How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 66

Chapter 66: Flame and Shadows (1)

Instead of being surprised or flustered, I calmly dismounted from my horse. This was because I had already noticed a bird made of holy power flying towards us for a while now.

It seemed my sensitivity to holy power had become a bit more acute after receiving energy from Saintess Sophia.

“……What a ghostly sense you have.”

Lephra muttered, glancing at me as I reacted as if I had already known. She shook her head slightly and dismounted, and Jerit followed suit.

“It’s a fascinating spell, even seeing it again. How can it find us in such a vast area?”

Jerit, who had seen the magic while traveling with me, said with an impressed expression. I answered his question by pulling out a small emblem from my pocket.

“When you are appointed as an Inquisitor in Hesterica, they infuse your energy into this badge and a holy relic kept at the Inquisition.”

“Ah, so they leave a mark on both sides!”

“That’s right.”

Lephra turned her head away in displeasure, seeing Jerit nodding brightly as his curiosity was satisfied. It was a gesture that seemed to blame Jerit’s ignorance of such basic knowledge.

Perhaps it was because she was irritable from not having eaten anything until almost noon today. Or maybe it was a lingering resentment over me eating more rabbit meat than her yesterday.

“Uh, uh……”

Meanwhile, unlike us, who each had our own reactions, the man’s bewildered and stammering reaction was perfectly normal.

The man, who had been leisurely smoking a pipe at the entrance of the village, blinked his eyes, unable to even think of picking up the pipe that had fallen from his gaping mouth.

“But, is it alright to check it in such an open place?”

Jerit asked me, pretending not to see Lephra’s reaction. I stretched out my hand towards the bird slowly descending towards us and answered calmly.

“Although the Inquisitors are the hidden blades of the Church that deal with the darkness lurking in the shadows, their actions are not without integrity.”

“Ah……!”

Jerit looked slightly impressed by my words. I chuckled, seeing his expression. While it wasn’t entirely wrong, there was another, more concrete reason.

Flap!

In the first place, if someone didn’t know how to handle holy power, they wouldn’t be able to open this message.

Swoosh.

As the shimmering light fell, letters formed in the ancient holy language of Behzant.

Unless one had studied and been educated about the will of God and the Church for a long time, they wouldn’t be able to read these blessed letters used in almost all holy spells.

Of course, even setting that aside, if I had felt that this place wasn’t safe to read the message, I wouldn’t have even opened it.

Rustle.

As expected. While Jerit frowned and stammered, the shimmering letters in the air quickly disappeared.

“……”

“Hmm.”

On the other hand, my and Lephra’s faces hardened slightly as we read the message without difficulty.

Sweep.

I raised my head and looked towards where the man was standing, the entrance of the village.

“Y-You, Lords……!”

The man had a tense expression. The sudden spectacle of light just now was a situation that even an ignorant person would recognize that we were not ordinary people.

He looked as if he would immediately kneel and worship us if I said anything. I brushed my hands together and opened my mouth.

“For now.”

Gulp. The man swallowed nervously.

I looked at Lephra and Jerit and continued calmly.

“Let’s stop by the inn and eat first.”

“……”

A moment of silence. Lephra was the first to speak.

Stepping forward with a determined air, she nodded vigorously and said,

“Good idea, Lumineger.”

🔹🔹🔹

As evident from the man’s relaxed demeanor before encountering us, this village was quite affluent.

In these turbulent times, considering that most villages and hunger are quite closely related, maintaining this standard of living despite not being a large city was a great fortune for the villagers.

It seemed that the fact that it was not part of a kingdom or empire that levied harsh taxes, yet not too far from the Papal States, played a significant role.

“……So, what did the message say?”

Jerit asked, looking at me. I stared at him and replied.

“I’d appreciate it if you wiped the sauce off your mouth before speaking.”

“Oh, I apologize!”

He quickly turned his head at my words. The place the man hurriedly guided us to, the best restaurant or inn in the village, was quite decent. I pushed aside the small bones and simple cutlery on the empty plates scattered across the tables and reached for my teacup.

The message from the Inquisition was simple.

A person who had seized control of a village called Cobeln and was building power might have some connection to a Catacomb, so we were to investigate thoroughly.

“A C-Catacomb?!”

Tension surfaced on Jerit’s face as he glanced around and lowered his voice. Catacombs, serving the Great Demons, were one of the Church’s strongest enemies.

Visiting a place that might be directly connected to them was not a simple task. Especially for Jerit, who couldn’t accompany me when I infiltrated the Caridad Catacomb last time because he was tending to the injured.

Chuckling slightly at his somewhat frightened appearance, I added reassuringly,

“So, they said to stop by the nearby branch for a detailed explanation and support.”

“Ah……!”

A faint look of relief washed over Jerit’s face. He seemed quite relieved at the prospect of receiving additional help.

Even though the branch probably wouldn’t know half of what I knew about the Catacombs.

