Raymond walked through the village with heavy steps.
The villagers, who only moments ago had been swept up in madness, had somehow returned to their ordinary daily lives.
The children who had followed the adults in throwing stones now played at being knights, sticks in hand.
“Haah, what the hell is this?”
A sigh escaped him on its own at the village chief’s request to kill the girl in the forest.
For now, Raymond had accepted the chief’s request.
After all, this was a world inside an illusion.
‘Well, it doesn’t make sense to begin with.’
If he thought about it calmly, it made no sense.
Who would ask an outsider they had never met before to kill someone?
The chief’s request was completely detached from reality.
The village chief’s abrupt behavior just now was no different from attempting some absurd scam.
If Raymond had run scams like that, he wouldn’t have even become wanted in the first place.
Who in the world would fall for such a sloppy con?
It was possible only because all of this was happening inside an illusion.
And yet he couldn’t help but be troubled.
No matter how much it was an illusion, this place was no different from a world where every sense could be felt.
The fluttering breeze, the earthy smell rising from the street.
Even the sensation of touching soil felt vividly real.
A world that was like a dream, yet clearly different.
They called it an illusion, but in truth, wouldn’t it be fair to call it another reality?
He wondered whether he could commit evil in such a world.
Even if it was a mission, even if it wasn’t real, could he truly kill someone?
Raymond looked at the translucent window and let out a sigh.
[Mission 4: Accept the village chief’s request and kill the girl.]
A mission he had accepted, but had yet to carry out.
What would happen if he did carry it out?
Would it be fine because this wasn’t reality?
No, it wouldn’t.
Hadn’t he just witnessed the horror of a witch hunt?
The sight of the woman dying while engulfed in flames had shocked Raymond.
Before that shock had even faded, he had received the village chief’s request as well, leaving his heart in turmoil.
‘It really wasn’t going to be easy.’
The scholar named Kaleido, who had cast the illusion magic on him, clearly had a gloomy hobby.
There was no doubt about it.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have included such vile missions.
He was surely watching Raymond’s inner conflict and enjoying himself.
‘Disgusting.’
Perhaps he was someone incapable of understanding other people’s emotions.
A chill ran down Raymond’s spine.
Of course, it wasn’t something he, a man wanted for fraud, had any right to say.
Hadn’t he harmed many people as well, only to end up living in hiding?
Even so, he had never directly stained his hands with blood.
The scars carved across Raymond’s face and body were, so to speak, karma.
They had only been inflicted by victims he had swindled, acting out of resentment; he could swear he had never bloodied his own hands.
‘Let’s not think about it for now.’
Raymond shook his head.
Thinking about it, the very idea that someone would hand over that many gold coins so easily made no sense.
Lost in thought, Raymond left the village.
Though it looked like an ordinary village now, he had already seen the depths beneath them.
That was why he no longer wanted to remain in this village.
Once he had put a reasonable distance between himself and the village, he looked up at the sky.
“Hey! Are you watching me?”
It was a message meant for Kaleido, the one who had cast the illusion magic on him.
Since Kaleido was surely watching this scene from somewhere in his gloomy way, Raymond shouted loudly.
“Let me out of here already!”
He no longer needed gold coins or anything of the sort.
If this was the kind of thing that gnawed away at his emotions, he would never have started it in the first place.
Raymond wanted to shake off this unpleasant feeling as quickly as possible.
That was why he pleaded with Kaleido to dispel the illusion magic.
“……”
However, no answer came from the other party.
The sky remained blue, and the cool breeze dried the cold sweat on Raymond’s skin.
“So that’s how you’re going to be!”
Irritation surged within him.
At this point, he thought it would at least be to his benefit to take Kaleido’s gold coins.
‘You think I can’t kill her? If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.’
Raymond drew the dagger from his waist.
A dagger he had never swung at a person. It was something he wore only for show.
‘I’ll hurry up, complete the mission, and go back.’
This place was not reality.
Comforting himself with that thought, Raymond’s steps turned toward the forest.
Before long, he arrived at the lakeside.
“……”
Near the lake, he saw the girl playing with a monster.
Her laughter rang out cheerfully over the rippling water.
Raymond stopped and looked at the girl.
It was a mission that would end as soon as he simply swung his dagger.
However, doubt began to grow in a corner of his heart.
Was that young girl truly a dangerous being?
According to the chief, the little girl was a byproduct born from another witch.
‘Crazy bastards.’
Just as the old woman had said, it meant the village had been steadily branding women as witches and killing them.
The old woman’s words and the image of the executed woman rose in his mind, then vanished.
At the same time, the girl’s figure was superimposed over the woman’s.
“Mm.”
Even as he repeated to himself that this place was only an illusion, he could not shake off his unease.
Raymond slowly walked in the girl’s direction.
He tried to move quietly in his own way, but the rustling of the grass tickled his ears.
Rustle—
At the sound of the undergrowth Raymond had stepped on, the girl turned her head. Her curious eyes turned toward Raymond.
At the same time, Raymond was startled and hid the dagger he was holding behind his back.
“……”
“……”
An awkward silence flowed between them.
But they couldn’t just keep staring at each other’s faces forever.
After hesitating for a long while, Raymond opened his mouth.
“Ah… right. I came to return this.”
Naturally fastening the dagger back at his waist, he took the necklace from his pocket.
It was the necklace the girl had dropped.
“……!”
The girl looked surprised when she saw the necklace.
