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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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Chapter 12: First Mission (1)
Inside the Theocracy, there is an Inquisition called Eclipse.
Ray, who had been summoned, encountered a familiar face in front of the Inquisition building.
"Ah, Brother Ray!"
Sister Jenny, with her bright red hair and cheerful smile, greeted Ray.
"Sister Jenny? What brings you here?"
"I was summoned. You too, Brother Ray?"
Apparently, all the new recruits had been summoned to the Inquisition at the same time.
It didn't feel like an ordinary situation.
Since they weren’t yet full members, they had to apply for entry at the entrance and wait. While waiting, Jenny looked around the Inquisition building with sparkling eyes.
The Inquisition building had a heavy, dark, gothic style.
Thick, fortress-like walls, a dusky exterior color.
There were no gardens or landscaping around the large building, only hard, bare stone ground.
Everything about it gave off a heavy, ominous feeling.
But Jenny seemed to see it differently.
"Wow~ so this is the Inquisition. Even the vibe is different. Ruthless aura? You can feel it, right?"
"Are you sure you’re not just saying it feels creepy?"
"Isn't that the charm of Eclipse? It’s like, 'An Inquisition should be like this!' kind of feeling?"
Ray had sensed it when Jenny openly talked back to nobles; her sensitivity wasn’t exactly ordinary.
Normally, she acted like a lively girl of her age, but when she fought wielding a halberd, she showed an intense ferocity, a stark contrast.
"By the way, Brother Ray, how old are you this year?"
"I'm sixteen."
"Such a baby."
"And how old are you, Sister Jenny?"
Jenny puffed out her chest proudly and answered.
"Seventeen! I'm your big sister!"
'Still a baby, though.'
In this world, seventeen was considered an adult.
Since most people married before turning twenty, seventeen wasn’t considered young.
"Ray, why don’t you just call me 'big sis'? And drop the formal speech."
"Should I? Jenny noona."
"That's better!"
Ray had said something similar to Henry before.
He had also dropped formalities with Henry, who was fifteen.
"We commoners have to stick together. Those fucking nobles keep trying to crush us with their status."
"Are you, by any chance, talking about me?"
The voice came from none other than Aaron Graham the ‘fucking noble’ Jenny had been talking about.
"Oh~ young master, you’re here! Did you hear all that?"
"Who are you calling young master? You really have no manners."
"You heard, right? Ray, this second-place noble is trying to oppress a poor, humble commoner girl like me. Chief, say something!"
"Why drag me into this…?"
While Ray looked troubled, Aaron, irritated by being called ‘second place’ snapped back.
"You’re ranked fourth, aren't you? A lower-ranked peasant like you dares talk back to me!"
"Wow, young master, you’re bragging because you scored higher than an uneducated commoner? You were born with everything handed to you wouldn’t it be a bigger problem if you didn’t outperform me?"
"Ugh…!"
Aaron was struck speechless by Jenny’s sharp retort.
Jenny, seizing the moment, pressed on with a mischievous grin.
"Besides~ our Ray here is first place~ and he didn’t grow up with private tutors or important parents like you had~"
"Grrr…!"
Aaron ground his teeth furiously.
Ray couldn’t help but mentally grade the two of them.
Jenny: nasty personality.
Aaron: relatively good-natured.
'Formally, social class shouldn’t matter here… but in practice, it obviously still does. Jenny sure knows how to provoke.'
Jenny wasn’t a naive girl who didn’t understand the power and influence nobles held.
Her attitude toward nobles carried a certain "malice."
There must be some complicated backstory behind it.
'Honestly, Aaron could crush her with his status if he wanted.'
If Aaron wished, suppressing Jenny would be easy.
But whether out of principle or pride, Aaron didn’t strongly retaliate against Jenny’s provocations.
He might be arrogant, but he wasn’t a bad person.
Clap!
Ray clapped loudly to break the awkward atmosphere.
"Everyone was summoned, right? Let’s head inside."
As Ray said, the entrance to the Inquisition was now open.
As expected, all three had been summoned for the same task.
"Greetings. I am Father Moro, an inquisitor of Eclipse, currently serving as an armed priest."
The priest who introduced himself to Father Moro had a very gentle and warm appearance.
But no one dared to let their guard down.
Eclipse, the Inquisition organisation.
