"······What do we do now, boss."
"How the hell should I know, you bastard."
Doris and his group, who had fled without looking back, were in a wretched state.
They had tumbled across the dirt floor chasing Claire, and been scorched by fire.
Of course, the most terrible of them all was, as expected, Paulo.
Not only had he bawled his eyes out with snot and tears, but the stench of urine filled the air around him.
"To think there were two skill users in a backwater village like that...."
Doris, Haman, and Polke had fled purely on instinct.
Because their instincts as mercenaries had screamed a warning at them.
That those were monsters greater than any of the Awakened they had seen before.
Calling forth dark clouds, accompanied by thunder and lightning, shining like a bolt of lightning himself—anyone who saw such a sight would have thought the same.
And so they had fled by instinct, without looking back.
They hadn't had the time to worry about Claire, who lay unconscious at their feet, or Paulo, who couldn't even grasp the situation.
Their minds had been filled with nothing but the instinct that if they didn't run, they would die.
"Haah... It'll be hard to find a village as good as that one."
"And our food is almost gone. What do we do now?"
If they had known this would happen, they would have stolen plenty of food when they first visited the village.
They had been too complacent, thinking they could come back at any time.
"Now that I think about it... didn't we nearly die at that restaurant...?"
At Polke's words, the three of them stiffened.
Hadn't they struck the back of that monster's head and slapped his cheek at the restaurant during their first visit?
Looking back, it had been an act of utter madness.
"Why the hell is a monster like that hiding his strength in some countryside village?"
"How should we know? He's got a truly twisted hobby."
"Sigh... I don't know. Let's rest for now."
They had run so desperately that they didn't even know where they were anymore.
As they lay sprawled in some unknown patch of grass.
Clink—
The faint sound of a bell came from somewhere.
Clink— Clink—
At that utterly unnatural sound of the bell, Doris slowly raised his body.
Clink—
For a tale that had circulated among mercenaries like a legend had suddenly come to mind.
"...Get up. Hurry!"
The legend about the bell that only came to evildoers.
An uncanny group so elusive that they had opposed the Empire for decades without ever being caught.
A paradise for villains.
A holy land for evildoers.
The worst criminal organization on the continent.
Heuka (Black Tooth).
It was said that whenever they appeared, a spine-chilling bell always accompanied them.
"Mercenary Doris. Mercenary Haman. Mercenary Polke. Mercenary Paulo."
Between the rings of the bell, a gloomy voice spoke.
"Formerly of the Balter Mercenary Corps. Confirmed to have murdered fellow mercenaries of the same corps and their client, fleeing with the goods. Also confirmed to have secretly committed rape, murder, and other crimes prior to this...."
Along with the voice, five strangers appeared before Doris's eyes like a fog.
"Is this correct?"
Five masked figures draped entirely in black robes.
Upon seeing them, Doris quickly fell to his knees and bowed his head before them.
"Could it be that you have come from Heuka...?"
Even to Doris's question, the man in the black robe merely repeated the same words.
"Is this correct?"
"Ah, yes! It is correct!"
As expected of such despicable men, the other three were quick on the uptake; they followed Doris's lead, kneeling and lowering their heads.
"It was indeed us!"
A thick fog had settled around them before they knew it.
The eerie sound of a bell ringing from somewhere.
The gloomy figures and voices of the black-robed ones.
"Heuka has been watching you."
At those words, Doris's hands, pressed flat against the ground, clenched with strength.
Knowing full well that he was an evildoer, could there be any sweeter words than these?
If only he could enter Heuka, he would no longer have to run and hide, nor would he have to worry about food and snap in irritation.
"It is an honor! I wish to enter Heuka at all costs!"
At Doris's words, the other three also chimed in, their voices filled with joy.
"We pledge our loyalty to Heuka!"
"We will follow you with our lives!"
Yet the voice of the black-robed one looking down upon them remained completely devoid of emotion.
"To enter Heuka, you must prove yourselves."
"We will prove ourselves!"
"We are prepared for any ordeal!"
Filled with hope that they could enter Heuka, the legendary organization they had only heard about in passing rumors, the four men's voices were filled with strength, but—
"On our way here, we saw a village nearby."
At the black-robed one's next words, their minds went blank in an instant.
"Kill all the villagers and burn the village. And carve your names clearly. That is Heuka's test."
This was the reason Heuka's secrets never leaked and its bonds were ironclad.
To enter Heuka, one had to spread one's notoriety far and wide by any means necessary.
The Empire's power was mighty, and it showed no mercy to evildoers.
To openly flaunt one's evil deeds like this meant there was no turning back.
Loyalty to Heuka alone was the only law of survival.
"Th-then... if we refuse... what happens...?"
Paulo, who feared Hio the most, mustered his courage to ask, and the reply was resolute.
"We do not bother keeping witnesses alive."
In other words, if they refused, they would all die on the spot.
They had no choice.
And so, Doris cautiously opened his mouth toward the black-robed figure.
"That village has... two skill users. We let our guard down and suffered a bit...."
"So, are you saying you cannot do it?"
"N-no! We can do it!"
If they couldn't, they would die.
Overwhelmed by the terrifying atmosphere and the presence of the black-robed figures, Doris could not possibly give any other answer.
"Still, two skill users would be too much for the likes of you in your current state. We will handle those two. However, you must kill the villagers, burn the village, and carve your names where they can be seen most clearly."
"Th-thank you..."
In response to Doris's answer, the black-robed one took something from within his robes and tossed it beside Doris's head.
It was a bell painted entirely black.
