#020. The Young Lady of a Small Village (3)
Giras’s claws glanced off.
Even though it had merely grazed him, the wind pressure against his face was as powerful as if a war hammer had been swung.
This time, the other arm swung.
He turned aside and dodged.
Giras’s claws struck the floor.
Boom!
Fragments of the floor flew into the air.
Even the hard ground was useless before his claws.
The meeting of a veteran mercenary and the insane Peles created a terrible synergy.
—Grrrr.
Giras growled and lowered his stance.
Not a sliver of human reason could be seen.
Bright yellow eyes glared at Virgil’s movements, while sharp fangs aimed for his nape.
—Kuaaack!
Giras dug in.
Two hands and ten claws tore through the air.
Head and waist.
Aiming for both places simultaneously.
Virgil thrust his greatsword into the attack path, and soon the beast’s claws and the crude lump of iron collided in midair.
Boom!
After the powerful crash, Giras staggered.
Virgil did not miss that opening and extended his left hand.
Shhhack!
A silver dagger sliced Giras’s shoulder.
In that instant.
Along with a sound like something vaporizing on a heated iron plate, the wound turned black.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when a monster or demon was wounded by silver.
At that sight, Virgil frowned and was filled with doubt.
—Kuaaack!
Giras writhed in pain and retreated a few steps.
Now with some breathing room, Virgil rolled his eyes to look at Hanna.
She looked like she was struggling.
As expected, Peles hadn’t left Hanna alone.
Without giving her time to chant sorcery, Peles swung her staff.
Each time she struck, Peles shrieked.
“What! You were a witch? No wonder! That face! There’s no way! It just! Naturally turned out! Like that! I don’t like it! Try something! Do something!”
Peles swung her staff without hesitation, and Hanna barely managed to dodge by rolling around.
“Ugh!”
As she rolled on the floor, she felt Drayco’s spear shaft, which she had slung on her back.
She quickly drew it and shouted the activation word.
“Xsúrgo! (Xsúrgo!)”
A heart-shaped mana blade formed at the end of the staff.
Greed settled in Peles’s eyes upon seeing it.
“Oh my, sister, you have something nice? I’m so jealous.”
“Ha... just one... you crazy bitch....”
Hanna opened her mouth with difficulty.
Virgil furrowed his brow as he looked at her.
Hanna’s strength was still too weak to face anyone alone.
That was why he had lent her Somnium, but she seemed to have forgotten.
—Kuaaack!
While Virgil was watching Hanna, Giras’s claws flew at him.
He leaned back slightly at the waist.
Sharp tearing sounds and five blades grazed his head.
There was no room for leisure.
It seemed he needed to finish this fight quickly first.
As Virgil straightened his leaned-back waist, he used a spinning slash.
The recoil starting from his ankle traveled through his shoulder and into the greatsword.
Bwoong! Thud!
Giras blocked with both arms crossed.
Driven by the powerful force, he was pushed far back.
Virgil had expected it to be blocked.
But since he had made him retreat this far, it had served its purpose.
Now it was time to use the Dragon Fang he had learned recently.
He held the greatsword in a reverse grip and raised it above his shoulder.
His muscles swelled and pushed his crushed shoulder guard outward.
“Hup!”
He exhaled briefly and threw the greatsword.
Kugugu!
A large, heavy fang shot toward Giras’s chest.
At the same time, a chain that had been bound beforehand was released.
Crunch!
The greatsword embedded itself in his chest.
—Kuaaaack!
The throwing force was so strong that the blade embedded up to its middle.
The more Giras thrashed, the more blood gushed out along the blade.
Unexpectedly, he didn’t die immediately.
Thanks to his Berserk state giving him resistance to pain.
Giras grabbed the blade with both hands to survive.
He struggled to pull it out.
Virgil also grabbed the iron chain and pulled hard and fast.
As the embedded blade came out, Giras’s body was pulled toward Virgil.
Before long, they were within arm’s reach.
Giras opened his mouth and bared his fangs, but Virgil unhesitatingly slit his throat with the dagger.
Shhhk!
Blood scattered in all directions, and a blunt object fell from the body.
The head of the man who had lost his reason rolled on the floor.
“No!”
Peles screamed.
