Chapter 569 – Good Friends to Meet

After moving for several days, we arrived at the Mist Plain.

“This fuck.”

Again, it was foggy. Like the last time I came to find a meteorite, I can’t secure my sight. Even the accumulated snow made the whole world look white.

I’m glad it didn’t snow as much as I thought.

We just sat still and left our bodies in the carriage.

ㅡPuhhhhh.
ㅡPureung, Purung.

Maybe 5 more minutes or so.

Suddenly the carriage stopped.

“I’m going to rest here for a while!”

Barkerell shouted and people got out of the wagon. Come to think of it, it was lunch time. We also packed our things and left.

“Paladin. You’ve arrived at the Mist Plain. You don’t know everything about the road anyway, so you’ll have no choice but to search while thinking that it’s the beginning. You’ll need patience.”
“You are right.”
“I’m planning to move slowly while making the map, but let’s start by eating rice. It’s fortunate that it’s not as cold as I thought.”

The wagon was equipped with simple cooking utensils, so I immediately took them all out and started preparing to eat.

Since Winia was there, making a fire wasn’t a problem in the first place. As always, we made a simple stew and ate it in the field.

“Is this the Mist Plain? As you’ve heard, the fog is thick. You can’t see an inch ahead.”

Elise said while stirring her stew.

“Dara is blind, like the future of the cultists.”
“Huh, that’s a funny joke. As expected, the saints seem to have a lot of fun talking about it. Come to think of it, this stew… I think it reminds me of the saints of the time of the Holy War .”

Pagan Stew.

“He’s eating, what the hell is he talking about?”

Winia said it reminded her of the same thing.

“Ah. I’m sorry. I stopped thinking about it.”
“Well, a bastard makes fun of words.”
Hehe, people always have to have a sense of humor. That’s the most important thing.”

Before I ate the stew, I took out the grain and water casks from the wagon and fed the horses.

“Is that why Kat always enjoys killing jokes?”
“That’s right.”

Cloudy scooped out my portion in a small bowl.

Maybe because it was cold, the mild stew tasted quite delicious because it was hot. As the hot warmth spreads into the body, I feel a little more alive. No matter how strong my body is, and I keep warm with a Sasquatch fur coat, the time I was outside was too long.

It’s hard.

“Kat. By the way, if I find a town of criminals like that this time too.”
“It’s annihilation. If you kill everyone and rob the safe, it’ll still be worth the price you’ve come up to here.”
“Huh, really trustworthy.”

Cloudy smiled happily and stroked my hair. In the first place, this work was either a search or a subjugation. If there are heretic collaborators, of course they must be eliminated.

“Yes. It is only right that such wicked people should be destroyed.”
“…I’m worried if I’ll be able to find it. Well, criminals or whatever, I just want them to come out of town.”

If it was a normal village, you could just pay money and stay, but if it was a village of robbers, you could clean it up and get some rest.

I’ve already done it once, so it shouldn’t be too difficult.

After a decent meal, I talked to Barcharell while brushing my teeth. While creating a map like this, I plan to move recklessly to find the village.

For now, that’s the only way.

At the sound of an imminent departure, he left his seat and got into the carriage.

*         *

In that way, we crossed the Midwinter Mist Plain.

I am making a map, but I don’t know how effective it will be. Since it was difficult to secure a watch in the first place, it seems that the map itself is not making much progress.

At night, we gathered a wagon and horses together, lit a fire, and then slept in the wagon while alternately standing vigil. Unlike when I went to find the meteorite, it was nice that there were no monster attacks at night.

There was nothing particularly special about the monsters he occasionally encountered.

It is an extreme reconnaissance force that can repulse the Great Devil even if it appears in the first place. It is possible to subdue normal monsters with just one finger.

Of course, the subdued monsters were instantly dismantled and turned into soup soup. Overall, it was a trouble-free journey.

“What, did you stop?”

