Chapter 264
Inquisitor.
An individual authorized to interrogate those suspected of associating with black mages or demons.
What makes an Inquisitor terrifying is their "summary judgment authority."
‘This means they can not only punish but also kill if they deem it necessary.’
Because it involves subjective judgment, only those who pass a rigorous screening can become Inquisitors.
However,
‘In this game, Inquisitors are different. The Holy Kingdom has long been corrupt.’
Bribery, the sale of public office, embezzlement, tax evasion, accusing innocent people of being black mages, and even betting on who would burn longer at the stake.
Not everyone is abnormal, but the middle and upper classes are entirely rotten.
It means there's no chance for reform. In this era, only those with power can enact change.
In reality, most of the Holy Kingdom’s Inquisitors use their authority to eliminate those who oppose them rather than finding evildoers.
‘I don’t think Victoria is like those people. She probably earned her position through skill.’
But what's important now isn’t these facts.
The critical point is that there’s an Inquisitor in front of me who has started to suspect me. That’s far more pressing.
“If you’ve made a pact with a demon, let me know in advance. So I can do something about it.”
“Keke, are you trying to entrap me? I didn’t think you would stoop to such a base tactic.”
“Oh my! I was merely making a suggestion for your benefit, Zero. Do you have something to hide?”
“Keke, not at all. I’m just a pure, innocent, and naive student.”
“It seems your tongue has grown longer. Is that my imagination?”
“Of course, it's your imagination.”
“Oh~ Hohoho!”
“Kekekeke!”
Cold stares and awkward laughter were exchanged.
Victoria seemed to have just started suspecting me and didn’t intend to interrogate me yet.
Well, with a suspicion level of only 7%, that was natural.
‘I thought things were going too smoothly.’
I recalled the recent events.
Option 3 not only allowed me to eliminate Balmonga but also seemed to have no apparent cost.
It was a choice hiding a huge trap.
‘Victoria, being well-versed in holy power, must sense something from me.’
It’s probably similar to Rezé's idiot hair radar or Adonis’s intuition.
“Kekekeke!”
“Oh~ Hohohohoho!”
It was then, while I was in a staring contest with Victoria.
A head with pinkish hair popped out between us.
“Hey, back off. You might get bitten to death.”
It was Luna. She had approached and wedged herself between us.
She stood before me, looking up at Victoria.
“Oh~ Hohoho. Luna, you’re giving me the honor of biting me. Please do! Where would you like? The ear? The hand? Or the neck!?”
“...Why are there so many perverts in this academy? Never mind. I won’t bite you.”
“No way! Please bite me! Even if I get hurt, I can be healed!”
“Zero! Run! There’s a bigger pervert than you!”
Victoria grabbed Luna’s waist tightly with both hands, and Luna pushed back at Victoria's face while shouting.
To scare the fierce Luna like this.
She was showing tremendous prowess worthy of a new member of the Love Aid Club.
As I watched the farce between the pusher and the one being pushed, I organized my newly acquired information.
‘Victoria being an Inquisitor... this might actually be good?’
Rodelin, Alex, Raymon, Yuridia, Victoria.
These are the main members forming the core of the first party. And among them, Victoria is the only one who suspects me.
I needed to keep my distance from those kids to defeat the final boss.
And now, I have a natural reason to distance myself from them?
There’s nothing better than this.
Intermittent interrogations might be bothersome, but if it means I can split the party, it's a small price to pay.
‘I also need to be wary of other Inquisitors. Their power in this world is absolute.’
It’s fine inside the academy, but I’d need to be careful outside.
Especially since I could easily be misunderstood due to my appearance.
I inserted a puzzle piece into my mind.
A piece that said, ‘Be cautious of Inquisitors.’
“Hey! What are you doing? Help me get this pervert off me!”
“Luna, I want to be your secret friend!”
Despite the ongoing farce in front of me, my gaze turned elsewhere.
- Move to Area 2.
- Move to Area 4.
- Stay in the current area.
This was the third and final maintenance time.
It was time to tackle the highly anticipated fourth demon, Mabelga.
Just as I was about to choose ‘Move to Area 4,’ someone collapsed. It wasn't Luna or Victoria. It was someone smaller and more fragile.
“Rezé?”
Yes. The pufferfish rabbit had collapsed.
Her neck was drenched in sweat, her breathing was faint, and her idiot hair drooped limply.
She was clearly not in normal condition.
“Rezé! Are you okay?”
“L-Luna...”
“First, drink some water.”
Rezé trembled as she drank water.
“She’s not injured. It seems she’s exhausted. Her mana is depleted too.”
Victoria quickly diagnosed.
I knew it too. Not only because she looked abnormal at a glance.
[Exhaustion]
Rezé had a status effect displayed above her head.
It’s a status that occurs when health and mana are fully depleted or rapidly consumed.
‘Sniping concentration and the characteristic of the magic gun that forcibly drains mana.’
Coupled with running around to find good sniping positions and moving nonstop through Areas 1 to 3.
It was no wonder Rezé was in a state of exhaustion.
Even with boosted stamina stats from [Fleur Family Style], her stamina was still low.
But I couldn't let her rest like this.
“There’s only one left. Overcome this crisis, and you’ll feel a great sense of accomplishment.”
“N-no, I can’t.”
Rezé firmly declared her intention to quit.
She declared her intention to quit even with me right in front of her. She was clearly not in her right mind.
