Making the holy water I need requires quite a bit of focus.
In other words, the more Serin gets interested in heretics, the worse the quality of the holy water.
A proper holy water was essential for the medicine I had to make for Sowol.
That’s why it was important to keep her from focusing on useless things, so I devoted myself to the investigation, and after a few days, I was ready for the final search.
“Is this the right place?”
Priest Lewalon frowned slightly as he looked at the location pointed to by the traces of the investigation.
It was a gathering spot for the guys ruling the back alleys of the territory.
“According to the investigation, this is where the heresy first spread.”
“Franz Hall, huh.”
A place filled with whores, thieves, goons, and all sorts of other misfits hanging out in the back alleys.
In simple terms, it was the shadow of the territory.
The expression on Priest Lewalon’s face wasn’t good.
“Is the reason why the brothers and sisters don’t come to the church because of heresy?”
Oh come on. That’s going too far.
If the reason for not going to church was heresy, then I would become a heretic too!
“Well, if teachings about heresy are being passed on in Franz Hall, we can’t rule out that possibility.”
But since that’s probably the answer he wanted, I just nodded along.
I placed my hand on the sword at my waist.
Seeing that, Priest Lewalon raised his hand lightly, and several paladins waiting behind him brandished their maces.
“Let’s start.”
As soon as Priest Lewalon gave the command, the paladins stepped forward. Was it because of the thudding footsteps?
The door of Franz Hall swung open, and burly men armed with weapons rushed out.
“What the?! Who are you?!”
“We are the Paladin Order of the Church. We have discovered traces of heresy here.”
“Ha?! So what?!”
“We need to investigate this place, so please do not resist.”
Usually, common thugs would part the way without much grumbling.
After all, opposing the church would result in more disadvantages than advantages.
But it seemed the thugs of Franz Hall didn’t get that.
Maybe it was that they thought they shouldn’t be investigated by the church?
Clang!!
Weapons were drawn.
Seeing the thugs trying to block the paladins, I shrugged.
Blood needs to be shed for words to work.
“Charge!”
At my command, the paladins moved.
The thugs, realizing they weren’t going to simply take a beating, began to resist, but their struggles were nothing against the paladins’ formidable defense.
What could they do with those flimsy little sticks against armor made of solid steel?
As the paladins’ maces crunched the thugs’ bones and burst their flesh, I slipped inside.
“Ugh.”
The inside of Franz Hall was a mess.
Bottles of liquor, leftover food, and naked women moaning sprawled across the floor.
Had they been drinking? But there wasn’t any smell of alcohol.
They seemed too normal to be on drugs.
So then…?
The answer came simply.
Illusions created using the heretics’ magic.
“What are you?!”
A burly man, presumably drawn by the ruckus below, pulled out a weapon and charged.
I knocked him out with a swift uppercut and looked back at the fallen woman.
It was clear.
The heretics offered illusions and pleasure through special magic. Sweeter than drugs, but with a dependency that far surpasses them, the heretics seeped into people like a sweet poison.
Recalling a related event from a game I once played, I took down the men coming down the stairs one by one as I went up and came face to face with a half-naked man.
“…Aren’t you the Master?”
“Franz Kane.”
A man so influential that he was called the lord of the back alleys.
The large, bald man with a prominent belly smiled slickly while waving a cane in his hand.
That’s evidence of heresy.
“What brings you here?”
“I came at the church’s request to uproot the heretic roots in this territory.”
“Hmm… Master, I beg you, can’t you just turn around this time?”
“Is that an option? If you come peacefully, I might spare you from a heresy trial.”
A heretic facing a heresy trial always ends up getting burned at the stake.
Wouldn’t it be better to hang for treason than to suffer the agonizing pain of being burned alive? My kind suggestion was rejected without a second thought.
Instead, he pulled out a hidden blade from inside his cane.
With that ominous black energy writhing around it, it certainly seemed like a fine artifact provided by the heretics.
“No matter how skilled you are, Master, as long as I hold this sword…”
Swish!!
“Ugh, AAAAAAH!!”
Before he could finish, I swung the sword, severing his hand.
As Franz stared blankly at his own hand lying on the ground, he screamed, and I spoke to him.
