Death King Karnak Novel - Chapter 23

Death King Karnak

7. A Model Necromancer

Alius was a priest from the Northern Diocese of Eusteel, the Church of the Earth in Derat City.

“I’m ashamed to have the rank of a first-class inquisitor.”

Karnak tilted his head.

“Are you a 1-class inquisitor?”

“Right, the Inquisitor is…….”

“No, I know what an Inquisitor is.”

Generation after generation, the Seven Goddess Church used to dispatch seasoned priests to investigate the truth whenever traces of necromancy were discovered. At this time, the title was ‘inquisitor.’

After the appointed priest figured out the truth of the incident, he judged in the goddess’s name and returned to his original position. In other words, it was only a temporary job.

“Because I’ve never heard of a hierarchy in the Inquisition.”

Having a hierarchy meant it was now an official position, but if there were necromancers everywhere, enough to always need an inquisitor, what would that mean for the human world?

Alius put on a bitter expression.

“The problem is that the world has become such a place.”

Since there were too many incidents related to the darkness of the end, there was not enough manpower to temporarily dispatch them like before. That’s why the church concluded that training inquisitors as a separate force was best.

“I was given 1st rank in the previous meeting. I was a 2nd rank a while ago.”

Karnak exclaimed in admiration. Originally, it wasn’t easy to climb the hierarchy of priests.

“You are amazing at such a young age.”

Alius scratched the back of his head as if he was embarrassed.

“There are so many incidents. Working as an inquisitor makes it a career whether you like it or not.”

Indeed, he seemed to be on the reasonably capable side. He also felt suspicious about Zelpa Village for the same reason as Karnak.

“It just seemed strange that such a capable man would target a rural village like this.”

Barros, who was listening to the story, suddenly asked.

“By the way, priest, did you come alone? It would be dangerous if the necromancer were really in that village.”

Of course, the question was whether or not the church’s troops accompanied him. Alius shook his head.

“Unfortunately, the current church won’t act without hard evidence.”

“Evidence? Wasn’t that enough if the inquisitor had confirmed it?”

“It used to be like that, but…….”

He replied in a lower tone after sighing.

“Actually, the church considers this to be a rumour.”

“Why? Isn’t this situation suspicious enough?”

It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t noticed, but he didn’t understand why they dismissed it as a rumour even though Alius had already found a loophole. But it would seem the church could do that.

“Actually, something similar happened a while ago. But, of course, it had nothing to do with love.”

“……Is it common for a young, wealthy, kind, and even handsome guy to be followed only by a country girl?”

Alius sighed at Barros’ words and said he couldn’t understand them.

“So it’s a relative matter.”

When it comes to having a lot of money, where does a lot of money come from? When it comes to being handsome, where does being handsome come from? What is being kind?

Apart from age, it’s not something that just falls into the right court. Even the criterion of ‘young’ was relative. In a town filled with old people in their 70s and 80s, even people in their 50s would be considered young.

Karnak and Barros thought it was strange for a talented man like ‘an aristocratic man who looks like some parasitic fellow and spends a lot of gold coins’ to seduce some country girls politely…….

“As long as one saves a little money and your skin is less sunburned, he can be rich and handsome by country standards.”

“Ah, in that case, targeting a country girl isn’t particularly strange.”

“That’s right. Even the blame of the incidents common in the past is now being put on the darkness of the end.”

It was due to this fact that there was so much fake information that even the church couldn’t move recklessly unless there was clear evidence. That’s because manpower was very limited.

“I also don’t believe there’s a necromancer in this village. I just don’t want to ignore anything suspicious without even checking it.”

Barros was dumbfounded and sent a magic message to Karnak.

[This, did we almost make a mistake?!

[That’s right. How did we get lucky this time?!]

As expected, he laughed at the adventurers for being stupid and came all the way here confidently, but that wasn’t the case.

‘I can’t move recklessly by just relying on the past.’

However, it was confirmed that a necromancer did exist in the village.

