Clue (4)
After that, the agent, who crushed all the problems that followed only with the right of the high priest, was promised the cooperation of the city guards and other knights, and started heading to the place where the patient met the beggars.
This is the taste of true power?
As soon as we left the city hall, the two imperial knights, who had been silent because they were in front of the mayor, asked us questions as if they had decided to wait.
“Wait a minute. What do you mean you’re tracking devil worshipers?”
Come to think of it, the knights were just embarrassed.
After coming out of the church, he suddenly took a certain commoner to visit the city hall, and he thought he was doing the same, and threatened the mayor to go track down the devil worshipers.
If my escort target said something like that, I would really want to get rid of the escort.
“Let’s explain as we go.”
“Our escort target is not you. Also, since our mission is escort, we have the right to refuse any order that could endanger the escort target.”
Contrary to my thought that he would be angry this time, the agent stopped and looked at me with a slight conflict.
It seemed that I was shaken by the words of the knights, not sure if this judgment, which could still threaten my safety, was correct.
I persuaded him well, but this again. I hurriedly intervened in case the agent would be persuaded.
“Liam. Gunther. I’m really sorry to have involved you, but this is not the time to take care of myself.”
“Saying that doesn’t change the fact that escort missions are our priority.”
There was no sign of shaking at all.
I can’t do it. I have no choice but to be cowardly and put forward an argument based on work ethics.
“What oath did you two make when you became knights?”
I don’t know how chivalry in this world came about, whether there is such a thing as chivalry, whether the two people in front of me became knights because of money, or whether honor was important or not, but I said so.
“that…”
The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment.
“Be loyal to the Empire, be faithful to your duties, and do not be lazy and devote yourself. It is honor and glory that make you shine.”
“Do not overlook unbelievers and injustice, always draw your sword against evil and injustice. Despise all deceit and meanness.”
“”Do not refuse a legitimate challenge, stand tall in front of the enemy.”
No, this f*ckin’ caste system society. While mentioning chivalry in honor, he doesn’t say a word about protecting the socially underprivileged even if he dies soon.
It’s okay. To some extent expected.
“The devil worshipers we are chasing are the evils you two must first defeat. They endanger the empire, endanger the imperial family. They are unbelievers full of injustice and deceit that will harm even your friends and family. My Do not forsake the most important value you have sworn for escort.”
But don’t be careless about escorting. I would like you to sacrifice your life in case of emergency. Fighting evil and giving your life for the mission. Isn’t that the true honor and glory of a knight?
The knights were in trouble.
“I’ll tell Agelia myself. Please help us.”
I have to cover the agent anyway, but there’s nothing I can’t do with both sides.
“…If it is judged to be really dangerous, I will take the risk of rudeness and retreat by force.”
That’s enough. If the article really judged it that way, I’d rather ask for it.
“Does the acting physician agree?”
“Of course. If that’s the case, please.”
It was the moment when we, having made a dramatic compromise, were about to enter the lawless zone through the alleyway in earnest.
“Hey… can I go back now?”
What else is this time? Can we start the search today with this?
All eyes turned to the patient.
The commoner, who was caught in the eyes of people he would not dare to meet, shrank to the fullest and continued his stuttering words.
“That, going into the back alley, I don’t know anything about it, and I won’t be of any help, but I’m sure I’ll just hold on to the ankles of noble people…hehehe…”
After hearing it, it didn’t seem wrong. I succeeded in getting the mayor’s cooperation instead of intimidating, so there’s no need to take him around anymore?
Shall I treat you and let you go?
I looked at the agent, and the agent shook his head as if he had nothing to think about.
The patient naturally became weepy.
“Why do you do that? I really don’t know anything anymore.”
Instead of answering, the agent looked at the alleyway, not knowing where it would lead.
“Did you say that beggars were returning to their quarters through this alley?”
“That’s right.”
“Have you seen those beggars around here since that day?”
“Uh…who remembers all the beggars?”
As if it was a question he had never thought of before, the patient, who had been thinking about it for a while, answered that, and the agent scanned the alley with sharp eyes.
“Then what about the beggars?”
“yes?”
“Just beggars. Have you ever felt that the number of beggars around you has decreased?”