If the Holy Knight Order was the hammer that smashed the enemies of the Theocracy, then Eclipse was the dagger that silently pierced heretics in the shadows.
They operated across the entire continent, and their infamy even among the faithful was legendary.
"Ray Anderson, Aaron Graham, Jenny Delilah. You three will accompany me on this mission."
A mission!
The most crucial task of the armed organizations.
Being deployed on a mission this early was proof of recognition, and the new recruits couldn’t hide their excitement.
Even Aaron tried to mask his eagerness as he calmly asked:
"May we ask about the mission details?"
"It concerns a witch.
We will conduct a trial for the captured witch, and if confirmed guilty, escort her to the Inquisition for further investigation."
At the word "witch," the new recruits' faces turned serious.
Witches who made pacts with demons were the Theocracy's most hated enemies.
As future members of armed organizations, they would inevitably face them one day.
"Please, do not be too tense.
Most captured witches turn out not to be actual witches."
"What do you mean?"
"Many accusations stem from small misunderstandings.
There are overly zealous brothers and sisters who misinterpret doctrine."
Father Moro explained that a lot of heresy reports were false, born from ugly human emotions.
"Coveting a widow’s property, resentment over rejected love confessions, jealousy toward a neighbor…Those who neglect Sol Invictus’s teachings often commit false accusations."
In most cases, it was simply a case of the crowd reporting anyone they found suspicious.
"To be honest, it’s very likely that this time too, the accused isn’t a real witch."
"Is there a particular reason?
"Yes. The accusation involves a 'plague.'"
"……?"
The recruits looked puzzled.
But Father Moro shifted his gaze toward Ray.
"Because Brother Ray here recently eliminated a plague-related demon contractor."
"……!"
Both Aaron and Jenny turned to stare at Ray.
"Yes. The warlock I killed recently was indeed a contractor of a Demon of Decay."
"Demons, after losing a contractor, usually need several years to find a new one. Even if they find a replacement immediately, it takes time to teach them magic."
That's because contractors must offer sacrifices to the demon to gain power.
Moreover, a curse that could infect an entire village with a plague would require a high-level witch, something that was simply not possible so soon.
"So, there’s no need to be overly nervous. However, we’ll prepare thoroughly before departing. You may request any equipment you need from the Theocracy. Consider this all part of your training."
***
Father Moro of the Inquisition, and the new recruits Ray, Aaron, and Jenny set off together.
Their mode of travel was by carriage, and along the way, Father Moro gave them a crash course on how to drive the carriage.
"If you show this pass, any church connected to the Theocracy’s network will provide you with horses, lodging, and sometimes even funds if necessary."
"Ooooh…!"
"Can we also get food expenses covered?"
"Of course, Sister Jenny."
As long as it was a church affiliated with the Solar Theocracy, they could receive such support anywhere.
In exchange, a promissory note would be issued under the requesting priest’s name, and the local church would later be reimbursed by the central authority.
‘So basically, it's like a check.’
A similar system was already being used to issue promissory notes for storing nobles' and merchants’ gold, which explained why the Church also effectively acted as a bank in this era.
Thus, while being taught these bits of common knowledge, they continued their journey.
As they moved farther from the heart of the Theocracy, the roads became rougher, causing the carriage to rattle.
"Ugh…"
Aaron flinched at the shocks jolting through the seat into his backside.
Even if medieval carriages lacked proper suspension, there was clearly a big difference between a noble’s carriage and a simple freight wagon.
"Can’t you drive a little more smoothly?"
From the driver's seat came a teasing, sing-song voice.
"Sorry, young master~ I'm not a professional coachman for noble passengers~"
"That woman…!"
Aaron swallowed his frustration.
At this point, it had practically become part of their daily routine.
"Here, everyone, have a snack. I picked up some good stuff from the last village."
Ray, stepping in to prevent another argument from breaking out, pulled out some snacks.
It was dried jerky and pickled eggs.
They had been a bit pricey, but thanks to the generous mission funds, they were able to afford them without issue.
"Tch. Just hand over the jerky."
"Don’t eat too much. You’ll get motion sick."
"I can manage."
Aaron grabbed some jerky and munched on it moodily, looking off to the side.
Ray then leaned up toward the driver’s seat with another portion in hand.
