Chapter 43
Thinking about the immense trouble this guy had caused him, Franz felt his anger flared.
However, there was something that bothered him about killing the guy outright.
*What if this guy holds information about the Seven Great Evils?*
Torturing someone for information was completely against his nature, but he couldn't just discard an opportunity right in front of him.
So, Franz first used magic to prevent the guy from moving. Just as the guy was about to change direction and flee, chains shot out from a Magic Circle and wrapped around his body.
The guy struggled desperately to break free, but the tightly bound chains wouldn't budge.
Even ordinary chains would be hard to break, let alone ones Franz had created with magic. Even a human, no, even a bear, wouldn't be able to break them.
Ah, of course, Yuna was an exception. She was so far outside the category of 'human' that it was strange to even group her with them.
Anyway, now that he had caught the culprit, all that was left was to torment him appropriately and make him spill everything he knew.
But there was one very important and big problem.
*'How do you even torture someone...?'*
If it was just about making someone suffer and feel pain, he could do that easily, but torture wasn't that simple. It was high-level psychological warfare, inflicting pain little by little and using the resulting fear to extract information.
And it was a very difficult task, requiring specialized knowledge. It was no wonder that even the Imperial Family and the Goddess Church had people specifically in charge of torture.
If it were just killing him, that would be much easier. It really wasn't his kind of thing.
Moreover, he didn't have enough time to torture the guy right now, since he had come without explaining anything to Yustia and Hera.
So, what else could he do? He had no choice but to catch this guy and hand him over to the Goddess Church. He could deliver him to them while taking Yustia to the Cathedral.
Having made that decision, Franz approached the guy who couldn't move a muscle.
The guy seemed to have accepted the reality that he couldn't escape, and was hanging limp and unresponsive.
*'Wait, something's off?'*
The guy suddenly raised his head and looked at Franz. And then he started laughing like a madman. If the word 'madness' were personified, this would be exactly what it would look like.
At that sight, Franz flinched for a moment.
He was flustered because something far outside the realm of common sense had happened.
First the World Tree, then Gruwen, and now this guy. It wasn't some macabre spectacle; he couldn't understand why only bizarre things kept appearing.
Anyway, now he should put this guy in the so-called Doongsil-doongsil and return to Yustia and Hera.
So, just as Franz was about to snap his fingers.
Suddenly, a Magic Circle appeared on the guy's stomach. No wonder he had been laughing like a madman; he had been hiding a trump card.
The guy's laughter grew louder and louder until it echoed throughout the entire Great Forest. He seemed delighted, as if things were going according to his plan.
Soon, the red Magic Circle began to glow menacingly, as if to announce its ominous nature.
“You foolish bastard! Do you think I'll die alone?!”
The Cultist shouted in a voice tinged with madness.
After the guy finished speaking, silence began to fall, and the tension steadily mounted. It was truly a hair-trigger situation, as if something could happen at any moment.
But even as time passed, only heavy silence still hung in the air, and nothing happened.
Swish—.
The wind blew, and the leaves rustled. As if coming to his senses, the guy showed his bewilderment.
“Wh-what?! Why, what happened?!”
Since the magic, his trump card, hadn't activated, he must have been bewildered.
The reason that magic didn't activate was, of course, because Franz had intervened. In a fleeting moment, he analyzed the magic and used Anti-Magic.
The magic was an explosion spell. And it was one with considerable power. If the magic had activated as intended, this entire area would have been blown away.
'That was a surprise.'
I had thought his mad laughter was merely a sign of fear, but I never imagined he'd be hiding such a trump card.
I guess it's typical of a Cultist, this kind of stubbornness, willing to sacrifice his own life to take others with him.
'If it weren't for me, everyone would have been in trouble.'
It seems I should officially report this. Many people might get hurt just to catch one Cultist.
Hmph—.
With a short sigh, Franz, who had finished organizing his thoughts, looked at the guy.
“Wh-what did you do?!”
His eyes were wide with terror, and it seemed he wasn't hiding anything more than this. Well, if you have two trump cards, then it's not really a trump card anymore.
Anyway.
*'How audacious.'*
Franz was extremely displeased with the guy. Not only had he gone through immense trouble to save the World Tree, but he had almost gotten caught in a suicide explosion.
In a situation where even begging on his knees wouldn't be enough, he had committed an additional sin. No matter how he thought about it, it seemed he couldn't just let this guy off the hook.