However, she did not come closer.
Raymond held the necklace out toward the hesitant girl and said,
“It’s all right. I only came to return the necklace.”
The thought of killing the girl, which had filled him only moments ago, vanished completely.
He intended only to give the girl her necklace and leave this place.
If Kaleido would not let him out, then he would simply wander here and there, doing things unrelated to the mission.
That would be his small act of rebellion against Kaleido.
“Go on, take it. I’m not one of the villagers, and I’m leaving this place anyway, so it’s fine.”
The girl’s wariness. Perhaps it was the result of what the villagers had done to her.
At Raymond’s words, the girl carefully approached and accepted the necklace.
When the girl smiled shyly after receiving it, a smile had somehow formed on Raymond’s lips as well.
* * *
In the end, Raymond did not leave.
That did not mean he returned to the village, either.
Nor had he escaped the world inside the illusion.
He neither left the forest nor returned to the village.
“Mister!”
At the sound of someone calling him, Raymond raised his head.
“You’re here, Luna.”
Luna was the name of the girl Raymond had first met at the lake.
[Mission 4: Accept the village chief’s request and kill the girl.]
The mission remained unchanged.
Naturally, he had not the slightest intention of obeying such a cruel mission.
He simply lived through his current days peacefully.
The day he returned the necklace to Luna.
Raymond ended up talking with Luna about many things.
When the girl was young, her mother had passed away.
She had apparently been accused of being a witch and killed.
Fortunately, Luna had survived because she was still young. And she was not alone.
There was a small inn near the forest, and it was run by Luna’s father.
If this place had been reality, he would have wondered why anyone would run an inn in a place with no people, but he let it pass.
After all, this place was an illusion.
Still, if there was one good thing about it, it was nature—something he had not felt in a long time.
“Mister, Dad says to come eat lunch!”
The girl, who had been so wary at first, now approached Raymond without hesitation.
“All right. I’ll just finish this first—”
Raymond brought the axe down and split the firewood.
Since he could not return to the village, he needed a place to stay, and as Luna’s father ran an inn, he had been imposing on them.
It was not for free.
Luna’s father had told him not to worry about it, but Raymond could not do that.
Instead, he helped with odd jobs like chopping firewood.
It was tiring, but it did not feel bad.
Rather, the sense of reward from working with his own sweat felt incredibly refreshing.
After splitting the remaining firewood, Raymond followed Luna toward the inn.
‘The more I see it, the stranger it is.’
Oddly enough, there were people staying at the inn.
There were actually people who came to such a remote place.
At first, he had spoken with them out of curiosity.
When most of them said they were adventurers, Raymond had clicked his tongue in wonder.
‘It really looks no different from reality.’
The adventurers even had their own individual stories, and such detailed elements made this place feel even more realistic.
“Oh, you’re here, Raymond.”
The first person to greet him upon entering the inn.
It was the owner of this place and Luna’s father, “Elliot.”
“I’ll bring you a delicious stew. Come, have a seat.”
Though stew was the only thing there was to eat, it tasted incredibly good.
The rich aroma of meat stimulated his nose, and the soft potatoes and carrots melted gently in his mouth. And what of the rabbit meat, stewed for so long?
The taste of the various ingredients harmonizing together could easily be called the best stew he had ever eaten.
At times like this, the vivid realism was an advantage.
After finishing his meal, his routine was to rest for a while and talk with the adventurers who visited the inn.
The adventurers staying there also needed information about the nearby geography, so it was a good arrangement for both sides.
“Haha, so you’re saying you’re a mixed-blood born of a vampire and a human?”
Occasionally, there were adventurers who said strange things.
Like the person sitting before him now.
‘What an amusing fellow.’
Perhaps wandering all over on adventures had given him that kind of humor.
The adventurer before Raymond was part of a party made up of one man and one woman.
The one who introduced himself as a mixed-blood vampire was named Dambi.
The woman beside him was named Rils, and she said she was a mage.
“It’s true. I am a mixed-blood vampire.”
Perhaps this world inside the illusion was not perfect after all.
If someone said that in reality, an inquisitor would appear immediately.
Even so, the reason that man could call himself a mixed-blood vampire was because this place was an illusion.
‘Kaleido’s illusion magic isn’t perfect either.’
No matter how much this was an illusion, Raymond merely snorted at the adventurer’s introduction, which lacked all plausibility.
“Keke, they say monsters kill humans, yet you seem to be getting along with us just fine. Then can you show me that power of yours?”
Still, he couldn’t ruin the pleasant atmosphere.
Raymond played along with the other man’s words.
And in that moment.
“Kyaaaak!”
Luna’s scream rang out.
Raymond turned his head, and there he saw armed villagers bursting into the inn.
At the front was a familiar figure.
It was none other than the village chief.
As soon as the chief entered the inn, he used a long spear to stab Elliot.
“What do you think you’re doing!”
Raymond raised his voice.
Blood gushed from Elliot’s abdomen. He collapsed to the floor without even managing to scream.
“Dad!”
Luna’s cry of despair echoed through the inn.
“Anyone who colludes with a witch deserves death! This is holy judgment! The crime of sowing seed in a witch and raising a witch’s child! He has merely received the condemnation of judgment!”
But the chief was not in his right mind.
“To think you ignored my words and dared to hide the witch! You too have been bewitched by the witch!”
At the chief’s words, the people advanced toward Raymond with weapons in hand.