Thursons was a B-class mercenary, and he was 34 years old. He was the unlucky guy who had thrown a punch at me and ended up smashed into the basement.
Surprisingly, he looked fine. Either he was naturally tough, or he hadn't been neglecting his training. It meant he was a born brawler, just right to be a mercenary.
"You said that you saw corpses?" I asked.
"That's right."
Corpses under a private house? It was an appropriate setting for a thriller novel. Unfortunately, considering the behavior of the Dark Church, it wasn't strange.
"How many corpses were there?"
"Six corpses in total. By the way..."
"Hm?"
"You believed me right away."
He was saying strange things.
I looked at him with a puzzled expression, and Thursons said, "We know how lacking mercenaries must seem in the eyes of you heroes. Maybe that is why we are often doubted when making simple reports on missions like this. We get asked whether we saw things correctly, and the like."
"Well, I get it. However, didn't you say you were B-class?"
"That's right."
"B-class mercenaries can act anywhere. You are veterans with both experience and a solid track record. That is enough."
At the very least, they weren't pathetic enough to panic when they saw a few corpses.
I walked past Thursons, who looked at me strangely, and headed to the gaping hole. I crouched down in front of it and peered below.
Sniff sniff.
I focused on my sense of smell, but couldn't pick up on any rotting corpses. If that stench had been present, I would've realized it as soon as I entered the building.
That meant there were two possibilities. The mercenary had a hallucination, or someone is up to something.
I had already rejected the former possibility, so there was a high probability it was the latter. No matter what, I had to see it with my own eyes.
I looked at Sandra and asked, "Did you check down there?"
"I did briefly, but I couldn't take a good look. Something felt off, and it was too dark. Still, I saw the corpses. And..." Sandra hesitated for a moment before shaking her head. "No. It is better for you to take a look and judge for yourself."
"Okay. I also have a request for you."
"What is it?"
"My clan leader is with the village chief in the village chief's house. Can you go and check what is going on? If possible, capture the village chief."
"I will do so."
Unexpectedly, Sandra was obedient. She nodded immediately and left the house.
"Now then." I threw myself into the hole.
The basement was larger than I thought. The light spilling through the hole wasn't enough to illuminate everything, so I naturally used the power of the divine beast to dispel the darkness.
"This place looks like a warehouse," I muttered.
I saw a cluttered space around me. There were sacks that were likely full of grain, rusted tools left unused, worn-out clothes, ropes, candles, and other practical items. They were piled up down here in no particular order.
I glanced around and saw another hole leading even further down.
"Aha. That's how it's structured."
It seemed that this place had a second basement floor from the beginning. In other words, the ordinary-looking first basement floor was camouflage. Perhaps if I had used a bit less strength, the space beneath wouldn't have been revealed.
The hole leading to the second floor appeared much deeper than the previous one, but I could clearly see the landing point using the serpent eyes. It was about as deep as a well.
"He fell all the way down there and was fine."
The mercenary called Thursons was much sturdier than I thought.
Still, it wasn't a height that would injure someone if they jumped down. Thus, I threw myself down again.
Thump.
The moment I landed, I immediately realized that the atmosphere had changed. It was cold. Unlike the first floor, where there was still some warmth, this place was cold enough for my breath to come out as mist.
The corpses that the mercenary mentioned were also immediately visible. Were they really corpses, though? At first glance, they looked like they were just sleeping. It was only when I got close that I noticed the complete absence of color on their faces, proving that they were indeed dead. In other words, they were remarkably preserved.
It wasn't simply because the place was cold, either. It was true that the cold prevented decay, but that was only to a certain degree. It was strange that there was no odor.
I walked around the corpses without touching them. Then I realized that their placements weren't as random as they first seemed.
It was faint, but there was a magic circle carved into the floor. I couldn't interpret it, but the shape was a bit familiar. It carried the scent of something unclean, just like at the academy. In other words, it was a black magic circle.
Is it a ritual? Then these corpses are sacrifices.
All I could do was speculate. The field of black magic wasn't shallow enough to be understood with an outsider's eyes. In order to figure it out accurately, I needed to get help from Lise like last time.
In any case, I figured the reason why the corpses hadn't rotted was due to this magic circle.
And...
I turned my attention to what bothered me more than the corpses. It was a stone door that was inexplicably present in the wall.
It was strange. No one would have expected such a large door taking up nearly half of the wall in such a dark, underground space filled with corpses. It had an aura that I couldn't express in words. I could understand why Sandra had told me to take a look myself.
