Ch 28

Chapter 28

8. Trist, The City of Sin (2)

In the seven Goddess Cult, the hierarchy of interrogators dealing with necromancers was divided into three classes.

3rd Class was a hierarchy that had just finished training and was put into practice. Their skills were still too low to face a necromancer directly. So they were usually assigned safe follow-up duties after the situation was over, such as disposing of bodies or cleaning up dirty areas.

It was only when they rose to the 2nd Class in the hierarchy that they were put into action. The main task of that hierarchy was the necromancer’s search.

After securing the evidence, it was the first priority to inform the church, but if the situation did not go well, a direct battle with the necromancer often took place.

Since the number of victims in this process was considerable, the Church’s main force prioritized supporting the 2nd Class Inquisitors.

When they reached 1st class, they could take control of the situation to some extent. Necromancer’s search, evidence acquisition, and direct punishment were possible, and the church’s funds could also be managed according to one’s own judgment.

So, the first-class Inquisitor borrowed external power instead of the church’s power that was lacking. As a warrior of justice, he had the right to spend the budget. He could hire an adventurer.

If it was a first-class hierarchy, it was strong enough to deal with quite a few necromancers alone, so it was possible to solve the case independently by teaming up with adventurers.

However, 1st class inquisitors did not often hire adventurers. Rather, they used to tackle the situation with the cooperation of a knight or wizard from a nearby aristocracy.

Adventurers demanded money, but nobles wanted the honor. For adventurers wandering around helplessly, cash was best, but the influence was more important to nobles who already had conferred interests.

It was better to strengthen the relationship with the Seven Goddess Church and increased the value of the family name by making a name for yourself than to receive a few pennies.

It was much more profitable. This was the reason Alius had his eyes on Karnak’s party. No matter how much the Church’s budget could be spent, wouldn’t it be better to solve the case without spending money?

He saw the strength of Karnak and Barros with his own two eyes. So if the origin was certain, there would be no more desirable collaborators than these people.

As soon as he returned to the Church, he learned about the Zestrad family and knew that they hated necromancy.

‘He lost his parents and siblings to a necromancer and almost lost his territory! Don’t they have a clear reason to punish the necromancer!’

Well, the dead Randolph would jump up and down saying it was unfair, but there was no way for Alius to know that. Three days after the Zelda village incident, he formally sent a request for cooperation.

“Please in the name of the Hatoba Church. Wouldn’t it be great if you could help with the religious affairs of the church while you’re staying in Derat City?”

Karnak readily accepted the request.

“It is truly an honor. I will gladly help in the name of the Zestrad family.”

The reason was that he had to find the darkness of the end anyway. They had to hunt those evil necromancers anyway.

[By the way, there is no reason to refuse to hand over related information for free, right?]

Barros, who was watching the situation from the side, asked with a magic message.

[Is there a reason to refuse?]

It is the custom of the Church of the Seven Goddesses to assign a capable Inquisitor to the Order’s helpers dealing with the Necromancer.

[If this happens, the priest from the Hatoba Church will come with us.]

If you had eyes to see, you wouldn’t be able to use necromancer recklessly, and skipping the darkness of the end would be inconvenient. That was pointed out, but Karnak responded that there was no problem.

[I thought it would come out like this, so I checked the situation in advance.]

These days, the Hatoba Church couldn’t afford to attach an interrogator to each helper. The job was to deal with a necromancer, but they couldn’t use the help of a priest. They must be professionally trained priests to handle this task.

But shouldn’t the number of cases of darkness at the end be a little higher? The number of workers was small, but there was a lot of work, so not only in the Hatoba Church but also in most of the 7 Goddess Churches, they only provided information to their collaborators and had them deal with it themselves, even if it wasn’t a very big case.

[Uh, so is it just the two of us?]

[Yes!]

Even the benefits did not end there.

Alius continued, “I don’t know if anyone knows, but it’s difficult to assign an interrogator to each person unless it’s a very big case.”

“I hope you will do it.”

[Look at this! In addition to priests not following me around, they’re even giving me holy water and amulets for free!]

It would be a risk that wasn’t worth thinking about for others, but it was a situation where there was only gain for the two. Was there any reason to object to this?

Alius marveled again after watching Karnak agree to his request without the slightest bit of hesitation.