“That… I heard that it seems like that…”
A patient who pretends to sympathize with the agent’s words in moderation, as if he does not know the intention of the question.
“This alleyway has been inhabited for at least the last few days, but there is no sign of people coming out.”
…can you tell by looking at it?
Hearing that, I looked around the alley, but in my eyes it was just a dark and dirty alley. Do you have a cheat eye like me…?
“If the meat you ate is the medium that spreads the corruption, the beggars who didn’t eat the meat would have already encountered a mutated monster. It’s highly likely that they died, but isn’t it too strange that all normal beggars die that way? ?”
Everyone looked like they didn’t know what the agent wanted to say, but I started to understand roughly.
Yes, no matter how much no one cares about a lawless zone, how can there be no disturbance as long as the people living there are not turned into monsters all at once?
The few surviving beggars should have caught the guards or passers-by and reported that the monster had appeared. Getting kicked out after being treated as crazy is another matter.
Even if you put your heart and soul into it for a very long time and turned everyone into monsters at once.
Unless you can control so many monsters individually as soon as they become monsters, wouldn’t it be normal if there was a disturbance due to the rampage of the monsters?
But what if the surviving beggars and monsters are trapped in the lawless land for some reason?
So what if no one noticed more than that?
“I don’t know what methods the devil worshipers have in place, but it is certain that some methods have been arranged. And since you are on the verge of corruption, there is a high possibility that those arrangements will respond.”
It’s a long story, but to sum it up in one word, it is said that it will be used as a canary or a devil worshiper explorer.
The patient also became teary-eyed as if he had roughly understood the meaning.
“Come with me quietly. I’ve said it over and over again, but if you stay, you’re destined to become a monster anyway. If this is done well, I will purify the eroded corruption.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes. It’s so rare that even I’ve never seen a case where the corruption is slow like yours. Usually, it’s not long after the spots appear on the body, and it turns into a monster. If it’s before it turns into a monster, it’ll be possible to treat it.”
“Then… I will help with all my heart, so if you treat me first…”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said? Your values are meaningful because you are the way you are. If you talk about useless things anymore, I’ll make you compliant.”
The patient, who was taken aback by the vicious voice of the agent, quietly joined the ranks without saying anything in return.
In the midst of starting to depart this time, I looked at the agent with a meaningful look.
The agent who happened to turn his head to me made eye contact with me and shook his head slightly.
It was an expression that at least guessed what I was thinking.
The agent did not explicitly say that he would treat the patient, but said that the treatment would be ‘possible’.
It’s hard to tell the difference if you don’t pay attention to the tone itself, but I knew that the savage agent used this part better than expected.
The saying that it can be cured before it becomes a monster means that it can be cured only before the symptoms appear.
However, if it is a special case that the agent himself, like the patient, sees for the first time, of course it is not known whether it can be treated or not.
Even if a spot appears, it is said that it will turn into a monster right away, so it is possible to suddenly become a monster in the middle of an investigation.
If you become a monster, of course the knife will fly first, not the treatment.
I presented candy to make the patient compliant, but the candy was nothing more than that of not lying.
I thought about what to do for a moment, then quietly lowered my head.
I had no intention of calling the agent a liar or a hypocrite.
“Huh? It seems there are really no beggars.”
“Can you tell that right away?”
“Originally, it’s not so bad that it goes to the lawless zone, but there are people like this who are often beaten when they come out on ordinary streets. There can’t be one like this.”
“This is almost certain.”
As I listened to the conversation between the agent and the patient, I pressed down on my robe once more.
For some reason, it seemed that one side of my chest was itching and my face felt warm. It was a cold.
* * *
“Why can’t I get out?”
“This doesn’t make sense. I’ve been in this district for years and I can’t find my way…”
“Damn. Damn…we’re all going to die…”
Somewhere in the outskirts of the Lawless Zone.
There, several people of different genders and ages gathered and were trembling with fear of something.
“Be quiet, idiot. Then they get caught.”
“Can we live if we keep quiet? We’re trapped here. Our future is to fall prey to those monsters!”
“If you want to search that much, go and search right now!”
“What, you bastard? Have you finished talking now?”
