TRSDICI 16

Chapter 16

The World Is Wide….

Dominica, the orphanage director, smiled warmly as she watched the children running around the yard.

Then her expression hardened, and she spoke.

“Alright, everyone. It’s getting dark, so let’s head inside now.”

“Yeees!”

The children bickered among themselves as they entered the church.

Dominica gave a bitter smile before stepping outside with a serious expression.

Outside was dark. Since the orphanage stood in a rather isolated place, thick trees surrounded the area.

“What business do you have here?”

At Dominica’s question, a man stepped out from the darkness into the moonlight.

His face was wrapped tightly in black cloth.

“Sharp eyes for an orphanage director.”

“I asked what you want.”

Dominica’s gaze sharpened like a blade.

“This is an orphanage. There’s no money or valuables for thieves here. And if you’re planning to kidnap the children, give up now. The Holy Kingdom will hunt you down.”

“The Holy Kingdom, huh…”

The man scratched his cheek.

“I’m not interested in money or children’s bodies. I’m only looking for a woman named Bella.”

Dominica tilted her head.

“Bella? Who is that?”

“Heh, nice acting. But there’s no point pretending. I already know that bitch is here.”

Dominica narrowed her eyes.

“Why are you looking for Bella?”

“Fifteen years ago, there was a married couple of mages in the Divinar territory. They researched magic, the remnants of demons. Eventually they were discovered and killed.”

“……”

“But their child was never found. The child who inherited demonic talent. A four-year-old girl with brown hair. And there aren’t many orphans in this area matching that age and hair color.”

The man glanced toward the church. Dominica stepped slightly to block his view.

“You’re an Inquisitor. And one of those fanatics who think magic is demonic.”

“That’s hurtful. Calling me a fanatic. I’m perfectly normal.”

“Then unfortunately for you, Bella is not their child. She’s a girl I personally took in from the slums.”

“Hey, Sister.”

Killing intent appeared in the man’s eyes.

“You’re starting to annoy me. Stop lying.”

“……”

“Someone around here saw the mana stone necklace that girl wears. Others wouldn’t recognize it, but it’s the key to opening the barrier the mage couple hid.”

The man spoke as if he already knew everything.

Dominica let out a sigh and asked:

“Were you the one who killed them?”

“No. I wasn’t an Inquisitor back then.”

The man shrugged.

“Anyway, just hand over that bitch Bella. If you hand over the child of heretics, I’ll quietly leave.”

“What are you planning to do to Bella?”

“That’s none of your business. Understand, Sister?”

“……”

Dominica swallowed dryly.

“I’m sorry, but Bella isn’t here right now. She left immediately after stopping by.”

“Another lie—”

“It’s true. If you don’t believe me, check for yourself.”

The man stared at Dominica for a moment before leaning against a tree.

“Then I’ll just wait here until she comes back.”

“Even I don’t know when she’ll return.”

“That’s fine. Patience is necessary when hunting heretics.”

The man spun the dagger in his hand as he continued:

“And don’t try anything stupid. I’m carrying out a holy duty as an Inquisitor. If you protect her, I’ll have no choice but to treat you as a heretic too.”

“I’ll be careful.”

Dominica smiled faintly while organizing her thoughts.

Bella had left her bag behind, which meant she would definitely return here.

She had probably gone toward the eastern forest, and since night had fallen, she should be back soon.

Which meant she would inevitably run into that man.

“Actually, maybe I should search around. She could be hiding in a closet somewhere.”

The man grinned and started walking toward the church.

Then suddenly, he stopped.

“…Don’t. Do you want to die?”

Dominica flinched as her hand slipped inside her nun’s robe.

If she let him be, he might hurt not only Bella but the children too.

But even at a glance, the man was stronger than her. Dominica could not stop him alone.

Even so—

“I cannot hand Bella over to you!”

Dominica pulled out the dagger hidden inside her robe and charged forward.

The two daggers crossed and clashed.

“Strong for a nun.”

“Protecting children is the divine duty the Goddess gave me.”

“I see.”

The man grinned.

“But that’s all!”

His sharp dagger thrust deeply inward. Dominica barely changed its path with her own dagger.

Kagagagak!

Then came the man’s endless barrage of attacks.

Dominica somehow protected her vital points, but her nun’s robe tore apart and wounds slowly spread across her body.

“Hahaha! Must be hard protecting the child of demons too!”

Dominica frowned as her injuries increased.

‘He’s strong.’

This was probably the veteran Inquisitor who had visited the Divinar territory.

‘Would things change if Inquisitor Kael arrived?’

From Bella’s stories, Dominica already knew Kael was strong.

But no matter what, Kael was still a newly appointed Inquisitor.

It was hard to believe he could fight a veteran like this.

More importantly, Kael had nothing to do with this matter.

She could not let him face such a terrible trial already.

‘Right now, all I can do is hope Inquisitor Kael notices the situation and evacuates Bella and the children. Until then, I just have to endure!’

Dominica had once dreamed of becoming an Inquisitor herself.

Although she failed and remained the orphanage director, she had never neglected her training.

So enduring should have been possible.

But the man’s strength exceeded her expectations.