"Jenny noona, chew on something so you don’t get bored while driving."
"I’m driving, feed me~"
"We should maintain propriety between men and women."
"Don’t be so uptight~ Ah, feed me a pickled egg!"
Well, she was busy steering the carriage and couldn’t use her hands.
Ray had no choice but to pick up an egg from the jar.
At the sight of it, Jenny’s eyes lit up.
"Wow~ It's pink! I've never seen that before."
"They must have used beets when they pickled it, which dyed it pink. Here, say ah~"
"Aaah~"
Jenny eagerly accepted the egg.
Ray watched carefully, wondering if the big egg would cause her to choke.
"What? Do I look pretty?"
‘This girl…’
Jenny really was a handful sometimes.
The way she skillfully played up her charms, fully aware of her own beauty, reminded Ray of a sly fox.
But Pastor Kim from his previous life had long experience handling teenagers.
"You’re very pretty."
"Eh? Uh, uh…?"
Jenny’s cheeks flushed a fiery red.
Looking at Ray with dazed eyes, she stammered, and Ray gave her a teasing smile.
"You’d be even prettier if you didn’t fight with Brother Aaron all the time."
"A-ack! W-wait!"
Startled, Jenny tugged the reins the wrong way, causing the carriage to veer off course.
"Watch out ahead!"
"Ahhh! Wahh! W-we're alive!"
Barely managing to regain control of the reins, Jenny guided the carriage back on track.
"Seriously, be careful. If you want more eggs, just say so."
"Uh, no… I’m good."
Kids.
Ray shook his head and returned to the cargo area.
Watching him, Father Moro gave a warm smile.
"Brother Ray, you're quite skilled."
"Am I?"
"Yes. You balance things very well like someone who's spent a long time dealing with children."
"Well… Churches in remote areas often double as orphanages."
After all, Ray had served as the youth pastor for the teenage group in his previous life.
Leading youth retreats, Holy Spirit prayer meetings, and organizing recreation activities with chaotic teenagers he had become quite adept in these matters.
"And you, Father Moro, seem content to stay in the background."
"It’s only natural. Even among brothers and sisters of the same faith, it’s impossible to avoid conflict. Youths are bound to be full of fire."
"True enough."
Adolescents fought at the drop of a hat. Sometimes, letting them quarrel a little was healthier than suppressing it.
As long as it wasn't one-sided bullying, kids grew through their fights.
The real role of an adult was to step in afterward and help them patch things up.
Even if Ray himself looked like a sixteen-year-old boy from the outside, he was the most experienced “adult” here.
"Father Moro, you should try one of these. They're surprisingly good."
"Thank you, Brother Ray."
The jerky was a little bland probably from using less salt but the eggs had absorbed the vinegar nicely, giving them a deliciously tart flavor.
‘They’d go perfectly with beer.’
Considering beer was the common drink of the continent, maybe these snacks had developed specifically to pair with it.
‘Maybe I’ll grab a drink once we reach the city. There's no doctrine forbidding alcohol, after all.’
Thus, traveling from church to church, resupplying along the way, they spent over ten days on the road.
As the roads smoothed out, they could feel they were approaching a city.
"Stop the carriage!"
Just as they were about to swap reins, Aaron halted the carriage.
"Ray, Father Moro. There are several armed men ahead."
"Hmm~ Let’s hope they aren’t bandits."
Even as he said this, Father Moro discreetly hid a dagger up his sleeve, clearly experienced in handling such situations.
‘Bandits again? I thought we were past that.’
Still, being this close to a city, it was strange.
If the road was this well maintained, it should mean patrols were nearby.
It wasn’t the sort of place where bandits should be roaming freely.
‘But bandits have pretty thick sins piled up. It wouldn’t be bad to harvest them for some divine grace.’
Thinking it might be a good opportunity to grow his Holy Power, Ray prepared his heart for battle.
However, the ones who had stopped the carriage were not the kind of bandits he was hoping for.
"...Ah."
What stood before them were knights clad in full plate armor and well-armed soldiers.
"We are the territorial army of the Violet March! This road is closed to all traffic!"
"..."
Dark crimson armor. \
They weren't simple bandits.
And they weren’t just regular soldiers either.
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[Translator - Pot ]
[Proofreader - Kawaii ]
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