LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 340
Inquisition.
They are the sharpest blade of the Church of Life, a dagger that never reveals itself.
An executioner of those who tarnish and betray the faith of the Church of Life, and a flame of purification that burns all sins.
But do not fear them. If you are not a heretic, if you have not forsaken the most sacred goddess, then they will live as ordinary priests.
However, if you are a heretic, then tremble.
Their eyes are everywhere, and their blades will appear from anywhere.
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Thus, the High Priest of the Church of Life chose a few exceptionally devout individuals among the pilgrims and priests who possess the ability to defend themselves.
There will be fights with Necromancers, so he selected those with martial power to protect themselves. After focusing on training them for a short period and teaching them the newly created divine magic I developed, they took on the duties of Inquisition.
Well, even if they are called Inquisition, they don’t always do that job! If there’s no heresy, they just live as ordinary priests!
Usually, they carry on with their priestly duties… but when heretics appear or people who disturb the Church of Life show up, they stop their priestly work and take on their duties as Inquisition.
It reminds me of a certain route shooter TPS game… but, what can you do.
Heretics are not always present, and it shouldn’t happen that innocent people are burned while they are seeking heresy.
Instead, how about a secret police…? A civilian police…? Something like that. It seems they’ve turned into Inquisition when heretics appear, while normally working earnestly as priests!
In any case, after receiving training and learning the new divine magic, the Inquisition began to chase after the Necromancers and succeeded in exterminating them in no time.
They were Necromancers possessing a considerable amount of death energy, but let’s say the opponent was lacking. Or perhaps I intentionally chose a counter-pick.
The newly created divine magic I passed on, the flame of purification, was a divine magic that burns away the wicked and returns them to their original form.
Depending on how it is used, it could shoot flame arrows, swirl around weapons, or wrap around one’s body to charge and beat down opponents.
It was optimized for burning away wicked things like the energy of death.
With the excellent martial power of the pilgrims wandering the continent, the recovery using divine magic, and the physical enhancements all working together, a synergy effect was achieved…
“With this, we can hold our heads up in South Romania.”
“That’s great to hear.”
Seeing the satisfied face of the High Priest, I also smiled.
Hmm. I rather liked the moderately made divine magic and the work of Inquisition. Yes.
There could always be someone thinking absurd thoughts, and there was a need for the power to suppress or subdue them.
If the pilgrims are the external martial strength, then I could say the Inquisitors are like the internal enforcement squad.
“However, it seems the damage in South Romania is considerable, even though it wasn’t a long time.”
“Is that so? It didn’t seem like the response was late.”
“It seems the Necromancers who escaped from the temple scattered all over South Romania, causing substantial damage. During that process, it took quite a while for the Inquisition to suppress the Necromancers… The soldiers of South Romania helped to track down the Necromancers, but they couldn’t defeat the walking corpses.”
“Walking corpses…? Do you mean the undead?”
“Undead…? Does that mean beings that do not die?”
Ah, I guess the word undead didn’t exist yet.
“Yes. It’s a name I roughly made up.”
“That’s quite fitting. Undead… Hm. Anyway, there seems to have been considerable damage during the process of tracking down and apprehending the scattered Necromancers.”
Indeed, the damage increased as they scattered and caused problems here and there.
If they had been gathered in one place, we could have eliminated them all at once, but they scattered, prolonging the time.
While the Inquisitors had an overwhelmingly advantageous compatibility against the Necromancers, the problem was their limited numbers. It couldn’t be helped.
“How much damage is there?”
“There were only minor injuries among our Inquisition, with no fatalities. The damage in South Romania hasn’t all been tallied, but… minor damage includes tombs being disturbed in the graveyard, while the soldiers involved in the hunt of the Necromancers also suffered considerable losses. For serious damage, there were reports of small settlements being wiped out.”
“Hmm… I can roughly guess the disturbance of the graveyard, but to wipe out a settlement…”
The Necromancers who escaped from the temple near the dragon’s tomb, filled with death energy, would have realized that their options to enhance their powers using death energy were limited.
The most suitable place to gather such death energy would have been the graveyards.
