Chapter 149 – Inquisitor Kasim

Inquisitor Kasim

Inquisitor Kasim directed his gaze at Jason.

He was still doubting.

“I have heard no news at all about a new inquisitor coming.”

“Is that so? Well, you might not know.”

As if not thinking much of it,

Jason was already at his seat.

“The day before yesterday, Her Highness the Princess was in danger when her contract with the demon went wrong. The one who stepped up and resolved it was none other than Inquisitor Lycian. His Holiness the Patriarch sent him.”

“His Holiness the Patriarch?”

Inquisitor Kasim seemed surprised.

“Why did he not send you…”

“I understand that His Holiness sent him instead of me. I was away from my post for a moment on business then.”

Indeed, when the story of the Patriarch came up, his suspicion also seemed to ease a little,

but unlike other inquisitors, he did not seem to drop his suspicion completely.

“But I have heard no news at all about a new inquisitor coming. It is strange.”

“What is strange about it? The fact that His Holiness the Patriarch sent him is clearly true.”

“Yet… I heard no particular news from the person in charge of human resources whom I met today. I met him just moments ago.”

“Really?”

Even so, Inquisitor Jason didn’t seem to think much of it.

“But it’s not new news either, is it? It has already been several days since he arrived.”

There was truth to it.

Just as he said, there would be no need to tell him something that was no longer new.

“It seems I misunderstood. I will ask later. Since His Holiness sent him, I assume there was some error.”

Unlike just before, the trace of suspicion was faint, but there was certainly not much of an affectionate or welcoming air.

“My introduction is late. Kasim Colona. I am also a dispatched inquisitor.”

As if not showing his inner thoughts,

Rashid accepted his greeting with a smile.

“Yes, I look forward to working with you.”

Rashid examined Inquisitor Kasim.

He still had a difficult impression.

Even so, he couldn’t keep him at a distance.

He gradually broke the ice.

“I hear you are in charge of the Enlightenment Sect cases here?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“The intelligence agency was also watching that matter closely.”

“The intelligence agency?”

Before Rashid could say anything,

Inquisitor Jason suddenly cut in.

“Someone from the intelligence agency came yesterday. It seemed they came about the Enlightenment Sect matter, and they spoke with Inquisitor Lycian.”

“Ah, is that so? But the inquisitor in charge is me…”

Rashid raised his voice.

“Let’s go outside. I have something urgent to tell you regarding the Enlightenment Sect.”

“Can we not do it here?”

“It is because of what the intelligence agency said.”

Even though it could be said here,

to go out of his way to lead him outside.

Still, since he mentioned the intelligence agency, it became awkward not to follow along.

“Let’s do that.”

The two came outside and began to walk somewhere.

The reason Rashid went out of his way to lead him outside was to reduce Jason’s involvement.

In any case, he was a false existence, and it would become troublesome the more his fabricated lies leaked out.

“The intelligence agency was viewing that matter a bit seriously. So I was also asked to handle that matter together.”

Inquisitor Kasim pushed up his glasses.

“Right now, I am handling it alone, though.”

“The intelligence agency ordered it.”

The way he spoke, it looked as if he was trying to butt into his business by bringing up the intelligence agency.

“Did the intelligence agency really order that?”

He was still unfriendly, but Rashid didn’t care.

“Yes, you can ask the intelligence agency directly. At least, it is true that the intelligence agency does not view that matter lightly.”

Rashid asked back.

“If you are directly in charge of the case, you probably know, don’t you? It is not an ordinary matter, is it?”

Just as he said,

it was by no means a light case.

The reason he had been away from his post for a few days was also because of the scale of the heretical force, whose depth was unknown.

“I see. I understand. Then, is Inquisitor Lycian also planning to help me handle that case?”

“Yes, although my original duty is demon hunting, I also hate heresy. If you are not too uncomfortable, let us work together.”

Kasim did not ponder for long.

Given the scale of the case, having support join in was a welcome thing.

The only problem was that a completely unfamiliar inquisitor, who had not even been verified, was tagging along.

“Yet, as I said earlier, I hadn’t even heard the news of a new inquisitor coming.”

Rashid stiffened up slightly.

“Are you doubting me?”

“No, rather than doubting… it is just too sudden.”

“Even though I said His Holiness the Patriarch sent me, you are still doubting. If so…”

When Rashid pretended to be in a difficult spot, the one who became flustered was Inquisitor Kasim instead.

“No. I made a mistake. If His Holiness the Patriarch was involved, doubt itself would be unnecessary. After all, the authority to appoint inquisitors belongs to His Holiness.”

Rashid could recall him, who said he was close to the person in charge of human resources earlier.

“Ask the human resources manager later. I was dispatched suddenly, so they might not know, but you can just check directly with the diocese. Ah, I came from the Kiliman Diocese.”

Rather, he had to be confident.

As Rashid, filled only with that thought, pushed strongly, Kasim spoke no further.

“No. I only spoke useless words and invited misunderstanding. You may just forget it.”

As expected, when he went strong, the opponent also showed a sign of shrinking back a bit.

Rashid thought about this.

‘Anyway, it’s not a place to stay long. It’s over once the Sayaka matter is resolved.’

“More importantly, is the matter serious enough for you to be away for a few days? Even yesterday, I was waiting for you to come.”

