Making the holy water I wanted requires quite a bit of concentration.
In other words, the more Serin focuses on the cultists, the lower the quality of the holy water becomes.
Proper holy water was essential for the tonic I needed to make for Sowol.
As it was important to prevent her from wasting her attention on unnecessary things, I investigated with all my might, and in a few days,
“Is this the right place?”
Father Rewallon frowned slightly as he looked at the place indicated by the traces we had investigated.
It was where the people who controlled the back alleys of the territory gathered.
“According to the investigation, this is where the cult first spread.”
“Franz Hall.”
A place where prostitutes, thieves, gangsters, and various others from the back alleys belonged.
In simple terms, it could be called the place where the shadow of the territory existed.
Father Rewallon’s expression as he looked at the place wasn’t very good.
“Is it because of the cult that the brothers and sisters here don’t come to church?”
Eh. That’s going too far.
If the reason for not going to church means being a part of the cult, wouldn’t I be a cultist too?
“If the cult’s teachings are continuing in Franz Hall, we can’t rule out that possibility.”
But since that’s probably the answer the other party wants, let’s just agree moderately.
I put my hand on the sword hilt at my waist.
Seeing this, Father Rewallon lightly raised his hand, and a few holy knights waiting behind raised their maces.
“Let’s begin.”
As soon as Father Rewallon’s order fell, the holy knights took the lead.
The doors of Franz Hall opened, and burly men came out wielding weapons.
“What?! Who are you?!”
“We are the holy knights of the church. Traces of the cult have been found here.”
“Huh?! So what?!”
“We must investigate this place, so please don’t resist.”
Ordinary thugs would give way without much complaint.
After all, going against the church would bring more disadvantages than benefits.
But the thugs of Franz Hall seemed unaware of this fact.
Maybe they couldn’t afford to be investigated by the church.
-Clang!!
Weapons are drawn.
I shrugged at the sight of the thugs seemingly trying to block the holy knights’ entry. It seems we’ll have to shed blood for them to understand.
“Charge in.”
At my command, the holy knights moved.
The thugs also started to resist, apparently unwilling to take the attacks of the heavily armed holy knights. Still, their resistance was
not enough to penetrate the knights’ powerful defense.
What could they do with mere skewers against those wearing armor made of solid iron plates?
As the holy knights’ maces broke the thugs’ bones and burst their flesh, a path opened, and I went inside.
“Huh.”
The interior of Franz Hall was a mess.
Along with things like beer bottles and leftover food, naked women could be seen groaning and rolling on the floor.
Are they drunk? But there doesn’t seem to be any smell of alcohol.
They seem too normal to be on drugs.
Then…?
The answer came quickly.
Hallucinations.
“Who the hell are you?!”
A burly man, seemingly having come down after hearing the commotion below, drew his weapon and charged.
After knocking him out with one punch to the jaw, I examined the condition of the fallen woman again. It’s certain.
The cult provides hallucinations and pleasure to the target through special magic. Through magic that’s sweeter than drugs but far surpasses it in terms of dependence, the cult seeps into people little by little like sweet poison.
Recalling the memory of experiencing related events in the game before, I went up, taking down the guys coming down the stairs one by one, and faced a half-naked man.
“…Isn’t it Master Lee.”
“Franz Cain.”
A man with such great influence in the back alleys that he’s called the master of it.
The bald man with a large build and a protruding belly smiled smoothly and wiggled the cane in his hand.
That. It’s evidence of the cult.
“What brings you here?”
“I came to root out the cult in this territory at the church’s request.”
“Hmm… Master Lee. I sincerely ask, couldn’t you just turn back this time?”
“Could I? If you quietly surrender, I’ll make sure you avoid religious trial.”
When a cultist receives a religious trial, ten out of ten end up being burned at the stake.
The man shamelessly refused my kind offer that being hanged for treason would be better than suffering the terrible pain of being burned at the stake.
Instead, what he drew was the hidden blade inside his cane.
Seeing the ominous black energy rippling, it indeed looks like a good artifact provided by the cult.
“No matter how great you are, Master Lee, as long as I hold this sword…”
-Slash!!
“Ugh, uwaaaaah!!”
Before the man could finish speaking, I swung my sword and cut off his hand.
