Chapter 32

Perhaps because their profession made them accustomed to seeing corpses, the three knights were calmly discussing the bodies as they inspected them. The corpses were melted as if they had been subjected to some kind of biochemical terror, yet the knights looked on as if it were nothing. They noted things like how, unlike normal demonic energy that rots the respiratory system first, this had destroyed the outer skin tissue—and that it was definitely Grade 10 or higher.

‘It’s only thanks to the fog that it’s this much. If it weren’t for that…’

My stomach turned at the thought that I would have seen even more, and in much greater detail, if the air had been clear. Still, it was a small comfort to have my comrade, Kalat, standing next to me with his hands clamped over his mouth just like I was.

“Judging by how the bodies are only inside the village, it seems they were attacked without warning.”

“Could they have been struck by the demonic energy before they even had a chance to evacuate? If the energy spread in an instant…”

As Arianne trailed off, sounding unsure herself, Ilian immediately countered.

“Is that even possible? This is Grade 10 we’re talking about.”

“It’s hard for me to even imagine what kind of magic beast would have to appear for that grade of energy to spread across this entire vast County.”

“Ha… true. It’s not like a magic beast above Grade 10 would just exist.”

The three knights, having lost their sense of direction, fell back into deep thought. Seeing this, Kalat mustered the courage to speak up.

“Or maybe they were poisoned slowly, without anyone noticing?”

“You mean to say all these people were poisoned and died at the exact same speed on the same day at the same time?”

“…I suppose that would be difficult.”

-Shut down immediately lol.

-Kalat is just the comic relief.

“Saintess, do you happen to know anything?”

Eventually, they turned to me for help, but I immediately shook my head.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t had any more dreams related to this.”

To the party members, who couldn’t hide their disappointment, I once again emphasized the direction I had originally suggested.

“However, one thing is certain. That mansion is suspicious.”

“Hmm… so you’re saying we should head to the mansion. I wanted to conduct a bit more of a search, but…”

Ilian let out a low groan. The protagonist nodded in agreement.

“I feel the same. We should look for any possible survivors.”

“Sir Hereis. I said that because I wanted to find the magic beast causing the demonic contamination.”

“I agree with the Vice-Commander. Why did we come here in the first place? Wasn’t it to save people?”

“I think ending this situation quickly to prevent future incidents would save more people in the long run.”

Somehow, their tone was becoming increasingly sharp.

“Searching just a little bit more won’t take that long…”

“You can’t even see an inch in front of you, and you’re saying it won’t take long?”

“If you can’t see an inch in front of you, how are we supposed to find the magic beast?”

“Is the cause of the demonic contamination always a magic beast?”

The one who asked the question so nonchalantly was Kalat. I was grateful he broke up the conversation as it was starting to overheat, but I felt drained by his lack of knowledge—it made me wonder how he even got attached to this investigation team. Ilian and Arianne looked at Kalat with expressions of utter disillusionment, while the kind protagonist did his best to explain with a forced smile.

“Mostly, yes. However, the search method changes depending on what kind of magic beast it is…”

“Don’t knights know how to do that sensing thing by projecting mana? Can’t you just find the magic beast with that?”

Oh… that was a sharp point. Both Arianne and the protagonist were outstanding knights; shouldn’t they be able to spread their ‘qi’ and sense if others were nearby? I had frequently seen the protagonist lower his voice and check the door before someone even entered the room, so I knew he was capable of it. Curious, I waited quietly for his answer… and Ilian, with a vein popping on his forehead, replied with his eyes squeezed shut.

“If we could do that, we would have done it already. But we are currently inside a contaminated zone. Detecting a magic beast requires sensing the demonic energy leaking from it. Do you think that’s possible inside a Grade 10 field of demonic energy?”

“So what you’re saying is that everyone is currently a puppy with a stuffed-up nose?”

“A-A puppy…?”

“That’s a bit much.”

“I like it. It’s cute.”

-LOL Arianne is in shock.

-Ilian actually likes it?

“Ahem. Anyway, to find the ‘Mother’ (the source) within a contaminated zone, we have no choice but to search on foot. It’s extremely inefficient. And dangerous.”

Arianne added that within the Knights’ Order, the magic beast causing a demonic contamination is referred to as the “Mother.”

“The lucky thing is that because this is a Special-Grade contaminated zone, all the lower-tier magic beasts have fled.”

“Then that means there are no threats from other magic beasts?”

“Excluding that one magic beast acting as the Mother, yes.”

That was somewhat comforting to hear. After a brief meeting, our future course was decided. The Imperial Knights’ side wanted to find more survivors, but Ilian argued that they shouldn’t waste their strength when they didn’t know what dangers awaited at the Count’s mansion. They compromised by agreeing to stop at just one more location on the way.

“The chances seem very slim, but I hope anyone is still alive.”

It was a righteous wish, typical of a protagonist.

-Go go.

-I don’t think anyone will be alive.

-Hey, no raining on the parade.

However, that wish did not come true.

“…”

“…”

Just as the viewers had chatted, there were no warm, living beings to be found.

-Wow, the atmosphere is heavy.

-LOL.

In the end, we headed toward the Count’s mansion without any significant results.

“Ahem! Count Garain was the owner of a diamond mine, wasn’t he?”

A series of failures, and people who had died gruesome deaths. In the midst of the sinking atmosphere, only Kalat chattered away busily. It seemed he was trying his best to change the mood in his own way.

“Does a man of the cloth keep up with such news?”

“The Count is a war hero and quite famous, isn’t he? And the Countess is said to be incredibly beautiful! I’ve been so curious! Oh, wait.”

-Um, excuse me, mister…

“That is a truly priest-like remark.”

