Maze (5)
As soon as I entered the barracks where the leader was located and saw the leader sleeping, I set up a curtain to surround him so that he would not be disturbed, and stared at the leader.
So what do we do now?
If there was even the slightest sign of corruption, I would have preferred to kill him comfortably, but I worried that that was not the case.
I had already decided to kill him, but I wanted to ask more of this guy than he was a devil worshiper.
Especially since it has a name that seems to know some hidden truth, such as a shadow or an awakened sleep.
It would be nice if I could take the time to ask in a relaxed way, but I think that would be difficult in the current state… But if I just asked, he would never answer.
There was no particular way that came to mind.
Should I just kill it too?
Even though I wanted to kill him cleanly before he came to his senses, time continued to flow even while he was conflicted with the thought that it was too much of a waste.
If the knight commander and the princess sorted things out at this rate, then there was a possibility that they wouldn’t even be able to kill them.
It can’t be done. Let’s do it first. Think about it later.
After taking out all the sacred tools the leader had on his body, I cast the holy spell on the leader after making ample preparations.
It was the same holy spell of purification as he had cast on everyone.
Surprisingly, it doesn’t take much divine power.
After lightly lifting the curse, I took a deep breath.
It’s enough to deal with it anyway.
Even if I think about it, it’s close to crap, but I have to do what I can.
Having made up my mind, I called the leader by his real name in an urgent voice.
“List-sama! Open your eyes, Liszt-sama!”
“saint…?”
The leader gradually opens his eyes in response to the voice.
“You’ve opened your eyes, Master Liszt.”
“What the hell…no, what are you talking about? Saint. List. My name is Edgar. I don’t know who you’ve confused with.”
The leader denied the name I spit out even though he was flustered without understanding the situation.
It would have been better if he had been completely confused or asked how he knew the name.
Even though I had just woken up from wandering around in fantasy, it seems that my judgment has not become dull.
Seeing that the holy power wasn’t consumed that much, he might have had some doubts about the illusion.
I pretended not to know the leader and continued acting.
“Edgar? Isn’t that the name of the strategy for an external event? Besides, you’re calling me a saint. Aren’t you focusing too much on your mission lately?”
What I’m trying to do is a variant nayana scam.
It was intended to trick you into thinking that I was not a saint, but someone in the church you knew well, by leaking information related to personal details that the saint Ronan could never have known.
Of course, under normal circumstances, this would never work.
However, since he had been immersed in the fantasy just now, it was a method he tried in the hopes that he might be able to dismiss everything from being dispatched to this place to meeting me as part of the fantasy, even for a moment.
It’s such an outrageous method and the words I can make up are limited, so even I wasn’t expecting much.
Right now, I don’t even know how this leader interacts with other people, but since it was just my own words, there was a high possibility that they immediately doubted me.
However, it is also a win-win if you go down anyway.
If you don’t get tricked, from then on, you can just start threatening as you planned in the first place.
If that doesn’t work, it’s unfortunate that there’s no harvest, but you have to kill it.
Fortunately, a question arose inside the leader.
According to common sense, it was natural for my words to be lies, but since I came out confidently, it was so absurd that no one was deceived, so I felt like I wanted to.
Eh…? Can this really work?
“Are you…not… Ronan Saint?”
I’m definitely shaking. I’m not even sure if I’m starting to seriously consider the possibility that I’m not Ronan.
It wasn’t a lie that would drag on for a long time anyway, so even this much was a very successful response.
“List, I’m a stand-in prepared for any unexpected situations during the process of bringing Saint Ronan here and brainwashing him. Don’t you remember? You seem to be having a nightmare. What kind of dream is it that keeps you so awake?”
I thought about denying the existence of the saint at all, but it seemed so absurd that I squeezed out a setting on the spot.
In the meantime, I mentioned brainwashing as if it were natural, raising the credibility of my argument and mentioning the illusions the leader must have suffered so that he would not continue to doubt.
The direction that fantasy shows is to corrupt people in the end, so he probably wouldn’t have shown a proud fantasy.
Even as a leader, there must be a part that makes you uncomfortable.
And if there is a part that the person himself is interested in, even if there is a suspicious part mixed in, there is a high possibility that he will be moderately evasive to cover this topic.
Why don’t we both just skip this part?
“Ah, I see… I’m still having a really bad nightmare and I’m having a hard time coming to my senses.”
No matter how easy it is, isn’t it too easy? I think they’re going to brainwash me after bringing me to the church. Isn’t it true that the church has prepared my substitute?
“Yeah, what’s up early in the morning?”
At those words, I cleared my mind.
I wanted to build a little more trust in the leader, but it seemed difficult to expect more than this in the limited space and time.
then you have to run
“Excuse me because the church is trying to make a ridiculous decision. I’m sorry.”
