## Chapter 581 – A Good Friend to Meet

For a moment, I thought I’d stepped into some kind of nightmare.

“Th, these are…!!!!”

Of course, I was mentally prepared, so I wasn’t exactly shocked.

“Huuuh…!!!!!”
“No way…!!!”

Vakarel and the paladin also made frantic gestures as if they were groping in the air, but soon calmed down and could only cover their mouths with their own hands.

We’d already screamed too much at the horrific sight.

Enough to shut up these scream junkies, no, these shriek maniacs.

“Saintess. What… what are these…?”
“I don’t know either.”

The inside was quite spacious, filled with bizarre structures.

Literally grotesque contraptions, decorations, or objects of some kind covered the walls, and next to some altar, piles of meat and bone fragments that must have once been human were scattered about.

And most of all, down there.

ㅡGrooooaaan…
ㅡNeeeeeeing…!
ㅡQuioooooooo…

As if abandoned, abominations stretched their arms out from the bottom of a huge, deep pit like a well, trying to crawl up towards us.

“A pit of sin!!!!”

Vakarel jumped up and clutched his head when he saw it.

“Saintess… it seems they’re failed abominations from the production process.”
“Looks like it to me too.”

Looking at those bastards, it seemed certain that they were making abominations in this room. And the failures were thrown down into that pit.

Deep, with nothing to grab onto, so they couldn’t crawl out.

They were simply abandoned.

“What are these things… I don’t know either. Have you ever seen anything like this, Unni?”
“Well, I’ve never seen anything like this. What kind of structure is this?”

Winia and Cloudi also examined the machine-like things that filled the walls.

I really didn’t know what these things were.

Even I, who grew up seeing all kinds of machines from modern Earth, couldn’t make heads or tails of them.

Maybe they were devices to assist magical power, or ritualistic structures to invoke something evil. Or maybe they were altars for summoning something, but the strangest thing was the purple gem embedded up there.

ㅡZzzzzzzzz.

It reflected an ominous light, so much so that all the light in the basement seemed to originate from there.

Even if I didn’t know anything else, I had to take that.

“We have to destroy everything, Paladin.”
“Saintess. We must destroy everything.”

I agreed with that.

We couldn’t take those devices apart and investigate them, and even if we went back to Isvant and asked for support, it would take days. In that case, there was a high probability that the heretics would return and recover them or reactivate them while we were gone.

We had to destroy all of this.

We couldn’t leave any room for error. Everything here was made to create abominations. We had to eliminate their existence no matter what.

Still.

“Wait. Let’s grab everything we can before we destroy it. There’s a lot here. We need to take all this… we might be able to learn a little more about their goals or plans.”

It seemed to be a pretty important room, as there were a lot of books and strange tools left behind. Vakarel and Eliza nodded.

“That’s right. Of course, we have to take everything we can. It’s truly hateful, and even leaving it in this world makes me furious, but we need to keep it to get information.”

We collected all the evidence scattered on the scene. We took what we could put in our bags and carry by hand, and discarded the rest.

After finishing the cleanup and looting, we stood in front of the pit.

ㅡGrooooaaan…
ㅡNyaaaaan! Nyaaaaan! Giyaaaaak!!
ㅡHororororong!! Horooooong!!!

The severely twisted abominations were smaller than the ones we had killed earlier. They were failures. Failed experiments that were once human.

“Winia.”

At my call, Winia nodded and began to chant.

“Flame Arrow.”

The resulting arrow of flame flew into the deep, deep pit. The arrow exploded, burning the monsters inside.

ㅡGiiiiiiiiiek!!!!!!!
ㅡQuiooooooooook!!!!!!!!!
ㅡHaaaaaaak!!!

The monsters screamed as they burned.

“…We who discovered them first.”

Vakarel said in a serious tone, with tears in his eyes.

“It was our duty. They are no longer human. There is nothing we can do but end their suffering.”

The paladin and priest stood beside him, quietly lowering their heads. Eliza also said with a gloomy face.

“And… if we leave them unattended, the returning heretics may use them again.”
“That’s right. It’s the right thing to do, even if it’s just this.”

I grabbed Eliza’s shoulder, who looked depressed.

“The gods they believed in during their lives will save these poor souls. Eliza. There will be more of this in the future. That’s why we must continue to fight.”
“Saintess…”
“To establish justice and bring peace to this world. Right?”
“That’s right. You seem steadfast as ever, Saintess.”

Eliza nodded, put her hands together, and prayed quietly.

“Aizermart…”
“Verde…”

Vakarel and his men also began to pray.

“…Then, Paladin.”

Vakarel, who had finished praying, drew his sword.

“Let’s begin.”
“Understood.”
“The destruction of this facility.”

Of course, we had to destroy everything.

“Dejaaaaaaaaat!!!!!!!!”
“In the name of the God of Order!!!!!!”
“Long live Verde!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Our shouts echoed in the basement.

I swung my sword to smash this corrupted facility. The self-repairing Living Sword was great for using like this.

Vakarel, the paladin, and Cloudi also swung their swords. Eliza also swung her mace, erasing the traces of the heretics. Thus, all the evil things were smashed, cut, and crushed.

ㅡIggle Iggle.

The final touch was, of course, Winia’s. When I poured some oil and Winia fired a Flame Arrow, the room soon began to burn.

