CH 216

“I’ve never heard of it before …… Makina too, right?”

“Yeah. There weren’t any of those people in the town of  Gust.”

I don’t remember any charitable organizations like that in our town. Well, maybe I just didn’t notice it because that town is big and all I did was go to the academy and work by taking requests. However, Basleigh-sensei’s words surprised me in several ways.

“I heard that there were some in the Gust territory when Ryuuze-kun’s father was the lord. There weren’t too many of them, though? And after Lars’ father took over, they gradually disappeared.”

I guess they were there ……

Basleigh-sensei came to the school when we were in our first year, so she had just witnessed the change. Then Kelbrem looks at Basleigh-sensei and opens his mouth.

“I’m sure that’s true, since the Lord who was in control was overthrown, and Retzel, who was in control from behind the scenes disappeared, so we can only retreat.”

“…… In addition, there are no fallen people in that town. There’s no point in operating.”

“What do you mean ……? You’re saying “Fallen” ……”

The bandit man said something disturbing after Kelbrem, and when Makina listened carefully, the man began to speak with a serious expression.

“…… We’re actually doing charity work. Beggars living in slums, poor families, the oppressed, those whose families have been killed …… we share many things with these ‘wounded’ people. Housing, clothing, food, and …… opportunities, tools, and ideas for revenge. Kelbrem-san was approached when his girlfriend died, and we all have a dark past.”

“……”

The bandits, including Kelbrem, fell silent with a mysterious look on their faces. And then Basleigh-sensei charges.

“No matter what happened in the past, I can’t feel sorry for you when you try to harm people who have nothing to do with you. I won’t forget that you came here to try to kill me and Lord’s family.”

“Yeah, you can despise me all you want. If it hadn’t come to this, I’m sure we would have done it.”

Basleigh-sensei looked unusually perturbed as the bandit spoke clearly and backed away. The other man continued.

“We are, if I may say so myself, people who are already finished. So, in fact, no one would be sad if we died. We’ll help the organization that helped us. No one will be bothered if we die ……”

“I see …… It’s the people who have fallen, the people who don’t have anything left to lose, the people who are out of the center that make things happen. This is the true nature of the organization called “The Gospel’s Descent”.”

But there is a mystery–

“What’s the purpose of all this? You’re not getting paid to take revenge, are you?”

Gathering outliers to commit crimes. It’s possible, but is it really worth the charity? Kelbrem then answered about it.

“We don’t know the real purpose of it. What we are told when we do something is to infiltrate members of the Gospel’s Descent in important places of the country. That’s why they targeted your territory and this Oriola territory.”

“……”

“The goal is to overthrow the country, I think? They may be whispering something “It’s the country’s fault that you became like this.”.”

“I don’t know about that, but they seem to be constantly making moves to take control of the territory, so maybe so.”

“Do you really think …… it’s acceptable to involve innocent people ……?”

When Makina asks with a pained face, the bandit man laughs. 

“After all, we owe them a debt of gratitude for reaching out to us when we were in despair, so we’re willing to help. No, we have no choice but to help. Since the time I’ve had this tattoo …… And when I look into the eyes of the Founder, I feel a sense of discomfort, guilt, and ethics blowing away …… After a while, I realize I’m doing something wrong. But after the Founder looks at me with those eyes and whispers to me, I have no doubt whatsoever ……”

I’m going to kill someone, he mutters quietly.

I don’t know how much of this is true, but I can say that the six people with pale faces are proof. And then, suddenly, the word “Founder” came to my mind, and I opened my mouth. 

“The Founder …… what’s the name of that guy ……?”

“…… I don’t know. But, he’s only called “Founder”. After he rescues you, he asks you if you want to join his organization, and if you agree, he gives you this tattoo. Although I hear some people don’t join because they think it’s creepy.”

“I’m not so sure about that either. There are certain people who are good at talking. Exploiting the weaknesses of the mind and try to get others to do their bidding.”

In my previous world …… I thought, “There were people like that in Japan, too.”

It was said on TV that the man was also a Founder who talked all kinds of people into paying him money or acting as a proxy for murder …… In the end, it seems that he was killed by Founder’s sister and his lover …… Then he was killed was by his own people. It’s called karmic retribution.

(T/N: Founder of a religious sect. I don’t know why it’s said that he was killed by his sister and lover, then he was killed by his own people or relative. But I think that he survived the first attempt, but still killed at the second attempt.)

“From what I hear, I’m sure the Founder is the main culprit …… I wonder if there’s any way we can catch him?”

“It’s not easy, I know where he is, but it’s that place is a bad idea. Especially a little girl like you definitely shouldn’t go.”

“Ha-ha-ha, you’re saying it so honestly.”

“I don’t think he said it to Basleigh-sensei, though? So, where is it?”

“…… The Kingdom of Berias.”

“……!”

Isn’t the Kingdom of Berias where Tigre-sensei is from!? I remember him saying that they were expanding their land through war ……

“It’s true that that country is not safe. Now, are they protecting the Founder?”

“I don’t know much about it, but maybe. We don’t want to go there either, so we didn’t look into it.”

“The Kingdom of Berias, huh ……”

Basleigh-sensei put her thumb on her chin and started to think about something, and the place went silent. Then, I suddenly became curious about the tattoo, and for some reason, really for some reason, I did a simple [appraisal] on the man’s tattoo. 

–!?

刺 ％ 青 … … こ … … ＃＞＆＄＃”

(T/N: I didn’t translate the few japanese words there because I might get it wrong, so let’s just say that he couldn’t get any useful information by using simple “appraisal” from the man’s tattoo.)

“W-What the heck is this ……?”

“Huh? Lars!?”

When I did a quick evaluation of the tattoo, I saw characters that I didn’t understand at all, and the more I tried to look at them, the more my head started to hurt and the worse I felt. I pulled out my Sargeblade and sliced through the man’s tattoo like slicing a ham.

“Uooooohhhhhhhhhh!?”

“Sorry! I’ll heal you right away! !”

The slice was so clean that the pain would not come immediately. I quickly use healing to heal the wound before the pain and blood spurts out. Then, the tattoo did not return, but returned to clean skin.

Sarge’s fireball burns through the tattooed skin that’s been sliced open. A tattoo that seems like a curse …… what kind of man is the Founder?

I managed to write it ……

Thank you for reading!

[Afterword Theater]

“Now, we have the main plot of the story.”

So you’re going to say that …… well, it’s fine, though.

“Nostalgic people also came out with a glimpse of the story, and for me …… I’m dissatisfied ……”

Why is that!?

“I, a goddess, show respect, ok?”

No, I don’t understand, though ……