novelraw Chapter 217 : Chapter 217
Chapter 217 : Chapter 217
Chapter 217: Inquisitor (3)
If he crossed Badelots, his relationship with Seria would end as well.
However, he couldn't allow him to rampage freely through the North.
If he did, there would be an overflow of prey.
That was why he had to stay with Badelots.
It would create various restrictions, but it also left room for maneuvering.
How to utilize that room was a matter for Ellen. Or Seria.
"An anteater."
The letter from the Intelligence Bureau compared Badelots to that animal.
Normally docile, but turning ferocious at the sight of demons, and possessing a stickiness that never let go once it caught a demon or suspect.
"He's killed many demons, but none of them were Great Devils. I see. That's why he's an anteater."
"Why is that?"
"Anteaters typically don't eat the queen ant. If they did, the number of ants to eat would decrease."
Great Devils didn't birth demons, but it wasn't strange logic.
At least not for the Church.
The Church's knowledge about demons was often twisted.
They even believed Magical Beasts were servants of Mages.
'By not touching Great Devils, he increases the number of demons and only hunts those demons.'
Because he lacked confidence in his abilities?
If that were the case, he wouldn't be chasing the Fire Great Devil.
He had simply divided his role.
"What a scoundrel."
If there were those who felled full-grown trees, there were also those who pulled out sprouts.
Badelots was the latter.
"Would you like to see it too?"
Ellen readily took the letter.
Normally, she would have passed on it, saying you know about it already, so it's fine.
It seemed Ellen intended to be truly careful this time.
To avoid making the same mistake she had made with Wimar.
It was also a matter concerning Seria.
"It's not terribly detailed."
"Divine power is usually like that. It's not as intuitive as Magical or Aura."
For Mages, there existed intuitive Magical like Projection and Manifestation that could gauge Rank.
A knight's Aura became even more prominent upon becoming a Sword Master.
On the other hand, Divine power didn't show such signs.
Because it was so vague. The role of Divine power was extremely diverse, and that vagueness included evaluation as well.
"It's difficult to know until you experience it directly. That's why it's usually confirmed by track record. Or the number of deaths."
What kind of demons had they killed?
Or how many times had they died at once at most?
Judgments about priests were usually based on such things.
Ellen nodded slowly.
She seemed to be recalling Seria regenerating her burst head. That act resembling healing—no, resurrection—naturally had limits.
Those limits were precisely the priest's capability.
"Badelots is difficult to gauge."
That anteater was an Inquisitor who only killed small fry.
"However, he did chase a Great Devil here."
He must have confidence to have chased one here.
Still, he couldn't evaluate him too highly either. He was an Inquisitor whose eyes rolled back at the mere mention of Mages.
There were plenty of cases where they coveted more than their own capabilities.
"Still, there's nothing wrong with assuming he's 5th Rank. Just in case."
"Isn't the Church more Honey Badger? Not the North."
Ellen, who had been listening quietly, narrowed her eyes.
That comparison still seemed to bother her.
Harad smiled faintly.
"That might be true."
* * *
The promised time was early morning.
It was to share breakfast together, and Harad had set it that way. It was to minimize the time spent apart from Badelots.
"The atmosphere seems different from yesterday."
Badelots made the holy sign before the food that came out.
It was the same restaurant as yesterday, but the staff member who brought the food didn't tremble.
The other customers were the same.
"The North adapts quickly. It seems they've gotten used to you."
Mages had even better adaptability than those Northerners.
If not for the first time, there were no Mages in Lohit who kept showing it.
Such novices were already dead, and only Mages skilled enough to lead or hope for asylum would have gathered in Lohit.
'Or from the Otherworld.'
Either way, it was rare for the iron plate on a Mage's face to peel off.
Harad had taken on the role of adhesive that kept the iron plate from falling off Mages' faces.
And ripped it off if they were from the Otherworld.
"Remarkable. To regain composure in just a day. So this is what Lohit is originally like. Ah. I'll have the same thing as well."
Badelots standardized the food.
He must mean the original atmosphere was also suspicious.
It was an attitude befitting an Inquisitor.
Because he had already suspected once.
'What a nice life.'
Inquisitors were enviable beings.
They could do anything. If they killed someone who turned out not to be a Mage, they could just insist they were a Mage anyway.
They could either deal with the aftermath or just run away.
It was the complete opposite of Mages.
They had to stake their lives on a single Magical.
"I'll say it again, only hunt when the on-site evidence is clear."
Only when Magical was witnessed.
Harad put reins on the anteater.
"You seem to know the Church's methods well."
"A priest named Wimar told me."
Ellen wore an uncomfortable expression.
Because Wimar was deceased.
But in Harad's opinion, Wimar was a friend who would laugh heartily.
"I'll concede."
Badelots narrowed his eyes while nodding.
