Genius Gamer Reborn into a Family of Heroes

Chapter 38

Graduation Assignment

Heretic, Maspoff.

A heretic who gained dark energy by making a pact with a demon, he was a lunatic who believed that the strong ruled the world through violence.

‘…Is he really a lunatic? He seems similar to Kaladan in a way.’

In any case, despite being a heretical demon, Maspoff kept moving his residence out of fear of the inquisitors. He searched for a place where their influence was minimal and ended up in the capital of the Herrael Empire, Garandel.

Listening to Inquisitor Reizen’s briefing, Harang chuckled.

‘Ridiculous.’

Just from that snippet, Harang could easily tell how foolish Maspoff was.

Trying to escape the wolf only to crawl into the tiger’s den?

With the formidable White Night Castle and the imperial knights keeping their eyes wide open, he wouldn’t even dare to commit a crime.

“The security in the capital is indeed excellent. The heretic has been hiding here for over a month, but there’s still no significant news.”

“That’s fortunate for him.”

“…Fortunate, you say?”

“If he were to commit murder here, he wouldn’t die easily. Especially if he were caught by the knights of White Night Castle.”

The lightest punishment for serious crimes handled by White Night Castle was execution. It was said that other punishments were so horrendous that the criminals would rather beg for death.

When Harang spoke with a chilling smile, the inquisitors felt a sudden chill run down their spines.

It was astounding that such a pretty face could exude such killing intent.

‘No matter how young, a Kaladan is still a Kaladan…’

Harang meticulously read every single profile prepared by the inquisitors, while Castia, without reading much, handed them over to his attendant who had come to assist him.

“As far as I know, inquisitors learn magic to track the dark energy of heretics. Why haven’t you found him yet?”

At this question, the priests exchanged troubled looks.

“Hmph, originally, we would have tracked the heretic with tracking magic, as Semi Polden Harang suggested, but in recent years, there have been more people who can erase traces of dark energy. It seems that demons have gained some peculiar abilities.”

“Erasing traces, you say? How is that possible?”

When Castia asked, the priests’ expressions grew even graver. It seemed that the number of heretical demons was much higher than anticipated.

“That’s been our headache recently.”

“Does this mean we have to search on foot? Analog methods, how quaint.”

Despite Harang’s sarcastic comment, the inquisitors couldn’t respond.

‘A tracking mission, huh…’

As Harang quietly read the profiles, a sudden thought crossed his mind.

“They say heretics mainly commit violent crimes and engage in missionary activities. Is there a possibility they might kill people as sacrifices?”

Though he asked this on a whim, the inquisitors’ faces turned deadly serious.

“If heretics offering live sacrifices appear, it wouldn’t be us but the ‘Royal Inquisitor’ who would be dispatched.”

Though they didn’t provide further explanation, it was clear enough how dangerous and grave a crime live sacrifices were.

“…Alright, I understand for now.”

They had some information. The heretic mainly appeared in the city’s slums and committed crimes in secluded alleys, so he roughly knew where to search.

* * *

That evening, when Harang ventured into a secluded alley in the city, he quickly understood why the inquisitors hadn’t been able to find Maspoff.

“Are you going to keep wearing that?”

Currently, Harang’s attire consisted of a jacket that loosely covered his body, concealing his shoulder guards and waist belt.

He wore minimal protective gear for combat, hidden under his outerwear, making him look like he was in casual clothes.

The inquisitors, on the other hand?

They wore their pure white and resplendent battle priest robes, openly displaying their swords.

Their backs bore the large inscription ‘Makris Inquisitor,’ making them noticeable even to passing snails.

Amazingly, the priests were the lesser problem.

Prince Castia wore the imperial knight’s uniform proudly, complete with a large cloak emblazoned with the Herrael imperial family’s crest.

He seemed to be advertising his status as a prince, with the crest not only on his chest but also on his epaulets.

He was a prince from the front, back, and top.

