Chapter 20 – Between Heresy and Forbidden (1)
7. Between Heresy and Forbidden (1)
There have been two very famous and contradictory maxims about knowing itself.
Those were the two maxims: ‘Knowledge is power’ and ‘Ignorance is medicine.’ And these two maxims have been proven true by countless people over the years.
How can contradictions be all right?
Of course, there are times when it is helpful to know, and sometimes it is helpful to pass by without knowing.
The question was whether it could be applied in a timely manner.
Is it better to listen to secrets that the client man is weighing and warning about, or is it better to pretend not to know? It was up to my judgment.
‘Can you listen?’
In a different sense from yesterday when I became one with Kaya, my head and body played separately.
– Listen! If it’s a secret that the old man warned about like that, it’s definitely a fucking important secret. The secret that a skilled blacksmith and a heretic may be intertwined. Aren’t you curious? Even if you can be tied up right away, you will be able to get a bigger reward, and then the future dungeon will be more reliable!
– Crazy. Anyway, this is Olga. Even if the immediate reward seems like a big piece of cake, if you get caught up in the wrong thing, it’s the end. Do you want to get a witch ending by being wrongly woven into heresy outside the dungeon instead of rummaging through the dungeon?
– You said you would ask Kaya one or two more times anyway, right? If a nun of a faithful church is with you, what is there to be accused of heresy? I’m on my way to discover heresy and purify it. Besides, if you’re really worried, you can just hand over one of the two maps or books you have and shake your hands.
– Fuck-fuck no way.
“I’m still thinking about it like back then. But this time, even if I want to alleviate that worry, there is nothing I can give you.”
“No, not really.”
“I won’t force you. As you said, a mutual transaction has already been made for sure once.”
If you ask Kaya what would she say? Shall I leave it to you, saying it’s the captain’s will, or should I go to beat Ethan once again with the same enthusiasm as before I entrusted this request.
“For now, please pretend you didn’t hear my question.”
“… Hmm. For some reason, it sounds like you haven’t given up on my request yet.”
“Yes. Not yet.”
Don’t rush into it until you’re sure. Even when you think you’re sure, check it again.
It was a one-two mindset that must always be maintained when challenging no-death play on a high difficulty level.
I reflected on that mindset once more, bowed slightly to the client, and then went back to the inn.
“Are you here, Captain?”
“Oh, Kaya. Is your body, uh, okay?”
“Yes. I am completely fine now.”
It didn’t take long to come and go, but Kaya seemed to have recovered in the meantime. It was fortunate. No matter how consensual it was, I was a little sad because Kaya was suffering alone.
“Oh, Kaya. I have something to discuss.”
“Ah, boss. I have something to discuss.”
“… Uh?”
“Captain, speak first.”
My words and Kaya’s words overlapped. Content of words. I yielded to her, but since she stubbornly kept her mouth shut, I opened her mouth first.
“It’s a story with the client’s uncle…”
It wasn’t much of a conversation, so there wasn’t much to say.
‘Secret of the client’s uncle’.
The point was this one.
“I didn’t dig further. I want to hear your thoughts.”
“Hmm…”
Unexpectedly, Kaya did not immediately respond. She evaded both expected answers.
Rather, she brought out a third answer.
“I have come to terms with what I want to discuss. Perhaps, the Church may participate in this quest with a high probability.”
“… What? Platform?”
Why is the church all of a sudden?
Uh? What. How is it going?
Amidst the clutter in her head, Kaya’s voice calmed my mind a little.
“While the captain went to and from the client, I also went to the monastery.”
“To the monastery?”
“Yes. It is not a mandatory duty, but if the nuns belonging to the church use divine power or force in a dungeon or similar place, they are supposed to report to the nearest branch. This time, as well as the last time, we went to the monastery to report on the request we had received…”
Kaya also shared her story from her monastery. In Salem, where there are several churches, the churches did not come forward despite the fact that the request for heresy was openly attached. There is no power available in the Salem branch, so there is a high probability that they will borrow a crusader from the Justitia Church, which they are close to next door.
“Am I correct?”
“Yes.”
“You said you didn’t ask for cooperation right away because you had to discuss it with me.”
“Yes. It’s not something I’m not even the captain to decide on my own, and that…”
Kaya licked her lips for a moment, then lowered her head slightly and muttered in a slightly lowered voice.
“Before the church came forward, wasn’t it a request that only the captain and I took on. So, I thought the captain and I had the highest priority on this request…”
Instead of answering, I gave a smile full of satisfaction. When I didn’t answer Kaya, she turned to look at me and her face turned red.
“Very well, chief. So, what you just said.”
“Okay. I can understand how much Kaya thinks of the Warriors. Right?”
“… Yes.”
Kaya, you just pouted your lips, albeit momentarily. Took a fatal blow to my heart.
Big-
“Kaya, according to what you said, would it be better to hand over the evidence we had to the Church?”
