#54. 14. The Black God’s Territory
Death is an unavoidable fate. Therefore, humans must live a righteous life according to the teachings of the Seven Goddesses and be humble before death.
This was the truth.
No matter how strong a person is or how powerful a king may be, everyone is equal before death.
That’s why Count Brelandt could accept it.
Even though I finally got to see my precious son at a late age, I was able to be determined even after hearing the harsh story that he would slowly die due to his innate constitution and that there was no way to cure him even with the sacred spells of the Seven Goddesses and that he would never live past the age of twenty.
Because it was fate.
Because it was a natural law of the world that humans had to endure.
No it wasn’t.
Fate could be avoided. The ways of the world were not fixed.
They approached silently and whispered secretly.
He told me to turn to the true God and then my son would live.
He wasn’t lying. If what they said was true, then his son wouldn’t have died.
But, it wasn’t something I could live on.
What they offered was dark magic, necromancy.
Naturally, Count Breland was furious.
“Are you telling us to abandon the natural laws of the world and reach out to evil forces?”
However, they rather questioned.
“Who said it was natural?”
“Isn’t this the law of the world established by the Seven Goddesses?”
“Did the goddess really give you that teaching? Was it not the words of the priestesses of the Seven Goddesses who claim to know the will of the goddess?”
“Ha! So you guys know the true will of God?”
They gradually denied the teachings of the Seven Goddesses.
“It would be truly arrogant of someone to claim to know everything about God.”
“We are not talking about gods and goddesses.”
“It’s about humans who follow gods and goddesses.”
“What we’re trying to say is, just look at the world a little more broadly.”
“How much do you know, Count, about what the world calls necromancy?”
Count Brelandt was not fooled.
“Nonsense! Do you think I don’t know what a person who has fallen into necromancy says?”
Stories are widespread about people using necromancy to raise the dead.
I saved someone precious to me, but he turned into a monster.
It was just a moving corpse, rotting away.
Not only the body, but even the mind was no longer the precious person he knew, etc.
There is no way that everything ends beautifully. Isn’t that why necromancy is called such an ugly technique?
They didn’t deny this fact either.
“You are right.”
“As the necromancy said, it wasn’t very good.”
“Until now.”
And he even told me the reason.
“Because it wasn’t real divination.”
True necromancy is never the kind of magic that deals with death and the powers of darkness.
This is the sacred power bestowed by the great transcendent being, Tesranak, the god of darkness and death.
“This is just what happens when you try to wield the power of death and darkness as tools, just like arrogant wizards.”
“Haven’t there been many cases where wizards actually got into trouble trying to forcibly implement divine spells into magic?”
They, the sorcerers who called themselves priests of Tesranak, claimed that their powers were dark divine spells.
That is why they are the only ones who can truly wield the power of darkness and death.
“The true power of darkness must be used correctly and in the service of Tesranak.”
“Just like the priestesses of the Seven Goddesses serve the goddesses and use their powers properly.”
“Then death will not be fate.”
“Aging is nothing but a disease, and death is simply the consequence of those who cannot cure their disease.”
“How can curing a disease be considered an evil act?”
“Your son is still young.”
“Do you really think it is natural for a child to accept death as his or her fate?”
Count Brelandt was shaken.
Their words were persuasive. And the son was slowly dying.
‘The Seven Goddesses are of no help anyway… … .’
Eventually the count gave in.
“I would like to take refuge in Tesranak… … Will you accept me?”
Of course, I didn’t mean it.
First, I planned to save my son, then go find the Seven Goddesses and turn myself in.
The son who was dying like that was given new life.
***
After leaving the capital, Tarman and Karnak arrived in the County of Breland a few days later.
The County of Breland was a fairly prosperous place.
The town is quite large, and the complexions of the people coming and going are good. If you look at the market, there are many different types of goods and it is full of energy.
Serati muttered as she scanned the street.
“I thought our territory was doing pretty well, but there’s no comparison.”
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She was inadvertently referring to the territory of Jestrad as our territory. It seemed that she had grown quite attached to it.
Baros shrugged.
“It wasn’t long after we acquired the copper mine. It wasn’t really a logistics hub.”
In any case, it seemed certain that Count Breland was a capable lord.
That makes it even more questionable.
“What on earth was missing that made you become a socialite?”
Tarman added a small comment to Serati’s question.
“I keep saying this, but it’s not confirmed yet.”
The charges against Count Breland are based on weak facts.
All that was said was that during the interrogation of a captured cultist by the 2nd Battalion of the King’s Order, there was a mention of Count Breland.
“There is a more than 50% chance that it will be a waste of time.”
Karnak asked, as if he was not convinced.
“If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to have a separate person in charge of gathering information?”
Honestly, I didn’t quite understand it.
‘Isn’t there a need to gather talented people and then have them do such trivial work? It would be more efficient to just have them collect information separately and have King’s Order just take care of the objectives.’
After Tarman’s subsequent questioning, Karnak finally realized what he had been mistaken about.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Isn’t that why you created the King’s Order?”
“yes?”
“Can anyone do such a difficult mission as information gathering?”
It was a difference in sense.
The elite troops are precious, so they are kept on standby, and the less powerful ones are used as intelligence agents. This is the feeling from the days when he was the commander-in-chief.