When a man frowned at his pessimistic attitude and shouted at those who said such things, the other man also uttered a loud voice in response, and the atmosphere became so heated that in an instant they grabbed each other by the collar.
cooooooooooooooooooo
And that atmosphere was soon quelled by the strange cries coming from far away.
“…de, didn’t you get caught?”
“Then why don’t you scream!”
“That way first…”
“Do you think you’re arguing right now? Everyone shut up!”
The hall becomes quiet at the words of a muscular man with scars on his face.
The fact that the group survived even this far was largely due to the muscular man, so everyone quietly sat down with their mouths shut.
“Damn it, what the hell are those monsters?”
“Have you seen it? It’s a monster that changed after eating spoiled meat.”
When a kid sitting next to him said so at the muscular man’s curse, the man shook his head and replied.
“You idiot, who says that because he doesn’t know that? It’s so frustrating. It’s frustrating.”
“It’s always just me.”
As the upset child stepped back a little further, he began to hear the muttering of an old man in the corner of the group.
“Orion-sama was angry and sent down the heavenly punishment… to pay the price for greed…”
“That old man is still doing that. It’s good that he’s still alive.”
“What about Orion, who has lost his mother? The meat that the Orionist priest left behind is the beginning of this dog-like situation.”
“I’ve recognized spoiled meat since the beginning of mercy.”
“The reason why we can’t escape from here might be that the priests are playing tricks.”
At the old man’s words, some people spat out insults about Orion and the church, and the pouting kid asked curiously.
“What are the priests doing by killing beggars like us like this?”
“It’s not me. It’s just that the high-ranking people didn’t like our very existence.”
“I heard that Orion loves humans.”
“That’s only a lot of money. I love you.”
“Priest Rhys said no…”
“Don’t trust the priests.”
“f*ck… I’ll live in obedience like a dog for the rest of my life, as long as someone brings me out, whether it’s a priest or Orion, who created this hell.”
“We have to get revenge on the guy who made us like this… ha…”
“Revenge and what, I want to live…”
Everyone was talking one word at a time, but the last man’s words made everything seem futile.
After a while, the muscular man got up from his seat and started looking around, probably feeling something strange.
“Why?”
“…something’s strange. Everyone wake up.”
Startled by the muscular man’s words, everyone started to rise from their seats.
No one complained needlessly as the man’s intuition had saved them several times.
But this time, the man’s intuition was a little late.
“Come this way…”
aaang!
“omg!”
As the barricade made of temporary junk was destroyed, the monsters slowly began to enter the clearing where the party was resting.
“Krrr.”
A hideous face like a pig frowning. Bloodshot eyes and spittle running down the chin. In the meantime, ferocious tusks protruded. A rugged physique and green skin that looked different at first glance.
Over the past few days, a growing number of man-eating monsters entered the clearing where the party was.
“Oh, run away!”
The group prepared a way out in preparation for this situation and started running away…
“Kreurreuk!”
“aaagh!”
Monsters flocking from the direction of the escape also caught the man in the lead who was trying to escape and bit off his head.
“Po, we’re surrounded!”
“Aren’t these guys just beasts? They built a siege without being silent and sneaking in?”
Encountered in a hopeless situation, the group panicked and began to panic, and a muscular man and a few little guys tried to fight by picking up junk that was nearby, but it was not enough.
The moment when everyone was about to become prey to the monsters, as many have done so far.
ㅡㅡㅡ
There was no sound. Instead, a huge group of light passed through the side where the monsters were approaching, leaving everyone in a moment of bewilderment.
And the monsters that start to collapse on the spot like a lie.
The survivors, as well as the monsters, turned their gaze in the direction of the light, as if they were embarrassed.
“Fortunately, it’s not too late.”
“…Can you even use the offensive technique?”
“Yes? Of course not?”
A carefree tone that didn’t match the current atmosphere at all.
In the place where everyone’s eyes were directed, there were two people with their swords drawn, a beast tribe wrapped in something shiny, a middle-aged man trembling between them after eating fear, and a robe with his hand stretched forward as if he were the one who had just let out that strange light. There was a party with a combination that could not be found even at the root of a person who was overturned.
“Keuwoeoeoeoeoeok!”
The next moment, the remaining monsters started charging at the group in anger.
And the group that became the target of the monsters was instantly enveloped in a brilliant light.
