Chapter 63: Wipeout

I hurried to stop them, glancing back at Lien. Though unspoken, she likely sensed what I wanted to say.

And sure enough.

“I told you to bring the least messed-up ones…”

“These are the least messed-up ones.”

She was busy roughing up the members, but her gaze shot back at me instantly. Reading her blatant look, I paused, questioning.

The least messed-up are these guys? Really? Come on, surely there’s at least one or two who can pretend to be normal?

Following Lien’s words, I briefly searched my mind for anyone better.

…Nope.

I shook my head, spotting Kleter eyeing the scattered drugs on the floor with a look of longing.

There really isn’t anyone.

My circumstances felt pathetic, but I couldn’t afford to waste time here.

Once the commotion died down somewhat, I glanced at Ran, pitying the men who were now sulking after having their drugs confiscated.

She gave a subtle nod, acknowledging my unspoken question about whether she’d changed her mind. Dammit.

“…We’re not killing everyone, just excluding those who are merely charmed. So, no drugs.”

“You’re being too soft…”

“I understand why you brought us. We’re perfect for distinguishing commoners. However, wouldn’t it be better to skip that in this chaotic situation?”

I know, you little shit. But what choice do I have? If the sorcerer doesn’t cooperate, the whole plan is kaput.

“We’re going to set fire to the building. Most of those who come running out will be ordinary people charmed by the religion. Four of you will wait outside, picking off any suspicious individuals hiding among them—”

No need to capture them alive. If they’re not ordinary and can still escape, they’re probably just small fry. We can probably afford to miss a few.

Those higher up will likely hide deeper inside or try to grab something important. I’ll get my hands on that ‘something important’.

Even if it doesn’t exist, I already know where to look.

“—The other six will cause a ruckus inside. Take out anyone suspicious there too. Head in when you see smoke. Oh, and if anyone tries to move in a different direction, as if to escape somewhere else, have some of you track them.”

“Who will start the fire?”

“I will.”

I’d deliberately brought materials that would produce a lot of smoke and burn for a long time. I’ll just light them in a secluded spot and leave them.

The sorcerer will naturally have to stick with me, and Lien will follow even if I don’t want her to, which means there’s no one left to set the fire. Hmm, perfect.

“But…”

“Hmm?”

“I think there’s something odd about the plan.”

Kleter tilted his head.

“It’s not that I don’t know what I’m supposed to do… it’s just, something…”

“Are you questioning your lord’s command?”

“No, if you order it, I’ll do it. But…”

He looked down at his knight’s uniform with a confused expression, then back at me.

Ah, I see what he means.

“You’re probably confused about letting the commoners live, but the goal isn’t to handle this quietly. We want to make it known everywhere that the Killer Knights caused this mess.”

No, we *need* to make it known. That’s how I get the credit.

Of course, going about it this way will naturally make the Emperor, who’s known to favor me, look bad, but that’s not my problem.

I don’t care if the Emperor gets criticized, and even if he wanted to scold me, I was just following his orders, so it shouldn’t be a big deal.

“Then find a good spot and wait.”

“Yes, sir.”

Leaving them behind, I walked around to the back of the building, touching each window. I was planning to enter through the open window from last time… but they’re all locked?

‘Well, after the ruckus we caused, it would be weirder if security hadn’t been tightened…’

This is bad! I don’t know any other entrances besides the main gate!

I sneaked a glance at Lien and the sorcerer. They both shook their heads, indicating they had no other ideas either.

A moment of awkward silence hung in the air before Ran slowly spoke, as if a good idea had just struck her.

“Perhaps you could inquire if any of the knights you brought know how to open windows.”

“Hmm?”

“I heard that the knights brought here are all commoners. While I haven’t been out in the world much, most of the commoners I’ve met possess various interesting skills.”

Ah ha. I see what she’s getting at.

Come to think of it, quite a few of our members do have interesting skills. Pickpocketing, lock-picking, that sort of thing…

Without further delay, I went to Lien, telling her to check and bring back any members with such skills. But unusually, she hesitated.

“I can’t leave you alone again…”

“I’m not alone. The sorcerer is here too. I’ll just wait here, so don’t worry and go.”

…

…?

What’s wrong? It seems like there’s more to it than that.

I watched Lien walk away with a reluctant expression, a hint of confusion in my gaze.

She returned with a member before long,

and then I understood what was bothering her.

‘Lien is a knight.’

This situation, having to pick a lock like a thief, probably made her uncomfortable.

It’s not like her lord is in danger, which is always her top priority, and if we spent a little more time investigating, we might find another way, but we chose to pick the lock.

She’s silent because she knows we don’t have time, but if we had a bit more leeway, she would have suggested finding another way, carefully.

It’s not something I can address with words. I pretended not to notice Lien’s discomfort and turned to the member, who looked quite proud of himself after successfully picking the lock.

“Who knew this would come in handy…! It brings back memories…”

“Yeah, good job. Now go back.”

“Huh, you’re so heartless. You could praise me a little more…”

He grumbled, but dutifully followed orders. I chuckled softly at his retreating figure.

