Raising Paladins

Episode 66. Golden Apple Tracking (5)

The overgrown bushes sway in the wind.

A refreshing breeze with the scent of flowers and trees.

However, the place where the wind passed was full of tension.

Silence lingers in a small clearing spread among the trees.

It was Carl’s words that broke the silence.

“Don’t hide, tell them to come out.”

“I knew that too.”

Whiik!

Marlon whistled.

Then, as many as 20 armed soldiers jumped out from beyond the bushes.

They were all the masked guys Carl had seen when he infiltrated the city hall courtyard.

“Your intuition is very sharp? Did you receive any special training?”

“It just smells like rats.”

“… … upstart. Today, I will definitely pluck out your tongue.”

“Sure.”

Carl answered Marlon’s sharp tone in an apathetic tone.

A relaxed attitude even against 20 enemies wielding bloody weapons.

It was as if a bug was buzzing, and everything was annoying.

Then Marlon asked.

“I have to admit that he’s a pretty strong guy. By the way, where the hell did you come from?”

“… … ?”

“Are you the Heretic Questioner dispatched from the main shrine of the Sun Temple?”

“Pu-huh.”

Carl let out a small laugh.

But that smile quickly disappeared.

“Seeing that you know the Heretic Questioner, they’re the ones who plot bad things. It has become more certain.”

“… … !”

The heretic inquisitor at the main hall of the Sun Temple.

The priest with that title tours the branches of the Dawn Church, Noon Church, and Dusk Church, which are the three branches of the Sun God Church, and checks whether the priests of the corresponding branch have good conduct as priests of the Sun God Church and whether they do not exploit the believers’ crons for personal gain. It was a kind of circuit overseer looking after the people.

In particular, in addition to foreign missions, they also searched for traces of heresy or black magic.

Unlike the priests who lived in one area, the Heretic Questioner was able to roam throughout the empire.

So, he travels all over the world and reports the data he has collected on black magic and heresy to the main shrine’s cardinals and the priest who heads the Heretic Questioner.

That’s why most of the heretic questioners don’t know the role in detail unless they are deeply related to the Sun God Church.

However, Marlon is asking Carl if he came as a Heretic Questioner.

That meant only one thing.

“I guess it was you guys who were performing demonic sorcery in the vicinity of Meirium and Tournoble.”

“… … !!”

A group of monsters that have recently begun to move.

Monsters that had been silent for 200 years suddenly appeared around Meirium and Tournoble.

The same goes for the cave trolls Carl took Meisa to hunt, and even a group of over 100 goblins that formed an army appeared in Tournoble and attempted organized plunder.

This could never have happened by chance.

“… … He was also the Heretic Questioner dispatched from the main war. Otherwise, your skills don’t make sense. To be honest, it was a little hard to believe, but now it’s clear.”

The eccentricities, no, the miracles that Carl showed as soon as he came to Meirium.

Not only did he scatter the gang of thugs, Hanson’s gang, but he also swallowed up the boss, Hanson, and made it into the temple’s troops.

Moreover, recently, just three battle priests who volunteered for Tournoble achieved an astonishing achievement by defeating dozens of goblins and gnolls.

It was too great a thing to be just a battle priest in the village.

“It’s true that I looked down on you a little at first. I’ll admit that. But it will be hard to get out of the forest safely today, Carl!”

“I said, but do as you please. If you can.”

“This bastard… … .”

“But let’s ask one question before we fight. What were you guys doing in that basement? What else are golden apples used for?”

“Uh, how… … ?!”

Marlon was startled.

It was because the facts kept in strict secrecy flowed out of the mouth of Carl, an outsider at City Hall, under strict vigilance.

“It was full of ground troops. Looking down from the tree made me yawn.”

“What?! Could it be that the commotion last night was yours?!”

“okay. I’ve seen it all, so tell me. How did he know how to make golden apples grow, and what he did in the basement with them? If you tell me everything, I won’t kill you.”

“Crazy… … Are you saying you know what your situation is?”

Carl smiled and looked around.

“It looks like the fish jumped onto the boat even though the fishing rod wasn’t even dipped in it.”

“… … The man who will die soon lived. You seem arrogant that you’ve only taken down a few goblins and gnolls, but my men here are the best. It cannot be compared to monsters with low intelligence. The children I dealt with before were messengers with the least fighting power among the children who followed me.”

“Is that so? Then it’s better.”

“… … ?”

“Because I needed someone to test my new skills on.”

Wei Ying-

The blade of the steel sword, with divine power spread through the fingertips of the knife, buzzed.

The sword lightly shook it toward the nearby tree stump.

OK.

Kwak!

Surprisingly, the whole thick tree was blown out.

That wasn’t the end.

Some invisible power rode the burst tree and transferred to the floor next to it, and an unknown explosion occurred on the floor it touched, and rock fragments and stones scattered in all directions.

“Kuk!”

Marlon and the mercenaries hurriedly covered their faces from the splinters of trees and stones that flew in suddenly.

“The Holy Sword Explosion is a skill. It’s a divine combat technique that I developed myself.”

“… … Poetry, divine battle?”

An era in which all divine power, divine magic, and healing have all disappeared.

Marlon and his men’s faces turned pale due to the holy swordsmanship that had transcended a long period of 200 years.

“also! It’s the power you’ve been hiding in the main hall of the Temple of the Sun! How did you absorb divine power into your body!”

