Episode 106. Intertwined gatherings
The burning town was a scene of slaughter unfolding in real time.
The dying villagers were not humans, but beasts.
“Keah!”
“die!”
Soldiers in chain-mail over white uniforms were carrying out indiscriminate slaughter.
On their chests, there was a pattern that seemed to reveal their affiliation, and it was the shape of a red sun.
“Kill them all! Don’t let even a single heretic live!”
The blood-soaked spears hung down and the floor formed a river of blood.
In the midst of the raging fire, Evan von Orléon, who was in charge of this task and the commander, was watching with a benevolent smile.
“It looks like Evan Paladin is almost finished.”
“Good job. Gather the corpses of heretics in one place and burn them all.”
Evan, who ordered the soldiers to burn everything, looked at the terrible sight casually and then looked up at the sky.
Contrary to the fire, the blackened sky was studded with unknown stars.
And on the other hand, three moons were watching Evan with a clear presence.
“What a beautiful day it is.”
It has been 40 years since the day I decided to become a paladin, guided by the light from my dream.
He yearned for all the lights that exist in the world.
Of course, the flame that purifies these heretics was also beautiful enough.
“Evan Paladin has been contacted by the Holy Kingdom.”
At the call of a soldier, Evan stopped admiring the lights and turned around.
After receiving the communicator given by the soldier, Evan immediately spoke.
“I have been contacted by Evan von Orleon, the 3rd Heretic Inquisitor of the Kasion Holy Kingdom.”
―Sir Evan, you worked hard.
The voice that could be heard was Godric Hunt, a powerful figure in the Holy Kingdom and called the Cardinal of Devotion.
He is already over 90 years old, but people say that he will die today and tomorrow, but Evan could not even imagine that Godric would die and become dirt.
As much as that, it was a real power that was holding on to the power of the Holy Kingdom.
“Long time no see, Cardinal.”
―Is your work going well?
“This is the final stage.”
―I think it was too trivial for Sir Evan to step forward himself.
“It is impossible to share the big things and the small things on behalf of God. I just do my job.”
―As expected, Sir Evan is trustworthy.
After the ostentatious greeting, Godric got lucky.
―It’s not different, it’s the recent trend of black magicians.
“What happened?”
―The news that Luna Pendragon has appeared.
Luna Pendragon.
The third daughter of Eve Millennium, the legendary witch who was active in the previous generation.
A child of prophecy who was predicted to grow into a monster from the moment he was born.
And he was also the black magician in charge of Evan.
“I’ve been wanting to be quiet lately, but it seems like I couldn’t stand it and crawled out.”
―This time, please purify it properly in his name.
Evan, one of only four Auror Masters in the Holy Land and Heretic Inquisitor, nodded with his characteristic benevolent smile.
“I will lead you into His light.”
* * *
“Do you know how bored you were when you didn’t come out of the academy?”
Luna, who spoke without hesitation, was the same as she had been in Morche’s nest before. I carefully checked the trends around me and raised the tension in my body.
There was no need to be wary of Luna. Because I am also a black magician.
But I can’t help but react reflexively without knowing it.
“huh? Answer me, Adrias Cromwell. I mean, I came all the way here to see you.”
“Why are you following me?”
“You killed Kyler.”
I lost my words when I saw Luna speaking carefree.
I thought there was no need to be vigilant, but is it a bit dangerous?
‘Luna confirmed that she killed Kyler.’
Her ability would have been sufficient to confirm that I had killed her.
The question is, why did she go out on her own?
I know that Kyler isn’t that important, but it didn’t make sense that Luna had to act on her own.
‘If I had known Luna and Pendragon would move, I would have been a little more careful.’
It was the appearance of a person out of calculation.
“Why don’t you say anything? Not funny.”
“Yes I killed Kyler.”
There is no need to hide what has already been revealed. And I was proud.
It’s not like there’s a clause saying black magicians shouldn’t kill each other. Of course, since I killed the black magician belonging to the coven, that’s a bit difficult.
It’s not that I created a group called a rally to create a sense of belonging.
