Chapter 10: Bunch of morons

 

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‘Um, …… sorry to bother you at this time of night, Deacon Franz~?’

The sun has already set and the only light around is moonlight. Even though it’s just a step away from an abandoned house, it is no different from a church. Al forced himself to convince himself that it was a courtesy to the goddess, who was probably resting.

“…………”

‘No, I don’t need those obvious warnings anymore. I already know you’re behind the door, so just open it. I’ve got a delivery for you.”

With a heavy clang, the bolt-type lock opens and the heavy door opens. In the shadow of the door is Deacon Franz. His expression is not the one of resignation that stuck to Al’s face when they first met. There is anger.

However, Al, as if he doesn’t care about such things, immediately kicks open the door and blasts Deacon Franz into the church with the force of his kick.

‘Gah! …… What are you doing!’

‘Huh? What the hell is this guy talking about? Are there really only such feckless people? (What about a place called the Royal Capital?)’

Ignoring the protests of Deacon Franz, who was on his buttocks, Al throws the delivery next to him.

With a thud, the delivery itself grunts.

‘……ggg! …… uuuu……’

Mary the loser. Former assassin.

Al thinks it is disrespectful to the assassins of the world to call such a person an assassin.

Her face is bloody and she has a broken nose and several broken teeth. Then there is his right wrist and left knee. Even at a quick glance, it can be seen that the injuries are serious.

‘Ahhhh, Mary, Mary! Oh, my God!’

“…………”

Al thinks. What the hell are these guys?

Towns of the outsiders. Former slum. A place that still smells dangerous.

The backstreets are crawling with roughnecks and underworld organisations are active in the dark.

Those with scars on their shins and those who want to hide their past often drift in, and it is bad manners to pry into each other’s backgrounds here.

Such were the rumours.

But it was nothing of the sort.

Non-mage bragging about their skills.

Mage-knight skanks and general soldier skanks.

Less than fourth-rate mages who use thin magic and proclaim themselves to be mages.

Deacons and laymen playing assassins.

How small scale.

The unreasonableness felt in the middle of a battle with demons on the frontier. Violence against violence does not work. The feeling of helplessness and despair that even if you counter with further violence, even that will soon be impenetrable. The fear of death that is close at hand.

Since coming to the Royal Capital, Al has never felt such a thing. Naturally. This is the royal capital. A peaceful city. Even in the underworld.

The main storyline of the game, which will begin in the future, is mostly set in the academy until the middle of the game. There are some expeditions and dungeons, but the basic story is in the academy ……, i.e. the royal capital. The demon tribe is mentioned only after the human tribe’s quarrels with each other have been settled.

(The most important thing to remember is that the war against the demon tribe is not a war against the aristocratic families on the frontier, but a war against the demon tribe. Whether or not they can get it together, is it possible that they are strong enough?)

Al had his doubts about Mary’s behaviour, but he arrived at one hypothesis.

‘Mary didn’t realise I was a mage.’

What a ridiculous hypothesis. But Al has come to believe it is the only way.

Since he started spending time in the Royal Capital, he has kept his mana flow as low as possible to the same level as that of ordinary people, and has adapted to his surroundings. According to the Falconer family members, Al’s mana control was still said to be lax, but even such mana control could not be detected by Mary, an assassin in the Royal Capital.

‘Deacon Franz. Don’t rant anymore. Answer the questions.”

‘What a joke! Do you think you can get away with this to Mary for free?

‘What do you mean, “get away with it for free”? I’d love to hear who’s going to do what ……. (Ha ha.)’

A rude front kick by Al to Deacon Franz, who is still sitting on the floor.

‘…… ga?’

Deacon Franz, who has been turned on his back in a state of helplessness.

‘Deacon Franz. I don’t mind if you and Mary play assassin, but I fight back when I’m attacked. I just didn’t kill you this time because you were too weak and surprised me.’

‘…… Oh, ……!’

Al releases his suppressed mana in a directional manner. At this level, even a dull civilian would notice. Even Deacon Franz would be able to sense it.

‘……ah…… well, mage…….’

“(Is my hypothesis correct …… and I’m not happy about it. Deacon Franz is also a “magician” of the “sacred arts”, and yet here we are.)”

Church of the Goddess Elinora. It is said that, aside from monks and nuns, the only requirement for deaconesses and above is to have mastered the Church’s secret healing art called the ‘Sacred Art’.

The Church wants to distinguish it from magic, but the sacred arts are only a type of magic. In other words, the deacons and above of the Church are also those who are associated with the nobility.