“No, tell me.”
“Currently, the opinion to officially recognize Saint Ronan as the Saint of Orion is spreading widely…”
As I said that, I looked at the leader’s expression.
Seeing that a group called the shadows were dispatched to take me to the main office or somewhere and threw bait, the shadows would never have the heart to acknowledge me as an official saint.
If he had decided to officially acknowledge me right away, he would have announced it extensively rather than quietly conveying his intentions like this.
If the Church’s policy changed overnight, they would have no choice but to react in some way.
“What? What the hell are you talking about? What did the cardinals do to make the controversy public? Or maybe some idiot, blinded by interests, betrayed his will? Just a while ago, you saw what happens to those who betray his will.” Unless you’re crazy.”
Uh, I thought it would respond in some way, but this indirect information is sweeter than I thought.
The fact that the cardinals naturally assumed that the controversy would evolve meant that the cardinals, too, ended up acting according to the collective will of the shadow, or being manipulated in the palm of the collective’s hands, even if the cardinals themselves did not want to.
To say that he is blinded by interests means that he considers the cardinals to be nothing more than ordinary people, and then the ‘he’ mentioned here must be the head of a group different from the cardinals.
The person who betrayed his will seems to refer to the cardinal who tried to entrust himself to the imperial family.
There was no evidence, so it couldn’t be used right away, but the fact that he interfered with the imperial family’s events could always be used.
I chose my next words carefully.
The next question contained my doubts about Orion and the Church.
“Some of the cardinals are beginning to deny that Orion has left us. They claim that Orion, who has returned in a new form, has given them new stigmata.”
For a moment there was silence in the hall.
What I meant by this was whether these people knew that Orion no longer took care of them.
If so, to find out what level they knew, and if so, if they were abandoning their faith in Orion and acting their own way.
If they didn’t know at all, they would be puzzled by what I meant by that, and even if they did, if the cardinals responded by asking, “How did you know that?”, then you could tell if the cardinals knew about it as well. If it remains, I heard that the cardinals made such a claim, by any chance? You can’t possibly not want to at all.
Alright, since you’re not panicking, we’re pretty sure Orion is gone.
Just knowing this is a tremendous harvest.
And then… Doubt? Was there a loophole in my words? What was the problem?
“A lot of people are shaken by that claim. Of course I don’t agree with that claim…”
“you.”
Embarrassed, I hurriedly tried to settle the matter, but the leader was already looking at me with cold eyes.
“Please state your affiliation, status, and name.”
“Why are you suddenly like that…”
“Affiliation, status, name.”
this is open
The doubt that bloomed in the leader’s heart was solidifying into certainty.
“The one who wakes up in the shadows. It’s an act.”
I tried to say plausible words that came to mind by combining the leader’s affiliation and status, but the leader’s suspicions did not go away at all.
“Yeah, that’s right… I’m sorry. Isn’t this a very sensitive issue?”
The leader slowly rose from the bed and looked around.
The words seemed to acknowledge my words, but I could immediately tell that the opponent was preparing to attack.
bang!
In the next instant, without a hint of light, the barrier that had been placed in front of me did its duty.
what kind of attack is this?
Until the attack, there were no precursor symptoms at all. At least I could beckon.
This is more like assassination than holy magic.
“Stop playing silly tricks, demon worshiper. Do you need to pretend you’re using holy magic when you’re exposed anyway?”
The leader who failed to attack said that while looking at me.
…Huh? I’m not cheating, do you still think devil worshipers are messing around in their fantasies?
“How did you notice? I made up a plausible story with the information I gathered.”
I immediately changed my attitude and started playing a devil worshiper caught cheating.
“Yes, I’m sure you know my name and status, and since you’ve matched the reason for securing the saint, you must have prepared properly.”
Can you deny the fact that the purpose of taking me is brainwashing?
“I wonder where else did you hear that Orion no longer cared for humans. Did you catch one of us and read his memory?”
I silently nodded.
This guy is more talkative than I thought, so I thought there would still be a little more corner to eat.
“Really? You must have read the memory of the finger. It would have been better if you had introduced yourself as a finger.”
What’s with the finger? From the context, it seems to be a lower rank than an awakened person.
“I’ve been suspicious of me before then, what the hell was the problem?”
When I asked, the leader, who had been silent for a while, slowly opened his mouth.
“We never talk about Orion’s mysteries unless it’s a permitted place. There’s no way there’s even someone who’s awakened that I don’t know about.”
What? No, there are restrictions like that?… No, it’s a huge story that really shakes up human affairs, but is it worth it?
I think I was a little careless because I was curious.
It was even more disappointing because being a grown-up who woke up to that seemed like a much greater job than I thought.
If I had known in advance, I wouldn’t have been able to get a little more information while avoiding mention as much as possible.
