Chapter 109: Prisoner Lee Han (2)

Jake, who was working hard with a pickaxe and shovel in his hand, suddenly blinked.

With how he expressed no complaint when he was told that he had been given a mission by the royal family—even if said work was a difficult work, and he was practically dragged by a certain bad friend of his—it was no exaggeration to say that he was a rarity among the knights.

“Blood Cross? I’ve never heard of such an organization. More than that, I can’t believe that such a rebellious group came out of the temple…”

Bang-! Bang-!

“I agree with you, Senior.”

When he saw Yord—a junior knight who happened to hang out with the wrong senior—got dragged to a place like this and was forced to carry dirt despite having just joined the order, he felt pity towards him. Unlike Jake, he didn’t have deep loyalty to the royal family, so he didn’t actually need to take on the mission. However, he chose to follow his respected seniors. Nevertheless, just like Jake, he wasn’t complaining even for a bit. If anything, he thought that since this was his first mission since becoming a knight, some spice would add to the experience.

“You don’t need to believe what I said. I only heard about it from others.”

As for the culprit who dragged his friend and junior to this dangerous place, he was digging the dirt with bare hands, but he somehow did more work than others who used their equipment to do the same work. He even broke a boulder that looked like two watermelons put together with his bare hands.

Though they had gone from being knights to criminals who were trapped in a tunnel…

“…Can’t you work a little more normally?”

The man worked so excitedly, as if he was a fish in water, which prompted Jake to scold him. If anything, it seemed like the man didn’t think of it as working, but playing.

But that was just what Jake thought.

“The equipment’s quality is so poor that it’s useless. Now, if I have that special equipment I normally use, it’ll be a different story.”

“Are you still working in that side job of yours?”

“Of course, it’s a good job. If anything, it’s good exercise.”

“…Weirdo.”

The conversation between the three of them was not particularly flowing in one way. Even though they seemed to be dealing with serious issues, they mixed in everyday conversations and mostly just talked about whatever it was that came to their minds.

Also, their voices were strangely loud. If someone paid close attention, they might just hear what they were talking about.

But of course, they were also aware of that.

‘Still no response.’

‘Judging from their reactions, no one here seems suspicious. They’re just treating us like a bunch of lunatics.’

‘That’s because we’re talking about a strange religion.’

‘…It’s because of you! Just do your job normally, please!’

‘Do you think I want to do this? If my equipment doesn’t break every single time I swing it, I wouldn’t even think of doing this!’

‘Just control your strength!’

‘…Easier said than done.’

The truth was, it was all part of their ruse so they could see how the [convicts] react to them leaking the information they knew.

…But as expected, no one could be full from the very first bite.

Tsk, screw that. Not even a single one of them took a bite.

The results were extremely disappointing.

Lee Han’s normal detection range was around 1 km. If he wanted to, he could cover the entire 5 km radius, but that would be inefficient since he wouldn’t be able to maintain it for even 10 minutes.

That was why, 1 km was his most ideal coverage range. As long as he could utilize it well, it would be an irreplaceable asset in the mission.

Thanks to that, Lee Han succeeded in observing the reactions of the criminals gathered in the [tunnel] one by one while diligently moving around. However, even after all that, he still failed to weed out the suspicious individuals, an achievement that he didn’t want to achieve.

“So annoying…”

“Be patient. You knew from the beginning that this wouldn’t be an easy mission, didn’t you?”

“That’s right, Senior. How could it be easy to find traces of a group that’s trying to overthrow the kingdom?”

Jake and Yord told him to be patient, saying that it wasn’t something that could be done quickly in the first place.

“Do you think it’s possible to finish a royal mission in a few days? Royal missions usually last for years.”

“Yeah, no, I can’t do it for that long.”

“Why?”

“I need to return once my kids’ vacation—no, the school holidays ended.”

“…”

Hearing that, Jake faced a dilemma. He couldn’t decide whether he should be happy that his dishonest friend had found his calling, or be angry because the guy treated a royal mission like a part-time job.

The incident that happened the other day—the one they called the Monster Terror Attack, or the Academy’s Disaster—was an incident where a Demon King-Level monster and a large army of gnolls appeared. Though it ended without any casualties, it was still a terror attack that could cause the royal capital to collapse.

Thanks to the cadets, Lee Han, and the competent regressor, the damage it caused was practically zero. If it wasn’t for them, who knows how catastrophic the damage the incident could have caused.

Even though the royal capital was safe in the end, it gave a sense of looming danger in everyone’s heart.

As they said, if a monarch couldn’t predict what kind of disastrous future a single mistake could bring, then they had no qualification to lead a country.

[This incident is a blatant provocation to the entire kingdom. We must do our best to resolve this. No matter what happens, we must make the perpetrator pay the price.]

Which was why the king was furious, and he issued an imperial edict to severely punish those who committed this terror attack. Countless people, including high-ranking officials, made their moves quickly, and because of that, the back alleys in the capital were enveloped by fear for a while.

