There Are Just Too Many Heretics
There Are Just Too Many Heretics
Count Selbento.
The mayor of 'Relpo', a famous city in the Golar Empire, and a Count recognized for the righteous and noble blue blood of the Empire.
And a loyal subject of His Majesty the Emperor.
He was currently wiping away the cold sweat flowing ceaselessly with a handkerchief.
Because right in front of him was the man known as the End of Heretics, a demon in an angel's mask, and the Goddess's most ferocious and sharpest sword.
Chief Inquisitor Lu Niginna.
Jet-black hair.
Ink-black eyes without a single point of light.
He didn't look like someone who carried out the divine will of the Goddess at all.
However, the heavy vestments densely woven with platinum thread and the red cloak he wore proved that he was the Goddess's legitimate agent.
Chief Inquisitor Lu Niginna sat with his legs crossed, resting his chin on his hand, and stared at Count Selbento indifferently.
And the man and woman standing behind him without a single movement.
The man in armor with a large build and white hair, and the woman in a white vestment with gold trim, holding a cross and wearing a robe, were enough to add to the intimidation.
Lu Niginna stared at Count Selbento without a word for a long time, then took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
"Do you have a light?"
His first words.
Do you have a light.
Normally, this would be unimaginable rudeness to a noble of the Empire and the mayor of Relpo, but Selbento took a lighter from inside his suit jacket and lit it immediately.
"Thank you."
He smoked the cigarette leisurely for a moment.
Thus, another time of endurance continued for Selbento. Soon, when his cigarette became the trigger, he opened his mouth.
"I will ask a few questions about the report you made. When did you first think that the traces found in the sewer were the traces and movements of heretics?"
"D-day before yesterday... it was."
"But the report came in yesterday. There is a one-day gap. Why?"
"Th-that is... first, it was because I reported it to His Majesty the Emperor and the Imperial Court first. After receiving a response from the Imperial Court, I immediately wrote a communication to the main headquarters."
"Hmm..."
He rubbed his chin for a moment. He was contemplating whether Count Selbento's words were reasonable.
"I see. Then next..."
And with that one action just now, he could have become a heretic himself.
A heretic for whom burning to death would be considered a mercy.
He felt a chill down his spine and focused on the next question.
"Why did you think they were heretics?"
"...Traces of black magic were discovered. It's not normal magic, but magic created through human sacrifice. But isn't human sacrifice magic a taboo set by the Goddess as an absolute law? So I thought they were heretics."
"I see. Yes, understood."
This answer didn't need any contemplation. For Lu Niginna, it was a very reasonable answer.
He uncrossed his legs, pulled his chair, and stood up.
"We will handle it from here. You have three hours; close all entrances to the sewer for three hours."
He said that and left the mayor's office without even looking back.
"U-understood. T-thank you for your hard work, Ch-Chief Inquisitor-nim!"
Mayor Selbento clutched his heart and let out a sigh of relief.
"Haa... Huu..."
His blocked breath cleared, and his breathing became ragged.
Since standing before His Majesty the Emperor,
Since facing the chieftain of the northern barbarian tribe,
Since facing the Empire's Swordmaster,
This was the first time he had felt this level of pressure.
It was a different kind, but he also possessed the overwhelming aura of a strong person that made people shrink back.
So Count Selbento thought.
As expected, the Goddess's most cruel and sharpest sword.
To have that much spirit at an age that looks under thirty.
It is truly astonishing.
+++*
Inside the vast water pipes of Relpo.
Somewhere in the deep darkness of the sewer, rats are lurking.
"Ciel, find them."
"Yes, Chief Inquisitor-nim. Now, where are you hiding~"
At my word, Ciel, a man with long hair reaching his waist, closed his eyes with his hands clasped together.
Then, a wave of Holy Magic like golden ripples began to spread throughout the damp sewer, centered on him. In front of that light, which scanned the moss on the walls and the surface of the sewage, it didn't matter if they used invisibility magic or created a secret space with a barrier.
It is impossible to avoid Ciel's tracking Holy Magic.
Because he is someone made for that.
Because we are people made for that.
To find and kill heretics.
Flash!