I raised a hand and brought my finger to the edge of the door. I could feel the cold, bumpy surface and the movement of air beyond it. I could feel a faint wind through the cracks in the door, too.
That alone suggested that the space beyond was quite large. There was a high possibility that it was connected to somewhere else.
I didn't feel any distinct presence on the other side, but I also didn't feel the pressing need to open it right now. It would probably be better to prepare a bit more and gather some people before opening it. The village chief likely knew something, so I had to interrogate him too.
For now, this was all I could do.
"Save... me..."
Suddenly, there was a faint voice from beyond the door. It was barely audible, but it belonged to a child.
I clicked my tongue and pushed open the door with all my strength. With a loud bang, the door opened. A cold wind blew like winter had been released. I reflexively tightened my collar.
Fortunately, the cold wind quickly dissipated and the space beyond was revealed. It was just an ordinary ice cave with nothing too strange about it.
Naturally, the village chief couldn't have dug out such a large space underground. It seemed that the village had originally been built on top of the cave.
Doesn't this seem really dangerous?
With a massive space like this right below the village, it wouldn't be surprising if the ground sank one day and the entire village came crashing down.
"Is anyone... there...?"
I hurried toward the voice. I walked through the chilly cave for a while before spotting the child, nearly buried in the cold snow.
His complexion was pale and he looked to be in really bad shape. It seemed he didn't even have the strength to shiver. I immediately wrapped him in my cloak and channeled fire qi into it.
"Uhhh..." The kid finally let out a deep breath, his frost-covered eyes looking up at me.
"It's okay." I nodded slightly to reassure him. Then I picked him up and quickly walked back the way I came.
***
I went up to the main building and saw Oimer with a startled expression.
"Ah, you're back? Uh, is that a corpse?"
"He's still alive. We should warm him up a bit first. I think his whole body is frostbitten."
"U-Understood."
He was the manager of a northern branch and would know how to deal with this kind of situation better than me.
I left the boy with Oimer and was about to go straight to the village when Oimer said from behind me, "Wait a minute! Are you going to the village chief?"
"So?"
"Sandra is already back."
"Really? What about the boss?"
"The leader of Corrupted and the village chief also came. Sandra is interrogating the village chief."
"I'm here." Lanfero descended from the second floor of the building. For some reason, I felt like the shadows under his eyes were even darker than before.
"You're here, Boss. Have you figured out the situation?"
"Roughly. I had just become suspicious of the village chief when a hero called Sandra intervened, cornered him, and subdued him."
"Ah. Is that so?"
The clan leader had already been suspicious of the village chief. I wondered if the reason why Lanfero had sent me away in the first place was to test the chief.
"By the way, where did you get that kid?"
"That..." I explained to Lanfero what I'd seen in the basement.
"Um."
"This is just a feeling, but I think it has something to do with the mission that Senior Feed mentioned."
"Yes. The north might be large, but the timing is too coincidental."
"What was the village chief's attitude?" I wondered.
"He seemed calm. It was almost like he had given up. At the same time, I got the feeling he was still hiding something. I don't know exactly what he is thinking." Lanfero crossed his arms and continued. "Judging from the situation, it is almost certain that Snero is a member of the Dark Church. However, we can't treat him as a church member immediately."
"That's right. There's a difference between almost certain and being 100% certain." I paused for a moment before saying, "I'll have a talk with him myself."
"Do so. I will head to the hunter's hut and pick up the rest of the clan members. I told them to gather information outside, so they might've discovered something."
"Please do so."
Lanfero left the mansion while I entered the room that had become the temporary interrogation room. I opened the door and saw the village chief that had been taken captive. He was bound tightly with rope, his upper body and ankles tied up completely.
I looked at Sandra instead of the chief. She rose from her seat and came over to me. There was a look of annoyance and fatigue on her face. It seemed she was quite stressed.
"Did you get any information?" I asked.
Normally, this type of conversation should have been held completely out of sight. However, this man could be a church follower. I didn't know what he would do if left unattended, so I couldn't leave the room.
I whispered in a voice so low that even I found it hard to hear myself, but Sandra still replied.
"I tried coaxing him, reasoning with him, and even threatening him, but it didn't work. He just keeps repeating the same lines over and over again like a parrot. Honestly, it is annoying."
"Did you use any more extreme methods?"
"Yes. To be honest, I used some violence. It didn't really work." Sandra sighed with frustration. "He is an old man who is past his prime. If I go too hard, he might die. It is a tricky situation."
"I'll deal with him from now on, so you can take a break."