Since they had already agreed to work together, he had to match the conditions.
"However......"
"I know. The Fire Great Devil is an exception. You would know best about him."
"Correct. I know his Magical and physique. Even his face."
"Would you tell us as well? It seems the investigation would be faster that way."
"......"
"I have no intention of going further. The judgment will be yours."
"I'll tell you."
Only then did Badelots's eyes curve pleasantly.
'At least he's less sinister.'
He had worried whether he might kill just anyone and insist it was the Fire Great Devil.
When promised the chance to kill, Badelots complied immediately. It must be that important a matter. The Fire Demon was such an existence.
"It was an extremely powerful fire."
Badelots turned grim as if he had never smiled.
He was displeased that fire symbolizing Luan was also in the hands of a demon.
"And it was very sinister."
Truly dreadful and sinister.
Yesterday, Badelots had summarized the Fire Great Devil that way.
"I understand the former, but what does the latter mean?"
Sinister was an expression that didn't quite match fire.
"You may not know, but Fire Demons usually leave traces. Existential traces."
"So I've heard."
"The higher the demon's Rank, the deeper those traces become."
Harad was exactly like that.
Even without manifesting Magical, he possessed a presence superior to knights.
"Of course, there are some such people in the world......"
Badelots stared directly at Harad while trailing off.
"But he set fires as well."
Harad received it very naturally.
"Yes, correct. A Great Devil without equal."
Badelots nodded slowly.
It was why Mages had to put on iron plates on their faces.
"The Great Devil's Magical was fire, but it was not fire. That's why it was sinister. It was an entity that could hide existential traces."
"Perhaps the fire he possessed wasn't that impressive?"
Being able to hide one's presence.
If the concept of Origin was small, it wasn't impossible.
"That's not it. It was a fire dreadful enough for a Great Devil."
However, Badelots firmly shook his head.
He looked tense.
He must have experienced quite impressive Magical.
"It's dreadful, but sometimes the fire goes out. That's the feeling I got."
Extinguishing and lighting fire.
Harad narrowed his brow. Badelots was describing Origin like some kind of switch.
"A peculiar demon."
"Correct. Deformed."
Still, there was no reason to completely dismiss an Inquisitor's intuition.
Inquisitors were the race that encountered Mages most frequently after Mages themselves.
'An enviable Origin.'
Possessing strong fire while being able to become concealed when desired.
For Harad, it was an ability he couldn't help but covet.
He didn't know if it was deformed, but it was certainly a peculiar Origin.
"What does he look like?"
"There are no particularly prominent features. His height is...... about half a span shorter than you, Harad. His build would be similar."
Badelots gauged while looking Harad over.
"Ordinary. What about his face?"
Badelots raised his index finger in the air.
It became a pen. Divine power replacing ink drew a white picture in the air. It was a portrait of the Fire Great Devil.
The portrait was extremely detailed.
Every single eyebrow hair was expressed.
Rather than having excellent drawing skills, it was as if the Divine power had faithfully transferred the image in his mind.
His hair was bushy, his eyebrows were thick but thin...... As Badelots said, there were no prominent features. It was such a common face that one could forget it the moment they passed by.
"Have you perhaps seen him?"
"It's a face I'm seeing for the first time."
Harad shook his head.
The only fires he had encountered in his previous life were the Sun and Torch.
Harad had never seen Torch's face.
"Huh?"
It was then that Ellen's mouth gaped.
"You've seen him!"
Thud! Badelots struck the table as if slamming it and shoved his face toward Ellen.
"Uh......"
Perhaps because of that, Ellen's face was confused.
She looked back and forth between the approaching Badelots and Harad sitting beside her.
'She's seen him?'
Harad tilted his head.
Then when he met eyes with Ellen, he nodded. It meant it was fine to speak.
"No. I'm sorry. I must have been mistaken. It seems like a face I'm seeing for the first time."
"Aah!"
Badelots was intensely frustrated by the bland answer.
* * *
How should one search for a demon?
Without intelligence, one had to put in legwork.
An Inquisitor had to be diligent.
Legwork was usually futile.
Unless it was finding suspects, chasing a single demon was bound to be that way.
That's why he had come all the way to Lohit in the first place.
"I've caused you trouble."
Although half a day had already passed, Badelots didn't lose his smile as he came out after searching a single building.
Persistent, but not frantic about everything.
Because demons aimed for those gaps.
"No results."
"It's usually like this. It's a trial given by Laan."
Usually it wasn't like this.
Having this little results was because of the disruption named Harad in the investigation process.
That anteater couldn't easily stick out the tongue he usually flaunted.
Because of the condition that he could only hunt when on-site evidence was clear.
"If you're tired, you may rest."
"I'm fine. I'm confident in my stamina too. Let's go together."
Badelots repeatedly tried to separate Harad.