Ciel opened his eyes and unclasped his hands. Then, he said with his characteristic grinning smile.
"Found them. Just like the rats they are, they're huddled together in a very damp and dirty place."
"Where?"
"I will transmit the location via memory transfer."
As he clasped his hands again, the shimmering golden waves gently seeped into my head.
Along with a strange sensation tickling my brain, the hideout of the rats caught in his vision was embedded in my head as a clear coordinate.
I started walking toward that place without a moment's hesitation.
Every step I took, the stiff vestment, densely embroidered with platinum thread patterns, brushed against the filth on the floor, making a heavy sound.
"Chief Inquisitor-nim, are you going alone again today?"
"Wouldn't you be tired, Rugin-nim!"
I waved my hand vaguely at the crazy subordinates expressing their disappointment from behind.
"You guys do the rest."
When they came to work, they looked like they were about to throw their resignation letters at any moment, but once they got to the field, they made faces like murderous demons soaked in killing intent.
"Ayy, not all of it! I want to get some blood on me too!"
"Ah~ too bad~ hurry back!"
"Chief Inquisitor-nim, be careful."
"Vice Chief, what do you mean, be careful? Is Rugin-nim going to get hurt or something?"
"If the Chief gets injured, I'll eat my hat."
"Don't enjoy it too much!"
I click my tongue at this contradiction of serving the Goddess while making demonic faces, but it can't be helped.
Because due to the nature of the Heretic Inquisitor job, you can't endure it unless you're crazy.
They're just crazy guys who believe in the Goddess. Including me.
I must do the first interrogation alone, no matter what.
Otherwise, there's no way to relieve this anger built up in my chest because of work stress and the bosses.
"You're all dead... you heretic bastards..."
Following the transferred memory, a damp sewage treatment plant with a particularly strong fishy smell appeared.
As expected, the places people avoid the most are perfect for hiding without being noticed.
The heretics had dug a miserable hole beyond the wall here and prepared a secret hideout.
I lightly pressed a block that stuck out strangely on the wall of the sewage treatment plant.
Drrrk-
With an unpleasant friction sound, the secret space inside was revealed.
Because it was made by forcibly squeezing the space, there wasn't even a hallway, and beyond the door, the faces of the heretics filled with shock immediately rushed in.
"Uh, uh? Wh, what is it!"
"What the hell, what is it! It's a Heretic Inquisitor!"
"Fuck...! How did they find us!"
Guys wearing bizarre masks made of four-horned goat skulls.
They were heretics worshipping the demon Lukyak.
A total of 15 people. The way they were packed tightly in the narrow room was exactly like a rat hole.
I smoothed the platinum ornament on my shoulder and smiled brightly at them.
"Hello, heretics. Please stop what you're doing and kneel down politely."
Of course, I know my words won't work.
"If we kneel, will you spare us...? Then we'll kneel..."
"Hey! What are you saying, you idiot! Do you think he'll spare us if you do that? Look at that outfit, he's a Chief Inquisitor!"
"Fuck... then wh, what do we do?"
"What do you mean what, fuck! There's nowhere to run, so we have to fight!"
"You vermin-like dogs of the Goddess... you are rushing to your deaths. The first victim of our cult will not be Relpo, but you!"
They panicked and scurried for a moment, but soon, soaked in venom, they began to prepare their respective crude weapons and magic.
"Well, as expected, you are lunatics with whom conversation is impossible."
I also leisurely took out the Halo that had been cold at my waist and placed it over my head.
Then, at that moment.
Pshhh─!
A white light that seemed to burn the retinas exploded from the Halo above my head, filling the sealed room.
"Argh! My eyes! My eyes!"
"Aghhh! I can't see!"
"Fu, fuck... such cowardly tricks...!"
I began the 'verification' procedure I always do, toward those who were clutching their eyes, rolling on the floor, and complaining of pain.
"Then~ now! Say, 'Demon Lukyak is a son of a bitch'~."
"Ghh-ugh!"
"Fuck, you idiot! Don't insult Lord Lukyak!"
"He is the true savior! It's not the Goddess who eats away at this world who is the savior!"
"Argh!"
