## Chapter 694 – Paladin Kim Kat

“There’s a city called Melphares next to us, right? I heard that a cadre of heretics called the Paradise Ascendants has snuck in there. Go and catch that bastard and wipe them out. That’s the job.”

I came straight home and told my women about the job.

There’s no deadline for the job, but I’m thinking of leaving tomorrow if possible. I’ll start the investigation quickly as soon as I get there.

The details and the investigation records of other paladins were enclosed in the letter of appointment. There was also the possibility that the target had already fled, but if that was the case, I just had to bring back the evidence.

“Heretics… Come to think of it, Kat, that was your specialty. You’re going to keep doing this kind of work?”

Liz-noona, who had just woken up, said while stretching.

“Yeah. When I finish a job, I’ll play around at home for a bit and then go back to work. It’s a repetition of that.”
“The conditions are good. If you build up your career with that, you might be able to get a good position.”

I think so too.

“If you become famous as a paladin, there will be a lot of people lining up to get on your good side. Using all that is how you make money.”
“I guess that’s true too. But how do you know so much, Noona?”
“Because that’s my specialty. Our family ran a merchant group at the same time as being a military family. I’m very proficient in economic matters.”
“Ooh! As expected of Liz-noona!!!”

A woman who can’t help but be rich!
Anyway, as soon as I took off my equipment, Claudia approached.

“Then Kat, are you leaving right away?”
“No. I’m going to leave tomorrow. It’s a bit much to leave suddenly.”

For now, I’m just going to prepare for the expedition today and leave tomorrow. I’ll be gone for a few days when I go, so I need to prepare.

I also need to look through the investigation records and organize them a bit.

“I’ll have to get ready.”

Karin said as she got up from her seat.

“Melphares isn’t that far away. But I’m not good with investigations, so I don’t know how to help.”
“Hehehe, just trust me.”

We should all be able to leave together tomorrow.

As for the investigation, well, I can start by slowly shaking down the slums in a classic way. That’s how you usually start and find things.

“Ooh-hoo-hoo, heretics? Is that all I have to find? Then it might be easier than I thought?”
“Hmm?”
“You have me, you know? Hypnosis magic is simple. And if a demon is involved, it’s even simpler. The magic power to find it? Replenished with Kat’s semen.”
“Wow, that’s right. I had Hilde.”

If I have Hilde, then I don’t really need an investigation, do I? I can just hang around in suspicious areas, pick out a target, and ask them.

In reality, Hilde is the investigator and I’m just a figurehead.

I can’t believe it.
The job can be solved so easily.

When I think about it, Hilde found the demon labor revolutionary I killed last time and that strange gathering place, and I just fought and cleaned up. And I negotiated with the city mayor and the city guard executives to come to a conclusion about the case.

I just have to investigate with Hilde, catch a suspicious guy, extract information from him, then chop off their heads, wrap up the case, and report to the Saintess, and I’ll get credit and money.

All I have to do is the work other than finding them.

As expected of my demon wife.

“Well, then, are you staying home today, Blackie?”
“I have to go grocery shopping. I have to do that and then rest.”
“What are you shopping for? If it’s not a long distance, just pack lightly and buy it there. Prices will be cheaper than in the capital. And you’re not working outside, you’re working in the city, right? Go there and do it, go.”
“Hmm, that’s true too. I don’t really need to go out.”

Then let’s rest a bit today and leave tomorrow morning.

“Since they’re hidden heretics, I’m a little interested too. Maybe I’ll get something unusual?”
“Unusual thing? Ah, but the existence of the god they believe in is unclear. I don’t know if there will be any heretical items like that.”
“Hmph, is that so? Then there’s nothing I can do.”

Still, if I get something that looks special, I’m going to give it to Risha unless it’s a key piece of evidence.

“Father. Are you going far away again tomorrow?”
“Yeah. I’ll be back in a while. Are you okay, Ari?”
“Yes. I’m okay.”

From now on, I’m going to have to drag all seven of my women around with me wherever I go.

If I do this, then I can just call myself a couple destroyer.

With this much combat power, I feel like I could explore ancient dungeons without any problems. I’m not lying, even if Andromalius reappeared, I could just slaughter him.

* * *

The next day, I left for Melphares with my women.

As soon as I tied Ilryong and Iryong, who had been resting, to the carriage, they faithfully carried out their duties. They immediately loaded the luggage, put my women on board, and left the city gates.

Since it was a capital city, they checked my identity when I entered and exited, but just showing my paladin ID was enough. With this, I can enter and exit any city without any problems.

This is a first-class ID card.

ㅡCreak.

It took exactly two days to get to Melphares.

Our rides are strong, so we were able to arrive quickly. Anyway, when I arrived, I saw that it was a pretty well-developed city, as it was near the capital.

A cadre of heretics who are eating away at society has snuck in here.

They are quite resourceful.

Because they are resourceful, they can secretly take root in the city, suck up money, and run away. No, but this is a bit inaccurate too.

This time, it was a cadre who had been caught and fled, but according to the information enclosed in the letter of appointment, they usually just take root firmly in the bottom of the city without anyone knowing and continue to operate.

Of course, they disguise themselves as other normal religions or hide their identities as something like a teaching center. That’s why it’s so difficult to find them.

They don’t commit any noticeable violent crimes.

Other than that, most of the believers are just good people who have been tricked into paying money. Most of them are just people who believe in salvation in the afterlife.

Of course, there are also cases where those who have crossed the line commit crimes and donate the money they have earned all at once.

Then you might think that you can find out by interrogating those criminals? But usually, the city guards don’t assume that the criminals they catch are heretics and don’t conduct detailed interrogations and investigations, and it’s also difficult to track the black money.

