How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 88

Chapter 88: Approach

It was a satisfying result. No, it was more than that.

Following the Caridad Catacomb, this was the second. In addition to closing the passage connecting the Great Demon and the material world, I also absorbed the enormous amount of demonic energy dwelling within the ruby taken from the High Priest.

Although it wasn’t quite the level of my prime in my previous life, when I directly contracted with the Great Demon and used its power, it was an incomparable amount of energy.

Enough that I wouldn’t have to worry about demonic energy for a while.

“……”

Of course, there was a price to pay.

Because I directly grasped the Great Demon’s ruby with my arm flowing with holy power, the skin from my hand to my forearm was scorched black.

It was a serious injury that would have required amputation without a proper healer, but it was nothing compared to what I gained.

This much of a price? I could pay it dozens of times over. Of course, that’s if there were excellent healing methods like now.

I looked down at the bandages wrapped tightly around my arm. The deep green bandages emitted a pungent smell that tickled my nose.

Is it Arzellone? Judging by the turbidity, the richness of the scent, and the faint sweetness, it seems to be mixed with some processed Perinensil as well.

It’s quite an interesting combination method. Witch’s herbalism is an unfamiliar field, but I had some basic knowledge.

As I lightly touched it with my tongue, I felt a tingling sensation and a slight numbness on the tip of my tongue. A fresh grassy scent.

It must have been ground not too long ago. In this fresh state, it would have been quite a valuable commodity.

As I, the Seeker of All Knowledge, satisfied a small curiosity, a youthful voice reached my ears. It was the witch, Pekilla.

“Seeing you doing such strange things, I assume your wounds are all healed.”

She continued, looking at me with a dubious expression as I lightly tasted the green bandages.

“If you’re hungry, tell me to prepare a meal. Those bandages are quite precious, you know.”

At the witch’s words, I chuckled and said,

“I’m sure they are. Arzellone only grows in the snowy plains of the north.”

“……Are you knowledgeable in herbalism as well? Well, it’s not surprising anymore.”

Pekilla shook her head slightly at my words and poked the bandage lightly with her fern-like hand. A sharp pain shot through despite the anesthetic properties.

……It stings a bit.

“It seems to sting.”

Seeing my sullen expression, she nodded with a satisfied look. Of course, it wasn’t a childish prank.

As if to explain, Pekilla continued with a slightly mischievous smile,

“In other words, the fact that you feel pain in your wound means─”

“That the sensation is returning.”

At my matter-of-fact reply, the witch’s eyebrows shot up. I shrugged at her and said,

“I’ve heard it a few times before.”

Creak.

As if to interrupt our conversation, the door opened and Marchena appeared.

On the silver tray she held in her hand, a simple snack was steaming.

Being served by a vampire? This is quite a novel experience.

Looking at Marchena as she walked in, spinning the tray as if performing a trick, I said,

“It doesn’t seem to be a real silver tray.”

“Ha!”She snorted at my words and said with a feigned arrogance,

“Unless it’s consecrated holy silver, ordinary silver won’t do much harm to me.”

Well, that’s true. She was a high-ranking vampire who could walk around even under the midday sun.

“……Well, it’s true that it’s not real silver.”

I looked at the tray she placed on the bedside table with a cough. The warm steam and the appetizing smell.

At first glance, it looked decent. I skillfully used my left hand to lift the stew bowl.

The ingredients of the thick stew were nothing more than shredded venison, grain flour, salt, and a few spices, but it was surprisingly savory. The seasoning was just right.

After tasting the food, I looked at Marchena and said conclusively,

“You didn’t make this.”

“……Why do you think that?”

“Because a vampire couldn’t possibly be good at cooking.”

I’ve seen vampires who control their human emotions to the extreme and enjoy the exotic taste of blood, but I’ve never seen a vampire who was skilled at cooking.

It was similar logic to a dwarf from the mines not being good at gardening.

“……”

Tsk. Marchena pouted, seemingly struck by my words.

“By the way, Leader, I heard some interesting news from the Holy See.”

Pekilla, who looked at Marchena with a slightly surprised expression, slowly opened her mouth.

“The Golden Cross Knights have moved. Rumor has it that they found ruins in the northeast.”

