## Chapter 570 – Good Friends When You Meet

“Sir, there weren’t any particularly suspicious aspects. The residents were all cooperative, and there were no conflicts.”
“That’s a relief.”

After roughly gathering information, it seemed there was nothing suspicious.

Whether it was Elise or the paladins, they were experts at finding suspicious things. If they said there was nothing, it was safe to assume there was nothing immediately strange about the village.

Of course, this only meant there was nothing `materially` suspicious.

Every village in the Misty Plains was already under suspicion.

Besides the map I bought from the village chief, I met with the residents individually to see if they had any other maps.

I couldn’t trust the maps these guys made 100%.

They might hide crucial information and only use paths known among themselves… well, that’s just what I thought when I was deeply suspicious. At least, it was necessary to secure a lot of data.

The other maps were the same.

“Of course, these are good residents, but for now, we have no choice but to suspect every situation. Professional human trafficking by the cultists is rampant. It’s suspicious enough that there’s a village that doesn’t know about that fact.”

Barkerel seemed to be thinking similarly to me.

“But there was nothing suspicious about them… not right now, anyway. If so, there’s nothing we can do at the moment.”

He suspected, but without material evidence, he wouldn’t do anything. These righteous men would never act on mere hunches.

That was the same for me.

“We’ve just been introduced to another village, so we’ll just go check it out. It’ll probably take some time. The Saintess gave us two weeks, so we might not be able to achieve anything.”

We’d already spent several days just moving around.

“What can we do? Since we have the map anyway, we’ll just have to aim for next time.”
“That’s right… but I don’t want to ignore the fact that such a thing is already happening.”

Barkerel sincerely wanted to eradicate the evil criminal acts that were happening inside the Misty Plains. He might suddenly growl when he heard the word “cultist,” but he was a truly righteous person.

“Well, let’s get some rest today. We’ll have to move again from tomorrow.”

With those words, I left the room where the paladins were stationed with Elise.

If there were no problems, we’d rest for a day and leave tomorrow. I’d bought supplies and booked accommodation at a price that ripped me off, so I’d given them compensation for the investigation.

“Sir, even though there’s nothing suspicious, it’s still suspicious.”
“That’s right. I’m actually suspicious too. The cultists are even doing professional human trafficking, so I don’t think they wouldn’t have visited a village like this.”

Whether it was to secure humans or to establish a business relationship.

If there was a cultist base or something, we could use force. In that case, they might put up spears and swords and `force` the nearby villages to cooperate with human trafficking.

The villagers couldn’t stand up to the cultists.

If they threatened to kill them, they’d have no choice but to do it. The cultists were more than capable of doing that.

“I think so too.”
“Of course, it’s just a thought. We can’t do anything with just a hunch.”
“That’s also a correct statement.”

The Holy Brass Sky Society was a fairly radical sect. But even if they were radical, they were forces of good, and they kept to the good as much as they were.

If there was no evidence, they wouldn’t touch it.

It was common sense and basic. Religious people kept to these things very thoroughly. Rather, the easily corrupt City Guards often didn’t think about this and frequently conducted coercive investigations without evidence.

That’s probably why religious people were respected.

Of course, if suspicious evidence was found, they’d turn into nightmarish screaming monsters in less than a second.

“We might not be able to find the cultists. We might not be able to find the village that’s helping them either. Well, it’s unfortunate, but that’s a good thing in its own way.”
“…I suppose so.”

Anyway, we also went into our accommodation room.

Roughly, the accommodation was divided into a room for the Brass Sky Society members, a room for me and my wives, and a room for Elise. Let’s get some rest for a while.

* * *

We spent a day in Glee Village and started our journey again. It wasn’t difficult to find the way because we had a map. We went to another village and received cooperation as well.

The map we got there was different from the one we got from the previous village, but about 80% of it was the same.

“I, I don’t know. About that…”
“Hmm.”

Also, the village chief of this village also answered that he didn’t know about the cultists.

Were they collectively hiding the cultists? It was a little difficult to think that the security between the villages was that thorough.

Perhaps the cultists ordered them to keep quiet because we annihilated them all when we went to find the meteorites. If so, they would have destroyed the evidence.

Anyway, we couldn’t know.

If there was nothing suspicious, we’d just leave.

Because time was short, we didn’t really take a break from the second village onwards, and we constantly visited other villages after collecting only maps and information. This work was a repetition of that. Since we didn’t know anything, we had no choice but to crash into it head-on.

We investigated the villages while receiving cooperation from all the residents. Looking at it this way, it seemed that quite a few people lived in the Misty Plains. It seemed that resources were a bit abundant.

ㅡAfter several days of doing that.

We found a village that was quite far away.

We collected and combined the acquired maps to create a fairly large map. This village was quite far from the other villages.

It was in a slightly remote location.

“We are paladins belonging to the Holy Brass Sky Society! Cultists have infiltrated the vicinity! We have come to investigate them, so open the village gates!”

As always, Barkerel shouted loudly at the village entrance.

“We will not allow entry! We cannot recklessly let outsiders into the village! Go back!”
“…”

But for the first time, we were refused. At that unexpected shout, our group froze for about 5 seconds. All the villages had cooperated until now, but suddenly they said no?

“Captain Barkerel.”
“…Wait a moment. It’s natural to be wary of outsiders in such a remote place. I’ll try talking to them one more time.”

Barkerel also looked surprised, as if he hadn’t expected to be refused. Who would refuse the paladins of the church that served the stern God, who were asking for cooperation to find the cultists?

It didn’t make sense logically.

“I’ll say it again! We are carrying out our mission to establish security, peace, and justice in this area under the orders of the Order! Evil cultists are hiding in the Misty Plains! That’s why we’re here, so please cooperate for a moment!”

