The Inquisitor's Benevolent Smile
I let out a sigh of relief only after the beautiful face—still somehow lovely despite being covered in scales—hit the ground and I confirmed the massive surge of experience points flowing in. At Gold rank, you could never feel safe even after decapitating someone. This was a world where Mysteries that granted conditional immortality were running around freely. That was why I only stowed my weapon in my inventory after the EXP that proved a true death had registered. I pressed my battered body, wrecked from squeezing every last drop out of it, against the ground.
“That guy was seriously, disgustingly strong.”
His black magic specialty was corrosion. Eye contact triggered petrification. His skill level was Gold-class, and his physical stats were straight-up monstrous. As an executive of the Flame of Doom, he’d pulled out some black magic I’d never seen before, nearly dragging the fight into a long war of attrition. If he hadn’t let his guard down at the very end because of that arrogant personality and died so pathetically, I would have been forced to sacrifice one of my summons long ago.
At first glance the outcome might seem hollow, but I focused on etching the experience deep into my mind. Because the same thing could happen to me—one moment of carelessness, and my life could vanish just as pointlessly. Too many people had already gone out that way. I refused to be one of them.
Having burned the lesson into memory, I glanced at my equally flattened companions, then turned my eyes toward the battlefield. The two beings who had been waging a transcendent battle amid two raging storms seemed to have noticed our situation; they had entered a temporary lull.
“It appears my contractor has won.”
“Indeed. And just when things were getting interesting, too.”
Bordan, who had planted his massive greatsword into the ground, wore a regretful expression. With the summoner dead, the result was effectively our victory. Bordan had no particular loyalty toward a summoner he had only met today, so he prepared to return to Hell without hesitation.
On the other side stood the black mage Krisnain cherished and the adventurer she had taken an interest in. As a wise demon who preferred not to fall out of his superior’s good graces, he obediently began his return while regarding Yotun.
“Giant warrior from the outer world, I acknowledge your skill. I do not know how you came to this realm, but since you are aiding northern adventurers, I suppose we shall meet again periodically in the North.”
“I am always with my contractor. Should the chance arise later, let us settle the outcome of our bout.”
“Hmm. I was rather looking forward to fighting at your side.”
Bordan gave Neon one last meaningful look before vanishing without lingering attachment. Seeing this, Yotun’s face showed that his excitement had cooled. He rested his spear across his shoulder and muttered.
“The demons of this world are truly strange.”
The giant strode over, his battle fervor gone. He was at once a hearty general, a noble knight, and a cold pragmatist.
“Is your body all right?”
“Does this look all right to you?”
“Your mouth still works, so I’d say you’re fine.”
I had plenty to say about Yotun’s remark, but I needed to conserve every ounce of strength right now, so I kept silent. The enemy leader was dead; this battle was ours. The black mages had already scattered in every direction to save their own skins, and the paladins were hot on their heels.
While I focused on recovering, Yotun—who had been staring blankly at the sky—spoke again.
“That woman earlier kept ranting about the Empire’s sins and whatnot. Is it fine not to listen?”
“Snake isn’t the only one who knows that information.”
The Empire was a nation riddled with problems anyway. The Flame of Doom that Snake belonged to had emerged specifically to topple it, and uprisings broke out constantly. The mess would continue whether I listened or not. There was no reason to give Snake an opening to escape just to hear the story.
“If you’re really curious, ask the Lucy siblings later.”
“Do those children possess the information?”
“Not yet. But they’ll learn soon enough once they keep clashing with the Flame of Doom.”
The Lucy siblings had accumulated plenty of bad blood with that organization since their academy days. They had already slain two executives, thwarted several plans, and the enemy still refused to abandon the academy. Information would come naturally while dealing with the remaining leaders.
The only phrase that truly bothered me was the one about the arrogance of the gods.
I sprayed potions across my body while watching the saintess and paladins.
“Send all the injured to me! Pursuing the black mages is fine, but stay alert for ambushes!”
The paladins moved with flawless coordination at Harne’s shout. There was no trace of falsehood in it. I could feel their genuine resolve to purge evil from the world and their sincere desire to protect citizens by cutting down black mages. If that was an act, it was so convincing I would have to let myself be deceived with a humble heart. Therefore, I did not suspect them.
