Episode 148 The task of finding heretics.
The cold has arrived.
No matter what, there was no sign of the magic book unfolding, so it was because I climbed the snowy mountain again.
Of course, the dryad was with him.
Ray sighed and quietly moved on.
Next to him, dryads are pouring out words without a break.
As I went on, I felt that I was losing strength.
He didn’t cross the top of the snowy mountain like he had come the first time.
To do so, there is not enough food to eat, and there are certain risks to be taken.
Of course, the deadly cold of the snowy mountains also played a significant role in making this choice.
Following the outskirts of the mountain range, the cold was within a range that could be sufficiently covered by magic, and there were coniferous forests intermittently, so it was perfect for boiling grass porridge.
Porridge made from boiled pine hides was edible even though it didn’t taste like it.
In addition, if you boil pine needles and drink tea, your whole body will be warm. Isn’t this a backpacking trip?
Dryads sometimes looked at them and went mad, telling them not to eat their own people, but after a few blows, it quickly became quiet.
Moving through the shallow snowfields, I took a short break whenever a good area came out.
When night falls, they camp, and when it is light, they repeat their walk.
Unlike the summit where there is a lot of snow, I speeded up as I walked along the road in the outskirts.
Moreover, he was running with mana activated in his body.
Even so, I wondered if the dryad was somehow faster than Iriel.
Looking at that, it was admirable enough, but I didn’t want to admire the dryad who mumbled that he had a request like a habit.
Ray couldn’t stand it and said to him who had been asking for a favor all day.
“I told you last time, but I can’t make you stronger?”
“no. You can make me stronger.”
“What the hell do you believe in!”
“It’s a dryad’s intuition.”
“When are you saying you’re not a dryad?”
“…Forget about the small things.”
Somehow the words didn’t match, but I didn’t feel like asking further questions.
However, it wasn’t that he had the heart to make the dryad stronger.
He sighed and asked.
“You said you wanted to gain power to return to your hometown, right? Where is that hometown?”
“It’s the Grencia Mountains.”
“…”
Ray frowned.
If it was the Grencia Mountains, it was where Proxia was.
And it’s also a mountain range that I passed by a few days ago.
To say that the place that was cleaned (?) neatly (?) due to the Black Death was his hometown?
Apparently, as I heard from the dryads in the past, it must have been about humans coming and killing their own people.
Those humans are most likely Proxia.
However, when that happens, something very strange arises.
It makes sense that the elves, who love nature, protect the forest, and claim to be their guardians, pretended not to know the danger of the dryads.
To be honest, I can’t believe that.
Elves love nature very much.
To the extent that in some ways, there are times when he prioritizes one tree over his own life.
There was no way that those elves would have watched the dryads while they were all dying.
Ray looked at him suspiciously.
The look in his eyes was like, ‘Isn’t that what you always say, isn’t it still like crazy?’ seemed to do
Then the dryad got angry.
“I’m not lying! My hometown is the Grencia Mountains!”
“Even if you say so… there’s no way the elves who are so infamous when it comes to nature wouldn’t protect you.”
“The elves did not know that we were threatened.”
“…Didn’t you know?”
“The human army was strong. It was strong enough to handle us quietly.”
“Mmm.”
I quietly thought about the balance of power.
Dryads are almost like spirits.
That’s why I entered the axis that is strong and quite strong.
One opponent is that Proxia.
Can’t a force with overwhelming power enough to think of the destruction of the continent to handle a dryad?
Of course, it would be quite difficult even for them to handle it quietly.
But it wasn’t impossible.
When I thought about it, I was able to compromise with common sense to some extent.
Ray nodded and said the conclusion.
“okay. Then go back to the Grencia Mountains. If you’re human by now, you’ll only have rotting corpses.”
“What do you mean?”
“It is literally. The people you hated so much are all dead. Oh, could one or two of them stay?”
At his words, the dryad did not move as if frozen for a moment.
It sounds like you need some time to organize your thoughts.
Of course, Ray had no loyalty to wait for it.
He was about to move on, but the dryad called him with a serious voice like never before.
“human.”
I speak with a good voice, but I don’t think it’s a tree.
It was to the point where I wanted to dissect the whole thing and find out how the voice came out.
When he faced the dryad without any answer, he approached and broke off a branch from his body.
“Take it.”
Rey waved her hand as she handed over the one she had previously tossed into the bonfire.
“I don’t need firewood.”
Even if you look around, there are not enough trees to use for firewood.
Now you don’t have to sacrifice your own body to make firewood.
The dryad shook his head, probably noticing his pitiful expression.
“This is different from that.
While talking, the dryad looked around and found a rock.
Even at first glance, the rock looked sharp and hard.
In contrast, the branches are thin enough to break at any moment.
The dryad holding it hit the rock hard.
The slender tree branch, which contained no mana, looked as if it would break at any moment.
Applause came out spontaneously for the bold act of breaking his body on a rock because he could not use his body as firewood.
However, contrary to his expectations, the branches were intact.
“Eh?”
Looking at Ray with a surprised expression, the dryad spoke majestically.
