## Chapter 575 – Nice to Meet You, Friend

It’s not often a carriage comes to a place as remote as this.

It might be for bartering from another village, or residents returning after a brief trip away. Or perhaps merchants coming to buy local specialties.

Of course, the interrogation confirmed that no residents were returning from outside. And they rarely get merchants either.

—In truth, there’s not much to think about.

It’s highly likely they’re heretics, but we don’t know for sure yet. I don’t know who they are, but the important thing is that something unusual has occurred. We can worry about the rest after we stop the carriage.

—Clatter, clatter.

The carriage was approaching this way quite naturally. I lowered my stance, watching it intently, waiting for it to come within range.

“Carriage ahead!!!!!!!! Appeeeeeeaaaaaaring!!!!”

As soon as it was close enough, I unleashed a lion’s roar and leaped down from the watchtower.

“Holy Knights!!!!!!!!! A carriage has appeared!!!!!!!!!!!!”

The lodging where Barkerel and his Holy Knights were staying was a large house right next to the watchtower. Unless all five of them were drugged and asleep, there’s no way they couldn’t hear me!

—Thwack!!!!
—Clang!!!!
—Crash!!!!!!

As soon as I landed on the ground, about to run toward the carriage, the doors, walls, and windows of the lodging suddenly burst open, and the Holy Knights inside came bursting out like cursed monsters barely escaping a boy’s nightmare.

“Subdue them—!!!!!!”

Barkerel, who had burst through the wall of the perfectly good house, shouted, and the Holy Knights dashed toward the village’s wooden fence like arrows, leaping over it toward the carriage.

—Pitter-patter!
—Thud-thud-thud-thud!
—Tap-tap-tap-tap!!!!

Their momentum was so fierce that they were keeping pace with me, who had started first!

“Uwoooooooo!!”
“Stop!!! Stop, please!!!”
“Carriage, stop!!!!!”

Even as they ran, the Holy Knights ordered the carriage to halt. Of course, they hadn’t been identified as heretics yet, so they wouldn’t attack recklessly.

In this emergency situation, they would subdue them first and then confirm their identities!

“Dejaaaaaaaaat!!!”

I, too, shouted as I ran toward the carriage.

At a glance, the coachman seemed to be trying to turn the horse around in a panic. That’s only natural. If some crazy bastard came running at you on all fours while screaming, there’s no way you wouldn’t run away.

—Pitter-patter!!!

Wait, what?! Running on all fours?!!

Barkerel, that guy is seriously running on all fours, for real!!!!!!!!

“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!”

Unable to believe what I was seeing, I ran while tearing at my hair from halfway.

—Swoosh!

Of course, the coachman couldn’t be faster than the Holy Knights.

“Verdeshi, give me strength!!!!”
“Uwoooooooo!!”

—Jump!

Barkerel and two of his Holy Knights, who had jumped high like frogs, flew toward the carriage like murderous-flying squirrels, their limbs spread wide.

—Thump!

The Holy Knights who landed on the carriage roof stuck to the carriage like cockroaches and began crawling across it at a rapid pace using only their four limbs.

—Scuttle-scuttle!

This is insane!!!!!

But the carriage was quite large.
Large enough to carry several people inside.

“U-uh, uhhhh!!!”

The coachman, dressed in black, shouted in panic. It’s no wonder he was surprised, with three Holy Knights crawling around on the carriage on all fours right behind him! And more than anything, black clothes meant there was a high probability he was a heretic!

Of course, it wasn’t confirmed yet, so we couldn’t just stab him with a sword right away.

“Kim Katt Missiiiiile—!!!!!!”

We just needed to subdue him.

—Thwack!

Immediately, I kicked off the ground and flew toward the coachman, arms wide open. The power of the jump, fueled by a tremendous boost and mana consumption, was considerable. I felt an incredible sense of speed and the resistance of the air.

—Whoosh!!!!

“…!”

Observing as I flew, I saw a grotesque face full of black tattoos hidden beneath the panicked coachman’s hood. This bastard! He was a heretic!!!

“You heretic bastard!!!!”

—Thud!

I immediately grabbed him and fell off the carriage with him.

