[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 104: Call of Duty (2)

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"A few years ago, there was a cult or a heretical religious organization that encouraged its adherents to commit suicide."

"That's pretty crazy."

Initially Earl was a little troubled to tell the events of the past to Noelle and Cryll. However, he saw no other choice so he had to tell him everything he knew.

"The "religious organization originated in one of the neighboring royal states located between our kingdom and the Alacrylia Empire. Initially they were only a small worship group with residents from the slums as members. Because their group had little effect on city life, they were ignored, but it was the beginning of all the chaos that would sink the kingdom."

As the Earl explained, Noelle did not forget to record all the important things that the Earl mentioned. They really don't want to miss out on any important information. Lately, he has been doubting his memory.

"The religious organization uses all means to increase its members and influence. Murder, threats, drugs, and other crimes. It did not take long until they finally increased their influence to the local aristocrats. Some nobles joined the lure of increasing wealth and status. But it was a mistake."

The speed of organization improvement is arguably terrible. In fact, they did not take two full years to increase their influence in public life in the kingdom.

"The leader of the organization advocated suicide to his followers on the grounds of 'indicating faith' and 'obedience' to the figure of 'True God', but, instead, anyone who can see his actions all along can clearly conclude that it's all just a cover."

"What did he do, anyway? " ask Noelle.

"He asked for a lot of 'donations' from his followers. His donations were in the form of something valuable and valuable such as money and jewelry. From here, you guys should be able to clearly know what that means, right? "

Earl looked at Noelle and Cryll with a cold smile.

It didn't take long until Noelle and Cryll finally understood that. The two of them nodded seriously.

"Fraud for personal gain, yes .. Asking them to commit suicide under the guise of faith and belief in a deity is useful enough to erase the testimony and evidence of the victim," noelle said as she crossed her arms.

In an age that is still in the stage of human development, the knowledge and ability to conduct an investigation of crime is not high enough.

If they were found dead, they would be designated as suicides. Further examination of such cases is difficult due to the lack of physical evidence.

In a world with many monster existences, life was something very cheap. They could lose their lives at any time for any reason.

With the suicidal recommendations of the religious sect, the leaders and executives of the sect or organization are the ones who benefit the most. They can fully exploit and exploit a reality that exists in that world.

Dead people can't talk. However, if they die in unnatural circumstances, the authorities will certainly be able to immediately find the existence of a figure or third party that caused the death.

However, it is different if they die from a suicide. The perpetrators or third parties who could have caused the deaths could easily have escaped the charges, and if their activities were successfully sniffed, they could have used others as scapegoats.

Everything was too obvious for Noelle and Cryll. It was a fairly easy scheme to understand. However, it is difficult to guess at the beginning.

"Then, what happened to them? "

As soon as Noelle asked, the Earl continued his explanation.

"In less than six years, the leader or the person who founded the sect was arrested and sentenced to death for allegedly blaspheming the belief in an existing God, but the sentence was reduced somehow. From the previous death sentence, it turned into a prison sentence of four years."

" … That's too crazy light."

Noelle frowned in annoyance. He could guess that it was the work of officials who had power over the court. They reduced the punishment of the sect leader in exchange for some money.

Noelle was convinced by that guess. Because, this thing that was entirely done to accumulate personal wealth had turned into a political scheme for high-level officials. The scheme of the political tree has grown a fruit called 'corruption'.

"Yes. As the court proceedings against the sect leader took place, the officials who had power over the court instantly stole the opportunity and fully exploited the sect leader's existence."

Even though the sect leader was a madman and thirsted for treasures, he was still a naturally born human. And one of the natural desires of a human being is 'living'.

Surely he would accept the opportunity those officials gave him to save himself. However, his freedom and rights had been completely usurped once he accepted the offer.

"But it doesn't end there, does it? "

Noelle asked suspiciously, and the Earl nodded.

"At exactly the time of his two-year imprisonment, both the sect leader and all the officials who allegedly provided support to him during the trial, they were all found to have committed suicide by banging their own heads against a wall repeatedly. On the wall where they were banging their heads, there was an inscription made with their own blood. It was written in the local Aino language and meant 'All deviations will be destroyed'."

Noelle could not help herself from frowning suspiciously upon hearing that.

Aino, it was the name of one of the nations that supposedly inhabited the Gardiant continent before the invasion of the Demon King began.

Not much information is available about the nation. Their only relics are just hundreds of ruins that can be found at any given point on the continent. The Aino language was found in one of the ruins and got a translation a few years later.

After connecting all the points, Noelle and Cryll inevitably directly connect the Aino people with the ruins they will investigate. However, the Earl easily shook his head as if realizing what they were thinking.

"The ruins you will investigate have absolutely nothing to do with the Aino people."

"How can you be so sure? " ask Noelle.

"The ruins left by the Aino people have a characteristic in the form of a unique architectural style and look luxurious. While the ruins that you will investigate have an abstract and irregular architectural style, and also, there is absolutely nothing that indicates the relics of the Aino people there."