Though he wasn’t among the top three swordsmanship families, the second prince of the imperial family was renowned for his exceptional swordsmanship. No criminal would dare show themselves.

However, there was a cultural perspective to consider.

Having lived in modern times, Harang believed it was right for police to hide their identities, investigate discreetly, and arrest criminals in undercover operations. Here, people believed in openly displaying their status to ensure the safety of the areas they patrolled.

By showcasing the authority of the imperial family or the church, they prevented criminals from daring to act and reassured the citizens. This was their primary objective.

Meanwhile, they also deployed magic investigation teams to track down criminals, a method that had worked well so far.

“The priestly robes are a sacred sanctuary and grace bestowed by His Holiness the Pope, a window to the Lord’s heart. We cannot remove them under any circumstances.”

However, with tracking magic now ineffective, what good would this method do?

While citizen safety was important, fundamentally, finding the heretic was the solution.

“Let’s act separately. While you protect the citizens, I’ll search discreetly along other routes.”

“…Very well.”

As Harang leaped lightly and disappeared into the distance, the inquisitors frowned in displeasure.

“Such reckless courage.”

They clicked their tongues and spoke to Prince Castia.

“Come with us. If you investigate with us, we’ll find the heretic quickly.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

Castia scoffed. He acknowledged Harang’s extraordinary achievements at a young age, but what could he do alone without any experience in tracking criminals?

‘They say geniuses often die young due to their reckless courage. Seems true.’

Confident of his victory, he smirked. It was time to defeat the famous Harang from the Honorary Sword Meeting and prove his prowess to his father.

* * *

Though the sacred spells for tracking dark energy were now ineffective, conventional magic for investigating human scent and footprints and tracking the memory of the earth was still effective.

Moreover, the inquisitors were highly skilled in pursuit, so teaming up with Castia allowed them to achieve significant results within just half a day.

“There are traces left behind. Heretics have infiltrated this place.”

Although the traces were intermittent, it indicated that the heretic had moved cautiously to avoid leaving a trail while unable to move quickly.

Judging by the numerous breaks in the traces, it was presumed that the heretic had stayed in this place for quite a long time.

“Hiding in a slum, of all places…”

The place they arrived at was a slum formed outside the walls of the royal capital. Castia clicked his tongue as he looked at the shantytown, crudely built with a makeshift staircase of rubble from the mountain.

‘This lowers the dignity of the royal capital. I need to have this cleared out soon.’

Although the slum was somewhat hidden by the slope of the mountain and was a bit away from the royal capital, the mere presence of such a slum nearby was displeasing to him.

“We should conduct a dawn patrol.”

“You mean we have to patrol this slum all night?”

“Yes. Even though it’s a slum, the people here also live under the grace of the gods, so protecting them is the right thing to do. Let’s move in pairs from now on.”

The prince’s face twisted in displeasure.

‘How undignified.’

Thinking that if he were assigned a mission next time, it should be a monster subjugation mission befitting a mythical hero rather than a pursuit of heretics in a slum, Castia reluctantly nodded.

In any case, listening to them seemed more helpful in capturing the heretic before Harang.

The patrol continued throughout the night. They thoroughly searched every alley, and occasionally the priests would visit the shanties to pray for the injured.

‘They should focus on the pursuit.’

As he waited, tapping his arm impatiently, he looked at the priest performing what he considered a pointless ritual with a serious expression. The priest, in turn, asked him.

“You look serious. Did you find something?”

“No, it’s more about Semi Polden of Kaladan.”

Though he meant that he was worried Semi would find the heretic first, the young priest misunderstood and smiled, praising the prince.

“You are worried that Knight Harang might get hurt. It’s alright. With his tracking skills, he won’t find the heretic first.”

“…Right, of course.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Harang had already discovered the hideout of the heretic Maspoff and was lurking nearby.

It wasn’t hard to find.

By the height of the footprints in the sand, he could gauge a person’s weight and height, and by their stride and steps, he could roughly determine what martial arts they practiced and their level.

