Chapter 75
"I see. So it turned out that way..."
A middle-aged man with long hair and beard frowned as if in regret.
The leader of the radical faction, Bishop Milliman.
He swallowed a groan upon receiving reports of Druma and Raiven's deaths.
"He reportedly died a valiant death fighting a demonic beast called the Thunder Wolf Dragon that possesses dragon's blood."
Oscar's report.
A faint gleam flowed through Milliman's thin eyes as he listened.
"Callius, who was with them, survived while two Inquisition Captains fell in battle... Am I overthinking this?"
Could this be dismissed as mere coincidence?
Milliman fell into thought.
"This is the report of the Third Squad Captain, Captain Oscar. There should be no room for doubt. The one who brought this report was one of his bound spirits, after all."
Oscar's bound spirit was a sword that had formed a scabbard.
If he dies, the sword dies too.
Even if he were alive, others couldn't freely use his bound spirit.
Because it was Rosario's scabbard.
So it was certain that Oscar had sent the report.
"There's also the possibility that Captain Oscar has defected."
"How could that be? Over a single scoundrel named Callius?"
"What if he has a holy relic?"
What if it didn't only apply to himself but could also grant abilities to some of his subordinates?
"If you were told your swordsmanship or physical abilities could become outstandingly superior, are you certain you wouldn't succumb to such sweet temptation?"
"Even so, I would not bend my convictions!"
He spoke with bold conviction, but Milliman didn't believe this young paladin's words.
Even when death approaches right before his eyes, could he still speak so confidently?
Even when a blade presses against his throat, when skin slowly cuts open, when the source of life—red blood—trickles out?
Milliman shook his head.
Youthful vigor knows nothing.
Without experiencing human survival instinct and the depravity that stems from it, one could never know the meager, fragile heart of a human facing death.
"Could you call the Inquisition Director."
"He's already here."
The Inquisition Director revealed himself through the opened doorway.
Bishop Milliman saw the paladin standing at attention.
"Did you call for me?"
"No."
"I just had a feeling! That you'd call for me. I caught on and came! Right away."
"...Stop saying 'just'."
"I'm sorry. It's 'just' my habit, you see."
A restless man who kept clucking 'just, just' from his mouth. The Inquisition Director with an impressive linear scar across his nose.
Xenos von Gradas.
"Anyway, Xenos, look at this."
"This is..."
Grabbing the edge of the paper, Xenos tilted his head as he looked at the recommendation letter Bishop Milliman handed him.
"A Captain-level recommendation. Isn't there a man about whom many rumors are circulating?"
Not even a regular Inquisitor recommendation.
A Captain-level recommendation.
"Callius von Zervan? Is this the same scoundrel Callius I know? Wasn't he someone better suited to being interrogated rather than being an Inquisitor?"
Wasn't he more suited to being interrogated than being an Inquisitor?
The executives had been secretly spreading rumors about him stealing holy relics and whatnot, so why a recommendation letter suddenly?
"That's why I called for you."
"But I came directly?"
"...Why on earth did you come?"
"My instinct 'just'! led my steps here. I was thinking about where to take a nap after eating when I smelled something interesting from the Bishop's door."
Milliman sighed at the sight of Xenos sniffing the air.
"...Anyway, you should go."
"I don't know what difference it would make if I see it. Rather than me, 'just'..."
"Shut up with that 'just, just' nonsense!"
"Hmm, you're quite angry, Bishop. Well, that's why you're the leader of the radical faction. Hahaha!! Wasn't it funny? It was supposed to be a joke, but since no one's laughing, I'll have to laugh alone. Hahahahaha! I'm so amusing!"
Swish!
Leaving behind the disappeared Inquisition Director Xenos, Bishop Milliman pressed his temples firmly.
"Will you be alright?"
"He may look like that, but his skills are certain. He didn't take the Director's position for nothing. If he had even a little ambition, he wouldn't be doing something like being a Director."
Above that.
He's a man evaluated to have the qualifications to become a Lütz Paladin, the highest position one could rise to through swordsmanship alone.
