Chapter 7 – Mission

Sitting at the steering wheel,

the one wearing a black uniform decorated with the Blood Cross insignia spoke based on the conversation he had overheard.

“There isn’t particularly any element to conclude he is the culprit. Rather, I think we should even consider the possibility of a player’s intervention, which we hadn’t thought of.”

The blonde inquisitor sitting in the back seat also seemed to have a lot on her mind.

“A player…”

“She is a child whose ability has been verified by the Magic Tower. To ignore her just because of her young age, we shouldn’t disregard the background and talent under which she was selected as a teaching assistant. Just as that child said, I think we should leave open the possibility of a player.”

“How did they even enter the dungeon? I heard it was a closed dungeon.”

“I heard that players are somewhat free from the laws of this world. No matter if it is a closed dungeon, considering the bizarre actions they have shown so far, it doesn’t seem impossible.”

“Or was there already a player inside? If so, they wouldn’t have intervened from the outside.”

“If there was, the dwarf hired as the guide or the barbarian hired as the combat expert would be likely candidates. However, both are dead. There were no other suspicious corpses either.”

Generally,

it was difficult to suspect someone belonging to the Holy Order of being a player.

If a player was likened to a drunk driver,

it was like suspecting the police officer conducting the breathalyzer test of being the culprit.

Even so, she did not seem to want to miss even the slightest possibility.

“Or was there a player on our side?”

“How could that be?”

He shook his head at once.

“A player secretly infiltrating Rosenkreuz, which is famous for being strict. Let alone a cleric. In the first place, if they were a player, they wouldn’t have been able to become a cleric.”

He continued speaking.

“They are the ones who ferret out and beat down players at the front lines of the Holy Order. It is hard to think that there was a player among them. Moreover, it was an expedition team that Her Highness the Saintess participated in. There would have been no error in the selection.”

“But still, you never know, right?”

“Do you still think he is the culprit, Lead Inquisitor?”

“No, I don’t. But I just don’t want to miss even the smallest possibility.”

“He was a cleric who even carried a seal. There were no traces of him releasing the seal either. For such a cleric to assassinate Her Highness the Saintess alone… not only is it hard to believe, but it is too far outside common sense.”

Perhaps she also thought she had gone too far, as she wore a bitter smile.

“Is that so?”

“Still, if you are really suspicious, why not test him separately? It’s not a very difficult task, is it?”

“A test… I heard that test is not perfect? I heard that realistically, there is no way to ferret out players 100%.”

“I heard so as well. The accuracy of detecting through mana wave sensing is roughly over 90%. But it is not 100%. To supplement this, we would need a witness who observed an anomaly, or a confession.”

He, the assistant inquisitor, suggested a refreshing solution.

“Or rather than thinking about this and that, why don’t you just make him the assassin?”

Even while the cleric who was on the suspect list had briefly stepped away,

there were numerous contacts reaching them.

He said this with that in mind.

“He is merely a single cleric. Losing one cleric won’t cause anyone, including you, Lead Inquisitor, to suffer any damage.”

“Are you telling me to report a lie?”

“It’s not a lie. I am just speaking of convenience. Isn’t it absolute chaos even now?”

Between the front seats,

on the communication crystal ball above the center console, someone displaying the Rose Cross emblem was calling endlessly.

“She was assassinated by a cross sword. If nothing else, Rosenkreuz will not stay still. Because if it isn’t that cleric, they will be framed as the assassin.”

“…”

“If you just change your mind a little, Lead Inquisitor, there will be more than enough people satisfied with it. After all, catching the real culprit won’t bring back the Saintess who entered eternal rest, will it? The important ones are those of us who remain.”

“Inquisitor Ludrick.”

The voice calling him was coldly subdued.

She rearranged her crossed legs and slightly twisted the corners of her mouth.

“Do you know why I became an inquisitor?”

“I do not know about such personal matters.”

“It’s simple. Because out of all the positions I could take, it was the one with the fewest people I had to walk on eggshells around.”

She blocked all incoming communications to herself.

Ludrick inwardly admired that gutsiness.

“Let me ask. Why should I, who am called a walking judicial institution, care about their reactions?”

“You don’t need to. I was just speaking of convenience.”

“That was presumptuous interference. Since no harm will come to you from this matter, just remain faithful to your given duties. I will take the responsibility.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two,

but that silence was broken by Rashid’s return.

“I came right away since it seemed you wouldn’t come anyway.”

The two inquisitors did not show their thoughts.

“You must have heard, but it seems a player intervened.”

He hadn’t even said he had overheard,

so what was up with this cleric who boldly assumed things?

She cast an exasperated look at him, and Rashid asked in return.

“Was it not?”

As she smiled faintly and gave a small nod, the vehicle began to move again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yet you are just leaving. Despite her being a survivor who might be an assassin just like me.”

She laid out a lame excuse with the utmost shamelessness.

“I saw the Magic Tower professor entering earlier. The relation between the Magic Tower and the Holy Order is not good. The reason that child is not framed as the Saintess’s assassin is also due to the protection of the Magic Tower. Even so, should we go in and clash with the Magic Tower professor? Everything we don’t do has its reasons.”

The two did not exchange any more words beyond that.

Only a heavy silence hovered inside the vehicle.

The smoothly moving vehicle soon stopped in front of the great monastery located on the outskirts of the capital.

To him, who had gotten out of the vehicle,

she, opening the car window, spoke.

“Cleric. Remain under house arrest as much as possible until I visit again.”

The words that followed contained her concerns.

“Even if your house arrest is released, it will absolutely not be for a good reason, so it would be best to refrain from activities as much as possible. This is a small piece of advice I am giving you.”

What that meant,

Rashid did not seem ignorant of.

‘Are they saying they’ll get rid of me? That might be the case. It’s the easiest way in the world.’

