Player-Hunting Inquisitors

Chapter 5

A church of our cult, established in a corner of the academy.

I lightly offered a prayer to the small idol placed there.

The content of the prayer was to wish for the repose of the possessed person I judged yesterday.

'Although he was a wicked man, he only lost his true nature because he was deceived by the goddess. May he be reborn anew in the darkness.'

It is true that I resent the possessed ones. However, if I dwell only on resentment, I will fail to do what I must.

Once the judgment is complete, they will be reborn anew, so it is the duty of the judge to pray for their rest.

As I finished the prayer, the sound of a staff striking the ground echoed, tap.

"So you were here, Saint."

"Yuria."

Yuria Tenia. The successor of the Tenia Family, one of the four great ducal families of the empire.

The jet-black eyepatch starkly contrasted with her strikingly white hair.

Her silver hair, cascading down to her waist, shimmered with a mysterious glow as if it held the moonlight.

Her clothing seemed simple, but it was immediately apparent that it was made of the finest silk.

The small silver brooch adorning her collar was not extravagant, but the intricate engraving of the Tenia Family crest exuded noble dignity.

But above all, what shone the most was her appearance.

'There's a rumor in the empire that a demon, jealous of her beauty, stole her eyes.'

Unfortunately, her eyes were not lost due to such a fairy-tale-like story.

The Player. They took Yuria's eyes along with her mother.

This happened in an old scenario, before the Human-Demon War scenario.

The goddess's goal was to shake the nations of humans, making them point their swords at each other and causing chaos.

'Yuria's mother was from the kingdom. She fell in love with and married a duke from the neighboring empire.

That marriage nearly caused a war in the end...'

The Goddess of Light set her death as a quest, and eventually, the players succeeded.

As a result, the cult had to move swiftly.

This happened in the previous era, during the active days of my teacher and the pope.

Thanks to our cult's efforts, we successfully mediated between the kingdom and the empire, but the scars remain even now, nearly 20 years later.

"It's been a long time, Saint."

"It has been a while."

Yuria approached the idol and assumed the same posture I had just moments ago.

"I also came here to repent. If it's not an inconvenience, please wait for a moment."

"Of course."

Yuria Tenia, the cherished jewel of the ducal family, the empire's greatest beauty, a member of the apostles, a saintess candidate, and...

An Inquisitor.

She, too, walks the path of an Inquisitor out of vengeance against the possessed, just like me.

I guided her, after her prayer, to my office prepared in the church.

"I was quite surprised to hear that you became a saint."

"I was surprised too. When I returned from my mission, the pope brought it up."

"Hehe, the pope does have a sudden side to him, doesn't he?"

As fellow Inquisitors and apostles, I had built a close relationship with her.

I learned noble etiquette from her, and she learned swordsmanship from me, forming a relationship where we became each other's teachers.

Due to my missions, I stayed in the Demon Lord's territory for a long time, while she dominated the empire's social circles, gathering information.

As a result, we hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"I see, Riel is still the same, isn't she?"

"Yes, just a few days ago, she broke down the door to my room."

"It seems that for this mission, I'll get to work with Riel again after a long time."

Yuria also shares a close bond with Riel.

Being the only same-aged and same-gender apostles, they quickly became close.

"Riel is also aiming for the saintess position, isn't she?"

"...Yes."

"Hehe, she's certainly qualified. Though, I won't lose either."

It's a troublesome matter. For me, having close ties with both sides, it's hard to speak carelessly.

If I'm not careful, my opinion might end up deciding who becomes the saintess.

'If it's Riel and Yuria, even if they compete for the saintess position, they'll respect each other and maintain a good relationship. But... if a rift were to form between them, I...'

I fell into thought for a moment.

Both of them were precious comrades to me, and I didn't want to lose either of them.

I let out a small sigh internally.

Regardless of the saintess issue, the conversation with Yuria, whom I hadn't seen in a long time, was a momentary escape from the weight of reality for me.

Forgetting the arduous missions in the Demon Lord's territory and the upcoming matters at the academy, I laughed and talked with Yuria.

Thanks to her, I learned about the current trends in the empire and newly discovered knowledge.

For someone like me, who had been isolated from the human world due to missions in the Demon Lord's territory, it was quite useful information.

Moreover, it was even more necessary to avoid discomfort in conversations with the students.

However, pleasant moments always come to an end.

For those of us burdened with heavy responsibilities, conversations never end lightly.