Not only the soldiers, even the Knight Order was mobilized. They all arrested all the suspicious people they could find, eventually capturing 80% of the criminals hiding in the capital.

However…

[To think the real culprit hasn’t been caught yet! What on earth are the knights doing!!!]

The king’s fury wasn’t quelled. It was because the whereabouts of the real culprit were still unknown. However, the reason they couldn’t find the culprit wasn’t because the royal family was incompetent, rather it was because the culprit was too competent.

Even though they had mobilized both the soldiers and the knights, they couldn’t even find those people’s traces. Instead, they could only find the mass murder scene that was presumed to have been used for the terrorism.

With that, the royal family realized that this fight against the terrorists, which they thought would be a short-term battle, was actually a long-term one. So, they all tried their hardest to find the real culprit.

But…

-The Blood Cross, huh? What a ridiculous organization.

The competent heir to the throne, Isis, managed to find the information about the terrorists faster than the royal family. Surprisingly, she even managed to figure out their identity.

-It seems like the illegal mage that Galahad captured was a low-ranking priest. According to the report, he was carrying a cross symbolizing the [Light of Brilliance].

-So does that mean the temple is the culprit?

-The soldiers already tried to investigate the temple, but the temple only said that there was no such low-ranking priest in the temple. Although, it’s highly likely that the investigation wasn’t done properly either. Then again, there was no way they could do it in the first place. The followers of that arrogant temple are simply too numerous to investigate one by one.

-…

-But this lady doesn’t care.

-You know that a divine punishment might fall on you if you force it through, right?

-The heavens do not punish. It just flows according to the laws of nature. Don’t you know that?

-…

In truth, the reason why the royal family couldn’t figure out the identity of the group who attacked the capital wasn’t because they were incompetent. They actually knew, but they just couldn’t investigate in detail.

After all, they were up against the temple; the Light of Brilliance.

Since it was the only religion that the entire kingdom believed in and followed, the soldiers couldn’t just dig into them in detail. After all, the soldiers themselves were the followers of the religion. There was simply no way that they dared to do such a thing.

But Isis was different. She was an impious woman who would never ask for miracles from God or pray to Him. Instead, she’d use God if that was what it took to fulfill her ambition.

Hence why she persistently dug into the temple and extracted all the information she could get, unlike the king who was just sitting on his throne.

In some ways, it seemed a bit radical for the successor to the throne to do that.

But…

-Rather than believing in those incompetent guys, I want to confirm it with my own eyes.

That was the trait that a monarch should have, and with this, it was clear proof that she had such a thing.

Thanks to her radical actions, she succeeded in finding out the ‘remnants of the past’ buried by the temple and the royal family. The remnants that existed before the current royal family came to power.

-Among those crazy curs in the temple, there was a force that dreamed of treason. However, that organization quickly collapsed and disappeared because of the previous king. And now, they have resurfaced again.

-So persistent. They should just stay put after getting destroyed once.

-Thoughts and religions are like dandelion seeds. Even if they were destroyed, they will continue to appear.

-Hmm, in other words, fanatics won’t change no matter how much you beat them up, right?

-…I think you are the one who should be worried about divine punishment, not this lady.

-Why?

-…In any case, this lady predicts that those fanatics are planting the seeds of treason again and spreading them through the temple—no, the entire kingdom.

An army that carried the bloody cross with a single mission of overthrowing the royal capital and purifying all non-believers and pagans with blood.

The Blood Cross.

Truly…

-They are not only ridiculous, but also disgusting. Those disgusting people sell the name of God to satisfy their own greed.

Isis expressed her overflowing contempt for the temple, but Lee Han didn’t particularly sympathize with her.

-They really exist, right?

Because the name Blood Cross made him feel extremely uneasy. It was strange that he had never heard their names even though they had such fanatical ideologies.

However, Isis’ words confirmed that they, indeed, existed.

-They do. Albert went all over the place to confirm their existence.

-I was wondering where that uncle went… Also, you should stop telling an old man like him to work.

-That man is more healthy than this lady. It’s not time to let him rest yet.

-Seriously…

When Albert’s name was mentioned, Lee Han couldn’t refute it anymore.

So, he moved on.

-Do you want me to find and bring back that Blood Cult or Blood Cross or something?

And asked as such, guessing what kind of favor she wanted to ask him.

In which, Isis answered with a nod.

-There are two things this lady wants you to bring. One is evidence proving the existence of those fanatics, and two, a list, or at least, traces of those who had collaborated with them.

-Collaborate with them?

-They sacrificed tens of thousands of criminals to summon those monsters. In the middle of the capital city, no less. Without a collaborator, there’s no need that they could achieve such a thing.

-…I understand what you mean, but how is this any different from asking me to find a needle in a haystack?

Even though Lee Han understood the mission, he still felt that it was extremely unreasonable.

After all, even she herself could only barely find traces of the fanatics. So how could he, someone who was only good at fighting, find them and the other kinds of evidence as well?

It was no different from dropping him in the vast ocean without giving him a compass.

He thought that the woman in front of him had finally lost her mind because of the stress.