“Ughhhh!!!”

A missile, indeed!
Like a hijacking in mid-air!!

—Crash-bang!!

“Gah!!!”
“Stay still, you bastard!!!”

I rolled on the ground with the coachman, tangled together.

“Celestial Demon Skill!!”

Looking at the tattoos on this bastard’s face, he was no ordinary heretic. In all likelihood, these guys were human traffickers.

I immediately used the Celestial Demon Skill’s forbidden technique, the rear-naked choke!

—Squeeze!

“Rear-naked choke!!!!”
“Uht, uuh…!”

With trained muscles and technique, I twisted the coachman’s body and cut off the blood flow to his brain. Before long, the coachman went limp, unconscious.

“Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”

At the same time, men in black clothes went flying into the sky. It seemed the Holy Knights had already smashed the carriage with their bare hands.

Barkerel was throwing the heretics he had dragged out of the wreckage of the carriage high into the air!!

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!!!”

Like berets being thrown on graduation day!!!!

“Priests!!! Block the heretics’ chanting of spells!!!”

—Tchwack!!

The priests, who had arrived late, emitted pure white flashes from their hands, then grabbed the necks of the falling heretics.

“Holy Silence!!!”

Then, they shoved their glowing hands into the heretics’ mouths!

“Gerk!! Ge-ge-gerk!!”
“Cough!!!!”

As the pure white flashes surged into their throats, the heretics shuddered and began to scream, spewing black smoke from their orifices.

—Waft-waft!

The black smoke spewing out like blood was the clearest evidence of heresy!

“Katt!!”
“Saint!!”

Around that time, Claudie, hastily dressed, and Eliza, fully armed, appeared. Winia was running from afar.

It seemed they had heard my voice and rushed out to prepare.

“Heretic human traffickers have appeared!!!”

There were a total of three heretics.

I had already knocked out the coachman, and the other two heretics were being directly hit with the divine skill Holy Silence in their mouths, spewing smoke from their orifices.

“Heretics!! They’re heretics! Krrrk!!!”
“Uwoooooook!!”

—Thwack!

Suddenly, one of the Holy Knights kicked the side of a fallen heretic, then began to beat the heretic’s body, which had risen into the air, using bizarre leg techniques.

“Verdeshiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!”
“Keuhahaaaaaak!!!”

Barkerel was the same. He clenched his fist and began to relentlessly punch the abdomen of another heretic lying on the ground!

This is insane!!

“No, damn it!!! Brothers!!!”

I had just captured them alive, what the hell was this!!!
If they died like this, we wouldn’t even break even!!

“Captain Barkerel!!!!!!”
“Uaaaaaaaah!!!”

I immediately kicked off the ground, seized by extreme rage, and strongly embraced Captain Barkerel, who was unleashing merciless violence, preventing him from inflicting any more.

“Paladin…!!!! Let go of me!!!”

Barkerel, who had raised his fist, couldn’t bring himself to hit me and spat out words while trembling, his eyes rolled back.

“Calm down!”

I remembered what Saint Kadia had told me, that a Holy Knight interrogating a heretic had lost his temper and beaten him to death.

This was it…!
Barkerel was completely consumed by madness!

“If we don’t interrogate them, we won’t learn anything!!!! We finally caught them, are you just going to leave their base alone!!! Stop it right now, Captain Barkerel!! We have to interrogate them and find their base!”

I shouted, squeezing out every ounce of strength, blocking Barkerel’s violent movements as he tried to throw me off.

My words had to reach him!

If these heretics died here, it would just be a waste of time!

“…!”

Suddenly, Barkerel’s body trembled as if startled, then stopped.

“Guk, krrrk…! R-right…! That’s right…!”
“Captain!”

H-he understood!!!

Barkerel bit his upper lip so hard it bled, completing the sentence.

“Pala…din…! Paladin, you interrogate them instead!!! I don’t think I can stand it!!!!!! Immediately, quickly!!! I’ll remove myself from this place for now!!!!”

—Krrrk!!

Captain Barkerel, who let out a bizarre shout, shook me off and began to run toward the village with unbelievable momentum. He was using all his mental strength to escape the scene, afraid he would kill the heretics!