Especially in a village where there is no luxury to cremate bodies, the death energy would be all the more concentrated.
Though the funeral culture that partially eases the sins of the dead through cremation is widespread, firewood is not free.
To create a fire hot enough to leave only bones, a considerable amount of firewood would be necessary.
Thus, poor villages wouldn’t have the luxury to cremate bodies… and the death energy emanating from the buried bodies would be good prey for the Necromancers wanting to grow their power.
So they must have rummaged through the graveyard…
Hmm. If those who just dug up graves and ran away are moderates, then those who wiped out small settlements might be… radicals.
If they wiped out a settlement and left the bodies gathered, the death energy would naturally accumulate from those corpses left behind. Especially from those who met an unfair and unjust demise, even thicker energy would gather.
It could be termed an efficient act to harvest death energy… but it’s an act that seems to have abandoned humanity.
“Have all the Necromancers been caught?”
“We managed to identify and apprehend all those causing havoc in South Romania. However, we weren’t able to locate those who disappeared after fleeing from the temple and haven’t caused any issues…”
Are there Necromancers who have completely gone underground? Hm…
Well, it can’t be helped. If they cause problems, locating them wouldn’t have been difficult, but if they’ve completely gone underground, then the limited numbers of the Inquisition can’t help it.
If it were up to me, I’d want to apprehend them all… but if I did, there’s a chance we might also capture innocent people. That’s a headache.
“For those we can’t find leads on, there’s nothing we can do. As long as no issues arise, let’s maintain the status quo.”
“Applying a bit of pressure might help us identify them…”
“Then innocent people might get labeled as heretics. The Inquisition possesses might and divine magic that surpasses regular priests, and their authority is strong, but that’s why we must be cautious when wielding their power.”
Heretics are to be burned at the stake! Hot ha!! I don’t want that end-of-the-century style Inquisition! Keeping it within common sense is preferable!
Well, it may be a somewhat lenient judgment.
“Indeed. A sharp blade must be wielded more carefully.”
“Yes. Precisely.”
The High Priest smiled faintly, perhaps having understood what I wanted to say.
“Then, returning to the Necromancers, a considerable number of them have died at the hands of the Inquisition and the army of South Romania. We managed to capture some, but…”
“Some?”
“There are some disputes concerning the treatment of the captured Necromancers.”
Disputes over the treatment of Necromancers? What kind of problem now?
“First, South Romania. They, who suffered the greatest damage, want to execute all captured Necromancers as part of their internal regulation.”
Execution… execution. Well, I can’t say it’s unwarranted.
Disturbing graves is quite infuriating, but there shouldn’t have been any loss of life, so it could be overlooked at a stretch…
However, destroying a settlement and wiping out the survivors crosses the line.
From South Romania’s perspective, they’d likely want to tear them apart and kill them all.
“Next, Procyon.”
“Procyon?”
“Yes. The city of Mages. Procyon.”
Why are they suddenly throwing themselves into this? Procyon? Why Procyon?!
They weren’t directly injured, so what’s the reason?
Wait a second. Could it be?
“The Mages… want to research the Necromancers?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
Oh my! Those knowledge junkies!!!
Anyway, the Mages’ curiosity significantly impacted the degeneration of the Necromancers! There’s no way these knowledge junkies would let that go!
“They are demanding the captured Necromancers in exchange for helping with the recovery of damaged South Romania.”
“Hm… That sounds troublesome.”
“Yes. It’s indeed a headache.”
The High Priest began rubbing his forehead at that point.
“And lastly, there are opinions within our Church of Life as well.”
“Internal opinions? Regarding the Necromancers?”
“Yes. The ones who made the greatest contributions to subduing and capturing them are from our Church of Life, so wouldn’t it be appropriate for us to handle it?”
Well, that’s reasonable, but…
The opinions of South Romania, who suffered damage, are not incorrect, and the opinions within the Church of Life are valid too, but Procyon? You guys stay out of this. You could be considered the root cause.
“What do you want to do?”
At my question, the High Priest rubbed between his eyebrows and opened his mouth.