Broken Possessors of Infinite Regression Academy

It turns out there was one more person acting beyond their years at Bellium Academy.

“I’ve taken care of the task you assigned, and I’m back.”

I looked down at the diminutive figure of Ibrante, her small frame and timid appearance making her look much younger than her eighteen years. Her height was slightly shorter than Rosalia’s, and her face had a kind and timid look, but inside was a 48-year-old mercenary, worn out and ready to do anything for money. It was an odd contrast, despite her ancient bracelet.

“Yes, I heard. Well disguised as an accident.”

One slipped and fell down the stairs, breaking their neck. Another drank until they passed out and choked to death on their own vomit, having laid down straight. A third was unlucky enough to be caught in a landslide while riding a carriage in the rain, and the last one died of a mysterious heart attack, likely from a poison Ibrante concocted.

“I thought about bringing back their heads, but that would’ve caused a ruckus. It’s better to make it look like an accident if possible.”

The deaths of four nobles around the same time became quite the topic of conversation, but it also meant it didn’t become more than that. There would be no official investigation, as all four were lower-ranking nobles from the outskirts. They weren’t connected to any high-ranking families through marriage, either.

‘The Succubus Queen will have a headache, though.’

She might conduct a personal investigation, but she won’t find anything. Priscilla and Rosalia vouched for the mercenary’s skills.

Unless she was planning to get rid of them soon, she must be annoyed.

“That’s true. Anyway, thanks. Here’s your payment.”

In addition to the basic payment of two platinum coins, an additional fifty gold coins were given for each head, totaling an enormous sum of four platinum coins. Ibrante ‘s eyes welled up with tears at the sight of the money.

“Thank you…”

Swallowing her tears, Ibrante bowed.

She had never held such a large sum of money at once, as she had to take care of her ‘siblings’ and always be cautious to not reveal her identity.

“You don’t need to thank me; it’s a fair payment. If there’s nothing else, you can leave now.”

However, despite being told she could leave, Io remained standing there.

“Why? Do you have something else to say?”

After prompting her a couple of times, Io hesitantly spoke:

“I… I know I’m not in a position to say this, but… if you don’t mind, would you consider giving me another quest?”

“Another quest?”

“Yes, I can do anything. I can obviously assassinate, and if it’s not too dangerous, I can take out multiple targets. Or I can do simple chores. Also…”

I smiled slightly as I watched Io hurriedly explain her strengths.

‘She must remember what I said last time.’

There was a huge difference between going back and waiting indefinitely for another call, and going back with the assurance of another quest.

‘But another quest…’

I couldn’t think of anything at the moment.

Pretending an assassination as an accident couldn’t be used too often; otherwise, all the previous ‘accidental’ deaths would be suspected, causing a backlash.

‘I was going to ask her to clean the clubroom… Wait a minute.’

I was about to ask her to clean the clubroom since she offered to do chores, but I changed my mind as I remembered something. We had just discussed Brynhild’s awakening plan.

“There is one, but I want to ask first: what do you think of the Starlight Sect?”

“I hate them. I really hate them. If I could, I would capture them all and tear their limbs off one by one.”

“Excellent.”

I had heard about Ibrante’s background from Priscilla a few times.

Every time her siblings fell ill, she had no choice but to go to the temple, where they were looked down upon for being orphans and charged exorbitant fees for divine healing. It was no wonder she hated them.

“The down payment is three platinum coins this time. If things go well, you’ll get three more. There’s also an additional payment, but I’ll explain that later. It will be dangerous, though. If you’re caught, we never knew each other. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand. What do you want me to do, employer? I’ll do anything except die. Even if it violates the law, or human ethics and morals.”

I took out the map we had used to discuss the plan the day before, and Ibrante naturally moved closer.

“This Friday, the Hero and I will visit this place. You know there’s a fairly large temple nearby, right?”

“Yes.”

“Infiltrate that temple and forge a document.”

The influence of the Starlight Sect spread throughout the empire, and naturally, there were countless temples.

The number of temples with high-ranking priests directly appointed by the Pope was staggering, and when you added the small churches that branched off from them, the scale was unimaginable.

The reason was, of course, divine healing. Potions existed, but divine healing was the only means of recovery that worked for all illnesses. Otherwise, one had to rely on the body’s natural healing abilities.

This gave the sect a notorious reputation. If the leaders were so rotten that they couldn’t be revived, what about the rest?

‘That’s why I can use them without any guilt.’