"Staying at the academy means you've been assigned a mission like ours, right?"

"That's right. I've already met with Riel and Natasha; you're the last."

"Oh my, it's surprising that I'm later than Natasha."

In the end, we began discussing the mission.

"Your first suspect, how much information have you gathered?"

Almost everything. She answered as such and shared the information she had investigated.

The first suspected player, Cornell Monclair.

The third son of the Monclair Count Family, he was notorious as a scoundrel.

Not being an heir, his parents neglected him, and rumors spread that he fell gravely ill one day and was on the brink of death.

Miraculously recovering from his illness, he became an entirely different person.

"I confirmed that a cardinal from the Cult of Light visited to treat his illness."

"Suspicious."

"Indeed."

Suspected players, among them, the representative ones are the possessed.

Beings whose souls of outsiders are possessed in the bodies of the dead.

Since the knowledge in their bodies remains intact, they are very difficult to distinguish.

Especially if they are nobles.

The possessed are tricky to identify, and the quests they carry out have a significant impact on the world.

"It seems he's truly a different person, as the rumors say. In the past, he would run away in fear at the sight of me, but now, I can sense lust in his eyes.

His fiancée is the daughter of a merchant guild leader in his territory. Their relationship seems to have improved, but there's something off.

Moreover, even the servants attending him feel uneasy."

Even if he's possessed, he cannot escape the eyes of someone at the pinnacle of the empire's social circles like her.

"Additionally, his thoughts on the academy make him even more suspicious. In the past, he had a strong aversion to the academy, even driving away private tutors.

But after recovering from his illness, he's actively trying to enter the academy."

"Sometimes people change after enduring a serious illness. It might just be that he matured."

"That's certainly possible. However, one's talents don't change. If we dig into that part, we'll soon uncover the truth."

Talent. Ordinary people cannot change the talents they possess.

While there are cases where people discover talents they didn't know they had, talents that didn't exist cannot suddenly appear.

However, it's possible for players. Because of the status window.

That enigmatic entity is known to alter a player's talents.

"I tracked down his former private tutor and childhood maids. Perhaps due to a lack of loyalty, they spoke easily.

He lacked talent in swordsmanship and frequently skipped swordsmanship lessons. Yet, he applied for the Swordsmanship Department at the academy."

"Swordsmanship, huh... Then I'll leave it to you. The Swordsmanship Department is your responsibility, so I'll ask you to continue monitoring him."

"Of course."

After roughly finishing our discussion, she prepared to leave.

"I'll be going now, Saint. See you at the academy."

"Alright."

Eventually, time passed, and the hour for my first class arrived.

The theology subject is not a mandatory course.

Rather, if anything, it falls into the category of unpopular subjects.

"How many did you say?"

"A hundred. Congratulations, Professor Kian. It's been fifty years since a new professor's lecture reached full capacity."

Did I underestimate the influence of the title of Saint too much?

Our Cult inherently does not have a complex hierarchy within its structure.

This is because of the teaching that, before God, everyone—whether the Pope or the Apostles—is just a single believer.

The unidentified Inquisitor is also simply an ordinary believer and has no special privileges.

Even the Pope is merely a representative of the believers, not someone special.

However, from an external perspective, it is unavoidable that attention is drawn to those who represent the Cult.

As a result, my lecture seems to have set a record not seen in fifty years.

The original plan was to conduct a lecture by simply reading and interpreting the textbook.

However, since so many students have enrolled in my class, trusting me, I have no choice but to repay that trust.

"Professor Kian, for lectures with more than fifty students, you can select a few to serve as teaching assistants.

Since you don't have graduate students under you, it will be difficult to manage alone."

"Thank you, Director Veronica."

Teaching assistants, huh... I can't think of any suitable candidates.

After all, the only students I know are Riel and Yuria.

'It doesn't seem like those two would take a theology class...

Should I ask the nuns at the Church for help?'

While contemplating, I looked over the list of students who had registered for my class.

And I found a familiar name.

'Riel, why on earth did this girl sign up?'

It's Riel, who studied theology alongside me. If I were to find a reason for her to enroll, despite having no need to learn from me...

'She's probably planning to tease me.'

If I were to make a slip of the tongue during the lecture, she'd immediately come to mock me.

'Then you can be the teaching assistant.'

I marked Riel's name.

Unless someone else volunteers to be a teaching assistant, or unless something unexpected happens, she will take on the role.

Serves her right, I suppose.