How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Trial (2)

“In the name of the holy and radiant name of God, all who gather here today━”

Marcell Pavlino, the chairman of the Inquisition, spoke loudly from the podium, his face hard and stern.

A somewhat stiff-looking old man.

He was different from Anton, who kept a cool expression even while killing pagans, except when he was teaching me holy spells while arguing with support department chief Baroque.

Suddenly, I remembered Anton’s words that an inquisitor must be more cold-hearted than anyone else because of the nature of their job.

Well. Weren’t the inquisitors the ones who burned sinners (innocent people they judged to be sinners) alive five hundred years ago without batting an eye?

Now that I don’t have as sharp a sense as before, I focused my gaze on the chairman who was giving a boring speech with an inscrutable expression.

It wasn’t that I thought the chairman of the Inquisition was hiding something suspicious, or that his speech was so impressive.

“The path was so complicated then. It took me over an hour to get through it, you know?”

The girl standing next to me, who had introduced herself as Daena, whispered to me with a slightly happy expression, glancing at me.

One of the qualities of an inquisitor was said to be not showing one’s emotions.

At least in that respect, this girl next to me seemed to be enough to fail.

It was a little annoying that she kept looking at me without any reaction, but it wasn’t a big deal.

Inquisitors are individuals who take on individual missions and travel around the continent alone. Anyway, after this exam is over, we will hardly see each other.

Even more so if this Daena fails the exam.

“Brothers and sisters who walk the thorny path towards the light in the lowest and darkest places. May you find God’s paradise at the end of the path you walk.”

In the meantime, the chairman’s speech was coming to an end.

Is it finally starting?

He walked to the front of the podium and raised one hand to point to the sky. His eyes were slightly bloodshot.

“Brothers and sisters!”

It’s a familiar sight.

An expression that can be made by those who have no doubt in their actions.

An expression that can be seen in both ardent devil worshippers and devout believers in God.

The faces of many candidates looking at that figure were filled with enthusiasm and tension for various reasons.

“. . . . . .”

A moment of silence.

Everyone waited with bated breath for the chairman’s next words.

Soon, the chairman of the Inquisition, Marcell Pavlino, who was looking at everyone, waved his hand pointing to the sky and shouted as if he was vomiting.

“In the name of God, we shall purify the darkness in which those who have committed unforgivable sins have turned upside down. Death to the Heretics!”

“Death to the Heretics!”

All the existing inquisitors, friars, and candidates shouted loudly as if answering his words.

“Death to the Heretics!”

Soon, the inside of the spacious auditorium of the Inquisition was heated up by the heat and shouts of the believers.

“Death to the Heretics!”

A voice that I had heard enough of. And a sound that I never thought I would hear again.

I laughed softly and closed my eyes. The shouts echoing from all sides filled my ears.

The loud shouts of the inquisitors.

It was the signal that the end of the speech and the final exam for the candidates to become new inquisitors had begun.

🔹🔹🔹

“Next.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good luck.”

“T, Thank you!”

A while of waiting.

“Next.”

“Yes!”

Entrance to the Inquisition.

The candidates who were lined up in a long line received a small piece of paper with a description of their mission and immediately left the Inquisition.

Fear, trembling, worry, confidence, excitement.

Various emotions emanating from the candidates who were not yet fully accustomed to hiding their emotions could be felt.

The one who was distributing the small pieces of paper was Anton Revecht.

He was an inquisitor who was almost at the top of the Inquisition and the one who had brought me here and initiated me.

Whoosh.

The long line gradually shortened and it was my turn. I walked towards him with a calm gait.

I wasn’t nervous. I was a bit far from such emotions.

“. . . . . .”

Anton, who was staring at me as I approached him, uttered a short word that was slightly different from the one he had given to the other candidates.

“Good luck, Luciel.”

Anton Revecht said in a low voice, looking at me. His expression didn’t change much, but I could read the faint worry in his voice.

Perhaps it was not a worry about the child named Luciel itself, but a worry that the talent that could carry out God’s will more effectively than anyone else might be wrong.

Of course, I can’t fully read his emotions, not yet.

I just smiled faintly at the inquisitor.

“Don’t worry.”

I answered him sincerely, and Anton, who seemed to believe me, nodded and handed me a small piece of paper that he had taken out.

A paper containing information about the final exam given to each of them to become an inquisitor.

On the surface, it was a blank, rough, and rugged paper with nothing written on it.

“. . . . . .”

I turned my head for a moment and saw several inquisitors and friars watching Anton distribute the papers to the candidates.

Baroque, who had argued with Anton and taught me some holy spells, winked at me, and Lefra, who was still standing with her arms crossed, her face and other parts except her face completely covered by armor and robe, was looking at me with narrowed eyes.

‘Let’s go and see.’

I put the received paper in my pocket and walked out of the entrance without any hesitation.

Not the main entrance connected to the front door, but the second entrance at the back.

Since the distance between the person in front and the person behind was kept quite long, and the papers were distributed one by one, the narrow stone passage was quiet.

Tick, tick.

Instead of the sacred music that I had heard when I first came here, I could hear the sound of water dripping from various places in the passage connected to the ground and the faint sound of footsteps of the candidate who seemed to be far ahead.

“. . . . . .”

Wooooong.

I infused a little holy power into the paper.

Swish.

Then, as if ink had been dropped on the blank paper, various symbols began to appear.

Not ordinary letters, but rather complex-looking symbols and ornaments.