Cryll replied, "But, the writing made in the local Aino language was found at the site of the death of the sect leader and the officials, right? Why is it actually associated with ruins that have nothing to do with the Aino people? "

It was natural for Cryll to ask that. After all, the rebuttal that the Earl had given to reject their conclusion resulted in another hole that made the case even more confusing.

"Other than that, what does that have to do with Terneth? Isn't it in your story that nothing involves Terneth at all? "

"You're right, but you're wrong, too. When the sect was still in power, Terneth was still a middle-ranked adventurer with his friends. They also never visited the country that is the main headquarters of the country. But, Terneth had once attempted suicide by the same method, and writings in local Aino language made with his own blood were found right on the wall where he banged his head."

The sect did encourage its followers to commit suicide, but the Earl did not explain at all about the means they used to do so.

"I'm just gonna explain this to you guys."

Silent for a moment, the Earl then continued, "All the people who died in a state of banging their heads against the wall were only the ones who became the leaders, and the officials in question. The worshipers never did. Most of them committed suicide by drinking poison or piercing their hearts with swords, and besides, there was absolutely no trace of writing in the local Aino language around their corpses."

"Even if you say that, everything's still gray."

"That's right. Something like the unuh self method they were doing was the thing they decided on themselves. But, inevitably you also become thinking that Terneth has something to do with them, right? "

"Clear."

Noelle and Cryll nodded.

"So far I have understood, but ... What does this have to do with the ruins we will investigate? " ask Noelle.

Smiling knotily, Earl stopped his work and opened one of the drawers on his desk.

"That's what I want you to investigate. You guys should find out what the connection is between the sect and these newly discovered ruins."

"Huh yeah?! "

Neither Noelle nor Cryll could resist them from shouting in confusion. After all, between the ruins they were about to investigate, with the heretical sect ruling over a few years ago, there was almost no definite connection between them.

They were asked to look for a connection between the two that was hardly even concerned from the beginning, it was only natural for the two of them to be confused.

"It's actually just my suspicion, but .. I think it's all interconnected."

The Earl seemed so sure of it. Noelle could only sigh in resignation and make some small calculations in her head.

"How can you be so sure? "

The Earl paused for a moment, before finally replying, "Oh, instinct, perhaps? "

...****************...

"And so, we'll be gone for a while to do this investigative work."

After the Earl explained the details of this mission to Noelle and Cryll, the two of them immediately returned and prepared their belongings.

Noelle explained the situation to everyone who was there. Olivia and Stella could only nod approvingly at that. They wanted to help, but this mission was just an ordinary investigation mission, not something as dangerous as the loss of life.

Noelle and Olivia still haven't decided on a name for the girl. Noelle also still did not fully trust him. It could be that the girl was an existence that could harm them. So, until the situation subsides, the new Noelle will take care of these problems one by one.

"Noelle, I've prepared all my things."

Cryll appears behind her while carrying a small leather bag on her waist. Since this was only a research mission, they only needed to bring everything they needed.

On this mission, Noelle and Cryll will go their separate ways and investigate different ruins to save time. They had already agreed that Noelle would go to the ruins area in the west that was around the monster nest, and Cryll would go in the opposite direction, a relatively safe place.

Maybe there will be bandits or criminals blocking their journey, but that is not a problem. The Earl had already given them the freedom to at will treat the bandits and criminals who were blocking them.

"Then we go."

Olivia and Stella drive the two of them to the gate, while Chloe stays at home to take care of Charlotte and the girl.

The journey towards the rubble area would not take more than two hours if they ran with strengthening magic on their feet. Noelle and Cryll part ways at a road branch and go to their respective agreed-upon areas.

Looking around, Noelle found no one at all. He immediately pulled out his sword in the form of a combination between Verstand and Langen.

He instantly took out a few other swords and controlled them to finish off all the monsters lurking around him. Despite not having high intelligence like humans, monsters have the advantage of their strength. If left unchecked, they would endanger everyone who would cross that path.

Although, that doesn't mean Noelle cares about them.

"It should be around here … "

He dug up his memories and matched the place the Earl mentioned with the monster nest he had in his memories. It didn't take long for him to find the monster's nest.

And as he had expected, there were no monsters there already. Some of their corpses were still scattered on the ground, while the corpses of the kidnapped villagers had already been fully cleared.

Noelle thought that this might be the act of the messenger sent by the Earl to finish off the remaining monsters.

Noelle without saying anything else immediately continued on her way to the point that the Earl had told her.

It was already almost noon, and due to the continuous heavy rain from a few days ago, the ground where Noelle was standing was already filled with mud and made it difficult to move. He could only use gravity magic to fly and pay attention to his surroundings.

After nearly three hours of air travel, Noelle finally arrived at the ruins the Earl had told her about.

Noelle looked around and found no living creatures, and decided to come down and prepare herself.

"I wonder if Cryll has gotten to where he belongs … "

Unlike her who could travel the air easily, Cryll had absolutely no magic that allowed her to fly. So he must be in trouble right now. The muddy terrain was very unpleasant, but if it was Cryll, he should have been able to handle it easily.