"Because even though he looks like that, he's of a bloodline that bears the trace of god."
"Ah, the eastern..."
In the north, Zervan.
If the south has Luidren, the east has Gradas.
"He's of the Gradas family, one of the great four noble houses of Karpe. There won't be any mistakes. This time for sure..."
It will become clear whether that bastard possesses a holy relic or not.
"This is also the Archbishop's strict command, so it's right that there must be no mistakes."
And.
"Because he and Callius haven't been on good terms since childhood."
North and East.
The two are old enemies.
* * *
The capital of the Kingdom of Karpe.
A famous tavern even in Caladi.
[Lamp Before the Wind]
In the tavern with long tradition and history, an unexpected topic was circulating.
"What? That scoundrel?"
A knight who set down his beer mug frowned and asked back.
"Haven't you heard the rumors? If you call him a scoundrel now, your head will roll."
"Come on, no way."
That scoundrel? No way he'd do that.
"I'm not joking! They say the Judge has already swept through most of the north?"
"What's a Judge?"
"They say the sword he carries has a mysterious ability to discern falsehood. That's why even with his head cut off, he doesn't die."
The Judge Callius.
It was his freshly minted alias that had begun circulating among the public.
"What's that. Can you even call that a sword? If your head's cut off, you should die!"
"That's what I'm saying! They say he carries around his severed head and burns all the wealth of corrupt lords!"
To not die even with your head cut off—how bizarre was that.
And to carry it around and burn the lord's wealth right before their eyes!
"Oh, what a waste! If you're going to burn it, at least bring some to me!"
Just thinking about it was wasteful.
And chilling.
"Anyway, stop calling him a scoundrel. If you get caught, it's instant death! Instant death!"
In one corner of the tavern.
There was a group listening to the knights' chatter.
"Judge-nim, will you buy me a beer?"
"Order it yourself, Helena."
It was Callius's party.
"You made a lot of money! Can't a man even buy a beer for a charming woman like me?"
Having partially organized the Thunder Wolf Dragon's byproducts and received an advance, Callius was in a comfortable financial state.
Excluding the twenty thousand gold he invested in Helena, he had sixty thousand gold.
It was an amount that easily exceeded a large territory's annual tax revenue.
"But the rumors have twisted strangely. I didn't burn the wealth."
The value of the wealth obtained from raiding the territories of corrupt nobles easily exceeded thirty thousand. Even after leaving half for the territory's residents, it was still a considerable amount of gold.
The gold coins carefully saved would be used for the kingdom's reconstruction.
'Spending for myself is no different from spending for the kingdom.'
Callius thought so.
"My lord, would you like some beer?"
"No. Just order more meat for Bibi. Bibi is eating quite well."
Callius, cutting meat with fork and knife, was very aristocratic when eating, and Helena was delighted just watching him eat.
Anyway, Callius seemed to quite like the meat at this tavern, as the stack of plates already exceeded ten.
"My lord, aren't you taking care of Bibi too much lately? Still, I'm more useful than Bibi."
"You're saying useless things."
Thinking about the usefulness of Brans and Bibi, the latter was naturally superior.
What Brans did was miscellaneous work anyone could replace, so if prioritizing, Bibi was naturally above.
Aside from that, Bibi's appearance was quite cute, while Brans was decidedly not.
It might be different if he were a woman.
Following battlefields, he had gained bulging muscles and grown larger, so it wasn't exactly a pleasant sight.
'Come to think of it, why am I dragging this guy around?'
Callius fell into fresh doubt.
His contemplation over Brans's value, which had gone on for a while, was shattered.
"That's a demonic beast."
Because someone had spoken to him.
"?"
It was a man he was seeing for the first time.
His slicked-back blonde hair, protruding cheekbones, and narrow slit eyes made him seem like someone you wouldn't want to associate with at first glance.
When Callius just looked at him silently, he smirked and extended his hand, speaking.
"Sell it. I'll pay you properly."
What was he talking about.
"Is he telling me to sell Bibi?"
"Bibi? Pfft, an unbecoming name. Something like Charles would suit him better. Sell Charles to me."
