How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 72

Chapter 72: Bread and Spring

Cleaning up didn’t take long.

Since the bandits and their leader had been dealt with, only innocent people remained in the village.

Werner, who had been clamoring to burn the captured villagers, met a futile death at the hands of Lephra, and his body burned away without a trace.

“It’s regrettable that a faithful Brother lost his life in battle, but this is a pretty good resolution.”

“……”

Lephra silently turned her head at my somewhat shameless remark. There were no embarrassing expressions of gratitude or comfort between us.

She was still taciturn, but now that trust had been built, she definitely had a slightly different atmosphere than before.

“This should be enough for travel expenses!”

While Lephra seemed unsure of what to say and was fiddling with the hem of her hooded robe, Jerit’s cheerful voice was heard.

In his hands were three or four heavy leather pouches. It seemed that he had discovered the bandits’ hidden money pouches during the final search before leaving.

It was quite a harvest.

Since I had obtained a considerable amount of demonic energy and even a pendant that seemed to belong to the Modesta Catacomb, there was no need for me to rummage through the bandits’ miscellaneous belongings, which didn’t emit any energy.

“……That should be enough to last us while crossing the continent. We won’t need to request financial support from the Inquisition anymore.”

Lephra muttered softly, as if trying to shake off her awkwardness.

As she said, the money that filled several large leather pouches was enough to last us while crossing the continent once.

However, instead of nodding, I chuckled. Lephra gave me a slightly disapproving look as she saw me.

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s nothing. Let’s get going.”

She didn’t know it, but the path ahead of me was sure to be a much longer journey than simply crossing the continent in a straight line.

Of course, the process of achieving my goal wouldn’t be boring.

I shrugged at Lephra’s words, answered nonchalantly, and started walking.

🔹🔹🔹

Those who had been captured alive all safely arrived back at their original village, and we began to move towards the Hegelan Branch again.

Since we hadn’t ridden horses when we initially departed from the branch, it took more than a day to return.

As the sun began to set, we found a flat area suitable for camping, built a fire, and started preparing dinner.

“We won’t need to prepare a separate meal today.”

I said, taking something wrapped in a thin cloth out of my pocket.

Wrapped in the cloth was a hard, reddish-brown lump. At first glance, it looked like a clod of earth, but its true identity was dried-up bread.

It was given to me by a villager as a token of gratitude.

Lephra and Jerit’s expressions were slightly dubious as they looked at the object that resembled a lump of clay.

“……”

“……”

In the city, it was food made by drying and grinding turnips, which were used as feed for livestock, and edible plants, then clumping them together and heating them to look like bread.

It was obvious that it wouldn’t be very nutritious, and its taste and texture would definitely be terrible. However, even that was a precious food in the barren mountain village that had been plundered of everything.

“I can’t ignore the villagers’ kindness.”

I said casually, lifting a lump of bread.

“……Ahem.”

Lephra and Jerit, who had been glancing at the reddish-brown lump as if it were food waste, picked up the remaining lumps of bread with a slightly embarrassed expression.

Crack.

As I tore off a piece of the hard lump with force, a sound like cutting a piece of wood was heard.

“……”

Jerit, who had been staring at the large piece he had torn off for a moment, hesitantly brought the piece of bread to his mouth.

Crunch.

I calmly watched him as he made a face as if he had chewed on something that wasn’t food. His jaw would probably hurt quite a bit if he ate like that.

“Usually, you soak it in water for half a day before eating.”

“……Inquisitor-nim!”

I chuckled as I saw Jerit looking at me with a resentful expression, and then I unhesitatingly tossed the small piece of bread I had torn off into my mouth.

It felt like chewing on a handful of tough tree roots. The taste and texture were the worst, but it wasn’t the first time I had eaten this.

Seeing me chewing on the bread without a word, Lephra asked with a slightly surprised expression.

“……I heard you were from a noble family. Have you experienced eating such food before?”

“Well, it’s something from the past.”

She made a puzzled expression at my vague answer, then sighed and picked up the bread that was placed as her portion.

“……So this is.”

Jerit, who had barely swallowed the bread in his mouth, slowly said.

“Bread worth two heavy pouches of silver coins.”

His face had a look of disgust, along with a slight sense of pride for having given some of the money pouches found at the bandit hideout to the villagers at my suggestion.

He, too, seemed to have no regrets about killing the Brother and distorting the Inquisition’s mission as he pleased, just like Lephra and I.

“……Indeed.”

Jerit, who looked down at the large lump of bread still remaining in front of him, continued speaking with a somewhat resolute expression.

“It tastes awfully bad.”

🔹🔹🔹

Arriving at the Hegelan Branch, we delivered a report to the Inquisition, briefly outlining the completion of the mission and the process.

While some details were omitted, we didn’t fabricate anything or write falsehoods.

There were some complications, but in the end, the mission to expose the knight at the bandit hideout as a heretic’s accomplice and eliminate them was cleanly completed.

“……I see.”

The Brother who listened to my explanation nodded with a calm face.

The taciturn and heavy-set man who had politely welcomed us when we first arrived didn’t seem surprised or saddened to hear that Brother Werner, the person in charge of this place, had died in battle against heretics.

Judging from his behavior, it seemed that Werner hadn’t been very well-regarded here originally.

“Still, I’m glad to see the three of you are safe.”

The man said in a thick voice.

