Following the trail (2) Swoosh!
The golden sacred power swirling around Martinez shot towards the human traffickers, bound by iron chains.
They tried to resist by shooting, but Martinez's sacred alchemy was unfazed by the bullets.
The human traffickers, bound by the massive iron chains, collapsed to the ground without even being able to resist.
Martinez, who seemed like he would burn the human traffickers alive, displayed an astonishing level of patience and subdued them without killing them.
But it wasn't a simple suppression. The heat of the sacred flame embedded in the chains penetrated their skin, causing those bound to scream in pain.
"Wh-What......"
The man who had been grabbed and thrown by Osian pupils trembled as he watched the scene.
He thought his colleagues would turn the attacker into a beehive, but instead, a strange guy had intervened.
Moreover, the golden power he was wielding - wasn't this the sacred power of the Petra Order?"Wh-What are you doing to us! We did everything we were told!"
Seemingly half-confused by the unbelievable situation, he blurted out whatever came to mind.
"Don't tell me you're trying to cut ties now? After making us kidnap and bring those kids and using us however you wanted?!"
Upon hearing those words, Osian's expression hardened coldly.
Elise, Johan, and Martinez, who had just arrived at the scene, had the same reaction.
The human trafficker's words carried such impact that they could potentially escalate to something very serious.
"What are you......?"
The moment he saw Martinez's expression, the human trafficker realized he had made a grave mistake.
How else could they be so shaken by his outburst and raving?
But the water was already spilled, and it was too late to take back those words.
The pain of being stabbed in the thigh made him snap to his senses. Osian, now right in front of him, was looking down at the man with a pure white sacred light in his eyes.
"You're going to explain that statement. Very. Carefully."
*
Of course, the man did not immediately open his mouth.
He tried to brush it off, claiming he was just spouting nonsense out of fear.
Naturally, it was an impossible excuse. The kidnapped children had already emerged from the sacks inside the truck.
"What were these children going to be used for?"
"What reason do human traffickers need for kidnapping people? Obviously to sell them for money."
As he chuckled and spoke, Osian frowned.
"It seems more pain is necessary."
Osian inserted his sword between the muscle fibers of the man's thigh.
Even that alone would be a pain that would bleach his hair, but the human trafficker continued to scream while refusing to reveal the truth.
"Hmm."
Osian pulled out his sword. Looking at the man's pale complexion, he thought if he continued, the man would not survive.
At that moment, Elise raised her hand.
"I can do it."
"Formal speech."
"......Yes."
"What are you planning to do?"
"Can find...information......."
Osian looked at Elise skeptically, but it was true that he didn't have a better method.
"Give it a try."
Once Osian gave permission, Elise approached the human trafficker.
"What now? I know nothing!"
"......"
Elise looked at the human trafficker's thigh and then used black magic.
The flowing blood returned to the wound, and the torn muscles and skin were sewn together.
As the wound healed, the human trafficker looked up at Elise with a bewildered expression. His face questioned why she was healing him instead of torturing him.
"To interrogate, you need to be in a stable condition. That's how it works."
"What?"
"Now it begins."
Elise slowly extended both her hands towards the human trafficker.
Her fingers curled as if grasping an invisible large sphere in the air.
Black magical power emerged between her fingers like thin lines, forming a shape.
It was a black brain.
Black threads, like tentacles protruding from the brain, touched the human trafficker's head.
The human trafficker tried to resist but couldn't, having been beaten to a pulp by Osian.
The black lines burrowed into his skull and penetrated his brain.
"Hik, Hiik!"
The human trafficker rolled his eyes and trembled.
Elise, ignoring his reaction, confirmed the magic had been properly activated and turned to Osian.
"Can ask questions now......."
Osian frowned at the sight. The black magic Elise used seemed to be a mental manipulation type.
Directly inserting black magical threads into the opponent's brain - wasn't this a grotesque method?
However, Martinez seemed to focus on its effectiveness and nodded quietly in admiration.
"A black magic that controls the opponent's mind to extract information. Black magicians have created such efficient magic in their own way. If only the Order had such an ability."
"......"
Lest anyone call him out for being a heretic hunter, Martinez did not show any shock at Elise’s use of black magic.
"Tsk. Barbaric."
Osian couldn't help but click his tongue in disdain.
Martinez looked at Osian with wide eyes at those words.
His eyes seemed to say, "You? Said that?"
Which is more barbaric - constantly pulling out a sword to torture, or using black magic to control someone's mind and extract information?
Martinez, at least, thought the latter was more efficient and less barbaric.
Most people would probably think the same but Martinez didn't voice these thoughts. He knew Osian would get angry if he said such things here.
Martinez approached the human trafficker and asked,
"What's your name?"
"S-Saulo......"
"Saulo. Who are you? And what are you doing?"
"W-We are......a gang......We kidnap people and sell them for money. Besides that......we do various other things......"
A string of evil deeds committed under the guise of making money flowed from Saulo's mouth.
"Are children so profitable to kidnap?"
"N-No. These kids......they're not profitable. Rather, other work goes better."
"If you know that, why are you kidnapping children?"
"I-I received an order. Especially on a day like today with cloudy weather, it was the most optimal condition."
Information flowed out of his mouth more smoothly than his previous resistance.
Martinez closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
From here, the truly important story began.
"Where were you planning to take the kidnapped children? Who requested this job from you?"