Perhaps because she hadn’t thought Giras would die, shock filled her face.
Her gaping opening was blatantly exposed.
Hanna didn’t miss it and thrust her staff shaft through the gap.
Thud.
The blue blade lodged in her abdomen.
“Kyaaack!”
“Kyak!”
Both women screamed simultaneously and collapsed.
One was from the pain of a foreign object embedding in her own body, and the other was from the shock of having driven something into another person’s body.
Someone spat blood, while someone poured water from her eyes.
Their gazes didn’t fall away from each other until then.
Virgil’s armored boots touched the back of Hanna, who was stepping backward.
Her body trembled violently.
Her disheveled hair and trembling lips.
Having been beaten all over by the staff, her tattered robe was torn here and there, and her exposed skin was covered with dark bruises.
“Ah....”
“Kkeog... kkeok....”
Hanna couldn’t tear her gaze away from Peles, who was vomiting blood.
Malice hung over her face.
Virgil took off his helmet and placed it over Hanna’s head.
He lowered the face guard.
It didn’t fit her size, so her vision disappeared completely.
“If you shouldn’t see it, then don’t.”
“Vi-, Virgil-nim....”
He had given her Somnium to gain experience, but she ended up doing it herself.
And in her own way at that.
“You did well. Calm down for a bit.”
Virgil patted Hanna’s shoulder and approached Peles.
She was on her stomach, vomiting pieces of internal organs in heaves.
Unlike a regular lump of iron, a mana blade made of mana minced flesh the moment it cut.
Therefore, the abdominal bleeding wasn’t severe, but it couldn’t stop the blood refluxing from inside.
Perhaps because the protection sorcery called Ragna’s Blessing, which witches possessed, wasn’t engraved on her body, the impure mana accumulated in her body poured out together with the blood.
The blood turned black.
“Kkeok... save... save me... please.... Kkeoheok!”
“Hey, look at this.”
Virgil approached her and held up the elixir.
“This is called an elixir. You’ve heard of it, right?”
The woman nodded with difficulty.
Virgil opened the elixir’s lid and smeared a very small amount on his hand.
A brilliant rainbow-colored liquid.
On his uninjured hand, the droplet neither disappeared nor was absorbed, but merely formed beads.
“If you drink even a sip, you can survive down to the village.”
“Sa... please, save... me....”
Her evil demeanor was nowhere to be seen.
Now only the figure of a powerless, weak girl remained.
“Please....”
In pain, she reached toward the elixir.
“If you answer my questions honestly, I can give you about a sip.”
“Kkeoheok, ah... I’ll do it....”
At her obedient answer, Virgil pressed his hand, smeared with elixir, firmly onto her wound.
The elixir quickly seeped in.
However, two drops only reduced the pain for a moment.
“Kkeueuu....”
The woman raised her head for the first time.
Virgil, seeing her eyes up close, furrowed his brow deeply.
‘Damn.’
Several doubts he had held were resolved.
Why that phenomenon occurred when Giras was cut with silver, why this woman reacted so greatly when Giras died, and even why she had become such a villainess.
He clicked his tongue briefly and got to the point.
“The village women, was that your doing?”
“Yes....”
“Did you kill them?”
“Only... a few....”
“Where did the rest go?”
“Ro... wen....”
“The reason?”
“My... teacher’s request....”
“Are you talking about the one who taught you sorcery?”
“Yes....”
“Why is that person taking the women?”
“Th... that, I don’t know either....”
Virgil roughly guessed who was behind it.
At this time, with the coronation only a few weeks away.
There was only one reason for someone in Rowen to capture women.
“Tell me about your teacher.”
“...I... met them when I went to Rowen three years ago....”
“The name?”
“I don’t... know.... Kkeok... I couldn’t... even see their face properly....”
“Then how did you learn sorcery?”
“Kkeoheok... a... book.”
“Where is the book now?”
“Under... the altar....”
‘So this is Hanna’s quest reward.’
Virgil released the strength in the hand pressing the wound.
As he got up to check the altar, the woman grabbed his ankle.
“The promise... elixir....”
Her eyes unfocused.
He could see her consciousness fading.
Still dreaming of hope, she gritted her teeth and clung to consciousness.
