novelraw Chapter 215 : Chapter 215
Chapter 215 : Chapter 215
Chapter 215: Inquisitor (1)
Sea routes are different from Digger routes.
'Getting rid of them is easy.'
All one had to do was hit the docks or the coastline.
Since the places where people boarded ships were limited.
Serzila was concerned about Roichte.
If she planted that awareness, the Asylum route through Roichte and the Otherworld pathway would be easily blocked.
'Just one incident would do it.'
It meant that the problem would be solved if Ellen just cut off Godif's head in Roichte Square right now.
Since a collateral member of Serzila had come all the way here to personally execute a Mage.
Then Mages, regardless of their origins, would have no choice but to lay low.
That was not what Harad wanted right now.
The Mages should not lie low. That way, the probability of meeting them would be higher.
Distinguishing their origins was easy.
Otherworld, Liberation Tower, or simply unlucky Continental Mages.
Harad was confident he could perfectly classify any Mage he met into one of those three categories.
'Kill the first two, spare the last.'
And if they were Dreamers, he would at least meet them first.
Godif was, in a sense, a stepping stone connecting Harad to one of those three.
'A bridge that can be cut.'
Even if Godif was a completely ordinary person he met by chance, or a Mage who knew nothing, it would not be a problem.
He did not know where in Roichte they boarded ships, but he knew where those ships went.
Jis's Shadow would be used at that moment.
'If that doesn't work out.'
There would come a moment when he would have to use Magic.
Fireball existed for that moment.
He could roughly throw some fire around, blame it on Fireball, send the creature flying far away, and retrieve it later.
Thus, Harad's mind was perfectly organized.
A tree in his mind had branches extending out, and each branch bore a leaf named 'the answer.'
That neatness—Harad felt at ease with it.
Harad originally had that kind of personality.
More precisely, he pursued that kind of personality.
In the exact opposite direction from Elaine or his own Origin.
"Mm."
He was not ignoring Elaine or Ellen.
Truly.
Those women hid fox-like cunning even while appearing ignorant.
If there were times they seemed ignorant, it was because they could afford to be ignorant at those moments.
When, where, and to what extent she could afford to be ignorant—Ellen knew her own limits very well.
Magic had been mixed into the food.
The only one who noticed that fact was Harad.
In other words, it meant the level of Magic was weak.
So there would be no problem even if she satisfied her appetite.
Even if the Magic was not actually weak, it would be fine.
That body was not an ordinary body.
Ellen must have judged so and shoved the whale meat into her mouth.
As proof, Ellen dropped one piece of whale meat and one shrimp on the floor.
A Shadow caught and ate them, then passed them to Harad.
"Don't you eat any, dear."
Just in case.
Ellen lowered her head and smacked her lips.
Thus, Ellen was thinking while eating.
"I understand."
It was overprotectiveness. Harad ate immediately.
Ellen could not see inside the Shadow right now anyway.
"But what if it's not?"
"If Godif isn't a Mage?"
"Yes."
"Then we would have to start from the beginning again. But that won't happen."
Because Godif had been the owner of the village mill.
He had abandoned such a good position and come to Roichte, where the Asylum route existed.
There was only one reason.
"Godif is definitely a Mage."
"Why are you so sure?"
The word 'secret' was not all-powerful.
It was certainly useful, but using it too often stoked Ellen's anger.
Of course, that would also be a Stimulus, but Harad was not particularly inclined to do so.
Wimar was enough for bad Stimulus.
"Did you already forget? I can distinguish Mages."
"Ah."
Ellen opened her mouth as if she just remembered.
"Right."
Then she ate again.
"......"
"How's the food?"
"It seems to do nothing but create a sense of dissonance."
The food was a kind of clue.
If she found the dissonance, it would mean they needed to get the next destination from this tavern.
"The Magic is exquisite. Whoever did it has considerable skill."
It was Magic at a level that only fairly skilled Mages could sense.
"If you can't sense it, they're saying don't even dream of Asylum."
Asylum was not something just anyone could do.
The village of Embers proved that.
