The Regressed Sword Demon Is a Catastrophe-Class Inquisitor - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 82. If My Suspicion Is Correct….

Following Pupu, we arrived at the location of the Ancient Tree.
The Ancient Tree was massive and thick, standing alone without any other trees nearby.

“Pupu, surprised! This is the place where Necron and I talked all the time! If you go up there, the view is beautiful! I still climb up sometimes!”

Pupu gazed up at the Ancient Tree and spoke.

“But there was definitely nothing here! Could this map be fake?”
“Let’s search!”
“Agreed!”
“It’s a treasure hunt!”
“This will be fun!”
“I’m curious about the treasure Necron left!”

The Aholo Tribe climbed the tree on all fours and began searching meticulously. They combed through the branches and overturned innocent leaves.

“Is it there?”
“Not here!”
“What about there?”
“Checking!”
“It might be over there!”
“Let’s search!”
“Let’s search!”

But no good news came. I stood with my arms crossed, staring intently at the Ancient Tree.
About thirty minutes passed. The Aholo Tribe began descending one by one with dejected expressions.

“No treasure found.”
“Where is it?”
“Could it not be here?”
“Is the map fake?”

I couldn’t entirely rule out that possibility.
After all, I had only received what Earl Rainward obtained from the Auction House.
If it had been in this place filled with memories of Necron, the Aholo Tribe would have found it long ago without needing the map.

‘So is this map really fake?’

Yet the Aholo Tribe recognized Necron’s handwriting on the map, and the wetland’s geography matched almost perfectly.
It was a map that couldn’t have been created without spending years in this place.

‘So this map is definitely real.’

Then why? Even to my eyes, it didn’t seem like the Aholo Tribe had guided me wrong.
While I was pondering this, Pupu finally descended from the Ancient Tree.

“Kael. Pupu couldn’t find it either.”
“Sorry. We might be fools.”
“What do we do?”
“What do we do?”

Ignoring the Aholo Tribe’s dejected expression, I stared intently at the Ancient Tree.
Necron was a Mage. So he wouldn’t have hidden it in an ordinary way.
Others would either fail to notice it, or they’d need the map to find it.

“Hmm….”

I circled around, observing carefully, then placed my hand on the Ancient Tree. I read the flow of mana within it.
An alien mana emanating from deep within the Ancient Tree—it was condensed as solidly as the tree’s core.
I opened my eyes and murmured.

“What terrible taste. Or perhaps this is his way of being considerate….”

Pupu asked with a puzzled expression.

“Kael. Did you figure something out? Are you a genius?”

I nodded.

“Yes. It’s here after all.”
“Kael is a genius!”
“A genius!”
“Smarter than Necron?”
“Maybe so!”

The Aholo Tribe suddenly broke into praise for me. Once their fervor subsided somewhat, I posed a question to them.

“May I take this with me?”
“Of course!”
“Kael is our friend!”
“Necron told us to give treasures to our friends!”
“At last, we keep our promise!”

I ran my hand along the Ancient Tree and continued speaking.

“But if I take that treasure, our memories with Necron might fade away.”
“Our memories with Necron will fade?”
“That would be troublesome.”
“What should we do?”
“What should we do?”

The Aholo Tribe fell into contemplation for a moment. Shortly after, Pupu spoke up at last.

“Necron said that if a friend like him came along, we should hand over the map. That means we should give the treasure too.”
“….”
“We keep our promises. Because it was what our friend Necron asked of us.”
“If Pupu agrees, then Mumu agrees too!”
“I concur!”
“If it’s Necron’s will, we have no choice!”

With the Aholo Tribe’s consensus reached once more, I let out a quiet chuckle.

“I see.”

Then I drew my blade from its sheath.

“Step back then. I’ll find the treasure now.”

The Aholo Tribe and Bella retreated to a safe distance.
I lowered my stance while gauging the height of the Ancient Tree. Instead of the flames I usually wielded, wind coiled around my blade.
I would honor Necron’s wishes, but I had no intention of granting them completely.

Whiiiiing—

The wind coalescing around my blade condensed into a razor-sharp edge.
The Ancient Tree’s circumference was as wide as a massive pond.
Ordinarily, a tree this ancient would naturally decay unless it were a special species, but it still appeared sturdy—evidence that the Aholo Tribe had maintained it well.
Even after roughly a century had passed, they cherished their memories with Necron.
And I intended to fell it as cleanly as possible.

Whoosh—

I swung my blade with fluid grace, the motion devoid of any roughness.

Screeeeeech!