That’s how much he wanted to kill the heretics!

“The Scales of Judgment!!! The Scales of Judgment!!! Guardian of Balance!!! Guardian of Balance!!”
“Verdeshiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!! Let me tear this one to pieces!!!!”
“Kyaaaaaaaaak!!!!!!”

But the other Holy Knights and priests couldn’t stop at all. They were lynching the fallen heretics, letting out grotesque roars.

It was like a scene from a fantasy, not reality. But this was definitely reality. I had to stop these crazy people before they killed the heretic bastards!

I clung to the priest right in front of me, blocking his movements, and shouted.

“P-Paladin! Let go!”
“Eliza!!! Claudie!!! Stop those people, quickly!!!”

Eliza and Claudie should be able to stop the Holy Knights!

“You filthy heretic bastard!!! I’ll kill you in the same way your mother met her death!!!!”

But Eliza was already participating in the lynching.

Brutus!!!!

“Eliza, you too!”

Winia, who had already arrived, was wringing her hands, not knowing what to do.

“No!! Eliza!!! You crazy! C-Claudie! Stop Eliza first!”
“Okay!”

At my words, Claudie grabbed the shoulders of the Holy Knight and priest and lightly tossed them away, then grabbed Eliza’s body and held her in place.

“Lady Claudie…! Let go!”

Eliza squeezed out her voice, almost bursting a blood vessel in her neck.

“Eliza, let’s stay still, okay?”

Originally, Eliza and the Holy Knights were somewhat patient, but now, because of the horrors of human trafficking, they had all completely lost their minds. The fact that the heretics were still alive was only because I was able to restrain them.

“Priest! Calm down! We can’t raid their base if we kill these heretics!”
“Paladin…! You’re right! But I can’t stand it!”
“Hey, damn it! Priest! Go back to the village quickly! Like Captain Barkerel!”
“D-don’t let go of me! If you let go now, I don’t know what I’ll do!”

The priest I was holding was like this too!

“Priest, I’m sorry!! Rear-naked choke!!!”
“Ukeuhp…!”

I immediately made the situation comfortable for him.
His unconscious body went limp.

The remaining Holy Knights and priests had been subdued by Claudie, who had knocked them unconscious. Eliza had finally regained her composure and was standing in place, taking deep breaths.

It was utter chaos and confusion.

Simply because heretics had appeared, the chaos around here had accelerated. I couldn’t help but tremble in fear. If more heretics appeared, if they swallowed the world…

Like just now, people would fall into madness, killing and hating each other.

“Ooh! Oooooh…! Oooooooooooo!!!!”

I clutched my head and roared.

Heretics want human chaos! To make people fall into madness, just like now, and commit inhuman acts without a second thought!

The imperialization of all mankind!
The sugarcane-fication of the entire world!

“Hey, you dumbass, snap out of it!”
“Aah!”

Then, Winia’s staff grabbed my neck and shook it.

—Shake-shake!

With that, the mind that had been swallowed by chaos returned.

“I’m back! Winia! Let’s move these heretic bastards to a safe place first! Eliza! If you’ve come to your senses, come here!”
“S-Saint, I’m sorry! I lost my reason and used violence…!”

Eliza, who had regained her senses, approached me with a flushed face. It’s okay if you’ve come to your senses! Anyone can make a mistake!

“It’s okay!! And Claudie! Move the priest and Holy Knights to the village! Sorry!”

I immediately asked Claudie for that as well.

She nodded and walked toward the village, carrying the limp Holy Knights and priests on her shoulders.

“Well, then!”

I, along with Winia and Eliza, laid the heretics, who were lying face down in tatters, side by side in one place.

They were all monsters with snow-white skin covered in black tattoos.

Completely unconscious, they looked strangely peaceful, as if they had been saved.

“Eliza, Winia. Let’s carry these bastards one by one. Can you do it?”
“Well, it’s not difficult… Are we going to the village? I feel like something will happen again if we go there. The Holy Knights are all crazy right now.”
“Damn, that’s true.”

Where should we interrogate these guys?
If we went to the village, Barkerel would show his true colors again.

“Saint. I have an idea.”