“A request?”
“Yes. We would like to claim the item possessed by those demon worshippers. If we capture the heretics and hand their scriptures or symbols over to the Church of Utility, the clan will receive official credit for the achievement.”
Tisie stared quietly at the Balance of Good and Evil (S+) slung across my back, then nodded.
“If you can catch the worshippers, that’s fine by me.”
Given Tisie’s righteous nature, the answer was only natural. Having achieved my aim, I swallowed a smile and approached the lord of Kapali.
“Excuse me.”
“…I’ve been wondering since earlier—who exactly are you?”
“I am Aiden Stroke.”
“Stroke… You mean the Sub-Master of the Blispiel Clan? I had no idea you were connected to the Ascetic Church.”
The lord looked quite surprised to learn my identity.
“So, how do you plan to catch the heretics?”
“Please tell me which residents are suspected of being demon worshippers. I’m sure the patrol narrowed down the suspects before they arrived.”
“That’s correct. Everyone who recently entered the city or was reported for suspicious behavior has been placed on the list. Is that all you need?”
“More than enough.”
After receiving the list, I examined the suspects’ profiles through the power of the Tripper System and discovered one particularly suspicious character sheet.
<Saul Pardo> [Level: 31/33] [HP: 07][STR: 03][AGI: 07] [MP: 21][Mental: 08][Sense: 13] [Divinity: 00] [Traits: Magic Prodigy (B), Precise Mana Control (B), and 2 others] [Skills: Bresia Mana Cultivation Method (A), Black Tower Comprehensive Magic (B), Wiblet Mana Concealment Art (B), and 5 others] [Description: 32 years old, human race. Second son of Baron Pardo’s family from the Wiblet Empire. Shows interest in various religious rituals.]
The name listed was “Saul Skada.”
In other words, he was currently using a false identity.
On top of that, his stats were high enough to be treated as a court mage or an executive of one of the five great clans. For someone of that caliber to be hiding his identity and living as a mere magic-item merchant in Kapali territory was clearly abnormal.
The answer was already obvious, but to avoid unnecessary suspicion I waited three full days before reporting to the lord.
“Investigate this man and the truth will come out.”
“Hmm…”
The lord looked dumbfounded at my confident statement, but he ultimately chose to act, placing his trust in the name of the Blispiel Clan.
The opponent was a court-mage-level expert. If the lord’s soldiers conducted the raid, they would be annihilated instantly.
Therefore, we headed to the target location accompanied by the ascetics of the Ascetic Church.
“…Who are you?”
The suspect, Saul, appeared utterly ordinary at first glance.
But appearances alone could not reveal one’s true nature, and in this place there was someone perfectly suited to judge black and white.
“Sir Tisie, if you would.”
“Understood.”
Tisie nodded and stepped forward.
Multi-Phantasm Executor (U) was a Soul Imprint that functioned as both continuous and trigger types.
It possessed two main abilities.
The first was the continuous-type “Phantasm,” which Tisie could activate at will according to his own intent.
The moment Phantasm activated, Tisie’s mind split into fifty-eight separate worlds, allowing him to simulate entirely separate actions inside a perfect recreation of reality.
It was a form of pseudo-foresight, yet it held a clear advantage over ordinary foresight: he could test multiple situations at once.
Inside the phantasm, Tisie spoke to the simulated Aiden.
“This isn’t reality, so you can do whatever you want, kid.”
“Understood.”
Boom!
The Balance of Good and Evil (S+) swung without hesitation and completely shattered Saul’s head.
Thud.
The headless corpse collapsed limply to the floor. Immediately afterward, the hammer’s special function—“Punish Evil”—activated, and Saul’s body began melting at terrifying speed. For the effect to be this powerful meant the target had accumulated an extremely wicked amount of karma.
“That’s definitely not karma an ordinary human could accumulate. Verification complete.”
—Phantasm terminated.
The perfectly intact Saul suddenly reappeared in Tisie’s vision. He yawned and said,
“No need to hold back. Conduct the search.”
“Understood!”
At Tisie’s command, the ascetics began thoroughly searching Saul’s residence.
“Wait, what are you doing…!”
Saul protested with an aggrieved expression.
But his inner thoughts were different.
‘Damn it! Judging by their appearance, these are ascetics from the Ascetic Church. Did the information about the gathering leak from somewhere?’
If things continued like this, all his secret activities here would be for nothing. At least he hadn’t been restrained yet—that was a small mercy.
Saul was an elite graduate of the Black Tower. With his magic skills, he was confident he could break out of this situation.
‘I’ll use a restraint spell to bind everyone here, retrieve the hidden “item,” then smash through the wall of the house and escape.’
Having made his decision, Saul moved.
<Black Tangler>
Hiss—!
Black tendrils resembling intertwined smoke instantly filled the room. The spell not only restrained the target but completely blocked sight and mana detection as well.
Yet, unbelievably…
Sssssssss—
The black mist Saul had released suddenly condensed at terrifying speed toward a single point.
Straight into Tisie’s grasp.
“This is…?”
While Saul stood stunned, Tisie flicked his hand. The black energy shot outward and wrapped around Saul’s body.
“Gaaah?!”
Saul screamed in rage as he found himself bound by the very spell he had cast.
“You—you bastard! How dare you hijack someone else’s spell! Who the hell are you?!”
“Save the pondering for the underground prison.”
