Chapter 025. Spirit Sword (2)

Three days later, the group from the Holy Kingdom arrived.

Led by the Inquisition, the group was mostly composed of paladins responsible for the military might of the Holy Kingdom, and as expected, a large crowd rushed out to see them in front of the academy building.

"Wow, this is amazing."

"I've never seen so many people from the Holy Kingdom. Is the Saintess still in the church?"

"Looks like it. Wow, that Inquisitor is really strong. He's carrying a scythe the size of a person."

The students watched them with astonished eyes.

Indeed, it was something hard to even catch a glimpse of the Inquisitor and the paladins during peacetime. The fact that they were in the academy made it all the more remarkable...

"Let's head to the site."

"Yes."

At the voice of the man in black leading them, the paladins responded in unison.

With their grand stature and fierce, steely gazes, they instilled a sense of fear in those who watched.

Having exited the noisy hall, they soon arrived at the dormitory building, which bore the scars of a brutal battle.

Thanks to the numerous workers and construction materials, the site was filled with noise. Yet, the Inquisitor stood in the middle, gazing at the still unhealed wounds of the battle.

"Remarkable."

His voice was low but firm.

The Inquisitor was genuinely astonished.

To find and kill all the minions of the devil, the Inquisitor had acquired a vast amount of knowledge in the Holy Kingdom. To him, the significance of this site was simple.

It was the remnants of a skirmish that had not even reached ten exchanges. Although many traces had disappeared with the passage of time, he had no difficulty in understanding that fact.

"Hey! Didn't you see the sign saying 'No Entry During Construction'?"

"Huh?"

Had they been rummaging through the dormitory for a while?

The Inquisitor frowned at the sight of a worker blocking their way.

At a glance, he could tell that the man had no mana and looked shabby, appearing to be nothing more than an ordinary laborer. How dare he block the path of someone like himself? It was not just anger; it was absurdity.

Who was he?

He was the Inquisitor of the Holy Order, blessed by the great deity, Zeroth. Blocking his path was an act that even a common person would hesitate to do, as he wielded the sacred right of immediate judgment like an emperor or king.

"Do you want to die?"

As he exuded a chilling aura, the worker trembled in fear.

The Inquisitor scoffed at the pathetic sight.

If one wanted to pick a fight, they should choose their opponent wisely. This worthless laborer was not someone he needed to consider.

"Y-you! Apologize at once!"

"Uh, um... I-I'm sorry!"

Yet, the fear of death amusingly did not bow before his meager pride.

Seeing the worker still stiff-necked, the Inquisitor silently raised his hand.

"Are you reciting the Lord's Prayer?"

As if he would swing the scythe the size of a person if the man did not recite it right then and there.

Naturally, the worker, terrified, lost strength in his legs and could only dumbly sit down on the ground.

"Oh, no! I go to church every weekend! I-I can't recite the Lord's Prayer, but I do give my tithes!"

"Hmm."

Seeing the worker finally show the desired attitude, the Inquisitor lowered his arm.

Immediate execution? Of course, it was not impossible.

However, spilling blood in such a place would only tarnish the glorious name of the deity, so he endured it with superhuman patience.

"Be careful."

"Y-yes!"

The Inquisitor scoffed at the sight of the worker rubbing his hands together like a fly and stroked his chin.

There had been a small commotion, but nonetheless, the assessment of the site was now complete. A more detailed investigation would be conducted with the accompanying paladins, but he wondered if it would even matter.

The Pope was already intent on creating a culprit. It was his duty to fabricate crimes, so was there really any need to think further?

The suspects had already been narrowed down. The Inquisitor slowly turned his body and called out to the priest who was guiding them through the academy.

"Veris. Tell me about that man."

"Yes, he is a strong suspect and is a student in B-Class of the academy. It is known that he is a swordsman and possesses considerable strength."

Nodding at the priest's words, the Inquisitor thought.

Crime? Such a thing did not matter to him. He could simply deal with him using the power he possessed or transport him to the Holy Kingdom.

Of course, he knew it would cause a huge uproar at the imperial or academy level. But what could the empire do against those who invoked the will of the deity?