“Then, priest, will you be returning to the church after finding the evidence?”

Alius was embarrassed by Karnak’s question.

“Actually, I was thinking of taking care of it myself.”

It wasn’t just the recklessness of a youngster. His divine power is at a remarkably high level. Didn’t Karnak also startle when he suddenly felt him approaching?

In terms of divine power alone, even the combined divine power of the Ratiel priests who visited the Zestrad Estate was less than half of Alius.

‘As expected from someone at 1st rank in the hierarchy. Even if the necromancer was at a decent level, he could defeat him alone.’

And as for the reason he was happy to see the two of them was that if he had a colleague, he could use divine spells much more efficiently.

“Both of you seem to be quite capable…….”

In fact, Barros was the one Alius really desired. Karnak was young and a wizard, so he couldn’t tell how skilled he was just by looking at him. But Barros was different.

A large, well-trained body, a sword and armour with traces of long use. A person with a body like that and wearing that kind of equipment could never be weak.

He responded with a serious expression, “Your help will be of great importance.”

Barros secretly asked while Alius was waiting for an answer.

[What do we do now, young master?]

[What? I can’t use necromancy in front of a priest. We should break up with an appropriate excuse and then deal with it ourselves…….]

Karnak changed his words as if he remembered something while he was replying.

[No. Let’s move together.]

[Eh? Is that okay?]

[It’s an excellent opportunity. I have something I need to confirm now.]

Karnak replied in a serious tone while looking back at Alius.

“I understood the situation in general. We are also children of the Goddess, and it is our duty to help regarding the church’s holy affairs, even though we are weak.”

Alius crossed his legs with great joy.

“Thank you for your help. May the blessings of the seven goddesses be with the two of you.”

Barros was still embarrassed.

[Are you sure you’re all right? What if you encounter a situation where you must use necromancy?]

[You write when you have to write. How many times have I used necromancy spells without people noticing?]

[It’s because the results weren’t good every time.]

Unbeknownst to everyone, it was the past Karnak’s main method to openly use necromancy and then erase memories through mental manipulation.

[People whose memories have been erased all had nightmares and went wild after suffering. Are you going to do that again??]

[Was it like that?]

[Yes. Didn’t we decide to live like human beings now?]

For reference, the standard of ‘living like a human being’ they meant was not about living a good life while keeping morals and ethics. To be precise, it was more like he wanted to live like that, but he didn’t know what that was exactly.

That’s why the standard Karnak and Barros set was like this:
– I won’t live like I used to.

[That priest is a good person.]

Although he had a quick-tempered personality and a habit of making arbitrary conclusions, he was just a sincere and good-natured human. Even though everyone else was ignoring it, you could tell by looking at the fact that they purposely went against their wishes and came to this village.

[Wouldn’t turning a good person into a psychopath seem like living like before?!]

[You’re right.]

Karnak agreed and was distressed over finding a good solution.

[Let’s see, how can I erase his memories without affecting his mind?]

[……Is there no option other than manipulating his mind? You really are a typical necromancer.]

[I’ll erase it with chaos magic instead of necromancy.]

[Is there such a way?]

[It might be possible if I compress chaos magic into thin needles and burn some of the memory centres in the brain.]

[…….]

[Why? What did I say wrong?]

[No, I think the young master is a model necromancer.]

[I don’t use necromancy! Why do you keep calling me a necromancer?]

It was a conversation through magic messages, so from the outside, it seemed both were keeping their mouths shut. Alius probably misunderstood their expression and said in a gentle tone.

“There’s no need to be too nervous. It’s not yet confirmed that there is a necromancer in that town. And even if there is, I’m also here.”

He made a holy face while holding his oak wand tightly.

“Since I have Hatoba’s protection, even evil necromancers don’t stand a chance against me!”

Barros solely stared at Alius.

‘That evil necromancer is aiming for your head as of now.’

But he couldn’t say this from my mouth. He just smiled softly and nodded his head.

