Surprised?
Surprised?
Chameleon’s documents were inside a small box sitting in Drac’s office.
It was locked, of course, but the key Drac had been wearing opened it without trouble.
Buried not far from Scalen territory, I see.
In a way, that was only natural. A client might need the money in a hurry; too much distance would be a problem.
“Inquisitor, what should we do with the other documents?”
There were six documents listing where money had been buried. If we tracked them all down and brought everything back to the territory, we wouldn’t have to worry about funds for a year or two…
“Everything except Chameleon’s goes to the Holy See. With that much gold, they’ll be grinning ear to ear and look the other way while I take Chameleon’s share.”
Naturally I would keep quiet about Chameleon himself. I planned to report only that I had taken a few nearby spoils of war and handed over the rest of the papers.
Some might wonder whether a clergyman should act this way, but I had never been an Inquisitor for the Goddess’s sake to begin with.
“Besides, Chameleon’s haul alone is larger than the other five documents put together. Better to hand the rest to the Holy See and let the original owners’ attention follow the money there. They’ll be hunting for what vanished, after all.”
In short: take the profit and dump every nuisance onto the Holy See.
“The report can wait, though. We burn the bodies and the house first, then go straight after Chameleon’s fortune.”
“Yes, sir!”
I left the carriage to Bella and caught a short nap inside. I half-expected stragglers from the Dark Blood Order to follow, but nothing happened all the way to our destination.
“Inquisitor, we’re almost there.”
I had kept my senses sharp, so Bella’s voice woke me at once. I glanced out the window at the forest hemming the road, then spoke.
“Bella, stop here.”
“Ah… right. No point advertising the carriage.”
She seemed well aware that what we were doing hardly suited an Inquisitor. The fact that she said nothing about it only proved she was never going to be a model believer either.
Not that that was the only reason I stopped.
When I stepped down, the dark sky before dawn greeted me. I spread holy power outward with Fair Wind; an alien presence brushed against it—thicker than mana, thick with naked killing intent.
Demonic energy.
The power demons used. Demons appeared all over the continent, true enough, but their presence exactly where Scalen’s treasure was hidden felt far too convenient.
Worse, the energy is unstable.
No demon with a mind would leak energy this chaotically. The same went for humans who had drunk demon blood.
So something that carries demonic energy but has no reason…
An unpleasant memory surfaced and I ground my teeth. It was useless right now, so I cast the thought aside.
“Someone got here first. I’ll take point; stay alert and follow.”
“…Yes.”
Bella nodded, face tight with tension. I drew my sword and advanced slowly toward our original destination.
Before long we found an old grain storehouse ringed by trees.
Baron Scalen’s fortune is probably under there, the cache the Dark Blood Order hid.
The first arrivals didn’t seem to have taken it yet. They were still nearby, which meant they hadn’t been here long, and I saw no cart or other means of hauling a fortune away.
They’re hiding. They know we’ve arrived.
Where, then? Somewhere close enough to ambush us…
No need to go hunting, though. A massive shape dropped from above; I leapt back and let the ambush miss.
KWAANG!
A gigantic foot smashed the ground where I had stood. I sized up the enemy first.
Grrrrr…
It was a bear-monster the size of a tree, eyes blood-red, skin the black peculiar to demons. Demons could devour monsters, but a monster devouring a demon and becoming one itself was vanishingly rare.
This is something they forced demonic energy into.
My guess had been right. Not a true demon—something humans had manufactured through experiments. In pure combat power it rivaled the demonized Baron Scalen.
Only one group does work like this.
The Evil Book Society, who worshipped the Demon God and praised demons. Most of them wanted to cast off the frail human frame and become demons themselves. This was the fruit of that desire.
So they were already pulling this crap even back then.
I chewed the inside of my lip. If the Evil Book Society had experimented only on monsters I wouldn’t have been half so disgusted. They used other humans as well—not even themselves, but subjects they collected.
If you want to become a demon so badly, do it yourselves, you bastards.
I narrowed my eyes and spoke.
“Stop skulking like a rat and come out. Or shall I kill this one first?”
A figure in a black robe drifted out of the trees and stood beside the bear.
“An Inquisitor?”
“No. A bandit. Heard there was treasure buried here, so I came looking.”
He snorted.
“Is an Inquisitor allowed to covet other people’s property like this?”
“Deaf as the bear, are you? I said bandit.”
“……”
“Besides, I’m only here to collect what I’m owed. You’re the one who came to steal. Aren’t you?”
He sighed and answered.
“How did you learn of this place?”
“None of your business. How did you learn of it?”
“Think I’ll tell you?”
“Suit yourself. You heard Baron Scalen was dead, poked around, and found the documents that marked the buried gold. You meant to use it for experiment funding.”
“……”
“Actually I’m not a bandit—I’m a mind reader. Surprised?”
He glared at me while stroking the bear’s leg.
“Don’t tell me you’re Cael, the one who killed Mordin? Looking at how insane you are, it fits.”
My name was starting to circulate inside the Evil Book Society. Natural enough—someone who wasn’t even an Inquisitor at the time had butchered one of their apostles.
I asked,
“Are you an idiot, by any chance? Mouthing off about me to my face, it seems likely.”
“……”
His eyes turned cold and sharp.
“Groll, looks like you’ll feast well today. An arrogant fool who doesn’t know his place will taste even better.”
Krrrrr…
Groll had no reason, yet it obeyed him. Even after modification a creature usually kept some of its original nature; the man had probably branded terror into it.
That’s the worst part. Whether human or monster, the old nature remains. It would have been cleaner if nothing were left.
