Chapter 355 – The Saint Who Took the Bait

Atra moved from Majella and the Order of the Capital to the Marquis’s domain.

We had a short and deep conversation.

“Saint. May I express my opinion?”

“Sure.”

“I think everything that the adventurer named Roman has done is amazing and he has demonstrated accomplishments worthy of respect.”

“Yes.”

“But… I don’t think it’s good for the saint to trust blindly.”

Looking at Majella, he added, not in the sense that he doesn’t have eyes for people or anything like that.

Atra smiled and nodded his head.

“Well, I understand your concerns.”

“I don’t know what the structure of the adventurer’s information network is, but it goes beyond the church’s information network about warlocks.”

What Majella continued without stopping was right in every detail.

Same thing with the last holy relic. She was less suspicious than usual, so from the escort’s perspective, she must have felt like she was sloppy.

‘I heard it’s embarrassing when you dig into it like this.’

I can’t even dare to say that the Goddess guarantees each individual’s credibility.

Regardless of the actual fact, she cannot say that she just intuitively trusts it due to her position.

Perhaps the second she hears it, Majella will breathe fire into her mouth.

“I’ll be careful. So stop nagging me!”

“It wasn’t nagging… No, it was presumptuous.”

“Now I’ve rolled over enough, right? I know how you feel, but it’s not good to be treated like a child.”

Know.

The identity of Roman, who is waiting at the mansion, is neither a paladin nor a priest.

However, he does not fall into the category of a faithful church member, but is an adventurer belonging to a guild.

Atra himself knows it.

*****

“Now let me get straight to the point.”

“”···.””

When Roman opened his mouth with applause for concentration, everyone in the room focused their attention.

Roman pointed with his chin at the corpse, which was emitting a stench that was difficult to get used to.

“As you can see, the corpse with its head blown off is the Marquis Enoch Skadi. After his chest was pierced by a blade, his skin color changed and became like this.”

Some more details from what was reported in the letter.

Atra went through her new notes and began to make a case using the information listed.

“It could be black magic that is activated under the condition of serious injury or death… Or it could be the influence of a specific artifact. Possibilities other than the two most likely cannot be ruled out.”

What information would be advisable in order to solve next?

Roman gently stroked Rike’s head as he pondered the direction of the conversation.

“Huh~”

The girl blushed brightly as she felt her lover’s loving touch.

I became the busiest person in this place.

“···?”

It was a picture that was immediately incomprehensible to the Saint and Majella, who did not know the circumstances.

I can somehow understand the affection between lovers, but even in front of her father’s body, she acts so innocently.

It was a difficult situation to ask anything.

“And after it turned black, the blood also turned black, so there was almost no effect of bleeding…”

“Brother Brother!”

“Hmm?”

“When I pierced my flesh, it felt like I was turning over a lump of moist mud.”

As if he wanted me to look at him too.

The girl listened with her every word, affection flashing in her eyes.

“Uh, I say so.”

“I understand what you said. It can be said that your body is closer to that of an undead.”

Ricke’s description was so vivid that it was easy to imagine.

Roman asks for praise and caresses Ricke, who craves her affection like a child.

She continued speaking again.

“If you have seen the physical condition of the warlocks and knights in the mansion, I don’t think there will be any need for me to explain anything. You will know better than me that all those who died here are problematic. Regardless of the story or reason. .”

“Brother, do you understand the inside story of this incident?”

It was like that tone of voice.

Roman smiled at Atra, who was staring at him with sky blue eyes.

He adopted a unique, light tone that is only seen in requests.

“I do not have a hobby of killing blood-sucking bugs. I do not seek out legitimate targets to stab because I find pleasure in killing.”

“···I see you have a separate point.”

“In reality, isn’t it hard to understand that you can just dismiss everything as coincidence?”

“What are you talking about?”

Hwareuk ㅡ!

Let Roman create a pure white flame at the tip of his finger.

The bad smell has disappeared, creating a more comfortable environment for breathing.

“Why am I here? If the Marquis of Skadi’s family is so polluted, then what will happen to the Viscount Bright family, which fell for the crime of being involved with a warlock in the past?”

“!”

Warlock, involvement, guilt, fallen family.

Unfavorable assumptions quickly passed through the saintess’s mind.

Roman looked at Atra, whose expression had changed into an even more serious one, and continued her words.

“Besides, I don’t even know who this group of people who are doing such dirty things are.”

“First of all, regarding this case… There is a group that is suspicious.”

If she is a saint of the church, she cannot be unaware of the group of warlocks.