Anyway, when I nodded and admitted it, Luna tilted her head and said.
“You know? Rather than that, why did you even come here? Are you here to play?”
I really want to ask.
Then why the hell did you follow me?
Judging from the reaction, it doesn’t seem particularly hostile, so why did they go after me after killing Kyler?
“I have something to look for.”
After answering that, I looked around and as expected, many people were paying attention.
There’s a reason Luna’s looks stand out, but she’s a celebrity in the first place.
It’s just that nothing happens because this place is not an empire.
‘The kingdom of Grandis doesn’t have a bad perception of warlocks.’
Of course, it was natural that illegal activities were prohibited.
However, black magic doesn’t always involve illegal activities, so if you don’t commit any particular crimes, the atmosphere is rather welcoming.
For them, even the power of warlocks is precious.
“What stuff? Can I follow you too?”
“Before that, let’s ask one question. Why are you following me?”
“By Bored. And Hegel told me to report.”
Heigel told you to report?
Seeing him say this without hiding it, it seems like a screw has loosened somewhere.
“Since you answered, I will follow you?”
To be honest, I wanted to refuse.
Even in the kingdom of Grandis, which was far away from the Empire, nothing would be good if the sightings of Luna and Pendragon spread.
‘I don’t think he’ll listen to me saying he refuses.’
Acting with that personality, it was obvious that even if he didn’t like me, he would ignore my words.
Let’s talk about it for a moment.
“Sorry, but I want to travel alone.”
“what? Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you I will follow you!”
Luna Pendragon is a skilled person who uses extremely difficult abilities, but is basically not afraid of Aura Masters. I didn’t want to scratch her and make a boil.
‘Because no one here knows me anyway… ….’
I didn’t know what kind of sudden action I would take if I refused any more, so I finally nodded my head.
Instead, if there is something going, there must be something coming.
“Instead of following me, there are conditions.”
“condition?”
“I want to get a soul imprint.”
At my words, Luna frowned for a moment, then turned to a troubled face.
“That’s annoying… ….”
“It bothers me that you follow me. They want a fair price.”
First of all, I screamed out loud.
You have to say it loudly because the probability that it will be granted when you ask for a small request after that increases.
Soul imprinting was a skill that was now abandoned and only Luna Pendragon was learning.
As well as the complexity of the procedure, it was a skill that only Luna could use, so no one could receive it. But its performance was certain.
From the ingredients to the method and the complexity that only Luna could use, it was a skill enough to endure such a process.
If you ask me what kind of guts I had to ask for something like that, I’d say I saw an opportunity in Luna’s unscrewed behavior.
‘I’m going to stab you once. Don’t do it if it doesn’t work.’
However, looking at Luna who seems to be worried gives me hope.
You seem to be seriously worried?
After thinking for a while, Luna looked up at me again with a frown on her face and muttered as if she didn’t like something.
“Soul imprinting is too troublesome.”
Looking at the same words over and over again, it seems like a rather cumbersome task.
Still, for some reason, it seemed like there was a possibility, so I was rather impatient.
“Then let’s do this.”
“how?”
“As a bonus for following me, I will give Luna one thing she wants. Instead, it is within the line that I can listen to.”
Luna, who made a sad face at my suggestion, thought it over and said.
“Then be my friend.”
“yes?”
It was such an unexpected request that I was dumbfounded.
“If you become my friend, I will imprint your soul. If we become friends, it won’t be bothersome for me to follow you, right? I can also imprint my soul for my friend!”
It was hard to follow Luna’s way of thinking, but thinking about it, it was an advantage for me.
Are you saying that you can receive a soul imprint in the name of a good friend?
“All right. We will be friends.”
“good! Now Adrias Cromwell is my friend!”
I looked around for no reason at Luna’s words.
But it was fortunate that there were not many people because it was night.
“friend! I have a question!”
“Say yes.”
“I was curious when I saw you killed Kyler, how did you get so strong all of a sudden?”
Luna asked me with an innocent expression.
