Ch.223223. Gifts and Answers (7)

Shortly after the brief incantation left his mouth, Camille Labourgine found himself tightly bound by dozens of vines that had sprung from the floor.

The magic of binding, one of the most commonly used spells in a druid’s nature magic. There was no way a mere low-rank nobody could resist the ‘Nature’s Restraint’ spell.

Of course, normally it would be possible to manipulate the cultivated vines aggressively, making them move like giant snakes to crush the target, but Gregory Aleinos, who had been wanting to see Camille Labourgine for a long time, delicately controlled his power.

Thanks to that, Camille was merely bound tightly and nothing more.

“What do you think you’re doing! How dare you do this to me, a tax collector dispatched by the royal family—”

Of course, still unable to grasp the situation—or more precisely, having lost a significant portion of his judgment due to the influence of the Outer God’s mystery—Camille Labourgine responded with brazen defiance.

In his current state, he was like a drug addict whose central nervous system and judgment had been destroyed by addiction to the pleasure bestowed by the Outer God.

Because of this, Camille Labourgine could simply ignore the killing intent that Gregory Aleinos was radiating in all directions with his magical power, despite being a mere low-rank.

Though he was just a low-rank who could at best use basic magical power manipulation to strengthen his body, his cognitive abilities and judgment were completely paralyzed, allowing him to remain unaffected by the killing intent.

Killing intent (殺氣). Unlike in his previous life, where such a concept was considered a product of absurd fantasy, in this world, this sensation that emerges when someone intends to kill another was a very real concept.

Magical power is an unknown energy that can physically manifest the will and spirit shown by the soul of an intelligent being, and when this magical power combines with murderous intent, what naturally results is killing intent with power beyond what is commonly described in martial arts novels.

Therefore, killing intent harbored by a high-rank or above being could exert actual physical influence beyond the mere will to kill someone, sufficient to at least make someone faint, if not kill them outright, but…

“Ha, hahahahaha—!!! Do you think you’ll get away with this?! Do you, do you really think you’ll get away with this?”

Having had his central nervous system thoroughly damaged from long-term contact with the Outer God’s “pleasure,” he appeared normal on the outside, but his soul and mind were so rotten and decayed that he wasn’t even affected by killing intent.

Particularly, the nervous system that this Outer God’s “pleasure” destroys isn’t the physical one, but the nerves of the soul’s body. As a result, his physical body might seem perfectly fine, but his soul and mind were completely broken.

To put it bluntly, Camille Labourgine probably didn’t even know what he was saying right now.

Beyond simple gambling addiction, his body, steeped in the pleasure given by the Outer God’s mystery, had adapted to “it” to some extent, and was now on the verge of madness from craving that pleasure and the accompanying ennui.

And there was no way Gregory Aleinos, with his high-rank perception, wouldn’t know this.

“….Haaa.”

Sensing the corruption and pleasure that had penetrated deep into the soul, he let out a deep sigh and pulled out his beloved weapon from his spatial pocket.

His secret weapon, the Ice Greatsword, which had been damaged during the battle with El-Temur and then newly modified with precious materials obtained with Louis VII’s support.

For whatever reason, it had been imbued with the ability to assist its wielder in greatsword techniques. Holding it in a state where awkwardness and familiarity coexisted, he swung it down, aiming for the neck.

—Slash!

With a clean sound of meat being cut, something round and grotesquely distorted rolled across the floor.

As the physical body met its death and lost its qualification as a vessel for the soul, the soul naturally released from that broken vessel headed toward the non-material realm where souls reside.

And in that non-material realm, his soul, which had unconsciously sold itself to someone in exchange for immediate pleasure, was… naturally guided by the hand of its master who had purchased his soul in exchange for pleasure.

【Heheh.】

The Outer God of corruption, decadence, and pleasure. The wicked ‘Sodomio Gomoria Blutas’ guided him.

Like moths drawn to a light. His soul approached her(?) so naturally, and among the countless souls being guided to her, the Outer God recognized this one and breathed life into it.

That decadent and lewd breath enveloped the souls, caressing them, and most of them writhed in ecstasy, falling into climax from the pleasure that penetrated deep into their souls.

And while they were lost in pleasure, the Outer God’s breath overturned everything that made up their souls, covering them with its own color…

Camille Labourgine’s soul, feeling itself gradually disappearing, awoke from the pleasure and began to scream.

But the screams of a mere mortal were nothing before absolute truth, and the even more abundant breath bestowed upon him gave Camille something stronger and more severe than before, just as he had barely rejected the pleasure.

Thoughts of his loved ones became thoughts for his master. His interior, filled with pleasure, soon became his essence. All emotions escaped his control and transformed into those of a soul-bearing entity.

Thus, the mortal known as Camille Labourgine no longer exists.

Only a nameless handmaiden of pleasure, a vanguard of the wicked Outer God who once bore that name, was born from what was once a mortal soul.

※ ※ ※

A corpse, preserved with magical embalming fluid, lies on the floor.

A blasphemous thing that grows profane symbols representing the Outer God of pleasure on its body, glowing with decadent colors, contaminating its surroundings by its mere existence.

Therefore, wishing to preserve it as evidence of the heresy this being committed, I wrapped the corpse tightly in tree bark with sealing power, and to prepare for any contingency, I even pickled the corpse in holy water.

It’s common knowledge that these Outer Gods use all sorts of tricks to draw humans into becoming their followers, so the two knights and several soldiers who had accompanied this man also showed approval for my measures.

These were knights from the royal Frankish Knightly Order and soldiers from the royal army, assigned to escort a tax collector whose power barely exceeded the lower bounds of the low-rank.

Knightly Order. In the media of my previous life, knightly orders were portrayed in vastly different ways depending on the source, but they generally shared the basic concept of “an organization formed by gathering warriors called knights.”

This rule applies to the knightly orders of this world as well, but there is something very special about the knightly orders here…

That is, these knightly orders are incredibly elite organizations.

In the Western Continent, knights are mid-rank warriors who have awakened their aura and hold baronial titles, making them legitimate nobility. This means that to establish just one knightly order, you need to gather at least dozens to hundreds of such individuals.

As a result, knightly orders in this world are either social gatherings of independent or freelance… errant knights, or elite military organizations formed by powerful figures who have the financial means to employ multiple knights.

Of course, some knightly orders even raise their own troops and possess their own territories, essentially functioning as governing bodies, but at their core, they are military organizations.

Among these knightly orders, one with a particularly high reputation is the royal “Frankish Knightly Order,” teeming with veteran-level knights.

This organization, where the king has traditionally served as the Grand Master, consists of as many as 200 knights and thousands of retainers, and could be considered the foundation of the power of the Frankish royal family, including Louis VII.

Especially since its origins trace back to Charlemagne’s knights in the distant past, they possess overwhelming authority commensurate with their long history, but…

“”We truly, truly apologize from the bottom of our hearts!””

“…It’s not your fault. It was this man who was abnormal.”

Even knights belonging to the Frankish Knightly Order couldn’t help but become humble in the face of this unprecedented situation.

To reiterate, being a cultist is a major issue beyond the dimension of a mere criminal. And to make matters worse, the person traveling with them had been revealed as a cultist.

To put it bluntly, if I were to report them here, they would likely face thorough interrogation from the notorious inquisitors of the Pantheon—a charge so serious as to be horrifying.

Of course, from my position, having confirmed through examination that they were not cultists, there was no reason or need to do so.

Therefore, I decided to let this matter pass.

…Though I can’t deny that each such incident becomes a kind of intangible political debt.