“Luna, what’s better for dinner, rabbit stew or fried rabbit?”
Smack!
“Neither, idiot.”
Luna showed me her clenched fist.
Asking about the dinner menu and getting hit felt unjust.
“Rezé, you’ve worked hard. Rest here.”
Luna rolled up her cloak to make a pillow and placed it under Rezé's head.
“L-Luna... I’m sorry. I...”
“Don’t worry. We can handle the rest.”
“That’s not it. There’s...”
“I know. I’m saying this knowing everything, so don’t worry.”
“Ah...”
A single tear trickled down Rezé's cheek from behind her curtain-like long bangs.
Her breathing soon became steady.
She had fallen asleep.
[Rezé is extremely fatigued. She temporarily leaves the party.]
I was appalled.
Leaving the party without the party leader's permission!
An unthinkable event was happening.
This won’t do. I need to wake her up, even if I have to...
“If you touch Rezé, I won’t go.”
“Keke, wasn’t the authority to select team members mine?”
“Just this once, make an exception.”
Not only breaking the rules but also being stubborn. She was truly self-willed.
“You told Rezé you knew something earlier. What is it that you know?”
“The demon in Area 4 is the strongest, right?”
Luna was right. Mabelga was the strongest. Mabelga was a Sixth-grade demon.
The question was, how did Luna, without any detection skills, realize that?
“How did you know?”
“Isn’t it obvious? The last one is always the strongest.”
My Luna had a knack for phrasing her guesses elegantly.
Had she felt my dissatisfied gaze? Luna scratched her head and said,
“Just seeing Rezé’s regret tells me. You don’t need words to understand a friend’s feelings.”
“Then, do you know my feelings?”
“Sure, I do. You’re grateful to me, right? You wanted Rezé to rest too, didn’t you?”
Luna, it seems we’re not really friends. How could you read my thoughts so incorrectly?
“Anyway, let’s go. I’ll fight twice as hard.”
That’s impossible. We can’t give up on Rezé here.
I was about to carry Rezé on my back when,
“Sniff... that’s such a touching story.”
“...?”
“I, Victoria, am moved by Luna’s friendship. I’ll join you!”
“We don’t need you.”
“Thank you for accepting me. I’ll do my best. Oh~ Hohohoho!”
Luna frowned. She looked ready to bite at any moment.
“This...”
At that moment, Luna’s expression changed subtly.
“Fine. Just one request.”
“A request from Luna! I’m excited! Tell me!”
“Take him with you.”
‘Him.’
It was obviously referring to me. Victoria grabbed my wrist with a sly smile.
“That’s easy. Oh~ Hohohohoho!”
Victoria began dragging me away. I tried to resist, but,
‘What strength...!’
Only then did I remember. Victoria worshiped that violent Goddess.
She worshiped Gaia.
Hence, her strength stat was higher than mine.
‘No! My rabbit!’
And so, I began to be dragged to Area 4.
*
“Fire Arrow!”
Screeech-!
The water bug screamed at Yuridia’s spell. Raymon seized the opportunity to thrust his sword into it.
Krrrrk...
The water bug ceased moving. But it wasn’t over yet. Another water bug was rising next to them.
Alex’s second original technique.
Hungry Wolf's Lightning Strike.
Crackle!
Alex’s sword split the water bug.
A lightning-charged strike. Yuridia whistled at the sight.
“Hmph~ you’ve become stronger.”
“Thanks. It’s thanks to my excellent teacher.”
“A teacher? I’d like to meet them sometime.”
“Haha! That might be difficult. It’s someone you don’t like.”
Yuridia tilted her head in confusion.
If it’s a teacher, it must be one of the instructors. But which instructor does she dislike?
‘Well, I can find out later. It’s not important now.’
The three of them managed to take down two water bugs.
Considering other groups took three or four people to handle one, it wasn’t a bad result. However,
“Hmph, is this all? My underlings alone should be enough for you.”
With a snap of Mabelga’s fingers, another water bug appeared.
“It seems he can use summoning magic.”
“He seems confident he can keep summoning quickly.”
This meant defeating one at a time was pointless.
That wasn’t the only problem.
“Wahhh! My, my body!”
Raymon screamed in terror.
Yuridia quickly assessed the situation.
‘A swamp?’
Raymon’s body was sinking into the ground up to his waist.
The ground had turned into a swamp due to the water.
“Kahaha! What are you doing? If you don’t help, he’ll sink completely! He’ll make a delicious marinated dish.”
“N-no! I’m not tasty! That witch over there is tastier!”
“Watch your mouth! You’re making me not want to save you!”
Yuridia extended a hand to pull Raymon out.
Slash!
Meanwhile, Alex took down another water bug.
“Ugh, it’s all wet...”
“Focus! This is serious!”
If they got stuck in the swamp, they wouldn’t withstand the endless water bugs.
‘We’re short-handed. If only we had one more person...’
Yuridia was searching for a breakthrough when,
Lucid Family Style, First Secret Skill.
Earth Flip.
Boom!
Stone fragments scattered across the battlefield. Two water bugs were launched into the air.
“...!”
Everyone’s gaze turned. There stood a person.
A stiff armband with a pristine name tag, dark blue hair like the night sky, neatly tied into a ponytail, and an immaculate uniform.
No one failed to recognize her.
“Is everyone safe?”
Annwood Academy’s Vice President of the Student Council and the youngest of the Lucid family.
Rodelin had joined the battlefield.
--TL Notes--
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