Meanwhile, the carriage stopped.

“It’s not meal time… Didn’t you find something?”

Winia said, and paladins and priests descended from the wagon in front. I immediately got off and looked around, indeed.

I saw something that looked like a flickering light on the other side.

It is a village.

“Gentlemen, I think I’ll finally find the village.”

I visited the first village a few days after entering the Mist Plains. Still, I moved here and there looking for something like a road, and eventually I found it.

Is that really a town of robbers?

Well, even if hundreds of robbers gathered together, they would not be opponents of me and the Paladins.

“I’ll let you go in first. If we reveal our righteous purpose, we won’t be kicked out.”

Barquerel ordered, and we got out of the wagon and headed for the light. Soon after, a three-story watchtower came into view with a wooden fence.

The light was shining there.

“Stop! Who are you!”

Soon someone came out from above and shouted with a bow pointed. Are you the village watchman? Barquerel stood up as the representative and shouted loudly.

“We are the Paladins of the Brass Holy Angel Society who are on a mission!!! Can we go into the village!!!”
“Sir, paladin…? Wait a minute!”

First of all, there is a possibility that they are collaborators of the cult, but we don’t know yet. They may be good people.

So, Barquerel asked to be admitted politely rather than randomly. Well, if I said no, it would be suspicious, so I would have to force myself to enter.

There is no option to not enter.

Soon people appeared and removed the small wooden fence at the entrance to the village.

“Come in!”

Surprisingly, it is said to come in in compliance.
Does that mean there are no points of concern?

We drove the wagon and went into the village.

ㅡ…
ㅡ…
ㅡ…

Upon entering, at first glance, villagers who looked like killers who had climbed up from the bottom of hell were staring at us with sunken eyes.

Seeing that there are a lot of people, did all the people in the village come out?

“Sir, Paladins…?”

A man dressed as a hunter came and said.

“Yes. I am currently on a mission. I would like to see the village chief.”
“Ah, let me guide you.”

Compared to the poor-looking villagers, Barkerell’s holy angel armor looked extremely luxurious. Originally, people like this tend to bow their heads at the sight of good-looking armor.

Because that’s the world.

We immediately asked the villagers to help us with the wagon, paying a few pennies. No matter what you do, you have to spend money to get it right. I’ll be staying here for a day or so anyway, but there’s nothing good about saving money.

After leaving the wagon, we headed to the village chief’s house as a group.

“You are the village chief. What is the name of the village?”
“They say it’s Gurtus Village… But what happened to the Paladins…?”

Barkerell spoke with the village chief as the representative.

That was the point of the story. We are paladins from the church. Cursed cultists have now lurked in this Mist Plain. I have to do the investigation, so I ask for your cooperation.

It is not a request that the villagers, who are mere middle-class citizens in the middle of the day, can refuse.

It is the law of this world to do it if some guys who can sharpen their knives come and order it. At least they are paladins, so I politely ask them.

“Of course, if you cooperate, I will reward you in my own way.
“That’s… Uh, do that. If that’s the case, we’ll have to cooperate.”

The village headman was a man of conversation.

Of course, if I didn’t cooperate, I would have started a forced investigation, saying that this bastard was suspicious. Just like entering the village, there is no option to not investigate.

“You guys make groups of three and investigate the village. The chief gave permission like this, so we should act as politely as possible.”

As Barkerel skillfully gave instructions, the Paladins and Priests came out.

“Saints. Let us conduct an investigation as well.”
“Elise, wait. Cloudy, Winia. Can you start with Elise first? I’ll wait a little while and then join you.”
“Yeah… I will. Bastard come quick.”

After all of that, Barkerel and I went to the village chief’s house. And only the village chief remained. I first asked permission to speak to Barcharell. After he nodded, I opened my mouth.

Hehe, Chief. Are there accommodations in this village?”
“There isn’t one… But there are vacant buildings for those who come to stay.”
“I’m glad that’s the case.”