“May Brother Werner also find eternal rest in God’s garden.”

As I watched the man briefly pray while making the sign of the cross, I nodded in agreement.

“Yes. He must have gone to a place befitting the life he lived.”

“……”

The man’s expression held a hint of bitterness as he silently lifted his head at my words.

“Have you heard any other news about the situation in the Pain Kingdom?”

Lephra, who had been silent with Jerit behind me, asked the man.

The man, who had been looking at me for a moment, took something out of his pocket in response to her question.

This monastery was the branch located closest to the Pain Kingdom. It seemed they had gathered quite a bit of information about the kingdom here as well.

“……The kingdom is in more turmoil than before due to the division among the nobles and the fight for succession to replace the aging king. Based on what we’ve learned, it seems that this might be the last reign of the Pain royal family.”

“The kingdom is crumbling.”

“A secret letter arrived recently. It was a request for help from the royal palace, secretly addressed to the Inquisition.”

I frowned. Nobles and the Inquisition are not inherently compatible. Yet, for a secret letter to arrive from the royal palace……

‘It means the situation in the kingdom is that bad.’

The Pain Kingdom served as a bridgehead to the eastern region. The collapse of such a nation and the ensuing chaos in the eastern region would not be a good thing for the Inquisition.

And for me as well. For now.

“We haven’t received any orders from headquarters yet. Should we send a reply first?”

I shook my head at the man’s question. I had a different idea about that.

“Any further traces of heresy?”

At my question, the man handed me a folded piece of paper with a heavy expression.

“There’s one place where suspicious traces have been found. I’ve marked the exact location on the map.”

I nodded as I received the detailed map. The Inquisition’s intelligence network, spread throughout the continent, was remarkably accurate.

Perhaps even now, he only mentioned suspicious traces, but these words were likely spoken with certainty after thorough investigation and verification.

“Our next destination has been decided.”

Lephra muttered in a confident voice, having heard the conversation. Perhaps because she knew that the Catacombs were behind the kingdom’s turmoil, Jerit spoke in a slightly nervous voice as he looked back and forth between the two of us.

“Then now……”

“We must go into the darkness.”

Calmly finishing Jerit’s sentence, I nodded to the man who had given me the detailed map as a gesture of farewell.

The man politely stepped back as he saw me finish preparing to depart immediately. He then repeated the words he had spoken when he first saw us, with a heavy expression.

“I know well that the path to the shining place is the darkest, longest, and closest to abominable beings. May God’s grace be with you, Brothers.”

I turned my gaze towards the window with a small smile at his words.

As winter slowly came to an end, a much warmer wind was blowing from afar. However, that single gust of wind carried a strange sense of foreboding, carried from the darkness in the east.

🔹🔹🔹

The territory of the Pain Kingdom was quite large, and the destination wasn’t very close to the monastery we had departed from.

However, unlike before when we had to travel on foot due to the rough terrain, we didn’t take long to arrive thanks to the Inquisition’s black horses, which boasted considerable speed.

As if to reflect the chaotic state of the country, there were no proper identity checks in the large and small cities we passed through.

On the third day of our journey, following the map that detailed the kingdom’s roads and cities, we finally reached our destination.

The city we arrived at wasn’t very large. Of course, it wasn’t comparable to the villages we had visited before, as it had stone walls, watchtowers, and even a tower inside the city.

The surroundings were peaceful. No, they were quiet.

The outskirts of the Pain Kingdom. Perhaps because it was far removed from the central region where the fight for the throne was taking place, the turmoil of the nation seemed to have bypassed this place.

Looking at the small city located beyond the low hill and small forest, Jerit muttered.

“This place is quite peaceful.”

“On the surface, that is.”

I shrugged and replied to Jerit’s naive remark.

Of course, it was possible that the intelligence report mentioning suspicious signs was wrong, but I knew well that the likelihood of that was not very high.

“We’ll find out when we get there.”

Lephra said simply, pulling on the horse’s reins.

Clatter.

We rode our horses quickly to the city entrance and slowly stopped in front of the wide-open gate.

“……”

The surroundings were still quiet. Despite the sun being high in the sky, there was no sign of guards welcoming visitors.

To be precise, we couldn’t even sense the presence of soldiers. Even after waiting for a while, nothing changed.

Clearly, this was not a normal situation.

Clang. Sensing something was amiss, Lephra muttered as she drew her sword.

“It’s a truly peaceful place, as you said, Jelly.”

“……It’s Jerit.”

Slowly stepping inside the gate, I lifted my head and looked at the walls and watchtowers above. There were no signs of battle.

The gate also seemed to have been opened normally, as the pulley was neatly fixed in place, proving that it hadn’t been forced open or destroyed.

After quickly scanning the surroundings, I nodded at Lephra and Jerit.

“……”

At my nod, they silently dismounted their horses. We drew our weapons and stepped inside the open gate, moving towards the inner city.

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• Light Novel Addiction: How One Hour of Sleep Loss Can Ruin Your Day (and Your Life)
• Acel World: I Was That Fat Kid
• The Ultimate Isekai Checklist: From Denial to Acceptance (and Maybe a Little Indigestion)
• Guts Needs a Therapist: The Berserk of Mental Health
• My Brain on UFC: Why I’m Convinced I Could Totally Take on Adesanya (I’m Lying, Don’t Tell Dana)