I Was the Scout for the Hero’s Party

“…Forgive the evil hand that stretches from the abandoned offspring, and guide Your servant to the right path through the justice of light. May the sword of judgment forged in righteous light save us, and lead them to destruction…”

In the deepest part of the church located in Quiln, in a solitary cell.
Under a small window that allowed only thin, delicate rays of light flowing in with the warm sunlight, a solemn voice was quietly resonating throughout the small cell.

“…In the name of justice and light, to punish corrupted beings with this humble servant’s hands, there is nothing more valuable than this…”

A large man was kneeling, deeply immersed in prayer.

-Creeeeak….

As the rusty, old door of the cell opened with a chilling sound, bright light suddenly filled the cell that had previously allowed only small fragments of sunlight.

“It’s been a while. I heard you were dispatched to Quiln, but it seems it wasn’t a dispatch but a demotion.”

At the voice of an old friend and comrade who had fought together long ago, the large man’s body, which hadn’t moved for a long time, twisted as it shook off dust.

“…Brother Austin. It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, I’m glad to… no, why are you always in a solitary cell whenever I meet you? Damn it, have you hung skulls in your room again?”

“…Brother. That was a fitting treatment. Isn’t it a suitable end for beings that oppose the light of justice?”

“If it’s such a fitting treatment, why are you confined to a solitary cell in every church you’re dispatched to? Damn… I really wonder how you became a priest.”

Despite the light suddenly flooding in after a long time, the bright red eyes of the man with a huge, muscular build remained fixed on Austin without the slightest waver.

“More importantly, Brother. Your sudden visit…”

My heart is pounding. Adrenaline surges, and my brain tingles with the illusion of smelling the sweet scent of blood already.

There is only one reason this man would come looking for me.

“…Yes. There’s work to be done, Roymen.”

With a somewhat disgruntled expression, Austin stepped slightly to the side as he spoke, making way.

“Come out. I’ve already gotten permission from the diocese head.”

It has been long. The month-long confinement felt like being in a coffin perfectly fitted to my body.

I need blood.
The flesh and blood of evil beings, a lot of it.

My hands must not dry up. They should always be soaked in the blood of evil beings.

Movement must not stop. I must always be crushing evil beings.

More. More. I need more of their blood. Still far from enough.

Until my heart stops, my personal crusade for justice will not cease.

And when that day finally comes, the righteous light that guides us will take that defiled flesh and blood.

I stepped toward the door where bright light was pouring in.

-Creeeeak…

As the cell door closed once more with a chilling sound, the footsteps of the two men echoed through the quiet corridor, gradually fading away.

“…This crazy bastard.”

Roymen, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, was, as usual, serving a disciplinary confinement in a solitary cell.

Dispatched from the cathedral in Metelheim to another church, then back to the cathedral in Metelheim, only to be dispatched again as if expelled, and still unable to avoid disciplinary confinement.

I wasn’t unaware of the reason.

This blood-hungry crazy priest is a lunatic who wallpapers his room with taxidermied monster corpses or bones.

-Creeeeak…

“….Holy shit. I’m actually impressed now.”

Even when Roymen opened the door to gather his equipment, I couldn’t help but express my amazement tinged with shock.

Roymen’s room, decorated with monster bones and taxidermied heads, something I could never get used to no matter how many times I saw it.

Werewolf skulls, preserved goblin ears hanging up… wait a minute. Isn’t that Bacchus?

“Hold on. Isn’t that Bacchus? The Doll of the Bow, Bacchus?”

“Yes, that’s correct. As expected, you have a good eye, Brother. Although it was too burdensome with just my strength alone, so I had to conduct a night raid with thirty brothers… it was worthwhile.”

I thought it was strange that news about the Doll of the Bow, Bacchus, had stopped abruptly a few months ago, and it turns out this madman had taxidermied him after cutting off his limbs!

“Wow… you… really… you crazy bastard, I’m speechless.”

“I pride myself that it’s the most valuable trophy among my recent acquisitions.”

“No, that’s not what I meant… Never mind. Quickly gather your equipment and come out.”

My stomach was churning from being in Roymen’s room any longer, so I hurriedly left.

It had been about 5 minutes of waiting beside the door.

-Creeeeak..

“Brother. I am ready.”

Roymen, dressed in battle priest robes befitting his enormous build, with a refreshing blue color and the sound of jangling chains as a point of emphasis, came out making hissing breathing sounds through the gap in his facial protective mask.

In his right hand, he held a menacing orihalcon flail with spikes protruding sharply, and in his left hand, a steel whip embedded with thorns and blades—his appearance was truly bizarre.

“Let’s go, Brother Austin.”

“…Can’t you change your weapons? Or just be a paladin instead?”

“Paladins have less time to pray. And they’re not assigned personal rooms.”

“You… Never mind. Follow me. I’ll explain as we go.”

We began discussing the quest as we walked down the corridor of the church.

“I’ll get straight to the point. First, you know that Argyle is camped in Merden Forest, right?”

“I am aware.”

“Then this will go quickly. Instead of joining the Demon King’s main force at the Iron Plateau, Argyle has established a second front in Merden Forest, so some of the allied forces from the Iron Plateau front have gathered here.”

