Player-Hunting Inquisitors

Chapter 18

My class time has now become self-study time.

The midterm assignment was the utilization of Divine Power.

This was to give them time to practice it.

"Well then, everyone. I'll be stepping out for a moment."

"Understood!"

After answering all the questions, I left the lecture hall and decided to personally look around the academy, where classes were in full swing.

I greeted the believers I encountered with a nod and walked slowly.

'The atmosphere isn't bad. Even the Player can't openly interfere with the Cult.'

The tense atmosphere from a while ago had disappeared, and a peaceful mood, like at the start of the semester, had returned.

Since the Player wouldn't give up so easily, they would have no choice but to take desperate measures.

'A real trap is one that you have no choice but to walk into, even knowing it's a trap.'

They knew the Cult was obstructing them, but they had no choice but to carry out their Quest.

However, they wouldn't realize that the Cult was hunting them.

The actions Players took were so disruptive to social order that resistance was inevitable.

'Even the Goddess wouldn't be unaware of this. Things are progressing too hastily.'

As I wandered around the campus, I saw the shabby warehouse Riel had mentioned.

There were no signs of life around it, nor were there any traces of a barrier.

'Should I take this opportunity to look inside?'

I opened the warehouse door.

Contrary to its appearance, which seemed like it could collapse at any moment, the inside of the warehouse was neatly organized.

The items were as worn as the exterior suggested, but there wasn't even a speck of dust or a cobweb to be seen.

'No matter how much they tried to hide the traces, in the end, they're still at a student level.'

Inside the warehouse, there were boxes gathered in a corner, just the right height to sit on.

'They sat on those boxes for their meeting. The marks dragged on the floor show that the meeting spot was... here.'

Upon closer inspection, faint drag marks could be seen on the slightly dusty floor.

Following the marks with my eyes, I found where they ended.

At that spot, there were a few strands of hair that hadn't been cleaned up.

I searched the floor thoroughly and gathered enough hair to fill one hand.

I placed the collected hair in one spot and examined it.

'Riel said there were two women and three men... but there are six types of hair?'

Five people participated in the meeting, but six people came to the warehouse.

Why did the extra person visit this place?

'They probably used the five people as a front to conceal their identity... I can't be certain yet, though.'

I couldn't stay in the warehouse for too long.

I set aside my doubts and left the warehouse.

Using Divine Power to clean my dirty body, I headed to the Church.

"Welcome, Saint."

"Yuria."

At the Church, Yuria was waiting for me.

In her hand was a piece of paper filled with names of people.

"This is the list of nobles who caused trouble with commoners and their associates."

The paper I received detailed who provoked whom, who was present at the scene, and even the intensity of the conflicts.

It even included incidents that hadn't been reported to the professors.

"If you look at this list, you'll notice something strange."

As Yuria said, there were people whose names appeared an unusually high number of times.

"Does this mean there's a suspected Player among them?"

"Yes. Most of them are just bigots. However, there's someone who frequently appears on the list despite not being a bigot."

For bigots, it's natural for their names to appear in most incidents.

But could an ordinary person appear as a witness in over 70% of incidents?

It was too unnatural to simply attribute it to bad luck.

Especially since their name appeared in most of the incidents that hadn't been caught by the professors.

"You've been thorough. Even tracking down the witnesses must've been a lot of work."

"That's not all. Would you like to see this too?"

Yuria pulled another piece of paper from her sleeve and handed it to me.

"During the Field Practice?"

"Exactly. You know, Saint, that the beginning of the incidents was during the Field Practice."

The start of the discrimination was the fight during the Field Practice.

"Of course."

"Look at the names of the groups involved in that incident."

Familiar names appeared there too.

"The Player probably used mental-type Magic to incite the fight."

"I think so too."

The Player couldn't have imagined.

That even the witnesses of the incidents would be checked.

They wouldn't have thought that merely stirring up a few bigots would get them caught.

"Your measures were appropriate, Saint. Unable to cause more incidents within the academy, they've started taking desperate measures."

"Desperate measures?"

"For several days, commoners have been coming to me, picking fights. Even though they had no reason to."

Perhaps the Player intended to use Yuria against the Cult that was obstructing them.

"They probably thought I'd get angry and take the lead in the discrimination. Since I've outwardly maintained the stance of a bystander."

