Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 79

During his time playing Warlord, Aile had never once visited the Order, except when he first started. He hadn’t formed any relationships with the Order he belonged to, nor had he considered taking on any quests. Players with faith usually hoped to establish a close relationship with the Order since they couldn’t join large guilds, but Aile had made a completely different choice.

The reason for that choice was simple: to build a relationship with the Order from scratch, a player with nothing had to do all sorts of trivial chores to raise their affinity. Aile naturally didn’t have time for that and had to find another way.

There were two main ways to start interacting with the Order without wasting time.

First, accumulate enough contribution points. If you actively participated and accumulated over 10,000 contribution points, your contribution to the Order would be recognized, and you could easily skip the preceding steps. Aile had been aiming for this method from the start, as it allowed him to continue all activities within the Order, including receiving quests, without wasting time.

Having solved the Dungeon of the Doomed Village, Aile’s accumulated contribution points had exceeded 8,000, so it was safe to say he was close. However, there was another reason why Aile’s visit to the Order was brought forward: he had stumbled upon the second method: obtaining a quest related to the Order from the outside.

In the questline of the White Forest, which he was originally pursuing, there were connections between the opposing faction and the demon worshippers. By defeating the Dungeon of the Doomed Village, a trap they had prepared, Aile was naturally linked to the quest to track down the Bloodstained Twilight Society.

But as Aile stepped into the Inquisitorial Office with a joyful heart, he began to feel uneasy. He knew that the followers of the Order of Light were not in their right minds, and he had prepared himself for it, but frankly, they were crazier than he had imagined.

‘It’s a good thing I wasn’t dragged here…’ Aile thought, looking at the female Inquisitor, Aileen, who was walking ahead.

When he first met her in front of the entrance to the Inquisitorial Office, he thought she was just one of the ordinary Inquisitors on patrol, but as it turned out, she was the head of the Inquisitorial Office in charge of the entire Esmeier region.

Warlord had a total of 15 regions, including the royal capital, and each region had an Inquisitorial Office where the Order’s Inquisitors operated. Naturally, the most outstanding and faithful of the Inquisitors in the region held the position representing the Inquisitorial Office, and it wasn’t difficult to guess her abilities and skills from her affable smile. She herself probably couldn’t count how many heretics had been burned away by her hand.

Moreover, her identity didn’t end there. The name Aileen, which she revealed in a belated introduction, and her position as the head of the Esmeier Inquisitorial Office… Although he didn’t recognize her face when he first encountered her, he could now clearly see it after learning those facts. She was one of the only five ‘Executors of Ru’ [The highest rank of Inquisitors] on the continent.

‘To think that an NPC I happened to meet at the entrance was an Executor of the Order,’ Aile mused.

The most powerful organization in the Order of Light was undoubtedly the Inquisitorial Office, which was entirely composed of exclusive classes. This was natural, as they were always at the forefront of eradicating heretics and were a military group whose faith in the Goddess soared to the heavens. And the highest position among those Inquisitors was the ‘Executor.’ They were, literally, the most influential figures within the Order.

‘One of the top five strongest in the entire Order of Light… I would have recognized her immediately if I had heard her name.’ It wasn’t just about influence. The Order of Light was known for having the highest average combat power among NPCs, even though they were all a bit crazy. The Executors were the strongest representatives of such an Order, and all of them were top-tier named NPCs who easily surpassed level 200.

If Severa and Alund, whom Aile had encountered so far, were named NPCs within the region, she and the other Executors were continental-level figures. ‘I heard that they usually don’t spend much time in the Inquisitorial Office because they’re out in the field… I’m lucky.’ He still had to hide the fact that he was an Apostle of Ru.

Aile didn’t expect to meet Aileen, an Executor, when he headed to the Inquisitorial Office, but he happened to meet her at the right time, and a good opportunity he hadn’t even considered had come his way.

Click!

“I can guess why you’ve come to the Inquisitorial Office, Brother,” Aileen said, getting straight to the point as she entered the empty office. “And I have a request to make in that regard.”

Just as she had anticipated Aile’s business, Aile could easily predict what she would say. ‘It must be a follow-up quest about the Bloodstained Twilight Society.’ It was only natural that the Order of Light, which detested heresy, wouldn’t leave those demon worshippers alone. They had always worked hard to subjugate them, mobilizing not only Inquisitors but also priests and paladins, and the pursuit was still ongoing. And Aile had succeeded in invading their base and destroying their altars and minions.

In a situation where he had firmly antagonized the Demon of Greed, Venaron, the quest that the Inquisitorial Office would prioritize for Aile would naturally be related to those guys.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, please tell me,” Aile offered.

“Thank you. Have you heard of the abandoned temple in the southwestern region of Rockport?”

