The Possessor Mistook the Genre for 20 Years

42 – The Saintess Entered the Tower Master’s Confessional.

Thinking about the trouble caused by this figure, Franz’s anger surged to the top of his head.

But killing the figure right away was concerning.

What if this figure had information about the Seven Deadly Sins?

Torturing someone to extract information was not to his liking, but he couldn’t throw away the opportunity right in front of him.

So, Franz used magic to immobilize the figure.

As the figure tried to change direction and escape, chains sprang from the magic circle and wrapped around the figure’s body.

The figure struggled desperately to break free, but the tightly bound chains were unyielding.

Even ordinary chains would be hard to break, let alone those created by Franz’s magic.

Not even a human, or a bear, could break them.

Ah, of course, Yuna was an exception.

She was so far beyond the category of humans that it was strange to group her with them.

Anyway, now that the culprit was caught, all that was left was to torment the figure appropriately and make them reveal all the information they knew and didn’t know.

But there was one very important and significant problem.

‘How do you even torture someone…?’

If it was just about causing pain and suffering, he could do it as much as he wanted, but torture was not that simple.

It was a high-level psychological game that involved inflicting pain little by little and using the resulting fear to extract information.

And it required specialized knowledge, making it a very difficult task.

No wonder there were people in the royal family and the goddess church dedicated solely to torture.

It would be much easier to just kill.

It was definitely not to his liking.

Moreover, there wasn’t enough time to torture the figure now.

He had come without any explanation to Justia and Hera.

So, what else could he do?

He had no choice but to capture this guy and hand him over to the Goddess Church.

He could take Justia to the cathedral and deliver him at the same time.

Having made that decision, Franz approached the guy who couldn’t move an inch.

The guy, seemingly accepting the reality that he couldn’t escape, hung limp without making any move.

‘Wait, something’s off.’

The guy suddenly lifted his head and looked at Franz.

And then, he started laughing like a madman.

If the word ‘madness’ were personified, it would look just like this.

Franz flinched for a moment at the sight.

He was taken aback by something that was far beyond common sense.

The World Tree, Gruen, and now this guy.

It was like a horror special, with bizarre things constantly appearing.

Anyway, now he had to lock this guy up in what they called the ‘Floating Prison’ and return to Justia and Hera.

Just as Franz was about to snap his fingers,

A magic circle suddenly appeared on the guy’s stomach.

No wonder he was laughing like a madman; he had been hiding his trump card.

The guy’s laughter grew louder, echoing through the Great Forest.

He seemed pleased, as if everything was going according to plan.

The red magic circle began to glow ominously, as if to announce its own malice,

“You fool! Do you want to die alone?!”

The cultist shouted in a voice drenched in madness.

With his words, a heavy silence began to flow, and the tension grew.

It was a situation where anything could happen at any moment, a true powder keg.

But as time passed, only the heavy silence remained, and nothing happened.

Swoosh-

The wind blew, rustling the leaves.

The guy, as if coming to his senses, showed a look of bewilderment.

“W-What?! Why?!”

The secret magic didn’t activate, so it must be confusing.

The reason the magic didn’t activate was, of course, because Franz had intervened.

In a split second, he analyzed the magic and used anti-magic.

The magic was an explosive spell.

And a rather powerful one at that.

If the magic had activated as it was, this entire area would have been blown away.

‘That was a surprise.’

I thought he was just terrified, laughing like a madman, but I didn’t expect him to hide such a secret move.

As expected of a cultist, willing to drag others down even at the cost of his own life, truly a tenacious one.

‘If it weren’t for me, everyone would have been caught.’

It seems this needs to be formally reported.

Catching one cultist might hurt a lot of people.

Hoo-.

With a short sigh, Franz finished organizing his thoughts and looked at him.

“What, what did you do!”

His pupils were shaking as if there had been an earthquake, so it seemed there was nothing more hidden.

Well, if there were two secret moves, they wouldn’t be secret moves.

Anyway.

‘How impudent.’

Franz didn’t like him at all.

Not only had he gone through hell to save the World Tree, but he had almost been caught in a self-destruction.

In a situation where even begging with both hands wouldn’t be enough, he committed additional crimes.