“Ruins.”

Ruins presumed to have been revealed during the collapse of the tunnels of the Modesta Catacomb, which stretched extensively underground.

Her words were quite intriguing. Although she used the somewhat uncertain expression,”rumor has it,”it was probably true.

The Black Dawn Society’s information network was not to be underestimated.

The fact that the Holy See dispatched knights, especially the near-elite Golden Cross Knights, meant they had thorough preparation and conviction.

“Did they discover a new holy relic?”

I shook my head slightly at Marchena’s words. It was half right and half wrong.

It was true that holy relics were highly valuable in this era where the connection with God had become faint, but that alone wouldn’t have caused the Golden Cross Knights to mobilize.

The witch Pekilla seemed to have similar thoughts.

“It seems they definitely found something. However, it’s not a typical holy relic……”

I slowly put down the half-empty stew bowl and continued Pekilla’s words.

“It’s something more than that.”

“Hmm.”

Marchena, who was a bit clumsy at cooking, as befitting a creature of darkness, and showed little interest in holy relics or treasures of the church, scratched her face with a sullen expression and said,

“Anyway, does that mean you’re leaving again?”

“That’s right.”

“In that condition?”

She said, staring at my arm at my nonchalant reply. She stared at me for a moment, as if thinking about something, then gave a mischievous smile.

“Vampire saliva has an anesthetic effect that relieves pain. How about it?”

“……”

Is she suggesting she’ll lick my wounds?

To the vampire grinning with her fangs exposed, I replied firmly,

“I decline.”

🔹🔹🔹

“You have no choice.”

A cold voice echoed through the entrance of the city located on the outskirts of the Pain Kingdom.

Corpses were scattered throughout the small city called Halsen. It was the aftermath of the Catacomb’s black mages attacking the city after a plague had struck.

Of course, the situation was now over. In a good way, that is. Thanks to Halsen, located on the edge of the Pain Kingdom’s territory, being adjacent to the Holy See’s sphere of influence.

However, it wasn’t fortunate for all the city’s residents. The Holy Knights of the Holy See were colder than anyone else to those who didn’t believe in God.

“You vermin.”

A cold voice. Several individuals in Pain Kingdom uniforms were bound and kneeling before a sharp-featured Holy Knight.

The city’s Guard Captain and his subordinates. They were the ones who abandoned the city and fled when the Catacomb’s black mages attacked.

As soon as the attack began, they used the city walls and common farmers as shields and left the city without looking back. They succeeded in escaping the Catacomb’s black mages, but unfortunately, they couldn’t escape the Holy Knights of the Holy See.

Swish.

The Holy Knight gripped the hilt of his sword.

The golden hilt of the sword was decorated with a symbol of the church and a splendid jewel imbued with holy power. It was the weapon symbolizing the leader of the Golden Cross Knights.

Although it couldn’t compare to the holy sword passed down in legends, it was a precious item treated as a quasi-holy relic in itself.

“……”

However, the man looking down at his sword didn’t seem very pleased.

Clang. The sleek blade slowly revealed itself. As the Knight Captain slowly raised his sword, a knight beside him opened his mouth with a slightly troubled expression.

“Captain.”

The Guard Captain and the soldiers were under the jurisdiction of the Pain Kingdom. Although they were deserters, the right to punish them belonged to the kingdom.

Moreover, this Pain Kingdom was a place where the influence of Hesterica’s Inquisition was stronger than that of the Holy See.

It was wrong for the Holy Knights of the Holy See to arbitrarily take the lives of the soldiers.

Whoosh!

But as if he didn’t care about such things, the Holy Knight swung his sword.

“Ugh……!”

Before a few breaths could pass, the bound Guard Captain and his five or six subordinates all collapsed, dead.

Unlike the Inquisitors, there was no short prayer for the dead. After briefly looking at the bleeding corpses with a cold gaze as if looking down at animals, the man turned around without hesitation.

A knight cautiously said to him,

“Captain, I heard that the Inquisitors who departed from the Pain Kingdom’s capital and Hesterica’s elite troops have arrived in a nearby city to deal with the remaining enemies.”

“Is that so?”