Tisie flicked his fingers with a bored expression. The black smoke promptly sealed Saul’s mouth as well.
Chesa was speechless as she watched Saul subdued in an instant.
“What… was that?”
“Master. Judging by the flow of mana, Tisie Verdad appears to have stolen the opponent’s mana and spell.”
“Is something like that even possible?”
“The principle is unknown.”
At Nano Eater’s words, Aiden narrowed his eyes.
What had just happened was the power of Tisie’s other unique trait: Oil Painting Resonance (U).
It was a Soul Imprint capable of resonating with external mana, absorbing its energy for temporary use, or—if sufficient leeway remained—intercepting an entire spell outright.
Normally, absorbing external mana would cause the body’s own mana to reject it, but since Tisie possessed no mana at all, there were no side effects.
Because the performance and limits of a Soul Imprint were determined entirely by the [Mental] stat, Tisie could seize control of any spell cast by a mage below Five Heroes level.
When combined with the still-unused Reverser (U) and the second function of Multi-Phantasm Executor (U), it became a trait that could enable literal absolute defense.
“Report! After searching the residence of the immigrant Saul Skada—no, Pardo—we discovered offerings used in demon-worship rituals. The gold nameplate attached to the scripture confirms he is a branch-leader-level demon worshipper.”
“Haha… I’m at a loss for words.”
The lord let out a small chuckle at the soldier’s report, then turned to me.
“Sub-Master Stroke, it seems the recent rise in the Blispiel Clan’s reputation is no coincidence. Exactly how did you identify the demon worshipper’s true identity in such a short time?”
“It was nothing more than a humble trick.”
I had phrased it indirectly to indicate that the important card was one I was reluctant to reveal.
The lord of Kapali nodded. Few people enjoyed showing their full hand. The more widely one’s abilities became known, the greater the chance that countermeasures would be developed.
The ascetics grumbled.
“Another demon worshipper from the Wiblet Empire, huh.”
“Heretical cults are running rampant both inside and outside the country, yet they still refuse to allow church branches to be established…”
Wiblet was a nation prosperous enough to contend for continental hegemony.
Yet because it had zero church influence, demon worshippers and other heretical cults flourished unchecked.
The large-scale demon-cult episode that occurred in the latter half of Part 1 of the original work had also originated from a massive ritual held inside the Wiblet Empire, so there was no need to elaborate on how deeply the problem ran.
In fact, that episode had been almost the only appearance the demon worshippers made in the main story.
In other words, there were an enormous number of MacGuffins tied to them.
[MacGuffin No.370 / Magnus Horn Chalice has been recovered.]
[Achievement Points + 1,000]
“So it really was here.”
I muttered as I accepted the ritual offering I had been promised in advance.
[Magnus Horn Chalice (S)]
- Gathers demon faith and converts it into anti-mana crystals [Capacity: 27/10000]
The two objectives I had set before heading to Mount Kapali had both been fulfilled.
The first was, of course, to make Tisie’s acquaintance and secure his cooperation. The second was to obtain this item.
The setting book had mentioned in passing that the Ascetic Church and Tisie’s side had clashed with demon worshippers before the main story began. For Tisie himself to get personally involved meant the incident was no ordinary affair—and it had unfolded exactly as I expected.
The Magnus Horn Chalice (S) was one of the four great demon-cult offerings that had only been referenced in flavor text.
It was an object that could transform accumulated faith into an elixir infused with sinister energy. In the original history, the demon worshipper who opposed Tisie had apparently consumed that elixir to achieve a dramatic power-up.
Whether the consumer had been the captured mage Saul or a separately dispatched demon worshipper remained unknown.
In any case, this chalice was one of the items later reclaimed by the demon cult and used in the great demon summoning ritual.
To the worshippers it held tremendous symbolic value, and handing it over to the church would earn an enormous reward.
I asked Bruno,
“What is the current status of that Saul fellow?”
“He seems to possess considerable loyalty to the cult. He shows no intention of spilling information. However, once the Holy Nation’s inquisitors arrive, the situation will change.”
I nodded at his words.
Considering the MacGuffin recovery and my promise to the Church of Utility, I would be entangled with demon worshippers many more times in the future.
To oppose them properly, gathering intelligence was essential, and for that I first needed to extract every piece of information Saul possessed.
Once business was concluded, I bowed politely to Tisie.
“I will see you again soon, Sir Tisie.”
“Very well. I’ll be waiting.”
With that, we descended Mount Kapali and returned to the clan house.
Back in Elanore, I once again repeated the cycle of internal affairs inspection and training.
“In about four months a war will break out between the small nations in the western continent. Camillo, seize the opportunity and make a big move.”
“Understood.”
I had spoken to Camillo about the prophetic dreams and gradually fed him useful future information.
Thanks to his genius investment sense, even small hints allowed him to earn sums far beyond imagination through all sorts of methods.
It was on one such day, while I was preparing for a meeting with Iron Mask, that—
“Young Master. A banquet invitation has arrived.”
“What? I told you to decline all of them.”
“It’s impossible to refuse this one. The sender is His Majesty the Emperor of the Wiblet Empire.”
“………”
Linia then handed me an elegant sheet of stationery. The unmistakable imperial seal of the Wiblet Empire was stamped upon it.
“…Stepping onto the front stage of history really does bring events like this.”
I pondered for a moment.
It was not a bad opportunity.
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