Chapter 608

Rowen did not die. He disguised himself as death and bought time. However, all of Rowen's subordinates were killed by the knights sent by Ileion Bulton. There may be some surviving subordinates, but they are ultimately few in number. If Rowen is preparing something, what is he preparing and what can he do? Rowen disappeared, but he must be somewhere in the empire. He made a pact with the Odae Divine Sect and the Covenant, and although the commander of the Holy War Knights may not want to, he must cooperate with me because he cannot resist the popes. "Cipher documents... Yes, we are currently decoding them." Fortunately, it is a fact that all the records in Rowen's temple have not disappeared. There may be something related to the current situation, and it can also tell us what Rowen has been doing so far. Ileion Bulton is currently recovering the records in the temple basement and decoding them. Fortunately, there is no reason why the records of the heretical inquisitors cannot be decoded within the Holy War Knights. It just takes time. Yes, that precious time. "There is no guarantee that nothing will happen until that work is finished." Even if it is a document that can be decoded, it is still the same amount of writing. Rowen must not take action until he can deduce meaningful truths from the huge amount of documents and guess what Rowen can do. Is there enough time for that? Maybe there is, maybe there isn't. There is also a possibility that Rowen did not prepare anything and just disappeared. "It's not that unpredictable what he will try to do." It was the words of the Tu'an sect pope. "What are you talking about?" "It's not an era where you can kill heretics recklessly anymore, unlike in the past. Especially with the hands of the sect." "....Even so, they seem to be good at killing." "...." "No, I wasn't trying to flatter you. It's just my habit. What is it, tell me quickly." It makes my stomach churn to see people say things they shouldn't and make the old folks angry. The pope's words were certainly not wrong. Now that the heretics have become the mainstream, it is impossible to eradicate all of them, even if you can torture and kill a few. Massacres are inevitable. "It would have been nice if we could eradicate them, but fundamentally, it is impossible to remove them. They continue to occur." "That's right." "If we couldn't stop the inevitable emergence of heretics, we couldn't convert them either." "But if they were using heretical inquisitors in the empire, doesn't that mean they were doing something?" "If we can't stop the heretics, we wanted to at least know the size of the heretics. Who is the core, and where it is from and to. That's what it means." It was clear that Ileion Bulton had never heard of such a story. This is something that is happening within the empire. He had clearly not received thorough information about the internal affairs of the empire until now. I felt like I knew what the words of the Tu'an sect pope meant. Berthus had said something like that a long time ago. "The organization of crime is inevitable. Demand for vice must be met, and supply must be generated, which inevitably leads to organization. Berthus once said that if we try to eradicate organized crime, other organizations will inevitably arise, so it is better to have control over them. Is this also the case now? The fundamental reason for the emergence of heretics is distrust of the divine sect. As long as that distrust is not resolved, killing the heretics that arise will not be a fundamental solution. Other heretics will inevitably arise. Therefore, the popes' choice was not to eradicate or remove the heretics, but to understand their size and scope. They focused on understanding the power of the heretics themselves. Even if they cannot be eliminated, knowing their whereabouts clearly would be helpful. There are too many heretics. Therefore, they chose a different method instead of exterminating them. Berthus wanted to own the criminal organization to have control over crime itself. The popes' thoughts may have been different. 'Rowen was controlling the heretical sect, including its key figures.' It was not necessary to win the hearts of all heretics. If they could control the leaders of each heretical sect, it was as good as having everything. The Tu'an sect pope explains that it is impossible to eradicate all heretics and that massacres are inevitable. The heretical inquisitors are being used to determine the size and core of the heretics. It is clear that Ileion Bulton had not received thorough information about the internal affairs of the empire until now. The chapter ends with the protagonist recalling something Berthus had said a long time ago and wondering what Rowen, who has been abandoned by the divine sect, will do now." Rowen will be in the refugee village and will likely use the heretics for something. The three B-class second-year students, including Louis, Christina, and Anna, return to the dormitory to do something that they couldn't do for Rudby before. Christina tells Rudby that getting his lost arm back is not an easy task, and that there may be side effects and pain to endure. She explains that the chimera surgery involves cutting off someone else's arm and attaching it to Rudby's body, and that the arms used are from failed restoration corpses in the lab. The new arm will not be his own, but someone else's, and it will not be a normal human arm. It will be something that has been tainted with black magic, alchemy, and enhancement surgery. "Do you think the restored corpses are all in perfect condition?"

"Huh...?"

"Most of them are from fallen soldiers. During battles... they would have lost limbs or been crushed."

Only then did Rudby realize that he had not thought about the intact appearance of the corpses inside the port that were being restored.

"If that technology could be used on humans, they would have been able to regenerate your own arm instead of transplanting someone else's."

If it is possible to regenerate a corpse, why can't it be done for a living person?

That question should have been raised first.

"A living person wouldn't be able to withstand the process. And the reason why this magic is... difficult to use on a living person is because of that."

Christina's expression showed pain.

If regeneration is possible, they would choose regeneration over transplantation.

Regeneration is not something that can be used on a living person in the first place.

And even if it is regenerated, it cannot be attached to a living person.

"Rudby, if you ask me, I might be able to attach a different arm that is not from a corpse. Do you want that?"

"No... no, I don't want that."

Rudby could never do the crazy thing of cutting off a healthy person's arm and attaching it to himself.

"I won't say it's impossible, Rudby. The important thing is that I don't know what the result of such a procedure will be. And I don't want to do it."

After finishing her words, Christina looked at Anna and Louis.

They certainly did not lie. If they receive the chimera surgery, they can regain their lost arm.

Assuming that it is the arm of a living person.

They mentioned the chimera surgery because they judged that Rudby might behave strangely.

But no one knows if the person who received the transplant can endure it.

Transplanting the byproduct of magic for the dead to the living.

Rudby's expression went from hopeful to lost.

Seeing that expression, Christina muttered under her breath.

"Rudby, if you really want to do it... I can do it for you. But if you die... I, you, you will never be resurrected."

If he receives the surgery and dies, he may still want to fight as a resurrected corpse.

That's why Christina firmly nailed down the idea that he should not receive the surgery with the intention of wanting to die, unlike Ashur.

"Okay... I understand."

In front of Rudby's despairing expression, Louis and Anna could only shake their heads with a firm expression.