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Chapter 151: Influence and Countermeasures (1)
Those believers were deceived and seduced by a twisted sense of justice. They seemed confused that no one else could understand their noble ideals. Kagura felt like she would never get anything of use by continuing that path, so she changed her questions completely.
Now she asked about Chimera Clauzen as an organization, and all its ties.
They were fully under the effects of hypnosis, so they listed the locations of their different bases all over the continent, the merchants that sponsored them, nobles, and various other bits of info. The combined knowledge of just the three Heads filled hundreds of entries in the notebook, all with a merit of their own, making it invaluable. contemporary romance
The dawn they stormed the base with the underground control system, they had also seized information of people annexed to it, which increased the number of attack points into more than a thousand.
「I guess this is actually going to be the hardest part in a way. We can’t let a single one of them escape.」
Once Kagura finished extracting all the information from the three Heads, she took Mattie’s notebook and checked the entries with a wicked smile. Her eyes were those of a hunter stalking its prey.
「That’s all from us then. Mattie, the ministers from the church should be coming one of these days. I’ll leave the exchange with them in your hands.」
「Okay, you can count on me!」
Chimera Clauzen were branded a common enemy by the entire world. Especially the three heads, they were going to be judged by the Holy Law, rather than a country’s rules. The church had arranged a group to transport the three Heads out of the branch some days later.
「The Holy Law? I’ve heard that term before, but exactly what does it mean?」
Mattie was taking care of all the paperwork necessary for that exchange, so Mira and Kagura left the branch. They were heading to the Union, where all the remaining members of Chimera Clauzen that panicked during the announcement were being kept. As they walked there, Mira voiced a thought she had.
「Ahh, that’s something done mainly between Saints. It’s not really common in most conflicts, so I guess it makes sense you don’t know about them…」
Kagura spoke with a teasing smile, then began explaining with a bit of confidence.
The Holy Law. A trial that was carried out through a special ritual, where a judge truly appointed by God as his servant gave a decisive conviction. Because of that, not even a king from the Three Gods’ Countries could object to the decision.
The biggest difference between the Holy Law and human’s laws, were the evaluation criteria for one, but the weight of punishment was far more severe.
The worst punishment that could be granted by humans was the death penalty, but in the case of the Holy Law, it could reach soul erasure. A criminal’s soul could literally vanish without a trace.
Depending on one’s worldviews that might seem not too different from death penalty. But Gods existed in this world, and the concept of reincarnation was more than just an esoteric belief, but a system put in place by those Gods.
In other words, everyone in this world believed that death was not the end of existence. Soul erasure was different. That punishment could only be granted by God, and meant the end of everything. Only the most heinous crimes received that punishment, which meant excluding one’s soul from the endless cycle of death and rebirth.
「That punishment is reserved for when someone commits such atrocities that their souls get so tainted that even God can’t clean them. Artesia told me that only happens in very rare and extreme cases, but I can’t guarantee a good outcome for Chimera…」
A complex emotion took over Kagura’s face as she said that, glancing back at the location of the branch.
「Hmm, intriguing. You just said people reincarnate here, do you know if that’s also true for us?」
As they got closer to the commercial district, where the Union was located, Mira brought the topic up again. Those born in this world came from the souls of those who lived before. But what did that mean for former players who were brought from another world?
「I wouldn’t be able to tell you. No one speaks openly about coming here from another world, and if one of us dies, there’s no way to tell others about it. I’ve heard some think you might just get sent back to our world, but we haven’t found any other way to go back, and no way to verify if that’s actually the case. People are looking into ways back, but they haven’t found anything out.」
「Hmmm, I see. Well, I expected as much.」
Mira muttered that, not too surprised. After a short pause, she added, 「Still, guess there’s no way back after all then,」 in a bored voice.
「Huh? After all..? Solomon didn’t tell you anything?」
Kagura turned to face Mira, her voice sounding surprised. Solomon was king of Arkite, and as a former player, he was part of the Rising Sun Committee, a special group of former players in high positions across the continent.
That committee was conducting experiments to figure out the mechanisms and systems making this world tick. That involved methods to return to their past world, and as one of the members, Solomon knew the results obtained so far. He also had the authority to divulge those results to other former players.
But Mira knew nothing of that.
Or to be precise, he decided to keep it secret until Mira herself asked.
「I didn’t find it necessary to ask… I’m sure he would’ve told me immediately if the method to return had been found. Think about it, Solomon has been here for thirty years, Luminaria for twenty. Even if we refuse to accept it, it seems to be a fact that there’s no way to return. So wouldn’t it make more sense to stop worrying about that and instead focus on having fun while we’re here?」
Those were Mira’s honest feelings. There was no need to think about going back, and instead it was best to live in the moment. Though the only reason why she was able to think about it so rationally was that her good friends Solomon and Luminaria were here with her.
「Hmm, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, like they say. Sounds an awful lot like your usual attitude.」
Seeing Mira talk about that without a single care in the world brought back some memories for Kagura, who laughed thinking of it.
Mira and Kagura reached the Adventurer’s Union in Sentopolly, and they were guided three floors underground.
A sturdy prison was built there. It was usually just a momentary prison for wanted criminals and those with a bounty, now it was overflowing with people tied to Chimera Clauzen.
「Now these are impressive results.」
「The Spirit King’s appearance in the end pushed them all over the edge. I heard many of them were so afraid of the spirits taking revenge that they came here on their own… so selfish of them.」
Kagura looked slightly annoyed with the lack of action as she observed the cells.
There were some sitting silently in their cells, others making noise, others looked dumbfounded, and others were laughing. Usually the underground prison was a gloomy place, but it looked unnecessarily lively now, and there were many workers from the Union behind bars as well.
「I never thought you were a mole, too bad for you.」
「…Hmph.」
Apparently they had also managed to catch the members from Chimera Clauzen infiltrated in the Union. According to the other workers, those caught in the same locations had been put in the same cells as well.
Mira and Kagura looked into the cells as they walked along the corridors, eventually reaching the central management room.
There were multiple Union workers, a man and a woman that had started aging, and a woman from the Fifty Bells, waiting for them.
「Welcome, Lady Uzume.」
「Mm, good job here. So, who are these two?」
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