Ch.43Mourner on the Snowy Field (5)

I couldn’t consider my actions to have stemmed from mercy.

Rather, they were closer to actions taken for personal gain. Implicitly, the Mourner and I had formed an alliance.

A contract that if I grew stronger than him, and if he still wished to die, I would grant him that wish.

Until then, I would lend him my strength and fight alongside him—that kind of implicit alliance.

At least, that seemed to be what he thought.

I could tell just by how he left the corpse-strewn land and headed for the forest.

He set up a new campsite with practiced ease and orbited around us like a satellite, keeping his distance.

Of course, more like an artificial satellite. Whenever Isla and I woke up, we could see logs placed at the corner of our campsite.

It was, so to speak, the Mourner’s way of expressing gratitude.

The wood was torn off with superhuman grip strength, but afterward, it was well-trimmed and dried firewood.

With a bit of preparation, it would make good kindling. He occasionally brought game as well, but stopped after Isla began competitively bringing more game than him.

Sometimes there were just medicinal herbs atop the logs gathered from the forest, and occasionally something resembling wild strawberries.

That’s how he gradually became part of Isla’s and my life.

The problem was that as things turned out this way, I even began to feel guilty.

The middle-aged Mourner had excellent gathering skills and, though not as good as Isla, could hunt and was somewhat self-sufficient.

Isla was beyond comparison. If I was skilled in combat, Isla seemed capable in everything else.

“Eat. It’s stew.”

Whether it was cooking, hunting, gathering, or even tracking, she was skilled at many miscellaneous things.

“Your cloak is torn. Let me see it.”

“This is a magic cloak, so I’m not sure if…”

“I have tools. It’s fine. Give it here.”

Isla even seemed to know how to sew. In her hands, the cloak regained its original pristine appearance as if it had never seen battle.

She stitched it with a magic needle, mended it, and through a process I didn’t quite understand, made it immaculate.

She was also good at other tasks.

“What are you doing?”

“Making arrows.”

Unless it required a forge, like for lead or iron bullets, she prepared most of her ammunition herself.

She made fletching from the feathers of birds caught in the forest, and for arrowheads, she used metal she already had or bones when metal wasn’t available.

For arrow shafts, she typically used wood, but sometimes used animal bones if they seemed suitable.

She packed these arrows densely and tucked them into her cloak. I could feel the vast quantity of arrows filling the inside of the Cannibal Baron’s cloak.

With the remaining bones, she made glue, and processed leather through steps I couldn’t comprehend even while watching.

Seeing her prepare resources like this, I wondered if the title of “breadwinner” was too generous for me.

If I were a beast-person, I’d consider myself more like a pet dog, though I was a former livestock, not a companion animal.

I could now be called a parasite.

I was spending my days gloomily, reminded of when I lived with my sister.

“Someone’s here.”

A small head popped into the tent and spoke to me. As I turned my head slightly, I saw Isla.

She perked up her ears upon meeting my gaze, then rolled her eyes.

“Says they’re Imperial people.”

“…I’ll be right out.”

I got up slowly and glanced sideways at my status window. I looked at the time displayed there.

[Play Time: 9,091 hours]

It really felt long. It wasn’t easy to do nothing for such a long time.

How did I endure for a whole year?

I stepped outside, astonished at my past self who had dreamed of escape while quietly listening to outside sounds a year ago.

The familiar campsite came into view.

All sorts of things were arranged around the central tent.

A campsite with Isla’s various workbenches, a well-maintained hearth, and a pot.

As our stay lengthened, the campsite had gradually improved, but now this campsite, usually occupied by just the two of us, was filled with other people.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Among them was a familiar face. Melody, dressed in fancy leather clothes and a cloak, waving with a smiling face.

I was glad to see a face I hadn’t seen in a long time.

“I came partly because things have settled down, but also because I have a job to entrust to you. It’s nice to see your face too.”

No, perhaps I was glad that I could finally stop being a breadwinner. I smiled faintly.

“Well then…”

“Before that!”

Clap! Melody clapped her hands. Those who had been staring at her with strange eyes beside her flinched at the sound.

Ah, right. She was a bard.

She could probably use magic even with just a clap. It’s normal to be wary. I nodded in understanding and tilted my head.

“Shall we address the important matter first?”

Important matter? I was so clueless I forgot to even ask, but there was someone who would do it for me.

