The Life of a Wise Cult Leader - Chapter 97

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Fire

The Inquisitor and Curse Mage were horrified.

“What are you saying right now!”

“As, as expected…. It’s better to, to kill him….”

Erendor’s keen senses detected that the Curse Mage was casting a curse that could instantly kill five or six decent Knights.

Erendor quickly hid beside the Ascetic and smiled awkwardly.

“Wait, everyone calm down, will you? Right. I apologize for bringing this up so hastily.”

The Curse Mage muttered while making her bright red eyes gleam.

“Your, your next words…. better be good.”

The Curse Mage gathered an ominous aura in her staff and stroked it with her black fingertips.

Erendor could feel a chilling sensation at the back of his neck after a long time.

As expected, she was the one he needed to subdue first.

“There are people targeting the Ascetic’s life.”

The Inquisitor rested her halberd between her shoulder and neck as she spoke.

“That’s always been the case.”

“…Listen carefully. Those trying to kill the Ascetic now aren’t just any riffraff.”

“That’s always been the case too.”

Though the Inquisitor kept challenging him throughout the conversation, Erendor responded nonchalantly.

“The Empire itself is trying to kill him?”

Erendor gave up on pointless mind games.

Even if he tried to hide his intentions, that sharp-witted Inquisitor would figure it all out anyway.

Rather than engaging in psychological warfare that didn’t suit him, it would be better to tell some truth and restore the trust that had been completely shattered.

Moreover, Erendor wasn’t confident in using his brain.

He disliked thinking in the first place, which was why he needed power that would make such thinking unnecessary.

“…The Empire?”

“Right. Information I heard from the highest person in the Empire.”

A frail woman who controlled entire nations from behind the Empire.

The who had proposed a deal to him, whose real name was also hidden beneath that veil.

The Inquisitor showed a complicated expression. In contrast, the Curse Mage looked puzzled.

Erendor continued speaking.

“When the time comes, kill the Ascetic. That’s what she told me.”

The Ascetic looking at him with a bright smile seemed like an innocent child who knew nothing….

And also like a sage who had mastered everything.

Fear briefly crossed the Inquisitor’s face.

“Don’t tell me. Someone wearing a black veil on her face and dressed in black clothes….”

“Oh, you knew about her? Right. The ‘Widow’ met with me and told me to kill the Ascetic according to her signal.”

“Since there’s no restriction on telling us this fact, I can’t believe it’s true.”

The Inquisitor replaced her fear with suspicion and looked at him. It seemed still insufficient to restore the shattered trust.

“Hmm. I guess she wasn’t that thorough after all.”

“No. The Widow always thinks two or three steps ahead. She probably knows that you intended to tell us this, and that you’re doing it now.”

“That’s quite an overestimation.”

“Rather, it’s an underestimation. She’s…. so brilliant that she practically knows the future….”

The Inquisitor spoke as if reminding herself.

It seemed like she viewed the Widow as something inhuman, like the Ascetic.

‘At that level, it’s almost like she’s coming back from seeing the future.’

Erendor shrugged his shoulders as if it didn’t matter.

“Hmm…. Right, I don’t know how the Inquisitor knows her, but whatever. So, what do I need to do for you to believe my words?”

“Explain how the Widow came to meet with you.”

“There wasn’t anything like political intrigue or such. To summarize briefly, she needed a powerful person she could easily use and discard, and that was me, a skilled mercenary.”

“Is that really all?”

The Inquisitor showed a subtle expression. Erendor hastily added an explanation, worried she might not believe his words.

“Well…. Perhaps also that I was acquainted with the Ascetic and someone who could meet with him continuously without arousing suspicion? I don’t know the details. I’m a mercenary, and I don’t usually think about what my employer was thinking when they hired me.”

As he continued explaining, the Inquisitor’s expression only grew darker. When the explanation ended, she hung her head low and stared at the ground.

“Haha… So that’s how it was…”

She let out a short laugh. It was a bitter laugh born from a sense of kinship.

When Erendor was about to ask ‘why are you laughing,’ she suddenly raised her head and showed a vague smile.

“No, it’s nothing. I understand… It’s believable enough.”

“Only now you’re using honorifics? What a funny woman. Did you have some change of heart?”

Erendor decided to pretend he didn’t notice the kind of smile she had shown. He was too busy trying to become stronger himself to care about such trivial matters. She wasn’t someone he was interested in anyway.

Veins bulged on her forehead.

“Ah, yes. Well…. So what does your making such a proposal have to do with the Widow offering you a deal.”

“I thought you’d figure it out since your brain works well, so I didn’t say it.”

“That’s different from hearing it from the person involved.”

“The Widow instructed me to watch the Ascetic and kill him according to her signal. I plan to observe the Ascetic who interfered in this Centa incident and take his arm for reporting purposes.”

“Reporting?”

“Right. Since I received something valuable as advance payment…. I have to make annoying regular reports.”

“What kind of compensation?”

“That shouldn’t matter to you. Well anyway, from now on the Ascetic will be set up as having lost his arm while killing that black monster we saw back then.”

“So you’ve been tailing us since that monster appeared.”

The Inquisitor glared at him. Erendor lightly brushed off that gaze.

“Not since it appeared. A little after?”

Erendor lightly deflected her question and began a full explanation of ‘why he needed one of the Ascetic’s arms.’

“I’m not the type to use my brain…. But to get along with the Ascetic, I had no choice but to use my head.”

Tap.

Erendor placed his hand on the Ascetic’s shoulder. The Ascetic, whose thoughts had been unreadable since losing his memory, slowly turned his head.

Transparent white eyes curved into crescents as they gazed at Erendor. Despite the conversation going on this long, he hadn’t added a single word and had completely handed over the initiative of the conversation to this place.

