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Chapter 104:

“Are you referring to this? It’s already prepared.”

What Caitlin presented was a rather thick stack of documents. The first page caught the eye with its title.

Financial Statements Related to the Hendrake Estate Transactions.

“Indeed, there had been signs of turning into a bad debtor recently, so I was organizing them separately. It would have been a big problem for our trading company if it went bankrupt. Fortunately, some of it was preserved with Mr. Isaac’s acquisition…”

The documents contained information about what items Lisfen Hendrake and Kyle Hendrake had brought in and out of the estate. Sensitive items like weapons were probably smuggled through the Salt Council, but there were things that simply could not meet the demand through smuggling. Those items must have been acquired through the Golden Idol Trading Guild.

“When selling, I didn’t notice anything strange, but as I was organizing it, I definitely saw some subtle points. Like purchasing a considerable amount of iron even though there were mines, and buying long-term preservable foods more than necessary.”

Such materials must also be secretly stored somewhere in the estate.

Isaac was planning to plunder the acorns that the previous lords had carefully gathered.

***

However, not everyone was enchanted by Isaac’s charm.

Isolde was loading her horse to leave the Issacrea estate. She had decided to keep an eye on Isaac, but for now, she had to report in person to her superiors.

‘How should I report…’

If she reports him as innocent, there would be no reason to continue the mission, and if she honestly reports the signs of worshipping tentacles and an evil heretical faith, the Paladins would be dispatched immediately. She had to find a delicate ‘clean but suspicious’ word to report.

It was not an easy task.

If she makes a mistake and Isaac clashes with the Codex of Light, the situation would become irreversible.

Currently, Isaac was faithfully following the doctrine of the Codex of Light and doing good. Maybe his faith has enough breadth to even embrace the Codex of Light.

But the Codex of Light did not have such breadth.

If the Codex of Light decides to reject Isaac, they will face a terrible disaster.

“Inquisitor Isolde.”

At that moment, someone called her, and Isolde turned her head.

A thin young priest looked at her irritably. Isolde didn’t remember his name, but she knew that his expression wasn’t because he disliked her but because that’s just how he looked.

“Father.”

“I came urgently because there’s something I need to tell you before you leave.”

“If it’s something urgent…”

Isolde nervously trailed off. Moving around monasteries and temples filled with young men often attracted unnecessary attention to her beauty. Dealing with those sudden confessors was more uncomfortable for her than interrogating heretics.

“It’s about the Holy Grail Knight. I know you’ve been staying to observe the Holy Grail Knight, but have you noticed anything?”

“Ah, yes. That’s good.”

“Good? What do you mean?”

“No, I was thinking about something else. But the Holy Grail Knight? Is there a problem?”

The priest looked around cautiously and then spoke secretly.

“Don’t you find the Holy Grail Knight suspicious?”

“…”

Isolde found it complicated to explain her feelings and turned her gaze to the air. However, the priest took this as an encouragement to continue.

“Suddenly appearing young paladin, I even doubt he’s a paladin. Although Rotenhammer endorsed him, what did he see in someone who hadn’t received proper training? A suddenly appeared orphan who becomes a paladin as soon as he reaches adulthood?”

“Hasn’t he achieved something worthy of that status?”

“That’s exactly the problem. The Holy Grail Knight has evaded the pursuit of the Wallachia human hunters, healed the minds of corrupted merchants in Seor.

, and here, even defeated an angel. But is there anyone who actually witnessed it?”

This point was also a concern for the inquisitors.

While it’s true Isaac, as a paladin, had accomplished various feats and his swordsmanship was remarkable, hardly anyone had directly witnessed his exploits. That’s why Isolde was ordered to investigate whether Isaac was hiding his ability to perform miracles. The result was indeed that Isaac had reasons to hide his miracles.

“But many witnessed him defeating the angel.”

“There’s also a reasonable hypothesis I have about that!”

“A hypothesis?”

“Yes! It’s a speculation that the Holy Grail Knight had been in cahoots from the start.”

The priest spoke fervently, quite convinced of his thoughts.

“As you know, the Red Chalice excels in conspiracies. Not to mention the Prophet of the Red Flesh. They pretended to be defeated on purpose to infiltrate the Holy Grail Knight deeply into our order! It would be easier to use a saint of the order than a border lord, after all!”

Isolde felt a complexity while also sensing that the priest’s words reflected some voices within the order.

The voices of those who resist changes coming from the outside.

“Look at his actions after taking over the estate! He lets heretics into the monastery, distributes assets to make the estate’s residents lazy, and even arms the barbarians! Does that make any sense?”

The priest’s voice was filled with unilateral antipathy.

Isolde intuited that the more people were enchanted by Isaac, the more naturally the number of people feeling repulsion like this would increase.

It was more of an instinctive backlash from feeling out of place with the trend than a rational judgment. Even if Isaac became an adult and completely sided with the order, it wouldn’t change much.

However, she realized that the priest’s current words were based on circumstances and speculation rather than logic or evidence. And that this denunciation was not truly for the sake of protecting the faith, but rather out of jealousy.

Isolde decided to placate the unnecessarily sharpened priest due to dissatisfaction.

“It’s all speculation at this point. I’m still looking into it, so please, Father, focus on caring for the doctrine and the needy believers. This estate has been contaminated with the faith of the Red Chalice until recently…”

“But, look at his appearance! Isn’t he the type the Red Chalice would adore! Surely a catamite of the Red Chalice…”

Snap!