“I don’t know because I’m not an expert in that field, but I know that there are sisters in the church who are deeply studying heresy itself. I think it’s the best way to simply solve the problem of heresy other than what you can get…”
“But?”
“Aren’t you worried that the captain might end up with the wrong shackles because of our carrying out the request?”
“Right?”
“Then, if I combine the captain’s concerns with mine, I think the answer will come soon.”
Kaya nodded her head.
“In order to avoid such suspicion at all, we are proceeding with the request along with the person who will be dispatched from Justitia according to the church’s will. If there is someone from the Order who is not a member of our corps of warriors, we can secure objectivity, and from our point of view right now, we will have a temporary increase in power, so we can reliably carry out the request again.”
“I don’t bother digging into the secret of the client.”
“Yes. If we do that, we think we can take care of safety and compensation.”
Joining of other denominations. This is something I hadn’t thought of. If so, the story is different.
‘And I’m sure Kaya said earlier that there was a high chance that the Crusader would come.’
I already had a chimney-like desire to recruit a tanker. Also, at the time of recruiting Kaya, a battle nun who combined healers and dealers, the first-line tank was forced to be a Crusader, one of the best combinations the warriors could envision.
The battle nun’s 1-heal system was weak in sustaining power, so it was almost certain that she would die in area 2, but if you put a pure healer in the other spot, her dealing ability would be laggy, so there was a possibility that she could survive up to area 2, but there was a possibility that it would break through in area 3 and above. It was over 80%.
Rather than raising the shield firmly to block the enemy’s attack, it was less suitable to kill the source of the attack faster. At least on hard difficulty.
‘I thought this internship was a 1-step retreat in order to take 2 steps forward, but maybe it could be 3 steps instead of 2 steps forward.’
Even if the Crusaders dispatched from the Church of Justitia were at least Kaya without any major flaws. And how can I attract them to my corps of warriors?
‘If you include a decent Crusader, clearing Area 1 will be much easier.’
“Okay. Kaya, let’s do as you say. But there is one thing that gets in the way.”
“What is it?”
“I wonder how the client’s uncle will react. If that uncle wanted to get the church’s cooperation, he would have asked for it right away. But it didn’t. Knowing the church’s attitude toward heresy-related requests that often occur at the requesting office, and even just making your own request out of your own money, you can guess that you’re not on the same page with the church.”
“But why do I… ?”
“At that time, you were not a representative of the church, but an individual warrior belonging to the corps of warriors. But what if it was a nun who was officially dispatched from the church to ‘exterminate heresy’? What if a third party other than me and you intervenes?”
“… Do you think it could possibly lead to some other reaction or action?”
“Uh. If the old man is stung by something, he might back off before we get to him with a collaborator from the Church of Justitia.”
“It is quite complicated…”
Kaya ruffled his hair.
“In that case, why don’t the captain try it in advance? Now is the time.”
“Break through head-on.”
After thinking for a moment, I nodded.
“Okay. Better to get this sorted out quickly. Let’s talk again later.”
“Yes, chief.”
Me and Kaya split up once more to our separate places.
**
“Can’t you?”
Whoo-
The owner of the request let out a heavy sigh.
“You are making me difficult. If I had known this would happen, I would not have traded.”
“That was not my intention.”
“Even if it wasn’t the intention, it’s a story that the result is like that. I didn’t expect the hip-heavy church to move.”
The old man brushed his beard for a while and was lost in thought. Then he suddenly took down the full beer glass in one shot.
“To be honest, I want to punch you in the head with all my might.”
“Yes?”
“And also my head, which I entrusted to you. But things have already happened, and it’s time to make a decision. If you dare to come and talk about this, it means that you will continue with my request, so when you return after completing the request, you will be waiting for an extremely unpleasant private meeting with the church about how you knew the place and what you were aiming for.”
“I will…”
“Stop saying there was no intention. Wasn’t it that you were afraid of it in the first place, so you asked about my circumstances?”
It sucks.
It was eternal. But this made it clear.
That this man didn’t go to the guild for no reason, and that he had something to do with the heretic we encountered, or that there was going to be one.
Otherwise, this reaction would not have occurred. There must be something stabbed. By the way, no matter how much the church does not move easily, it was very bold.
I don’t know what you want or what you’re doing.
“Do you remember what I said before?”
“What do you mean?”
“I asked if there was anything on record.”
“Ah. Yes. No way?”
“After you leave the tavern, you will change places right away. And, if you feel like finding something of a record and giving it to me… Come to this place now. You will find out when you come.”
“Unbeknownst to the church.”
Instead of answering the request, the uncle gave an order to celebrate as if he was chasing away flying insects, as if he did not want to see the sight.
Fortunately, the fist of the client, who was calmer and more rational than I thought, didn’t hit my face, but I was a little concerned about why the blacksmith, who had nothing to regret, got involved with Ethan.
But the closer we got to the inn, the faster it was forgotten.
My head was already full of things related to clearing the dungeon.
