Ch.440Preliminary Investigation

We headed towards Nasiriya and, after several days, arrived at a small village about half a day’s journey from the city.

We were supposed to wait here for the Crusaders who had been sent to infiltrate Nasiriya. Although the Church of Grimnir had occupied Nasiriya, they weren’t controlling the movement of ordinary people, so leaving the city shouldn’t be too difficult.

The plan was to first confirm their reports and then decide how to proceed afterward. Whether to boldly enter through the main gate or climb over the walls under cover of darkness—that sort of thing.

—-

The villagers seemed bewildered by our unexpected visit. We hadn’t revealed our identities or shown our faces. If we had, it would have caused quite a commotion.

But the fact that we arrived in a large travel carriage, and that five women were accompanying a single boy, was enough to attract their attention.

“Who are those people? What kind of people cover their faces like that?”

“Who knows? Maybe they’re priests from the Holy City? I heard covering your face is fashionable there.”

“What a strange fashion. Isn’t it uncomfortable?”

…That’s what they were saying.

After parking our carriage at the village inn, we stayed inside, but it seemed everyone in the village already knew about our arrival. The chatter from the restaurant on the first floor and outside the inn was loud enough to be heard in our second-floor room.

Fortunately, the villagers were content to gossip among themselves and didn’t approach us directly. That was good. It would have been annoying to deal with them if they had.

In the Empire, there might have been men who would have approached a group full of women with unwelcome advances… no, there definitely would have been. Perhaps this was the difference in a Holy State—while the leadership had its problems, the moral consciousness of ordinary residents seemed much more ethical than in the Empire.

“Shh. Don’t pay them any attention. If they’re priests, they might get angry and call us blasphemous.”

“Right! What if they summon Paladins!”

…Maybe it wasn’t that they were moral, but that they were forced to act morally.

Well… if ethics and morals are maintained that way, I suppose it’s not so bad. The rural villages in the Empire were at the level of kidnapping travelers and keeping them as livestock.

—-

The special Crusader agent who had heard of Lacy’s arrival came to us late in the evening.

“It’s been a while, Lady Elmaine. I am Mayer.”

The young man who introduced himself as Mayer knelt on one knee in greeting. Tall with a sturdy build. Though disguised as a merchant, he gave off the impression of a knight rather than a trader.

“I’m glad to see you’re well, Sir Mayer.”

Lacy, sitting on the bed, greeted him.

Agnes, the Millia couple, and Hush were in the next room, so only Lacy and I were there to receive him. Since the special operations of the Crusaders often involved matters that were difficult to discuss openly, it was better to have fewer ears listening.

“I was worried since it was such a dangerous mission, but I’m glad to see you safe. You’ve done well.”

“Thank you. Perhaps it’s thanks to Elpinel’s protection, but fortunately we haven’t had any major problems so far.”

Fortunately, according to him, there had been no casualties yet. At least not among the agents deployed to Nasiriya.

After brief greetings, the two got straight to the point.

“What’s the situation in Nasiriya now? I’ve received written reports, but I haven’t heard about the most recent developments.”

“Yes. As we reported, we were investigating the disappearances in the slums. At first, we assumed it was simply crime among the poor, but the more we investigated, the more suspicious it became. The fact that not even a trace was left behind seemed too professional to be the work of mere slum dwellers. Convinced this was no ordinary crime, we then…”

Mayer began to give a detailed report, covering both what we had already heard and what we didn’t yet know.

=======[ Special Crusader Unit ]=======

Convinced that a professional human trafficking organization was hiding in the slums of Nasiriya, the Crusaders tried every method to track down the culprits.

First approach:

The plan to have one of the agents pose as a defenseless slum dweller to lure in the kidnappers unfortunately failed.

Whether the perpetrators were more cautious than expected, or whether there were selection criteria the agents hadn’t identified, the kidnappers completely ignored the Crusaders.

Even when a female agent stepped forward, she only attracted rapists. When these rapists were arrested and interrogated, they too knew nothing about the kidnappers.

“…This approach seems wrong.”

They abandoned the first plan when the number of rapist corpses—dismembered and castrated—exceeded ten.

—-

The plan to stake out various parts of the slums for days also failed, and randomly capturing and interrogating likely criminals yielded no useful clues.

The enemies were too professional. It was almost as if they were dealing with ghosts rather than people.

Of course, they couldn’t give up the investigation, so after much deliberation, they took drastic measures.

“Why don’t we do the kidnapping ourselves? If we do, they’ll have to come out to stop us.”

“Hmm… that’s…”

Becoming kidnappers to catch kidnappers—anyone would see it as a crazy idea.

“…Actually, that’s a good idea. Let’s start right away.”

However, as elites handpicked by Lacy, they were the kind of people who preferred crazy actions.

The Crusaders began kidnapping slum dwellers that very day.

Of course, as subordinates of a Saint candidate, they didn’t commit evil acts like selling the kidnapped slum dwellers into slavery or processing them into food.

They treated the innocent slum dwellers well after kidnapping them, providing good meals and comfortable accommodations. In cases where the slum dwellers had families, they kidnapped the entire family together to prevent worry—truly considerate kidnappers.

Of course, there were exceptions for those proven to be evil.

Murderers, rapists, con artists, and violent offenders—pests beyond salvation were dismembered according to their crimes and became fertilizer in the back alleys.

A week passed like this.

And then.

“Who are they…?”

After eliminating one-fifth of the slum’s population, the Crusaders finally noticed something suspicious.

========================

“Figures in black robes began searching the slums thoroughly, as if looking for us. It was clearly unusual. We suspended all operations and observed them while in hiding. And we confirmed that they were using both magic and holy power simultaneously.”

“…The Church of Grimnir, then.”

Mayer nodded at Lacy’s words.

“Yes. They’re the only priests who handle such ominous powers as magic.”

Originally, mana and holy power were forces that repelled each other.

That’s why the Holy State’s clergy regarded mages as those who defied God.

Yet the reason a god of magic could exist among the 11 gods was because the priests of Grimnir were different from ordinary mages.

They claimed that unlike other mages, they served the god of wisdom, and that they gained magical abilities through Grimnir’s blessing, but were essentially no different from other priests. As proof, they demonstrated magic implemented through holy power rather than mana.

Eventually, the other churches had to acknowledge this—that while magic was unholy, the magic used by the priests of Grimnir was an exception.

…To me, I couldn’t see what difference it made. Whether an Elpinel Paladin creates a lightning spear or a Grimnir priest implements lightning magic with holy power, the result looks the same.

Still, experts in the field say they’re fundamentally different methods. Since I’m neither a mage nor a priest, I wouldn’t know.

“So, the priests of the Church of Grimnir suddenly started searching the slums? And that’s why you found it suspicious?”

“Exactly, Baron Median.”

…Isn’t that just normal?

From what he’s saying, these people kidnapped over a hundred people, and if a hundred people disappear from a city they manage, anyone would investigate.

“For the priests of Grimnir, who care about nothing but their own affairs, to investigate the disappearance of slum dwellers—it was suspicious beyond measure.”

But apparently, the priests of Grimnir were different.

Though called priests for convenience, their ideology and behavior patterns were, like typical mages, intensely self-centered. While archbishops or cardinals who had frequent contact with other churches might be different, ordinary clergy members were said to show no interest in anything unrelated to their magical research.

“I see… that is suspicious.”

These bastards weren’t kidnapping slum dwellers to use in magical experiments or something like that, were they?