The man said nonchalantly in response to the knight’s report.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll head straight to the ruins in the northeast.”

“I’ll prepare for departure immediately.”

“Where is the Saintess?”

The Knight Captain asked as he wiped the blood off his sword with a disgusted look, taking the cloth offered by his subordinate.

“We received a message that she passed through the Mideulren Parish two days ago.”

“Mideulren.”

A look of contemplation briefly crossed the man’s face. His target wasn’t the insignificant deserters, or the Catacomb’s black mages who suddenly lost their power and collapsed.

The suffering of these insignificant cities, which weren’t even under the jurisdiction of the Holy See, didn’t evoke any particular emotion in him.

This place was simply on the way to the ruins where traces of that object were found.

The man, having organized his thoughts, said coldly,

“We should be able to meet right in front of the ruins. We’ll depart immediately.”

Whoosh. The man and the knights mounted their horses and quickly left the city.

Without even bothering to burn or clean up the remnants of the plague, the traces of the black mages, and the corpses of the deserters they had just dealt with.

🔹🔹🔹

“Haa.”

Sophia let out a deep sigh. She looked around the small room. This was a small room in the Mideulren Parish, located far northeast of Delphaud, the city where the Holy See was located.

It was a shabby place, far too humble for Rozalin of the Holy See, the noble Saintess, to stay. But Sophia didn’t mind that much.

She sometimes even fell asleep on the soft grass of the Holy See’s garden.

It wasn’t such things that bothered Sophia.

“……”

An uncomfortable feeling pricked at her heart. What was bothering her was an unknown pain that had started recently.

It didn’t stem from a physical injury or an illness like a cold. She was not an ordinary girl, but Rozalin of the Holy See. She was the Saintess, the agent of God’s will.

‘Could it be that something ominous will happen at the ruins we’ll be arriving at soon?’

Of course, it wasn’t a rational guess. Even Sophia herself didn’t know the exact cause.

But she knew at least one thing. That a careless word from the Saintess could cause many people hardship or discomfort.

Even a meaningless remark like,’I had a bad dream,’after waking up on a common pilgrimage, wouldn’t be taken lightly if it came from the mouth of the Saintess.

Terrified Paladins would reprimand the servants attending her, they might even demolish the inn she stayed at, or push the lower-ranking knights to completely alter the schedule.

Therefore, Sophia didn’t tell anyone about this uncomfortable pain that was bothering her. Not yet.

“……”

After getting out of bed and pacing by the window for a while, a certain person came to mind.

The man who had left a strong impression on her, the one who had single-handedly resolved the plague in Ephesus not long ago and disappeared without a word.

Inquisitor Luciel.

Unlike the other members of the Church, he somehow gave off the feeling of being a step removed. She felt like she could confide her worries to him without him worrying about anything else.

But that was just an unrealistic wish.

The ruins she was heading to in the northeast were incredibly far from Hesterica, where the Inquisition was located.

While Sophia was lost in thought, a cautious knock came from outside.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Saintess-nim, a guest has come to see you.”

“A guest……?”

She turned around with a puzzled look. They wouldn’t use the term’guest’for someone from within the Holy See. Of course, it wouldn’t be someone unrelated to the Church.

If that were the case, the fastidious Paladins guarding her wouldn’t have opened the way. Tilting her head, she calmly said,

“Come in.”

Creak. The old door of the monastery opened, and a man slowly entered the room. It was a familiar face.

“……!”

The Saintess’ s face flushed with surprise. While Sophia was speechless, caught off guard by the unexpected situation, the man greeted her first.

“I apologize for this sudden visit without any notice. But there’s something I wanted to tell you in person.”

Inquisitor Luciel, with a small smile on his lips, continued speaking to Saintess Sophia in a calm tone.

“You’re not asleep this time.”

Unlike when they first met and when they last parted ways.

Understanding the Inquisitor’s playful remark, she finally managed a welcoming smile and replied. Perhaps God had read her heart and bestowed a small gift upon her.

“I slept a lot back then.”

The pain that had been bothering Sophia’s heart just moments ago had already vanished without a trace.

But like the innocent girl she was, the Saintess, completely unaware of this fact, looked at the Inquisitor before her and greeted him gracefully.

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