He gave the order.
“Devour him.”
KRRRRR!
Groll launched itself with all four limbs. I wound wind around my blade and spoke.
“Sub-deacon Bella, hold it a moment.”
“Yes!”
I shot forward. Groll swung a massive paw; I dropped low and slipped under the blow. Ordinarily I would have carved the beast open right there, but instead I kicked off the ground again and charged the master.
The man shrieked.
“Stop him!!”
Groll spun, but it had no time to protect its owner.
FWOOOOSH!
A searing wave of flame tore across the forest. Magic from Bella’s fingertips engulfed the bear.
KWA-AANG!
Groll instinctively swiped with its forepaws and scattered the fire. Part of the paw burst open, but demonic regeneration would close the wound soon enough.
That single instant was all I needed.
“W-wait!”
I reached the master and, deliberately leaving my sword sheathed, drove a fist into his face. His combat strength was trash; that was more than enough.
“Guhk!”
He couldn’t dodge. Teeth flew and he tumbled across the ground. I seized him by the collar and hauled him up.
“So you wanted to become a demon that badly?”
“Groll!! Hurry and—!!”
He didn’t answer me; he only screamed for the bear. Groll charged to save its master. I looked into the man’s bloodshot eyes and smiled.
“You’re already something other than human. No need to try so hard.”
I flung him toward Groll and called out,
“Groll! Your favorite snack!”
“N-no!”
He sailed through the air like a wriggling worm. Groll was already closing in.
“D-don’t eat me!!”
Groll stared at its floating master. Eat, or not eat, eat, or not… That was the look in its eyes. But before it had ever been a demon, Groll had been a man-eating monster.
CRUNCH!
“AAAAAGH!”
Groll bit its former master clean in half, then used both paws to chew and swallow with wet, crunching delight. Watching it, I felt a warm smile spread across my face.
“That’s a good boy. Our Groll.”
Blood now painted its muzzle as it turned its hungry gaze on me. I asked, quite seriously,
“Groll, do you want to die?”
Krrr…
“Then I suppose there’s no choice.”
I settled into a lower stance and gathered my power. Groll’s strength was roughly on par with the demonized Baron Scalen. Back then I had started with a fatal wound already dealt and finished easily; now Groll’s forepaw had regenerated and it was whole again.
But…
I was stronger than I had been then, and Groll had no reason—it could not make proper judgments. If I possessed a technique that could snuff its life out in a single blow before it could react, there would be no real problem.
Fortunately, I did.
Sssssss—!
Wind coiled around the blade like a rising dragon. Grass whipped sideways; pale dawn light began to climb the sky.
“Groll, did it hurt when they remade you?”
I compressed the wind and asked a meaningless question.
“It must have. They wouldn’t have cared about your pain. All they wanted was to turn you into a demon.”
I wasn’t pitying a monster. Someone else who had been remade into a demon simply came to mind.
KRAAAAAH!!
Groll charged straight into the storm. A human would have sensed the danger and focused on evasion; this was a mindless beast.
“Time to go.”
I watched it close the distance and swung.
SHRAAAAAK!
A torrent of savage wind shredded its body without mercy. Blood sprayed skyward; flesh tore free in ragged strips.
Keuooo…
In moments the creature was a tattered rag, staggering in place. Then it toppled with a heavy thud. Holy power had struck it; there would be no regeneration.
I drove my sword into the earth, clasped both hands, and prayed.
Goddess, a being born a monster and dead as a demon rises to you. Grant this human the peace of mind never to become a demon like that…
Black light seeped from Groll’s body, then slowly purified to white—similar in volume to what had risen from Baron Scalen. Holy power rushed into me; I took it, refined it, made it my own.
Hoo.
With my holy power full, peace settled over my heart. Yes—growing stronger was a ray of light that erased the dark.
At this rate I should be able to reach the stage of Wrath.
Compared to my previous life the growth was absurdly fast. Had I possessed mana instead of holy power, such progress would have been impossible.
Sssss—
Groll had already crumbled to ash and vanished completely. When Baron Scalen died, the human shell had remained; the Goddess was colder toward those who had never been human.
“Sub-deacon Bella, time to go collect the money.”
“Yes!”
We reached the grain storehouse and found the ground already excavated. A beautiful golden glow filled the hole. Groll must have dug it—saving us time and effort, and granting me a generous amount of holy power in the bargain.
Groll, rest easy wherever you’ve gone.
I offered a brief prayer for the bear, then Bella and I loaded the buried fortune into the carriage. There were a few gold toads and ornaments, but most of it was coin.
When the interior was packed full, Bella laid a hand on the carriage.
“Blackout.”
Her magic turned the windows—through which gold had glinted—utterly black. Judging that her combat power would not help much for now, she had learned supporting spells first: Blackout to cast a dark curtain over a chosen area, Cleansing to blow away foreign matter, and the like.
“This should be enough, right?”
“It will. No one’s likely to see us, but caution never hurts.”
With the cabin full we climbed onto the driver’s seat. I took the reins.
“Sub-deacon Bella, get some sleep. I’ll drive.”
“Yes! Thank you, Inquisitor!”
I set the horses moving. Bella’s head drooped, then settled against my shoulder. Normally I would have flipped her skull the other way, but right now my patience was godlike.
Clop-clop-clop—
The heavy carriage, the rising sun, the holy power circulating through my body… Drunk on contentment I muttered whatever came to mind.
“Left the mansion as Baron Luminara… returning as a rich Inquisitor…”
This, too, must be the Goddess’s grace…