Chapter 18: The Key (6)
The foot of Mount Pehern.
Having safely ridden back to where we had tied the horses received from the church, we were currently preparing to return to Hesterica.
Kuoooong ……
Along with a faint vibration that could be heard from afar, dust leaked from the collapsed cave entrance halfway up the mountain.
“I don’t know if this makes any sense.”
Inquisitor Lephra’s question.
Thirty minutes had passed since we escaped from the collapsed cave along with the ‘Pool of Pehern,’ which we had purified by throwing in three whole bottles of holy water brought from the Inquisition.
She had regained her composure.
I calmly replied while tying the horse’s reins.
“An undeniably clear cause and an exceedingly obvious result. What’s the question here?”
Puruung
Perhaps thanks to its good training, the horse, which was waiting for me quietly without running away, seemed to feel the slight tremor that started halfway up the mountain. As if urging us to depart quickly, it snorted and began to paw the ground rather fiercely.
“……There are more than just one or two things I want to ask.”
Lephra’s words.
“It must all be God’s will.”
I answered her nonchalantly.
“……”
As I answered while tightening the reins, the snorting horse calmed down, and her words were cut short.
It’s a surprisingly convenient, all-purpose answer when you actually use it.
I think I understand a little now why those idiotic Holy Knights and Inquisitors always had it on the tip of their tongues.
I nodded in satisfaction and mounted the horse, feeling an awkward gaze.
Wait.
“……”
I spoke in a displeased tone to her, who was staring blankly at me on horseback.
“Where is Inquisitor-nim’s horse?”
There was only one horse here. I looked around the surrounding bushes just in case, but there was nothing.
“……”
A moment of silence.
Then, she looked away from me and said.
“……I lost it on my last mission.”
“Hmm.”
I nodded slightly. It was certainly sad news, but I didn’t offer any particular comfort.
Because even I thought it would be ridiculous to offer comfort over the loss of a mere horse to someone who had clearly taken another’s life on a mission.
‘So she traveled all the way here on her own. As expected, her physical capabilities surpass those of ordinary humans.’
That was the extent of my impression.
After looking at her for a moment, I extended my hand and said.
“Let’s go.”
Swoosh
She hesitated for a moment, looking at my outstretched right hand.
‘Ah.’
My right hand was still stained black. The inside, wrapped in bandages, stung and throbbed, but it was bearable.
If I received treatment at the Inquisition, this level of injury would heal quickly.
It wasn’t like my hand was completely cut off. This much of a price, I could pay anytime.
“……Is your hand alright?”
“Yeah, well.”
She nodded, then hopped lightly onto the horse without taking my hand.
The deeply pulled-down robe shifted, briefly revealing Inquisitor Lephra’s face. Perhaps due to a lack of sunlight, the part of her face that was revealed was pale.
A faint smell of medicine emanated from her, still completely covered from head to toe in a thick robe and armor.
“……Let’s go.”
It seemed she had her own reasons, but I didn’t ask. It wasn’t something I needed to know.
I turned my gaze forward and spoke calmly.
“Let’s depart.”
The black horse, carrying two Inquisitors, me and Lephra, soon left Mount Pehern and began to gallop vigorously along the narrow path leading to the plains.
🔹🔹🔹
“I don’t know if this makes any sense.”
“……”
Lephra and I looked at Support Head Barok, who uttered the exact same words she had said to me, with different expressions.
I waited for Barok’s next words, ignoring Lephra’s gaze, which seemed to be glaring at me as if to say ‘I told you so,’ or perhaps even with a hint of welcome.
“I already knew that your talent is unprecedentedly outstanding, but……”
He scratched his bushy beard.
The incident at Mount Pehern was certainly not something a newly appointed Inquisitor could handle alone.
“……”
However, it wasn’t suspicious enough to be considered dubious, exceeding the norm. In any case, it was hard to see the Bergecia Cult as a genuine, proper cult.
“Beginner’s luck, I suppose. God must have helped you.”
Barok, who was nodding in satisfaction, suddenly looked up as if he had remembered something.
“Wait, then……”
His gaze shifted to Lephra, who seemed somewhat disappointed.
“What did you do?”
“……”
A moment of silence.
In response to Barok’s question, Lephra silently pulled her hood down and walked out. Was her pride hurt?
Chuckling softly at her retreating figure, he turned his attention to me and said.
“Well, anyway. Where is ‘Luberis’ Shining Voice’? You didn’t happen to damage it, did─”
“Here it is.”
Before he could finish, I took the holy relic out of my pocket and handed it to him.
It was in perfect condition, without a single scratch.
“Hmm.”
After carefully examining the received holy relic and nodding in satisfaction, he glanced down at my hand.
“Let me see your hand.”
Was he going to treat it right away? I knew that Barok, the Support Head, wasn’t particularly skilled in healing spells.
I shrugged and placed my right hand on his palm, which was twice the size of mine. And then.