If even the Holy Kingdom’s saintess and paladin order remained unaware, the secret could not be ordinary.
“Does it have something to do with the gods who stayed silent until the Holy Kingdom turned into a complete mess?”
“I wouldn’t know. I am merely a guest in this world, a summon belonging to my contractor.”
Yotun gave a light shrug. Starting from his extremities, his body slowly transformed into ice dust. Now that the fight was over, he seemed ready to return to his original realm; his form vanished at a rapid pace.
“I return now. If you ever require my strength again, call me without hesitation.”
“Thanks for the help. I survived because of you.”
“I merely acted according to our contract. If you are truly grateful, then fulfill my contract conditions instead.”
“I’ll do my best.”
With those final words he was reverse-summoned. I stared at the empty space where Yotun had stood for a moment before pushing myself to my feet. Every inch of me screamed in protest, but the emergency treatment from the potions made it bearable.
As I walked toward my companions, I recalled the contract conditions I had discussed with Yotun.
A way to melt the frozen sun, huh… That world doesn’t seem normal either.
I was curious how a sun could even freeze, but I didn’t particularly want to find out. Remembering the bone-chilling cold I had felt when the summoning circle connected us, I shivered lightly. The frost storm Yotun generated was already overwhelming, yet that cold had been on a completely different level—something no living creature could endure.
Thinking of Yotun, who had accepted the contract to solve the problems of his own world, I muttered to myself.
“As expected, the higher-tier the summon, the harsher the contract conditions become.”
Ikelos and the Rune Golem had been satisfied with pure mana. Umbra had asked to perfectly replicate my appearance so he could use it in his own world. The Lesser Dragon had requested suitable treasures to help it metamorphose into a complete dragon. Compared to those, finding a way to melt a frozen sun gave me no clear starting point.
Yotun himself didn’t seem to hold high expectations, but since we had formed a contract, I still needed to search for a solution.
I’ll summon him again later and ask for the details.
He was probably scrambling around in his own world looking for methods too, so he must have a few ideas prepared. Since we had won, I didn’t want to drown in worries. I set the thoughts aside, lifted the collapsed Lucy siblings from the ground, and hoisted them up.
“Wake up, you sleepyheads. Time to head back.”
“So tired……”
“Exhausted……”
The siblings hung limp like cats. I draped them roughly over my shoulders and looked around. While I had been talking with Yotun, the pursuit of the fleeing black mages seemed to have concluded; paladins were returning one or two at a time.
Judging by the terrible expressions on the gathered prisoners, this battle had ended in our overwhelming victory.
“N-no way……”
“Uhehehe! Serves you right! That’s what you get for messing with me!”
I glanced at Neon—who was currently taunting the despairing Shiperian—then deliberately looked away. He was an extremely reliable tank during combat, but moments like this always filled me with secondhand embarrassment. Shinshia watched him with a warm, satisfied smile, so it seemed she didn’t mind.
The Lucy siblings must have spotted him too; they chuckled while still dangling from my shoulders.
“He really is an entertaining friend.”
“He’d be sorely missed if he weren’t around now.”
“I’m glad he seems to be doing well in the North.”
“Well, he is a northerner. Of course he’s doing well. It’d be weird if he wasn’t.”
Hearing the teasing remark, Runa puffed out her cheeks and grumbled.
“When he was little he always looked like something was chasing him.”
“Me? When?”
I made a puzzled face at a story from a time I couldn’t even remember. No matter how hard I thought, I had no recollection of ever behaving like Neon. I searched my past memories, but nothing surfaced. The siblings, however, spoke with confidence.
“It was when you were six.”
“After you turned seven you suddenly became so mature that we let it slide.”
I scratched my head. Come to think of it, they might be right. When I was seven I had slammed my head into a tree while playing tag, and memories from my previous life had flooded in like a tidal wave. Everything before age six was hazy.
“It’s a relief that you’ve grown into such a wonderful person.”
“Back then you seemed a little anxious somehow. We were worried.”
“It was so long ago that I don’t remember at all.”
I gave an awkward smile. Their memories were exceptional, so they were probably correct. Even though I had recalled my previous life’s memories, the core consciousness had always belonged to my current self, which only made the embarrassment sharper. Still, it was all in the past. A relief, really.