Or at least that's what Noelle thinks.

Noelle narrowed her eyes and saw the sighting of the ruins before her.

As Earl said, the architectural style of the ruins remains is abstract and tends to be irregular. It is completely different from the architectural style of the Aino people.

The supporting pillar and its wall that looked like white marble brick had already been stained by the moss and dust in some parts. Even so, the pure white color of the marble did not disappear at all.

The surrounding scenery was too strange to explain. Remnants of stone roofs scattered on the ground add to the sacred impression that has ruled the place since the beginning. And although the area outside the ruins was filled with dirty mud, only these ruins still retained their shape and color.

Noelle without saying anything else immediately walked into the ruins while paying attention to her surroundings.

The order that the Earl had given just to investigate this place, but Noelle was completely at a loss as to where he should start.

There was absolutely no trace of life there, as if the place had actually been completely abandoned for generations.

The only intact part of the ruins is a pure white marble wall that stands firmly in the part that appears to be the hall. And right on the wall, there are various paintings formed from the arrangement of stained glass in various colors.

Noelle drew all of what she saw in her notebook and began investigating it. He could only start investigating from that part because the walls and paintings were the only ones left.

The picture of a perfectly circular stained glass in the center of the wall featured a faceless blonde woman with a sword embedded in her chest, on either side were two winged babies stroking the woman's hand.

In addition to the faceless woman with the two winged babies, there is also an arrangement of stained glass that forms the form of eight people who are lined up side by side.

And just above all that arrangement, Noelle suddenly realized another stained glass arrangement that made a star shape with eight angles. Each corner of the star is made in a different color, resulting in a contrasting scene.

Noelle did not understand the meaning of all the stained glass arrangements, but she decided to draw them all at this time.

As soon as he finished drawing everything, then he realized the existence of the writing listed in each circle. All the writing was made by following a circular pattern and written in a foreign language.

"Isn't this … "

Noelle's forehead twitched as she looked at the writing. It was not a language that he could understand if he did not have the language comprehension skill, but he felt he had seen that form of writing before.

There were four lines of sentences there that were written in two different languages and strange arrangement of letters, but every two lines of sentences written in different languages had the same meaning.

The first is [ ⁇ ⚍ ⁇ ⅰ! ⁇ ⧶ ⁇ ¦ ⁇ i! ⁇ ⧶ ⁇ ⧶ ⁇ ⧶ ⁇ ⁇ ¦ ⁇ ⚍ ⁇ ⧶ ⍑, ], which means [All deviations will be destroyed].

Then the second is [ ⁇ vi∠ ⁇ ≍ ⁇ ⁇ ∠≍⨅≍ ⁇ ≍⊐≍ ⁇ ⁇ ∠≍ ⁇ ⊐≍ ], which has the same meaning as the first line of words, which, that is [All deviations will be destroyed].

The third line reads [ ⏛vie ⁇ ⏛ⅵ⦢⊐?∠ ⁇ ╷ ⁇ ⫝ⅵ⦢ ⁇ ≍ ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ vi≍⦢⏛ ⁇ ], which means [Seeds gathered, there is a change].

And the last line says [ ⦣ ⁇ ⧶¦⍑ ⁇ ⦣ ⁇ ∷!⚍ ⁇ ⅂ ⁇ ∷⫶ ⁇ ¦ ⁇ ⍑! ⁇ ∷⚍⦣ ⁇ ⍑⧶ ], which means the same as the sentence in the third row, which is [Seeds gathered, there was a change].

Noelle didn't understand what he meant. He just kept writing and drawing everything he saw.

Is it a message addressed to a particular people or people? He cannot decide the answer. There is too little information he has.

The sentences in the first line and the second line were the same ones made by the officials who were involved with the sect head when they killed themselves. Noelle decided immediately that there was a connection between these ruins and their unnatural death.

As he thought that, the scenery around him began to disappear and white mist started to cover him.

"Ohh, fuck."

...****************...

At the same time that Noelle was swallowed by the mysterious fog, the same fog also engulfed several people from different regions of the world.

The total number of people swallowed by that fog was exactly eight people.

Unmapped forest area, Eisen — Noelle.

Conflict-prone border area, Republic of Waldenholt — Damian van Houten.

Small church on the border, Holy Kingdom Quinnella — Lucia Khora.

Slum of the Capital of the Kingdom of Nothingnos, Zeltis — Ethan.

Dungeoun of Greed, 78th floor — Tania.

Enzio Great Labyrinth, central area — Arnaz.

Temple of the holy mountain peak [Haten], neutral area Elfrieden — Asher.

Monster nest, uncharted area, suburb of Alacrylia Empire — Colyn.

With the fog engulfing the eight people, the gears of world history have moved in an unexpected direction.

At present, at the royal castle of Northernos, Zeltis. Louise, the King was laughing out loud while sitting on his throne.

"KuhuhU .. KUHAAHAHAHA!!! Goddamnit! That fucking woman!! He always precedes my movements!!! Even though I know everything! That woman! He was always one step ahead of me! AHAHAHA!!! Goddamnit! "

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