3. If there’s nothing to be guilty about, I’d rather be confident.
In the darkness, a pair of red eyes floated in the air, staring at Fernandez.
Overwhelmed by the terrifying pressure, he stiffened his body and barely managed to meet the gaze. He wasn’t even allowed to look away.
-Yes, this is a dream. This is a dream. I’m in the Lord’s Residence right now. This is a dream.
“Faijashi. You belong to Hell.”
“Damn it. I’ve never been associated with Hell!”
“The mark on your soul cannot be erased. Soul, body, spirit, and nature. You belong to Hell.”
“I don’t know about the soul and spirit, but the body and nature haven’t been corrupted by Hellish Magic yet! The body and nature are fragments of the spirit bound to the flesh. It’s impossible!”
“Once the soul is drawn in, do you think the body can hold out? It’s only a matter of time.”
The red eyes flickered. Soon, the whole world was burning, and people were hanging on poles.
Demons were screaming and setting the world ablaze, their figures spreading in all directions.
This wasn’t some vision shown by a demon. It was a memory from the past.
Faijashi Wildcast.
The High Dark Mage and the greatest demon summoner.
The first chairman of the [Ashen Twilight Society] and the chief High Dark Mage of the [Calmburg Magic Academy].
One of the fifteen villains who brought about the world’s destruction.
This was the world he had personally created.
“Shut up, shut up! There’s no such thing as fate. I, I’ve already experimented. I killed someone I never killed before!”
“Was your experiment something that could only be proven by killing someone? That’s the proof of your soul’s corruption. If you make just one mistake. If you look away just once. You’ll return to this place. And that… won’t be long now.”
“Gaaaaah!”
The sight of his son screaming as his body exploded was the last fragment of the nightmare he witnessed.
*
“Damn it all.”
Fernandez spat out curses as he woke up drenched in cold sweat. It had only been a week since he returned to the past, but he was already sick of the nights.
The relentless nightmares tormented him every night, and he was growing more haggard by the day.
“This can’t go on. I need to do something.”
Whether it was getting rid of sleep, dreams, or the past. He had to do one of the three.
It was impossible with magic right now, and he needed to use some potions, but unfortunately, Fernandez wasn’t in some alchemy workshop in the Imperial Capital. He was in a rundown rural territory of the Dane Kingdom.
“Ugh…”
Fernandez gulped down the water by his bedside and got up, heading to his office desk. Stacks of documents were piled up without any order. A headache was coming on.
It had been a week since Fernandez took control of the Sernerd Barony. Half by choice and half by necessity, he had been sorting through the various ledgers and administrative documents of the territory without getting any sleep.
The state of the territory was dire. Daniel wasn’t particularly incompetent, but he wasn’t particularly capable either.
However, the numerous taxes consumed to meet the kingdom’s military service requirements were eating away at the territory.
The Dane Kingdom’s war expenses for the Holy War coalition had been slowly suffocating the kingdom for decades, and the various territories of the kingdom were on the brink of bankruptcy, slowly accepting their economic death sentences.
Daniel, like the previous lords, was content with dutifully paying taxes to the kingdom.
But the annual tax increases were about to break the territory’s back, and all the indicators in the territory’s ledgers were at their worst.
In the midst of this, Fernandez was trying to scrape together the small profits that went to the lord—such as security and servant salaries, management fees—to buy herbs, potions, and experimental materials from merchants.
The lord’s treasury was quickly drained, and Fernandez estimated that he could set up a workshop within a month.
Of course, every unauthorized mage has a plausible plan. Until they meet the Inquisition Officer…
“My lord!!! My loooord!!!”
A servant with a pale face rushed in and prostrated himself before him. Fernandez, who had been going through documents, looked down at him with the most disinterested expression he could muster.
Normally, that expression would have scared the servant off, but the servant was still frantic.
“I’m busy.”
“My lord! Something terrible has happened!”
“Did someone break the wall again? How tiresome. Did someone fall into the moat? Take two guards and get it fixed. Tell the injured to rest at home for two days.”
“Speaking. I think we need to impose a drinking ban.”
“No! My lord, from the central! Guests are coming from the central!”
“Central? You mean the royal palace? I’ve already paid this year’s quarterly taxes, haven’t I?”
Fernandez frowned.
What if the servants had squandered or embezzled the taxes before delivering them to the tax collector? That would be a disaster. The Sernerd Barony currently had no extra funds to collect and pay taxes again.