“What’s the matter? You can’t hold it anymore.”
“Wha, whaaat?!”
Was it the pain and fury from his severed hand? Franz’s eyes rolled back in his head.
Black tattoos began to creep onto his half-naked body.
He was using heretic magic to strengthen his own power.
Not a good move.
Sure, he could gain strength for a short time, but using it too often would ultimately lead to becoming a fiend.
And…
Gasp!
“Guh!!”
Not a great move at all.
Before his transformation completed, I sliced off both his arms and legs.
As the now dismembered Franz rolled around on the ground, the paladins began to come up, having finished their clean-up below.
“Master, what is this…”
“Evidence of heresy.”
“…He’s transforming into a fiend.”
At Priest Lewalon’s words, the expressions of the paladins changed.
Their faces seemed to say they wanted to tear Franz apart right at that moment, but I shrugged and shook my head.
“We have to handle this according to the church’s lawful procedures.”
“Ah, I see.”
Yeah. Better to burn him legally.
While Franz continued to curse even as he rolled around on the ground, the paladins took him away. In the meantime, I picked up the artifact he had dropped.
“This is evidence that Franz was involved with the heretics. It’s a heretic artifact, so please take care of it, Priest Lewalon.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to finish this without significant damage.”
“It’s only what I should do.”
With this, I could at least wipe out traces of heretics that appeared in the territory this time.
Of course, tracking and investigating the heretics related to Franz or any others lurking somewhere else remain, but that’s up to Priest Lewalon or the central church to handle.
Serin’s role was merely to deal with what happened in this territory, so now she could focus entirely on producing the holy water I wanted.
“Well, I’ll be heading back then.”
“Yes. I pray that the Lord’s grace be with you, Master. Oh, and this week’s mass…”
“What do I do? I’m planning to be sick then…”
No matter how much I hate heretics, I really don’t want to go to mass.
Truly.
Having notified the Lord that this matter was over, I returned to the Eastern Trading Company, puzzled.
There were quite a number of carts in front of the Eastern Trading Company. What’s going on? I entered out of curiosity and found some unfamiliar warriors there.
“Oh, Master! You’ve arrived.”
“Yeah, but… what’s this?”
“Ah, our Eastern Trading Company often trades with the eastern regions. The people who went to the east for a big deal have returned.”
Oh, is that so? They went all the way to the east. They must’ve had a rough time.
I nodded casually to the servant and began to look over the items they brought.
“Hmm?”
Just then, I spotted a young girl who seemed to be around the same age as Sowol unloading cargo.
She was a stunningly androgynous girl with beautiful, deep black hair, a trademark of the easterners. She had considerable talent, though not as much as Sowol.
What a shame. If she had just a tad more talent, I could’ve made her my second disciple.
But having taken on an outstanding talent like Sowol as a disciple, this girl just seemed a bit lacking.
If it weren’t for that, I might’ve considered taking her as a disciple, but there’s still time…
“Why are you staring at Laila like that?”
“Just. Is that a problem?”
“It’s not a problem, but… Laila is my precious friend and bodyguard.”
“Oh. Is that so?”
“So, don’t think anything weird.”
“What do you take your master for?”
As Sowol approached with a somewhat cold tone, I flicked her forehead.
As she rubbed her forehead, grumbling, I took a moment to observe Sowol’s condition.
“Looks like you’re doing your homework properly.”
“Do you want to test me?”
“You’ve probably done well, so there’s no need to go that far…”
“Then does that mean class will start again from today?”
I hadn’t had a proper class due to the investigation about the heretics for the past few days. Mentioning this, Sowol urged for class, but I couldn’t do it yet.
I had to go gather materials to make the medicine.
“I need to make a trip to the nearby metropolis, so class is out of the question.”
“…With Serin, right?”
Why would I take her along when she’s busy making holy water?
“I’m going with you.”
“…Huh?”
Why so surprised?
Sowol, looking at me blankly, turned slightly and clenched her fist.
“Is this okay?”
“Nooo~?! Actually, I’m quite busy and stuff, but if Master insists, I guess I’ll accompany you!”
For someone saying that, she sure looked pleased.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.