“Please....”
Virgil shook off her pleading hand.
“I really intended to give it, but seeing you up close, I changed my mind.”
“Kkeueuk... why....”
“Your eyes are purple.”
“What....”
“You learned a warlock’s sorcery, not a witch’s.”
“.......”
The woman’s lips trembled.
Strangely, hearing Virgil’s words, her first meeting with her teacher came to mind.
The person who had saved her when she was being sold as a slave.
The woman who had scattered black mist from her hands.
Having heard the rumors spreading in Rowen, she thought the woman was a witch.
‘Child, poor child. Let me give you a gift.’
The hand that had stroked her head.
The shudder felt throughout her body the moment the hand touched her, and the faint mana felt in her heart.
‘Now you are bound to me.’
Starting from that point, all her evil deeds flashed before her eyes.
The ability to grow stronger as she hurt others and saw blood, and the side effects that arose the more she did so.
Excessive lust and craving for blood.
Why hadn’t she noticed?
“I don’t save the lives of people who might become my enemies in the future.”
“.......”
All vitality drained from the woman.
“Ah....”
With a short sigh, her breath was cut off.
For a villainess’s end, it was relatively simple.
Virgil closed the woman’s eyes.
And without lingering, he approached the altar she had mentioned.
Lifting the flat stone, he saw three rolled-up sorcery scrolls and one thick book underneath.
Two of the scrolls were sorcery scrolls exclusive to warlocks.
Since Hanna couldn’t use these, he decided to keep them for now.
Next was a general-purpose sorcery scroll that Hanna could also use.
“Berserk....”
He recalled Giras, who had charged while losing his reason.
He imagined himself in that state.
A figure swinging a greatsword with bloodshot eyes, running amok like a madman.
“Hmm.”
He thought it was still too early to give this to her.
He stored it away with the other scrolls.
Next, he examined the book.
Elementary-Intermediate Herbology.
It contained methods for making potions and pills using all kinds of herbs.
Though it didn’t cover advanced stages, there were useful secret techniques, so he thought he could give it to Hanna.
He sensed a presence behind him as he turned the pages.
When he turned around, he saw Hanna wearing Virgil’s helmet upside down.
With the clunky lump of metal placed over her slender body, she looked bizarrely foolish.
“Is... she dead?”
“Yes.”
“.......”
“Let’s go down.”
As Virgil was about to pass by Hanna, she called out to him.
“Um, Virgil-nim....”
A voice that had cried, that was powerless now, but tried not to show it.
“What.”
“A quest window popped up.”
“Yeah, I collected the rewards.”
“That’s not it.”
Hanna raised the helmet’s visor.
Her swollen eyes were visible.
“It’s not a completion, but a new one. And looking at it, it’s not a sub-quest.”
“Tell me.”
“Chapter 2. Honor of the Broken Knight.”
“What?”
Virgil looked at Hanna with a dumbfounded expression.
Receiving his gaze, she thought he was telling her to get to the point again, and quickly continued.
“Go to Rowen and meet the slave merchant of the black market.”
When Hanna finished speaking, Virgil pressed his temple hard.
“...Damn it.”
He had started Rowen’s main quest through an unexpected route.
***
The pair was descending the mountain.
Hanna carried all of Virgil’s belongings except his weapons, while Virgil wrapped two corpses in cloth and hoisted them over his shoulder.
“Hanna.”
“Yes?”
“Are you alright now?”
“Yes, of course. I’ve played a murderer before, so I composed myself by thinking of that time.”
“What do you mean?”
“Um, stop pretending you don’t know now.”
“.......”
“You really don’t know?”
Hanna cupped her face with both hands, making a flower shape.
And she brought it close toward Virgil, blinking her large eyes.
“Have you really not seen my face on TV? I should have been everywhere.”
“...Well.”
“Wow, you really don’t know? What country are you from? Did you live in the sticks? Amazon? Desert?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Wow... liar.”
“Stop talking nonsense.”
“Goodness, really, how famous I am... Ah, wait up!”
Shortly after, Denrip, the village at the foot of the mountain, came into Virgil’s field of vision as he walked faster than usual.
Many torches flickered around the village chief’s house, creating a commotion.