Originally, he would have spoken while holding the initiative of the conversation himself.

“I plan to tell Centa’s citizens that this happened while stopping Centa’s monster. That arm will be sent to the Widow as evidence.”

“…You’re thinking of increasing Centa’s stake. So they can’t kill him carelessly.”

“Right. Wouldn’t it be too wasteful if the Ascetic only ran wild in the Empire? He needs to spread not just to the Empire but to the entire world.”

“That’s also his path to survival.”

The smiling Ascetic’s expression seemed to indicate that this method was the correct answer.

“But if the Ascetic continues to be in this painful state…. there might be some disruption to the plan.”

“9.8% remains until my memory fully returns.”

“What’s with that specific and precise number.”

Erendor challenged him. After a brief silence, Erendor fiddled with a strand of the Ascetic’s hair and said.

“Hmm…. Wouldn’t it be fine even if the Ascetic is missing about 9.8%?”

“It would be like a character puzzle missing the facial part.”

Erendor asked.

“What’s a puzzle?”

“This is why I can’t communicate with ignoramuses.”

Kalebrin asked.

“Wha, what’s a puzzle…?”

“Generally it refers to some problem or game. It’s used to test a person’s creativity, knowledge, and problem-solving abilities! And one side has grooves carved out while the other side is shaped to fit into those grooves-“

Erendor let her explanation about ‘puzzles’ go in one ear and out the other as he roughly picked up Viola who was lying on the ground.

That’s when it happened.

“Brother Erendor.”

The Ascetic, who had been quiet the whole time, spoke to him. Erendor was so startled for a moment that he nearly crushed Viola’s wrist with the strength in his hand.

“Then I’ll grant that request, so can you grant me one request?”

“Does that request have to be made to that fool? Won’t I do? And what do you mean you’ll calmly agree to cutting off an arm. Can’t it be just the wrist instead of the whole arm!”

The Ascetic didn’t even turn his head toward the Inquisitor, only looking directly at him with an elegant smile.

“Brother Erendor travels to all corners of the world… I’m certain you know what I’m looking for.”

…What the Ascetic is looking for?

Is it something similar to when he suddenly staged that kidnapping and went to the World Tree?

“Let me hear it first. It might be a request I can’t fulfill, you know?”

“That’s true. But Brother, you will know.”

His tone was as if he was certain. As if he could see right through me…

No, of course he would. That thing isn’t human, so it would clearly see through one’s entire life.

That’s why he speaks so calmly and confidently.

‘I’d better return him to the original Ascetic quickly.’

For a moment, the Ascetic’s eyes seemed to gleam with a golden light.

“You know of a very ancient artifact called the ‘World’s Darkest Veil’, don’t you?”

“…”

Erendor broke out in cold sweat as he forced a smile.

“I’d like you to bring that to me.”

A transaction between friends.

But it was a transaction he had no choice but to accept…

“Yes. I know it well… Will just obtaining that be enough?”

“Yes. I think my memories will return completely only with that.”

It was practically certain. Erendor let out a short sigh.

“Well… obtaining it should be easy enough.”

After all, it was in the item warehouse of Harmony, the organization he belonged to.

He had no idea how the Ascetic knew to make such a request, but he didn’t want to find out.

Those things that had lived so long and were part of nature, or nature itself, weren’t the kind that humans could understand.

“But it’s quite far, so it’ll take several days.”

No, that wasn’t true. Using an artifact, it wouldn’t even take an hour to bring it back.

However, to obtain it… he’d probably get severely beaten by the Boss and return crawling on the ground like Viola.

It would be nice if the Ascetic, once his memories returned, would heal him in recognition of his efforts.

Using power would be dangerous.

Erendor irritably ran his fingers through his long hair. His silky hair swayed gracefully.

‘Right, when have I ever used my brain? Let’s just go.’

He tucked Viola under his arm.

“Well, since I mentioned it, I’ll go right now. I’ll be back within a week. Stay here until then.”

“What if you move to another location?”

“Then I won’t be able to fulfill the Ascetic’s request on time. And then… well, it would be troublesome for both of us, wouldn’t it? So stay put right here.”

“This place might be dan-dangerous…”

“There’s a concealment barrier of sorts, so random riffraff won’t notice it.”

In other words, anything beyond that level would recognize and find this hut.

“Take good care of our Ascetic while I’m gone.”

Feeling the stone fragment crumble and disappear in his grip and his vision distort, Erendor vanished.

The last thing echoing in his ears seemed to be someone shouting, ‘Don’t casually say “our”!’

A brief blackout.

Erendor blinked his eyes.

It was a study.

It was an artifact that transported him somewhere in the base, but he had landed in the study ‘of all places’.

‘The study is where the Boss usually stays.’

Thud.

The sound of a book closing came from behind. Only then did Erendor realize someone was behind him.

‘I was planning to subtly ask only Violin, who has the key to the underground warehouse, but this is ruined from the start.’

Erendor turned around. The Boss, dressed in a neat suit, was pushing a music score book between the bookshelves while holding a conductor’s baton.

“No Ascetic, and only Viola, whom I sent on a mission, has returned in that state. You’ll need to explain what happened. Crotal.”

“The plan failed, and I’m trying to take one item to win over the Ascetic.”

“Hmm…”

“May I take it?”

The Boss’s aura became menacing. Erendor prepared to get beaten.

“So. Long after the plan failed, you finally drop by headquarters, and that’s all you have to say?”

“Yes.”

Erendor sighed deeply and prepared to get beaten.

Just hit me, go ahead.

The Boss’s baton was swung.

“volante.”

With the whispered incantation, Erendor lost consciousness and collapsed to the floor along with the Viola he was holding.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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