Chapter 572
Chapter 572
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 572
Chapter Title: Good Friends to Meet
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All that was left was to find the evidence.
Honestly, if nothing turned up here, we'd look like total idiots, but these folks had refused to cooperate from the start. That was blatant illegal activity—a serious act of treason.
Subduing them was only natural.
If they resisted, we could just beat them down again.
In a world where threats from heretics were all too real, shielding the enemy was punishable in itself. Captain Barkerel was just too kind-hearted in taking them down gently.
"Paladin, cooperate with the holy knights and conduct the investigation!"
"Understood!"
With that, we launched a full-scale search of the village alongside the holy knights. It was straightforward since we'd been doing it all along. We'd even dragged everyone out of their homes, so we could enter without any interference.
"A private home, huh."
"Nothing special in sight."
The house we checked first was utterly ordinary.
"No suspicious stuff. Why'd they react like that, then?"
"Hmm, really nothing at all?"
Winia and Claudy voiced their doubts too. Well, we'd only searched one house so far. Something would turn up if we kept at it.
That was when it happened, as we went from house to house.
—ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Suddenly, a roar like a pterodactyl bursting from a nightmare echoed from that direction... That voice!
Holy knights!
"Saint!"
"Yeah!"
—Flash!
We bolted toward the sound, and there they were—holy knights clustered in front of a barn, screaming in unison.
"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!!!"
"This can't be happening!!!!"
"GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Verdeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!"
Whatever shocking sight they'd witnessed had them on their knees, tearing at their hair. Some priests were even sobbing. What kind of grief party was this...!
Damn it!
What the hell had happened!
—Gulp.
I swallowed hard.
Guess there really was something in this village after all. I steeled myself against the shocking scene ahead and approached slowly.
"Holy knights! What in the world is going on?!"
"P-Paladin! Come see this inhuman horror!!!"
"Inhuman horror?!"
For battle-hardened holy knights to wail about something inhuman! I immediately peered inside the barn.
—What was there.
"Ugh... We're saved now...! Sob!"
"Sob, sob, sob!"
"Please spare us, spare us, spare us...!"
People in rags, one ankle severed on each, like beggars.
"Spare us..."
They were bound with ropes, writhing like butterfly larvae in tattered rags. Their sunken eyes and cheeks held no spark of life.
Starved to the extreme, imprisoned humans.
I pieced it together easily.
"W-What the fuck!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Saint, this is!!!!"
—Human trafficking!!!
Elise and I shouted it in perfect unison!
"So inhuman!!!!!!!!!!!"
"C-Cutting off their ankles...! Unthinkable!!!!! To think something this atrocious was happening!!!"
These bastards had kidnapped people, severed their ankles, and kept them tied up in the barn! To sell to heretics!!!
The reason they'd refused the holy knights was revealed!
—GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
The horrific sight was too much; we couldn't hold back our screams. Elise was the same. We joined the holy knights' wails.
Praying this brutal truth reached the gods Verde and Izermart.
"You're safe now! You've been rescued!"
"That's right!"
The priests recovered first, rushing in to free the captives. I helped too.
"Sob... Holy knights... sob!"
"Spare us, spare us... spare us..."
They were completely broken.
Probably from the horrors they'd endured.
"You're safe now!!!!!"
Hold on. They're all men here? That means there's another place for the women.
"Holy knights! Only men here! There must be a separate spot for the women!"
"R-Right! I'll go look!"
So this was the village's dark secret.
They'd been trafficking humans to aid the heretics. Just like that village I'd massacred last time.
We'd nabbed their tail.
"What a shithole. Trafficking people...?"
Winia shook her head in disgust. As I cut ropes, I slapped the cheek of someone who looked relatively intact.
"What the hell is this! Why are you here?!"
"Ugh...! Finally, finallyyy...!"
"Yes! You're finally free! Explain why you're here!"
"I-I was on escort duty for a merchant... ugh!"
"Escort duty? What does that mean?!"
I comforted him while gathering details. He was an adventurer who'd taken a merchant escort quest to the Fog Plains.
While crossing the plains, they'd stopped at this village for the night. Next thing he knew, his right ankle was gone, and he was locked in this barn with his comrades.
"Crazy bastards!"
Planned crime! That merchant was in on it too!
