TRSDICI 20

Chapter 20

I Won’t Say It Twice

The relic of Saint Vertior, one of the Seven Virtues representing Charity.

If someone wore those sandals, their body’s fatigue would heal with every step.

I asked,

“What’s your name?”

“R-Rak.”

Rak.

Just as expected, it was the same name I had heard from the Chain Hunter in my previous life.

“Where did you get those sandals?”

I already knew Rak had possessed the sandals before the Chain Hunter took them, but I never knew how Rak had obtained them.

“Ah, before this, I once shared some bread with an old man. Then he saw that I was barefoot and gave me the sandals he was wearing….”

“Where is that old man now?”

“A few days later, I went back to the same place, but he was dead with his ankles cut off.”

“Hm.”

I examined Rak.

He was so thin his bones were visible. He had probably looked the same when he shared bread with the old man.

Rak was the kind of person who still tried to remain good even while living in darkness.

“Hoo….”

Saint Vertior was the virtue of Charity among the Seven Virtues.

He had once been one of the greatest merchants in the Holy Kingdom, but he donated all the wealth he gathered and saved countless lives.

Because of that, another one of his titles was Father of the Poor.

‘Maybe it was fate that his relic ended up reaching Rak.’

As my silence dragged on, Rak hurriedly removed the sandals.

“H-If you need these sandals, please take them. As payment for helping me….”

I stared at the worn sandals in Rak’s hands, then at his bare feet.

Even if he knew these were a holy relic, would he still try to hand them over to me?

For some reason, I felt like he would.

‘At least the information from my previous life seems accurate.’

The Chain Hunter cut off the ankles of debtors whenever he judged they could no longer repay their interest.

And Rak was also a debtor.

After cutting Rak’s ankles, the Chain Hunter noticed the mysterious effect of the sandals and began wearing them himself.

After all, he had once been a fairly famous mercenary.

“For now, keep wearing them.”

If Rak had been evil, I would have cut off his ankles and taken them immediately.

That was exactly what I had done in my previous life.

But this time, I wanted to obtain the sandals differently.

If I simply took them by force, I would be no different from trash like the Chain Hunter.

And it wasn’t like I urgently needed them right now.

“Pardon?”

“I said keep wearing them for now. I’ll come back for them later.”

“Ah… yes….”

Rak cautiously put the sandals back on.

“Rak, was it?”

“Yes….”

“I heard you’re taking care of someone. Lead the way.”

I already knew where his house was, but if I walked there without hesitation, it would obviously look suspicious.

He was already wary of me as it was.

“W-Why…?”

“Hm, then I’ll just find it myself. Using the authority of an Inquisitor, I’ll inspect every house. During the day. At dawn too….”

“…….”

“Then angry people will kick their doors open and ask, ‘Who the hell is Rak?’”

“I-I’ll guide you.”

“Good.”

Rak hurriedly led us to his home, and Bella and I followed behind him.

The place we arrived at was a narrow, worn-down shack.

“This is it….”

There were no small bones inside.

Only a young girl lying down while breathing roughly.

Unlike Rak, she wasn’t skin and bones. She looked fairly normal.

“Your younger sister?”

“Yes… her name is Rami.”

“Your parents?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

I turned toward Bella.

“Bella. If you have cold medicine in that shell on your back, hand it over.”

“Y-Yes, Inquisitor!”

Bella immediately brightened and pulled out cold medicine from her huge bag before hurrying toward Rami.

Looks like she had prepared it from the start.

After feeding Rami the medicine, Bella asked,

“Inquisitor! Can I give them bread and water too?!”

“Do so.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

Bella pulled out bread and water from her bag.

At this point, I was starting to wonder what wasn’t inside that bag.

Looking at the bread and water on the floor, Rak spoke to me.

“We don’t have money to pay for this….”

“I’m not lending it to you. This is charity.”

“Charity? Why would you do this for us…?”

It was because of the relic Rak possessed.

If not for that, I wouldn’t have involved myself this deeply with him.

But after thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely wrong either.

“Because you also gave something to someone else.”

Rak shared bread with the old man and received the relic in return.

And now I was showing kindness to Rak because I intended to receive that relic someday.

None of this would have happened without Rak’s small act of charity.

“Ah… thank you.”

“Go eat.”

“Yes.”