Franz, blankly staring at his hand that had fallen to the floor, let out a scream, and I said to him.
“Oh no. Now you can’t hold it anymore.”
“Y-you!!”
Is it because of the pain and anger of having his hand cut off? Franz’s eyes rolled back.
Black tattoos start to appear on his half-naked body.
He’s using the cult’s magic to enhance his own strength.
It’s not a good method.
You can gain strength in the short term, but if used frequently, you end up becoming a demon.
And…
“Hup!”
“Gugh!!”
It’s not that great either.
Before he could complete the transformation, I cut off both his arms and legs.
As Franz, now missing all four limbs, rolled on the floor, the holy knights started coming up, seemingly having finished cleaning up below.
“Master Lee. This is…”
“Evidence of the cult.”
“…He’s turning into a demon.”
The knights’ expression changed at Father Rewallon’s words.
To their expressions that seemed to want to tear Franz apart right away, I shrugged and shook my head.
“We must process this according to the church’s proper procedures.”
“Ah. I see.”
Right. We should legally burn him at the stake.
The holy knights took away Franz, who was still spewing curses while rolling on the floor. Meanwhile, I picked up the artifact that the man had dropped earlier.
“This is evidence that Franz was involved with the cultists. It’s a cult artifact, so Father Rewallon should handle it.”
“Thank you. Thanks to you, we were able to wrap this up without much damage.”
“It was what I had to do.”
With this, we could erase all traces of cultists that had appeared in the territory.
Of course, there are still tasks left, like tracking and investigating the cult related to Franz or cults that might be in other places, but that’s for Father Rewallon or the central church to do.
Serin’s job was only to handle what happened within this territory, so with this, she should be able to concentrate solely on making the holy water I wanted.
“Then I’ll be heading back now.”
“Yes. I pray that the Lord’s grace be with you, Master Lee. Ah, and this week’s mass…”
“What can I do? I’m planning to be sick then…”
No matter how much I hate cults, I don’t want to go to mass.
Really.
After informing the lord that this matter was concluded and returning to the Eastern Trading Company, I tilted my head.
There were quite a few wagons in front of the Eastern Trading Company.
…What’s this? Wondering, I went inside and saw unfamiliar warriors.
“Ah. Master Lee. You’re back.”
“Oh. Yes. But… what’s this?”
“Ah. Our Eastern Trading Company does a lot of trade with the eastern region. The personnel who went east for a big trade have returned.”
Oh, is that so? They must have had a hard time going all the way to the east.
I nodded roughly to the servant and looked over the items they brought.
“Hm?”
That’s when I saw a girl who looked about the same age as Sowol unloading luggage.
She was a girl with an androgynous charm and beautiful dark hair, characteristic of Easterners. She also had considerable talent, though not as much as Sowol.
What a shame. If she had a bit more talent, I would have made her my second disciple.
But after taking Sowol, an outstanding talent, as my disciple, she only seemed inadequate.
If I didn’t have anyone else, maybe, but there’s still time, so taking that girl as a disciple is a bit…
“Why are you looking at Laila like that?”
“Just because. Can’t I look?”
“There’s nothing wrong with it, but… Laila is my precious friend and bodyguard.”
“Oh, is that so?”
“So don’t have any strange thoughts.”
“What do you take your master for?”
At Sowol’s somehow cold words that had approached without me noticing, I gave her a flick on the forehead.
As she clutched her forehead and grumbled, I examined Sowol’s condition.
“Looks like you’ve been doing your homework properly.”
“Would you like to test me?”
“I’m sure you did well on your own. There’s no need to test…”
“Then are we resuming lessons from today?”
For the past few days, I couldn’t teach properly because I was investigating the cultists. Sowol urged for lessons mentioning this, but I still can’t do it.
I need to go get ingredients to make the tonic.
“I need to go to a nearby big city, so lessons are impossible.”
“…With Priestess Serin?”
Why would I take her when she’s busy making holy water?
“I’m going with you.”
“…Pardon?”
Why are you so surprised?
Sowol, blankly staring at me, slightly turned back and clenched her fist tightly.
“Are you happy?”
“No~?! Actually, I’m really busy and all, but since you insist so much, I’ll go with you!”
For someone saying that, your expression looks really good.