“…… ‘A certain nobleman has asked me to spend the night with him’? Is that some kind of code? Or …… you thought I was a client or similar? Given Mary’s stupidity, it’s oddly satisfying that Deacon Franz was that dumb.”

‘…… Oh, you are …… one ……’

The End.

Al has already lost interest.

The only thing left to do is to come and see how desolate this church is, as an indication of how the main part of the story has started.

‘Farewell. Deacon Franz. Mary’s knee should be healed as carefully as possible. If you are a poor healer, she will never be a fighter again. Well, I’m ashamed to call you a fighter at that level, so I’d prefer not to be a fighter again. Oh. If you want to retaliate against me, I’ll be at the Angus Inn, thank you.’

Al said off, turned on his heel and left the church.

The fried fish at that restaurant in the People’s Ward was delicious. What Al got out of this case.

……

…………

………………

A few days after the dunces’ competition.

Al is thinking again.

He is now more concerned about the ‘strength of the enemy’ than about the story of the game. Mary, the quintessential assassin, is one of the best in this royal city! I don’t think of ……. But was too weak. Perhaps even Colin could have single-handedly chopped Mary into pieces.

Strictly speaking, Colin is not a mage, and although he can use thin magic, he is in the non-mage category. However, Mary is in the mage category in terms of quantity and quality of MANA. Still, there is an overwhelming difference. There are many reasons for the difference in approach to battle, awareness, actual battle experience, effort, and talent ……, but Mary is simply weaker and Colin is stronger.

‘(Hmm. Enemy strength. But there are no demon-related enemies in the early stages. …… If we knew the strength of the demons, we could reverse the situation to some extent.

It’s not about the academy’s internal squabbles, the sweet, and sour love story, the power struggle between noble families in the royal capital, the problem of the royal family’s successor, or the secrets of the dungeon…….

What I’m worried about is the war. War with the demon race. The issues that occur within the kingdom are trivial. I have to think about how to fight off the external enemies, the demon races and monsters. Even if it’s a matter of course to have the protagonists grow up, …… To be honest, Father., …… if even the head class of a frontier noble family is no match for the Demon race… … No matter how superhuman the protagonists become, they will end up being rubbed out by the Sheer Number.)’

It can be said that Al had been rather distracted and lazy since he came to King’s Landing, just walking around looking for events and important characters in a cursory manner.

This time, by getting involved with Deacon Franz and Mary, who are dumber than he is, Al’s sense of crisis increased and he said, ‘Oh, I can’t go on like this.’ You really never know what will turn out to be fortunate.

(Well, even if the events of the …… academy are for the growth of the main character, there is no event that can quickly grasp the strength of the …… demonic race. …… haha. I don’t remember that. I’ll think about it slowly after I deal with the “visitors”)

Accommodation in Angus.

Perhaps because of its location close to the back streets of the town of Gaumin, it is inexpensive for the grade it is. If you pay extra, you can get one meal a day. At night, the inn operates as a cheap bar, but there is no special service for guests.

It was only by chance that Al stayed at the inn on the day he arrived in the capital, and he didn’t choose this place for any particular reason, but after spending more than two months here,……, he has grown attached to it.

Such a visitor to Al at the Angus Inn.

There came two knocks with a leisurely pause: “Konn, konn ……”.

‘Come in, it”s open.’

‘…… excuse me.’

What a classy thing for a cheap hotel.

Al was aware of Mary before she came into the inn and sensed her presence with his mana.

From the way she walked, it appeared that her knee had been properly treated. It is not clear what happened to the broken tooth, but as far as we can see, it is back to normal. Is it a mysterious “sacred art” out there?

Unlike ordinary recovery magic, treatment by the “sacred art” concealed by the church can even regenerate the body. In other words, the arm will grow anew, rather than being shredded and joined together.

It is said that this allows the church to differentiate between the “sacred arts” and ordinary recovery magic, and thus there has been no decisive confrontation.

‘…… Once again. My name is Mary.’

‘This is polite. My name is Al. You already know that I am a mage. I don’t have to tell you my family name, do I?’

‘…… Yes. No need for that.’

It is common for mages to hide their family names. Those who are related to the nobility. Those who do not succeed to a family title are often scattered over a fairly wide area. Therefore, it is often the case that members of families that were at odds with each other in neighboring territories end up serving in the same noble family in a completely different region.

A family name reveals one’s status and origin, but at the same time, the family name can increase one’s enemies, and the merits and demerits of a family name can only be said to depend on the circumstances.