No matter how he thought about it, he couldn’t let this guy go.

Franz picked up a thick wooden stick nearby.

“What, what are you trying to do?!”

Seeing Franz’s actions, he spoke in a voice mixed with confusion and fear.

Franz looked at him silently, ignoring his words.

At first, he thought he shouldn’t touch him, thinking simply killing him wouldn’t be enough.

But now that he thought about it again, as long as he didn’t literally kill him, it should be fine.

So, well, giving him a proper beating should be okay-, he thought.

“Ha, don’t do it-! Please-!”

Smack-!

“Ugh, aaah-!”

A scream filled with pain echoed through the Great Forest.

Perhaps Franz had a knack for torture.

* * * * *

With a flash of light, Franz returned to the World Tree.

Of course, the cultist, now a bloody mess, was with him.

He was huddled quietly inside the so-called floating sphere, like a mouse playing dead.

“Franz?!”

“Y-you, that person is….”

Hera and Justia, who discovered Franz, showed their bewilderment.

Anyone would react the same way if someone who had disappeared without a word suddenly returned with someone beaten to a pulp.

But this makes me look like the perpetrator, doesn’t it?

In reality, I just beat up the bad guy suspected of being the culprit and brought him here.

By the way, seeing Justia, who had been lying down, now standing up, it seemed her condition had improved quite a bit.

I was secretly worried that I might have pushed her too hard, but seeing her like this, I felt relieved.

“There was a cultist nearby, and the situation was urgent, so I didn’t have time to explain.”

“A-a cultist…?! Then this guy is the one who…!”

Hera’s eyes filled with anger.

It was a good thing I turned this guy into a bloody mess.

If he were intact, he would have surely tried to provoke Hera.

Then Hera would have tried to kill him right away, regardless of any information.

Meanwhile, Justia was frowning as she looked at the cultist.

It seemed she was pondering something.

Soon, she spoke.

“What will you do with him?”

“I plan to hand him over to the Goddess Church. Honestly, I’m not confident in extracting information.”

“I was thinking the same thing, so we’re on the same page.”

A faint smile spread across Justia’s lips.

Franz thought to himself.

Indeed, he still couldn’t get used to seeing Justia smile.

They used to frown and bicker every time they met, so it was hard to tell when she started smiling like this.

Anyway, now that all the problems were solved, there was no reason to stay here any longer.

The night was deep, so it was time to move.

“Hera, I guess I’ll be going now.”

“W-what, already? I haven’t even properly repaid you yet… At least let me treat you to a meal.”

“A meal at this hour? If you’re that concerned, I’ll come back another time, and we can talk then.”

“B-but I can’t let you go like this… Then, at least take this.”

Hera took off the necklace she was wearing and held it out.

Come to think of it, he had seen something like this before.

When they rescued the elf slave, the bald pig had Harris’s necklace.

It was supposed to be a token of trust, if he remembered correctly.

“This is the necklace I’ve had since I was born. I should have given it to you earlier, but…”

Hera’s ears kept twitching.

Other elves might have known what she was feeling, but Franz had no way of knowing.

It seemed best to accept the necklace.

It was an awkward situation to refuse, and if he didn’t take it, Hera would keep worrying about it.

So Franz took the necklace from Hera’s hand.

Hera’s ears started twitching even more furiously.

It seemed like she might be able to fly with her ears at this rate.

“Then, I’ll be going now.”

“Ah, understood. Please come back next time. Justia too.”

“Got it. I’ll come back if I get the chance.”

With that short conversation, Justia and Franz disappeared from the Great Forest as the light flickered.

Of course, the blood-soaked cultist disappeared with them.

Soon, the three of them appeared at the Saint Serpia Cathedral, as expected.

“I’ll head back to my room first. You should return to the entrance…”

Justia whispered very quietly, in case anyone might hear.

It could easily be mistaken for a secret meeting between the saint and the tower lord.

It was then.

Click-.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed inside the cathedral.

Startled, Justia grabbed Franz’s hand and led him into the confessional next to them.

Franz was just dumbfounded.

What good is it to hide just the two of them, when the cultist is floating in the air outside?

A cultist, covered in blood, floating in the air at night.

For a clergyman, it would be nothing short of horror.