"I'll head to Captain Barkerel quick! Claudy! Winia! Elise! Watch this spot!"
I raced straight to Captain Barkerel.
"Captain Barkerel! Evidence of human trafficking! People with severed ankles locked in a barn!"
"W-What?! Severed ankles?!?!?!?!?!?!"
—Leap!
Startled by my shout, he jumped three meters high on the spot, then landed, clutching his head with wide eyes.
"Those screams were from that!!! The chief! The chief and villagers are all heretic collaborators!!!"
Captain Barkerel drew his sword with furious momentum, aiming at the chief.
"M-Misunderstanding! Human trafficking and heretic collaboration? I know nothing of that!"
Despite the clear evidence, the chief spouted nonsense with an innocent expression.
This fucker!
"Then what about those people in the barn, huh?!"
I immediately berated him, jabbing deep into his gut with my finger.
"G-GAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
"Where do you get off lying?!"
"KIIIIIII!!"
Just prodding his flesh with my finger made him collapse. On the ground, vomiting, he screamed.
"Ugh...! What the hell! They were all bandits raiding our village! We punished them ourselves to hand over to the city later!! This is tyranny! How could you...!"
"Still lying, you fucker!"
No lie this bald-faced!
"Holy Knight Doralkhan! Guard the prisoners! I'll take the Paladin and chief to the scene! Paladin! Follow me!"
Captain Barkerel hoisted the chief and dashed off. I followed.
"Captain Barkerel!!!! Behold this inhuman sight!!! Five men and four women, ankles severed, locked up!"
One holy knight who'd finished checking reported. The rest were treating victims outside the barn.
"Sob...!"
"Sob, we're alive...!"
Women rescued from elsewhere were there too.
—Rage boiled fiercely.
These heretic scum were prime enemies of the Fusion Faith!
Slaughter them all!
"Fuck you, chief! The evidence is crystal clear!"
"Please stop! My words are true! We just refused entry to avoid this misunderstanding!"
Still, the chief kept lying, bellowing.
"Captain Barkerel!"
"Hmm..."
Captain Barkerel, face hardened by the horror, spoke.
"Chief. You might be right. You refused entry fearing misunderstanding, and they could be bandits. Exercising self-defense in a village like this is perfectly justified... proper, even."
—A face grown exceedingly cruel.
"But... we're here on orders to exterminate heretics trafficking humans."
At this moment, the kindly Captain Barkerel was gone.
With a face colder than ice, he looked at the weeping, ankleless people on the ground and said coolly.
"Doesn't this fit too perfectly?"
"It's all a misunderstanding!!!"
"If you meant to claim misunderstanding, shouldn't you have said so when we arrived?"
"Th-That...!"
"Didn't expect us to force entry? You were panicked, judgment clouded. Possible."
Captain Barkerel's words were perfectly reasonable.
It could be a misunderstanding. But the chief's story didn't add up. Crucially, the captive had given me clear testimony with causal links right after rescue.
Starved and imprisoned for days with severed ankles.
They'd probably timed it for snowy weather, posing as a caravan to snag victims. Winter meant idle adventurers would bite, and the church would pause ops. Perfect for secret abductions.
Treat them well upon arrival, then drug the food and chop—done.
Brutally efficient.
"I swear by Verde you might be innocent, but you're prime suspect. The blame for this mess lies with you, chief. Had you explained from the start and let us in, it wouldn't have come to this."
"...!"
"Paladin. Start interrogating the villagers. The chief... I'll handle personally."
"...Understood. Let's go."
I gathered my women and Elise, heading to the village center.
"Saint...! The evidence is irrefutable!! Just get confessions through interrogation...!"
Elise had already drawn her mace, fury erupting. Winia, uncaring about small fry, said kill 'em all. Claudy was smiling.
"Elise. You can use Heal, right? For treating wounds."
"Yes. Why ask...?"
"You'll need it soon. Wait a sec."
En route, I ducked into a nearby house, grabbing a usable-looking box.
—Thump thump.
Furious rage hammered my heart like it might burst. I took slow breaths to calm it. I'm Kim Katt, the man who stays cool in any situation.
Time to interrogate.
"A box? Blackie? Gonna beat 'em all to death with that?"
"Something like it."
We reached the village center.