I paused briefly to catch my breath, then continued speaking as I saw Roymen nodding while listening silently.

“So they’re sending supply units with requisitioned supplies from Quiln, but for the past few days, as soon as they enter the forest area, the supply units get completely ransacked.”

“Is it the work of Argyle, that bastard?”

“No, just listen. So the lord wondered what the hell was going on and checked, and lo and behold! Some bastard called the Doll of the Spear was tearing apart all the supply units!”

“…Depal.”

“Yes. That bastard has been cutting up every supply unit we send. He even created a separate unit called the Romphalia Raid Squad.”

I briefly paused and glanced at Roymen, who was already trembling slightly, breathing in and out through the gaps in his iron mask, seemingly desperate to beat Depal to death.

…This crazy bastard.

“Anyway, our objective is to eliminate Depal. There’s a secondary goal of destroying the Romphalia Raid Squad… but well, as I said, it’s secondary. Eliminating Depal is the top priority.”

“…..”

It seems my words are no longer reaching him.

I sighed deeply and quickened my pace toward the church exit where Lady Alexis and Robin would be waiting.

…I just hope they haven’t seen him and run away.

“Um… so… the person next to you is…”

“Senior Combat Priest Roymen, affiliated with the Combat Priest Order. It is an honor to meet you.”

“…Senior. Who exactly is this person…”

Thanks to the reactions of Lady Alexis and Robin, who were horrified by the sight of Priest Roymen panting in excitement for the bloody battle ahead, my face turned bright red, and I walked ahead without being able to lift my head.

“….Even though he seems a bit crazy, his combat prowess against monsters is at least twice as strong as mine, so you can trust him.”

“….Um… if you say so, Senior…”

“…Austin…”

Why did the Metelheim Cathedral send him of all people to Quiln? They should have dispatched a different priest.

“…No joke, he really is good at fighting major monsters. He’s a priest after all, so he knows how to use healing and weapon blessings.”

After forcibly raising the evaluation of Roymen like that, we finished checking our equipment and began to head out of Quiln toward the forest.

“Inhale… Exhale… The air of evil has become thicker than before. How could this be…”

“Is that so? I don’t really…”

“Sister Robin, it’s because you haven’t yet accepted the holy power. I don’t want to force it upon you, but the moment a blessed, shining flail crushes an ogre’s skull is truly…”

“…Please shut your mouth, Roymen.”

After walking through the forest for quite some time, we heard a low growling sound from somewhere.

“…Senior. Four enemies detected nearby. Two in the bush to my right, two by the fallen tree to my left.”

Robin informed us of the enemy’s location and numbers through her specialty detection magic, and I lightly tapped Priest Roymen’s arm while subtly moving my hand to my crossbow and knife.

“Roymen, you heard that? Show us your skills.”

“…Fina…”

“…What?”

“Finally finally finally finally finally…!!!!”

….What’s wrong with this guy.

“GRAAAH!!! I’LL TEAR YOU ALL TO PIECES, YOU VERMIN!!!!”

From either side of Roymen, who suddenly charged forward with a shout, four Lycanthropes that had been hiding themselves sprang out and rushed at Priest Roymen.

“Grrrr..!! KYAAAH!!! It’s a human!! Kill him!!”

“Grr… Human!! Die… Yelp yip!!”

A fierce battle between Roymen and the Lycanthropes unfolded.

Of course, all the blood that was now splattering in all directions came from the Lycanthropes.

Suddenly, with a whooshing sound, the steel whip was swung, and along with the steel whip equipped with sharp thorns and blades, the Lycanthropes’ skin began to tear with ripping sounds.

“Yip! Yip! Yipyipyip!!!”

“Awoooo… Woop?! W-Wait!! Surrender!! I surr… Yip! Yelp!”

After blankly watching for a while with Lady Alexis and Robin, speechless, the battle finally ended.

Amid the corpses of Lycanthropes, torn by the whip and terribly dented by the flail, one Lycanthrope was kneeling before Roymen.

“Yip… yelp… p-please… spare me… yip..!!”

As the surviving Lycanthrope begged for its life and howled sorrowfully, Roymen briefly looked up at the sky, then lowered his gaze.

“He desires your death and your spine, evil being.”

“Sp-Spine? What does that… Yip! Yelp!”

Before the Lycanthrope could finish speaking, Roymen’s hand pierced through the torn fur and began rummaging inside.

The horrible sound of flesh being torn and the Lycanthrope’s screams gradually subsided, and finally, Roymen proudly turned toward us, pulling out the spine and head with a cracking sound.

“…Truly fucking insane…”

Perhaps we should have just come as three after all.

-*##?@##!!!!

-##@#?!!!!!!

While keeping a distance from Roymen for a while, we began to faintly hear the plaintive crying of a young child and a high-pitched scream from somewhere.

“…Robin. Did you hear that?”

“Yes… I can hear it faintly too. It sounds like a woman’s voice… it might be a supply unit…”

Hearing what sounded like a supply unit being attacked, we moved in the direction of the sound.

“…Roymen. Can’t you please throw away that monstrosity?”

“I cannot discard His trophy.”

As Roymen said this, his eyes were glowing red, seemingly excited by the taste of blood after a long time.

…It seems we don’t need to worry about the battle with Depal.