They screamed and shouted without even being able to open their eyes.
As expected, this is the most certain diagnostic method for heretics.
"Hmm, can't do it, as expected."
I'm just grateful that they prove so diligently that they are heretics who deserve to die.
I nodded satisfactorily and reached out naturally. And I aimed my index finger at the guy who was making the most noise.
Zzzzing──!
Instantly, a condensed platinum-colored heat ray shot out from my fingertip, tearing through the air.
One heretic couldn't even scream, his body was split in two and rolled on the floor.
Thud.
Thud.
At the loud noise that occurred with the heat ray, the remaining guys fell backward in terror.
But among them, a big guy standing in front of the altar rolled his eyes back and shouted.
"You're doing cowardly things! Do you think only you have power? I also have power! Because the great Lord Lukyak has chosen me!"
The guy took out a pitch-black and bizarre crystal from his pocket and stabbed it into his heart.
Puhak!
Fishy black blood sprayed like a fountain. At the same time, his body began to swell like crazy.
Muscles burst, and skin mixed with goat hair sprouted between them.
Sticky bone wings even popped out from behind his back.
"Hahaha...! I'm overflowing with power! I am the apostle of Lord Lukyak and the great agent of the abyss! I will tear the Goddess's hound puppy to death... and offer it to Lord Lukyak!"
Crack, with the fucking sound of bones shifting, four huge horns sprouted above his head.
The guy who called himself an apostle or whatever stomped on the floor and roared at me.
"Die! You dog of the Goddess!"
I watched that sight indifferently and checked my watch.
"Ah... 15 seconds to transform."
A sigh came out on its own.
"Hey, you should be grateful that I waited while you did that. If it were Dominique, your throat would have been slit before your horns even grew."
"Shut up! That's enough bullshit!"
The guy raised his huge claws and shot toward me.
It was an intimidation level that shook the sewer... but in my eyes, he just looked like a rude bastard who delayed my off-work time by 15 seconds.
"How are you still like that even after the phase change."
I kept my gaze fixed on him and lightly snapped my fingers.
Ping─!
The wave emitted from the Halo bounced off my fingertip.
Slice
"...?"
A thin platinum line was drawn over the huge body of the guy who was trying to pounce on me in the air.
And the next moment.
Slaaaash!
"Ghh, uh...?"
The horns and wings he was proud of, and his bloated body, split vertically and burst out to both sides.
The momentum of talking about being Lukyak's apostle or whatever was gone, and he rolled on the floor as a lump of meat in a single blow.
15 seconds to transform.
1 second to kill.
At this rate, even in hell, they'd be embarrassed about transforming.
"Wh, what, did the Apostle-nim get defeated...?"
"Hiiik, nonsense! That's impossible..."
The remaining rats were still blinded, so they couldn't even guess what was happening.
I gathered the platinum heat ray at my fingertip again.
"You guys might not have seen it, but your master became an 'A / postle'. And now it's you guys' turn."
Zzzzing───!
I swung the pure white heat ray horizontally in a large arc.
At the same time as a sharp line was drawn on the wall of the heretics' secret hideout, the remaining heretics also, without exception.
Became / Heretics.
The room that had been screaming until just a moment ago was instantly filled with an unpleasant silence and a burning smell.
"Ayy, even these vermin are called heretics. It's not even a warm-up for my fingers."
Guys who are so weak they couldn't even struggle once.
The problem is that such trash acts like they're heretics and disturbs the world, and there are not just one or two such guys in this vast Relpo.
And even if just a report comes in that there are such trivial guys, according to regulations, an entire Inquisitor unit must be dispatched.
They are vermin that aren't even a threat, but it's because of the possibility that they might possess unknowable power as long as they have the 'Heretic' label attached.
The sense of disillusionment I feel every time I have to travel this long distance for that manual response is really hard to endure.
"Ah... I'm feeling so disillusioned."
To think I flew this distance just to catch guys like this.
"Ha..."
I let my shoulders slump and turned around.
Still, first of all, I finished one of the four places I need to handle today.
Let's just leave the rest to the subordinates and get some rest.
Especially today, I really don't have any motivation to work.