But what are the conditions of that information agency?
It doesn’t have to be incredibly strong, but a certain level of combat ability is essential because you never know what might happen during the information gathering process. That’s why I used to use a third-rate undead force that was still decent enough to be used as an information unit.
The human force comparable to that ‘decent undead force’ is ‘a red-level auror user, or a magician around the 6th circle, or a priest of level 2 or higher.’
‘The elite troops aren’t like the Death Knight legions commanded by Baros, are they?’
If it is a small elite force by Karnak’s standards, then by the standards of ordinary people it is just an asymmetrical force, a one-man legion level.
Anyway, this is the problem of those who were successful in the past but then fell from grace.
It means judging a situation by only thinking about the past without understanding the subject.
‘Oh, I keep worrying about it, but it’s not easy to change my senses.’
While Karnak grumbled inwardly, Tarman continued speaking cautiously.
“Since this information was obtained through torture, it has not been verified at all. So you should not treat the Count with preconceived notions.”
Kald and Alice added their explanations from the side.
“Originally, when people are tortured, they tend to say things that are not true, so it is not easy for the interrogator to determine the truth.”
“More than anything, if you are mistaken, it is meaningless to try to determine the truth.”
Serati joined the conversation, saying she understood.
“Perhaps there are cases where they believe the lies to be true? Given the nature of the guerrilla organization, they may deliberately spread false information to deceive King’s Order… … .”
And then I got hit right away.
“Hey, that can’t be true.”
“Haven’t you read too many street storybooks?”
You’re a secret organization, and you’re deliberately leaking false information to your subordinates?
What would happen if this happened?
“You go to a random noble and whisper ‘Long live Tesranak!’ and then get slaughtered?”
You can withhold information, but you can’t pass on false information. If you do, you’ll be strangling yourself with your own hands.
“Oh, that’s right.”
Tarman consoled the embarrassed Serati.
“It’s inevitable that you’ll have misconceptions since you’re not a regular member yet. Isn’t that why there’s a probationary period?”
As I continued walking like that, I came across an inn that I had seen before.
Tarman looked back at the group.
“Let’s unpack our bags and start investigating.”
***
Arriving at the inn, Karnak and his party learned the ways of the King’s Order from Tarman.
“It’s so obvious, but you must never reveal that you are King’s Order.”
Even if you pretend to be a dark hunter and come to hunt necromancers, you’ll still be on guard. After all, the main force of the Black God’s Church is necromancers.
However, you can’t just go around asking questions here and there for no reason. That’s the perfect way to arouse suspicion.
“You have to use a method that seems unrelated to a cult or a shaman, but still allows for natural inquiry.”
So Tarman took out a few portraits from his bosom and handed them out.
“There are many ways, but this is the method I will use now.”
Baros asked.
“Who is this?”
“Helon Kratt, a notorious criminal wanted in the capital. He has robbed many nobles’ mansions and even committed murder. He has not been caught yet because he is so good at disguise.”
“Oh, did something like that happen in Drunta?”
“No. There wasn’t any.”
“……yes?”
“But if we were to look for this wanted person, it would seem natural to ask him all sorts of questions, right?”
Disguised as a bounty hunter chasing down wanted criminals.
And he goes around the town asking the residents.
This dangerous man seems to have escaped to the County of Breland and is hiding somewhere. So, let me know if you have seen anyone suspicious or experienced anything suspicious.
Besides, isn’t he a master of disguise? You could also ask him if he ever felt that people he knew well had changed.
“There are few people who wouldn’t cooperate when a dangerous criminal enters the town. Especially if you give them a few coins.”
In this case, even though the purpose of the question is different, the answer overlaps with information about social interactions.
The locals also probably have less of a psychological aversion to spreading rumors.
“It’s not like we’re doing anything wrong by taking their money. We’re just giving information to bounty hunters and getting paid fairly, right?”
After that, Tarman divided the group into three teams.
The wizard Tarman, the warrior Baros, the warrior Kald, the wizard Karnak, the priest Alice, and the auror user Serati.
It was a personnel decision to distribute power evenly in case an unpleasant situation occurred.
Karnak’s party had to watch and learn from their senior’s methods, so I assigned one person to each of them.
So the group dispersed and began to investigate various parts of the village.
If you have a clear purpose, your steps will be confident.
Not only did he move around freely without any suspicion, but Tarman even met Count Breland in person.
It was nominally meant to ask for permission.
The wanted man has escaped here, and we have come to capture him. He will never cause trouble. Isn’t it not good for the Counts of Breland to have such a dangerous person wandering around the territory?
I understand. We will cooperate as much as possible.
Thank you very much for your permission.
Well, the atmosphere was something like this.
As soon as his business was over, Tarman left the Count’s castle. Baros, who had been following him silently the whole time, looked puzzled.
“Hey, is this the end?”
I thought they were going to question me surreptitiously, but they literally just asked for permission and left. They didn’t say a word about cult activities.
“If this was going to happen, why did you bother to meet the Count?”
But, as expected, those with experience were different.
“I got what I wanted.”
Tarman gestured with a confident look on his face.
“Let’s go back to the inn soon.”
