A Basement-Dwelling Loser, the Inquisitor – Chapter 223

[Rene]

[Hello, let’s talk]

[Talk | 9,221 viewers | 01:22:51]

“So, I mentioned that if I turn on the camera for a stream, I’d take a break the next day… So does that mean I can only stream every other day from now on…?”

─Seriously, stop the nonsense already.

─If you’re just testing how much the Rebongi can tolerate, go ahead, sure.

─Are you really crazy?

…And so, it turned out that even if I turned on the camera to stream, I couldn’t take a break the next day.

I wonder why.

Promises made in the past are promises.

If I can keep both, why not make an effort?

Promises are important.

Breaking a promise makes trust crumble.

Unless it’s something that can’t be helped, I have to keep promises, right?

Iya taught me that it’s not good to break promises…

★

“Huh?!”

I woke up drenched in cold sweat.

The reason was obvious.

Even after being reborn in this world, I occasionally dreamt of the other world.

“You think school is important now? Our family has been chosen! Even someone like you will be saved, and you worry about school right now!”

“I-I’m sorry, Mom… I won’t do it again… I was wrong….”

I lifted my clothes slightly to check my skin, but there were no scars or bruises.

That was to be expected.

I had already died once on Earth and was reborn in this world.

Now, in the body of a girl, there wouldn’t be any remnants left.

It should be that way.

I shouldn’t be in pain now.

Yet, whenever I have that nightmare, it leaves my whole body aching, making me instinctively curl up.

How foolish.

Memories of Earth have already faded almost completely.

Of course, I haven’t forgotten everything, but… how should I put it?

Experiences in this world seem to overshadow my memories of Earth.

It feels like the five years of my life here are pushing away the 29 years of records I built on Earth.

Only five years…

Iya must surely have said that “Human memory is influenced by the body.”

No matter how many memories I carry from the past 29 years, my current body is that of a five-year-old girl, and that’s how it is.

Well, I don’t really understand, but if that’s what Iya says, then it must be true.

Still, strangely enough, the oldest memories from my childhood haven’t faded much.

When I dream about those times, the memories come back more clearly.

Surely the scars and bruises have disappeared, yet the pain floods my body maddeningly.

“What’s the reason…?”

‘Isn’t it that Rene, you went through a lot of hardship?’

Is that so?

Well, indeed.

Tough memories seem harder to erase.

Anyway, I should get moving.

I have a ton of things to do today.

★

“Still slow, huh!”

“Huh?!”

Bang!

With a dull thud, Pope Grandpa’s sword forcefully deflected mine.

I’m sure mine is a real sword while Pope Grandpa’s is a wooden sword… so why couldn’t I land a proper hit even once?

“…Alright, that’s enough for today. Let me heal you.”

“Thank you….”

Thanks to the training and sparring, not a single part of my body felt unscathed.

When he saw me in that state, Pope Grandpa sighed and cast a healing spell.

A warm orb of light enveloped me, and my injuries slowly began to heal.

“Huuh…”

“…Rene.”

As I sighed, relinquishing myself to that warmth, Pope Grandpa called out to me.

“Yes?”

“Hasn’t your opinion on that changed yet?”

The intent behind his question was clear.

So I nodded without hesitation.

“I decided to do it.”

Inquisition Officer.

The priests tasked with apprehending and interrogating heretics appearing throughout the continent.

They face unknown heretics, so combat skills are deemed extremely important, unlike regular priests.

And now, I am an Inquisition Officer of the Iya Cult.

To be precise, I’m still an apprentice.

Until I can roam freely without causing issues, my role now is to become stronger through this training and sparring.

Sometimes I assist my seniors when they interrogate heretics, but that’s just support.

So, I had to get stronger.

I was saved thanks to Iya.

I couldn’t leave those heretics who deny Iya alone.

★

‘Why didn’t you immediately go for treatment after taking down that kid?’

“Even without that kid, there were still plenty of heretics left at that time.”

I answered Iya’s question without hesitation.

I knew better than anyone that was the role of an Inquisition Officer.

An Inquisition Officer must not reveal emotions before heretics.