"When you are ready, ring the bell three times at regular intervals. We will find you."
"Y-yes... Thank you..."
No answer came to Doris's gratitude, and when Doris finally raised his head after some time, the black-robed figures had vanished along with the fog.
Without having made a single footstep.
"...Phew..."
"Boss... what do we really do now?"
"We should have told them there's a monster in that village...."
Seeing their pathetic state, Doris suddenly erupted in irritation and shouted.
"You idiots! Are you going to go around telling everyone we're useless!"
"B-but there really is a monster there...."
"Yeah. That guy's the problem. But think about it differently for a second. All we need is for him to not be there."
If they could somehow lure that monster-like guy elsewhere, they could burn the village and kill the residents in the meantime.
If they could do that quickly, they could join Heuka and be safe.
"And it's Heuka, of all places. If it's those five from earlier... surely they can handle that monster too, right?"
"Definitely... I'd only heard the rumors, but I thought I was going to die of fear."
"Whether they were human or ghost... and with all five of them here, it might really be worth a try...."
The monster who wielded lightning was a monster indeed, but the people of Heuka who had appeared like ghosts felt no less terrifying.
And there were as many as five of them on that side.
"It absolutely won't work, boss! You're only saying that because none of you have seen that monster up close...."
"Shut up, Paulo! So what, we should have all died back there!"
"Th-that's not what I mean..."
"We have no choice anyway. Since it's come to this, steel yourselves. It's Heuka. The organization even the Empire can't catch—Heuka."
"...Yes."
Doris's eyes gleamed more grimly than ever.
The gaze of a man with nothing left to lose.
He had made up his mind.
"Spilled water. Leave that monster to Heuka, and if necessary, that girl too...."
* * *
It was an ordinary day, no different from any other.
For two days since the sudden barrage of lightning strikes, the weather had remained clear, and with it, the villagers' anxiety was gradually fading.
"Pushover!"
"Hey! Pushover!"
Hio remained the children's favorite plaything, and though he knew it, he did not drive them away.
Having grown used to it, there were now more days when such teasing didn't even raise his Patience stat.
Still, since he was close to his target value now, he accepted it willingly.
Being teased by the children like that, and then coming into the shop to meet Claire with her sulky expression was all part of his ordinary routine.
"I told you I don't like it."
"What? Why again?"
"Don't you ever think about fixing that cowardly personality of yours?"
"How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not a coward, I'm just a pacifist."
Even this conversation was entirely routine.
However, from here on, things were slightly different.
"...Fine. I'll let it slide."
Claire's reaction had changed considerably since the incident two days ago.
"Huh? That's it?"
"W-what else?"
"No, normally you'd say 'Stop talking nonsense' or call me a coward, pathetic, an idiot, and so on... Shouldn't that be what comes next?"
"...Forget it! I'm going upstairs."
Raising her voice for no reason, Claire stomped loudly upstairs.
To Claire, who had woken up after fainting from mana exhaustion, he had told her that the villagers had rushed over together and driven those ruffians away.
She had been briefly suspicious, but she quickly accepted it.
After all, there was no way the cowardly Hio could have driven those guys away by himself.
Of course, if Claire had grabbed any passerby and asked, the lie would have been exposed immediately.
But Hio knew better than anyone that Claire would never do such a thing, which was why he could get away with the lie.
Because Claire was the biggest outcast in this village.
She went around saying that she was the one avoiding others, but it amounted to the same thing.
In the end, it meant she had no friends.
Anyway, since that day, it was evident that she tried her best not to call him a coward.
Although he said they had come with the villagers, what Claire had seen with her own eyes was nothing but Hio alone.
The thought that cowardly Hio had rushed to the front for her sake made her heart feel strangely restless.
'Hmph! He can't say a word to the village brats. So how did he manage that?'
With those thoughts, Claire stomped upstairs.
And Hio, watching her, let out a small sigh.
"Sigh... Let's just clean."
Maybe her puberty was just late... He simply couldn't keep up with those ever-changing emotions.
'Well, those guys probably won't even think of showing their faces around here.'
Even in his own eyes, the skill effects had been absurd.
Effects one might only see in the extreme late game.
The lower the scum, the more frantically they valued their own lives, so they wouldn't dare come near.
'Just in case, I should ask Jason to take care of them when he comes.'
Though it was true that it still left a bad aftertaste.
Jason had said he would visit again soon, so Hio intended to ask him to put a definite end to those guys when he came.
'And once my Patience is maxed out... I'll have to leave.'
It wouldn't be long before his Patience reached the target value of 1000.
Then he would have to leave the village and begin his activities in earnest.
He had already decided where to head.
'The Last Mage's Tomb....'
A place Hio absolutely had to visit once his Patience was maxed out.
He hadn't come to this village solely because of Jason.
It was an area he had thoroughly explored in the early days, and a dungeon that only he knew about was located nearby.
— The Last Mage's Tomb.
He had discovered that dungeon in the early days of the game, stripped it clean of everything valuable, and then sealed it off, so there shouldn't be anyone who knew about it.
That was why he had decided to make it his first destination after leaving the village.
Because things existed there that could never be obtained at the starting stage.
"Alright, cleaning first!"
Hio rolled up his determination and mopped the floor vigorously.
There really wasn't much time left now.
He had endured for two years, and only a few months remained.
It was regrettable to part with the simple villagers, but this was also an act to protect them.
He would enjoy this relatively peaceful time for just a few more months.
...He had certainly thought so.
"Fire! Fire!"
"Wh-what is that?!"
"F-fire!"
That was, until the village turned into a sea of flames.