Chapter 74: "Suspicion"

Chapter 74: "Suspicion"

"You mean you yourself have no reason to be attacked at all?"

I nodded silently.

The place has changed, this is the Academy of Theology of Gnosis...the holy knight's office in the corner of the Academy.

I was led here by the holy knights....

To be honest, I wanted to see this place once, so it was convenient for me.

I thought it would be more cramped since they said it was a "stuffy place," but it wasn't.

Expensive-looking furnishings and a space that could accommodate dozens of people.

What can I say...it looks like a very expensive room.

I sank down on the sofa and had a conversation with a Temple knight named Sherifa, who was sitting across from me.

Rick, who had followed me here on his own accord, was in the corner of the room with his arms crossed.

But it's just a one-sided conversation.

I'm basically a "victim who was attacked out of the blue without knowing why," so I don't have any information that I can give out.

"Well...should we still assume that they are attacking people indiscriminately?"

Shelly put her hand on her chin as if thinking.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your musing, but I've already given you some information. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me something too."

I asked for the information, thinking to myself that I was being brazen even though I had not told her much.

Sherifa chuckled and said, "You're an adventurer after all," and began to talk about the status of her investigation.

But....

I'll just tell you the result first, there was no harvest.

The Holy Knight is continuing the search mainly in the abandoned houses in the town, but it seems that they are currently at a standstill with no particular results.

"May I ask you a question?"

I decided to ask a question when the conversation was over.

There are a few things that are bothering me.

"Oh. It's all right. Any questions I can answer, you can ask me."

"First of all, who is in charge of this search?"

"The Cathedral Knight who is in charge of this place is not here. The highest-ranking Temple Knight is in charge now."

"I see."

She is very careful not to say who.

But still, there is conveniently no top-ranking Cathedral knight....

To be honest, I suspected this place by process of elimination, but... it looks a little suspicious.

I'm not saying all of them are in on it, but some of them seem to be corrupt.

What do these guys think about that?

"And... any ideas why the investigation isn't progressing?"

"...... reasons for the lack of progress?"

I looked at the female Temple knight with a curious look on her face and thought...oh, this fellow's no good.

With this reaction, the idea of doubting your own people in the first place doesn't even occur to you?

It sounds good to say that they are innocent, but if you look at it from a different perspective, they are just fools with a narrow perspective.

These guys must be very easy to manipulate for those who use them.

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

I didn't point it out, but kept it muddled. I knew that if I told her, it would only make her angry.

After that, I asked her about the investigation policy and other random things, and we finished our conversation.

I got up, too, because I was done with my business.

Sherifa followed me and stood up.

"Thank you for your cooperation."

Saying this, Sherifa held out her hand to me.

I shook her hand and nodded.

Well, good luck.

I left the church with the holy knight.

"He's gone..."

Darkness.

In the middle of it, an adventurer with a yellow plate was standing with a sword in his hand.

A group of men in black robes looked down at him.

The adventurers had a dim grasp of the structure of this space. He thought that the presence was probably coming from the side holes in the columns and walls at equal intervals.

The adventurer felt countless gazes piercing him, though he did not know how many.

The black-robed men were full of enthusiasm, as if they were expecting something from the adventurer.

"Welcome, my friend. We have been waiting for you."

One of the black robes jumps down and takes off his hood to face the adventurers.

The adventurer backs away in horror at the sight of the man's exposed face.

The man had a strange appearance.

From the nose up, there was a reddish-black bandage-like cloth covering the entire area, so that only the mouth could be seen.

The thought crossed his mind that his vision might not be effective, but then he remembered his purpose for coming here and glared at the man.

"I've come all this way without telling anyone, just like you said! Release my girlfriend like you promised!"

The adventurer had come all the way here to save his girlfriend, with whom he had shared a hardship and pledged his future to her.

He had endured the humiliation of being taken away and held hostage before his very eyes, and he had come this far to do as he was told.

"Don't worry. The woman is safe."

The bandaged man snaps his fingers.

Then, as if oozing out of the space next to the man, a woman - a fellow adventurer - appeared.

She was standing upright, but her eyes were dimly open, and it was doubtful she was conscious.

"Sona!"

The adventurer shouts her name, but Sona doesn't answer.

"I promise. I'll let the woman go."

The bandaged man lightly shoves her away and she walks unsteadily toward the adventurer.

The adventurer runs up to her, goes to hug her, and gets something in the face.

"What?"

Sona's neck and above had somehow disappeared.

Blood spurts from the headless body as if it were a joke.

"I freed her, didn't I? I've freed her from the inconvenience of being alive."

He bursts into uncontrollable laughter.

"Hey, huh? How do you feel? What do you think?"

The adventurer looks at the headless body... and at the laughing black robe...

"You aaaaah!"

He roared in vindictiveness and tried to jump on the black robe...

"Gubu!"

He was pierced through the whole body by a large number of spears that rained down from above, and he died.

The adventurer was left sewn to the ground as a pool of blood slowly spread.

"We are the way. We are the truth. We are life."

The black-robed men watching the scene shouted in unison.

"We are life and death. Bless and curse."

The spreading puddle of blood wriggles as if it has a will of its own, then draws something like a letter and disappears.

"We will make our entrails and assemble them in our wombs."

As the blood disappears, the adventurer's body changes.

The skin turns black and the skeleton deforms with a sickening cracking sound.

"We will tell you. We shall all be changed without sleep."

The transformation continues for a while... and when it is over, there are no adventurers left, only a deformed man standing there.

The bandaged man smiled with satisfaction at the result before him.

"We've got enough people. Shall we go for the real thing now? Hey, fellow comrades?"

He raised his head and looked at one of the black-robed men.

The black-robed man smiled in response.