The Demon Hunting Method of the Regressed Inquisitor

Festival of the Dead (4)

– “So… being here has improved your condition?”

“Yes, do I have an aptitude for dark magic?”

– “Hahahaha!”

“……”

Perplexed.

Claire found every word exchanged with Hecate to be difficult.

Despite saying it was a serious conversation before starting, she acted like this. She has a bad personality.

– Ah, ahaha… So, sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s just…

“Just what?”

– It’s funny.

“Your previous denial doesn’t match with your current words.”

– Indeed!

Did I come to the wrong place?

Claire Ryan genuinely started to consider if she should return to her room right now.

– Miss Claire. What you’re thinking is wrong. It’s quite the opposite.

“The opposite?”

– For example…

Hecate pointed to the fireplace in the corner.

The fireplace, which hadn’t been used for a long time, was covered in dust.

Hecate swept it out a bit and put some firewood inside.

– This is you, Miss Claire.

“Firewood?”

– Yes, and this is what’s happening inside your body right now.

Whoosh!

As Hecate gestured, the firewood began to burn fiercely.

The heat rose rapidly, making the room uncomfortably warm, but instead of controlling the flames, Hecate stoked them further.

– It’s excessive, isn’t it? Instead of providing warmth, it makes things unbearably hot.

“……”

– This is you right now, Miss Claire. And this is Necropolis.

Drip, drip.

Hecate began to douse the flames with a watering can from who knows where.

Slowly, leisurely. The stream of water flowed continuously, not extinguishing the flames all at once.

– How does it feel?

“It’s just the right temperature.”

-But what if you keep giving it water? What will be left after you give it water until the fire dies down?

“……Useless firewood?”

-That’s right, Miss Claire. The comfort you are feeling right now is a double-edged sword. It is merely shaving away the invisible essence.

“……”

At this point, Claire could understand as well. What was hurting her body was the excessive power of the divine force.

She finally understood why Lost had persistently recommended reading the Bible to the point of boredom.

-Is the limit about a week? If you stay in Necropolis any longer, you will end up incompletely combusted like this firewood.

The firewood wasn’t completely burned yet, but it was soaked with moisture.

It would be difficult to use it as firewood again.

Until all that moisture is removed, it won’t catch fire.

“But if you don’t control the flames, won’t it all burn up eventually?”

-That’s why you need to learn how to control the flames. Not by forcibly extinguishing it with water, but gently.

Crackle, crackle.

Hecate pulled out the firewood that wasn’t soaked with water with a poker.

Inside the gray-burned firewood, small embers were visible.

-How long do you think it will last?

“……I don’t know.”

-Depending on how you manage it, it will last a long time. It will be enough time for humans.

“……”

-Embrace faith. You need to make that fire your own power.

Hecate did not spare her advice, not as a trial, but as a senior in life.

Claire now accurately grasped her objective state.

As a result, she felt that the content Lost had been teaching her all this time subtly clicked into place.

‘Did that person know too?’

Then why didn’t he tell her? For a moment, such a question arose, but Claire shook her head.

Even if he had told her, it wouldn’t have reached her. She fundamentally didn’t like Lost.

With a strange sense of rebellion, she would have likely refused to embrace faith.

Of course.

“……I don’t believe in God.”

That remains the same even now.

She does not believe in God. How could she? She has grown up enduring all kinds of hardships.

Her only treasure was her brother, who had sacrificed so much for her, but she lost him too.

Wouldn’t she have sought God?

No matter how much she prayed to God, nothing changed. So, she couldn’t help but be skeptical about God.

-That’s right. It’s hard for someone who feels distrust to believe in God. In the most painful moments, in the moments when they needed help the most. They would think that nothing was done for them.

“…….”

-But Miss Claire. God does not save people directly. He always creates opportunities for them. That’s the best those who are not omnipotent can do for people.

Hecate had a bitter expression. She must have felt the same way.

In the most painful times, in the hardest times. She must not have been saved.

But she knows the reason.

-To achieve something, you have to give up something. Miss Claire. When you prayed, when you were at your hardest.

God, who was watching over you, did not do nothing.

-Did you really try hard to seize that opportunity?

Her God always gave her choices. It was she who made the choice.

Her becoming undead and trying to embrace human regrets was also her choice.

-Wasn’t it Miss Claire’s choice not to seize that opportunity?

“…….”

-Miss Claire. I call it this. The inevitable feeling that all humans have.

Hecate reached out and gently stroked Claire’s head, who was starting to tear up.

-Regret.

Claire had an opportunity. That’s what Lost also said.

At the very moment Burke became a demon, there must have been a way to solve it. If it was before the demonic energy pierced his heart, he could have returned to being human, even if he got hurt.

But Claire closed her eyes.

She kicked away that opportunity.

Yes, Claire Ryan couldn’t overcome the trial in front of her.

*     *      *

The next day. After spending a night in Necropolis as quiet as a mouse. It was a bit early, but they were ready to leave.

If it was that strange woman, her attitude could really change based on exactly one day.

As soon as 24 hours passed, she might start making a fuss about facing the trial. It’s best to get out of this city of death as soon as possible.

-Oh no……. This shouldn’t be happening.

“What is not working?”