As he broke the ice about the case, he also reacted accordingly.

“I didn’t expect you to wait for me. I dug into the background of the Enlightenment Sect starting a few days ago. The scale was larger than expected.”

“How large is it?”

“It cannot be easily estimated at all. I followed a few people suspected of being in the Enlightenment Sect, and they spread all over—to factories, cafes, knighthoods, and even order personnel.”

Although he knew it all,

Rashid asked as if he didn’t know.

“Has the Enlightenment Sect been in this society for that long?”

“That is not the case. The first time I perceived it was only a few weeks ago. I don’t know how they transmit it, but it seems their influence is swelling in an instant.”

“Did you conduct an interrogation?”

“Interrogation failed. The moment their identity was caught, they immediately fell into madness and attacked me. There was no madness like that. It was my first time seeing such people. Their appearance was like…”

“Was it like a pack of zombies who lost their sanity?”

Kasim pushed up his glasses once again and was amazed.

“How do you know that?”

Since the scale of the Enlightenment Sect was quite large, Kasim began to doubt his identity.

As his eyes grew sharp, Rashid showed a smile first to clear the misunderstanding.

“Haha, you misunderstand. I am not a person of the Enlightenment Sect.”

“The ones I watched were also of such normal appearance. Then they suddenly caused a frenzy. They began to destroy everything like crazy people.”

An inquisitor who suddenly cut in on the Enlightenment Sect business.

Kasim began to make a rational suspicion.

“By any chance, you are not a spy of the Enlightenment Sect, are you?”

“You ask openly. If I say no, will you believe me?”

“The characteristic of theirs I observed is this.”

Without warning, he pulled out a gun and aimed it at Rashid.

When he tried to pull the trigger without saying a word, Rashid saw this and laughed inwardly.

‘An ignorant way of checking.’

The fanatics of the Enlightenment Sect usually hid their identity and penetrated various layers of society.

In the infection that progressed in the formula of Contact, Germination, Growth, and Blooming,

even infected people who had reached the Growth stage commonly revealed their identity and threw a fit of madness in such a threatening situation.

Kasim had probably threatened Rashid directly to verify this.

Because if he was an infected person, he would surely throw a fit of madness and reveal his true colors.

“What are you doing right now?”

Kasim, who was almost about to pull the trigger, soon moved the gun barrel away.

“You are not. The fanatics I have verified so far revealed their identity at this point. They caused a frenzy and turned extremely violent.”

“Your checking method is wrong.”

“Yes?”

Kasim expressed a question.

“What does that mean?”

“Checking that way is too reckless. It can never be said to be a good method.”

“Is there another method to check besides this?”

Rashid spoke with a light smile.

“Do you know why the intelligence agency got me involved in this case?”

“No. I don’t know. Is there some reason I don’t know?”

“Because I am not ignorant of this case either. Ever since I was dispatched, I have closely watched the matters related to the Enlightenment Sect. Since it is heresy business, it could become my business too.”

“Is that so?”

“Checking is not done like that, but should be based on light.”

“Light?”

“Actually, if only there is light, it is easy to distinguish them.”

Kasim looked around.

The soft light illuminating the cathedral still existed.

“If you say light, is it not here right now too?”

“Look at the floor. What do you see?”

On the floor, a shadow created by the light was formed.

“Other than the shadow…”

Kasim asked.

“By any chance, does an anomaly occur in the shadow?”

“Yes, they lose their shadow as they grow. They do not depend on light.”

Kasim recalled past events.

However, since it was a part he had missed, he did not know whether they lost their shadow.

“This seems to need verification.”

“Would you like to go verify with me?”

Coincidentally, Rashid had a quest to process.

He didn’t know how many fanatics he would have to handle, but he would have to kill at least 1,000.

‘This person must know the place.’

“Do you know where many fanatics are? If you have been wandering outside, you should know a place where quite a lot of fanatics are gathered?”

Kasim mentioned a place he had marked.

“There is a factory. The fanatics I was tracking were gathering in large numbers at that factory.”

“Let’s go together.”

Was there any reason to refuse?

Kasim agreed.

“Let’s do that. Since there are quite a lot of fanatics, we can just bring the clerics along.”

“Ah, clerics are not needed. Rather, they will only be a hindrance.”

“Is that because of the transmission power of the Enlightenment Sect?”

“Yes, from what I have investigated. They can make the opponent bloom through simple contact. In other words, they can make them into fanatics.”

Kasim found it strange.

“Through simple contact?”

“Yes, you didn’t seem to know?”

Kasim recalled if he had contacted them.

Fortunately, he had not.

Because he had something like mysophobia and was reluctant to contact others.

“Exactly what kind of contact must it be?”

“If it is contact where skin touches skin, it will probably work. But…”

Rashid looked at the gloves he was wearing.

“If you wore gloves, you would probably have been somewhat free from such a threat.”

He hadn’t worn them for that purpose, but

to think a gloved hand would be of such help.

“But you know in detail.”

Regarding that question,

Rashid was merely repeating the same words.

“It is the reason why the intelligence agency selected me.”

The contemplation was not deep.

Because if he was not a member of the Enlightenment Sect, he would go and prove it.

“Let’s go. I will guide you.”

It was time for stat acquisition.