“Talking about old times like this makes me want to visit home.”
“When the academy break comes, we should head back north.”
“If you come up to the North, let me know. We’ll go to our hometown together.”
I patted their backs after the nostalgic words the siblings had spoken. Meanwhile, our companions finished cleaning up the battlefield and approached. When they saw the Lucy siblings hanging from my shoulders like sacks of grain, they gave us odd looks.
“What are you doing over there?”
“Hanging onto Argo’s shoulders.”
“…Why?”
“It’s surprisingly comfortable.”
“Argo’s shoulders are pretty wide, you know.”
Alice sighed at the sight. The Lucy siblings’ antics were apparently nothing new to her; she simply accepted it. Technically I was the one who had put them there, but they had misunderstood on their own and I saw no reason to correct them.
I did my best to ignore Adela, who was watching with sparkling curiosity, and continued the conversation. Then a paladin hurried over to Harne and whispered something in her ear. The saintess’s expression immediately clouded.
“Intelligence just arrived from the city. It seems the factions of the First and Second Princes have visited.”
“The princes’ factions? Then what about the First Princess?”
“It looks like Karen came in person. She appears to have visited as a fellow academy student.”
From the way they spoke, everyone seemed to know this First Princess named Karen. Given the situation, they had probably heard that key personnel from the Blue Tower were injured and came to offer appropriate condolences. Or perhaps they had caught the scent of something and rushed over.
“Looks like we’re about to get dragged into something annoying.”
“We should hurry. If the two princes’ factions run into each other at the tower, a fight might break out.”
“Haa… Political battles even after coming all the way out here.”
At the appearance of the princes’ forces, everyone hurriedly finished cleaning up and headed for the magic tower. Watching them rush off, I tilted my head and asked the Lucy siblings still perched on my shoulders.
“Why the sudden hurry?”
“Because the imperial family members are on terrible terms with each other, obviously?”
“I know that much. But with that person in the city, why rush?”
“That person?”
“Ah.”
The siblings’ faces lit up with understanding.
When Snake had said he sent black mages into the city, why had we remained so relaxed? If we hadn’t let our guard down, how could we have set a trap—using test subjects, the saintess, and Neon as bait—against an opponent like Snake who would have deployed every insidious scheme imaginable?
“If my memory is correct, the reason we need to hurry back isn’t because they might fight each other. It’s because we’re worried they might die.”
“Mmm. You have a point.”
“Even if only half the rumors are true, I’m still worried about Karen.”
The siblings wore genuinely concerned expressions as they spoke about the First Princess. Seeing them like that, I answered with full confidence.
“Don’t worry. As long as the First Princess doesn’t stray onto the wrong path, there’s no way she’ll die.”
Inside the bleak, wintry city.
Black mages impaled on long spears around the Blue Tower hung with expressions of agony. Those who had come to destroy the city on Snake’s orders were instead confronted with their own destruction, leaving behind a wretched result.
Torso, the Inquisitor, gazed with satisfaction at the corpses—nothing but heads and spines left—dangling from the spears. Then he smiled warmly at the two nobles and one girl seated across from him.
The representatives of the First and Second Princes’ factions and the First Princess herself. These people who had once wielded absolute power as delegation envoys and members of the imperial family now sat rigid as frogs before a snake.
“In weather like this, I would ask that you refrain from meaningless quarrels, my siblings.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Of course.”
At Torso’s gentle words, the representatives nodded obediently. Political struggles and justifications only worked when both sides could communicate. None of the people present were foolish enough to act brazenly before the head of the Inquisition Bureau, a man who placed value on nothing except faith and order.
These were the people who had massacred six of the eight cardinals and half the priests of the Holy Kingdom for the sake of its purification. They would not show leniency to foreign nobles.
Creak. Creak.
Except for the ominous sound of the spears swaying in the wind with corpses hanging from them, nothing else could be heard in the garden. The nobles and imperial family members simply kept drinking some liquid—whether it was tea or water, no one could tell.
Kids… I miss you…
Karen, the First Princess who had come running after hearing that her friend’s grandfather was injured, trembled like a hamster. She prayed desperately for her friends to return soon.
She vowed, with all her heart, that she would never get involved with the Holy Kingdom’s Inquisition Bureau again.