“What important matter?”

It was Isla. She asked with her usual expressionless face, but for some reason, I felt Melody’s voice change slightly.

“It’s not important to you, but don’t we need some formal status?”

A kind of tension I’d never felt before. As I stiffened, not understanding the reason, the two women’s eyes glared at each other before breaking away.

“Anyway! I’ve brought an official position I can bestow upon you!”

“Position…?”

“Yes, from now on, you are an Inquisitor of our Inquisition Office.”

It was unexpected. It was also something that could never happen in a game.

A homunculus could never become an Inquisitor.

Even if they were a player, if it was known they were a homunculus, Melody would belong to a different organization than the Inquisition.

Yet here I was, a homunculus, not just affiliated with the Inquisition but becoming an Inquisitor?

As I stiffened at this nonsensical story, Melody covered her mouth and chuckled.

“Normally, you’d have to go through lengthy tests and proofs, but the Inquisition highly values your achievements.”

I killed the famous magician, the Cannibal Baron.

Additionally, I killed the Star Blade, a powerful contractor who was the mastermind of a rebellion and had escaped, and survived against a Blood Knight.

Furthermore, I subdued a black magician and a shapeshifter who directly identified himself as a soldier of the Three Clans.

They seem to count all of these as achievements. Some were painful memories, though.

“As a result, you have qualified as an Inquisitor of the Inquisition Office. Now, step forward.”

Following Melody’s elaborate guidance, I stepped forward, and she gently pulled my shoulders down to make me kneel.

On one knee.

What is this?

“Ahem, hmm. Now, hear this!”

My body flinched involuntarily. An unexpectedly loud vocalization. It was magic.

“Here, an Imperial citizen receives a command! Takes up the sword against injustice and evil deeds! Willingly rises to confront for the life and death of all humans!”

An elaborate and highly decorated tone and manner. While I sat dazed, I felt something building up in my body.

Is this… a buff?

“May fortune follow you, may an unbreakable spring flower bloom in your heart!”

Bards can use magic not only through songs and melodies but also through speeches. Like now.

I realized what magic was seeping into my body. Not because I sensed the magical power, but from the content being recited and the effect happening to my body.

This was a spell called Heroic Heart.

A spell that suppresses fear and instills courage.

As described, I felt something welling up in my chest. A subtle sensation that I could do anything was spreading to my fingertips.

Just as I was barely grasping that sensation.

“Let’s have a meal together sometime.”

Melody whispered in my ear with a sweet smile and moved away.

Her sweet scent and small figure receded. I blankly looked up at her before standing.

“Now then, you are officially an Inquisitor of our Inquisition Office.”

“What changes?”

“First, you’ll have a status to present, and discretionary power in punishment and detention. At least within the Empire’s sphere of influence, there will be no interference with your investigative activities.”

Though that sphere only extends to Marcie Servan.

The additional comment was bitter, but the outlook wasn’t entirely bad.

“If you do well and the Empire starts sending support to our side, our influence will expand quickly. It could become quite useful.”

It feels like receiving startup stock.

I nodded with a lukewarm feeling, and Melody smiled broadly at my expression.

“Well then, shall we get to the main point? I have a job for you.”

“Finally.”

“I’m going too.”

“Do as you please. Personnel selection isn’t my jurisdiction.”

Isla blurted out, but Melody waved her hand nonchalantly. She showed no concern.

She opened her mouth, saying this was more important.

“A dungeon has been discovered nearby. A dangerous dungeon that even the New World outlaws don’t dare to touch.”

Dungeon. A word I hadn’t heard in a long time.

“I’d like to quickly deal with it myself, but… I need to return to the Old Continent for a while.”

“So.”

“This is both a request and a test.”

Her slightly opened eyes with golden irises turned toward Isla.

Isla’s profession was obviously a hunter. In dungeon exploration, important roles are typically handled by rogues, bards, and hunters.

She looked at Isla intently and said:

“Depending on the results of this dungeon exploration, future assignments will differ. I hope you do well.”

Isla only showed her dissatisfaction with an expressionless face, as if asking why she was being looked at.

Well, it made sense.

“I’ll do my best, whatever.”

After all, the dungeon expert in this party wasn’t the hunter but the Mourner.

I was grateful that I could finally return to being the experienced Luvellin, not just the breadwinner Luvellin.