"Yes. Please do so."
Sandra left, leaving only me and the village chief in the room. I sat down in front of the chief and studied his expression carefully.
His wrinkled face was filled with traces of time, his eyes stared into the air, and his tightly pressed lips showed stubbornness. All of these elements combined to make him resemble an old tree rising in the middle of a snowfield.
I had never interrogated anyone before, but I could tell that mere words wouldn't work on this kind of person. Even torture probably won't work.
Then in order to target such a person, I had to find his weaknesses. Only such a weakness would break the old man's composure.
I slowly pieced together all the information I had gathered so far, but I couldn't find anything that could be a clue.
At this moment, the village chief sighed and spoke. "I don't know anything."
I listened silently.
"I don't know what happened in this village, but I'm not involved. You are persecuting an innocent person. Release me at once."
"Corpses were found under the mansion you rented out. There are six of them."
"I don't know anything about that."
"Really? Then why did you suddenly kick out Corrupted? I heard from Branch Manager Oimer that you came up with the idea first."
"That is also wrong. I... I never said that." His voice trembled and his eyes turned red as if tears were about to pour out.
He really looks innocent. Could I be wrong? Maybe this old man had just been caught up in the church's scheme and I was misunderstanding the situation. If so, we were making a big mistake.
I talked to Snero for quite a long time. The more I talked, the more I became confused. At times, he seemed suspicious. At other times, he seemed innocent.
"Ugh." Suddenly, my hunger, thirst and fatigue hit me all at once.
Thinking back, I'd just arrived in the village today, but I couldn't eat, wash or rest properly. We were all struggling to live, so I couldn't help wondering what the hell was going on.
At this moment, the door opened and an unexpected figure appeared.
The woman dressed in a neat nun's outfit smiled when she met my eyes. She said, "Thank you for the hard work. I'll take care of it now, Brother."
"Ah."
Why hadn't I thought of this before? We had an expert in interrogating heretics. In my mind, however, she felt more like a Colorless believer than an inquisitor of the Seventy-Two Churches. As a result, I'd forgotten about it.
"Will it be okay? He isn't easy to deal with."
"Of course. I've never had an easy interrogation." Verita grinned and sat down in front of Snero. Then she started to speak with a gentle smile. "Hello, Chief Snero."
"Are you an inquisitor of the Seventy-Two Churches?"
"That's right."
"Then you have no right to interrogate me."
"Why is that?"
Snero lowered his head. I wondered what he was doing. Then I saw him biting a necklace string with his mouth. His hands were tied up and unusable, so he seemed to be trying to take off the necklace that way.
What was revealed was an inverted cross-shaped rosary, a symbol of the Seventy-Two Churches.
"I am also a member of the Seventy-Two Churches. I was formally baptized."
Verita listened quietly.
"Of course, I don't intend to use this to claim my innocence. There are Dark Church members hiding even among the members of the Seventy-Two Churches. Only high-ranking members have the authority to interrogate fellow believers and judge their sincerity. A mere inquisitor doesn't have the right to persecute me." The village chief stared at Verita with steady eyes.
"One more thing. I swear to God that I am innocent and I won't give in to any threats." He finished his declaration and closed his eyes tightly, looking reverent enough to make me feel amazed.
" Haha ." Verita chuckled softly. Then she shook her head and said, "Chief, you really don't know anything."
"What?"
"It doesn't matter whether you are a Dark Church believer, a member of the Seventy-Two Churches, or any other identity you claim."
The next moment, Verita grabbed the back of the chief's head and slammed it down into the table. The sickening sound of a nose bone being crushed filled the air. The chief groaned, the pain catching up to him belatedly.
Verita pressed her hand down firmly on him and whispered into his ear, "If I say you are a heretic then you are a heretic. How dare you invoke the name of God, you son of a bitch who doesn't even know who you are facing?"
I stiffened slightly, and Verita turned her head to ask me a question. "Ah right, Brother. I want to ask you something."
"H-Huh?"
"How much of him can I break?"
"What?"
Verita continued speaking. "So this heretic here. Can I kill him? Is it okay to permanently disable him? What about making sure he looks fine on the outside while his mind is destroyed?"
"Uh... That... I'm not sure."
"You mean you are leaving it to me. I understand."
Verita smiled at the chief, whose face was still buried in the desk, and sat back down on her chair. She covered one eye with her palm, and her revealed eye shone with a golden light.
"Now, Chief Snero. Shall we take a moment to get to know each other? There is no need to worry. We have a lot of time before the sun goes down."