Ch.17Free Meal at Church

I quickly moved and barely reached the city just as the sunset was beginning.

I looked at the sunset but couldn’t enjoy a peaceful rest.

Getting to the city wasn’t a problem, but I got caught while waiting at the checkpoint.

“I’ll need your cooperation for a moment, please.”

In a way, this was to be expected.

Even with my robe covering me, my body and clothes were soaked in blood from five days and nights of fighting.

It would be stranger if they didn’t notice the terrible smell of blood emanating from me.

In the end, thanks to the blood smell, I was asked to cooperate by the guards who sensed something was wrong before I even reached the checkpoint.

“Here’s my adventurer’s badge.”

I first proved my identity with my adventurer’s badge, but given my terrible appearance, I didn’t think they’d just let me pass.

‘They can’t overlook the possibility of transformation abilities or stolen adventurer badges.’

They probably couldn’t thoroughly check everyone, but in suspicious cases like mine, they couldn’t just let it go.

I hoped my prediction was wrong, but of course it wasn’t.

The answer I received pushed my rest time even further back.

“We’ve confirmed your adventurer’s badge, but it seems you’ll need to go to the church for additional verification.”

When I heard this, I momentarily thought about using Charm.

That’s how exhausted I was.

But in the end, I couldn’t do it.

Lilly had told me to avoid using Charm as much as possible on our way here.

“Your Charm output is still decent, but it’s different from other succubi. If you don’t want unnecessary suspicion, it’s better not to show it.”

“I understand.”

I didn’t think much of it since I wouldn’t need to use it normally, but I never expected it would come back to haunt me like this.

‘It’s probably right not to do anything suspicious at checkpoints, but…’

Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept for five days and had just been in battle, but I couldn’t think straight.

‘And Lilly is sleeping comfortably inside my robe…’

Normally I would have found it cute, but in this situation, it was incredibly annoying.

Holding onto my last thread of reason, I cooperated with the soldiers without further argument.

“Then let’s go get that confirmation.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“It’s nothing. I’d rather get this over with quickly than waste time.”

The conversation ended quickly, and we took action.

My only goal was a comfortable rest.

Perhaps because I made it clear I didn’t want to waste time, the soldiers moved quickly and assigned two men to escort me.

“Let’s go then.”

Though they called it supervision, it was essentially an escort.

If I were an ordinary adventurer, I probably wouldn’t have received such good treatment.

Looking at this, the special promotion privilege definitely had its benefits.

With these thoughts, I walked for a while until a fairly large church came into view.

Even from a distance, I could see many visitors at the church.

I was taken inside through the back door rather than the main entrance.

“Thank you for your work. From here, our church will handle the verification.”

“Yes, thank you for your efforts.”

After arriving in what looked like an interrogation room, the two guards left, and I was alone.

One table and two chairs.

And a magic light bulb illuminating the room.

I sat in one of the chairs and put my face down on the table.

Perhaps because the room was quiet, I felt like I would fall asleep if I stayed like this a little longer.

However, I failed to fall asleep thanks to a man who appeared to be an inquisitor who entered just as I was about to drift off.

“You seem quite relaxed for someone who’s here for questioning.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“That’s something we’ll determine after the investigation.”

When I responded calmly and with annoyance to the inquisitor’s words, he looked at me with narrowed eyes.

Soon he shifted his gaze and began the formal investigation.

Rather than questioning me, he focused on checking my condition and belongings.

“Let’s start with examining your belongings. Please hand over your backpack.”

First, he checked the backpack I was carrying.

“Please remove your robe as well.”

Next, he examined the wounds under my robe.

“May I see your sword for a moment?”

Finally, he examined the sword I used.

“Have you finished checking now?”

“Yes, I’ve seen everything. I’ve seen it all.”

I hoped he would let me go now that he had finished checking, but it seemed the inquisitor had jumped to some conclusion.

“Let me share a hypothesis with you.”

“What kind of hypothesis?”

When I looked at him with feigned interest, the inquisitor began speaking with an expression that seemed to say “how long can you keep this up?”

“Adventurer Frey moved to destroy a goblin village. Destroying the goblin village would have been simple. Because she’s strong.”

“That’s right. It wasn’t difficult at all.”

“But things wouldn’t have ended smoothly. After destroying the goblin village, Apostles appeared before her. At least three of them, though the exact number is uncertain.”

I continued to look at him as if urging him to continue.

“She would have fought bravely even against multiple Apostles. She might have taken down a few and even stabbed one in the chest. But in the end, she was defeated.”

“For someone who was defeated, I seem to be doing quite well here.”

Though I could clearly see what he was thinking, I played along since it was somewhat entertaining and helped distract my tired mind.

“The defeated Frey would have been subjected to terrible torture by the Apostles. That’s why all her potions were used up.”

After saying this, the inquisitor slammed the table once.

Bang!!

The sound echoed throughout the interrogation room.

Amid that sound, he pointed at me as if he were some great detective and announced his deduction.

“You’re just pretending to be Frey with her information! Reveal your true identity! Apostle!!”

And the one who responded to the inquisitor’s nonsense wasn’t me.

Lilly, who had been sleeping soundly in my arms, seemed to have woken up from the noise. She emerged from my embrace, sat on my shoulder, and rubbed her eyes.

“Yaaawn… Why is it so noisy?”

“You’re awake? I’m just undergoing a brief investigation. I think it will be over soon.”

Perhaps because she had been forced to wake up from a good sleep, Lilly spoke in a slightly irritated voice.

I answered her question nonchalantly while observing the inquisitor’s reaction.

“Huh? Huh?? A fairy…?”

In this world where Apostles were rampant, the status of fairies, who could identify Apostles at a glance, was certainly not low.

“What? A fairy?? You’re being quite rude!”

“I-I’m sorry…! Lady Fairy!!”

“Good, that’s better. So… you’re investigating this person? If you’ve checked everything, let us go. And keep quiet about seeing me.”

Lilly gestured toward me with a proud expression.

Her face clearly said, “I’m a fairy of this caliber.”

Originally, I had planned to refute each of his points, but the situation was resolved simply with Lilly’s appearance.

Now truly wanting to go back and rest, I opened my mouth.

“Then shall we go…”

Growl.

However, it seemed my body needed food more urgently than rest.

Indeed, I hadn’t eaten once in five days, only drinking potions.

After a moment’s consideration, I put aside my pride slightly and asked the inquisitor:

“Is the church food good?”

“What? Yes! It’s excellent!”

And then I quite shamelessly demanded food.

“Then please bring me some.”

“I-I’ll bring it right away…!”

Some might call this abuse of power. (It is.)

But I had my reasons for acting this way.

The reason was that I didn’t dare go to a restaurant with my blood-soaked appearance.

‘It’s scary how the smell of blood seems to become more fragrant because of my charm…’

I was still not in good enough condition to move around comfortably.

“The treatment of fairies seems better than I expected.”

“Well, fairies are a sacred race recognized by the goddess, so that’s why. Plus, since we work for world peace, we’re treated as honored guests almost everywhere, not just at temples.”

The treatment of fairies seemed better than I thought.

It made sense, considering that Apostles would target fairies as a priority.

As Lilly and I were talking, the inquisitor returned with plenty of food.

“H-Here’s the food.”

“Ah, thank you.”

Freshly baked bread and warm soup.

They certainly looked as good as promised.

And either because the food was delicious or because I was very hungry, before I knew it, Lilly had joined in, and we only finished our meal after sending the inquisitor on errands five times.

“That was delicious.”

“Phew~ That was good. I’ll forgive your rudeness from earlier.”

And only then could I finally return to the inn and truly rest.