Perhaps, like in the past, if they were given a few coins, they would quiet down.

* * *

"Oh, no!"

"Why is it like this today?"

Veris shook his head at the sight of Arwen and Cecilia, who were guarding the mansion's door like a fortress.

Today, they were acting unusually strange.

Of course, they often displayed odd behavior, but this was excessive.

As if there were enemies outside, the two showed no intention of letting Veris out, which was certainly not the demeanor he was familiar with.

"Alright. Then can you at least explain what's going on?"

Saying this, Veris raised his hand in a gesture of surrender and sat down on the sofa.

It wasn't an urgent matter. He had merely planned to step out for a breath of fresh air since the academy was on break.

"Well, that is..."

Cecilia looked up at Arwen.

Naturally, Veris, who had been watching them, could not help but feel something was off, and he let out a deep sigh.

"Look, seeing you two like this, I can now be certain. What on earth are you hiding?"

"Well, um... right now, people from the Holy Kingdom are here."

"People from the Holy Kingdom? But what does that have to do with you blocking the door?"

Cecilia, who usually appeared rational, sensed that the unwanted moment had arrived.

In fact, Veris was far from an ordinary academy student, even if he was supposed to be one.

Surely, with just a few clues given in this situation, Veris would easily deduce what was happening.

Thus, the actions of Cecilia and Arwen were simple. They needed to honestly explain the current situation and wait for his next move.

In a way, it was a rather powerless thing to do, but what could they do? That was the reality.

"...What happened is..."

Arwen and Cecilia approached the sofa where Veris was sitting. After a brief exchange of glances, they began to explain.

Of course, it was not an easy task. To say that people from the Holy Kingdom had come to hunt him down without any basis.

How could they easily convey that to the person involved?

The only fortunate thing was that Veris's face remained remarkably calm as he listened to the explanation.

"That's ridiculous."

After listening to Cecilia's rather lengthy explanation, Veris could not hide his astonishment.

Who was it that thwarted the schemes of that devilish cult?

It was none other than himself.

Thanks to Veris completely taking them down, the situation had been resolved neatly without a single casualty, so what was this?

They were trying to make Veris a scapegoat. It was undoubtedly a troublesome political matter.

As he thought this far, anger surged within him.

"These bastards. I helped them without expecting anything in return."

"..."

The two women, stunned by Veris's anger, remained silent like a deer caught in headlights.

They knew as well. How absurd this situation was.

But even so, there was little they could do, and that was the biggest problem.

"Cecilia, what do you think we should do?"

"I, I..."

Despite her title and position as the Saintess of the Holy Kingdom, Cecilia could not provide a substantial answer.

She merely gripped her collar tightly, expressing her frustration.

However.

"It might be better to confront them head-on."

"Arwen!"

"I know. They are trying to pin baseless crimes on Veris."

"Hmm, then why did you come to that conclusion, Arwen?"

Unlike the startled Cecilia, Veris asked Arwen in a calm tone.

Seeing Veris question her, Arwen seemed to struggle to find her words, mumbling for a while before speaking up.

"After all, it would be difficult for them to kill a student within the academy. While it would be ideal to handle things neatly... I think it's also a method to cooperate sincerely with their investigation. If we were to go against the Holy Kingdom, it would only make things more troublesome in the future."

Resting his chin on his hand while listening to Arwen's explanation, Veris nodded slightly.

In fact, if Cecilia's explanation was true, there seemed to be no clear breakthrough.

Thus, Veris felt a sense of suffocation rising within him.

He could easily slaughter them right now. But with the humanity still left in him, he decided to forgive their sins and stood up.

"Then, those guys must be looking for me like crazy right now?"

"...They are likely to be."

"I need to meet them."

"That's too dangerous...! Huh?"

"No."

Despite the urgent situation, Cecilia blushed as she quietly raised her finger to cover her lips at Veris's actions.

Veris appeared somewhat detached. However, that demeanor made Cecilia uneasy, as if it were a harbinger of the storm to come.

[TL: If you can't wait on updates and want to read more, please support me to read the whole novel here: https://buymeacoffee.com/mythictranslations.]