Chapter 28. The attitude of conversation

‘Who is he?’
Ivan took a glance at the client while guiding the him to his room.
The clothes were worn out, but not dirty. However, the clothes is not messy.
thump thump.
The sound of footsteps was stable, and the shaking of the upper body was not unstable. Judging by his hand, he wasn’t used to handle weapon. It doesn’t mean that he didn’t grow up without hardship. There’s a trace of old labor.
‘Ordinary farmer? A nobleman who hides his identity? A rich merchant?’
Nothing was a perfect fit for it. Obviously he’s not an ordinary person.
“This way.”
They reached the room before Ivan’s doubts could be answered. He called the staff and asked to prepare some refreshments and went inside.
Although it was an expensive accommodation, it was not a suite with a parlor. It wasn’t very spacious, there was just a small table next to the bed. That alone was a luxury enough.
slurp.
Ivan, who sipped the tea brought by the employee, as if drinking soup, opened his mouth calmly.
“I won’t ask how you got here. I’m more famous than I thought. If one wanted to know, one would have find it easily. The important thing is not how you found me, but why you came here? Let’s talk about work.”
When Ivan said that, his client nodded.
“As I heard, you have a cool personality. It’s good.”
Then, at once, he released the necklace that was hanging around his neck. Then Ivan realized that a divine power he had never felt before was hovering within the man.
“A seal?. It’s not about blocking the power, it’s about preventing the power from leaking? It’s for hiding your identity.”
As Ivan uttered such a speculation, the client nodded.
“Yes. My name is Delfino. I am a priest who worships Arun, the Brilliant Lord of Light.”
Delfino, who briefly proved himself by emitting his divine power, put on the necklace again. Then again, the divine power disappeared as if it had been washed away.
‘That’s amazing.’
Ivan looked at him, focusing on his sensitive senses. Even after knowing that he was a priest of Arun, the god of light, it was so hard to find traces of him.
“Seeing that you hid yourself like that, it must have been a very secret request.”
“Yes. It’s my job to pinpoint the demon worshipers and warlocks lurking in this area.”
He bluntly stated that he had investigated Ivan. He looked at his past and decided that he was a trustworthy person, that’s why he was commissioned.
“I heard that you are a warrior loved by the gods of Nord. There is no way you would join hands with a demon worshiper.”
He added that the fact that Ivan solved the recent case where an abandoned monastery was turned into a dungeon was also an important reason for choosing him.
“It is unknown to the world, but for some reason it has been thoroughly destroyed. It is a shame, but those who once served the Lord of Light have fallen. You’ve been there, so you must have guessed it.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t a very pleasant place.”
Delfino smiled bitterly.
As a priest of the same Arun, it was a disgrace.
How could a person who worships the God of Light be tainted with darkness?
“We suspect that the sudden turn of the dungeon into a dungeon was not just a coincidence, but the work of warlocks and demon worshipers. Because similar things have been happening one after another recently.”
Ivan knew the rough story, but he pretended not to know and questioned it.
“Demon worshipers? What they aiming for all of a sudden?”
“We are also looking into it.”
Demon worshipers were being discovered here and there, but apparently, a war broke out with the Greenskins on the Eastern Front.
He said that not only Arun’s temple, but also the priests of other temples were being called to the battlefield, so there was a shortage of manpower. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
Even on the border of the northern part of the continent, this place was a place where the influence of the temple was weak from the beginning.
So he said he was going to find someone he could trust and do an investigation together. To find out what they’re up to, and what their intentions are.
“In addition to the commission, we will reward you separately in our temple according to your performance. The temple is never stingy with those who help us.”
It was a word that could be said because he was a priest of Arun, the god of light, who boasts the continent’s greatest fortress. Obviously, since they have a lot of money, they can take care of it somehow.
Just as the relationship with the magic tower was precious, so was the relationship with the temple. If possible, he had to accept the request. There was no other way because the quest had already appeared.
“I will accept the request.”
“Thank you. Your help will make the world a little brighter.”
‘Can my life be as bright as the world gets brighter?’
Delfino smiled brightly and held out his hand, but Ivan couldn’t smile.
“First of all, I’ll look for it in detail here.”
The place that Delfino should investigate first was a slum that was built randomly on the outskirts of the city.
This is because it was the place where the information he had gathered and the information Ivan obtained while robbing the bandits overlapped.
Warlocks were distributing drugs here. I’m not sure if it’s just for fundraising or for some other reason.
As soon as we arrived at the slum, there was a very unpleasant smell. The smell of despair, dark and full of defeat, was more intense than it was simply felt by the nose.
A shabby house that looked like it was about to collapse at any moment, and people with gloomy eyes sitting roughly on the street.
The slum had its own unique atmosphere, but this one was even worse. Even the eyes of children who should resemble the rising sun were like the setting sun.
‘It’s a strange place to wander around for a few days. It’s a very strange feeling.’
Swallowing his doubts, Ivan turned the corner. Inside, there were some people. A thug, a gangster, or a robber who is smoking something with his half-drunk eyes.
Ivan pretended to be startled and stepped back as the boys blocked the road with laughter. A stranger appeared in the back alley of the slum. Isn’t that the perfect target for robbery?
