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“Master, what do you mean by Evil Religion?”
“Quiet, just focus on recovering your strength.”

After repelling the ghost, I was too exhausted to move and was laid down on the sofa on the first floor. According to my master, I had a large amount of my life force drained. She said that an ordinary person might have died, which sent chills down my spine. Was this perhaps also thanks to the Gift?

“I’m bored, I can’t move, and I’m lonely. Please keep me company!”
“…Sigh… You can at least move your arms. Try flipping through the book I gave you today.”

With a long, heavy sigh, my master handed me the book that had been placed by my pillow. It was a children’s book we received as a souvenir from a quest. As I flipped through the pages, I found one with a familiar skull and snake mark.

“Oh, isn’t this the one you found earlier, Master?”
“That’s the Symbol of Orcus, the god of impurity and eternity. The skull represents impurity, and the snake encircling it signifies eternity.”
“That sounds like a pretty dangerous god.”
“Indeed, that’s why he’s scorned as an evil god.”

At that moment, my master’s expression was like that of someone who had just spotted that black creature scurrying in the kitchen. A god who governs impurity and eternity— being dirty is certainly unpleasant, but to be despised to this extent, what kind of god could he be?

“It’s said that Orcus, lamenting the inevitable fate of death for humans, sought to save them all.”
“So he wanted to make all of humanity immortal?”
“Yes, but through the worst means. Orcus intended to kill humans and then prolong their existence as ghouls or evil spirits.”
“T-That’s… horrifying!”

Evil spirits… In other words, this god intended to turn everyone into ghosts like the one we encountered upstairs. It’s understandable why he’d be called an evil god. But if we encountered a ghost in a mansion where the Symbol of such a dangerous god was found…

“Does that mean the old man who lived here worshiped that god?”
“No, I don’t think so. I’m not well-versed in magicology, but it doesn’t seem compatible with magic. Besides, the Symbol we found was made quite recently.”
“I don’t understand the complicated stuff, just tell me the conclusion!”
“You really… Sigh, it means that after the mansion’s owner died, someone might have intentionally created the evil spirit.”
“Uh…… Isn’t that a huge deal!?”
“Took you long enough to grasp that.”

Thanks to my master, we barely made it through. If it weren’t for us, someone might have died. Releasing such a dangerous ghost must be akin to attempted murder or something equally serious, and it shouldn’t be tolerated, even in another world.

“But why would the perpetrator do such a thing?”
“Weren’t you listening? Orcus is a god who believes that eternal life is found after death. What do you think his followers believe would please Orcus the most?”
“Uh… creating lots of corpses?”
“Exactly. And the more corpses there are, the more evil spirits are created. Do you understand what that means?”

When people die from having their life force drained, they turn into ghosts, and then those ghosts attack others, creating more ghosts…

Even I understood that as more people die, the number of ghosts would increase, leading to chaos.

“There are stories of entire towns being wiped out because of Orcus’ followers. I don’t know how things stand in the present day, but this is not something we can ignore.”
“An entire town…”
“We’ll report this to the guild once the sorcerer arrives. This quest won’t be finished today. You’ll have to hold out a bit longer before you can rest.”

――――――――…………
――――……
――…

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you two. Sounds like you had a rough first day.”
“Ms. Stellaaa… It was really tough!”

By the time I returned to the guild with Momo, who had finally recovered enough to walk, the sun had already set. It seemed that word had already gotten around, either from the church or our client, because Stella was waiting for us.

“Hey, Stella. We need to talk. Do you have a moment?”
“That’s why I’m here. I cleared a private room in the back. Follow me. Is she okay?”
“I’m okay… I think I’ll be fine after some food and rest…”
“You’re a tough one. I’ll treat you to a meal later, so hang in there a bit longer.”

Stella lent her shoulder to the unsteady Momo and guided us to the private room. It had no windows and was well soundproofed. On the table, there was freshly brewed tea and some baked goods, likely prepared by the staff.

“Sorry, but Momo is still recovering. I’ll relay the information we’ve gathered.”
“No problem. Let’s start by seeing the Symbol.”

Prompted by Stella, I placed the Symbol we had retrieved from the mansion on the table. She picked it up and examined it closely. After realizing it was genuine, she slowly placed it back on the table and let out a deep sigh.

“So… How many of these did you find?”
“Eight. Aside from one piece as evidence, we asked the church to purify the rest.”

Yes, a total of eight Symbols were found in that mansion, starting with the first one. It was buried in the garbage that faintly emitted magical energy, making it difficult to detect, but we didn’t miss any.

“They were all newly made. If the mansion’s owner were a fanatic, there would be no reason to create so many Symbols.”
“That would only increase the risk of being discovered. It’s almost certain someone planted them after the owner’s death.”
“Yeah, and the culprit is likely still hiding somewhere in this town.”

A heavy atmosphere filled the room. Although we discovered the seals early, the situation hadn’t improved. We were completely on the defensive, knowing there was a culprit but unable to catch their trail. All we could do was wait for them to make a move.

“…Master, could you pass me those cookies? I’m hungry.”
“You…”
“But I’m really hungry! You don’t have to look at me like that!”
“Seriously… So, who’s outside the door? If they’re an enemy, I’ll shoot them right now.”
“….Oh, so you noticed. My apologies.”

With a perfunctory knock, a middle-aged man dressed in the same uniform as Stella entered the room. He had long blonde hair, green eyes, and a well-defined face, but the most striking feature was his pointed ears.

Ears so elongated they couldn’t belong to a human. Yet, these were the defining characteristics of his kind.

“…I’m surprised. I never expected to meet an elf in the middle of a town like this.”