‘He has a very righteous character because he takes risks for others without hesitation, why was a person like him called an idiot?’

⋆﹥━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━﹤⋆

Barros murmured while recalling the past.

“Didn’t Alius say that he couldn’t appoint an inquisitor unless it was a big deal?”

“He did.”

“In the meantime, he kept sending information about the necromancers in the West.”

The letter he received earlier had a slightly different content than usual. Information had been mainly sent about the possibility of existence and among the rumors of the necromancer appearing near Derat City.

On the other hand, there was nothing like that at that time. It was all about meeting and talking in person. It meant being wary of information leaks.

“That means…….”

The streets of Derat City were quite busy after the evening play. Barros continued as he continued to walk among the crowds trying to return home before the sun completely set.

“You’re saying that something big has happened, right?”

“Don’t you also believe that’s the case?”

Karnak shrugged.

“It seems like it’s quite urgent, and he doesn’t usually contact me this soon.”

Usually, if you dealt with one necromancer, you had about three days to spare. But now, after taking care of Luke and notifying the church, less than half a day had passed before the call came.

Barros frowned.

“Are you okay? If something serious happens, the Inquisitor might stick by your side. No, looking at the situation, Alius is most likely to come out directly.”

“Sure, I’m a bit concerned, but…….”

Karnak grinned at the worried Barros.

“If you think otherwise, it could be a good thing. If it wasn’t a big deal, would he like to meet and talk about it in person?”

Just as great power followed great events, great things fell with great events. The temple of the Hatoba Church slowly came into view across the street.

Karnak said in an expectant tone.

“If we do well, we can fill about ten lords of darkness in one room, right?”

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Arriving at Hatoba Temple, Karnak, and Barros were immediately escorted to the audience room. Alius greeted them warmly upon entering the room.

“Welcome, you two.”

There were two more people in the audience room besides Alius. One was a man in a robe who looked to be in his mid-30s and the other was a beautiful woman in her 20s with a solid body and wearing light gloves.

Karnak asked cautiously.

“Who are these people?”

He could tell that the man was a wizard and the woman was a swordsman by their outfits, but they were both new faces. The brown-haired man greeted them first.

“It is an honor to meet two men of great renown, Lord Karnak and Lord Barros. I am Riltian, a 6th Circle wizard.”

Barros pretended to know.

Translator: Anom

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“Ah, you are the high-ranking wizard Riltian.”

Slowly, Karnak sent out a magic message.

[You know that guy?]

[Our competitor. Why, didn’t you mention that he’s a high-ranking mage besides you among Alius’ collaborators?]

[Ah, isn’t that the guy who played twice?]

Karnak finally remembered him. In addition to Karnak’s party, Alius had several other collaborators. Among them, the one that stood out, in particular, was Riltain. The number of necromancers he had hunted so far was eight. In terms of numbers alone, it was more than Karnak.

Although Riltain seemed rather surprised by this side.

“You killed six necromancers in less than two months, right? It was a very impressive swordsmanship.”

“Somehow I got lucky.”

Shivering with humility that was not even in his heart, Karnak looked at Riltain. It was hard to know exactly because the normal magic had been subdued, but you could guess the level of skill just by the energy that flowed out.

‘It looks like he has just reached the 6th circle. His normal magic hadn’t stabilized yet.’

Even so, he was one of the strongest players in the vicinity of Derat City. Magic was the act of realizing a miracle in reality by enchanting normal magic into the magic hall which is a figurative space within the body to draw a circular spell.

The stronger magic required a greater amount of normal magic and more complex spells. Mages increased the number of circles to demonstrate more advanced magic and the level of magic was divided according to the number of circles.

1-2 circles ; Since this was the starting level, they were usually called apprentice wizards. they could use magic, but it was difficult for them to confidently call themselves wizards.

3-5 circles ; They were called regular wizards, and it was the stage where most people were staying. They could practice useful magic in real life as well as combat magic with lethal power to some extent. When people said magicians, they all thought of that level.

6-8 circles ; He was called a high-ranking wizard and belonged to a position where he was treated with respect wherever he went. They could slaughter dozens of people by themselves, and when gathered together, they could display enough power to lead the victory or defeat on the battlefield. He was also a battle mage comparable to Aura users.