When a corpse goes to the afterlife, it doesn’t go alone.

Doubts, suspicions, and even sins.

It could carry all of those things along.

‘If so, the mastermind is clear.’

The Rose Cross.

They were the culprits.

* * *

One day after the inquisitor departed.

Rashid heard unexpected news from the Abbot who had summoned him.

“Your house arrest has been lifted. Resume your activities.”

“My house arrest has already been lifted?”

Rashid, reacting half-heartedly, asked in return.

“Then, have I been cleared from the suspect list?”

“Cleric.”

The Abbot, who had a stout build and a round face, frowned deeply.

“Did you think the suspicion of assassinating Her Highness the Saintess would be cleared so easily?”

“Then I do not know the reason why my confinement was lifted so quickly.”

He was someone who hadn’t paid any attention to Rashid even when he was referred to the tribunal.

The Abbot continued with his office work indifferently and said.

“I don’t know either. However, wouldn’t the fact that your confinement was lifted so quickly be because the higher-ups highly evaluated what you have done so far?”

“Is that so?”

“There is no cleric whose achievements surpass yours, not here or anywhere else.”

The results of pushing forward day and night to obtain quest rewards.

It seemed those results had created the current situation.

“You are our pride and a model for the Holy Order.”

With that, he naturally handed over a file.

“It’s a mission. Go and check it.”

Subsequently, a message floated in his vision.

– Would you like to accept the sub-quest ‘Assassin of Pizarro’?

– Upon completion, the trait ‘Swordsmanship Expert’ will be given as a reward.

For a mere sub-quest, the reward was more generous than what could normally be predicted.

A Swordsmanship Expert trait that raises the swordsmanship rank by a whopping two levels.

‘This is rat poison.’

A medicine that might kill if consumed.

However, for the sake of growth, he had to chew and swallow even rat poison.

“What happens to the seal?”

“I deny it.”

As expected.

As Rashid did every time,

he politely showed respect and accepted his mission.

“I shall surely complete this mission bestowed by God.”

Rashid stepped out of his office.

Afterward, erasing his presence, he intentionally stood there for a short moment.

Soon, as expected, the Abbot’s phone conversation could be heard.

“Yes, I lifted his confinement as you said.”

“Ah, of course I didn’t release the seal.”

“Nothing will happen. I also don’t care. He is just a cleric, so what could happen? No, that… I will accept it with gratitude.”

There was no need to listen further.

Rashid headed to his room.

Preparation was needed to carry out the mission.

* * *

Wearing a battle uniform armed with all kinds of hidden weapons under a shabby monastic robe, Rashid left his room.

He headed straight for the monastery’s parking lot.

There, the manager who looked after the magitech bikes—the main means of transport for clerics—was present.

The manager wore a surprised expression upon seeing Rashid, who had suddenly arrived.

“Brother. Weren’t you under house arrest?”

“It was lifted.”

“Already?”

Doubt suddenly arose, but he lacked the confidence to check.

“Then, where is your destination?”

“Arcadia. Pizarro.”

“It’s the capital. May I ask when you’ll return?”

“Tomorrow. Or it might take a few more days.”

The manager, after recording this, handed him a key.

“It’s Bike Number 3, your favorite. The mana stone fuel is fully topped up. Feel free to use it and bring it back.”

The magitech bike carrying Rashid sped out of the monastery with a roar.

The Abbot, confirming this through the window, hurriedly dialed a phone number to somewhere.

Vroooom!

A single magitech bike passed acrobatically between vehicles, making that characteristic noise similar to a jet engine.

The roar that tore through the air and the explosive speed that swept the road.

The mana stone fuel burned in the engine turned into blue flames, leaving a long afterglow, and kids who saw this from outside the car windows shouted excitedly.

“Dad! It’s a cleric!”

The drivers on the road seemed to understand to some extent when they saw that the owner of the roar was a cleric.

The established theory was that even if they got into an accident, they would rise unharmed like a monster.

They were simply beyond human.

Vreeeng…

The speed of the magitech bike that entered the imperial capital decreased significantly.

Even the monster on the road could not handle the traffic congestion of the capital.

A while later,

Rashid, who arrived at the mission site, dismounted from the magitech bike.

The place where he arrived was a fairly chaotic spot with police lines drawn here and there.

‘Is this the place? Where the Empire sent the request for cooperation.’

Pizarro Street.

Called the Street of Duels, it was a very famous place where honor duels occurred almost every day.

Since it was a dangerous place, it was usually a sparsely populated street, but it was also a fascinating place that became packed with no room to step when a famous duel was announced.

‘Pizarro Street… I can roughly tell why they called me here.’

There was no place as convenient and good for burying a body as here.

People died every day under the pretext of a duel, so what big deal would it be if one more person fell here?

‘Was there a massacre? It’s more chaotic than I thought.’

The clamorous police forces were completely controlling the entry of nearby civilians, and the inner street was filled with bloodstains that had not yet been erased under the name of evidence.

“This is a restricted area…”

Rashid showed the cooperation document to the police officer.

“Ah, you were the Brother! Please come this way. The investigator is waiting for you.”

A police officer guided him to where the investigator was.

The inner street was practically a bloodbath, as if a massacre had occurred.

And a blood cross engraved almost provocatively.

Standing in front of it, the investigator wore various complicated expressions.

“They made an absolute mess out of it. Who on earth did such a crazy thing…”

“Investigator. The Brother from the Holy Order has arrived.”

The investigator soon faced Rashid, who was draped in a shabby monastic robe.

“You’ve arrived, Brother! I was just waiting for you.”

Rashid looked at the giant blood cross engraved on the wall.

It was a mark that seemed to call out to him.

‘I do not know who called me, but they made a mistake.’