Chapter 52

‘Did he fend it off subconsciously?’

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t so much that he fended it off—more like he resisted the power.

His ability, while powerful and useful, came with many limitations and was easily exposed.

Even though no one was around right now, this was still an entrance people could pass through. He’d used only the barest hint of his power, being cautious of any potential witnesses…

Considering that it even worked on a pope candidate with innate divine power, it was shocking.

But not entirely impossible.

Every once in a while, there were rare individuals born with the talent of a holy knight whose mental fortitude was so high that brainwashing didn’t work well on them.

‘…Should I kill him?’

If left alive, he’d definitely become a thorn in the cult’s side.

In fact, that seedling Bennett’s name had already come up in conversations between other vice-captains of the Holy Knight Orders.

They said his talent was exceptional.

There must’ve been a reason the underground cell had chosen him as a sacrifice.

‘Hmph, maybe it’s best to get rid of him early.’

As he entertained such thoughts behind a gentle, serene expression, Usher made his decision.

I’ll try one more time.

If it doesn’t work… I can always get rid of him then!

With a carefree smile, he made his move.

“Sir Cutter spoke highly of your talent. Would you mind if we had a word?”

“You mean… my teacher? Uh, yes… yes, sir!”

Using the fact that a seedling couldn’t refuse a holy knight, he led Bennett to his private space.

And, to his surprise—

Bennett… resisted his brainwashing for a whole two days.

It was incredible.

‘This isn’t normal mental resistance.’

The thought of giving it one more shot and killing him if it didn’t work changed entirely.

‘I’ve never encountered someone with this much resistance.’

In this vast Order, there might not be another person with enough mental strength to resist his ability like Bennett.

‘It’s such a hassle having to use the bare minimum of my power to avoid leaving traces.’

It would be smart to gather information now for future use.

Usher decided to slowly apply pressure.

His ability, Persuasion, had three stages.

First: Hypnosis.

Second: Suggestion.

And finally: Brainwashing.

Changing his approach, Usher tried hypnosis and suggestion.

Thankfully, while brainwashing didn’t work, simple hypnosis did.

Like putting him to sleep, for example. A tactic even fanatics used for kidnapping.

It wore off easily with light stimulation, but since it was just the two of them in this space, and it didn’t damage the brain, it was perfect.

“…S-Sir Tatum? Did I fall asleep again?”

As hypnosis and suggestion took effect, Bennett’s mental resilience began to weaken little by little.

But in the end, what broke him wasn’t some elaborate technique.

It was a simple, unexpected phrase.

“Yes, it must have been hard losing your parents to your cousin who turned into a fanatic. But a noble holy knight must live in truth.”

“Noble…”

“You came all this way because you wanted to become a holy knight, didn’t you?”

That one phrase, whispered like the hiss of a serpent, shattered the mental defenses Bennett had guarded for days.

Usher felt both fascination and pleasure.

Finally, the information he’d gained through patience was sweeter than any fruit—and nothing short of astonishing.

“…He seems to be connected to the fanatics.”

Unbeknownst to Usher, Bennett never explicitly said that Nemesia had called him a fanatic.

But even this information was more than enough to delight Usher to an excessive degree.

“Hmm, which is it? What do you think, Bennett?”

Bennett didn’t react.

“Thinking…”

His lips tried to respond, but his hand instinctively moved to cover his mouth.

A faint mark, like a rope burn, peeked out from the boy’s wrist.

‘Signs of being interrogated?’

Usher merely raised an eyebrow.

“It’s alright, it’s alright. You don’t have to answer.”

Humming softly, he fell into thought.

‘Now then, which is it?’

The highly likely pope candidate, Nemesia, seemed to have ties to the fanatics.

If word got out, the entire Order would erupt, and the Inquisition would mobilize.

‘Because it’s information no one knew.’

The Order investigated every family and connection of all pope candidates thoroughly.

So the first possibility:

Among the Order’s members, many bore deep resentment and hatred for the fanatics.

Most had family members—parents, siblings, children—who’d become fanatics.

Or had lost everything to them.

‘Is that little brat one of them?’

Usher’s fingers, which had been drumming on the armrest, froze.

Then, the second possibility.

That was…

‘After the prophecy, not only was a pope chosen by God…’

A child chosen by the Evil God.