It’s said that there are cases where money stolen or obtained through fraud is laundered in gambling houses and donated, so that’s all I need to say.

The paladin who was investigating before also tried to track them down in connection with the city guard, but he only failed miserably.

Anyway, I found a reasonably large inn, parked the carriage, and unloaded the luggage.

“Hoo-hoo-hoo, Kat. You’re going to be traveling a lot like this in the future. It’s nice to keep living in one city, but I like traveling too.”
“Hehehe, that’s a relief. Because all that’s left is traveling.”

I’m going to eat first and then start, so I took all my women and found a restaurant that looked good, and sat down.

Originally, there are good restaurants near big inns.

“But this is too noticeable.”
“If you drag around seven beauties, of course you’re going to be noticeable. The capital has a strong sense of individuality, so there aren’t many people who stare for a long time, but there are a lot of them here.”

As Risha said, it was only a short move, but a lot of attention was focused on us. It wasn’t this bad when we were all shopping together in the capital.

Certainly… it’s not common to see seven beauties walking around together.

Karin added an explanation.

“There are a lot of rich nobles and skilled magicians in the capital. If you accidentally say something rude, you can really get screwed. So they’re a little indifferent to others. That kind of perception has naturally taken root.”
“And it’s not like that here?”
“Usually. Each city has different levels of civility and civic awareness. The capital guys are pretty good at being polite.”

It certainly seems like that.

“But you look like a procession of noble ladies, so there will be guys who look, but there won’t be any guys who talk to you, right?”
“Hehehe, that’s a relief. It’s a waste of time to meet guys like Jo Ji.”

Still, if we gather and walk around like this, we’re bound to attract attention, and that could interfere with the investigation. Of course, it doesn’t matter right now because it’s time to eat. I don’t want to reveal my identity for now.

“Hmph, are you worried about other people’s attention?”
“I’m a little sensitive to that kind of thing.”
“Why are you worried about that kind of thing? Just show it off.”

Liz-noona likes to show off, both in her usual clothes and in her actions.

“Hehehe, is that so? Well, I guess you can think that way.”

As long as no one talks to me.

After eating, we went back to the inn and discussed how to act.
We can’t all move together when we’re investigating anyway.

In reality, I only need to move with Hilde.

“If it was something to kill, it would be easier. Doesn’t the cult tell you to catch great demons?”
“I think they’ll tell me to do it if I find one.”

My women boast excessive combat power.

If it’s a mission like subjugation or extermination, it’ll be easy, but on the other hand, there’s not much to do in this kind of investigation mission. And in the first place, they’re so pretty that everyone who sees them will be impressed. Even more so if they travel in a group.

There’s nothing to do in a heretic investigation mission.

“That’s right. There’s not much to do in this kind of investigation mission. It’s easy because I have Hilde.”

Winia said as she took off her coat.

“Then I’ll go out with Hilde this time.”
“Yes, yes! Just trust me!”

Let’s go out with Hilde for a while.

“I’m a little sorry I can’t help. At this rate, the Noonas are completely unemployed.”
“No, if you have a lot of money, you’re not unemployed. Why are the Noonas unemployed?”
“Is that so?”
“I’ll tell you if I need help. But in the first place, it’s going to be over soon.”

I got up from my seat right away.

“Hmph, but it’s Kat’s first job. I’m sad that it’s not a battle.”
“I like that better too.”

My taste is not like this, it’s more like a field battle.

But I’ll do it all someday. When I looked through the documents last time, there were a lot of missions like battles, subjugation, and extermination.

I’ll have to ask for help when I do those kinds of things.

But not now.

I took off my armor, changed into appropriate investigation clothes, and went outside with Hilde. My women are going to go out together in a little while.

“Then Kat-nim. Where should we go first?”
“We have to go to a poor neighborhood first. Heretics tend to target those places.”

Wherever you go, hungry and hopeless guys cling to vain things. The Eternal Life Cultists infiltrated the Isvant slums too.

First of all, the document enclosed in the letter of appointment contained all the general information about this city. I looked at it and headed towards the slums.

Every city has these kinds of slums.

“It feels a little different from the Isvant slums.”

Maybe it’s because it’s a smaller city than Isvant, but in the first place, this city wasn’t entirely surrounded by walls. Compared to the relatively prosperous center, the outskirts had poor security and a lot of vagrants.

That’s what it said in the document.

I came to the center of the slums.

ㅡAaaaaaaah!!
ㅡYou bastards!!
ㅡI’ll kill you all!!

“Kat-nim? It sounds like there’s a fight?”
“I guess so.”

Screams started to come from over there. Originally, it’s very common for fights to break out in slums. It’s a place overflowing with all kinds of criminal organizations, poor people, and foreigners.

Violence is inseparable from it.

“Should we turn around?”
“Hehehe, am I supposed to turn around because I’m scared of that?”

There’s a place that the paladin who was investigating before marked.
I’m going to go there first.

That’s over there.

“Ooh-hoo-hoo, that’s right. There’s no need to do that.”

I crossed the street with Hilde, and sure enough.

“Aaaaaaaah!”
“You son of a bitch!!!”
“You fucking bastard!!!”

I saw a scene of people in shabby clothes holding clubs and hand axes and fighting. There were quite a few of them. About twenty or so?

It’s a fight that has nothing to do with me, so I was going to avoid them and pass by.

“What the fuck is this!!! Get the fuck out of here!!!”

A man with a knife came towards me with his gang while fighting, and said this.

“What?”

Is he talking to me right now?
It seemed like he was.

“You fucking bastard?”
“Huh?”

I have to go and ask the boss of these bastards.

If he’s a criminal organization boss, he might know something.

“You’re fucked.”