Bella carefully watched over Rak as he slowly bit into the bread.

Meanwhile, Rami’s rough breathing gradually calmed down.

As I watched them, I suddenly spoke.

“Deacon Bella. Stand up.”

“Huh?”

“Time to work. Looks like they finally arrived.”

I looked toward the doorway that didn’t even have a door attached anymore.

At the same time, a vicious-looking thug stepped inside.

I watched him approach while stomping on the floor.

Then I spoke.

“Get out.”

“What?”

“Take one more filthy step inside and I’ll cut you down.”

“What kind of bullshit—”

“Hey, Baldy.”

I pointed at him with my finger.

“I said get lost. You’re leaving anyway.”

“…….”

The thug quietly sucked in a breath.

After swallowing nervously, he forced a sneer and stepped back outside.

I spoke again.

“Keep wearing those sandals. I’ll come collect them soon.”

Rak, who had frozen while holding bread in his mouth, barely nodded.

Afterward, I walked outside, and Bella followed behind me.

Ten large men were waiting there.

I asked,

“What do you want?”

“Someone wants to see you.”

“The Chain Hunter?”

The men exchanged glances before one of them nodded.

“That’s right.”

“Then why did so many dogs come running over? Did your master toss you some dog treats?”

The men burst out laughing all at once.

Apparently, I was a very entertaining man.

“We do get tossed scraps sometimes. So are you coming quietly?”

“Of course I am. Lead me to your master, you sons of bitches.”

The men frowned but eventually turned around.

Bella and I followed them.

One thug approached me and muttered,

“Hey, mister.”

“What.”

“You look like an Inquisitor wearing priest robes and carrying a sword, but you should watch your mouth around here.”

“Why?”

The thug placed a hand on my shoulder and whispered,

“Because this place doesn’t care about status. The Holy Kingdom’s reach doesn’t extend to filthy places like this.”

“…….”

“So if you don’t want to lose your life, stop causing trouble and leave quietly.”

I scoffed and brushed his hand off my shoulder.

“The Holy Kingdom’s reach may not extend here, but my sword does. So don’t test my patience and just shut up and walk.”

The thug clicked his tongue and backed away.

Then another voice came from behind.

“Still, you’ve got quite the pretty deacon traveling with you.”

“Don’t come closer.”

“She doesn’t look strong at all. Why’d you choose her? Unless maybe…?”

I sighed and stopped walking.

When I looked up, the sun greeted me warmly.

It almost seemed to say:

Please endure it, Inquisitor….

But I had always been a lunatic who never listened to others.

“Too many dogs around. Makes it hard to keep walking.”

I glared at them.

“First come, first served. One survivor.”

“What?”

“Kill each other. I’ll spare the last one alive.”

The men stared blankly for a moment before throwing their heads back and laughing.

The laughter of worthless bastards rang in my ears.

Then suddenly, the face of one laughing thug vanished.

A severed head fell from the sky along with a spray of blood.

“H-Huh…?”

The laughter gradually died out.

I shook the blood from my sword and glared at them.

“I won’t say it twice.”

The killing intent pouring from me crushed them.

“First dog standing wins.”

Silence briefly filled the air.

Then one thug suddenly pulled out an axe and hacked the man beside him.

As one man collapsed bleeding, the scene instantly turned into complete chaos.

I stabbed my sword into the ground and clapped while watching.

“Wow. Let’s see which idiot is the biggest idiot. This should be fun.”

“Gaaah!”

“Oh, he actually died from that? You should’ve dodged instead of attacking.”

“Kugh!”

“Good! Good! Well done, you bastards!”

After I even clapped and praised them, the thugs began fighting even more viciously, drooling like mad dogs.

Not long after, a victor emerged.

The survivor was the same thug who had tried to enter Rak’s house.

“Looks like you survived.”

“Y-Yes….”

The thug stood there panting while gripping an axe stained with his comrades’ blood.

“I told you to shut up and walk. Why didn’t you listen? Are you the Goddess? Testing other people’s patience?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Now shut up and walk. Lead me to your master.”

“Yes….”

We followed him.

Eventually we arrived at a two-story wooden building that looked like a mercenary headquarters.

“The Chain Hunter’s in there?”

“Yes. He’s probably meeting guests right now.”

“Good work, dog.”

