The Game Difficulty
Is Insane
“Reporting.”
Hawkney, who had gone to Honello Village with Tasha, knelt before Glen.
Beyond him, down the hill, faint yellow lanterns were lighting up one by one throughout Honello Village.
“All residents who returned to the village have gone back to their normal lives. There were no other unusual points afterward.”
“So at a glance, it looks no different from an ordinary village.”
“Yes.”
However, everyone present knew that the village was suspicious.
No matter how ordinary they tried to look on the surface, the moment they wore the dark crimson robes symbolizing the Black Cult, the uneasiness could not be avoided.
‘The moment they wear dark crimson robes, it means they are part of the Black Cult.’
“What will you do?”
The question came again.
Glen could feel that Hawkney had suppressed his personal emotions.
‘If it were his usual self, the moment he found villagers wearing dark crimson robes, he would have rushed into the village to judge them.’
Hawkney was a righteous man.
But at the same time, he never tried to step outside his role.
As a member of the Gray Wolf Knights, and as Glen’s escort knight, Hawkney entrusted all judgment and decisions solely to the one he served—Glen Wordsworth.
“What else would we do? We go.”
Of course, answering the Saintess’s summons and heading to Istirenne was important.
That was why, unless something serious happened, Glen had planned to ignore Honello Village and pass by.
But the moment he saw the dark crimson robes of the Black Cult, he made up his mind to go to Honello Village.
‘I can’t tolerate the Black Cult.’
This decision was not made out of simple justice, like punishing the evil beings who had abandoned humanity.
Rather, the very existence of the Black Cult itself was harmful to Glen.
The Papal State already had to fight a war against the Demon King’s army, which possessed far superior military power.
If the Black Cult also caused trouble throughout the Papal State, the already slim chances of victory would shrink even further.
If left alone, the Black Cult would seduce high-ranking priests and cause internal conflict, spread large-scale activities to divide military power, and even summon demons to plunge entire nations into chaos.
‘So the only option is to catch and crush every one of them I see.’
Still, it bothered him that signs of the Black Cult appeared in Honello Village, which originally had no connection to Black Cult events.
It might be that the future had changed because Glen destroyed two Black Cult parishes in Haven and Veronia before the scenario even began.
From the moment he wiped out two parishes, Glen never once believed the Black Cult would move exactly as they did in the original story.
‘What I really need to worry about is whether this is a Lunatic Trial.’
But he had already decided to go to Honello.
So he chose not to worry in advance about things that might not even happen.
What he needed to do now was move with extreme caution.
“I understand.”
At Glen’s decision, Hawkney’s eagle-like eyes flared with fire, and a faint smile formed on his lips.
Lanterns blooming throughout the village.
Soft smoke rising from chimneys, and the fragrant smell of food stimulating the nose.
Just as Hawkney reported, Honello Village—now with its residents returned—presented the same peaceful scenery as in the original story.
If not for the dark crimson robes, Glen’s party would have enjoyed everything with smiles on their faces.
They first went to the inn and rented rooms.
There were three rooms in total.
Glen used one room by himself.
Hawkney and Felix shared a room, while Romina and Tasha shared the remaining one.
Though Hawkney and Tasha were from minor noble families, they were still nobles, so Glen had planned to give them separate rooms—but they didn’t seem to care.
“Let’s meet in the dining hall in thirty minutes.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
The group split up and went to their rooms.
After some time passed, Romina entered Glen’s room. Since she was his exclusive maid on the surface, her movements raised no suspicion.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m thinking.”
“If they’re in league with those bastards, wouldn’t it be easier to just overturn the whole village?”
Romina tilted her head.
“That’s an option, but…”
Since it was a tiny village with fewer than thirty households and not a single knight, suppressing them would be easy.
“I want to wipe them out cleanly, without leaving any loose ends.”
If they immediately stormed the village to expose the Black Cult, some would surely escape.
Those who escaped would flee to another parish and spread the news. That would make Glen someone the Black Cult truly recognized.
“And we don’t even know the parish leader’s identity or the parish’s exact location, so going wild isn’t ideal.”
Like exterminating pests.
If even one was missed, it would cause trouble later. Completely eradicating a Black Cult parish required careful and meticulous action.
‘It really is troublesome.’
Until now, he had attacked parishes whose locations matched the original story, so searching had been easy—but this time was different.
Finding a parish without knowing its location was like looking for a needle in the desert.
‘There’s a reason they avoid inquisitors so well.’
“Cockroach bastards.”
Romina clicked her tongue, then began twirling her hair as she sank into thought.
“Then what about quietly kidnapping the village chief and making him talk? As long as we don’t cause a scene.”
“Do you think a fanatic would talk? Do you even know why they’re called fanatics?”
“I don’t. But lower-ranking believers might start begging if you cut off a few limbs, right?”
Truly the Demon King’s bloodline. Romina suggested a brutal and cruel method only she would come up with.
Glen seriously considered whether to accept that proposal.
Unable to reach a conclusion, Glen headed to the dining hall.
Then, unexpected information came from Hawkney and Tasha.
“They said they went to a monastery?”
“Yes. That was their answer.”
While Glen and Romina were thinking things through in the room, Hawkney had gone out with Tasha.
They gathered information from the villagers.
“According to their testimony, they simply attended worship at the nearby Ursula Monastery.”
“That’s a lie.”
No matter how devoted they were, no one insane enough to openly declare themselves part of the Black Cult would exist.
“I thought so as well.”
But unlike Hawkney, Tasha seemed unconvinced.
“Honestly, I didn’t sense any signs of lying.”
