episode_0043

I turned my gaze back to Geumrwen, watching Dale pass out with his head on the table.

I looked into the eyes of the noisy guy who had become quiet, suggesting that we should get back to the main topic.

Luwen nodded and continued speaking calmly.

“Continuing with what I said earlier, the church’s volunteer group pretends to serve while selling out homeless people to black magicians.”

I nodded my head to show that I remembered, since it was a story we had told before.

Luwen began to tell a detailed story about this.

“It is quite complicatedly intertwined, but to put it simply, the act of ‘service’ they speak of is a business in which the interests of three groups are intertwined. ”

It was beneficial for the city to be able to legally sell off the useless vagrants who were damaging the city’s value.

Some corrupt clergy were able to legally extort donations from the royal family or wealthy groups under the pretext of doing service.

He said that it would be strange not to do this, since black magicians can recruit a large number of people who can be taken in without any trouble.

‘So that’s why there were so many human test subjects in the dark magician’s stronghold.’

The religious community, which should have been monitoring this, blatantly turned a blind eye to human trafficking, so there must have been no problem even though so many people were arrested.

‘Besides, we are currently at war with the Demon Tribe.’

People who had lost their homes and hometowns, whether they wanted to or not, were flocking to the cities, and the number of homeless people was growing to absurd levels.

It seems that even though they kept selling it, it didn’t get any gritty.

I was laughing at their behavior of not seeing humans as humans but as money, when Janirwen spoke to me in a calm voice.

“So, could you please investigate and destroy the relevant volunteer groups?”

Destruction… I looked at Serwen in surprise as a rather violent word came out.

Luwen took out an old book from her arms and spoke to me.

“Of course, I’ve prepared a reward…! Since the deciphering hasn’t been completed yet, we don’t know what it contains, but according to Rihanna, it’s likely an ancient book containing quite powerful techniques. ”

At those words, I looked at him in silence.

An old book with intense mana spreading out from it.

There was no mention of this item in the original work, so I had no idea what was inside, but I was certain that it was no ordinary item.

I was thinking about the things the saint gave to Dale in the original and was convinced that this thing was not ordinary.

Luwen hesitates and tells me the story, feeling sorry for leaving this case to me.

“If possible, I would like to conduct the investigation with you, but… I have a place I need to go to urgently, so it seems impossible to conduct the investigation with you.”

“Is there a place you need to go in a hurry?”

“Oh, right. Are you by any chance aware of the Pernod Cliffs? I heard that a large-scale monster outbreak occurred there and many people were injured. ”

Of course I know.

The cliffs of Pernod are where L’Wen and Dale first meet in the original novel.

Because it was the place where Dale saved Lewen from a life-or-death crisis.

In other words, since it was fate that Lwen would be in danger when he went to the cliffs of Perno, I couldn’t help but feel worried about Lwen.

“It seems very dangerous. How about taking a lot of troops with you?”

“Ah… The church is in a state of chaos right now. There are a lot of complicated issues involved, so I think that will be difficult. ”

The complex problem that Lwen is talking about is likely to refer to the problem that arose when ‘some corrupt religious people’ tried to restrain Lwen.

I thought about those words for a moment, then nodded and glanced at Sooni, who was grumbling next to me.

‘I think it would be better to take that guy with me.’

It’s not a bad conclusion, as it increases stability and can provide experience to Dale.

After I told Luwen to take Desuni with me.

Just as I was about to tell Desuni to follow Garwen and slaughter some monsters,

“Eeeeek! Damien! ”

As I was fiddling with my glass with a flushed face, something came up to me and asked me a question.

“What is that? Doesn’t something seem strange…?”

“What.”

“In the original, what?! Elysia didn’t go this far… right!”

Of course. In the original, many things happened that shouldn’t have happened, and many things didn’t happen that should have happened.

“Huh!? What the heck… Are you being controlled by a warlock!?”

“Control?”

“Otherwise, it wouldn’t make sense… ”

Controlled by a warlock… While listening to this rather interesting speculation, a thought suddenly popped into my head.

‘Now that I think about it, Elicia’s actions were considerably more instinctive than in the original.’

It was a bit strange that the guy who mercilessly cut out anything unnecessary while pursuing efficiency and value started to become overly obsessed with recognition at some point.

Of course, if you ask me to guess the reason, it’s not like I have no idea.

In addition to suffering from hallucinations and auditory hallucinations for a long time, Elysia also had nightmares.

Because I was living a life where I couldn’t even sleep two hours a day and was cursed by ghosts all day long.