‘The sacred language of ancient Behzant. And some cryptography.’

I laughed softly, looking at the figures.

As expected, they don’t make it easy from the beginning. Maybe some will drop out from here.

Inquisitors can only be those who are outstanding among those who have shown excellent talent in all fields.

Basic linguistics, cryptography, and a little creativity and adaptability are virtues that an inquisitor should have.

And that.

‘It’s the same for an outstanding warlock.’

「Third highest in the City of the Sun. In groups of three. . . . . .」

I, who had easily deciphered the letters and symbols, headed towards the outside of the passage.

It was already autumn outside, and it was chilly and dark.

The time when heretics and inquisitors to catch them are active.

Poof.

As I moved a little holy power, flames quickly rose from the thin, crumpled paper. The flames that shone in the cold and thrilling night air burned the small paper brightly and quickly subsided.

I shook off the ashes with a flick of my hand and headed towards the place written on the paper.

🔹🔹🔹

The City of the Sun, the highest place in Herentica, is the top of the spire that shines with the magic of wizards who seek the truth.

The light of the spire, which was installed to honor the City of the Sun and boasted an enormous brightness that could be seen even during the day, had become somewhat dim. Well, if you keep it on as bright as day even at night, you won’t be able to live properly. Of course, it would also be a huge waste of magical power.

I walked, looking at the faint light of the spire located on the opposite side of the huge town.

The second highest place is the main body of Herentica. In other words, it was the large and magnificent building that rose above the underground from which I had just emerged.

Even in the dark night, most of the rooms in the large building were lit, so it seemed that the devout believers were working hard today as well.

‘Is it over there?’

And the third highest place in the City of the Sun was a low hill located on the outskirts of the city.

Also know

n as the ‘Hill of Sacrifice’.

It was a place with a rather clichéd story, where a saint climbed the hill with a wounded body and informed the people of the enemy’s approach before the city was built.

The top of the hill, where a chilly wind was blowing, was quiet.

‘Has no one arrived yet?’

Well.

The ancient Behzant sacred language and cryptography written on the paper are not something that can be solved so easily. It would take some time for ordinary candidates to fully understand and decipher them.

Herentica’s night view, with its spires and tall buildings twinkling with lights, was quite a sight to behold.

At least from my point of view, I liked the night more than the day. I looked at the tree located in the center of the hill for a moment and sat down.

Rustle.

I had been resting leisurely in the wind for about thirty minutes.

I heard footsteps from behind.

‘Faster than I thought.’

It wasn’t something I, who hadn’t even taken 30 seconds, could say, but it was quite a fast pace for a rookie Inquisitor, or rather, a candidate. As expected, they were those who had been carefully trained and selected from all over the continent.

I turned my body to check the face of the first person to arrive other than me, out of the two remaining members of my team.

“Huh?”

The one who came up the hill with a brisk gait was Daena, who I had already met twice.

Her face broke into a smile when she confirmed me sitting on the top of the hill looking at her.

“Are we meeting again?”

“Unfortunately.”

I briefly replied to her greeting and got up from my seat, brushing off my clothes. The other one will arrive soon.

She looked at me, who had arrived before her, with curious eyes, and scanned me up and down, asking curiously.

“What’s your main weapon? Mine is this.”

She said, untying the mace she had on her back and holding it in one hand.

“. . . . . .”

The heavy mace, which even a large adult male would find cumbersome, was held lightly in Daena’s slender arms.

Did you learn the holy magic of the body strengthening system? Baroque would like it.

“. . . . . .I don’t really use weapons.”

While Daena tilted her head at my words, I examined her a little closer.

Not bad. Not enough to be a burden.

Of course, from my point of view, it didn’t matter who my teammates were. The exam that the amateurs took to become inquisitors was not a big concern for me.

And above all, since the number of inquisitors is small and the land of the Order is vast, inquisitors basically operate on an individual basis.

Probably after this exam is over, I will spend most of my time alone and freely. I can happily accept being with the amateurs for a while before that.

“. . . . . .”

My thoughts changed a little when I saw the last candidate who arrived panting up the hill an hour and thirty minutes after Daena arrived.

“Huff, huff. . . W, wait!”

The guy who seemed to have crossed this huge city, drenched in sweat, shouted at us who had not left yet, breathing heavily.

The guy, who barely reached the top of the hill using his sword as a cane, put his hands on his knees for a while and exhaled roughly before opening his mouth with a somewhat embarrassed face.

“Sorry. Phew. I’m a little late because I couldn’t decipher the latter part of the sentence and had to visit several places.”

From the main building in the center to the spire at the end of the town. And across the main building again to the hill on the opposite outskirts.

It was a commendable tenacity to have crossed this large city with a body that didn’t seem to be in the physical strengthening system.

Although the theory was poor.

“Fortunately, I deciphered the first part.”

Daena said, backing away a little from the guy who was sweating profusely and plopping down on the floor.

It took a little more time for the guy who was gasping for breath as if he was about to die to calm down.

“. . . . . .But you know.”

The guy who turned his gaze to Daena, who was looking at him blankly, opened his mouth softly.

“Do you happen to know where to go next?”

“. . . . . .”

“W, Well. The paper only said that there were three people. And the location of this place. . . . . . ”

Daena, who received the gaze, muttered softly as if making excuses and coughed in vain, then looked away.

Towards where I am.

I slowly got up, receiving the gazes of the two candidates at once.

This Order seemed to have become even lower in level than five hundred years ago.