– “How about enjoying a bit more before you go? There are many fun things here.”

“I’m in a hurry. Titan seems to have taken quite a beating, so it’s not a good idea to leave him in a place with high morale.”

Titan was badly injured.

I expected it, but the reckless trial in front of me didn’t know ‘moderation’.

Titan is silent, with his neck fixed and even a splint on.

He doesn’t seem to be happy about being beaten unilaterally.

I don’t know how the battle went, but I can guarantee that Titan didn’t even get to show his true skills, let alone touch Hecate’s hem.

– “Shall I heal him?”

“Thank you for the offer.”

I don’t know if she can actually heal him, though. She used to be a saint, but now she’s undead.

She might turn Titan, who was on the verge of death, into a clean undead and then shout that he’s moving well.

– “That’s unfortunate. Then let me give you one last piece of advice.”

“No, I’m busy…”

– “I won’t touch you even after the advice, so just listen!”

Hecate grabs my ankle as I try to leave disgracefully.

No, hasn’t she had anyone to talk to all this time? I never imagined the notorious owner of Necropolis would act so disgracefully.

“…Ah, yes. Go ahead.”

– “Ahem! Then, Titan first.”

Is she planning to give advice to each person one by one?

– “A withered rose cannot bloom again.”

“…I know that.”

– “You can’t achieve anything by clinging to past vows.”

“That’s some dog-like helpful advice you’re giving.”

– “Right?”

I don’t know what it was about, but Titan’s mood soured instantly.

That’s a skill too.

Even when he came back after being beaten unilaterally yesterday, he wasn’t this upset.

– “Next is Linea!”

“Yes…”

-Be careful not to get buried in the beautiful memories of the past. It will only increase your current suffering.

“…….”

Lineya nodded calmly. It was indeed a Zen-like answer.

Perhaps she did it on purpose.

Doesn’t everyone have at least one thing they want to hide?

However, her advice always contained the same content.

It was about something everyone had left behind. In other words, it was about lingering attachments.

-Lost.

“Yes, Hecate.”

-I think I should say the opposite to you. While your pilgrimage is admirable, I hope you don’t try to abandon everything. Abandoning everything. If you don’t understand its meaning and weight, it will only make you suffer more later.

“……How much do you know?”

-Who knows?

She is indeed an unpleasant person. She spoke as if she knew I had returned to the past.

Moreover, she knew that I was trying to break all my old memories and create new relationships.

I know it’s the better path.

Being able to witness Burke’s end, and allowing Claire to harbor clear anger.

Everything has improved compared to before.

By breaking the old relationships, I was able to build better ones.

“I’ll keep it in mind.”

The being in front of me symbolizes the trial of ‘human lingering attachments.’ And overcoming that trial means taking a step away from being human.

That’s what I am now.

I am moving to sever all lingering attachments to the past.

-It must be hard. You must have prepared for everything. But that last lingering attachment you hold in your heart.

Even I had lingering attachments.

There was something I clung to endlessly.

-Never let it go.

“For the first time, you say something I like.”

Now, I am searching for the saint whose face and name I can no longer recall.

That is the only lingering attachment to the past that I have not shaken off.

-And Claire.

“Yes.”

“I believe I told you everything yesterday, Miss Claire. I have no advice to give you. You are changing.”

“…I’ll try.”

Hecate smiled brightly and handed Claire a wooden staff as if it were a substitute for advice.

“This is a gift. It’s the shepherd’s staff I used in my lifetime.”

“Shepherd…”

“This will help you as you change, Miss Claire.”

Shepherd.

It means both a shepherd who tends sheep and a clergyman who cares for believers.

Just as she, who was a saint, led the lambs who harbored regrets.

Claire, too, will one day become someone worthy of that shepherd’s staff.

“That’s it. The time to look back on the past is over. Now it’s time to take your eyes off the past that will disappear like a mirage and look forward.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

“Of course, you should be grateful.”

An utterly shameless person.

But I understood why the Necropolis of the Lost, ＜The Wandering One＞, was a trial friendly to humans.

Even though she had died and become undead, she was like a shepherd leading lost lambs.

“Lambs seeking the path, may you meet a death without regrets.”

As she said, the ghost city symbolizing the past and regrets, Necropolis, began to disappear like a mirage.

What I saw last was.

An angel with white wings praying for us.

* * *

After the party of the lost left.

“Oh, it feels like I did something saintly for the first time in a while.”

Hecate hummed as she returned to her room. It had been a while since she pretended to be in front of people, and she enjoyed it.

She even felt a sense of fulfillment in the expression shown to her at the end.

She likes people.

She loves people.

So she willingly came down to the bottom for them.

She defiled her soul, which was more noble than anything else, and became undead.

She is the one who relieves regrets, the one who resolves grudges.

A shepherd guiding the lamb.

– Hmm… Is that so?

Hecate lifted the neck of Mez, which was decorated in the room.

A neck with numerous sword scars.

There was something only Hecate could see.

A power close to the authority that engraves wounds on the body onto the soul.

– You have started to move too, haven’t you?

She lied. The trials related to Lost are not just four.

There is a trial deeply connected that even the person involved did not notice.

The name of that trial is.

– Aranie.

＜The One Who Strikes the Strings of the Sword＞.