“Yes!”

The thug deeply bowed his head.

“Thank you for sparing my li—”

Suddenly, blood burst from his mouth.

At some point, my sword had pierced straight through his heart.

“Why…?”

The bald man asked weakly.

I answered calmly.

“The light reflecting off your bald head kept hitting my eyes on the way here. Since you attacked first with that baldness of yours, you can’t complain, right?”

The thug tried to say something else, but his body soon went limp.

I pulled out my sword, grabbed the corpse by the back of its neck, and walked toward the building.

Then I kicked the door open violently.

BANG!

Everyone inside immediately turned their eyes toward me.

“What the hell?”

“A priest robe? An Inquisitor?”

“He’s insane.”

There were about fifteen men inside.

Compared to the Chain Hunter, these guys were nothing but trash mobs.

Holding up the bald man’s corpse by the neck, I shouted,

“I’m looking for the owner of this bald bastard! He killed all his comrades! What a magnificent son of a bitch!”

I glanced around.

The building’s center was open, so the second floor was visible from the first.

“Anyone know where this idiot’s master is? Judging by this dog, the owner’s probably an even bigger idiot, but I’d still love to see his face!”

Everyone stared at me dumbfounded.

Just as some of them started standing from their tables—

“What’s all this noise?”

A voice came from the second floor.

A man with a hooked nose and sharp eyes.

That was Mordak, the Chain Hunter.

The man controlling the loan shark business in this slum.

“You the owner of this bald bastard?”

Mordak looked at the corpse in my hand before nodding.

“So?”

“Then train your dogs properly!”

I hurled the corpse straight toward Mordak.

As the body flew through the air and reached him, it split cleanly in half and dropped to the floor.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Mordak was spinning a chained sickle in one hand.

I nodded.

“They say dogs resemble their owner. Looks true enough. If the owner kills his own dogs without hesitation, what do you think the dogs under him become?”

“Weren’t you the one who killed him?”

“No. He was only unconscious. You killed him.”

I clicked my tongue.

“I threw him to you so you could save him, but what a cold-hearted bastard. The rest of you will probably die the same way someday.”

“…….”

Mordak sighed heavily and stopped spinning the sickle.

“So? Why would an Inquisitor come all the way to a slum like this? You’re obviously not here to borrow money.”

“You probably know the reason better than I do.”

“Hm.”

Mordak leaned both arms against the railing and looked down at me.

“I was willing to talk for a moment… but just leave.”

“Why? Met me face-to-face and now you feel like pissing yourself like a dog?”

Mordak let out a dry laugh before replying,

“Did our Inquisitor stop by the parish office before coming here?”

“I planned to after I finished business here.”

“So you didn’t go. Which means if you die here, nobody will know. Sure, they’ll suspect something, but if we burn the body, nobody will ever find out.”

Mordak continued talking.

“You look young, so stop while you can. I don’t want unnecessary losses either.”

Suddenly my ear felt itchy, so I dug at it with my finger.

“Tell that barking dog to shut up already. Maybe wrap that chain around your own neck too.”

“…….”

“Whether you want losses or not is none of my concern. A bastard who’s spent his life stealing other people’s bowls really can’t stand seeing his own bowl overturned, huh?”

Mordak narrowed his eyes.

“So you really intend to do this?”

“I’ve always hated dog traders.”

Killing intent poured from me, causing Mordak to grind his teeth.

The other men around him slowly began drawing weapons as well.

“Then let the judgment of heresy begin.”

I addressed everyone there.

“You have committed countless sins, but your greatest crime was exploiting desperate people to satisfy your own greed.”

“…….”

“So accept your punishment humbly.”

I glanced back at Bella, who had been waiting behind me.

“Deacon Bella.”

“Yes, Inquisitor.”

I protected my eardrums with divine power and covered both ears with my hands.

“Show those heretics the greatness of the Goddess.”

Bella silently nodded and stepped forward.

She stopped in front of me, closed her eyes reverently, and clasped her hands together.

The others looked at her in confusion.

Then, the moment Bella slowly opened her mouth—

RUMBLE!

An overwhelming surge of mana erupted from her body.

Having completely blocked my hearing, I grinned at the thugs.

‘I can’t be the only one who hears this.’

Soon enough—

Hell would descend upon this place.

(To be continued)