Chapter 3
I thought it was incomprehensible to draw a lottery in this situation, but I couldn't think of any reason to refuse either. And Demi was my contract partner. There was no turning back now.
I put my hand into the box and drew a lot.
[Archive Acquired!]
[Archive: Personal Hygiene (D)]
I organized the new information that entered my head.
Hygiene is the practice of preventing disease and maintaining health. Personal hygiene is the work of performing these tasks on an individual level, aiming to maintain cleanliness of the mouth and hands, wash the body, change clothes, check the condition of food, and improve the environnt.
It wasn't perfect, but I also noticed other related Archives. For example, other Archives related to personal hygiene include public hygiene, health, parasites, infectious diseases, illnesses, and soap. The problem was, I was already practicing personal hygiene as much as the environnt allowed and understood its value.
"What use is this kind of Archive to ?"
"Well, that's not important."
I said to Demi.
"What happens to now?"
Even if Demi didn't confirm it, I knew I had died from the knife that stabbed in the back. But seeing that I was still consciously existing, it wasn't over. At least, I hoped it wasn't.
"I figured."
"...How?"
Demi pointed to a door behind it.
"Return?"
"To when?"
"How is that possible?"
Demi said.
I decided to accept it. It was a being from another world. I couldn't expect to understand everything.
"Alright."
I went behind Demi and opened the small wooden door. Only darkness was inside the door, making hesitate. Glancing back, I saw Demi was facing the opposite side of the small wooden door, not .
There was another door there. It was a large, double-door gate compared to the small wooden door. Demi stood motionless, staring at that door as if expecting soone to arrive.
I was puzzled but entered the door at Demi's urging.
∞
I stood in the center of the magic circle I had drawn to contract with a being from another world, holding a handgun in one hand.
"Did you co back with ?"
Text appeared before my eyes.
[Quest Generated!]
[Quest: Why did Ethan Dora Charasen die? (D)]
I said.
"Even without a Quest, it's a problem I need to figure out."
I looked down at the gun I was holding.
"Besides this, I don't think there's any other reason."
"But there was a loud noise. Could soone figure out I used a gun just from the sound?"
I nodded.
"For example, the magic of the Dark God Oer is now well-known. Like the face-skin magic, for instance. So even soone who has never seen an Oer black mage before can deduce that it was the work of an Oer black mage by looking at the traces of the magic used. The sa could be true for you, Demi. If your followers used guns when you invaded the Empire 20 years ago, soone might know about the existence of guns."
I nodded.
"Then I should conclude that soone attacked because I used the gun, right?"
"All criminals are like that."
Compared to my room, there were slightly more books, but there wasn't a big difference. I opened the storage box and searched through his belongings and under the bed mattress. If I hadn't been attacked by Bien, I might have stopped searching around this point, but I had already been killed by Bien once. Bien wasn't a suspect, but a clear perpetrator.
"Is the answer in the books after all?"
I rummaged through and skimd Bien's books. And when I was about halfway through, I felt a strange weight in one book. When I opened that book, I found that the paper had been hollowed out in the center, and instead, a small wooden box was inside.
When I opened the wooden box, there was a piece of jewelry and a few docunts inside.
"As expected."
"The two-headed dog emblem on this decorative pin points to the Imperial Inquisition. And these docunts... even at a glance, they look like a letter of appointnt. It seems Bien was an agent following the orders of an Inquisitor."
Upon reaching that conclusion, the Quest Complete window popped up.
['Quest: Why did Ethan Dora Charasen die? (D)' Success!]
[Reward: Experience Points 12]
[Reward: D-rank Lottery Coupon]
Demi asked.
"Of course not. It's illegal. Nevertheless, the Empire secretly dispatches Inquisitors to foreign countries to hunt black mages. But because the Empire's power is so strong, even if problems arise, they are sent back to the Empire without significant punishnt."
Demi asked again.
Vine walked into the room, leaning on a straight white staff, and I had no choice but to step back a few steps.
"What is all this, Ethan?"
"Ah, I can explain everything. Bien attacked . He wasn't fooling around; he rushed at from behind with a dagger. After a struggle, I sohow survived, but Bien died in the process. I thought I wouldn't escape punishnt for murder if I left things as they were, so I decided I needed to find out why Bien attacked and searched his room."
"Oh, indeed. So. Why was Bien like that?"
I took out Bien's wooden box.
"This is the evidence."
"Indeed."
Vine snatched the wooden box from my hand as if taking it away.
"The Imperial Inquisition, you say."
"Yes."
"Then it ans you are a black mage after all."
"Yes?"
Since I already thought Vine's movents were suspicious, I was able to move quickly when Vine swung his staff.
But Vine didn't just swing his staff.
A translucent blue blade generated from the tip of Vine's staff sliced through my left ankle. Red blood splattered in the room.
"...Gah!"
I scread and fell to the floor.
Vine said.
"Bien is a capable student. He knows the opponent's level and handles the task without being excessive or insufficient. Yet Bien was counterattacked and died. ...Well, he is still a student, after all. I can understand. But 'our' Inquisition will not understand."
"Our?"
"Yes. I am the Inquisitor of Yurmus. I'll have to send you to the Empire. No, perhaps it would be good for to interrogate you before sending you. About what you are hiding."
I gripped the handgun in my pocket. I could take it out and shoot, but there was probably only one chance, and given Vine's skilled movents, even that single chance wasn't guaranteed.
I said to Demi.
Demi replied.
Hearing Demi's suggestion, I retorted.
I knew I didn't really have a choice.
If I attacked Vine and failed, I might be dragged to the Imperial Inquisition.
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