“You mean the last time I saw you wasn’t strong enough to kill Kyler? I wondered what the secret was to becoming so strong in such a short amount of time. Since you are my friend, can you tell me?”
“I made an effort.”
“okay? I see.”
do you believe that
Talking to Luna, I felt like I was losing my mind too.
I pointed to the inn I was going to and said.
“Shall we take our room first?”
When Luna nodded, I sighed and walked towards the inn.
It was a little strange somewhere, but I didn’t feel afraid of her.
It’s not enough to bow down to say thank you for even imprinting your soul.
As we walked towards the inn, a lot of eyes were on me, but Luna’s looks and popularity seemed to draw more attention than I thought.
The gaze continued even after entering the inn.
It was an inn that runs a bar and restaurant together, but the noisy people became quiet when they saw Luna standing side by side with me.
“Two rooms. And please have a meal.”
“Yes yes. Are you going to start eating?”
“Start with rice!”
Luna shouted, resting her chin on the desk.
The twitching of the legs looked like a dog wagging its tail.
The inn owner pointed to a table to one side with an awkward smile.
“If you wait over there, I will serve you a meal.”
Sitting at the table he pointed to, I ignored the strained glances and looked at Luna.
Her pale skin, as if she were in pain, and her white-silver hair and eyebrows gave off a fairy-like atmosphere.
Crucially, the opal-like eyes shining in various colors culminated in a mysterious atmosphere.
“Oh right.”
Luna innocently looked around the inn and took out something from her bosom.
‘Communicator?’
It was an artifact for communication.
Who are you trying to contact?
click.
“Heigel! It’s me, Luna.”
―Luna Pendragon, you contacted me quite early.
I couldn’t help but laugh at the voice over the receiver.
What are you doing?
“Yeah, I just met Adrias Cromwell. As expected, Adrias killed Kyler!”
—…Are you by my side right now?
“huh!”
I’m dumbfounded too, how stupid Hegel must be.
I could feel Hegel barely parting his lips over the receiver, which had been silent for a while.
―Is Adrias Cromwell next to you now?
“Adrias! Hegel is looking for you.”
I can’t figure out how to treat Luna, who casually handed over the communicator.
For now, I received the communicator she handed over and answered.
“This is Adrias.”
―Really. I’m a little embarrassed.
Hegel’s candid expression of emotions created a strange sense of kinship.
I am also very upset right now.
―Now that it has come to this, let me ask you a question. Was it you who killed Lanox recently?
After thinking about it for a while at Hegel’s question, I decided to lie.
First of all, it didn’t look good to lose Chuck with him.
“I don’t know who Lanox is.”
-is it. Well, he lived in the Krates Mountains, so there’s no reason for you to go there.
An awkward atmosphere was created for a while, and it was enveloped in silence.
Since the food was served, Luna focused on filling her stomach without even paying attention to Hagel and me.
―It’s unfortunate that you killed Kyler. The guy was my colleague.
At first glance, Hegel’s words were insipid.
It felt more like a warning than a real pity.
―You can’t say anything about a person who is already dead. You must have had a fight with him because of some unavoidable circumstances.
“Is Kyler your subordinate?”
-follower? Well, I said it just now, but if I had to say it, I would call it a colleague.
It honestly didn’t matter if it was a subordinate or not.
First of all, I didn’t want to pretend to be with Hegel.
It’s a cumbersome opponent in many ways, and I couldn’t deal with a warlock-level warlock right now.
“First of all, I apologize. At the time, I was in a situation where my identity could be discovered, so it was too much.”
– It’s okay. As I said earlier, I can’t say anything about you as a dead person. But there is one thing I regret.
“What do you miss?”
―It is very troublesome to secretly plant people in the academy’s professorship. But because of this incident, the inspection has been strengthened, so I can’t try again. Your teacher, Charon, is to be under the command of Jester, so only my information is broken.
What the hell are you going to say?
When I saw him express regret, it seemed that he wanted something from me.
―So, Adrias.
Heigel’s voice, which had been a while, could be heard clearly in the tavern, which had become as noisy as the first time.
―Would you like to join the meeting as well?