If the life of a Continental Mage was beginner level, Asylum was intermediate or advanced.
One needed confidence in their Rank or a reliable ally to navigate the borders.
This restaurant was, in a sense, both a clue and a kind of sieve.
"Don't tell me you ate it?"
"I just touched it with my tongue."
Harad surveyed the interior of the tavern through the Shadow.
There were not very many people, and the menus ordered were varied.
The people who ate all wore expressions saying it was delicious. That was all.
'Not all of them would be Mages, but some are definitely mixed in.'
They would be Mages confident in their skills and even more confident in their acting.
The fact that they had come this far meant they had not been discovered by the Church or neighbors even until their skills accumulated enough to hope for Asylum.
Godif was the same right now.
He did not know if Godif had sensed the Magic in the food, but in any case, it did not show.
That was when it happened.
"......!"
The face of Godif, who had been calm all along, suddenly hardened.
It was just a fleeting moment, but the change was blatant enough for anyone to notice.
It was not just Godif.
All the guests in the restaurant wore the same expression, then quickly recovered.
It was because of a guest who had just entered.
"It's very cold out."
The guest, a middle-aged man, said while rubbing his arms.
"I'd like some warm food, please."
His voice was gentle as if kind, and his impression was even more so.
His exposed hands were smooth as if they had never suffered hardship.
But no one looked favorably upon that man.
Because the man had made the sign of the cross.
And because the canvas of that sign was dark.
The man wore jet-black vestments.
"The atmosphere is strange."
There was only one existence permitted to wear those priestly robes.
"Is it tension, or fear?"
An Inquisitor had arrived.
* * *
'So it's real.'
A real Inquisitor.
Harad nodded while scanning the vestments that were nothing but jet-black without any insignia.
An Inquisitor belonged to the Church, yet did not belong to the Church. The Church did not protect Inquisitors.
In exchange, Inquisitors gained freedom.
Freedom regarding the method of hunting Mages. However they killed, the aftermath became the responsibility of the person involved.
That responsibility held little meaning.
Inquisitors were a breed that would do anything and throw away anything as long as they could hunt Demons.
'Why are they here?'
That was why the guests had stiffened earlier.
Inquisitors did not like to come to the North.
Because the North dealt with Mages on its own.
The Empire understood Heretic hunting, but the North did not tolerate it.
If an Inquisitor stirred up the North, soon the Barrier Knights of Serzila would come calling.
"Huh?"
The Inquisitor had not come alone.
Some young woman was with him. A dazzling beauty with blonde hair resembling a flower.
"Seria?"
Ellen's eyes grew round.
"Ellen!"
Seria's eyes also grew round.
She smiled brightly and tried to approach, then turned her gaze.
At the end of it, the Inquisitor smiled gently.
"I say again, Priestess Seria. Do not mind me. We pursue the same light, but we walk different paths."
"Lord Badelrotz."
"Remember Sun God. He does not hide."
The Inquisitor spoke as if teaching and made the sign of the cross.
Only then did Seria approach Ellen.
Her face was more than happy.
"Ellen! I missed you."
"......I missed you a little too."
Though she said it like that, Ellen also looked glad to see her.
She also looked complicated.
Because she and Harad had come to find a Mage.
It was a situation where she could not welcome Priestess Seria.
Even more so if an Inquisitor was with her.
"I heard from the Bishop. That you looked for me in Premont."
"It wasn't really looking. I just thought I'd see you while I was going down there."
"Still, I'm happy."
Seria seemed satisfied with just that.
Ellen was not being honest with Seria. It was because of Harad.
"I didn't expect to see you here."
"Me neither. What brought you here?"
Ellen glanced at the Inquisitor and asked.
"Did you perhaps come alone?"
"......I came with Harad."
Ellen said after pausing.
Harad would want to be included in this situation.
She seemed to have judged so.
It was an accurate judgment.
"Oh my. Harad too?"
Seria was pleased.
However, that emotion was ambiguous.
"I'm glad you're together."
It did not seem like she was glad to see the person named Harad, but rather that she was glad Ellen was with Harad.
'They didn't get permission.'