This rumor had started circulating among the core of the fanatics.

A belief that the Evil God, too, had sent a chosen child.

However, unlike God’s prophecy, the Evil God’s was spoken in such obscure language that even high-ranking fanatics couldn’t interpret it.

But what if the child was truly chosen by the Evil God?

Her unnaturally high intelligence, her calmness in the face of blood, and her lack of empathy when sacrificing civilians.

So many things made sense.

Moreover, Nemesia wouldn’t know Usher was a fanatic, so her wariness toward his approach was understandable.

However—

There were still parts this theory couldn’t explain.

‘Hmmm, which one could it be…?’

At the end of his gaze was Bennett, his eyes clouded and distant.

‘Breaking him would be fun, sure.’

But something more interesting might lie elsewhere.

Usher slowly curled his fingers, as if gripping something invisible.

‘I’ll take her.’

A child possibly chosen by the Evil God?

Naturally, she deserved the protection of a fanatic—not some washed-up hero.

“Well.”

And if it doesn’t work out?

So what.

It’s just one dead person.

Usher smiled in ecstasy.

“Shall we go see about pulling off a kidnapping~?”

* * *

Two days later.

‘He’s gone!!’

I was in a full-blown panic.

I couldn’t see my own face, but I was pretty sure it had turned ghostly pale.

“U-um, are you alright, Candidate Nemesia?”

As I clutched my head, someone beside me spoke up with concern.

It was Laura—the holy knight who’d been on my team during the Dog-Headed Judge’s trial.

Next to her stood her pope candidate, Mel, also looking worried for me.

“Mhm, I’m fine…”

I shook my head as I clung to Daddy’s chest.

Daddy knew the reason for my frozen expression, and didn’t ask.

“That’s a relief. Your face turned so pale during the tour, I thought you might be sick.”

“Yeah, thanks fer worryin’.”

I buried my face bashfully into Daddy’s neck. I could hear Laura laugh, but my face stayed deadly serious.

‘This just got really complicated…’

Two days ago, the moment I saw the alert from the signpost that Bennett had tattled to someone, I’d shouted to Daddy:

“Daddy, our Bennett! We gotta find him!!”

But the problem was—we couldn’t let anyone know we were urgently looking for Bennett.

Usher probably didn’t know about the hidden function of the Lasso of Truth.

‘We can’t let him catch on.’

That wasn’t the only issue.

Bennett had vanished without a trace—no one knew where he went!

I thought finding Usher would solve everything, but that expectation was way off.

So I chose to visit the Holy Knights’ quarters myself under the pretense of a tour.

Tour requests required two pope candidates, and surprisingly, Laura and Mel had helped with that.

‘Up to that point, everything was fine.’

I’d finally made it to the trainees’ practice grounds, but the results were disappointing.

“Uh… Cadet Bennett? We haven’t seen him in a few days either.”

“Hmm, I think it was a few days ago—he looked like he’d seen a ghost, and said he was going to see Sir Cutter?”

“You don’t know?”

All I heard was that he’d missed several days of training and his whereabouts were unknown.

Thanks to undercover fanatics, supernatural events, and labyrinthine structures even within the Order, a missing cadet wasn’t exactly a big deal around here.

‘Now that I’m seeing it firsthand, it’s nuts. How can they be so chill about someone going missing?’

With no leads, I returned to the main Order building that day empty-handed.

It didn’t make sense.

‘If Bennett ratted me out, Usher should’ve come looking for me.’

The fact that he hadn’t shown even a glimpse was ominous. That’s why I’d been moving so quickly.

“Where should we tour next?”

Laura asked kindly, and just as I was about to answer—

I realized I was already too late.

‘Tosher’s Curse really is a thing.’

A whole squad of holy knights suddenly rushed over and surrounded Daddy and me.

“W-What is this? What’s going on?”

Laura shouted in shock, holding Mel in her arms.

But the knights, completely ignoring her, formed a tight ring around us.

I stared at them coolly inside, though a faint sense of dread simmered.

“Daddy.”

“…”

As Daddy held me tightly, someone stepped out from between the knights.

“Sir Derek Sacrum! You are hereby designated a threat at risk of rampaging, and will be taken into custody for emergency containment!”
 

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Translator: Japchae