The honed wind surged toward the Ancient Tree.
It burrowed through the bark and pierced completely through the interior before passing beyond.
Yet the Ancient Tree remained standing upright.

Crack-crack-crack-crack—

But moments later, a tremendous sound of crushing and tearing erupted from the Ancient Tree, reverberating across the land.
The Ancient Tree that the Aholo Tribe had cherished so carefully began to tilt slowly. It was as though a pillar supporting the heavens itself were collapsing.

Booooom!

As the severed Ancient Tree struck the ground, the earth trembled violently, and the Aholo Tribe members’ bodies momentarily lifted from the impact.
No trees lay crushed beneath it. The Ancient Tree had blocked out the sun, making it impossible for vegetation to grow in its shadow.

“….”

The stump of the Ancient Tree displayed a pristine cross-section. My skill was worthy of being called a heretic woodcutter.
Nodding in satisfaction, I walked toward the severed trunk. At its center, something was embedded where growth rings should have been.
It was the anomalous mana I had sensed moments before.

Scrape-scrape—

As I carved with my blade, a spherical mana barrier the size of a human skull emerged.
When I grasped it, the mana barrier sensed the warmth and crumbled away, revealing its contents.
Spirit elixirs radiating light of every hue. I suspected these were Necron’s treasures—items that enhanced regenerative power.

“Kael!”

Pupu and the Aholo Tribe rushed toward me. Pupu stared at the felled Ancient Tree and asked.

“Is this Necron’s will?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why did Necron go through the trouble of hiding it inside? And in a tree we used to climb so often?”

I could roughly predict the reason.
First, if he’d hidden it too easily, someone other than the Aholo Tribe might have found it.
In fact, the Wol Young Order had just attacked seeking Necron’s treasure.

‘But hidden inside a tree like this, it would be nearly impossible to find without a map.’

Even if someone found this Ancient Tree through the map, there was still a problem.
To retrieve this treasure, one would need to burn or cut down the Ancient Tree—and the Aholo Tribe would never stand by and watch the tree that held memories of Necron collapse.
They were only sitting quietly now because they considered me a friend.
In other words, even possessing the map meant nothing without becoming friends with the Aholo Tribe.
But the greatest reason beyond all these was….

“Perhaps Necron simply wanted you to forget him eventually.”

At that, Pupu’s eyes curved with sorrow.

“Why? Because Necron disliked us?”
“No, that’s not it. If anything, it was because he cherished you so deeply.”

I placed my hand upon the severed Ancient Tree.

“Human lifespans are far shorter than yours as the Aholo Tribe. Even if Necron hadn’t been killed by those attackers, by now you would have already parted ways.”
“….”
“Necron knew all too well that when he disappeared, you would grieve for a very long time.”
“….”
“So Necron wished for you to forget him one day. Even if it meant burning this last remaining memory, this Ancient Tree.”

Necron’s original intention was likely to burn the Ancient Tree completely to retrieve the treasure.
After all, cleanly felling a tree like this—as I had done—was ordinarily impossible.

“And he wouldn’t have needed anyone else to find this treasure either. Because you yourselves could have burned this Ancient Tree if you chose to.”
“…Did Necron really want us to forget everything? Sharing fish together, laughing and talking?”
“If my suspicion is correct, then yes.”

When a memory from the past grows too vast, like this Ancient Tree, other memories struggle to take root nearby.
Yet burning that colossal memory is extraordinarily difficult. Someone has built their entire life upon it.
It brings sorrow to recall, but that past memory is so precious and tender.
Though this place is wide enough to nurture memories elsewhere, the space within a human heart is finite.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean I need to burn it all away like Necron did.’

I need only prune the branches so it doesn’t grow too wild, so I’m not swallowed by its shadow.
And sometimes, by reflecting on those past memories, I can live anew.
That’s why I didn’t burn it—so that when they grow weary, they can rest upon the stump.
And in time, new saplings will sprout around that stump and its surroundings.

“And this is a note left alongside the elixir.”

I handed over a small rectangular piece of paper. Written upon it were these words.

「Thank you for becoming friends with them.」

The inscription on the map likely read, ‘Please become friends with the Aholo Tribe.’
Only the beginning had been damaged, leaving behind ‘… become friends with them – Necron.’
From the moment Necron first met the Aholo Tribe, he had already prepared for his farewell.
That’s why he crafted an elixir that would benefit humans, and designed the Ancient Tree to burn so he wouldn’t be remembered for too long.
This was Necron’s consideration alone, but for those left behind, it was a painful wound.

“Necron is too much….”