I feel this every time, but these guys are just verbally aggressive; they’re really good at reading the situation. They’re perceptive, you could say.

Well, if they weren’t perceptive, they wouldn’t have survived the war, but still, it’s commendable.

Maybe that’s why I felt a bit more lenient when I called out to the back of his head.

“Hurry up and go.”

“Yes, sir…”

As soon as the member was gone, we grabbed the open window and climbed through. Oh, of course, I made sure to check for anyone inside beforehand.

My two companions followed me through the window without a word, as if it were natural. Ran struggled a bit, but Lien easily lifted her, so there were no problems.

We weren’t in the same room as before, so I paused, briefly considering our options.

‘Where would be a good spot…’

The fire shouldn’t be discovered too quickly, but the smoke shouldn’t take too long to spread either.

If only I knew the layout, but I have no idea. Just as I was hesitating, Lien stepped forward.

“If you have a suitable location in mind, I can guide us there.”

“Sir Lien? How…”

“When I searched for you before, I explored most of the hallways and rooms. I have a general understanding of the layout.”

So that’s how it comes in handy. The world is a strange place…

I looked at her with a strange expression and then listed the conditions I had in mind. She listened intently and nodded before starting to guide me.

Thanks to Lien’s excellent ability to sense presences, we navigated through several close calls without incident. It wasn’t an exaggeration that she knew the layout quite well; she found a suitable spot faster than expected.

“Here, what do you think?”

“Seems good.”

“Then…”

“Yes.”

I lit the materials I brought. Wow, the smoke is already intense…

I covered my nose and mouth with the handkerchief Lien offered and tossed the burning material onto the floor.

The smoke was already starting to obscure the view. Looks like I chose some top-notch materials. I watched the thick smoke billowing out with a mix of anxiety and satisfaction before turning away.

Now it’s a race against time. We need to seize the important evidence before the leadership, realizing something’s wrong, can sneak it away.

“Let’s hurry.”

Thanks to Lien’s guidance, finding the prayer room again wasn’t difficult.

The interior still had that mystical atmosphere with its white walls and purple cloth, but this time, I focused on finding what needed to be done, leading the sorcerer along.

There’s no point in looking around any more.

But there’s no one here. This has to be the place. Are they already inside? Or is this a trap?

‘…Honestly, I’m not even sure if any evidence is left.’

Lien made quite a mess last time. The leadership might have learned their lesson and moved any important clues or evidence elsewhere.

Even so, the reason I came back here is,

‘It doesn’t matter anyway.’

Either way, the Salvation Church will be destroyed by this. Considering the unlikelihood of them recovering or a second Salvation Church forming, that is.

If the leadership has taken the key documents, Cruel won’t be able to find them either, which means I’ll be the winner in this game.

Neither Cruel nor I found the key documents.

The dismantling of the Salvation Church? I did that.

So who’s the winner?

It’s just a thought, but I secretly hope the leadership has taken the ledgers. If I find them, it’s a bonus, but if Cruel finds them, it could be a game-changer.

That’s why I came up with this reckless and flawed plan.

‘We’ll see once we go inside.’

I climbed onto the platform and pulled aside the hanging purple cloth. Ran’s gaze immediately locked onto a spot on the wall.

“It seems to be a sorcery using a gemstone as the primary medium. It has a communication function, a function that sends a signal if it’s destroyed, and it seems to have spatial distortion capabilities…”

“I see. We just need to pass through here, will it be possible?”

…

…?

…Just a moment, just a moment… could you give me a little more time?

“Is there a problem?”

“Something… something…”

Her words trailed off.

Her initially calm gaze turned serious as she sensed something amiss, and her usually still dark eyes were now trembling. And it soon turned to shock.

…Why… is it here…

“What’s wrong?”

“Why is magic cast here?”

…Huh?

“This isn’t sorcery. It’s magic disguised as sorcery.”

My mind went blank for a moment. This was completely unexpected.

Magic? I naturally assumed it would be sorcery… Suddenly, it’s magic? In the Human Realm?

This is a serious problem. Looks like I’ll be heading back to the Demon Realm sooner than expected…

‘Ugh, the disguise…’

The thought alone was stressful, so I tried not to dwell on it and looked back at the sorcerer and Lien.

Ran, as a sorcerer, clearly understood the gravity of the situation and was explaining the device to Lien, who wore a questioning expression. Though she was explaining, she seemed lost in thought.

“You can tell by the spatial distortion function. Do you know the difference between magic and sorcery?”

“Magic breaks the rules of the world, while sorcery bends the rules slightly in one’s favor in exchange for a price… is that correct?”

“Yes, that’s right. Let’s take this spatial distortion as an example, or rather, it’s not even distortion. It’s an integration of a different space.”

“Integration, you say?”

“Yes, a completely different space is connected through this gemstone. If you were to break this wall, there would likely be nothing behind it.”

“Does that mean, if we broke the gemstone…”

“Passing into the connected space would be impossible.”

That makes me feel guilty for a second. Good thing I didn’t break it.

Anyway, that’s not what I’m curious about right now. There are two things I want to know.

Who cast the magic.

And can we use this to cross over to ‘that’ space?