“The abandoned temple…” Aile stretched out his words, recalling his memory. The abandoned temple was a level 34 hunting ground that had newly appeared just a week ago. Of course, it wasn’t that a non-existent terrain had suddenly sprung up out of nowhere; it was originally a restricted area designated by the kingdom where users couldn’t enter. But a week ago, the restrictions on the area were suddenly lifted, and a considerable number of fanatics began to appear around the temple.

The abandoned temple, which no one had originally visited, began to gain word-of-mouth among users thanks to the large number of monsters and decent rewards, and it had now established itself as a hunting ground that many people sought out. But the important point here was different: the identity of those fanatics was none other than Venaron’s followers, the Bloodstained Twilight Society.

“Of course, I know. It seems like it’s been about a week since Venaron’s fanatics appeared in the temple, and I’ve been wondering why the Order hasn’t taken any action.”

“It’s not that we haven’t taken action. Rather, we were the ones who discovered that they were hiding beneath the temple.” Aileen took out several documents with red seals from under her desk. It was the investigator’s report on the abandoned temple and the designation of the restricted area.

“It wasn’t a coincidence that demon worshippers were hiding within the restricted area designated by the kingdom. If proper management had been in place, they wouldn’t have been unaware of their existence. We tracked down the southwestern region where suspicious signs were visible and exposed the corrupt kingdom official who was backing the Twilight Society, putting him on the judgment seat. Some friction occurred with the royal family in the process, but that’s not important,” Aileen continued, speaking with a nonchalant expression.

She didn’t go into more detail, but she must have stormed in without prior notice, captured the official, and burned him in the middle of the plaza. So it was only natural that the kingdom would object to the Order’s radical actions, but since the person was actually connected to the demon-worshipping group, the kingdom couldn’t say anything more.

‘Actually, it’s not like the Order of Light does such things only once or twice…’ Even though it was an organization she belonged to, she felt that their way of handling things was hopeless. Aile, suppressing such thoughts, slowly opened his mouth.

“Then is there a reason why you haven’t immediately subjugated them?”

“The Twilight Society’s base that has been revealed this time is not just one place. We have secretly identified dozens of hideouts and plan to strike them all at the same time so that they don’t scatter. In the case of the abandoned temple, adventurers are suppressing the Twilight Society’s activities to some extent after the area’s restrictions were lifted, but that won’t last long.”

‘…An entire hunting ground will evaporate.’ When the Inquisitorial Office directly intervenes, it’s as good as saying they won’t leave a single blade of grass in that area. The users who have settled in the abandoned temple, thinking it’s just a new hunting ground with good efficiency, will soon see their hunting ground disappear overnight.

“But before we push forward in earnest, we have confirmed that a huge facility is hidden beneath the temple. Judging from the large magic circle with a dark aura, they seem to be plotting something, and we are worried that we will suffer great damage if we enter recklessly.”

“So you’re saying you want me to investigate what they’re up to.”

“That’s right. I would like to go myself, but the movements of evil forces have become more active recently, and we are short of manpower. You have the ability to defeat Venaron’s minions, so you should be able to do it,” Aileen said, expressing her trust in him. She seemed to highly value the fact that Aile had taken down a minion alone. In fact, defeating a demon’s minion was a feat that would be recognized no matter where you went in the Order, not just by her. Although there were individual differences for each entity, it was the same for all levels that they were not easy opponents.

Malagos, whom Aile had faced, was also weakened because the summoning ritual was not properly performed and was interrupted. If all the sacrifices that were originally intended had been devoured by the guy and the ritual had been completed to the end, it would have been impossible for Aile to defeat him alone.

“There are probably a large number of fanatics hidden inside. The power has not yet been fully identified, so there is no need to overdo it, just investigate the magic circle. And… this is a minimum safety device.”

Thud!

Aileen, rummaging through her arms, took out a black bead and handed it to Aile on the palm of his hand. An unidentified object that she had brought directly from the depths of the underground prison. The sphere, which was exuding an ominous aura, was quite heavy compared to its appearance, and while holding it, small screams seemed to linger in his ears. Aile frowned slightly without realizing it at this strange object that made him feel bad just by holding it.

“What is this?”

“It’s a magic power crystal extracted from a Twilight Society’s black magician. It’s been slightly modified with divine magic. It has magic power with similar properties to their magic circle, so it will protect you.”

“Did they willingly hand over their magic power?” The group of followers who worship demons were famous for not fearing death and pain. In fact, the fanatics of the Twilight Society that Aile had encountered were flying like moths to protect one of their executives, so it wasn’t just a rumor. And it was unlikely that the black magicians of such an organization would easily cooperate with the act of handing over their magic power.

But the reality was the opposite.

“They volunteered to hand over their magic power, but we refused. There was a possibility that they would use subtle tricks in the process of handing over their magic power themselves.”

“Then how…”

“Well, this extraction work is quite experimental even in the Inquisitorial Office, so I can’t think of a word to properly express it. To put it simply, it would be appropriate to say that we ground them up whole, soul and all.”

“……” Aile barely managed to suppress the urge to throw the bead away.