"Prayer verse 3."

"May all things honor the great Goddess as their mother."

"The 10th penance."

"Not eating, drinking, or sleeping."

"The book of Malao, starting from chapter 8, verse 30."

"In response to the invasion of the people of Mammon, Priest Raven built a strong wall, scarecrows lining the top. The Goddess was pleased with this and transformed the scarecrows into soldiers of heaven, striking fear into the hearts of the people of Mammon and driving them away."

Woah…

Even the inquisitors listening in were in awe of his immediate answers. Methyn asked questions nonstop for nearly twenty minutes out of spite, but Simon never faltered.

"I mean, chapter 8 of the Book of Malao? Even I don't remember that much detail."

"Incredible."

"Rookie, let's stop already. Why are you targeting that pious fellow?"

Methyn gnashed his teeth.

'It can't be. This is ridiculous. There's a bastard who smells like a necromancer right before me, but I have to let him go?'

He gnashed his teeth. He felt he should've just cut the heathen’s neck from the beginning. If he left the interrogation like this, it was no less than him proving Simon's sincerity. 

"Hey."

Senior inquisitor Baccara creased his brow.

He, too, was getting annoyed with Methyn's independent action.

"We don't have time to stay stuck here."

"Just one more. I'll ask him one last thing."

Methyn, who replied as if chewing on the words to say, craned his neck toward Simon and said,

"The 8th penance."

"Covering oneself with boiling sand for four days."

"No, not that."

Methyn smirked.

"You say you are an apprentice priest, right? Tell me everything, down to the smallest detail, about what happened two hours after the 8th penance had ended. It mustn't have been long ago, so you remember it properly, don't you? If you so much as stutter, it shall be your end. Begin."

A detailed recounting of past memories…

If they were fabricated, the more one talked, the more likely contradictions or lies would arise.

But Simon took a deep breath without showing any bewilderment.

"When I just finished the 8th penance and got up, I was parched with thirst, my skin was peeling, and I was in excruciating pain. An elderly man who had been watching my penance for all four days on a mat from a distance—"

"Do you want to die? Tell me everything down to the number of freckles on his face."

"A man in his 50s with dark skin, thick eyebrows, rough lips, and wrinkles creasing his forehead handed me a bottle of water. He said I reminded him of his dead son. His first son, whose immune system weakened as he pushed himself through the penances, fell ill that year and returned to the arms of the Goddess. The elderly man said he once resented the Goddess who took his son so soon. However, he looked at me and said—"

"Stop! Stop! That's enough!"

Shouted Baccara, cutting Simon off.

Methyn and the inquisitors stared at Baccara. For Methyn, the staring was a complaint about stopping the interrogation. For the other inquisitors, it was a complaint about pausing Simon at an important moment in the story. But Baccara lightly ignored them.

"Thank you for your cooperation, my faithful brother! Sorry for our impropriety in questioning your faith for even a moment. Come on, let's go!"

Baccara and the inquisitors moved to the second-class passenger car. Methyn struggled, saying that he had to interrogate until the end, but his seniors dragged him by the back of his neck.

Thud!

The door to the passenger car closed, and Simon could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"You done?"

Looks like the other side had just finished as well. Rete was walking down the hallway.

"Yeah, somehow it went well."

"Did they latch on to you or something?"

"That person—nose guy—interrogated me persistently, but it was all within preparation."

"I guess it was worth it making you memorize everything till the end."

As though tired, she came into the room and leaned against a backrest. Simon then probed,

"I was delayed by the inquisitor, but why were you so late?"

Rete let out a deep sigh of frustration.

"We just did everything by the book from beginning to end. That crazy woman told me to take off everything, even my underwear! Security may be high, but who goes that far these days? It's seriously pissing me off."

She leaned on the window and vented her anger. Simon said with a forced smile,

"So, we're done with the tough part now, right?"

"Yeah, it's over. We're going all the way to the Tree of Life in one go, so save your energy."

Of course, that was far from reality.

"It's time for! Fun! Inquisitioning! You bastard!"

Methyn persistently scheduled in interrogations and spent most of the allotted time with Simon.

And Simon, who answered so swiftly he was practically bragging, was not lacking at all.

The two of them engaged in a war of nerves, going round and round in interrogations and answers. In the end, it always ended with Baccara or another senior inquisitor dragging Methyn away.

And just like that, on the second day of the train trip…

Simon, having been pestered by Methyn once again, was leaning against the window in exhaustion.

"…"

Just when Methyn was about to move on to the next passenger car without making any progress on Simon, Rete stopped him.

"Inquisitor."

"What is it?"

Answered Methyn, turning to her.

Rete rested her chin on her palm and spat out,

"Come see me for a sec once your interrogations are over."

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - Ramen

Proofreader - Artethrax

Join our discord for updates on releases!

https://dsc.gg/reapercomics

* * *

It took a while, but Methyn eventually returned to Rete once he had finished his duties. He stood with a hunched back and asked,

"You called for me earlier?"

Methyn would've asked another question on the way, but Simon was busy in the toilet.

Rete stood from her seat and entered the hallway, signaling for him to follow.

"Ellen, you follow me as well."

"Ah, yes!"

Rete brought Ellen along and kept walking. They passed several passenger cars and entered the cargo car in the tail.

"What is it, dear priest?"

Snapped Methyn, voice dripping with annoyance.

"Please keep it short. I have official duties to do in the afternoon as well."