‘And?” Revenge?’

‘….. No, no.It’s a shame. I am not the one to challenge Al… I realized it. My immaturity. …I am here today because of the “organization’s” decision.’

Al’s honest feeling at this time can only be summed up in one word: ‘I don’t care.

Falconer does not listen to the “weak,” not just in battle. He refuses to listen to anyone who is “weak.

Mary must have sensed this sentiment, too, because she hurriedly began to speak. A story just to be heard.

‘I don’t know how you feel about it, but I don’t think Franz wanted this “meeting” to happen.’

Deacon Franz and Mary.

The two are from a backroom organization that has its roots not only in the towns and backstreets of the outsiders, but also in the entire royal capital.

Deacon Franz served as a front for them, acting as a subcontractor and coordinator, but with the decline of the church, he was being withdrawn from the backroom organization as well.

It is utterly selfish.

Deacon Franz, on the other hand, while killing people, was also serious about his mission to help people …… as an apostle of the Goddess. He is crazy in a different direction than Falconer. Both must be annoying lunatics, though.

He had his rules, and he could still choose when the organization asked him to do so much. But now Deacon Franz has no room to choose. He was worried about that. …… Rather than about the decline of the church, Deacon Franz said that he was sincerely distressed about the “assassination requests” that he could not follow his own rules.

The story is that Mary proposed this “meeting” to Deacon Franz, knowing that he did not want it. That’s all.

‘….. So? Deacon Franz is a good kind of crazy. He has an affliction that ordinary people can’t understand. Is that why ……?’

Al seriously can’t figure it out. I wondered what she was going to do by telling me that. I feel as unintelligible as I did when Mary challenged me head-on.

“…… Actually, after this meeting, the next one is directly with Deacon Franz. I was instructed by the …… organization to do so. Just then this happened and the …… organization seems to be interested in Mr. Al as well. I was told to bring the matter of Deacon Franz to …… to see if I could get his cooperation.”

Ah, I see. …… and Al understood the path. About the prequel to “Lord of the Abandoned Church,” including the organization’s request.

The death and vindictiveness is rarely a natural occurrence unless the person in question has a great deal of unresolved feelings or attachment …… to resentment or envy, despair, etc. Most of them are caused artificially by “necromancy,” which is a forbidden external method.

It is said that it is “common” for the person himself to be a mage and to make preparations even before his death.

Deacon Franz has already finished preparing for his necromancy. He is a servant of a goddess, but he also dabbled in “necromancy. He is a very broken monk.

That is why the organization has been unable to dispose of him carelessly so far. But this time, they still decided to take care of him.

Now, let’s do it! I was thinking …… and then, conveniently, a mage appeared. Al. The organization thought. “Maybe we can get rid of Franz without turning him into a mortal ……?” And.

As a result, Mary is in front of Al with faint hopes.

(Somewhere I still fell a little …… sympathy for Deacon Franz, but even if it was just a threat to …… negotiate, if it was something he wanted to do….Enough said. I don’t know if I’m imagining things right, but I don’t think I want …… to be even more right.)

Mary waits patiently for Al’s silent contemplation.

Mary knows firsthand that he is a mage, but she still cannot tell when she senses his mana in front of her.

Al, having controlled his mana, is indistinguishable from a non-mage. At least she cannot see through it.

(This is the …… Mage of the frontier …..And not like the aristocrats who dominate in the capital….There is no bottom. I don’t know if a half-assed Mage like me was the right person to deal with it. ……).

A backroom organization rooted in the Royal Capital.

As a matter of course, it is involved with the nobility and those who are associated with them.

They have the quantity and quality of mana, systematic knowledge of magic, powerful magic inherited from generation to generation,……, and so on. They usually have the “stature of a strong man” that is a combination of all of these things.

Mary felt strongly that she was “not up to par” with them, but ……Al is also different from them.

‘…I don’t want to go to ……. I have no interest in the organization or in meeting with Deacon Franz.’

‘I see. The organization said by all means, but I’m going to pull back from ……’

Al does not say. As for Deacon Franz’s necromancy.

If you kill someone who is ready for necromancy, the person you kill becomes the first target of the deadly spirits.

In this case, it was Mary. There is no way that the organization would have explained it to her in detail.

(Let them kill each other. In any case, it’ s good if it prevents him from turning into a mortal, and if not, I am a pawn to be discarded. ….. That’ s the way it’s treated, isn’t it? That organization or whatever it is.)