“Hey there, buddy. We’re a little thirsty right now, but we shouldn’t drink with our money…”
Three in the front, two in the back. No one else is looking at it other than that.
Ivan checked his surroundings and straightened his back.
Whoops.
With a strange sound, Ivan’s dwarf size returns to its original shape. The assassin’s disguise was all good, but his body was sore. He can’t even make strenuous movements.
‘Still, learning it is useful.’
It was a skill that he had learned to kill the guy who hit the back of his head in the past, but he had forgotten about it for a while. It’s good that he is using it like this.
“Uh, huh?”
The robbers opened their mouths when they saw the person changing in front of them. He was obviously a small guy, but suddenly a warrior with his wide shoulders was looking down on them.
Ivan swung his fist when the guys were panicking. Unfortunately, Ivan didn’t have much knowledge as a martial artist, but that didn’t mean it his punch doesn’t hurt.
flop.
The robbers fall without a moment to resist. They were just a little bit more of a bully.
Even if Ivan was bare-handed, there was no way they could stop him.
He drove the fallen robbers into a corner and grabbed one and lifted him up. He was moaning in pain, but when Ivan slapped him on the cheek, he jumped up. Physical therapy seems to be quite effective.
About that time, Delfino, who had been hiding and watching from afar, approached.
“What do you think?”
“He used drug. We need to find out if these guys were selling drugs too.”
Ivan wandered the slums for days to find them. When a large Norse warrior wanders around, it gives only a sense of strangeness, and he can’t figure out anything, so he even uses the assassin’s disguise, which he didn’t normally use.
Junkies were easy to find, but they couldn’t find the drug dealers. After a few days of wandering around, he found a clue.
“I think the description is right…”
Ivan stared, and he flinched. The only thing in his head was the thought of being screwed up. (dlazarturead(dot)wordpress(dot)com)
‘Um, is this how to do this?’
Ivan frowned and moved his mana.
Not in a familiar way, but very awkward.
Slowly moving his mana, he chanted a spell, and soon the mana radiated by Ivan wrapped around him. Reading the basic magic book and combining the experience of dealing with mana, he activated magic clumsily.
Of course, if a proper wizard had seen it, he would have spit out double insults out of absurdity. What kind of magic is that?
‘Should I say that this was made with magic or should I say that I used the magic power without knowing it?’
The activation speed was terribly slow and the amount of magic that went into it was too much, so the efficiency was crap, but somehow it succeeded. Afterall, it wasn’t that long before Ivan started learning magic.
Now the sound will not escape from here.
“Romeo gang, right?”
“Oh, no.”
Had he confessed that Ivan was right, he would have been disappointed. And if he had, he would have been rather suspicious.
Whoops!
Ivan put a spark on his finger. Then he began to shove the dagger he had brought as a service from the weapon shop. As the temperature rose moderately and the blade of the dagger changed its color, Ivan pressed it against his forearm.
squeak!
“Ugh, aagh!”
The guy rolled on the floor with the sound of burning flesh.
Ivan stepped on his feet and suppressed his attempt to run with tears and runny nose becaus of his pain.
“I ask, and you answer. If you lie about what I know, you’ll get another shot, and if you tell me only what I know, you’ll never eat with your hands.”
As Ivan said so calmly, he shouted, desperately nodding his head.
“Alright, alright! I’ll tell you everything!”
squak!
“Ugh! Why! I said I will talk!”
“It’s noisy. My ears hurt.”
As Ivan was beating him like a psychopath, the eyes of the other guys were full of fear.
“Now you’re ready to talk.”
If one guy faints from exhaustion, the other guy is dragged along and beaten. Repeating that, Ivan did as much interrogation as he could, and he was able to get information from them.
“These people must have been taken advantage of, and the warlocks seem to have already ripped their hands out of this place.”
“Is it because he got what he wants? Or maybe he’s just moving around to avoid being pursued.”
Delfino healed the robbers while talking casually. He instilled devine power so that the people who fell down foaming would not die.
He didn’t say much about Ivan’s torture. Because he has seen much more terrible things than this as an exorcist who pursues demon worshipers.
That included not only what the demon worshipers did, but also what they did. Right now, the world’s best torture experts were the heretic interrogators of Sanctus Populi.
In this world, torture was not so surprising. It was a place where the concept of human rights itself was almost non-existent.
Tuk!
Ivan kicked the fallen ones and tied them together with ropes. He intended to hand them over to the guards.
Even after trying to rob Ivan, their limbs are still intact, so these guys are lucky. The guards will give you some more punishment, but he won’t kill them.
“The harvest is not much.”
“If you brush a few more, you’ll see a pattern.”
“First of all, starting with suspicion, step by step… What are you doing?”
Ivan, who was rummaging through the pockets of those who fell, looked guilty. Because it was not something to be done in front of a priest.
“If they are handed over to the guards like this, the sins of the body will be punished, but the sins of the soul will be left. If their money is used for the sake of God, these foolish soul will be forgiven by God, even a little.”
At those words, Delfino seemed to ponder for a moment and then nodded his head.
“That’s right. It’s for the salvation of souls.”
After making a brief prayer to God, Delfino squatted next to Ivan and robbed them of their pockets. (TN: I have to say, Delfino is my most favorite character throughout the story)