The 9th circle ; They were strong men with a reputation throughout the continent, holding the title of master. A country’s court mage, the leader of a mage group, or the owner of a prestigious mage tower had risen to that level.

Finally, there was the 10th circle, the ultimate realm that transcended human limitations. There were only three of them throughout the continent, and they were called the Three Great Wizards. They were absolute beings that used powers on a different level incomparable to existing magic.

Currently, Karnak was posing as a 4th circle wizard. He was considered an ordinary regular wizard. In comparison, Riltain at the 6th circle, was a wizard of a much higher rank.

‘Well, it’s only a story when it’s limited to chaos magic.’

Meanwhile, Barros was looking curiously at the woman.

[I don’t know that lady. Was there such a beautiful swordsman among Alius’ collaborators?]

Gorgeous red hair, subdued auburn eyes, not a great beauty enough to turn the country upside down, but a pretty face. It was clear that the body had also been trained for a long time. The liveliness of a wild horse was evident even on the light gloves.

[With that kind of appearance and that level of skill, there’s no way she didn’t have a reputation.]

Indeed, she was a celebrity.

“I’m Serati Allen, from the adventurer’s guild.”

Not only Barros, but even Karnak, who was not particularly interested in others, had heard the name. Karnak was slightly surprised by the woman’s introduction.

“Ah, Lady Serati. Your fame is boundless.”

If you went around the city to eat here and there, you would hear rumors on the streets even if you didn’t want to hear them. That woman was the most talked-about adventurer these days.

She was born as a commoner’s daughter and chose the path of a warrior which was unfavorable for women. From the year she turned 20, she earned a reputation as an adventurer. Serati shook her head and expressed her gratitude.

“I’m just an adventurer. I’m not even a knight, so the title of lady is too much for me.”

“Can’t an aura user be appointed at any time if he wants to?”

“Luckily, I only opened my eyes to enlightenment a little earlier than others. I still have a long way to go.”

She wasn’t just being polite, it seemed like she really thought that way. Well, among Aura users, she was just at the level of just taking her first steps. Since she was only at the level of the most beginner Red Knight, she must feel inexperienced.

Besides, she was not particularly great by Karnak standards.

‘A genius at that age and at that level is right, but if I scan the entire continent for that level of talent, you’ll get three points only.’

Anyway, since she was a celebrity around here, she had to show a reaction that suits her. Karnak made a fuss.

“It is truly an honor for a lowly person like me to meet a well-reputed Aura user in person.”

Serati put on a puzzled expression.

“You mean, is this what famous people usually like to say?”

“Famous?”

“We are?”

The eyes of Karnak and Barros widened.

[No, what did we do to become famous?]

[I know, right? We only got rid of some third-rate necromancers.]

Riltian smiled lightly.

“You have a very humble disposition. Did you think you wouldn’t become famous even after defeating so many necromancers in just two months?”

“Ah. That’s…….” Barros scratched his head.

‘Come to think of it, it’s going to be a hot topic.’

They were so accustomed to necromancy that they were able to handle it easily, but in fact, even if they were third-class necromancers, some of them possessed the power equivalent to top-notch wizards. Even if they easily caught a rookie, if it was an ordinary knight or wizard, it would take 5 or 6 people to deal with him.

So much was done in this short amount of time, thanks to which Karnak and Barros who were now Shadow Hunters of the Hatoba Church. They had a considerable reputation in the vicinity of Derat City.

[Is it okay to become famous, young master? I did tell you not to live like before.]

In his previous life, there was no one in the whole world who didn’t know Karnak, and was far beyond the level of being famous. Because all of humanity used to cry out for the destruction of the King of Death with fear and hatred.

[This doesn’t mean being notorious, so wouldn’t it be okay?]

[Yes? Aren’t we living differently from before?]

After checking once more, Barros let out a deep sigh.

[Ha, it’s hard to live like a human being.]

[That’s right. Why do we have to worry about this?]

In any case, it was an unmistakable fact that Alius had recruited big names. If he became a 6th circle wizard, he would be treated as a strong person wherever he went.

Karnak asked with a serious expression.

“This isn’t much of a big deal, is it?”

“Yes.”

Alius offered a seat while nodding his head.

“Take a seat for now.”

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