“It’s really reassuring. Thank you for your support.”

Gel and the village were quiet. Most of the residents had gone to the fields, and only a few women and children could be seen occasionally. Residents who saw Karnak’s party glanced past them. Their expression was like a stranger had come to their village with some ulterior motive.

“Looking at them, we can’t expect anything like an inn.”

The reaction would differ from a village where many inns and foreigners often came and went. Barros looked around while walking and holding the reins.

“We need a place to leave our horses and unpack our luggage…….”

In villages where there were no inns, it was customary for travellers to go to the headman’s house or a local church to find a place to stay.

“In a village like this, a small church should be in operation, right?”

Karnak shook his head.

“There won’t be.”

“Why do you think so?”

Alius answered instead.

“If there was a church in this village, would that farmer bother to come all the way to Derat City?”

“I see. I didn’t even think about that since I’m just an ignorant swordsman.”

It was just when Barros entered the village while admiring the reasoning of the two. He saw a small and neatly built white building. It was a building with a blue sacred object hanging from the roof and a pattern symbolising wind at the entrance. It must have been a church that worshipped Saisha, the goddess of wind and sky.

Barros murmured absent-mindedly.

“Isn’t there a church?”

After pretending to be proud, the two people who were wrong immediately started talking differently.

“Oh, is there one?”

“……Then why did that man come all the way to the Derat City?”

Barros smiled and moved on.

“Anyway, that’s great. I’ll take care of you there.”

The church was so small that there were only two priests. It was a village church head in her mid-40s and a nun who seemed to be in her 30s, and they welcomed the party quite warmly.

“Welcome to the Church of the Wind, brothers of the Earth.”

They stated the purpose of their visit after settling their horses and unpacking their luggage. Upon hearing about the situation, the church head and Priestess Grasse shook their heads.

“Tsk tsk, did that friend go all the way there?”

As far as they had heard, it was said that a lot of time had passed since the last time there was trouble in this place. When they didn’t believe him, he dared to go all the way to Derat City.

“Cleo is a sincere and good person. Everyone likes him because he’s a lot of help to the town. I can assure you that he has nothing to do with necromancy.”

Sister Julia, who came tethered to the backyard of the church, continued with a gentle smile.

“In fact, another priest came to visit me a couple of months ago, but he also left just like that.”

Neither of them felt the slightest suspicion towards Cleo, a man with unknown abilities.

“You’ve come a long way, but it’s a pity that you only made a fool of yourself.”

Alius chuckled.

“It’s okay. It’s actually a good thing to be fooling around in my kind of job.”

“Oh, the person who came before said the same thing.”

Since it was a bit late to return to Derat City, they decided to spend the night at the church.

After showing them to a small guest room, Sister Julia said kindly, “It’s a bit shabby, but please make yourselves at home.”

When they were left alone, Karnak asked.

“What are you going to do now, priest?”

Alius spoke after thinking for a moment.

“On the way here, I tried to search for holy places in various places in the village, but I couldn’t find anything particularly suspicious.”

“Do you mean it was also just a rumour?”

“Not necessarily. Necromancers are good at hiding their identities. Just because I didn’t notice them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Barros also intervened in the conversation.

“Then I’ll have to look into the situation a bit more. I came across a bar where the residents were gathering.”

The best place to get an understanding of the situation would be through the locals at the bar.

People with a bit of alcohol tend to spill some little secrets.

In the case of Barros, it seemed like he said that because he just wanted to drink.

Alius shook his head.

“It won’t be of much help.”

From the demeanor of Priestess of Grasse and Sister Julia, it was clear that the villagers trusted Cleo.

“The people of other villages will not be very different. I don’t think anything will come out even if I investigate.”

Karnak replied in Barros’s stead as he became sullen from being unable to drink.

“Then what do you plan to do now?”

Alius’s complexion hardened as he looked out from the window.

“I’ll have to check it out for myself.”

His gaze was on the village’s west side, towards the thick forest where the old nobleman’s villa was located.