Pupu shed tears like drops of chicken droppings.

“He said we’d be friends forever. How could he do this….”
“It’s only my speculation, after all.”
“No. If it’s Necron, he would have done it. Necron is so kind….”

Pupu wiped away his tears with his small palms.

“But we won’t forget Necron. We are friends forever. And the memories haven’t disappeared entirely.”

Pupu pointed to the stump of the Ancient Tree.

“Kael left it for us. Only Kael could have done this.”
“Kael is so kind!”
“Why is he so strong?”
“Because he’s a Heretic Inquisitor of the Theocracy?”

Amid the fading commotion, Pupu lifted his head and gazed up at me. A smile curved across Pupu’s lips.

“Kael. Thank you.”
“Bella thanks you too!”
“We’ll be friends forever!”
“Agreed!”
“Want some fish?”

Pupu called out in a bright voice.

“So Kael! Eat it quickly! It’s yours!”

I had been planning to consume it anyway.
But before that, I held the elixir in both hands and offered a simple prayer.

‘Goddess, if I am worthy of consuming this, I humbly beseech your blessing.’

The Goddess’s answer came immediately.

Hum—

A white light flickered within my grasp. The consecration had been completed successfully.

“What is that!”
“Something amazing!”
“Kael’s power?”
“Something like that.”

I chuckled softly, then uncorked the elixir and let the liquid flow down my throat.
The cold, viscous liquid coursed down my esophagus, and a peculiar energy spread throughout my entire body.
That energy embraced my veins and muscles with tenderness—as if the Aholo Tribe were caressing a wound.
Cold and thick, yet also soft and gentle.

“….”

As the elixir’s energy gradually subsided, I slowly channeled my divine power to test it.
There was no particularly dramatic sensation, but I could feel my constitution had fundamentally transformed.

“How is it?”
“Does it taste good?”
“Are you alright?”
“Did it go bad, perhaps?”
“What do we do?”
“What do we do?”

The method to discern the change was remarkably simple.
I drew my blade and lightly slashed my palm. A crimson line appeared as blood dripped steadily.

“Oh! Gasp! Kael’s bleeding!”
“Why did you do that!”
“Let me heal it!”
“Does it hurt?”
“You can’t be in pain!”

Ignoring the flustered Aholo tribesmen nearby, I fixed my gaze upon my palm.
The wound stitched itself together like a crimson seam slowly closing. Soon the bleeding ceased and the wound regenerated completely.
I showed my palm to the Aholo tribesmen.

“Look. It’s already healed.”

No matter how miraculous the elixir was, the regeneration was extraordinarily swift. I suspected the Goddess’s blessing had perhaps amplified its potency even further.

“Gasp! It’s real!”
“The power of the elixir Necron created?”
“Has Kael become Aholo too?”

I chuckled softly and shook my head.

“That won’t be the case. I remain human, after all.”

Unlike the Aholo, my severed limbs would not regrow. My basic regenerative capacity had simply increased exponentially.
Even this consumed divine power, so I couldn’t regenerate indefinitely.
Yet this ability would prove invaluable in combat. To put it dramatically, I now possessed my own strength combined with the Aholo Tribe’s regenerative prowess.
From now on, my enemies would find it nearly impossible to fell me with ordinary wounds.

‘Then let me take care of the final matter.’

I spoke to Pupu.

“Pupu, don’t you want to set the record straight about Necron—about what people are saying?”

The common narrative held that Necron had exploited the Aholo Tribe to create some miraculous elixir.
But the truth was far different. Necron had sacrificed his own life to protect the Aholo Tribe.

“Set the record straight about Necron?”
“Yes. And to do that, I’ll need your strength.”

Even if I were to confess the truth myself, I doubted it would change much.
The Aholo Tribe themselves had to step forward and correct the record.

‘This isn’t merely for the Aholo Tribe’s sake.’

Once the truth about Necron became known, perceptions of Mages would improve as well.
Then people would find it easier to accept magical artifacts and magic itself.

“You need our strength?”
“Only you can accomplish this.”
“Then of course! We are indebted to you and to Necron! Now it is our turn to help!”

The entire Aholo Tribe responded with fervent enthusiasm.

“We don’t want Necron to be hated by other humans!”
“Necron is a kind human!”
“We must tell them!”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll guide you.”

Not to some place with Bishops or Cardinals. They alone would be far too insufficient to spread the truth.
There was only one place worth targeting—where the highest clergy of the Theocracy gathered.

“To the Papal See, where the Pope resides.”

It was the first meeting between the Aholo Tribe and the Pope.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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