Chapter 135: The Holy Light Church

We let the other bandits flee from our sight, since we did not want them in our hands. It was better to let them be in the wild like some animal. Since we already had one guy that we could interrogate, letting his friends go was the best decision.

However, we faced another dilemma about our plan for this questioning we prepared for him. This guy would feel the wrath of a different interrogation, since we had Lilith in our side..

"I will tell you nothing!" the bandit yelled, and spit at us as we placed him beside the carriage.

Fortunately, Lilith had already conjured a darkened magic that shielded us from the man's saliva. That bloke finally realised that there was a demon beside us and some dark magic in the vicinity. His eyes turned wide as he squirmed towards his side. But the man never moved a muscle, considering that Merleen already chained him using terra magic.

My hands were already caressing the wrinkles on my face, unsure of what to do with this thief. This event had already happened before, and it didn't turn out well. But instead of avoiding that situation, the occurrence happened again.

"Okay, who wants to play the bad cop and the good cop!?" I asked, while gazing at my teammates.

"Can I be the bad cop?" Merleen asked.

I shook my head and replied, "No, Merleen. You can't be the bad cop because you're too adorable for our enemies."

The magic girl pouted and returned inside the carriage while stomping her feet. Merleen called me dozens of names, but one stood out among them. She hailed me as "stupid Arthur", which scarred my mind.

"Anyone next? How about you, Fen….rir." She was already fast asleep in her make-shift bed]

That wolf girl stretched her arms and reached for the sky, only hitting my face with her feet. I growled at Fenrir, but she didn't wake up. It would take a few more tries before I could push her eyes wide awake.

"Lilith?" I asked, but I immediately shook my head.

How would I let her handle the interrogation part when Lilith already had torturing devices in her hands. Lilith grinned at me while showcasing what she brought. I didn't even have the slightest clue where the hell she took these items from. That girl didn't have any merchant beside her or inventory that could store those gigantic coffins. 

After countless trials, I turned to the bard. Meliodas stared at the battlefield and minded his own business, without having any interest in anything. The wild Meliodas earlier changed into a forceful dude who got himself enrolled for a wrong course or job.

But despite these irregularities, I approached him and asked the same question. "Do you want to be the bad cop or the ogod cop?"

"I don't even know what you're talking about," Meliodas retorted, and resumed gazing at the empty field.

Since he was not there when we did this routine, I had to explain to Meliodas about the made up forms of interrogation. Well, at least the television portrayed it to me. I didn't explain it to Lilith, since I skipped her part. There was no chance for me to accept those dangerous traps that could kill our suspect. 

We still wanted this man to survive after questioning. This guy might have something in mind and would lead us towards the answer.

"Bad cops and good cops are just negotiating tactics. The good cop gives kind words to ask anything we need from them. And that differs from the bad cop, which violently demands the answer. Good cops had a softer spot for the suspect and would even make them feel alive and better.  Playing the bad cop would lead to a disaster, especially to the accused," I explained, while glancing at Lilith's eyes.

Lilith was also listening to my explanation. But Meliodas was the one we needed.

"So, what do you want to do? The bad cop or the good cop?"

"What are we going to ask this….guy?" Meliodas queried me a question, before choosing a side.

"We need to ask this guy who he works for? How did he learn to use light magic. Does he know the location of the abandoned house? Is the teleportation scroll working? And what is his group about? What is or their goal? Those kinds of things, Meliodas."

"Give me a second."

After our exchange, Meliodas revealed his harp and strummed its strings. He played a different piece that he didn't perform in the cart. It had a melancholic tone that almost made me shed a tear.

"What the heck are you playing? What is that for?" I asked, but Meliodas kept pulling the cords from his harp.

Lilith tried attacking Meliodas, but I raised my hand and stopped her. I told her that everything was running smooth as butter, and she didn't have to worry about anything. My system notified me that there was nothing fishy happening with Meliodas' song. 

It was the other thing around. Meliodas played that musical piece and affected the bloke in front of us. Meliodas meant that tone for the bandit and continued manipulating him with his song.

Within a few seconds, the bloke fell asleep. It was as if the music placed him in a trance that only Meliodas knew about. Upon a moment, Meliodas shifted a key, which jolted the bandit back. But the man had his eyes opened while staring at his fore. 

I tried to evade his gaze, but the bandit remained glued in front of us. He didn't even budge his head when I tried punching him in the face. It only meant one thing, and Meliodas successfully hypnotized the guy.

"Who do you work for?" asked Meliodas.

"The Holy Light Church," the man answered. "And a bishop….But we never know his name. We just follow the priest's orders and get our payments from them."

"And you learned light magic from them?"

The bandit nodded to Meliodas' question.

"Do you know the abandoned house's location? And is there a functional teleportation scroll there that we could use?" continued Meliodas.

"There is! But the bishop refuses to show us the way and how it works! All we know is that those Holy Light Churches use that device for their own benefits. I don't know what else they use that for…."

"What is the goal of your group?" Meliodas asked his last question, which came from the list of queries I mentioned earlier.

"We are just mercenaries hired by the Holy Light Church. Our goal is to collect money from them. We do not care who we are working for as long as it gives money on the table."

Mercenaries were a group of violent people that would do anything for money. They were willing to do odd jobs that ranged from minor chores to assassinating other people. The higher the bid, the stronger mercenaries people could find.

These mercenaries became illegal transactions from the kingdoms. The game described the mercenary options as "brain dead" or "piggy banks" for the rich players.

The NPCs were not just the only one who could order the mercenaries around. The players too could buy them and command the mercenaries to kill other players, avoiding the player killer title.

The bandit also mentioned a bishop inside the Holy Light Church. It was the religion that humans believed and prayed for some blessings. Inside the game, this organization granted healers increased buffs for them. But the rest of the titles didn't gain anything besides having a church inside the game.

But the Holy Light Church was not there for show. It also provided something for the players, which was their unique quests. 

The Holy Light Church rewarded diligent players with extraordinary weapons and items. This church also gave players some unique potions that would heal the stamina and mana of a party. Since it was a great deal for them, those players used that for their advantage.

The Holy Light Church provided food and shelter for the challenged villagers. It was the charity figure from the game that gave hope to the struggling NPCs. Since they had this saving grace title, the church did what they could to uphold that peace.

However, that changed upon hearing the Holy Light Church name from a bandit. It even got worse when this man told us that the organization hired mercenaries around the demon's border. It didn't make any sense, since the church did nothing for the demons. They were not a fighter but a morale boost for a party.

My ears pointed upwards upon hearing that information. Although the Holy Light Church disapproved of all the demons, they wouldn't do such underhand things. I could still recall that these churches had some power over the kingdom's government, which made them a noticeable figure. But this organization was not powerful enough against the Knights of the Round Table. 

Well, that's what I remembered when I played this game. And that information haunted me down like a ghastly remnant. 

(Author's note: This is a work of fiction. So yeah I won't hit any religion related to our world. So don't worry XD)