"Ugh..."
"Wh-What do we do...!"
"Sob, sob!"
Over 30 villagers trembled, foreheads to the ground. Holy Knight Doralkhan watched them sword in hand.
"Paladin... Is it true? What happened?!"
"Yes. Go verify yourself. Captain Barkerel ordered me to interrogate the villagers."
"...Got it."
Interrogations were starting now.
Holy Knight Doralkhan sheathed his sword and ran toward the barn. Here, it was me, Claudy, Winia, and Elise—four of us.
More than enough to control 30.
—Shing.
"Villagers."
I drew my sword, addressing the trembling heretic collaborators.
"In your village barn, we found a bunch of poor souls mangled beyond belief. From now on, shut up and answer only what I ask. Or you die."
The man in front lifted his head, yelling.
"Th-They're criminals! Let us go! It's true!!"
"What did I just say?"
"About the barn...!"
This fucker.
"People only hear what they wanna hear, huh."
I approached slowly and kicked his raised head hard.
—Bam!
"Gahk!"
He screamed and slumped. I'd controlled the force—no broken neck. Proper shock therapy: he passed out.
"H-Hiiik! Stop the violence! We're innocent!"
"Believe us, holy knight! No crime! Those in the barn were bandits!"
"Mercy, please!"
Like pigs, they raised heads, pleading desperately.
"I."
These fuckers weren't getting it.
"Said shut up and answer only."
"...!"
"...!"
Finally sinking in, you shits?
I couldn't hold back the rage anymore. These heretics had a talent for pissing off the pissed. Not content with lies, they spewed bullshit.
I didn't buy their crap.
—Silence.
Quiet now.
"Saint. How will you interrogate?"
"Wait. I'll show you. Elise, club any who resist in the back of the head. Don't kill."
"Understood."
Perfect atmosphere for interrogation now.
Villagers feared me. Winia aimed her staff. Elise scanned like a hawk. Claudy stood behind, arms crossed.
Let's begin.
"Commencing Schrödinger's interrogation."
—Creak.
I set the box beside me and opened the lid. Big enough for one adult man. Reminded me of the Crown Prince for some reason.
"Schrödinger's what...? Saint. What is that?"
"Blackie spouting nonsense again? Not beating with the box?"
—Schrödinger's cat.
As everyone knows, stuff a cat in a box with poison gas inside. Observer knows only that—no peeking or interfering.
Ponder the cat's state.
Life and death.
Dead or alive.
It's determined when you open the box—upon observation. Something like that. Worlds where it lives or dies. Vaguely remembered since leaving home.
"You'll see."
Anyway, I planned to adapt it for this interrogation.
"Claudy. Drag that guy I just knocked out into this box."
"Hee hee hee, what mischief is Katt planning? Sure. In he goes."
Claudy hoisted the unconscious man and stuffed him in. The long box made him look like a vampire in a coffin.
"Vampire...!"
For atmosphere, I crossed his hands prayer-style and shut the lid.
"Alright, Schrödinger's interrogation begins."
—Execution Swordsmanship.
"Execution Thrustaaaaaaack!!!"
I yelled suddenly, gripped my sword reverse, and slammed the lid piercingly.
—Boom!
"MEEEEEEEOOOOOWWW!!"
A bizarre scream erupted as blood sprayed. Targeted the thigh—no instant kill. Claudy smartly sat atop, legs crossed.
—Shake! Shake!
The box trembled faintly, but he couldn't escape.
"Gasp...!"
"What the...!"
"Th-That's too cruel...!"
Villagers gasped in horror. Calmly, I explained.
"Right now, this box contains both a stabbed heretic and an unstabbed heretic."
—Schrödinger.
Core of this interrogation.
"Blackie, what bullshit?"
"Saint?"
Winia stared dumbfounded; Elise called questioningly.
"S-So... what're you...?"
"Wh-What? Stabbed and unstabbed heretic...?"
"Please stop, holy knight!!!"
Confused, villagers spoke.
"Holy knight!! What does that mean!!!"
Eh, nothing much.
"Just is."
—Schlop.
I pulled the sword from the box.
"Don't wanna go in? Spill everything, you fucking shits."
Schrödinger was just an excuse—a simple threat.
Hate the box? Talk. Fuck.