“Oh, by the way, about that branch.”

He asked curiously, having cleanly wiped his mouth.

“How much further do we have to go? Surely we don’t have to turn back, do we?”

I pictured the map of the surrounding area in my head and answered his question.

“It shouldn’t be too far away. If it were, they wouldn’t have assigned the mission to us in the first place.”

One of the most important things in missions against heresy was speed. Judging by the Inquisition knowing our approximate location, we were likely the Inquisitors closest to the mission site.

“The exact location should be……”

I trailed off, turning my gaze to Lephra. She, having been an Inquisitor far longer than me, would know the location of the Inquisition branch better.

“……”

Munch, munch.

She met my gaze calmly and said,

“The venison is very tender.”

Lephra finished chewing the grilled haunch and nodded.

“Yes, the Hegelan branch isn’t too far away. If we hurry, we’ll arrive in half a day.”

“We’ll have to leave immediately if we want to arrive before the end of the day.”

Jerit said with a hint of regret, looking at the empty plates.

“It’s a shame, we finally found a peaceful village.”

I replied calmly to his words.

“It’s a good village, but it’s not where we belong.”

The place where an Inquisitor should be is where traces of wicked monsters and black mages linger. The front lines of the battlefield where the fight against heresy takes place are far from such a leisurely and peaceful place.

Jerit, understanding the meaning behind my words, nodded with a slightly serious expression. Lephra glanced at me for a moment with a strange look in her eyes, then reached for the remaining food again.

🔹🔹🔹

As Lephra said, the Hegelan branch wasn’t too far from the village where we had our meal.

In the field where the sun had set, Lephra, who had been riding at the front, slowly slowed down.

“There it is.”

At her words, I looked ahead. The faint outline of a curved building.

From the outside, it looked like an ordinary monastery. We dismounted and walked towards the entrance of the old monastery.

A rusty iron gate. Weeds were overgrown near the entrance of the monastery, which seemed to be poorly maintained.

The moment we slowly approached the iron gate.

A light flickered and flared up in the completely fallen darkness. And then, a strange voice came from behind the rising light.

“Who are you? This isn’t a very good place for travelers to stay.”

“Uh, we are……”

“Where are you coming from and where are you going?”

I stepped forward before Jerit, who was stammering, unsure of what to say, and spoke calmly.

“We are travelers who come from the underground of light and head towards the darkness.”

“……”

A brief silence followed my answer.

Creak.

Soon, the rusty iron gate slowly began to open. And the man standing beyond it, holding a lantern, bowed his head towards us.

“I know well that the path to the shining place is the darkest, longest, and closest to abominable beings. Welcome, brothers.”

The man who greeted us turned and led the way, as if telling us to follow him.

“Come in.”

And following behind him, two Inquisitors in black cloaks and one Esquire stepped into the darkness-shrouded monastery.

🔹🔹🔹

Branches located throughout the continent existed to support Inquisitors who traveled around various regions and carried out diverse missions.

Contrary to its seemingly unmaintained exterior, the inside of the monastery, or rather, the Hegelan branch, was quite well-equipped.

“Ah, you’re from Hesterica.”

A man in sleek clothing greeted me as I entered the innermost room. He had a completely opposite atmosphere compared to the rather taciturn and serious man we met at the entrance. Judging from his clothes and confident demeanor, he probably held a high position here.

The man looked me up and down as I was the first to enter the room. His attitude was quite different from the one who greeted us at the entrance.

“You’re younger than I expected. Are you perhaps a trainee Inquisitor?”

At the blunt question, I stared directly into the man’s eyes. It was a remark that could be considered quite rude, depending on who was being asked.

“If I were, I wouldn’t be here.”

A slight displeasure appeared on the man’s face at my curt, almost dismissive reply. He seemed to dislike being looked down upon by someone clearly younger than him.

I chuckled inwardly, seeing his reaction.

Perhaps because this branch wasn’t too far from the Papal States, he hadn’t met many Inquisitors.

If he were more experienced, he would know that judging an Inquisitor by their appearance wasn’t a wise move.

“Oh. This icon seems to be quite elaborately made.”

“Get out of the way, Jelly.”

Then, the sound of conversation came from behind me. It was Jerit and Lephra, who had arrived a step later after briefly looking around the branch.

“It’s not Jelly, it’s Jerit, how many times do I have to tell you, Inquisitor Lephra-nim?”

The man quickly corrected his expression when he saw Lephra standing behind Jerit, who was grumbling as he entered the room.

Thick black robes and gloves covering her entire body. Two swords hanging at her waist. Lephra’s appearance, pathologically averse to revealing her body, ironically made her look like a seasoned Inquisitor.

Of course, that was also the truth.

“Welcome, I’ve been waiting!”

The man quickly straightened his posture and spoke politely. I stared at him, changing his attitude in an instant.

He wasn’t someone I wanted to keep by my side.

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