“When a dryad becomes an adult, it sprouts new branches. It can be said that it is the strongest branch of a single dryad in its lifetime.”
He spreads his chest and speaks vigorously, but the conclusion is a tree branch.
He calmed down again and handed it over with a straight face.
“I give this to you who did my favor.”
“…”
Ray had nothing to say.
He had no intention of accepting the request.
The reason they entered the Grencia Mountains in the first place was to root out Proxia.
I didn’t receive the help of the elf as I had planned before coming, but it was difficult to suddenly reward me for completing the mission on the way.
Of course, unlike his dishonest head, his hand was already on the branch the dryad gave him.
How could he believe in what he said just by hearing it once, and hand over such a precious thing that he said only once in a lifetime?
I thought maybe the dryads had something similar to the Eye of Truth that the elves use.
When the tree branch was handed over, it was weak, but I could feel the mana.
Having lived for a long time, it seems that the dryad’s mana naturally permeated.
If you make a sword with this, it seems that a proper sword will come out rather than making a tolerable amount of iron.
The corner of Ray’s mouth went up at the unexpected gain.
“Heh heh. thanks.”
“I am more grateful. If you don’t mind, come back to my hometown.”
At his words, Ray shook his head.
To pass the Grencia Mountains, you have to pass this snowy mountain.
Besides, it was a place teeming with unscrupulous elves.
Far from revisiting this place, he had no intention of urinating while looking at the Grencia Mountains.
The dryad, who had been chasing him like a stalker until now, waved his hand like a lie and left.
The meeting was like that, but the parting was so sudden.
A single dryad branch was clenched in his hand.
“It would be perfect if you gave it to Zeke as a substitute for a sword.”
* * *
The Pope and the Heretic Inquisition under him were currently in the middle of the search for heretics.
Since Ray threw the information away, they were able to discover a significant number of heretics while investigating many nobles and priests with their own means.
The number is close to that of all nobles.
Among those in power, there was no one who did not take back money, and there was no place that Proxia did not touch, from business to business and construction.
From a cross-sectional perspective, it was not a holy country, but rather a proxia’s vassal state.
The pope struck the podium with his fist.
Quaang-!
“How could our holy kingdom be so corrupt! If this is the case, it is not the country of God, but it is not the den of those filthy people called Proxia!”
Pope Glyceor’s fists trembled in a fit of rage.
The pope’s holy power emitted mightily, and the surrounding high priests did not dare to speak.
Eclay waved his hand and said.
“His Holiness, fix it. What did the Holy Son say?”
“…The saint told me to leave it alone.”
“Did you say leave me alone?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
If the saint told me to leave it alone, I would leave it alone. How could I have touched it?
For Ecclei, Ray’s opinion was already in the same position as a message from God beyond the realm of simple opinion.
It means that even absurd words must have meaning, and it is at a level where you can understand and move on.
However, as the heretics were arrested while ignoring that, even the pope had no choice but to complain.
Unfortunately, most of the power of the Inquisition was held by the pope.
No matter how much she was in the position of managing the High Priests, she was not comparable to the Pope, so she couldn’t take any action.
The pope looked around at the crowd with intense eyes pouring out.
“I plan to hunt out the heretics more vigorously than now. If you have any other opinions, please let me know.”
He says so, but his expression seems to say, ‘If someone brings out a different opinion, you won’t get along well.’
Of course, there was no way the aristocrats who had eaten a lot of eyeballs would oppose it.
If there was anyone who could offer a dissenting opinion, there was only one Eclay.
She shook her head slightly.
“I think I’d better leave them alone for now, as my Son said.”
“…do you mean that the High Priest will follow the opinion of the saint rather than the opinion of the present pope?”
There was quite a bit of discomfort in the words.
“It’s not like that. I said this because I thought that the Holy Son would not have said such a thing for nothing.”
The pope hardened his expression at her words.
“If the only one who decides the future of the Holy Kingdom is the pope, the words of the high priest seem to honor the saint as the king. Big!”
When the pope said that as if he was openly uncomfortable, Eclay thought to himself.
‘A man called the Pope is childish.’
If you want to be king, you have to do it properly, or you don’t like it when you act like a non-member in war, and then act like a Sangvis lord in safe things like hunting down heretics.
Eclay also came out strong.
“Then, are you saying that now His Holiness will disregard the saint’s words that he is the representative of God?”
Depending on the answer, the target of the Inquisition will change to the Pope.
The pope took a step back at the fairly strong question.
“Even the high priest doesn’t know that it doesn’t mean that. Whoa… Anyway, this Pope has no intention of giving up. As for the Heretic Inquisition, please use your efforts to find heretics as you do now.
After drawing their own conclusions, they issue a congratulatory order.
It was to the point where I wondered what the purpose of convening nobles to conduct a meeting was if it was going to be like this.
Eclay was angry with the pope for being quite unruly.
She bowed her head to the pope and entered the ceremony.
Words do not come out from the rising anger.
With such a person as the pope, nobles could safely accept bribes.
For some reason, I was able to understand the current number of heretics.
