampant in an organized manner.

‘Modesta Catacomb.’

It’s the first place I closed. The remnants who survived there……

“As you know, Inquisitor-nim, I was just waiting outside at the time, so it was difficult to grasp the exact situation.”

Brother Jerit, confirming that I was scanning the document, scratched his head and opened his mouth as if relieved.

“Therefore, I tried to ask the Inquisition, who supervised the operation, for advice……”

Hesterica is currently busy with restoration work and wouldn’t be able to spare any personnel. In such a situation, I was, in a way, the only person the Holy See could trust and entrust with the task.

“It’s fortunate that the person involved has come.”

A bright smile appeared on Brother Jerit’s face as he looked at me. I turned my gaze away from his face and looked at the report carefully once more.

Compared to the Inquisition’s, which is unrivaled in grasping enemy information, it can’t be considered very detailed, but I could read something hidden behind the current situation that could be described in sentences.

Schwarzcolm.

As the name suggests, this relatively northern region is like a bridgehead. I thought it might be an opportunity to grasp the general situation in the north.

“Of course, it will take some time to find personnel to dispatch to the area. If you could just tell us what you know about the operation─”

“Not bad.”

“……Yes?”

I handed the document back to the somewhat bewildered Brother Jerit.

“No need for that.”

“What……?”

“About the personnel to dispatch to that area. No need to find them.”

“……!”

Brother Jerit’s face brightened as he immediately understood the meaning of my words. On the other hand, the Saintess still looked like she didn’t know what I was talking about.

As if to explain to her, Brother Jerit looked at me and asked.

“Are you saying that you will go yourself, Inquisitor-nim? Alone, without support?”

“Not alone.”

I smiled faintly at him. This is, after all, under the jurisdiction of the Holy See.

It wasn’t something an Inquisitor could handle alone.

It wasn’t a matter of ability, but a matter of jurisdiction and procedure.

Of course, the solution was very simple. All I had to do was bring along someone who belonged to the Holy See, even if it was just for show.

I gave Brother Jerit, who was staring blankly, a faint smile and a sweet devil’s offer.

“I’m thinking of giving you a chance to escape from this dreadful pile of documents.”

“……!”

His mouth gaped open, and his face was filled with clear anticipation and excitement.

Brother Jerit, hearing my wicked proposal, crumpled the document he had taken back from me with a bright face.

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