The priest’s face turned sharply.

The priest looked at Isolde in bewilderment. Isolde, wondering why there was a handprint on his face, looked at her hand and then realized. And she thought to herself.

‘I hit him without realizing, so it doesn’t feel like I’ve hit him.’

“What is this…”

Just as the priest was about to protest, Isolde clenched her fist and struck the priest’s nose once more. The priest let out a bizarre moan and bent over. However, Isolde didn’t stop there but grabbed the priest by the hair and lifted him up.

“Priest.”

“Yip, yipe.”

As Isolde whispered quietly, the priest took a deep breath. Only then did he realize who he was facing once again.

Though she appeared calm and gentle, she was nonetheless an inquisitor. One who extracts the truth with a sword and torture among barbarians and evil heretical faiths roaming the borders.

The priest, who had never thought that the inquisitorial awl and hammer would turn towards him, found it difficult to breathe just by making eye contact.

“Right now, you are accusing the lord of Issacrea, who is being prepared by Bishop Juan as a candidate for sainthood and was personally granted the title of knight by Duchess Lyon. The same person who was appointed a paladin by Commander Rotenhammer and whom I, Isolde Brant, as an inquisitor, have investigated directly without finding clear evidence.”

“Gasp, ah, uh…”

“Until now, I tolerated it thinking it was content that could be reported by a believer, but personal attacks are hard to overlook. Would it be alright with you if I relayed what you’ve just said to the guarantors of Lord Issacrea’s identity?”

Only then did the priest seem to come to his senses. The figures he had casually antagonized in a moment of jealousy were too significant. Even Isolde herself was not just any daughter but that of the Brant ducal family.

Even in the powerful Gerthonia Empire, where the priest’s authority was significant, it was a house that could not be ignored.

“Ah, uh, I think I was mistaken! I misunderstood something!”

“Really? Why did you have such a misunderstanding?”

“Seeing the Holy Grail Knight succeed at such a young age, something just welled up in me…”

“No. You, as a priest, should not harbor such wrongful feelings. Wouldn’t such words harm your priestly integrity?”

“Then, what…?”

“Let’s say you tripped. You were confused because you tripped.”

Isolde said this and made the priest kneel. Then, she pushed his face close to the ground.

“Let’s say it was a fall. Understand?”

The priest realized what she meant and shook before forcefully planting his face on the ground. After repeating this several times, Isolde finally lifted him by the shoulder. His face was a mess with dirt and blood, but it was a wound that would heal quickly with a healing miracle anyway.

Isolde was not pleased with this.

The Codex of Light declares that even those unworthy may be granted miracles if only they offer their faith. Isolde believed that miracles should not be bestowed so trivially.

If one were to perform miracles, it should be like Isaac…

“Then, do not fall again, Priest.”

“Yes, yes. Ah, I understand.”

The priest scrambled out as soon as Isolde released him. Isolde sighed deeply as she watched him leave.

‘…An unnecessary overreaction.’

The priest would probably keep quiet now, but she felt that what she did was needless. Isaac himself wouldn’t have gone this far.

‘Surely, he would have persuaded them with plausible words or bribed them to his side. He wasn’t just a naive paladin after all.’

In fact, if Isaac had been in such a situation without any witnesses, the priest would not have made it out alive.

While Isolde’s actions were much more moderate in comparison, she was left with a sense of guilt for having hit the priest and even causing him to harm himself, unaware of the gravity compared to Isaac’s potential actions.

However, she had a foreboding feeling that if such an event occurred again, she would act in the same way.

***

As summer deepened and autumn arrived, the situation in the domain had completely stabilized.

Despite late sowing and exhausted lands, the Issacrea domain was on the verge of an unprecedented harvest. Compared to other domains that had wasted their lands due to the Loracus, it was a dazzling achievement. It was the result of Isaac’s miracle rituals, enhancing value from the bottom to the top of the ecosystem.

Moreover, the western passage blocked by a landslide was opened through construction, paving a new way. The news of a new route over the mountains brought not only the Golden Idol Trading Guild but other companies to the Issacrea estate.

Isaac did not just sit idly within the domain. He collected information on peculiar phenomena and monsters around the domain, continuing to collect relics under the guise of subjugation.

Not always with significant finds, but he managed to return a few relics related to the Codex of Light.

[The Codex of Light blesses your noble journey.]

[Your faith increases.]

[Your mental fortitude increases.]

Instead of quietly returning the relics to the order, Isaac returned them to a monastery within the Issacrea domain. Since the Codex of Light’s priests resided there and it was considered a monastery of the Codex of Light, he could receive the effects of returning them. Although not powerful relics, they were handy since they could be retrieved at any time if needed.

‘It would be nice to store other faith relics this way too.’

Of course, while heretics coming and going might be overlooked, the priests would find it difficult to accept the construction of shrines or temples of other religions.

Isaac decided to be content with returning the relics of the Codex of Light for the time being.

‘It seems the domain has stabilized now.’

He had deliberately left the domain without any specific orders during this expedition, but no problems arose. There were a few minor issues, but Kyle and Zihilrat took care of them.

Since a manual had already been created, there was no chance of the domain collapsing due to unforeseen circumstances. In case of an urgent situation, direct guidance would come from Kyle.

Just when Isaac was considering diverting his attention away from the domain, a letter arrived.

Stripping away the many pleasantries, the core message was as follows:

‘You are urgently requested to come to Norden Harbor’

It was a summons from Bishop Juan Liar.