Chapter 140 – Infiltration

Infiltration

Rashid heard Kaiser’s voice coming through the absorption communicator.

“All the lines I knew have died. Well, I suppose keeping them alive until now wouldn’t make sense either. Spying is all about security after all.”

Unfortunately, there seemed to be no way to communicate secretly with the intelligence agency of the Allied Kingdom.

Since they were currently at war with the Allied Kingdom, there was no means of direct communication.

If he were to try, the only effective method seemed to be visiting the enemy nation in person to communicate.

“What are you going to do now?”

“What else can I do?”

A sigh escaped him, but he couldn’t just stay like this.

Do-jin had appeared, and his execution date was set, so like it or not, he had no choice but to move.

“I have to go myself. In the end, only Do-jin can catch Sayaka.”

In case Kaiser failed,

Rashid had made preparations in advance.

He had prepared the cleric and inquisitor uniforms of the enemy nation’s order beforehand.

“You are going yourself? If it’s the Holy Blood Orthodox Church, they will practically treat you as a heretic, will it be possible?”

“I can’t go in this state. Even if I go, I plan to disguise myself as an inquisitor from over there.”

“You are bold. I wouldn’t even dare.”

Kaiser asked again.

“But are you confident you won’t get caught?”

“Would I be? I’m just forcing it.”

“Indeed. Still, since you even caught Zodiac, you won’t die in vain.”

“Let me ask you one thing. Do you know all the inquisitors’ faces?”

“No, I don’t. But wouldn’t the people involved know?”

“I just need to avoid contact with the Inquisition Bureau over there as much as possible.”

“More importantly, have you made fake identification cards in advance?”

“I’ve prepared them in advance. Both for a cleric and an inquisitor. I have the clothes too.”

“Haha, you prepared thoroughly. I wish you victory.”

The communication ended.

Rashid looked at the Holy Blood Orthodox Church cleric and inquisitor uniforms lying on the desk.

Having made up his mind, he called her.

Since he didn’t know how long he would be away, some form of notification was necessary.

“I have some business, so I think I’ll have to go to the Balt Empire for a while. It’s not a leave of absence, but a business trip would be correct.”

“To the Balt Empire? That place is practically no different from an enemy nation, isn’t it?”

She looked at the two sets of clothes placed on the desk.

“Do you plan to disguise yourself as a member of the Holy Blood Orthodox Church?”

“I should. I can’t wander around in this state, can I?”

She did not hesitate.

“I will follow you.”

Standing up from his seat,

Rashid, who was looking out the window, shook his head.

“No, I don’t particularly need your help. It would only be annoying.”

She stiffened up.

“You are making remarks that I dislike.”

“Rather than that, I am concerned about the power Sayaka possesses.”

Rashid informed her about Sayaka, whom he had to catch.

He then continued speaking.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, so I’m not taking you. It’s just that if I take you and you get infected, it will be hard to handle. So I’m just going alone. That’s more comfortable.”

“Is it true that… one gets infected by simple contact? If so, the people over there would all become fanatics.”

“Right. That’s why I’m telling you not to follow. Because you will surely become like that too.”

“Then what about you, Chief Inquisitor?”

“You know who I am, don’t you? I don’t get infected by Sayaka. That’s why I’m going even though I know.”

Rashid turned around.

She was still standing in the same place.

“Anyway, I leave things here to you. If the Director looks for me, you can just make up a suitable excuse that I went to vanquish a demon.”

“What if something goes wrong after you go?”

Rashid chuckled.

“Do you think something will go wrong with me?”

He was a person who manipulated mana to the realm of willpower.

He wouldn’t be easily defeated, but there was still concern.

In any case, it was a business trip to an enemy country.

“And if something goes wrong with me, everything here goes wrong too. Do you think the fanatic infection will really be limited to the Allied Kingdom? It’s a matter of time; in the end, things here will become similar to the Allied Kingdom. I am going to block it in advance before that happens.”

She turned her gaze slightly away and showed a dissatisfied expression.

“Since you say I will only be a burden, I have nothing to say.”

“You have work to do. Just do that well. I’ll be back soon.”

“That may be so, but is there any point if the one who went fails?”

“There will be no failure. It has always been so, and it will always be so.”

“I am worried, though.”

Her gaze returned to him.

“I will believe you, then. Do you have any credits on you?”

“No, all I have is the card and blank check you gave me.”

“I will give you some credits. Since it’s an enemy country, using credits will be best to avoid suspicion.”

“I’ll say thank you.”

“Then are you not taking Karl either?”

“For a similar reason.”

“Then I will assume you went on a business trip alone.”

* * *

Vrooooom!

The engine sound of the bike covered the wilderness.

The speed was 400 kilometers.

On the dashboard projected as a hologram, the time remaining until arrival at the kingdom was displayed, and it was less than 20 minutes.

‘It is the combat zone soon.’

The engine sound of the bike was not the only thing in the area.

It was somewhat noisy with the sounds of magic cannons and gunfire fired by the Imperial Army and the Allied Army.

“Alpha, it’s the front line. Turn on both functions.”

– Stealth ON

– Ghost Riding ON

“The booster too. We break through at maximum speed.”

– Confirmed.

A magitech bike wrapped in a cloaking field crossed the front line and reached the territory of the Allied Kingdom.

Pursuers from each faction caught up midway, but there was no one fast enough to chase a crazy bike going over 800 kilometers per hour.

‘To think I would cross over to the Balt Empire.’

“Are there guys still chasing us?”

Alpha, having completed the magic scan, replied.