The North was Serzila's land.
Seria's past visit to the territory had been because Grace Duke Aratus had permitted it.
Not this time.
She had set foot in the North without permission. This was truly an Inquisitor who did not care about anything.
"Yes. He'll be here soon."
Ellen pointed to her table.
There was so much food that it would not be strange even if several people had been there.
"He went out for a moment saying he wanted to see the sea."
Those words were a signal.
What had been disguised as Ellen's Shadow began to move smoothly.
* * *
"Go to the sea?"
"No. Here should be fine."
Harad arrived in an alley three blocks away and emerged from the Shadow.
"He doesn't seem to be such a sensitive Inquisitor."
The Inquisitor had not noticed Jis's Magic.
"But I don't like it."
Still, Jis's words were correct.
The Inquisitor was a troublesome existence.
"If you don't like it, you can stay and play for a bit."
"No. I want to watch too. Just in case."
A Shadow pouted its lips from the ground.
It did not seem to be afraid.
It meant she had experienced an Inquisitor before.
Jis had considerable experience despite appearances.
"Then I'm reassured. You can make judgments on your own."
"Okay. Don't worry."
Jis smiled brightly.
If nothing else, her judgment as a Mage was trustworthy.
Jis's Shadow mixed into Harad's Shadow. Harad headed toward the restaurant.
The interior of the restaurant was just as he had seen it earlier.
The guests were stiff as mice before a cat, watching the Inquisitor's mood.
Though their meals were finished, they could not leave.
Because that would make them suspicious.
Even if they had nothing to hide.
The Church possessed the power to make anyone into a Mage.
Inquisitors even more so.
"Harad, over here."
When Harad appeared, Ellen raised her hand as if she had been waiting.
The Inquisitor and Seria were still standing.
Harad smiled and extended his hand to Seria.
"Oh. Nice to see you. Who would have thought we'd meet here."
"You don't sound very pleased."
"That's true."
Harad grasped her hand without concern.
He had already confessed that he disliked her.
"And this is?"
"I am Badelrotz."
The Inquisitor smiled brightly.
Harad clasped his hand while scanning him as if seeing him for the first time.
"An Inquisitor."
"I am merely a young lamb."
Harad turned his gaze to Ellen.
"What were you talking about?"
"We haven't yet. We were going to once you came."
It meant she was handing the initiative to Harad.
"Then let's sit and talk. If they're Seria's companions, they're our guests too."
Harad indicated the opposite side to Badelrotz and sat next to Ellen.
"Could you clear this away?"
When he raised his hand, a server came and cleaned the table.
The hands moving the empty dishes trembled finely.
Because if they cleared something wrong, they could become a Demon.
They might actually be a Mage.
"It's a good restaurant. Clean."
Badelrotz smiled while scanning the surroundings.
"It seems to be the most famous one around here."
"Is that so? But doesn't the atmosphere seem strange?"
"Does it?"
Harad tilted his head and responded.
"Yes. For some reason, everyone seems tense. They seem frightened too."
Badelrotz flicked his tongue.
It was the look of one viewing prey—no, of one wanting to create prey.
Clang!
At that look, the server dropped a knife.
"Why are you frightened?"
Badelrotz's gaze toward the server grew sharper.
'Skilled.'
This was not a trick done once or twice.
Badelrotz was an experienced hunter.
He knew very well how to make a desired target into a suspect and how to obtain cooperation.
"Anyone would be scared if they saw an Inquisitor."
It was a method that did not work on Harad.
Elaine from his previous life had killed more than ten priests.
Among them were Inquisitors and Cardinals too.
"So let them go. Don't catch innocent people."
"That is a matter for Sun God to decide."
Badelrotz seemed to have already decided the server was a Demon suspect.
"Here, it's a matter for Serzila to decide."
Harad placed his hand on Ellen's shoulder.
"How fortunate that you're here."
In the North, Serzila was king.
"If we kill, we kill. If they're a Northerner."
"Not a person, but a Demon."
"We make that judgment too. Whether they're a person or a Demon."
"......"
Badelrotz's face contorted like a Demon's.