He named the creature as if it were already his. It was absurd, but they had just arrived in the capital.
Not wanting to cause unnecessary trouble, he answered calmly with words.
"Fuck off."
When he waved his hand like shooing a fly and told him to get lost, an unexpected response came.
"What? Don't you know who I am?"
He had an expression of disbelief.
His reaction was as if he found it refreshing and amusing that someone didn't recognize him.
Come to think of it, his face looked like a bandit's, but the fabric of his clothes was quite high-class.
When he looked at Helena as if to ask, she shrugged, saying she didn't know well.
"Ha! You don't know me in Caladi? Hey! You there! Who am I!"
"You're Lord Viole!"
One of the knights who had been watching this direction answered respectfully.
"Viole?"
-He is the eldest son of Count Artemion.
Oscar, who had been quietly sipping his beer, spoke through a bug.
The eldest son of Count Artemion.
He had something to back him up.
He was the son of one of the few counts in the kingdom.
And Count Artemion, no less.
This was interesting.
"Do you understand now? Then hand Charles over to me. My discerning eye tells me it's no ordinary wolf, so I'll pay you handsomely."
Viole took out a coin purse from his chest and tossed it onto the table.
From the clinking sound and size, it was at most a dozen or so gold coins.
But the man was full of confidence.
"This should be enough. These aren't ordinary gold coins. They're imperial gold coins, so it should be more than enough."
Imperial gold coins?
"Oh, imperial gold coins! They're hard to come by in the kingdom."
With few impurities and precisely stamped gold markings, they were difficult to counterfeit.
That was why these coins were worth ten times the value of kingdom gold coins.
"Is that so."
He slapped Helena's hand as she excitedly explained and fondled the gold coins, then put the imperial gold coins into his chest.
It was sad that imperial gold coins came from the chest of a kingdom noble, but what could be done.
It was reality that people were clamoring about how the empire swallowing the kingdom was only a few years away.
Indeed, compared to regular gold coins, they felt slightly heavier, indicating high purity.
These were now mine.
"You understand well. Then I'll raise this fellow well."
"Bibi, bite."
-Grrah!
"Argh! This little bastard dares to!!"
When Viole furiously tried to hit Bibi, Bibi instinctively released a strong electric current.
Having grown a bit more, it freely sprayed lightning like thunderbolts. Though it was only at the level of spiderweb-thin currents.
"Graaah!"
It was strong enough to discipline the ill-mannered noble bastard.
White steam rose from Viole's head after being struck by Bibi's thunder. Seeing his body shivering, it seemed quite stinging.
"Men! Someone! Why is no one...!!"
Perhaps due to considerable pain, Viole's eyes turned bloodshot as he shouted.
When he shouted, knights seated at various tables stood up as if they had been waiting.
An opportunity to incur a debt with the eldest son of Count Artemion.
But they had the wrong opponent.
Thud.
I drew my sword in reverse grip and stabbed it into the floor before them.
Gwuuung-!
In an instant, an invisible pressure descended upon the area. No one could help.
'I can't move...!'
'Such presence...'
'A high-ranking Paladin!'
Not only the knights escorting Viole, but everyone seated in the tavern felt as if their feet were glued to the ground and couldn't move.
"You... what did you do to my knights."
"There's no need to answer someone who's struggling against a baby demonic beast."
"You bastard!!"
Screech.
Callius stood up and looked down at Viole.
The moment his eyes met those ruthless ash-gray pupils, indescribable goosebumps rose all over Viole's body.
"I owe Count Artemion a debt. Tell him that debt was repaid today."
Considering he had owed a holy stone for the value of his son's life, it could be considered a cheap repayment.
Behind Callius as he left the tavern, Viole's bloodshot eyes chased after him.
Ignoring that, as Callius walked away, Brans chased after him and asked.
"Will it be alright?"
"If they cause trouble for us, that's actually better."
If it's Artemion, he would possess some quite appetizing wealth.
"We have to catch that bastard anyway."
Since there's nothing good about letting him live.