– There are none.

His bike began to gallop again at normal speed.

The Balt Empire, which had previously stayed at the level of a kingdom,

after expanding its influence amidst various wars with the Empire,

discarded the name of a kingdom and began to call itself a great nation.

And the king also called himself the Great King, matching status with the Emperor of the Empire.

‘I should keep running until the capital.’

It was now the border area.

If he kept running without rest, reaching the capital of the kingdom in a single day wouldn’t be impossible.

The problem was the existence of checkpoints at intervals.

– Checkpoint detected 3 km ahead.

Rashid rapidly reduced his speed.

Rashid, who dropped his speed below 100 kilometers per hour, furrowed his brow slightly.

‘I feel like I would arrive quickly if only there were no checkpoints in between.’

He fell into deep thought for a moment.

Should he disguise himself as an inquisitor, or would a cleric be better?

‘A cleric would be better here. And I should change my bike too. To the Lynx.’

As he reached the checkpoint, vehicles waiting for inspection were visible.

They were all vehicles belonging to the kingdom.

A moment later,

it was his turn.

The ones conducting the inspection were one Executioner Knight and two soldiers of the kingdom.

“A cleric.”

The Executioner Knight examined Rashid.

The Executioner Knighthood.

If the famous knighthoods in the Empire were the Conquering Knighthood and the Crimson Guard,

in the great nation, there was the Executioner Knighthood of absolute power that followed the Great King.

Unlike in the Empire, the power of the Executioner Knighthood in the great nation was immense, and they were a group with almost absolute power.

They were the ones who could even bring down flying birds.

Thus, the attitude of the Executioner Knight dealing with Rashid, who was disguised as a cleric, was arrogant beyond measure.

“This is the border area, what brings a cleric here?”

“I am performing official duties.”

“The details?”

If it were the Empire, they wouldn’t have asked for the details.

It was a moment that newly revealed the authority of the Executioner Knight, who even carried out summary judgments.

“Subduing demons.”

With nothing special about the cleric attire, his eyes were also not much different from the clerics he knew.

“Did you subdue the demon well?”

“Yes, since it is what I always do.”

“Demons… it shouldn’t be easy.”

The Executioner Knight spoke to test him.

“They say Empire spies are pretending to be clerics to infiltrate these days. Do you have your seal? If you are a cleric, you should naturally have it, right?”

Rashid showed him the seal he had prepared in advance.

The Executioner Knight lightly examined the seal he handed over.

“You are a cleric without a doubt.”

The inspection was cleared.

Rashid began to gallop again.

‘The great nation is a place where the power of the order is not that strong. It is a place where the power of the Great King and the knights is stronger.’

While the status of the order in the Empire was soaring day by day,

it was not the case in the great nation.

Rather, the power of Executioner Knights or intelligence agency agents was more immense than that of inquisitors.

Practically, it was almost impossible for an inquisitor to ignore the laws of the great nation and carry out summary judgments.

‘That’s why I tried to contact the intelligence agency… I should look around within the order first.’

Having passed through several checkpoints like that, and when he was almost at Archenya, the capital of the kingdom,

his attire had changed from a cleric to an inquisitor before he knew it.

“Are you an Inquisitor?”

The entry checkpoint of the capital, Archenya.

A soldier of the kingdom showed polite manners to Rashid.

Unlike the border area, the inspection on the capital side was loose.

Because the knights and soldiers who saw the inquisitor uniform practically let Rashid pass for free.

‘I arrived not too late, as it turned out.’

The date of Do-jin’s execution confirmed in the newspaper articles was three days from now.

Finding Do-jin and getting him out before then was the top priority.

‘He must be held somewhere in the order. I must find out where he is first.’

Still, an inquisitor was an inquisitor.

Although authority inside the great nation was weak, they held absolute power at least within the order.

Rashid abruptly visited one of the several churches located in the capital of the kingdom.

Priests who fell flat just by looking at his attire bowed their heads immediately.

“You are an Inquisitor. I am a common priest, Batur.”

Only the attire had changed.

Since he was indeed an inquisitor, Rashid naturally spoke down and asked him.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, as you can see, nothing is happening.”

“You see, I have been away on a business trip for quite some time. I heard a player was caught recently. Do you know about it?”

“A player?”

It was a player caught after a long time.

“Yes, I know.”

“As you know, that is my job, isn’t it? So I was curious. Since they said a player, who has been rare lately, was caught. By the way, do you know where he is?”

The priest thought it was somewhat strange.

Why he was asking him that.

“I vaguely heard that he is in the Inquisition Bureau.”

“Is that certain? I am on my way to the Inquisition Bureau now.”

“Yes, that’s what I heard. Please wait a moment. I will ask another priest and return.”

“I will wait.”

The priest who came back spoke in a confident tone.

“Yes, they say he is in the Inquisition Bureau right now. I checked by asking several people.”

“The Inquisition Bureau… I asked in vain. I was on my way there anyway. Understood.”

As Rashid walked away, the priest who gave him the news tilted his head, but he didn’t seem to think much of it.

Walking out of the church, Rashid knit his brows.

‘Of all places, the Inquisition Bureau. Why did they leave him in the Inquisition Bureau of all places? Did they want to dissect him since he was caught after a long time?’

The Inquisition Bureau of the great nation was somewhat different in form from the Heresy Inquisition Bureau located in Basilica of the Empire.

Because it existed as an affiliated institution of the giant cathedral called Saint John’s Cathedral.

‘If this is the case, I’ll have to visit the heart of the Orthodox Church.’