Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Karnak wore a displeased expression.

‘You want to confront the necromancer directly? And then what?’

The outcome was obvious if they faced off head-on.

– Hello, are you by any chance the necromancer?

– No, I’m not.

– Oops, my mistake. Goodbye.

Could it really go like this?

Surely, Alius wasn’t that naive.

“Of course, I’m not saying I’ll interrogate them outright. The Inquisitor has their own methods.”

Karnak’s eyes gleamed.

‘Oh, have they developed a holy spell specifically to track necromancers that I don’t know about?’

That was possible.

Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. In his previous life, necromancers didn’t sprout up like weeds as they do now.

“In that case, we should move before the sun sets.”

Just as Karnak was about to rise, Alius stopped him.

“We’ll move after night has fully fallen. Let’s rest for now.”

“…Is that really okay?”

Sunlight greatly weakens the power of darkness, which is why necromancers exhibit their true strength deep in the night.

And yet, they wanted to confront the necromancer only after the sun had completely set?

“It’s easier to determine whether someone is a real necromancer when the night is deep. You’ll see soon enough.”

With that, Alius headed towards his bed.

“Then, I’ll take a quick nap. We need to be prepared for the night.”

It wasn’t just because he was sleepy. He was trying to replenish his holy power as much as possible through rest.

If they were really going to face a necromancer, it was the proper stance for a cleric to take.

Karnak and Varos also lay down on their respective beds.

Staring at the ceiling, Varos asked through magical telepathy.

[What’s the real situation, young master?]

[Both of them are under mental manipulation.]

Unlike Alius, Karnak could clearly see the state of Priest Gras and Sister Julia.

[Their foreheads are dull. It means they’re under necromantic influence. It’s so faint that Alius didn’t notice, but it’s there.]

[The necromancer must be quite strong, right? Isn’t it difficult to manipulate the mind of a cleric?]

[It’s more that their holy power is just too low.]

To be honest, their level was barely enough to even be called clerics.

[That’s probably why they’ve been assigned to this rural village.]

Not just the clerics, but the entire village was under a weak bewitching spell. Karnak had already confirmed it all on the way here.

[For a third-rate necromancer, they’re pretty decent. They’re around the level I was in my mid-20s. They’re hiding so well that it’s unlikely they’ll be caught easily.]

But in his past life, there were no clerics like Inquisitors who specialized in dealing with necromancers. That’s why, even when he was weak, he managed to survive by hiding and running away.

Glancing at the deeply sleeping Alius, Karnak smiled.

‘It was definitely worth moving together. I can learn about the clerics of this era.’

* * *

The three of them slept soundly until dusk. Then, they had a hearty meal prepared by Sister Julia.

It was a simple meal, befitting a small village church, but it was enough to restore their energy.

During the meal, Karnak offered a donation worth several times the cost of the food, bringing happiness to Priest Gras.

After finishing their meal, the three of them returned to their room, saying they would get some more sleep since the night had deepened.

A bit more time passed.

Alius, who had been watching the situation outside, spoke up.

“It’s about time for you two to go to bed as well. Let’s move.”

He was suggesting that they sneak out of the church without Priest Gras and Sister Julia noticing, in order to find Cleo, who was suspected of being a necromancer.

“Is it really necessary to keep this secret?” Karnak asked, curious.

Alius answered seriously, “It’s to prevent the possibility that they might be under the necromancer’s influence. If that’s the case, our movements could be reported to the necromancer.”

“Then wouldn’t it have been better to hide the fact that you’re a priest from the beginning…?”

“There are times when we do that.”

He explained that this is indeed the case when there is a certain level of foot traffic in the area.

“But in this village, outsiders are rare. It’s better to clearly reveal our identity than to appear as suspicious strangers.”

Many priests were already traveling across the continent, continuing their search for necromancers.

Didn’t Sister Julia mention that another priest had visited a few months ago?

So, the appearance of an outsider priest in the village was still within the realm of what could be tolerated.

But if that priest suddenly left the church in the middle of the night?

“Now that would be truly suspicious.”

“I see, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.”

Karnak was honestly impressed.

Unlike him, Alius hadn’t noticed anything suspicious about the people in the village. Despite that, he was prepared to handle the worst-case scenario.

Alius, feeling a bit embarrassed, responded, “This is standard training for official Inquisitors.”

The world had certainly changed. Unlike in the past, the Church of the Seven Goddesses had now systematized their response to necromancers.

After finishing his preparations, Alius rummaged through his belongings once more.

He pulled out a shabby robe, which he put on over his priestly garb, and then he took out two equally shabby cloaks and three masks.

“It’s fortunate I had spare cloaks.”

Laying them out in front of the group, he began to explain the plan.

* * *

Moonlight faintly filtered through the window.

As Cleo gazed out at the dark forest beyond, a smile crept across his face.

‘The time for harvest is drawing near.’

Reflected in the window was the image of an ordinary middle-aged man, seemingly in his late forties.

Contrary to what the villagers believed, he was neither young nor handsome.

But that didn’t matter. The villagers perceived him differently.

How fragile is the human mind?

‘Foolish beings, hehehe.’

In the room, a maid was busy tidying the bed.

In reality, a maid from a noble household wouldn’t wait until this late hour to prepare the bedroom. Proper etiquette dictated that all tasks be completed before the master’s presence was required.

However, this girl, wearing a maid’s uniform, was just an ordinary maiden from the village. Expecting more from her would be unreasonable.

Cleo waved a hand dismissively toward the maid once she finished.

“You may go now.”

“…Good night, Master.”

With vacant eyes, the girl left the room.