An Inquisition Officer must not turn their back to heretics.

An Inquisition Officer must not waver before heretics.

If those things accumulate even slightly, one could ultimately become prey to the heretics.

‘But Rene, you remember the conversation we had with Ariel and Reinhardt that day, right? If it’s a situation that could genuinely be dangerous, it’s always okay to run away.’

…That was true.

Last year.

The day I turned six in this world.

The day I was acknowledged not as an apprentice, but as a full-fledged Inquisition Officer.

Iya and Pope Grandpa told me that.

If it ever feels genuinely risky, I can run away at any time.

My life is more important than capturing a heretic.

‘And you nodded at that time. In other words, you made a promise with us, and this time you broke that promise.’

Hearing that, I had nothing to say.

I thought it was a statement without much significance.

I just nodded because I thought they were worrying too much about me.

“But in the end… I took them all down… So isn’t that fine…?”

‘That’s just a result in the end, isn’t it? I’m saying that right now, Rene, you’ve broken the promise you made.’

But isn’t the world all about results in the end…?

‘Rene, a promise means someone is trusting you. And breaking that promise means shattering that trust.’

“But….”

‘No matter how good the outcome was this time, we might think, “Rene, do you think as long as the result is good, the thoughts of those around you don’t matter? Our worries mean nothing…”’

I wanted to argue.

But I couldn’t think of anything to counter.

No matter how great the result, I had broken the promise I made to Iya.

‘A promise cannot exist without trust. And without that trust, relationships will eventually crumble. Of course, it wouldn’t be a problem if you had no interest in us, Rene.’

At those words from Iya, I quietly shook my head.

To me, who was still an outsider in the Cult, Iya, Ariel, and Pope Grandpa were the only ones I could talk to.

‘So unless there’s absolutely no way around it, you shouldn’t break promises.’

That’s right.

A promise carries such a meaning.

A promise is fulfilled because of trust.

Breaking a promise means shattering that trust.

And I had made a promise to Iya, Ariel, and Pope Grandpa that I’d “run away in dangerous situations,” but I broke that promise this time.

In other words, I shattered the trust among the three of us.

Why?

Why did it turn out that way?

Was it because I didn’t run away in that earlier situation?

No.

Sure, that was part of it, but it couldn’t be the fundamental reason.

Ultimately, the underlying reason I shattered the trust with them was that I was weak enough to the point that I should have run away in that situation.

If I had been strong enough not to worry them, such a situation would have never arisen.

I see.

Iya is telling me to get stronger now.

To become much stronger than I am, so that I don’t create situations where I could break my promises.

“I understand. I won’t create situations where I might break my promises going forward….”

‘…Huh? So that means you’re saying you’ll keep your promises…?’

“By becoming stronger than anyone else, so that I won’t end up in situations where I have to run away….”

‘…Ah, I see. Alright. You can do it. I’ll cheer for you….’

★

Thinking back, perhaps that incident motivated me to try harder.

And seeing me put in that effort, Iya cheered for me wholeheartedly.

Given how important promises are, why do the Rebongi get upset when they see me keeping mine?

Especially in a job like streaming, the trust developed between fans and streamers is even more crucial…

Could it be that I was the only one who trusted the Rebongi?

Is that why I get such reactions whenever I try to keep my promises?

If that’s the case, it would make me really sad.

“Sigh…”

I sighed and stared at the ceiling.

Of course, it couldn’t be true.

…Ah.

Could it be what Tuni said before? “I bother you because I like you”?

Bell may have mistakenly thought Tuni’s perspective without considering that we are family, but the Rebongi aren’t family, right?

If they really disliked me and cursed me, they wouldn’t even have bothered to watch the stream in the first place.

So, they must be cursing me on purpose to catch my attention.

…But honestly, I still don’t understand what that feeling is.

Why bother someone you like?

The one being bothered just feels pain, doesn’t it?

If Bora had bothered me, would it have been possible for me to become close with her?

I absolutely think not.

“Hmm….”

I’ll have to tell the Rebongi later.

Even if it’s true that they bother me because they like me, as the person on the receiving end, it’s just painful.