When Barkerel shouted again, an answer soon came back.

“Ah, no matter what, we can’t let outsiders in! We don’t want to be involved in such dangerous things! Go back!”
“You mean you won’t even let us in for a moment!”
“Th, that’s right! Please go back!”

The answer that came back was rejection.

“Sir, this is…”

Elise grabbed my sleeve with a hardened face.
These bastards… they’re getting more and more suspicious.

“I don’t know yet. Let’s wait and see.”
“Hmph… To show such courage in front of this kind of force.”

Claudia also grabbed my shoulder.

“Hehehe, it looks like they’re hiding something.”

She seemed to be enjoying it for some reason. My heart also started to flutter strangely. At the same time, the atmosphere of the other priests and paladins also became ominous.

“Um… Blackie. I can get ready, right?”
“Maybe?”

Winia also readjusted her staff.

“Captain Barkerel. What are you going to do?”

I said to Captain Barkerel, who was staring at the village entrance with his arms crossed.

“…Suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“It’s very suspicious. To refuse a simple request for cooperation… I don’t want to be suspicious, but I can’t help but be suspicious.”
“Hehehe, I actually think so too. There’s no way they wouldn’t allow entry unless they were hiding something.”

It looked like the gamblers were shouting that this wasn’t that kind of place when the police raided an illegal gambling den.

Barkerel shouted again in a fierce voice.

“Why can’t we! The cultists are dangerous, so we’re asking you to open the door! Tell us the reason! Is there an epidemic or something! We have a priest here! You don’t have to worry!”
“If we say no, then just know that we mean no! If you are messengers of God, then do not commit any more rudeness and please go back!”

Wow, these bastards have guts.

A fully armed squad of paladins was saying that it was dangerous because of the cultists and asking them to open the door, but they were desperately trying to stop them. If they had that kind of guts, they would succeed in anything in the world.

“…It seems suspicious. It’s hard to get rid of any more suspicion.”

At that moment, Barkerel’s eyes changed.

“Gentlemen. Violence is not allowed at this stage. Peacefully.”

Barkerel, who was looking at the village entrance, turned around and said to us.

“Start the suppression.”

ㅡKugugugung!
ㅡTudududada!
ㅡPapapapat!

As soon as Barkerel’s order was given, the paladins and priests jumped out. They didn’t draw their swords. He told them not to use violence and to suppress them.

But was that possible?

I didn’t know well, but the paladins were superhumans. Even if they didn’t use weapons, they could just knock down the villagers with their toes.

“Ugh, uaaaaaaack!!!”
“What the!!!!”
“Don’t do this! What kind of outrage is this!!!!”

The paladins didn’t open their mouths.

They just violently smashed the village entrance and went inside. Then, they began to suppress the resisting residents by wielding their fists and palms with surprising kindness.

“Iaaaaaaaack!!”
“Kyaaaaaaack!!
“Save me!!”

The resisting residents flew into the sky and soon fell. Humans don’t have wings. They just flew away after being hit with soft punches and affectionate slaps.

Was this non-violent suppression?

“Sir! Let’s go!”
“Yeah!”

Our quartet also entered the path that the paladins had made.

“Aaaaaaaaack!!”
“Stop ittttttt!!”
“What are you doing!! Are you guys really paladins!!!”

The inside of the village was already a scene of carnage.

Only ten paladins and priests were running around in pairs, knocking down all the residents they saw. Of course, they shouldn’t kill them. This was just a minimal act of suppression!

“Where are you running!”
“Aaaaaaaaack!!”

I also covered the fleeing residents while performing the Heavenly Demon Advent Step.

“Hehehe, you bastard. Where’s the village chief?”
“I don’t know! I don’t knowoooooo!!”
“Don’t you even know where your village chief is?”

Still, I couldn’t hit him, so I immediately took off my gauntlet and flicked the forehead of the suppressed resident.

ㅡPpeogeooooreok!!!!

“Krrrreureuk!!!”
“Uh, uh? This bastard!!”

But the kid fainted while foaming at the mouth after being hit with that once.

When I looked, his forehead was swollen red.

“You crazy bastard!!!”

Anyway, the suppression was done in an instant. Already, residents of about one squad size were burying their heads in the ground with their hands folded behind their heads. It was a part where you could realize the paladins’ work processing skills.

“What kind of outrage is this! Stop it right now!”

Right then, when an old man shouted loudly, the chaotic scene stopped.

Was that person the village chief?

The paladins, who were moving the suppressed residents to the center, were about to approach the village chief.

I asked for their understanding and went ahead of them and stood in front of him.

“Are you the village chief?”
“I am the village chief! What is going on! How can the messengers of God do this! It’s not too late, so go back now!”

The village chief, who hadn’t bent over yet, didn’t flinch even after seeing me, but rather shouted as if scolding me.

This bastard… did he have something backing him up?

It was even more suspicious.

If there was something backing him up in this remote village, it was suspicious in itself.

“Hehehe, go back. I can’t do that. Haven’t you heard that there are cultists? You’re acting in a way that makes you suspicious, so this is what happened. I hope you understand.”
“What kind of rudeness is that!”
“It’s not rudeness, it’s just executing legal procedures. Of course, if there are no problems, we will safely release you and compensate you. Recognize that this is an emergency situation, Village Chief.”
“What is this…!”

While I was talking, Barkerel shouted.

“Report when you have completed suppressing the residents! Don’t let a single one move!”

The suppression was already completed. There were less than 50 residents living in the small village. If there were only ten divine special forces, suppressing them was nothing.

Soon, all the residents were tied up with ropes like dried corvina.