Player-Hunting Inquisitors

Chapter 12

When Cornell regained consciousness, he found himself nailed to the cave wall.

'Why is this happening...'

"Riel, please handle the interrogation."

"Got it."

What entered Cornell's vision as he came to his senses was a thick scripture in Riel's hand.

Thud-!

A dull sound echoed through the cave, and Cornell felt an intense pain in his head.

"If you don't want to die, answer properly."

"I understand... I understand! Please, don't hit me anymore."

Unable to endure the pain, Cornell spilled everything he knew.

About himself on Earth, his meeting with the Goddess, and his life after becoming Cornell.

He spoke of everything he had lived through, begging for mercy.

'I must live. I absolutely have to survive. If I die, it's all over.'

Sweat flowed down Cornell's forehead as he instinctively sought a way to survive.

Of course, the judges had no intention of showing him mercy.

"Is this all the Quest content?"

"Yes... Please! Don't hit me! That's really all!"

"We don't have time to waste. If you don't answer, we won't hesitate to kill you."

"Riel, there's no need to get so emotional. The goal is to extract information."

The interrogation continued, and he constantly answered to prove his sincerity.

"Yuria, what do you think? Is this guy telling the truth?"

"It doesn't seem like he's lying. It probably means the Goddess hasn't revealed her true nature yet."

Taking advantage of their moment of contemplation, Cornell started scheming.

'If I want to survive... I have no choice but to become a double agent! That's my only path!'

"Everyone, I have a proposal!"

However, contrary to Cornell's hope, Riel had no intention of listening to him.

"Shut up, we're thinking!"

Thud-!

The originally black cover of the scripture was soaked with blood and turned red.

Yet, Cornell was still breathing.

The stamina he had increased in the Status Window the previous night had kept him alive.

"Riel, this is just my guess, but would you like to hear it?"

"Go ahead."

Yuria, having finished her contemplation, shared her hypothesis.

"I think the Possessed are evenly distributed among nobles and commoners. This aligns with the prophets' predictions."

"Then what's the reason for scattering the Possessed? It's not to divide the academy, is it?"

"The reason for spreading the Possessed among both nobles and commoners isn't simple. It's likely a groundwork to disrupt this world's balance."

Yuria's eyes gleamed sharply.

After hearing Yuria's words, Riel pondered briefly before finally nodding.

"That's a good guess. But we still lack information. We've only caught one person so far."

"But Cornell is connected to both nobles and commoners. If we focus on observing such individuals, something might emerge, don't you think?"

Despite being a noble, Cornell was an unusual case of having a commoner as a fiancée.

Yuria speculated that if the Goddess had deliberately targeted such a person, there must be a fitting reason.

"Well, whatever. The rest of the reasoning can be left to the cult's prophets. Our job is to extract as much information as possible."

"Right. Then shall we wrap this up? Time is running out."

Having finished their discussion, they slowly approached Cornell.

Realizing his fate, Cornell sought a way to survive. However, the judges had no intention of sparing him.

"Please... I'll become a spy and gather their information! Please..."

"We don't need that. Why would we entrust such a task to someone as insignificant as you?"

Even Cornell's desperate plea was dismissed by Riel's single remark.

Riel removed the nail that had been driven into Cornell's hand.

Wobble-

Exhausted from the brutal torture, Cornell collapsed to the ground, unable to stand properly.

As if to erase the wounds, Riel struck Cornell's hand again with the scripture.

Though groans escaped him, they held no meaning.

Ignoring Cornell's condition, Riel slowly recited a prayer.

"As judges, we condemn the Outsider who crossed into another world without knowing their place. We will guide him into the Darkness, and our Lord will embrace him."

Yuria continued the prayer Riel had begun.

"The sinful soul will become one with the Darkness and be purified. If the Lord permits, they may gain another chance to leave for the mortal world. This will be an overwhelming blessing."

The two of them finished the prayer by drawing a holy sign.

At the same time, Divine Power surged and enveloped Cornell's body.

Cornell's body was slowly swallowed by the Darkness.

"No... This can't be... I don't want to die like this."

Cornell writhed and resisted, but the Divine Power of the two showed no sign of stopping.

Thus, Cornell was completely consumed by the Darkness, leaving only his lifeless body on the cave floor.

The Divine Power had taken his soul.

"Now, let's move him to the place Natasha marked."

The two of them moved his corpse to make it easy to find.

After all, Cornell was a noble. It was only fitting for his body to be recovered for a proper funeral.

As the two finished their interrogation and exited the cave, Natasha and Kian appeared.

"Good work, both of you."

Natasha also gestured to convey her appreciation.

"It's nothing. This time was easy."

"Both of you, return to the camp immediately."

After handing the notebook containing the interrogation details to Natasha, Yuria began walking away.

"Understood. Oh, by the way, Cornell's body is inside the cave."