But in the end, the information you want to know is about Orion, so the other person will avoid direct guidance, and then there is a possibility that you could not get the proper information and get exposed because you were only ringing the rim.
For now, let’s be content with the information we’ve been given that those who are sneaking around in the Order, and maybe even a few Cardinals, know that Orion doesn’t care for them anymore.
If I talked around, I might not have even gotten this information.
“If there is no god, what on earth are you saints who claim to be the saints of Orion?”
Having decided to play a devil worshiper, I directly brought up the question I’ve been most curious about so far.
Do the hidden powers of the church know about me?
The leader paused for a moment at my question.
He didn’t even need to look at the aura, it was clear that he didn’t know about me.
Most importantly, it doesn’t help.
“It’s proof that Orion hasn’t completely given up on us yet.”
I guess you just want to believe that?
“Anyway, your death is a predestined procedure. Accept death calmly, demon worshiper.”
The leader who turns around to see if the person himself had such awareness.
But what the hell does this guy believe in and he’s so confident? Is it because he thinks it’s an illusion?
“Do you think you deserve to say such a thing about a subject that is trapped in fantasy and can’t get out of it?”
“I feel sorry for the bluffs you’re playing with tricks that aren’t worth it anyway.”
Are you thinking like that?
It’s embarrassing, but if you believe so strongly that this is an illusion, I’m grateful.
What question should I ask next?
It was the moment I was thinking about that.
“Saint Ronan…! Where are you Saint…!”
An uncomfortable silence fell between me and the leader at the sound of the princess’ voice vaguely heard from afar.
Alas, time has already passed like this.
“Saint Ronan…?”
A leader who repeats the words of the princess in vain.
It wouldn’t be difficult to say that was part of the fantasy, but the princess would keep looking around, so it wasn’t a good decision to wait any longer.
Sorry, but I have to end it here.
With my holy power, I made a very light cut on my cheek so that only a small amount of blood flowed.
It’s so light that you don’t even feel the pain, but there’s nothing more impactful than a scar on your face.
Plus, if it’s a wound from fighting a corrupted cleric.
“What the hell, what are you doing?”
The leader stutters as if embarrassed by my sudden show of self-injury.
Perhaps, somewhere in their hearts, the leader also recognized the truth.
The truth is a bit too much to handle, so I run away.
I lifted the soil around me properly, dusted it on my clothes, and said calmly.
“What are you doing? I’m trying to make a witness that it was self-defense when I killed you.”
“What are you talking about…”
Still, he gave me quite a bit of information, but it’s not polite to send it empty-handed when you go.
“Are you still denying it? Actually, you got the answer right the first time.”
The leader’s expression went blank, then twisted in an instant.
The first leader opened his eyes and called me Ronan Saint.
“You’re a saint…? It can’t be. It can’t be!”
“why?”
“The sect’s secret…”
“Of course, it’s hard information to find out, but is that a reason why I shouldn’t know?”
“Knowing you’re going to brainwash me…”
“Who said he would go back to headquarters? It was just a plausible attitude.”
“Then what the hell have you been doing…!”
“Are you an idiot? Now that you’ve come this far, isn’t it clear which one was acting?”
“Is that all, all acting?”
“Oh, you don’t know how much I struggled to get out of the headquarters while fooling the cardinals.”
Finally, after spreading the soil properly and scarring the clothes, the leader attacked again.
Of course, it was blocked by the barrier, so it had no effect at all.
“Tricked! The church, the people, and the whole world have been fooled!”
“And you were tricked too.”
“I will not forgive you! I will reveal your bare face to the world right away!”
“how?”
The leader could not answer my nonchalant question.
“Turn it off!”
Because both of my arms were broken before I knew it, I was busy holding back my screams.
tolerate it well
“How are you going to tell me?”
From nob le mt l. com
Likewise, the leader who collapsed and struggled on the spot when his legs were broken.
I slowly approached and hugged the leader.
Knock!
In the meantime, the spirit of biting my neck with his teeth was certainly commendable, but in the first place, it wasn’t because I suddenly felt sorry for the leader, but I had prepared a defensive technique around me in advance.
As it was, I hugged the leader and lay down on the floor.
Since the leader had broken limbs, he could not resist and was naturally placed on top of me.
Ugh, I’m not in a good mood either.
“I absolutely must have you…!”
In the meantime, the leader was biting the barrier and cursing me.
This makes me feel like a villain.
I looked blankly at the ceiling of the barracks and said my final goodbyes to the leader to relieve this uncomfortable feeling.
“I’ll make good use of the sacred tools you left behind.”
“This noooooum!!”
bang!
I blew up the entire barracks while the leader started to go mad again.
“Saint Ronan…!”
The next moment, it was a set procedure for the princess, who was not far from the barracks, to blow the leader’s head off.
