TNRSF 05

Chapter : 05

Inquisitor

“Keuheoeoeo….”

The skeletons that had gathered together walked toward me.

They looked as if they were praying.

At that sight, I nodded my head as well.

“Yeah. Since you answered my request, I should repay you.”

Having said that, I dispelled their bodies, which had been formed of mana.

“As payment for helping me, I have lifted the curse that bound you. You may now go wherever you wish.”

At those words, the skeletons nodded their heads and, one by one, vanished while kneeling.

“…This is what being a Necromancer was supposed to be like, after all.”

With a small lament, I prepared to head back.

‘Considering Dunkel’s personality, he was probably already riding this way.’

Thinking that, I looked back over the corpses at that moment.

“Hmm?”

With a frown, I looked toward one corner of the forest.

“What’s that now?”

Within the dark shadows, someone was sitting there.

“Young Master Klein. To think you handled necromancy—how unexpected.”

A black robe. And a mask.

The suspicious figure, who had been staring at me in silence, spoke.

“Who are you? Were you watching everything?”

“There is no need for you to know. Nor would you be able to.”

Having said that, the suspicious figure looked at the corpses and began forming hand seals.

Crk. Crrk!

Along with the sound of bones twisting, the corpses of the dead mercenaries and Dalton began to twitch.

A ritual that forcibly confined souls within bodies whose lifespans had already ended.

“Reanimation… Are you a Necromancer as well?”

Tuhoaak-!

The corpses that had been piled together rose again in an instant.

Axes and crossbows held in their hands.

And hollow eyes, bleached white.

They were zombies.

“KyaaAAAAAAGH-!”

Zombies approached me, leaking dead blood from all over their bodies.

Unlike the skeletons I had summoned, these were monsters created by forcibly jamming souls into corpses.

“Since Dalton failed, I might as well make use of his corpse.”

I was in a situation where I had already expended all the demonic energy I had refined within my body.

Having realized that, the suspicious figure nodded his head as he looked at me.

“I didn’t expect Dalton to die, but as long as I can kill you, that’s good enough…. That’s probably what you’re thinking.”

As I said that, I looked at the back of my hand.

The sigil linked to the scroll I had given to Dunkel was glowing.

Priest Garrison had disappeared. Which meant….

“You’re fucked, you bastard.”

And in the very next moment.

KuKWAaaang-!

With a deafening roar, something fell from the sky.

“……!”

The masked suspicious figure staggered backward in shock.

It was understandable.

The ten zombies that had been advancing toward me had been torn to pieces by the shockwave from the landing alone.

KuGUGUGUGU…!

Clad in black priestly robes.

A giant standing 2.5 meters tall.

A man holding a scripture in one hand and a massive hammer in the other.

“P-Proxy…!”

The one smiling with a face like a beast was a Proxy of the Holy Order.

It was Garrison Burkman.

“I proclaim unto the sinner: repent and beg. Then I shall bestow upon you the baptism of fire to cleanse your sins, I shall flay the skin filled with iniquity and scatter it to the heavens.”

A prayer of the Holy Order resonated low throughout the forest.

Seeing the traces of zombies that had already been shattered to pieces, the masked suspicious figure realized that something had gone terribly wrong.

“Damn it, this isn’t what you said! Retreat—!”

At the moment he turned his back to flee.

“Where do you think you’re going.”

Priest Garrison was already holding his head in his hand.

Pupeopeopeok-!

He had merely charged forward.

He had merely planted his foot.

With just that simple action, the bodies of Dalton and twenty mercenaries vanished.

From the pressure of his charge alone, twenty-one zombies were shredded and scattered across the ground.

Overwhelming violence that did not even allow for the thought of resistance.

That was a Proxy of the Holy Order.

Puk-!

A sound like a balloon popping rang out.

The masked Necromancer died without even being able to utter a single word of protest.

Thud- thud-

Heavy footsteps gradually drew closer.

In Garrison’s left hand was a scripture soaked thoroughly with blood.

‘You ignorant bastard, did you smash his head in with that book?’

With that bizarre thought, I looked at Priest Garrison as he approached me.

“Young master.”

The voice with which he called me was the same bright voice as always.

“…Thanks to you, I lived.”

“I sensed the aura of necromancy, you see. I rushed over immediately.”

Having said that, Priest Garrison brushed my shoulder lightly.

“However, it is quite a curious thing.”

“…What is?”

When I asked back, Garrison spoke to me, still wearing a smile.

“The aura I sensed, and the aura of the one I just judged…. They felt slightly…. different, you see.”

At those words, a chill ran down my spine.

What was hidden behind that smiling face.

Endless rage.

And madness of unknown origin.

‘The moment I say even a single wrong word, this guy will intend to kill me immediately.’

As that thought crossed my mind and I swallowed my dry saliva.

“Young master! Are you alright?!”

Along with the sound of hoofbeats, Dunkel’s urgent voice rang out.

Hoo-!

At the same time as I let out a sigh of relief, the body that had been standing on two legs collapsed.

An interrogation by a Proxy after experiencing real combat for the first time in this body.

Enduring this much alone was already impressive.

“Young master…!”

“You don’t have to shout, I can hear you just fine. Give me a lift, my legs have given out.”

When I said that while waving my hand, Dunkel finally seemed relieved, dismounted from his horse, and supported me.

“What in the world happened? Where is Lord Dalton…!”

“Ah, Dalton?”

Seeing Dunkel hurriedly looking around, I shrugged my shoulders.

“I killed him. He was trying to kill me.”

“An assassination, you say—what kind of nonsense is this?!”