"Priestess Seria. You may spend time with Ellen. Chasing the Fire Great Devil is my task, not yours."
And through Seria, he tried to separate Ellen.
"Weren't you the next Inquisitor?"
It should be a jointly assigned task.
Seria was the next Inquisitor.
"I thought you were teaching your junior."
"It's confidential."
Badelots smiled brightly.
Despite his good impression, he was a narrow-minded beast.
"My."
Another half day passed.
Badelots lamented while looking at the darkening sky. Soon Luan's time would come.
Sun priests did not encroach upon the night for personal gain.
Wimar respected the Moon's time and did not try to encroach upon it.
"It's gotten late. It would be better to do it again tomorrow."
Badelots made the holy sign toward the slightly darkened sky as if apologizing.
"You're not seeing us off today?"
Then he asked Harad, who was about to leave.
"I don't think that's necessary anymore. I'm sorry for suspecting you yesterday."
"Not at all. It was an understandable situation."
"Thank you for understanding."
Harad made the holy sign toward Badelots.
"I can only be grateful that you believe me."
Badelots smiled broadly.
* * *
It was when they entered the Intelligence Bureau safe house.
"You didn't see it?"
Ellen threw out an unexpected question.
"See what?"
"The portrait the anteater showed us."
Ellen had good eyes.
Perhaps she had seen things in Lohit that Harad hadn't.
One of them might be the Fire Great Devil.
"I didn't see it, at least. Did you see it?"
"......"
As if it were a difficult question, Ellen couldn't answer immediately.
Instead, she stared intently at Harad.
"No. I must have been mistaken after all."
Only her gaze was burdensome.
Ellen answered blandly like before.
"You don't need to worry about it."
Ellen shook her head and relaxed the strength in her eyes.
Then she changed the subject.
"How was the anteater?"
Ellen called Badelots an anteater.
It seemed to fit her mouth well. Or perhaps his attitude was annoying. It was probably the latter.
"He seemed like an ordinary Inquisitor. If we hadn't been together, he would have been poking around everywhere."
If Badelots had been left alone, that staff member they met yesterday would have already been purified.
Or he would be in some suitable basement being interrogated.
"What about Seria?"
Now that he looked, this was the main point.
"Didn't Seria seem strange?"
"Did she?"
Harad tilted his head.
He had only focused on Badelots. He was in a position where he had to. Since he couldn't use Magical, he had to be cautious.
"She wasn't talking."
"We conversed quite well, though."
Ellen had been in charge of Seria.
Sounds of conversation had been heard occasionally.
"That's what I mean by not talking."
"Is that so?"
Come to think of it, that seemed to be the case.
The Seria he had seen in Serzila was talkative and lively.
She had been impressed even walking ordinary streets and would share those impressions with Harad and Ellen.
"She was passive."
Today was different.
The investigation had been Badelots and Harad's responsibility.
Seria had only followed behind.
It should have been her first time in Lohit, yet she hadn't been impressed even once.
It meant her mind was distracted elsewhere.
"Is it because of Badelots?"
"Seria isn't that kind of person."
"You know her well. Even though you said you weren't friends."
"Don't tease me."
Ellen was serious.
Harad nodded slowly.
Seria wasn't the type to be intimidated anywhere.
'If anything, she's crazy.'
But Seria had never been agitated in Lohit.
"What did you talk about?"
"We didn't talk about you."
"Is that important?"
Harad tilted his head.
"Yes. That's important. That's why it's strange."
However, Ellen was certain.
"I'm here!"
It was then that a shadow suddenly surged up from the ground.
"I missed you."
Jis said.
It was their reunion after a day.
"Did Badelots leave?"
"Yeah."
Jis, who had infiltrated the inn where Badelots was staying, had come for that reason.
"What about Seria too?"
Ellen asked.
Jis nodded.
"They left together."
"Where to?"
"The sea!"
The Sun priest had encroached upon the night.
There was only one reason.
"Do you know the location too?"
"Yeah. There was a map."
That must be the possession Badelots had been protective of.
Jis's shadow drew a picture on the ground.
Unlike Badelots's drawing, it was black and crude. However, it was sufficient to make out.
It was a path.
A path on the sea.
"The anteater says he'll make a boat. With Divine power!"
As expected.
Badelots knew the asylum route.
"This works out well. Let's go check why Seria was acting strange."
Harad took Ellen's hand.
He couldn't pull her up. Ellen was heavy. She seemed reluctant to go check.
"Even if one steals a silver candlestick to read scripture, it does not earn forgiveness."
Then suddenly Jis spoke.
It wasn't his manner of speech.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Seria said it. But what does it mean?"
Harad smiled brightly.
"At least it doesn't seem to be a bad meaning."
Ellen stood up abruptly.
Her face showed she hadn't given up.