Probably, if you include the organizations that you know in detail, your knowledge will be greater than Roman’s.

I understand their tendencies and even their goals. When you think of a group of people who can roam society like this, there are people who immediately come to mind.

“I think the problem is not certainty, but suspicion. This incident was simply the Marquis of Skadi becoming involved with a warlock and becoming corrupted. If it ends like this, there is no need to further investigate, right?”

“···It’s just as you said, brother.”

“If we leave it like this without being able to nip it in the bud, something will happen somewhere else and we will end up wandering around looking for our tail, wondering, ‘It could be some kind of group.'”

“···.”

The basic outline of how the situation will work has been laid down.

The atmosphere becomes increasingly heavy.

Roman looked at Atra, who was whining and rolling her head, and threw out some nonsense to lighten her mood.

“Do you have any plans to interrogate or interrogate me for knowing her secret?”

“Well, I have no intention of doing that…!”

Atra reacted with horror to Roman’s joke.

“Anyway. Regardless of the position of the church, I think there are things that the saintess personally does not understand.”

“···It is difficult to predict what your brother wants.”

The saint was like a fish hesitating before a fishing hook.

It seemed like Roman would give me the information I wanted to hear, but he didn’t give it out in a vague tone of voice.

Atra held up the curious object and waved it gently in front of her eyes.

“It’s simple. Even if it’s already too late, shouldn’t we correct the wrong results? As part of sharing information, Ricke and I want to make sure that the wrong path is corrected.”

“···.”

“Anyway, the things that are on the surface will soon become known. However, the deeper details of the situation cannot be revealed to anyone other than those involved.”

Atra experienced a strange feeling that was difficult to explain.

Majella also had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but since she had been asked to never engage in conversation with Roman, she could only roll her tongue in her mouth.

The conclusion that Roman came to after taking a spin. This means whether you will provide personal help if you give me information.

‘Huh…!’

The saints of the church should not be easily overlooked.

But I’m curious.

I wanted to take precautions in advance, rather than having this kind of nonsense break out every time and keep chasing after me.

Atra, who was clearly outnumbered, wiggled her fingers and let out an infinitely louder voice.

“I wonder if you allow such a soft attitude of listening and judging…”

“Hmm.”

“Brother? I think it’s good to tell you to some extent.”

Roman, who was thinking while moving his lips, quickly agreed to Rike’s words.

She presented her side to her anxiously waiting saint.

“We will remove the stigma from Viscount Bright’s family and restore their lost honor.”

“Ah!”

The word stigma was enough.

On the other hand, Atra held her breath as the ominous feeling she had expected came true.

“Actually, this is something I could do on my own, but what I want is to get the job done faster and more perfectly.”

“So you need my hand to handle that task…”

“Wouldn’t it be better if the saint could help us?”

“Understand.”

Atra expressed affirmation. If it is confirmed to be true, it should be done naturally.

And.

As I was concentrating on the main topic from now on, Roman gave a short answer that made me lose my temper.

“That’s it.”

The saintess blinked, hiding her light blue eyes with a blank expression.

“···Is that the end?”

“Yes. That’s it.”

Roman bowed his head coolly.

Atra turned her head to look back at her conversation, wondering if she had some hidden meaning.

‘Is that really the end?’

This is a truly serious matter in which a platinum adventurer steps in and demands reinstatement while a certain family has been erased due to stigma.

Until now, I don’t remember ever seeing Atra being punished for being associated with a warlock and the result being overturned, so I’ll have to look up her precedent.

If it is true that the Bright family has a ‘stigma’ of having contact with unclean beings.

In the end, the denomination that puts the final stamp and announces the matter has an unavoidable responsibility.

Is that really the end of what you want?

The saint’s mind is busy.

“···.”

Atra’s inability to organize her messy hair is caught by Roman’s eyes.

Even though I met a lot of different people. There was clearly a laxity in the way people handled themselves under pressure in this way.

“I am telling you in advance just in case. I am absolutely not saying that the church is incompetent or that there is a problem.”

“Thank you for your generosity.”

Atra decided not to think about whether those words were comfort or truth.
He has no intention of evading responsibility or saying it was something he decided to do before he was on the front line.

My heart has already accepted it. Now I wanted to ask something else.

“Can I ask Brother Roman a question?”

“Yes. I will listen.”

“What you requested is something that the church must naturally do.”

“If I were to lie down in the church and make some noise, I would have done that.”

As expected, adventurers would never be unaware of this principle.

As his curiosity grew stronger, Atra sighed and cautiously raised his voice.

“But why did you choose a form of transaction that gives away valuable information?”