If it had been a desperate attempt to change the mood, I would have defended him, but this was a bit much.

‘It’s so obvious he’s being sincere.’

“No, well, I just… out of curiosity…”

“It seems you need to show some restraint, Priest Kalat. I wonder if you really want to act like this among the deceased.”

Far from changing the mood, things turned even colder. Eventually, even Kalat shut his mouth. We walked in silence through the frozen atmosphere for a while until a large mansion began to appear in the distance.

“I’m glad we arrived before it got dark—”

“Huh!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What is that?!”

I looked at the exterior of the mansion sprawling before my eyes. Fitting for the residence of the owner of the Empire’s largest diamond mine, it was massive enough to rival a castle, and it was surrounded by a giant semi-transparent dome. Unlike the outside, where the air was thick and murky with demonic energy, the inside of the hemisphere was pristine.

“My goodness. It’s exactly as the Saintess described.”

While Arianne marveled at the sight, Ilian and Kalat stared at the mansion with hardened expressions.

“No, how can this be…?”

Kalat rubbed his eyes as if doubting his own vision and looked again, but nothing had changed. He muttered under his breath without realizing it.

“A barrier of that scale… the only thing capable of that would be the Holy Relic the Church lent out…”

“Priest Kalat.”

“Ah, ah. Right.”

Ilian quickly intervened to stop the slip of the tongue that had come out as naturally as breathing, but the protagonist and Arianne had already heard him.

“What is it? What’s this ‘Holy Relic’? Who did you give it to?!”

“W-well, that is…”

When Arianne pressed for an answer, Ilian eventually gave in.

“From what we know, it was the Kingdom of Brishwin. We understand they paid a very large donation and leased it about ten years ago, claiming the magic beast invasions were becoming too severe.”

As soon as she heard Ilian’s words, Arianne’s eyebrows shot up.

“The Kingdom of Brishwin? Ha! We have a lead on that as well.”

“And what might that be?”

“That—!”

Arianne, who had been venting her anger fiercely, suddenly realized her mistake and shifted her eyes toward the protagonist.

“Vice-Commander, may I speak about this?”

Kalat, having lost his patience, immediately bit back.

“Excuse me? You were throwing a fit demanding we tell you everything! And now you’re holding out on us?”

“A f-fit?”

-Talk about a double standard lol.

I agreed with the chat. The protagonist looked at Arianne with a pathetic gaze and shook his head, but a superior must cover for their subordinate’s mistakes. He soon told us the truth.

“This is classified information, so the two of you must keep it to yourselves. Since we are setting foot in that mansion, I think it’s better if we exchange the information we have.”

“We understand. The details regarding the leasing and removal of Holy Relics are also strictly confidential. Let’s agree to keep each other’s secrets.”

“There was intelligence that the Countess of Garain has been funneling the profits from the diamond mine to the Kingdom of Brishwin.”

“Huh, so that was the reason for the Imperial Knights’ expedition?”

“Something like that,” the protagonist replied with a shrug.

Kalat shuddered, remarking that the whole thing smelled of something far worse than just a simple scandal.

“Oh, and it would be best if we didn’t use the title ‘Saintess’ inside the mansion.”

“In the Saintess’s prophetic dream, she said to be wary of the Countess. Is that why, Vice-Commander?”

“That’s part of it, but we still don’t know the Countess’s objective. I think we should extract information without acting too suspicious.”

“Mmm~ then what should we call her?”

Kalat looked at me with expectant eyes, waiting for my answer.

“Just call me by a nickname. Lita.”

There’s nothing like a nickname to establish a sense of familiarity.

“Haha, calling the Saintess by a nickname feels blasphemous, but I suppose we have no choice for now!”

“It’s simple and nice.”

“It’s somewhat cute.”

The protagonist didn’t trigger a notification, but he seemed to like it too.

“Open the door this instant!”

BANG!

“Um, Sir Arianne, you could hit it a little softer…”

We had arrived at the front gate of the mansion while chatting comfortably. Arianne was pounding on the door with fists full of rage. Since it was now almost certain that the Countess was the key figure in this crisis, she was apparently incensed beyond measure. Seeing Arianne’s fierce spirit, we all chose to wait quietly.

“Open up!”

BANG!

“I think that should be enough…”

-I’m worried the door’s gonna break.

“I said open— oh…”

Creeeeeak— Thump!

“W-what on earth…!”

A man in a knight’s uniform opened the door.

“Aaaah! A person!”

-He’s the one who opened it and he’s still startled lol.

-I mean, of course a person would be knocking, did he think it was a ghost?

“M-My Lady!”

The knight, falling and landing on his backside like he was in a slapstick comedy, cried out for his lady and vanished again. We waited patiently to avoid stepping into someone else’s home without permission, and finally, the owner of this mansion, the Countess of Garain, made her appearance.

For the record, the protagonist and Kalat had to use their entire bodies to hold back Arianne, who tried to charge in blindly…

“Oh my. We have some unexpected guests.”

-Whoa, holy crap.

-Wait, she’s literally glowing in the illustration.

-Can we not romance this older lady?

Her wheat-colored hair was neatly braided over one shoulder, and she wore a thin dress that accentuated her figure. Her warm green eyes added a touch of innocence to her characteristic allure. She truly possessed the appearance of the most beautiful woman in the game’s official setting.

‘Wow… her real self looks way better than the illustration.’

I accidentally thought that, but now wasn’t the time for such things. If I acted like this, how would I be any different from Kalat? Of course, Kalat took it a step further than I did.

“To have made it all the way here safely, you must have gone through unimaginable hardships.”

“A-ah, not at all~! Seeing your beauty, My Lady, it feels as though all the fatigue from the winter cold is washing away. Ahahaha!”

It’s still autumn, man…