“Annoying.”

Another dagger emerged from the man’s clothes.

It flew directly toward Dominica’s throat.

‘Damn it…!’

It was an unavoidable attack.

She never expected him to hide his true strength against someone weaker and wait for an opening.

‘So this is a veteran Inquisitor….’

The wall before her was too high.

This was not a trial Dominica could overcome alone.

But she did not care about her own life.

‘My children….’

The children who would remain after her death.

They would probably try protecting Bella and be slaughtered by this man.

And Bella would see their corpses and drown in guilt.

‘That must never happen….’

But there was no way to stop it.

No matter how much she struggled, death could not be avoided.

The sharp dagger rushed toward her skin.

TUUUNG!

At that moment, a thunderous sound of someone kicking off the ground echoed from somewhere.

A presence rapidly approached.

Then suddenly, someone appeared before the enemy.

A man swinging down his sword with an emotionless face.

Inside his eyes existed only cold killing intent.

The fanatic widened his eyes in shock and crossed both daggers into an X.

KWAAAAANG!

But unable to withstand the overwhelming force, he rolled across the ground several times before being thrown backward.

“You roll well.”

Someone watching the scene spoke.

“Are you a bean bug or something?”

Dominica stared blankly at him.

Long limbs hidden beneath black priest robes.

Beautiful features revealed under the moonlight.

And a blade carrying the wind itself.

An appearance impossible to mistake.

“Inquisitor Kael?”

The veteran Inquisitor was clearly strong.

Yet Kael had blown him away in a single strike, even if it was an ambush.

Dominica had already heard of Kael’s accomplishments from Bella, but she never imagined he was this powerful.

“Go take care of the children.”

Kael looked back at Dominica.

“This suits me better.”

* * *

“Director! Are you alright?!”

Bella hurried over and checked Dominica’s condition.

Only then did Dominica finally regain her senses.

“B-Bella?”

“Wait a moment! I’ll go get some herbs!”

“N-No! You can’t stay here! Hurry and leave with Inquisitor Kael—!”

As Dominica panicked, Bella smiled calmly.

“It’s okay. Inquisitor Kael is stronger.”

“I can see that now, but there could be others— Ah! The deacon! There should be a deacon with him!”

I answered her myself.

“No need to worry about that. Some idiot was sneaking around nearby, so I knocked him unconscious.”

“I-I see.”

I ordered Bella:

“Deacon Bella. Go inside and treat the director. Calm the kids too so they stop crying. If it gets noisy, I won’t be able to sleep.”

“Yes!”

Bella carried Dominica into the church.

Right then, the heretic idiot officer was getting back up.

“You awake now, bean bug?”

The bean bug pulled down his hood and spat blood. Stitches ran along one side of his mouth.

“Who are you?”

“An nquisitor here to catch bean bugs.”

“Ah, so it was you.”

The bean bug smirked and continued:

“If you’re an Inquisitor too, cooperate with me. I’m trying to capture a heretic.”

“Where’s the heretic?”

“The deacon traveling with you. She’s the child of mage parents.”

I tilted my head.

“So what?”

“So what?! Magic is a product of demons! Those who use magic are no different from demon worshippers!”

The bean bug pointed at his mouth.

“This scar was caused by a demon using magic! If magic isn’t a remnant of demons, then what is it?!”

I answered with a sneer.

“You’re lower than an insect.”

“What?”

“Your hatred is aimed in the wrong direction. Hate the demon itself. Why try to reject every person who uses magic?”

“Shut up! What would you know?!”

He was loud enough to hurt my ears.

“You shut up. If someone stabbed you with a sword, would you hate every blacksmith in the world?”

“That’s….”

“Tsk tsk. You should just curl up like a bean bug waiting to get stepped on. Then you won’t even know who hit you, so there’ll be nobody to hate.”

Grinding his teeth, he shouted:

“Are you going to defend the Goddess’s enemies with such twisted logic?!”

“As far as I know, the scriptures never say to reject magic. Why are you interpreting the Goddess’s words however you want?”

“That’sonly because there were no humans using magic in ancient times!”

“So in the end, it’s not written there, right?”

He fell silent, so I pushed harder.

“And who’s the real heretic here? Bella, who grew up properly and takes care of children? Or you, trying to murder innocent people?”

“Say one more piece of nonsense and I’ll rip the other side of your mouth open too.”

My mocking words made his eyes turn cold.

He tightened his grip on both daggers.

“Since you protected her, I’ll classify you as a heretic too.”

“There’s your true nature.”

I lowered my stance and watched him carefully.

Our gazes collided as we faced each other in silence.

‘Hm?’

Then suddenly, his afterimage blurred, and he appeared as three people.

Even after blinking, it remained the same.

One of the three rushed toward me.

A straightforward charge followed by a stab.

Instinctively, I swung my sword at him.

Whooosh—

His body scattered like smoke and disappeared.

An afterimage.

Shiiik!

This time, a dagger slashed toward my side.

I quickly retreated from the killing intent, but because I had already swung once, my cheek was lightly cut.

Another dagger came toward my face, and I blocked it with my sword, but that too was only an afterimage.

I leapt backward and touched my cheek.