As the footprints increased, it became clear that this was a place frequently visited by many people. By identifying the places where the footprints often led, he managed to narrow down the suspects, finding Maspoff’s hideout within just a few hours.

‘Amazing.’

Maspoff had been rapidly expanding his influence in a hillside slum not far from the shantytown.

Maspoff had conquered the local gang in the hillside slum with a single punch and used their backstreet influence to take over a church. He then granted the gang members 2-star abilities using the heretical prayers in a short time, which attracted more gangsters from nearby areas.

To those who had no education and whose only skill was street fighting, learning magic must have seemed like a stroke of luck.

‘I heard that magic eventually erodes reason and causes one’s soul to be taken by a demon…’

Moreover, if they didn’t periodically perform the sacrifices or rituals demanded by the heretical god, their souls would be painfully squeezed out.

In other words, one could gain great power in a short period but at the cost of their entire life being taken by a demon.

‘There are over fifty of them…’

The existing gang members, who initially had 1-star to 2-star martial prowess, had now become 3-star, significantly increasing their combat power.

Indeed, the heretics seemed to be excellent at spreading their faith.

‘Can I handle them alone?’

Honestly, it seemed a bit daunting. No matter how unrefined their power was, fighting such a large number alone would be impossible.

‘And there seem to be ordinary believers mixed in as well.’

Having thoroughly investigated the church and its surroundings, Harang climbed onto the church roof. If Maspoff had truly been a 4-star martial artist, he might have noticed this bold move, but fortunately, he did not.

Not stopping there, Harang planned to undertake an even bolder action.

“Whew…”

Taking a deep breath, he formed a triangle shape with his fingers.

‘Though I’ve only practiced at White Night Castle, this will be my first time using magic in a real situation…’

Drawing a circle with his right hand and spreading his left palm, a small magic circle formed on it.

“From point to point, embody the colors of the wandering painter drawing constellations…”

Chanting slowly and forming hand signs, the magic circle gradually completed and expanded on Harang’s palm.

Vroom!

The intense glow of gathered magical energy.

Harang looked at the completed spell, sweating profusely.

‘It won’t be enough to penetrate the aura of a 2-star warrior, but it should cause enough confusion.’

Over the past few years, Harang had been steadily studying magic. It was an easy task.

He only had to [acquire] a magic book once a month, spending a few minutes to learn a new spell!

‘The only thing I lack as a magician is experience.’

Now was the time to fill that gap. Harang recorded the completed magic circle on the church’s roof instead of using it immediately.

The technique, called ‘Memorize,’ allowed pre-recorded spells to be used at any desired moment by storing them with pre-invested magical energy.

Memorize allowed for the use of multiple spells simultaneously but had clear drawbacks.

Mana efficiency was less than half, the duration was only about three hours, and the power was also halved!

No wizard liked using Memorize. Without magic stones, using Memorize was considered a waste of mana.

However, with the secret magic book from Lauren Chaygan, Harang had significantly increased the usability of Memorize in conjunction with the Silver Heart.

He extended the duration to six hours, mitigated the reduction in power, slightly improved mana efficiency, and almost doubled the number of spells that could be stored with Memorize.

‘If I can control the exact time and place of the battle… this is the best strategy for someone like me who can use both magic and swordsmanship.’

For a full five hours, Harang installed ten magic circles using Memorize, smiling in satisfaction despite sweating profusely.

“Whew.”

Due to memorizing spells beyond his level, Harang felt severe dizziness but calmed himself by practicing his breathing techniques, gradually clearing his mind.

As he replenished his magical energy, he planned his next move.

‘How should I approach Maspoff? Even with the magic circles, fighting alone would be impossible. But if I can somehow separate him from his gang…’

At that moment.

While meticulously planning, a scream echoed from inside the church.

“Ahh! No, please!”

Harang’s eyes snapped open, and he stood up quickly.

‘What…?’

An unexpected event had occurred inside the church.