Squeeze
“……!”
Barok suddenly grabbed my hand. He asked innocently.
“You still have feeling, I see?”
“……Yes. Unfortunately.”
I answered, barely managing to swallow a harsh curse.
“Haha! Then that’s good. Go see Brother Mihal downstairs. He’ll treat it in no time.”
What a terribly friendly way to check. I nodded with a displeased expression and was about to walk out when I suddenly stopped.
Ah, there was still something left to return.
Thud
I untied the holy silver-plated sword from my waist and placed it on the table.
“……?”
Barok’s expression, which was questioning as he looked at it, changed to dismay as I slowly drew the sword from its scabbard.
“……Huh.”
“It was a great help.”
Looking at the sword with its chipped edges, Barok asked in disbelief.
“You borrowed a plated sword, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“……It’s all chipped, damn it. I’ll have to re-plate it entirely.”
“Indeed.”
As I turned to leave the room, he hurriedly called out to me.
“W-Wait! Luciel, you also borrowed three bottles of holy water drawn directly from the Grand Temple on Mount Calimphus, didn’t you!”
“Ah, that.”
I shrugged and said as I walked out.
“I used it all.”
“Y-You used it all? Wait, wait!”
Ignoring Barok, who was calling me urgently, I headed downstairs.
🔹🔹🔹
As Barok had said, and as I had expected, it didn’t take long for my hand to heal completely.
The wound caused by storing demonic energy in the Artifact of the Rift was no different from the wounds Inquisitors often sustained while dealing with Black Mages, and naturally, no one suspected anything.
It was a more plausible wound, one that could even embellish the fact that there hadn’t been any real crisis.
It seemed that the slight doubts that some Inquisitors and Brothers still harbored due to my sudden inclusion in the final exam had all disappeared because of this incident.
And then, a few days later.
While taking a long-awaited break, I was summoned by Head Markel Pavlino and headed to his room. He was probably going to talk about the conclusion of this mission and the next one.
“As expected, their forces aren’t that large yet. God must have helped us.”
The Head’s sparsely decorated room. And as I expected, the conversation was uneventful.
A brief explanation of the events at Mount Pehern and a general outline of the next mission.
I lifted the teacup with my fully recovered right hand.
Not a single scar remained. Holy power is convenient.
Markel Pavlino looked at me with an indifferent gaze.
He wasn’t the type to put on a pretense, so he didn’t even ask if my hand was okay out of courtesy.
“There are people like you.”
He slowly began to speak.
“Those with shining talent that make me think it’s fortunate they are on our side.”
His expression remained cold.
He’s still an old man whose true intentions are difficult to discern. Unlike Anton, whose values were easy to understand, albeit somewhat taciturn.
There was no longer any reason for it, but he was still keeping a close eye on me.
Of course, it could simply be a test of sorts for someone with exceptional talent who had reappeared after a long time. To see if my faith was genuine.
Go ahead, doubt and test me to your heart’s content. My goal reaches far beyond anything you could possibly imagine.
“We cannot fathom the entirety of God’s divine will. We are merely groping at the surface of a sturdy box with thousands of locks.”
God’s will.
I chuckled softly. Yes, this time, I must see it through to the end.
“I intend to become that key.”
At my words, he gave a dry smile.
“I look forward to seeing how far you, the key, can unlock.”
“You’ll have to live quite a long life to see it all.”
Snicker
The Head let out a small laugh at my words. Unlike before, it was a laugh with a hint of vitality.
“Don’t worry about that, I’m still in good health.”
He looked at me for a moment and slowly opened his mouth.
“May God’s grace be with you on your journey ahead.”
🔹🔹🔹
Halfway up Mount Pehern.
Two figures, a man and a woman, appeared at the entrance of the cave, which had completely collapsed and been blocked, as if something had happened.
The man stepped forward with little change in expression, despite having climbed the rather steep mountain, and placed his hand on the collapsed debris.
Wooong
The surrounding area pulsed with power, and small stones rattled.
After a moment, the man removed his hand from the stone and spoke with a dry face.
“The ‘Pool of Pehern’ is completely closed.”
The woman clicked her tongue after hearing his explanation.
“I was going to raise it more before devouring it, but for it to collapse so quickly. They’re half-baked fakes, as expected.”
“They’ve ruined it quite effectively. Reconstruction here seems impossible.”
These weren’t the traces of many people. This meant that those who destroyed this place weren’t the kingdom’s soldiers or the church’s Holy Knights who moved in groups, but a small number of exceptionally skilled individuals.
Well, who would come looking for heretics hiding in a corner like this in the first place?
It wasn’t a difficult guess, and the answer was obvious. The woman raised her head, looking east, her red eyes gleaming.
“The Inquisitors of Hesterica.”
She glared at the horizon with a menacing look for a long time before turning around and descending the mountain.
“……”
The man, who had been silently frowning and staring at the cave’s debris, soon followed her.
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