Fortunately, I think I can stay and go.

To be honest, I don’t know if these are good people or collaborators with the cultists. Seeing that he allowed the investigation like this, it doesn’t seem like there was anything wrong with him, but that was something he didn’t know in the first place.

Even if they do human trafficking, if there are no people who have been kidnapped right now, there is no evidence.

There won’t be any sudden pagans coming.

Of course, it is impossible to subject people to intense interrogation based on suspicion, and there is no such thing as torturing people. That’s nonsense, and it’s what raging heretics and criminals do.

We never do such wicked things.

Bastards who do such things are the villains that must be defeated in order to establish justice in this world.

If there is no physical evidence, it will just pass.

It’s the same for me and the paladins.

As long as there is no clear physical evidence, these are just residents to be protected from the pagan threat.

“Hmm, by the way, chief.”

So I decided to ask a few simple questions.

“As I explained, there are heretics who practice human trafficking nearby. There was even a village where they worked as partisans. Do you know anything about ‘such a thing’? Suspicious people came to visit… Well, the villagers Like rumors that all of them were massacred.”

While holding the table with both hands, I pointed my face at the village chief and said,

“That that…”

The old village chief seemed frightened by my question. Shall I start by introducing myself?

Hehe, the introduction is late. I am Paladin Kim Katt, a member of the Brass Holy Angel Society, and I am the direct subordinate. As I said, I am currently investigating the heretics hiding in the Mist Plain.”
“Fa-Paladin…”

Hearing her name Paladin, his eyes widened her.

That was the impression the position of Paladin gave to the general public. Frightening or frightening. Anyone who thinks the latter must have been deeply sinful.

“As far as the paladin knows, heretics have been roaming around the Mist Plains for quite some time. Professional human traffickers are rampant.”
“…”
“Do you know anything? No matter how much it is a town like this, it is not likely to interact with nearby towns. If that’s the case, I think we can hear ‘such rumors’ as much as we like.”

No matter how much the fog plain is such a fucking space, there will still be exchanges between villages.

People who live here probably have maps.

If so, you will surely know the news about the nearby village, and since this is the shit, there is a high probability that the heretics have visited at least once.

It’s because the pagans who specialize in human trafficking based around this area can’t just go around nearby villages.

So, if you are the village chief, there is a high possibility that you know about such information.

“It’s true that there are exchanges with other villages… But I don’t know anything about paganism. This isn’t that big of a village. It’s just medicinal herbs and special products. It’s a village that lives on small-scale. Farming and hunting… It’s not like that. It has nothing to do with it.”

The village chief, who seemed frightened, replied that he did not know.

“Oh, is that so? Then, by any chance, residents of nearby villages were massacred, or that a village disappeared. Haven’t you heard such rumors?”
“I-I’ve never heard of such a scary rumor…”
Hehe, I don’t know.”

I smiled and looked into the village chief’s eyes.

—-I am trembling.

No matter how much it was, I wanted to know if a village was massacred, but I didn’t know. It’s suspicious, but it’s possible that the communication network between villages isn’t as established as I thought.

If so, you may not know.

There’s no way the guys who live in a place like this would stick together as a village unit.

“Well, I understand. No, I’m not suspicious of the village chief or this village. It’s just an investigation, so there’s no need to be so nervous. Just be careful. There are a lot of heretics and criminals nearby.”
“…”

Let’s not even say that I slaughtered a herd.

“Still, as a resident living here, I believe there will be a map nearby. I’ll be honest. Sell the map.”
“…I see.”

The village chief nodded.

After talking roughly, I went outside after receiving a map. He immediately found Cloudy, Winia, and Elise, and conducted an investigation with them.

Residents were cooperative.

Didn’t find anything suspicious either.

If so, there is nothing we can do. As soon as the investigation was completed, we purchased supplies at a fair price and got an empty house to rest.

Well, I just had to get a map.