“No, no! Th-this, this, this…”
“Are they here for a tax audit? Then don’t worry. Sernerd is impeccably honest. Haha, there’s no hidden wealth using double books.”
“Th-this…!!”
The servant bit his tongue, struggling to continue speaking.
As if uttering that word alone would bring curses, punishments, or charges of treason, and a terrifying future awaited. Fernandez looked thoroughly annoyed.
“Would you like a glass of water?”
“In—Inquisition Officer!!! Huh! Ugh! Huh! Yes, the Inquisition Officer has arrived!”
“Hmmm…”
An Inquisition Officer, huh? Fernandez looked at the servant with cold, icy eyes. The servant trembled, covering his mouth and making the sign of the cross repeatedly.
“Wh-what should we do?”
“What should we do? We’ll all be burned at the stake, that’s what. By the way, they’re faster than I expected.”
In his past life, those guys were so slow. Why are they here for an inspection now? Fernandez frowned.
Well, in his past life, around this time, he would’ve been chased by bandits or wolves, so it’s no wonder he didn’t expect an Inquisition Officer to come to the Sernerd Barony.
Or maybe he had done something in the past week that caught their attention…
‘I have no idea.’
Where did they catch the scent? The reagents and other tools were more like alchemy than heretical magic.
In the past, when he ruled the world, it would’ve been different, but now Fernandez was just a young lord of a small territory. There’s no way they could catch him.
There’s no shortage of foolish lords who dabble in alchemy, dreaming of making gold to revive their lands.
“B-burned at the stake??? Truly evil… Great Vaitas, please bless us. Were the rumors true that you made a deal with a demon?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Th-the demon taught you magic…”
“Huh?”
Fernandez stared blankly at the servant. The servant looked up at him with fearful eyes, repeatedly making the sign of the cross and reciting prayers.
Magic? Surely not a flint?
A flint was just a trivial trick that anyone could use if they knew how, regardless of talent.
It couldn’t ignite from more than 1.5 meters away, couldn’t even create a small spark on the skin, and couldn’t produce a roaring fire…
It was just a trick for lighting dry leaves or starting a small fire. Literally, a ‘flint.’
“Ha!”
‘Is this heresy accusation because of a flint?’
“Ha!!”
Fernandez was dumbfounded. Magic was an uncommon skill, but it was just a skill.
However, the rural serfs of this small territory were ignorant fools who had only seen magic in fairy tales!
‘If I had nothing to hide, I’d be confident, but this is driving me crazy.’
*
It was almost a miracle that Alejandro’s servant found the Inquisition Officer. Inquisition Officers weren’t the type to be found easily.
Coincidentally, the Inquisition Officer, Marco, was currently camping near the Sernerd Barony. The servant had heard rumors and searched the roads for them for five days.
“Oh, oh! They’re really here! They’re really here!”
“Halt. Identify yourself. If you come any closer, you will be subject to immediate execution under religious law.”
As Marco’s guards drew their swords to block the servant, the servant knelt down with a grateful expression.
“As soon as the heretic appeared, the Inquisition Officer came to our territory. How could this not be the guidance of Vaitas?”
“Who are you?”
“I-I am the servant of Baron Sernerd!”
The servant trembled as he answered the stern voice coming from among the guards.
“No. The ‘heretic.’”
Clomp, a man walked out from among the guards. The servant cautiously raised his head. He saw the Inquisition Officer’s sleek uniform. The servant buried his head deeply and spoke.
“The illegitimate son of the previous Baron… Fernandez Sernerd! He used magic to kill my master and the young lord!”
“Sernerd… Sernerd… You mean the Sernerd where Sir Daniel Sernerd is currently the regent?”
“Y-yes, Baron Daniel fell to Fernandez’s hands!”
“And that child is dead too.”
“Yes, yes!”
Above the servant’s head, the Inquisition Officer laughed.
“If that bastard is truly a ‘heretic,’ then the Sernerd bloodline will be wiped out.”
“Y-yes? Ah, yes.”
“Lead the way.”
The servant couldn’t gather his thoughts from the strong grip on his arm. The guards forcibly pulled him up and supported him.
“Let’s go burn the heretic and carry out justice.”
“For the glory of Vaitas!”
Inquisition Officer Marco laughed as he thought.
If Fernandez is truly a heretic, the Sernerd Barony will belong to the Church.
![[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return](https://i3.wp.com/novelhitam.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/TS-Obsessed-Gamer-The-Ultimate-Return2.png?resize=85,105 "[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return")