Yuria had avoided direct involvement so far.

She observed the situation from a distance and quietly adjusted it from behind the scenes.

Therefore, except for a few of her close associates, it was impossible to grasp her intentions.

"If I side with the nobles, the academy, which was returning to normal, would descend into chaos in an instant."

The Player interpreted Yuria's intentions as indifference toward the commoners.

They tried to provoke her into harboring ill feelings toward the commoners.

"That incident made me realize how the Player caused conflicts within the academy. So, I decided to track down everyone involved in the incidents. The result is as you've seen, Saint."

Of course, finding one suspected Player didn't mean the matter was resolved.

The mysterious backer, the Player possibly among the professors, the sixth person.

"I'll prepare for the interrogation this time."

Yuria declared firmly.

I willingly decided to follow her lead.

There are still many problems left for us.

But taking one step forward is important.

'Let's hope this Player knows about the others' information.'

I returned home and checked the tools for judgment.

**

The Player secretly fumed as they watched the believers wandering around the academy.

'Damn it, those cult bastards. Does this even make sense?'

The Player was in a hurry, as if their feet were on fire.

The deadline for the Quest written in their Status Window was approaching.

'Everything was going smoothly! If only those damn Cult members hadn't interfered!'

At first, the Player used their abilities to incite conflicts between the nobles and commoners.

The tension from the Field Practice and the nobles' inherently bad behavior.

The Player, who caused incidents more easily than expected, grew confident.

Although the impact was less than anticipated due to other incidents, the Player continued their actions.

The Player thought that direct intervention would reveal their identity.

Therefore, they raised the level of their abilities to operate from a distance.

As a result, the Player carried out their Quest without suspicion.

However, as soon as the Cult began to act, the Player's efforts turned to nothing.

The people on whom they used their abilities were immediately dragged to the Church, and the incidents that occurred while avoiding the Cult's eyes held little significance.

While the Player was trapped in a pitfall and unable to act properly, the deadline for the Quest was fast approaching.

'This won't do. I have no choice but to take a bolder move.'

Cornered, the Player began to act more aggressively.

Those of high status, whom they had been too afraid of future repercussions to touch.

The Empire's second prince, the successor of the Tenia Family, and the nobles of the city-state alliance.

'If the high-ranking nobles start discriminating against commoners, their subordinates will follow suit. Then, even the Cult will find it hard to stop this,' the Player thought.

Without realizing they had fallen into a trap themselves.

One day, while observing the actions of commoners using their abilities, someone tapped the Player on the shoulder.

She was dressed so plainly that she could have been mistaken for a servant at first glance.

However, her innate refinement was evident even to the Player.

The Player nonchalantly greeted her.

"Do you have any business with me?"

"The young lady has a message for you."

The woman with the black ponytail handed the Player an envelope and disappeared.

"Wait, I have some questions!"

"That's all there is to say."

The Player wanted to ask her questions, but her clean exit left no room for that.

Seeing the name written on the envelope, the Player couldn't hide their shock.

'Yuria Tenia? The successor of the Tenia Family? Could it be that my actions have been discovered? How is that possible?'

Hastily opening the letter, the Player couldn't close their gaping mouth.

The letter's content was concise.

I know what you've done.

If you want to keep this a secret, come to the location written in this letter at midnight.

However, the 'text' in which it was written was unique.

The Player clutched the letter, feeling their heart race.

Yuria had written the letter in the script used in the Player's world.

With the Quest deadline fast approaching, the letter written in 'Hangul' felt like an oasis in the desert.

The Player recalled their memories of cooperating with users from the same country in an online game to successfully complete difficult Quests.

Overwhelmed by the pressure of the Quest and the positive memories of the past, the Player overlooked the hidden danger in the letter.

'Alright, if there's someone with the same goal, it'll be easier to handle the Quest. People from the same background help each other out.'

The Player, exhausted from struggling alone for the Quest, felt deeply fatigued.

While there were those secretly helping the Player underwater according to the Goddess's arrangement, the Player was unaware of this, making it all the more so.

Before being consumed by loneliness, Yuria's letter felt like a lifeline descending from heaven.

'Let's see, at midnight... an unused warehouse? Well, if you're going to have a secret meeting at the academy, there's no better place.'

However, the Player, who discreetly left the dormitory, was never seen again.