Saulo let out a strangled sound.
Even while being mentally controlled, his subconscious resisted revealing this.
But when Elise added a bit more magical power to the brain she created with black magic, Saulo's resistance instantly subsided.
"The, the client......is the Petra Order."
And the hidden truth flowed from Saulo's mouth.
"We were taking the kidnapped children to the 29th district."
"......"
Johan's face sank heavily.
Even Elise, who always maintained an expressionless face, eyelids tremble slightly.
Saulo's revelation was that shocking.
The Petra Order had commissioned a gang specializing in human trafficking to kidnap children.
Martinez, with his eyes wide open, spoke with murderous intent.
"Is that true? If it's a lie, I'll burn you alive for blasphemy."
"I-It's true. The Petra Order definitely paid us to forcibly bring the children."
"Could Ezekiel, the district leader, be involved?"
"I don't know that much. I just did what I was told because I was paid."
The questioning ended there.
As Martinez stepped back, Elise retrieved the black magical threads from Saulo's head.
Saulo, who had been trembling, regained his original focus.
"Wh-What is this......?"
He seemed unaware of what had just happened.
But based on the atmosphere of Osian's group and the black magic Elise had used on him just before losing consciousness, he could sufficiently guess what occurred.
"Oh, no. I......"
Saulo, who had leaked an absolutely confidential truth, tried to escape but failed.
His body had no strength, despite his mind being clear.
"Wh-What is this? Why can't I......"
Saulo was bewildered. He had no sensation in his body. His head was fine, but from the neck down, his body seemed to be acting separately.
While Saulo was confused by this strange feeling, Elise spoke as if she'd just remembered something.
"Oh. It’s a side effect of the magic. Because I slightly mishandled the brain, the nervous system is paralyzed, making movement impossible."
"Wh-What?"
"It’s an extremely low probability side effect. You were just unlucky."
"You bas-!"
Before Saulo could finish cursing, Johan, the vagrant boss, swung a staff heavily towards his chin.
Boom!
Saulo collapsed weakly to the side. He would likely spend the rest of his life lying down.
"What will you all do now?"
Johan asked.
The situation was far from pleasant for him. They had caught human traffickers and extracted information, but the Petra Order was involved.
Even if one was a leader of an organization, for someone who was essentially a vagrant, it was too big to handle.
"I'll step back here. It's too much for me to intervene. Please understand with generosity even if I withdraw."
"I know. Since this was a deal to find human traffickers, our transaction is practically over at this point."
"......Don't worry, I have no plans to talk about this anywhere."
Johan spoke while being conscious of Martinez.
This was a matter where the Order's disgrace was exposed. Martinez might suddenly massacre the witnesses here.
"Hmm. The 29th district. Is that the next destination?"
Osian muttered softly to himself. But no one missed hearing those words.
"You're not thinking of going to the Order, are you?"
"Why not?"
Martinez was also surprised. He turned to Osian and asked if he was serious.
"Go to the Order? That's madness."
"Why? It seems Colleo is in the 29th district. We need to go find him."
"It's the Petra Order, for heaven's sake. No matter who you are, going to such a place is......"
"Don't you want to save Colleo?"
"That's......"
Martinez hesitated and wavered in his response.
Due to the shocking events occurring in succession, his mind was tangled in a way difficult to express.
Martinez ultimately said nothing. But his silence was not an affirmation of Osian's words.
"Do you still want to believe the Order is good?"
"That's......"
"If they truly intended to treat Colleo well, why did they commission human traffickers to kidnap him? What about the other children? From their story, it seems they've done this not just once or twice."
"......"
Martinez could not refute anything. Even with ten mouths, he would have been the same.
He actually knew. That District Leader Ezekiel was scheming something and kidnapping children.
This was not just about Colleo. Perhaps this had been happening before, maybe for quite a long time.
The older siblings who had first left the orphanage and the other children who had left even earlier.
"And you want to end this here while making excuses?"
"I-I......"
Martinez responded with a trembling voice.
"I don't know. What should I do here? What should I believe?"
Martinez had believed in the Order's teachings his entire life. The Order's teachings were the doctrine of the God of Light.
He thought that performing the teachings of the Heavenly Father was his life and purpose.
That's why he could be thorough and hunt heretics with his outstanding talent.
But coming to Tirna changed many things.
His living environment changed, he met new people, and saw a broader world.
As he saw more, he not only realized things he didn't know but also witnessed truths he didn't want to know.
Just like now.
"The Order never does bad things. They are justice itself, goodness, eradicating the world's evil......"
"I don't need such pathetic words."
Osian cut off Martinez's words without mercy.
"You don't know what to do and what to believe? That's all just an excuse. What you need to do is very simple."
"Simple, you say?"
"Yes. Go directly to the 29th district and confirm. See what's happening there and what happened to Colleo."
The moment Martinez saw Osian's eyes, he involuntarily took a breath.
Those eyes. The black pupils with unwavering conviction, like when he fought to protect Ena Grundt in the golden field.
In those pupils, he saw the image of a boy struggling and wandering.
"I......"
Martinez couldn't respond.
Osian didn't want an immediate answer right now, so he decided to give him some leeway.
"Tonight, set a place. If you want to confirm the truth, come."
"What if I don't come?"
Osian spoke casually, as if asking what kind of question that was.
"I'll go alone anyway."