-This lady can tell just by looking at you that you are having impious thoughts.

-Ah, I got caught.

-This rascal!

Thud-!

Her fan struck Lee Han’s head as usual.

However, what was different from usual was that she didn’t strike him directly. Instead, the fan traveled through the air before hitting his head.

She did this because it was obvious that she’d end up hurting her wrist if she hit him directly.

Rustle-!

-?

Before long, a note fell from the fan.

-…This lady has investigated the sacrificed human bones. After inviting countless experts, this lady was able to find out where the human bones had been moved from and from what region they came from. This lady even managed to find out their personal information.

-…

-This lady was able to pinpoint three major prisons where most of them were imprisoned. And out of the three, the one that resonated with this lady’s intuition was…

Thud-!

-There. Look around the place properly.

-…If you’ve figured it out so much, why do you still need me?

Just what is it that she wants me to find out?

After witnessing the crazy feat of her being able to find out the hometown and places the corpses had visited before, even though she was left with nothing but their bones to work with, Lee Han wondered if she actually needed him.

He genuinely believed that she could just solve everything on her own.

-Though this lady has the power, she can’t do everything as she pleases.

Her incomprehensible mumbling was filled with bitterness, so Lee Han opened his mouth.

-That’s because you don’t try hard enough.

-…

-Just try harder.

-You insensitive step-brother!

Thud-!

Her feet, which were wearing a pointed shoe, hit Lee Han’s shin. However, it was her ankle that ended up with a sprain.

“…Seriously, who does she think she is? A barbarian? Why did she keep trying to hit others?”

“What?”

“No, don’t mind me…”

“?”

Lee Han quickly changed the subject. There was no way he could say that he had hurt the crown princess’ ankle so casually in front of all these people.

Like, at the very least, if Jake were to hear that, he’d definitely grab him by the collar while saying ‘Are you crazy?’.

Since he didn’t want that to happen, he just kept his mouth shut.

At that moment…

“By the way, what is this tunnel for, Senior?”

“Huh?”

“You are asking that now…?”

“W-Well, I-I’ve just been following along, so…”

“…”

Lee Han scratched his cheek. He couldn’t help but think that this junior of his was someone who’d do something without planning ahead.

He’s the type of guy who would agree if I asked him to be my debt guarantor without thinking much…

Yord Decker. He was a sincere junior knight who followed along without any complaints just because Lee Han was around. His sincerity and skills reminded Lee Han of the trio he was teaching.

And maybe that was why he treated him relatively kindly.

“What kind of place do you think this tunnel is?”

“Uh… To me, it just looks like a place where everyone is digging for no reason…”

Ever since they got imprisoned in this place a few hours ago, Yord just kept on digging without hearing any explanations from anyone. Hence why after a while, he felt that they were just digging for the sake of digging, as he couldn’t find any minerals or whatever in this tunnel for them to dig.

All this time, they just had been digging up dirt, breaking up rocks, rinse and repeat.

That was why he wondered what was the point of all this. At one point, he even suspected that this tunnel would become an underground pathway the kingdom would later use to invade the neighboring kingdom.

However…

“While that seems fun, there are a lot of rivers around this area. If we carelessly dig up a tunnel under one of them, we’d just drown and die.”

“So, does that mean the kingdom won’t be using this place to invade the other kingdoms?”

“Yeah.”

“I see. Then, is the kingdom trying to guide criminals to the right path through this meaningless, repetitive—”

“No, that’s the temple’s job. Why would the kingdom do that?”

“Then…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll see the reason why we’re doing this soon enough.”

“??”

Yord tried to ask another question, but Lee Han already moved his gaze away from him.

He followed that gaze and…

[Why did I, a noble, have to end up in such a pitiful state!]

Saw Arren, who was a distance away from them, looking like a beggar while complaining to no ends. Yord wondered why his senior stared at the guy.

“Here it comes.”

Crack-!

“!!?”

But at that moment, he could see something pouring out of the pile of dirt Arren had been digging.

[Keeee!!!]

“S-Sand Worm!?”

“Not really Sand Worms, those are just their babies. More importantly, get ready. We have to catch them all. Oh, and…”

Swoosh,

[D-Don’t bite! Where’s my sword!? Bring me the sword!]

“…Save that stupid kid as well.”

“…”

Yord gave a dumbfounded look to Lee Han, who was leisurely walking toward the sand worms with a shovel in his hand.

No, wait…!

“…Can we really catch all of them?”

There were dozens, no, hundreds of them.

Looking at the growing mass Sand Worms babies, Yord swallowed dry saliva. But on the other hand, he also felt relieved.

Thank goodness I just drank water the entire time today…

Just by looking at them, he already felt disgusted and nauseous.

This was how he found out out that this tunnel was the largest ‘Sand Worm Habitat’ in the kingdom.

And at the same time, it was also the largest [fertilizer factory] in the kingdom.

It was just, sometimes, these Sand Worms would digest some humans they came across to turn make said fertilizer. Of course, this was a secret that the world should never come to know.