Kwaang-!

A family council convened due to Klein’s testimony.

A voice filled with rage shook the council chamber.

It was Count Cornwell, the father of the dead Dalton.

“Dalton was a member of the knight order, a man who knew honor and faith! And yet you claim assassination?!”

Cornwell’s shout sounded as if he were coughing up blood.

Not only had his son died, he had become a zombie, and his corpse had been smashed to pieces beyond recovery.

Seeing him rage without concealing his emotions, the other nobles stirred.

“Nevertheless, Klein has not retracted his testimony. And there is one more thing.”

From Heinkel’s calm hands, a set of documents emerged.

“There are records showing that during the time the two disappeared, you dispatched twenty mercenaries from your territory. Just as Klein testified.”

“Th-That is…!”

The surrounding nobles clicked their tongues.

To think he hadn’t disposed of such documents.

“But it still makes no sense!”

Not to be outdone, Count Cornwell shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Dalton was skilled enough to formally join the knight order, whereas Young Master Klein has never even held a sword!”

At those words, the Duke nodded.

“Klein is indeed ignorant when it comes to the sword.”

“Then isn’t that strange?!”

As if gaining confidence from the Duke’s agreement, Count Cornwell’s voice grew louder.

“If Dalton truly tried to harm Young Master Klein, the young master could not possibly have survived.”

“Especially if there was mercenary support, it would have been even more difficult.”

Other nobles chimed in to support Cornwell’s claim.

Sophistry meant to blur the issue.

Even so, Heinkel had no easy way to refute it.

One regular knight and twenty soldiers armed with crossbows.

The fact that Klein had returned alive from an encirclement that would have forced even a commander-class knight like Dunkel to accept injury was not something easily accepted.

“And to begin with, what kind of person is Young Master Klein?”

Seeing Heinkel retreat, Cornwell opened his mouth with a cold smile.

“Born under Duchess Claire, who was obsessed with necromancy, and at the age of three claimed he himself was Akimond!”

“Cornwell! Mind your words!”

“No! I will not!”

Despite Heinkel’s warning as head of the family, Cornwell showed no intention of stopping.

“An incompetent young master possessed by demons, and my son, a proper knight and a member of the noble assembly! Whom is it reasonable to suspect!”

These words were not directed at the Duke.

The ones he needed to persuade were not Duke Heinkel, but the other lords present here.

And the other collateral branches that stood on his side.

“W-Well, certainly….”

“When you think of Young Master Klein, that could be….”

“Why, didn’t Duchess Claire also suffer from delusions? If this is an extension of that….”

Members of the same family gathering together to slander the main family’s young master.

Though he struggled to suppress his emotions, even Heinkel’s expression was far from comfortable.

“Think carefully! Perhaps the young master himself killed my son…!”

“Having listened long enough, it seems there is nothing you cannot say, Count Cornwell.”

Before any more nonsense could spill out, I cut him off.

As I, who should have been resting, appeared in the council chamber, several nobles gasped in surprise.

“Young Master Klein….”

“He definitely said it. That he would throw my head at the ducal family as a warning. And that he would show who the true master of the north was.”

I added flesh to the words Dalton had spoken to me and spat them out.

Blasphemous words of a collateral branch challenging the main family.

The regional lords and Duke Heinkel cleared their throats uncomfortably.

“Th-That is baseless testimony, young master.”

“It is better than saying I was hallucinating, is it not?”

I stood my ground against Count Cornwell, one of the most powerful figures among the collateral branches.

The eyes of the other lords, excluding the collateral branch, gleamed with interest.

‘This is where it begins.’

I was the second young master who had never stepped to the forefront.

Depending on how I acted from now on, my evaluation—and the evaluation of the ducal family—would change.

‘Fine, I’ll tear it down and rebuild it. This damn household.’

The resolve I had carved into myself when I killed Dalton.

Recalling it, I stepped forward and opened my mouth.

“Dalton mobilized mercenaries to try to kill me, and I killed them in self-defense. After that, an unidentified assailant turned them into undead, but Priest Garrison rendered assistance.”

I summarized it once more, but the figures on the collateral branch side did not seem inclined to believe it easily.

“You’re saying you killed Dalton? That’s absurd!”

“Why is it absurd?”

When I asked back, irritation surfaced on Count Cornwell’s face.

“Didn’t I say it! You cannot defeat Dalton, a formal knight!”

As soon as the Count finished speaking, I looked around the chamber.

Setting aside whether they agreed with Count Cornwell or not, everyone seemed unable to believe that I had defeated Dalton.

‘Since this is my first time stepping into the open, I should draw as much attention as possible.’

Thinking that, I spoke to Count Cornwell with a smiling face.

“Then let us prove it.”

At those words, I drew my sword.

“Young Master Klein! What are you doing right now—!”

“Delcan Cornwell-!”

The head of the Count Cornwell family.

As I shouted his true name, I drove my sword into the very center of the council chamber.

Kaang-!

Everyone present, including Duke Heinkel, widened their eyes at that act.

Calling out one’s true name and planting a sword.

Among the northern nobles, that act signified only one thing.

“You have not only obscured the essence of this incident with conjecture and false testimony, but also insulted my mother, a Duchess, and me, a young master!”

At those words, Count Cornwell’s expression became even more grotesque.

Ignoring that entirely, I spoke to him with a smile on my face.

“Thus, in accordance with the tradition of northern knights, I hereby petition for a trial by duel against you and your house.”

My single sentence that burst forth without warning.

Everyone attending the council stared at me, completely at a loss for words.