The place I was about to exploit was particularly notorious, even to the point where the Hero personally punished them in the original story.

The rest of the sect collapsed before the Hero could deal with them.

.

.

.

“Are you really going that far?”

“Why? Do you not like it?”

“No, I’m fine with it… I just don’t want to burden you.”

“It’s not just for you and Aria. I want to try different things since we’re buying them anyway.”

Friday afternoon. Brynhild and I skipped our liberal arts lecture under the pretext of club activities and went to buy the desserts we had bet on.

We decided to go with a different menu from a famous pastry shop in another territory, as the original bet was limited to two items per person, and we planned to line up for those on Saturday with Aria, who readily agreed, saying it would be a fun experience.

“What are those…?”

Brynhild, who had been excited during the journey through the dimensional door and on the carriage, suddenly frowned. A group of priests and nuns standing in front of a distant temple had caught her eye.

The high-ranking priest, chosen directly by the Pope, stood at the front, with nuns on either side of him. Behind them, priests and nuns were mixed together without any semblance of order.

“Do they think we can’t see them?”

The priest in the middle was blatantly groping the nun’s chest, even as the carriage approached. The nun, instead of stopping him, clung to the priest and flirted shamelessly.

They were obviously under the influence of succubi, and their behavior was brazen. They probably thought they were out of sight, but they were wrong. Brynhild sighed heavily.

The priest finally removed his hand as the carriage came to a stop. It was presumptuous of him to come out and wait for the Hero uninvited.

‘This is partly planned, though.’

I intentionally leaked information to Roxanne that we would be coming here for desserts on Saturday. Sure enough, they showed up, indicating that she was diligently playing her part as a spy.

Another reason to keep her out of the club had presented itself.

“Welcome, Hero, and… what’s-his-name.”

As we stepped out of the carriage, the priest approached and greeted Brynhild with an arrogant expression, blatantly ignoring me.

It was rare for a Starlight Sect priest to treat the Crete family with such disdain, but this one seemed to hold a relatively high position within the sect.

The Pope and his close aides in the sect looked down on even dukes and marquises as if they were their subordinates.

“What are you doing…?”

Brynhild, who hadn’t seen the priest’s actions, was about to snap, but I stopped her. Her golden eyes looked at me, confused.

“Look at his neck. It’s so fat that he must be struggling to speak.”

Now it was the priest’s turn to turn red with anger. A soft snort of laughter could be heard, coming from Brynhild.

“What brings you here?”

“So what if we do?”

The high-ranking priest narrowed his eyes again, and the nuns on either side of him wore malicious expressions, as expected of women clinging to the priest’s coattails.

“So that we can provide you with an escort.”

“How can we trust your escort when your leader is under the influence of succubi and causing a ruckus? And based on your skills, it should be the other way around; we should be escorting you.”

I deliberately provoked them, scratching their egos, and the veins on the fat priest’s face bulged. Brynhild snickered quietly beside me.

I didn’t need to worry about the aftermath. Once the plan was executed, these people would be hanged, and the sect would choose to cut their losses rather than try to save them.

“S-Sir! Emergency!”

As the situation started to heat up due to my continuous provocation, someone came running.

“What is it?”

The priest, who had been suppressing his anger, changed his expression back to arrogance and asked. The soldier, acting as a messenger, panted and exclaimed:

“A dungeon has appeared! And it’s the type that spews out monsters!”

The arrogant look on the priest’s face turned to fear. The priests and nuns behind him murmured anxiously.

This was all according to plan. Elysier seemed to be doing her job well. I whispered to Brynhild, who was standing next to me with a serious expression.

“It’s a good thing. We’ll take care of it. Maybe they’ll be more appreciative and put more effort into making our share of the desserts later?”

“Now it sounds like we’re only helping for the desserts. I would’ve helped anyway, you know?”

Brynhild playfully grumbled and nodded. My gaze shifted to the priest, who seemed to be looking for an opportunity to escape. This situation wasn’t part of the original plan, but it was better to get rid of any potential obstacles.

“Won’t you be going too? It’s a dungeon that spews out monsters, so it would be more efficient if the most devout high-ranking priest goes there himself, wouldn’t it?”

I deliberately used polite language, and the priest’s face, now with no way out, turned even paler.

‘I wonder what her reaction will be if I have to cut this guy’s tail too.’

I was hoping she would take the bait and confront me directly.

That way, I could have a proper reason to confront her.