“All you have to do is pray day and night and pay your respects to the sun god.”

“b*tch talk! If it was possible to have the unknown power of divine power in that way, anyone would have done it. Come on, answer me!”

“curious?”

“Of course, you can cut off your limbs one by one and ask.”

“What so far? If you answer one, I will answer your question.”

“Are we exchanging information?”

“I can do that. My question is this. About what to do with golden apples.”

“Whoops.”

said Marlon, correcting the long curve.

“Okay, he’s going to die soon, so tell me. The golden apples are being used for corruption.”

“Corruption!”

Carl’s face, which had been calm, wriggled slightly.

I had expected it roughly, but when I confirmed it from Marlon’s mouth, anger welled up in my heart.

“I searched the ruined Temple of Dawning and found tools that might contain divine power. Pendants were also retrieved from retired priests of the Dawning Church. Of course, in the process, quite a few priests died. Doesn’t it matter though? Because they were just waiting for the day they would die of old age anyway. Kuk-kuk.”

“… … .”

Anger began to show clearly on Carl’s face.

Marlon roared with excitement, not knowing that his tongue was hastening his death.

“As expected, the clever master thought that if you put a Divine Accessory near a withered golden tree, it would bear fruit again. In fact, it was successful, and the master discovered a magic circle that corrupts the golden apple and converts divine power into dark power. The result is this.”

Clash!

Marlon pulled a small vial from his bosom.

It contained a very dark colored liquid.

“The sun and the moon, the day and the night, the light and the darkness were separated from one mass in the beginning. Master’s belief was that if the power of divine power existed in the world, the opposite, dark power, would also exist. He actually proved it. My master has already gained power far beyond the human realm. Through this potion that corrupted the golden apple!”

“… … I get it roughly. Did you catch people after making that potion and use them as test subjects in the basement?”

“hehehehe, that’s it. No matter how ancient the magic circle was, it would be difficult to take it from the beginning. They were sacrificed for Master’s glorious experiment.”

The more you listen, the uglier the content.

Carl asked with a hard face.

“How many people have you killed so far? with that experiment.”

“That’s not what you know! Now it’s my turn to ask the question. Reveal your exact identity. Are you the Heretic Questioner?”

“at all.”

“then? After proposing to exchange information with the priest, you’re not trying to come back and get away with it, are you?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you the truth?”

“That’s for me to decide! Reveal your identity right now! If not, I’ll kill you painfully… … .”

“I am the great paladin, Paladin Carlos of the Dawn.”

“… … ?”

wheein-.

Silence fell in the clearing among the grass.

Soon after, Malone burst into laughter.

“hahahahaha! You’re crazy! Even if you get delusional disease, you are very firmly caught!”

Because it was a sharp confrontation, the mercenaries laughed but did not break their posture.

So was Marlon.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t believe it?”

“You have to lie to the fullest! Are you claiming to be the Paladin who fell behind 200 years ago?”

“You should have just seen it.”

Carl shifted his gaze to the broken tree stump and the dug-out floor beside him.

Then one of the mercenaries stuttered.

“Fa, I’ve read that there is something similar to that among Paladin’s sword techniques, but… … .”

“Shut up! It’s a divine power, so what kind of trick was it!”

“… … .”

A battle priest who spews divine power from his body.

There’s no way anything like that is possible.

Marlon thought so and pointed the curved sword at Carl.

“You lied to the priest. I’m going to chop you up and toss them to the dogs in the backyard as treats!”

“Should we start now?”

“Damn it!”

Do-do-do-do-do!

About 20 masked men with curved swords rushed at the sword.

But then.

“stop! You bastards!”

Every single thing!

Between the bushes, men of about the same number as the mercenaries jumped out.

All of them were carrying agricultural implements such as pitchforks and crampons.

It was Hanson who led the pack.

He bowed his head to Carl and said.

“Priest Carl, are you all right?”

“What are you doing here?”

Even in the immediate situation, Carl’s response was full of composure.

“High Priest Clemens came out to the farmland for a while because he had a message to convey to Priest Carl. However, I saw countless footprints behind the direction where the priest said he had gone to do errands, so I hurriedly led the children and followed them.”

“What so far? If you’re farming or building, I’ll take care of it.”

“still… … .”

“Good job. It is commendable that you identified the enemy’s tracks and responded immediately. It is also a virtue of a battle priest.”

“thank you!”

Hanson’s face brightened at Carl’s praise.

On the contrary, Marlon’s face, which was about to slaughter the knife, rotted away.

“You bastards! What are you doing right now in front of me!”

“Tell me to calm down.”

Carl smiled and comforted him.

“I heard before that Hanson is saying that you have some business left to do, but that’s great. It’s just to check the results of the hard training of the servants.”

“… … ?”

Carl spoke alternately between Hanson and the servants and Marlon and the mercenaries.

“Can you?”

“Yes, priest!”

Every single thing!

The seeds, led by Hanson, formed a formation in an instant.

Then Carl sat down with his rump on a nearby tree stump, pulled a piece of jerky from his pocket and began chewing on it.

Then Carl said.

“I will present a weapon made of steel to the one who defeats the first enemy and the one who defeats the most enemies.”

“Ohhh!”

The servants’ eyes flashed at the sound of a steel weapon.

Carl, who looked at him with a happy face, exclaimed.

“Sweep it away.”

It was the moment when a large-scale battle broke out in the forest outside the quiet Meirium.