Virgil quickened his pace at the chaotic atmosphere.
“Let’s hurry.”
***
In front of the village chief’s house.
Twenty large warhorses were eating feed.
Beside them, knights in full armor were busy moving about.
Above them, a large flag fluttered with two splendid emblems engraved upon it.
One was the emblem of ‘Rowen,’ made by stacking three rectangles of different sizes with a sword thrust in the center.
The other was the emblem of the Blue Wolf Knights led by Rowen’s Second Prince.
“The village chief says no one has come from Rowen.”
“Hmm, that can’t be... We definitely sent an investigation team.”
The knights were speaking with serious expressions.
Then, a strange metallic sound reached their ears.
Clank, clank.
Following the sound, they turned their gaze to see two people approaching.
A large man and a slender woman.
Among them, the man in pitch-black armor stood out.
The massive greatsword strapped across his body and the oddly shaped helmet dangling from the sword hilt.
The crushed shoulder guard and the two bundles placed atop it.
As the man approached, the smell of blood wafted into the knights’ noses.
One of the knights stepped forward, gripping his sword.
“Halt. I am Rondel, Captain of the Blue Wolf Knights. Reveal your identity.”
“Demon hunter.”
Virgil set down the two bundles in front of the knights and spoke.
“Ah, so you were the one who took the request?”
The captain tapped the bundle with his toe.
“What is this? Did you go hunting...”
When the cloth was slightly lifted, it met Giras’s red eyes.
“Wh-what the!”
He drew his sword.
“What is this!”
“The village chief’s daughter and the commander of those mercenaries.”
At his calm words, Giras’s subordinates, who had been cowering in the corner, rushed to the corpses in a panic.
“H-Hyung-nim!”
“This can’t be....”
“This bastard killed a person!”
And beside them, the village chief approached with a face that simply couldn’t believe it.
Seeing the long hair flowing out from between the cloth, he staggered and collapsed to the ground.
“Aaah....”
The captain, now more composed than before, pointed his sword at Virgil and asked.
“Name.”
“Virgil.”
“Which clan?”
Clan.
Even among demon hunters, who were fewer than other classes, there were several small groups.
They each had unique characteristics per clan and used weapons in their own way.
If Virgil had been an imposter pretending to be a demon hunter without preparation, he might have been at a loss for words here.
But he had vast information and knowledge.
“I belong to the Black Stone, with a branch in Hairandel.”
“Who is the clan leader?”
“Hellsing.”
“...Aah! I’ve heard of him. The man who killed a king.”
The captain swept his eyes over Virgil’s body, his words matching his memory.
The beast-head helmet dangling from the sword hilt, the silver dagger and flintlock pistol hanging on his belt.
He had never heard of anyone using such a crude greatsword, but the rest roughly matched what he knew.
‘Well, demon hunters die before making a name for themselves, after all....’
The captain nodded and lowered his sword.
“Is your suspicion cleared now?”
Virgil spoke.
“Well, more or less. Who is the lady beside you?”
The captain looked at Hanna.
She was looking at the village chief, who was wailing loudly, with complicated eyes.
Because of that, she couldn’t answer the captain’s question.
“Excuse me, lady.”
“Ah, yes?”
“If it’s not rude, please introduce yourself.”
“I am....”
“My sister. She is a magic apprentice, so she cannot reveal her affiliation yet.”
“Hmm... well, very well.”
A gentlemanly greed appeared and vanished in his eyes.
“Anyway, please explain how this happened.”
At the captain’s gesture, the knights sheathed all their drawn swords.
As the clear ringing of swords ceased, the surroundings quieted.
All eyes around turned toward Virgil’s mouth.
Some were indifferent, while others blazed with hatred.
Virgil took in all those emotions and thought of several choices in his head.
If this were a game rather than reality, how would it proceed?
‘Otherworld,’ boasting infinite degrees of freedom, would never force a choice and would probably recommend about three options.
The first was to give up the reward and just leave.
He had already come.
The second was to reveal the truth that the village chief’s daughter was a witch.
This would be the normal choice.
And the last, third option was to lie.
Just like this woman right now.
“It was all done by this man named Giras.”
An expression and tone unlike her usual self.
She looked as if she had become a different person.