Franz's hand picked up a thick wooden stick nearby.
“Wh-what are you trying to do?!”
The guy, seeing Franz's actions, spoke in a voice mixed with bewilderment and fear.
Franz paid him no mind and silently stared at the guy.
At first, thinking he shouldn't simply kill him, he tried not to lay a hand on him. But now that he thought about it again, as long as he didn't literally kill him, wouldn't it be fine? Perhaps a proper 'lesson' was in order—?
“D-don't! Please!”
*Whack!*
“Ugh, uwaaah!”
A scream filled with pain echoed through the Great Forest.
Perhaps Franz might have a talent for torture.
* * * * *
With a flash of light, Franz returned to the front of the World Tree.
Of course, the Cultist, now a bloody mess, was with him. He was crouching silently as if dead inside the so-called Doongsil-doongsil.
“Franz?!”
“Th-that person, you...”
Hera and Yustia, seeing Franz, showed their bewilderment. Wouldn't this make me look like the perpetrator? When all he did was beat up the bad guy suspected of being the culprit and bring him back.
Anyway, seeing Yustia, who had been lying down, now standing up, he realized her condition had improved quite a bit. He had felt a bit uneasy, wondering if he had pushed her too hard, but seeing her like that, he could finally relax.
“There was a Cultist nearby, and the situation was urgent, so I didn't have time to explain.”
“C-Cultist...?! Then this guy, Gruwen...!”
Anger filled Hera's eyes.
It was indeed a good thing he had beaten this guy to a bloody pulp. If he had been unharmed, he would surely have tried to provoke Hera. Then Hera, forgetting about information or anything else, would have tried to kill him immediately.
Meanwhile, Yustia looked at the Cultist and furrowed her brow. It seemed she had something on her mind.
Soon, she spoke.
“What will you do with him?”
“I'm going to hand him over to the Goddess Church. Honestly, I'm not confident in extracting information.”
“I was just about to say that; our minds met.”
A faint smile spread across Yustia's lips.
At that, Franz thought.
*He still couldn't get used to Yustia smiling.*
*Every time they met, they were busy bickering and frowning; he couldn't fathom when she started smiling like this.*
Anyway, since all the problems were resolved, there was no longer any reason to stay here. Since night had fallen, it was time to get going.
“Hera, I'll be going now.”
“W-already? I haven't properly repaid you yet... At least let me treat you to a meal.”
“What kind of meal at this time of night? If you're so concerned, I'll come visit you separately next time, and we can talk then.”
“B-but I can't just send you off like this... Th-then, won't you at least accept this for now?”
Hera took off the necklace she was wearing around her neck and held it out.
Now that I think about it, I've seen something like this before.
When I was rescuing the Elf Slaves, the bald swine was holding Heris's necklace.
I think he said it was a symbol of trust.
“This necklace has been with me since I was born. In truth, I should have given it to you sooner...”
Hera's ears kept flapping. Other Elves would know what emotions she was feeling, but Franz had no way of knowing.
It seemed best to accept the necklace for now.
It was an awkward situation to refuse, and if he didn't take it, Hera would keep worrying about it.
So Franz took the necklace from Hera's hand.
At that, Hera's ears began to flap even more furiously. To the point where he wondered if she might just fly away with them.
“Then I'll go now.”
“Ah, I understand. Please do visit again next time. Yustia, the same goes for you.”
“I understand. I'll visit if I get the chance.”
After that short conversation, Yustia and Franz disappeared from the Great Forest with a flash of light.
Of course, the Cultist, now a bloody mess, also disappeared with them.
The place where the three of them appeared next was, naturally, Saint Seraphia Cathedral.
“First, I'll return to my room. You should go back to the entrance and...”
Fearing someone might overhear, Yustia whispered very softly.
In a way, it could have looked like a secret rendezvous between the Saintess and the Magic Tower Lord.
It was then.
*Click-clack—.*
Inside the Cathedral, footsteps suddenly echoed.
Startled by this, Yustia grabbed Franz's hand and entered the Confession Room next to them.
Franz was simply dumbfounded.
What's the point of just the two of them hiding? The Cultist would be floating in the air outside.
A bloody mess of a Cultist was floating in the air in the middle of the night. For a Cleric, it would be nothing short of a horror.