Watching her retreating figure, Cleo clicked his tongue.

‘Tsk, just watching is hard to endure.’

She wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she was still a young maiden. The desire to take her on the spot was almost overwhelming.

But Cleo restrained himself.

A maiden’s soul held high value as a sacrificial offering.

‘After coming this far, I can’t lower that value for a moment of indulgence.’

It had taken him half a year just to seize control of the village, gather the dark power, set up the barrier, and prepare to offer the sacrifice to summon a demon.

He had even spent a considerable amount of money to purchase and renovate the abandoned mansion to blend seamlessly into the village.

‘Hehehe, it’s almost time.’

He was just about to lie down, dreaming of the immense power he would soon wield, when something triggered the detection barrier he had set up around the mansion.

‘…Intruders?’

Startled, Cleo focused his mind.

‘Could it be a follower of the Goddess?’

He had already been uneasy, knowing that a priest had entered the village. But since there had been no movement from the church after the priest’s arrival, he had begun to relax.

‘Regardless, if there are intruders, I can’t just sit here.’

Cleo hurriedly grabbed his sword.

As he stepped out of the room, he found three men standing in the hallway, their faces concealed by masks.

‘Masks?’

If they were priests, there would be no reason to hide their faces. Additionally, their shabby robes and cloaks made it difficult to identify their affiliation by their attire.

Perplexed, Cleo pointed his sword at them.

“Who the hell are you?” Cleo demanded.

A man in a shabby robe swaggered forward.

“Hey, man, there’s a lot of talk about you. Word is, some rich kid’s been throwing money around like it’s nothing.”

He twirled a dagger lightly in one hand as he continued in a sneering tone.

“So we thought we’d drop by and get a share of that leftover cash ourselves.”

Cleo’s expression twisted into something strange.

This was completely unexpected.

‘…What is this? Just some common thieves?’

But the more he thought about it, the less surprising it seemed.

When rumors spread about someone having money, it was almost inevitable that this sort of thing would happen.

Cleo let out a small, incredulous laugh.

“Kuh, heh, heh…”

“Oh, so you think this is funny?” The young thief frowned, pretending to stab with his dagger.

“Looks like you’re going to need a little prick to snap out of it.”

Pathetic.

Utterly pathetic and laughable.

Cleo’s eyes changed. His voice dripped with contempt.

“Hmph, worms like you aren’t even fit to be sacrifices…”

A pitch-black darkness erupted from Cleo’s body, filling the corridor.

“For the crime of disturbing my sleep, you’ll pay with your lives!”

Paaaaaaah!

An overwhelming aura of malevolence spread in all directions.

The sheer power of the darkness was enough to instinctively paralyze any living being with terror.

Cleo burst into maniacal laughter.

“Hahahahaha!”

But then a voice cut through his laughter, freezing him in place.

“Wow, you really showed your true colors right away, huh?”

***

Alius’s “plan” was as follows:

“We’ll disguise ourselves as bandits and threaten him for money.”

“…What?”

Naturally, Karnak’s response was one of disbelief.

“Are you saying you’re not going to use a holy spell to identify the necromancer?”

“It would be wonderful if such a spell existed, but since it doesn’t, we can’t just sit back and do nothing.”

“Even so, are you really going to have a priest of the Church of the Seven Goddesses pretend to be a bandit?”

Alius looked slightly sheepish.

“This is just my own method. It’s not something the Church recommends.”

Karnak felt a bit relieved.

Thankfully, it seemed the Church of the Seven Goddesses wasn’t that reckless after all.

“But you’d be surprised how effective it is.”

Necromancers are those who break all kinds of taboos to gain power.

“And when such a person is confronted by bandits in the dead of night, with no one around to witness…”

Alius smiled with satisfaction.

“Would they really hand over everything quietly, afraid of the consequences, or would they reveal their true nature in anger?”

* * *

Dark energy surged in every direction. The mere sight of it would cause any living being to tremble with fear.

The necromancer, his red eyes gleaming in the darkness, should have been the embodiment of terror itself!

…But for some reason, the reaction wasn’t what Cleo expected.

One of the masked men in the shabby robe shrugged his shoulders.

“Didn’t I tell you? This method has never failed before.”

A thin man nodded seriously, acknowledging the effectiveness of the plan.

“Indeed, it’s hard for this not to work, considering human psychology.”

The large man’s reaction was more ambivalent.

“More than that, if this method didn’t work, we wouldn’t even be able to identify the target in the first place. So it’s only natural that it always seems to succeed…”

Despite standing before a necromancer—a figure synonymous with death and terror—the three men remained utterly calm. It was clear they were no ordinary bandits.

“You bastards…”

Cleo, surprisingly, found himself regaining his composure.

“So, you really are the Goddess’s dogs.”

Karnak and Varos threw off their cloaks, revealing the longswords and wizard’s wand they had hidden beneath.

Alius also pulled an oak staff from within his robe.

“To the one who serves the darkness…”

The staff began to emit a brilliant light, pushing back the darkness.

“Kneel before the light of the Goddess!”

Light and darkness collided, producing a thunderous roar. The corridor and ceiling shook as dust fell from above.

Kwakakakwang!

Amidst the deafening noise, Cleo murmured calmly to himself.

“Yes, I knew this day would come…”

He was momentarily surprised, but it wasn’t a major issue.

His opponents consisted of only one priest, one warrior, and one mage.

That much, he believed, he could handle.

“Fine then, you dogs of the Goddess!”

Cleo spread his arms wide, and a shroud of darkness began to spread in all directions.

“I’ll show you the true power of death!”