Red blood stained my fingers.

“Hahaha! Confusing, isn’t it? Trying to tell which one is real?”

So that was it.

He spread his aura around to make himself appear as multiple people.

It required extremely precise mana control.

No wonder he was a veteran Inquisitor.

“Hehe….”

Realizing that, I started laughing too.

I covered my mouth to hold back a burst of laughter.

The bean bug narrowed his eyes.

“Why are you laughing?”

I calmed my laughter and answered:

“I just never expected to meet someone using the same technique as me.”

“What?”

I looked down at the ants crawling across the ground.

“The world really is wide… and full of idiots.”

The bean bug looked confused.

Ignoring him, I slowly began circling around him.

Srrrk—

At the same time, I spread out my aura and trapped it within the wind.

Then afterimages shaped like me began appearing one by one.

One became two.

Five became ten.

‘Breeze.’

My afterimages swayed quietly like tiny winds.

“W-What is this…?”

Surrounded by my afterimages in a circle, the man widened his eyes.

Then suddenly he turned around and slashed with his dagger.

I was there, swinging my sword downward.

Whooong!

But it was only another afterimage.

After that, I continuously created more afterimages, and unable to tell which was real, he reacted to every single one.

“Damn it…!”

Grinding his teeth, he wildly swung his daggers.

He had no other choice.

‘Hm?’

But after some time, he started ignoring some of them and only blocking the threatening ones.

‘So he reacts according to the killing intent inside the afterimages. As expected of a veteran Inquisitor.’

That meant the same trick would no longer work.

It was time to change things up.

‘Then….’

Watching him, I charged in together with my afterimages.

The bean bug focused desperately, then suddenly sensed killing intent and spun around, thrusting both daggers forward.

The daggers pierced my face.

Whoosh!

At that moment, my body scattered like smoke.

He had reacted to my afterimage.

From the beginning, my real body had been charging from the front.

Sensing death, the bean bug tried to turn back—

but I was faster.

Puuuk!

I drove my sword straight into his exposed back.

The blade pierced completely through his body.

Blood burst from his mouth.

“How…? There was no killing intent….”

What is killing intent?

It is murderous intent carried through mana or divine power.

And because my control over divine power was deep, I could freely manipulate killing intent as well.

If he reacted to killing intent, then all I had to do was erase it from my real body.

“You weren’t worth using killing intent on.”

“You bastard….”

“Go.”

I pulled out my sword without listening further.

Blood scattered across the night sky.

The ants crawling on the ground approached the corpse of the bean bug, only to scatter away as red blood flowed out.

‘Hmmm….’

Looking at the fallen body, I thought quietly.

If this was truly the work of this man alone, then the Bella of my previous life would never have destroyed the Divinar Diocese itself.

Which meant there had to be others involved.

Most likely inside the Divinar Diocese.

If that was the case…

* * *

I brought over the deacon I had knocked unconscious earlier.

But he still had not regained his senses, so I grabbed him by the collar and repeatedly slapped both cheeks.

“Wake up, wake up! It’s morning!”

The deacon suddenly opened his eyes.

Looking at the moon in the sky, he said:

“But it’s night?”

“The early bird doesn’t starve.”

The deacon tilted his head.

“But who are you?”

“The one who killed him.”

I pointed to one side.

The bean bug’s corpse leaned against a tree there.

“H-Huh?! Inquisitor Veritus!”

I shook the shocked deacon by the collar.

“Now answer my question. Who ordered him to kill Bella?

“T-That….”

The deacon avoided my gaze.

“Do you want to talk after getting beaten, or just talk now? Your choice. Or do you want to die like him?”

“I-If you kill me, the Holy Kingdom will—!”

“Ah, it’s fine. I’m an Inquisitor too. I’m simply interrogating heretics who tried to murder innocent children and an orphanage director.”

“……”

His mouth still seemed stubbornly shut, so I leaned close to his ear and whispered:

“Hey.”

“Y-Yes?”

“Have your fingernails or toenails ever been ripped out before? Had your ears cut off? Or your eyeballs gouged out?”

“E-Even so, I can’t speak!”

I smiled and explained calmly.

“People like you who’ve never experienced proper torture often think they can endure pain. But they all have one thing in common.”

“……”

“No matter how mentally strong they are, by the time all twelve fingernails are ripped out and one eye is gone, they all start talking. In the end, they fail to protect their secrets and just become cripples.”

The deacon swallowed dryly.

“And even if you somehow endure every torture imaginable, I can always drag you before the Saintess of Truth.”

“……”

“Do you think you can lie in front of her? I can. But I doubt you can.”

I wrapped one arm around the deacon’s shoulders.

“It’s late at night. No need to scream and wake sleeping people, right?”

“……”

“Now choose. Talk, get beaten, get tortured, or die.”

I casually let go of him.

The deacon thought deeply for a moment before dropping to both knees.

“I’ll tell you everything, Inquisitor.”

I nodded.

“Good. You’re a polite one.”

After that, the deacon began revealing everything he knew.

And the more I listened, the more my hypothesis became reality.

…Looks like tonight, I’ll be hearing someone else scream as well.

(To be continued)