"Ellen."

Rete turned her head and said,

"Go take lookout."

"What?"

Thuuud!

Ellen's eyes went wide open.

Methyn was staggering back, clutching his stomach.

Smash!

This time, she kneed Methyn's nose. Blood spurted out and he fell back into some boxes.

Without giving him a moment to think, Rete grabbed Methyn by his hair to pull him in and slap him so hard her hand immediately left a mark.

"A-Ah…!"

Ellen trembled in fear while covering her mouth. Rete said in a low voice,

"Senior, I told you to take lookout!"

"Ah, y-yes!"

Thud! Pow! Crash! Bang!

The cargo hold was covered in blood. But despite his face becoming abstract art after the one-sided violence, Methyn didn't stop her or fight back.

"Hey."

Rete grabbed Methyn by the collar.

"You're being real persistent! Why do you keep bothering him? Are you doing this on purpose to imprison me alongside that bastard?"

Methyn spat out blood-soaked tooth, watching it roll across the ground.

"I'm just doing my job."

"You fucker, look me in the eyes!"

Slaaaap!

Methyn fell to the floor for the first time.

"Pisses you off, right?"

Said Rete, ripping off her Efnel shirt and throwing it into the air, revealing the white robes she had already prepared beneath.

"Then, ignoring your rank… Fight me, bastard."

At that, Methyn ripped off Methyn’s inquisitor badge and slammed it on the ground. Immediately, he raised divinity and took a thorny mace out from his subspace.

"You're a dead m—!"

Thud!

Within moments, Rete had stomped on his face, slamming him into the wall.

"K-Kuhugh…!"

Unmatched speed.

Overwhelming power.

Methyn could only watch. From the darkness of the cargo room, two golden eyes flashed with great furiosity. Then, a scaley creature started wrapping around the girl's arm.

He reflexly gulped.

He never stood a chance.

Was she really a 1st year?

But he had to fight. Methyn grabbed Rete's white leg, pinning it down before swinging his fist at it. He was planning to break it, but she quickly broke free, kicking Methyn in the chin in the process.

Crash!

Methyn was thrown to the side into a wooden crate, smashing it to pieces and burying him in grain dust.

"Kuaaaaaaaaaagh!"

He reached out blindly and clenched his right fist. Ten divine fangs appeared circled around her and flew in simultaneously, but Rete cast a shield over herself to block them all.

Rete then put her hands together and prayed.

Whooooooooooooosh!

As the blessing activated, a gale blew. Her white hair grew so long it reached the floor, and her golden eyes glowed.

{Rete Original - La Venue}

At the flash of overwhelming strength, Methyn froze.

Rete stretched out her right arm, and the white dragon wrapped around it opened his mouth wide. A dazzling prismatic sword protruded from it.

"I'll cut you down to the brink of death. But I will not grant you the mercy of going to hell."

Just when she was about to begin…

"Rete! Priest Rete!"

Ellen screamed in fright.

"S-Someone's coming over! "

"…"

She clicked her tongue. Someone probably reported the loud noises to an inquisitor.

Rete said while lifting the blessing she had cast on her body,

"Ran."

Ran wrapped around Methyn's body and brought him closer. Squatting down, she put her hand to Methyn's face.

"Kugh! What are you doing!"

"Shut up."

{Greater Heal}

Swooooosh!

Methyn's wounds rapidly healed.

He was surprised. This woman was also good at healing. Within moments, his face had completely recovered.

"This is the minimum to repay you for my violence. Nark on me if you want. Or don't. Do as you please."

"…"

After bringing Ran back into her subspace, she left the cargo room with Ellen.

Methyn was slouched on the floor in a daze. Rete and Baccara could be heard arguing for a moment, and then she left. Soon after, Baccara entered.

"Oh great Goddess."

Seeing the mess that was the cargo room and Methyn hunched over with a soulless face, Baccara let out a feigned laugh.

"I knew this would happen. Didn't I tell you to knock it off?"

"…"

"You get beaten up, didn't you? Tell me honestly. No matter how strong that Efnel student is, I can report it to her professors and put her under disciplinary action."

Methyn staggered to his feet. Then, he picked up his hat that had fallen on the floor, dusted it off, and put it back on.

"Nothing happened."

"Ha… This bastard."

"And the interrogation will continue as usual."

Methyn staggered out of the cargo room. Baccara shook his head as he watched him leave.

* * *

Now returning from the toilet, Simon was worried about Rete.

She disappeared without a word a while ago. If she had gone to the toilet, she would’ve run into Simon on the way: the women's toilet was opposite the men's.

Simon was about to get to find out what was happening when…

"What are you doing, standing around so awkwardly?"

Rete was walking nonchalantly down the hallway. Behind her was Ellen, constantly reading her expression.

"You disappeared on me without a word! I thought something may've happened."

"This is me we're talking about. I'm fine."

With a signal from Rete, Ellen rushed into her own room. Rete also returned to hers and Simon’s room and took a seat across from Simon.

Then, she sighed. Seeing this, Simon pressed,

"Something happened, didn't it?"

"It really wasn't anything big."

Simon stared at her in doubt for a while before giving in and saying,

"If you say so. I'll believe you."

Simon smiled lightly before looking back to the scriptures on the table.

"…"

'He'll believe me, huh?'

Can there be any belief between a priest and a necromancer?

Rete uncorked a new bottle of wine.

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