‘That’s why it’s natural that even the most mentally strong person would be miserably ruined.’

… Even so, I couldn’t help but wonder why Elysia, not Elysia, was ruined by this alone.

I’m thinking and worrying about that.

Sooni, who was in front, was talking to me while drinking alcohol.

“Hallucinations and auditory hallucinations… and headaches… is it black magic… ”

After saying those words, he just fainted.

I was lost in thought for a moment as I watched the thing that was in my arms suddenly jump out and hit Desuni on the back of the head.

‘As Dale said, it may really be related to black magic.’

If I were a key figure in the Jangnam region who knew about the artificial sun.

In addition to continuing to make great contributions to the North, he would want to shake off Elysia, who showed her ambition for the throne.

In other words, it was highly likely that there was some way to sabotage Elicia’s ability to use her powers properly.

‘Black magic…’

The moment that thought occurred to me, the fact that only Elysia suffered in the North popped into my head.

He shook his head, snorting and shaking it off.

‘It’s not my part-time job.’

Whether it was black magic or whatever, it’s already over and it has nothing to do with me anymore.

I clicked my tongue, thinking that I no longer cared whether Elysia died or not, and spoke to Dale.

“Stop talking nonsense and follow the saint later.”

“… … ”

There is no response.

I shook my head and got up from my seat, saying, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a thing.”

***

After receiving documents about the volunteer group from Rihanna and returning to the dorm, Damien’s mother suggested that they return to their parents’ house together.

“Would you like to go home together?”

I said I would go later because I had a lot of work to do right away.

Damien’s mother hugged me gently and spoke to me in detail.

“Yeah, it would be good to let go of the things that have piled up while traveling. But your family will be worried, so come back as soon as possible.”

“Yes.”

After seeing off Damien’s mother as she left, I calmly turned my gaze and spoke to Riana.

“Tell me where the volunteer group is.”

“Yes. Come this way.”

I thought it would be best to go and assess the situation first, so I followed Riana forward, and a rather shocking sight unfolded before my eyes.

Countless homeless people flocking into the sewers connected to the outside world, and priests working in relief efforts among them.

I frowned in silence at the sight of the overly dense population, to the point where it seemed as if people were being squeezed into a barrel and squeezed in.

As I was watching this, Riana continued speaking while handing me an artifact.

“Please wear an artifact that can hide your identity. If you have this, no one will be able to detect you unless you are a high-level wizard. ”

“Thank you.”

“Haha. This isn’t too hard to help the saintess. ”

However, there was a high possibility that there were high-level warlocks mixed in there.

Considering this, I thought it would be better to wear something like a helmet with the hat pressed down deeply, so I bought a helmet nearby and covered my face.

After I confirmed that my disguises and those of Siren and Liana were complete.

I walked towards the service building near the sewer that Rihanna had told me about.

*

Getting into the building wasn’t that difficult.

Although he is wearing a strange helmet, he is dressed in luxurious clothes and says he will ‘make a donation’.

Because the soldiers opened the door without even suspecting anything.

I was frowning as I looked around the interior of the building, which felt more like a den of thugs or a stronghold for gangsters than a volunteer organization.

A person who looked to be of a fairly high rank came down the stairs in a hurry and spoke to me.

“Oh my, what brings you here?”

A man with a cunning-looking expression resembling a rat clasps his hands together and speaks to me.

I looked at him like that and spoke briefly, acting as arrogantly as I could as a nobleman.

“I came here to get some things through donations.”

“Ah… What do you mean by “getting it”? Could you explain it in more detail? Thank you. ”

He asked me questions with an expression on his face that seemed like he really didn’t know, so at first I thought to myself, “Do you really not know?”

I was able to figure out that it was a lie because the siren next to me whispered in my ear, “Judging by the way the mana song is playing, you’re lying.”

I whispered a word of thanks to Siren and then clicked my tongue as loudly as I could.

“Do I really need to explain this?”

He speaks to me quietly, glancing at the people around him.

“… Sorry, sorry. Let’s go upstairs and talk about the rest. ”

He nodded and guided me up the stairs, quickly and calmly going up.

As I went upstairs, I noticed that the carpet on the floor was slightly worn and that there had been more people coming and going than I had expected.

He showed me the best seat and talked to me.

“If you don’t mind, could you tell me more about it?”

I nodded calmly at those words and answered somewhat shamelessly.

“I have come to purchase sacrificial animals to open the rift, under the orders of Lady Elysia. How many can you sell me? ”