The corpses of the abominations were also burned.

Then, leaving the burning basement behind, we ran like crazy to the ground.

Because there was a lot of smoke.

I had taken that purple gem-like thing with me, just in case.

“Captain Vakarel!!! What happened inside!!”

When we went outside, the paladin and priest who were guarding the entrance were startled and ran to us.

“The heretics were using people they trafficked to make abominations!”
“Abominations!!! Such a thing!!!!!!!!!!!”

Vakarel told the two outside about the course of events. We had roughly finished the job and taken everything we needed. We had done the job better than expected.

ㅡGlug glug.

I opened my canteen and drank water, looking around.

Come to think of it, where is our heretic friend… Oh, oh! What the hell?!?!

“Wh, what the hell!!! Paladin! What is that!”

Surprised, I immediately grabbed the paladin’s shoulder and said.

“Why is that bastard dead!!!”
“P, Paladin. Th, that is… th, that’s…”

Surprisingly, the heretic was completely crushed and spread out on the floor! Damn it, even if you put a person in a chili grinder or a press, they wouldn’t die like that!

“I, I’m sorry, Paladin. I accidentally killed him.”

The paladin scratched his head as if he was in trouble, and apologized like a boy who had broken a window. No, it didn’t matter if he killed him since he was no longer of any use, but I was going to ask him about the new facts I had learned.

I was going to try, whether he could answer or not… What a crazy paladin.

In fact, I was the one who was stopping him from killing him, but if it was just the paladin, the priest, and him, it was natural to kill him.

This was like leaving a fish with a cat.

“Hehehe, well, that can happen! Good job!”
“…Is that so? I guess it was a good thing after all! Hehehe!”

The paladin laughed heartily. Still, it was a good thing, so there was no need to blame him for what had already happened.

“Anyway! Pay attention here! Look at this!”

I immediately took out the purple crystal-like thing I had brought from my bag. I took it when I was smashing everything.

“It can only be felt as an evil object, no matter how you look at it.”
“It seems to be… an important item of the heretics.”

The crystal, which was exuding a purple aura, looked ominous.

Still, this was the most suspicious thing, so Saintess Kadia would be very happy if I brought it.

“Winia. Do you feel anything?”
“Well… I don’t know much about this kind of thing.”
“What about Cloudi?”
“Unfortunately, no.”

Well, there’s no point in worrying about it now. We immediately carried out the incident cleanup, and then each got into the carriage. Now we just need to stop by the village for a final check and then return to Isvant.

It was quite a long journey.
Let’s write the report on the way back.

And I have to buy gifts for my wives who are waiting for me.

* * *

Since the map was completed, there were no problems on the way back. It was still foggy, but we had adapted to it and it was easy to move.

There were no ambushes, and the speed was fast.

And so, we returned to Isvant.

“Phew… we’re finally back. Paladin. It’s going to be a bit tiring, but let’s go to the church together for now. It’s important.”
“I guess we have to.”

Because of the nature of the case, we sent Cloudi and Winia home as soon as we returned and headed to the church.

Fortunately, Saintess Kadia was guarding the church as always. We immediately entered the chapel and reported on the course of events.

“Hmm.”

Saintess Kadia, who received the report and listened to our story, took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth.

“That’s a serious matter.”

A serious matter.

The truth of the incident was revealed, and the heretics’ facility was destroyed.

The job was done very well. However, we couldn’t find out anything about the identity of the heretics, and the heretics wouldn’t disappear just because we smashed one of their facilities.

This was just one of countless incidents.

“First of all, the villagers who returned earlier have been punished through due process. They’re all in jail.”

It seems that the paladins who went before us returned safely.

“But an underground research facility and abominations… it wasn’t just human trafficking. It’s serious. Very serious.”

Saintess Kadia smoked one cigarette after another and continued to read the report with a serious face. We had put all the evidence we had brought with us.

“I understand the situation. This seems to need to be reviewed internally. Thank you all for your hard work. Paladin. I’ll give you the reward after I sort out the case. Rest assured that I’ll pay you enough for your hard work.”
“Understood.”

I bowed my head at Saintess Kadia’s words.
Anyway, it’s good that she’s giving me a reward.

“And please convey my gratitude to Sister Eliza of the Order of the Radiant Cross.”
“It was nothing. Rather, I am grateful.”

Eliza also bowed her head in a formal manner. Although the church is different, people of other religions tend to respect figures who are saintesses of other religions.

“I’ll give you an official document when the case is closed. It’s a necessary procedure since it’s a case that the churches have cooperated to solve. Can you wait until then?”

Then Eliza would have to stay in Isvant for the time being.

“I will wait.”

Eliza affirmed.

“Paladin.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve done a very good job this time too. No, it’s beyond imagination. Although it took more than two weeks… still. It’s amazing.”

Saintess Kadia stared into my eyes and put out her cigarette in the ashtray.

“This is something that needs to be reviewed internally. It’s a serious matter. I’m sorry that you just got back, but I think you’ll have to give me some time today.”

It seems that she has a lot to say.

It was still midday. Karin and Risha wouldn’t be there even if I went back now, so it’s okay to stay a little longer. I’ll have to go see Liztina tomorrow.

“Saintess. Then can I escort Eliza for a moment?”
“Do so.”

I went outside with Eliza for now.