"Thank you. I'll follow shortly."

Sending the two ahead to the camp, Kian slowly followed them.

Natasha disappeared to prepare for the next plan.

The spirits of the Earth appeared and quietly followed her.

The spirits slowly identified the weak points of the cave, and she whispered softly.

"This spot will do."

Following her command, the spirits began to collapse the ceiling bit by bit, and soon, the entrance to the cave disappeared without a trace.

**

"Professor! Cornell... Cornell...!"

Upon arriving at the camp, someone called out to me.

It was Cornell's fiancée, Viola.

"He said he'd follow you later... I tried to stop him, but he wouldn't listen...."

Looking as though she was about to burst into tears, she informed me that Cornell had left the camp.

"We didn't meet him, but... When did he leave the camp?"

Hiding my thoughts, I cautiously asked Viola.

"About 20 minutes after you left. I tried to stop him, but he got angry and pushed me away...."

Tears welled up in Viola's eyes, and her voice trembled.

She seemed to regret not being able to stop him.

Putting on a troubled expression, I responded to her words.

"This is serious. The cave we went to is a dangerous place with a complex path.... Please return and inform the professors of the situation. I'll go ahead and look for him."

"I... I should have stopped him. I should have held him back until the end...."

Her hands trembled, and her eyes wavered, losing focus.

"Viola, don't blame yourself. No one could have predicted this.... He's probably safe. Wait with your friends."

After sending the students to the gathering point, I slowly headed back to the cave.

'By the way, he said his relationship with his fiancée wasn't good. Was that Cornell's fault?'

Viola's attitude kept lingering in my mind.

Since there's no way Yuria and Riel were mistaken, it seemed that Viola had an interest in her fiancé.

However, Cornell had been too focused on Yuria and Riel to pay any attention to his fiancée.

'She's pitiful too. She had to be engaged to a scoundrel, and when the scoundrel finally came to his senses, he got into an accident.'

But ultimately, this was the Goddess's fault.

It was the Goddess who inflicted illness on a healthy person and placed the soul of an Outsider into a body whose soul had died.

We were merely correcting what was wrong.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to recover the original soul of the Possessed.

Perhaps it's because the soul had already met its death.

'Reviving the dead is impossible, even for a god. In the end, the Goddess essentially killed someone for her own purposes.'

That's why we must stop the Goddess.

If we leave her unchecked, who knows how many people she'll kill to turn them into the Possessed.

Lost in thought for a moment, I soon arrived in front of the cave.

However, unlike before, the entrance to the cave was nowhere to be seen.

'Let's see if Natasha handled it well.'

This too was part of the plan.

He had left his position and entered the cave belatedly, but he had missed us.

Afterward, the unstable ground of the cave collapsed, leaving him missing and his life or death uncertain.

This was our plan.

'So, Riel was in charge of the interrogation. The bruises from the fight will remain on his head.'

It seems Yuria also inflicted some injuries, but the wounds on his torso don't matter.

The carefully collapsed cave would have crushed everything except his face.

I carefully examined the area around the cave entrance one last time. Dust covered the ground, and grass and tree roots were tangled messily.

There were no artificial traces to be found at all.

'As expected, Natasha's handiwork is perfect.'

I waited at the cave entrance for the other professors to arrive.

As time passed, the professors, who had been informed of the situation, appeared.

"Professor Kian! We've heard the news!"

"I'm sorry. This is my fault."

I immediately bowed my head in front of the professors.

"No, it's fine. Accidents like this happen frequently, so don't worry too much. As long as we find him in time, it'll be okay. By the way, where is the cave located?"

"It... was here."

The director looked at where I was standing and then at the wall.

His expression twisted in an instant.

"When I went in, the ground was already unstable. So I quickly got out, but during that time, another student must have entered...."

After hearing my explanation, the director quickly gestured and called the professors.

"Professors who can handle the Earth attribute! Quickly, open the cave entrance!"

The professors belatedly rushed in and began digging into the ground.

As the ground was exposed, a sinister smell began to rise.

One professor even stopped and gagged.

"Here! I see something!"

Eventually, one professor found traces of Cornell.

As Cornell's face emerged from the dust, I could feel the surrounding air grow cold.

His frozen expression was twisted as if he had been gripped by extreme fear, and his torso was so crushed by the fallen rocks that it was unrecognizable.

His torn clothes revealed protruding flesh and broken bones, creating a gruesome sight.

I infused Divine Power into his corpse to restore its form.

Once his body was fully reconstructed, I spoke words I didn't mean.

"He could have been saved... This is the result of my inadequacy."

The director quietly patted my shoulder.

"Sometimes, there are things beyond our control. Let's prepare a funeral for him. Comforting the shocked students is also part of our responsibility."

It was around sunset.

The shadows cast by the setting sun hid my expression.

At that moment, I can't remember whether I was smiling or crying.