Ch.17The Holy Knight Who Came to Destroy the Order (5)

The forest gave way to reveal a small village in the distance.

“That’s Reangso Village over there.”

“Wow, it’s really far away. And much bigger than I expected.”

If she thinks that’s big, she’ll probably faint when she sees Odelin City.

I suppose it makes sense from Mirella’s perspective, having drifted into Starting Village when she was very young.

At the village entrance, several people were building something.

Wariness appeared in their eyes as we approached.

“Hello everyone.”

“Hello there.”

But when Mirella greeted them first, the villagers quickly responded with friendly attitudes.

Mirella is so cute and pretty that most people treat her kindly.

“We’re from Starting Village down below. We’re on our way to Odelin City to buy pigs.”

“Pigs, you say? Then you’re heading in the right direction. There’s no village around here prosperous enough to sell pigs.”

“What are you making here?”

When Mirella pointed at the platform they were building on the ground, the villagers’ expressions became very proud.

“We’re making a statue of the hero who saved our village.”

“A hero?”

“A silver-haired girl about your age who eliminated the Mad Doctor who was harming our village.”

This is the story of Alreina, the original protagonist.

When she first came to our shop, she told me about the Mad Doctor, the first boss in Reangso Village.

That Mad Doctor was the first boss the original protagonist Alreina encountered, and he’s no longer in this world now.

The reason he was called the Mad Doctor was because he tried to create hybrids between monsters and humans.

For that purpose, he kidnapped people and forced them to mate with monsters, killing truckloads of people in the process.

To avoid being caught by the Empire and Kingdom, he kept moving his laboratory until he settled in that abandoned villa in Reangso Village.

After the Mad Doctor settled there, people from the village kept disappearing, and eventually Alreina accepted a quest from the villagers and killed the Mad Doctor.

Mirella’s eyes widened as she heard my explanation.

“That happened? How do you know, brother?”

“Adventurers who stop by the shop told me about it.”

I couldn’t tell her it was because of my knowledge of the original story, so I made up an excuse.

“Since evil research was conducted there, it surely needs holy purification.”

For the noble Holy Knight Liberone, this was definitely not a place she could just pass by.

“Shall we go up and take a look?”

The path up to the villa wasn’t particularly difficult.

The slope of the mountain itself was gentle, and there was a small trail like the ones animals use.

“It looks really gloomy.”

Mirella muttered, looking up at the villa that resembled an old, dirty abandoned house.

The entrance was already smashed, and some unknown dark red liquid stained the floor.

Alreina is truly amazing.

I would never dare to enter such a place—my knees would be shaking too much.

Yet that young girl stormed in there all by herself.

The inside of the villa was quite dark.

The surrounding trees were so dense, and boards had been nailed over every window, preventing almost any light from entering.

Dust particles could be seen floating in the sunlight that seeped through the cracks between the boards.

“They hardly cleaned at all.”

“Seems that way.”

As we continued inside, we came to a large hall that the doctor used as a laboratory.

“Ugh!”

Mirella gasped in horror and clutched Vint’s Opener when she saw the corpses scattered on the floor.

They were bizarre hybrids created by the doctor.

The worst results of breeding and physically combining monsters, animals, humans, and other races.

“This is insane…”

The guards muttered curses as they examined the corpses.

“That one is quite large.”

Liberone pointed to one side with her greatsword.

There lay the Mad Doctor’s guard, a mixture of ogre and other species, with its head cut off.

A vicious creature with metal restraints on both hands.

This could actually be considered the first boss.

It fights in place of the Mad Doctor, and once you kill it, the Mad Doctor himself is very easy to kill.

Looking at the cross-section of the severed neck, I could tell that Alreina had followed my advice and stopped by Mestopin’s Junkyard before arriving here.

You can’t cut this cleanly with the basic knife given at the beginning of the journey.

She must have found a decent weapon at Mestopin’s Junkyard.

Well done, Alreina.

“What are you smiling so contentedly about?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

Mirella asked with a very suspicious expression.

“You must have seen wrong because it’s dark.”

I counted the corpses but couldn’t get any useful information.

Even in the game, the exact number of the Mad Doctor’s test subjects isn’t specified.

I couldn’t tell from here whether they were all dead or if some had survived.

“Let’s continue looking around.”

We went upstairs and entered the doctor’s bedroom at the end of the corridor.

This is where the doctor makes his last stand after you kill that guard monster.

There’s no meaningful battle scene; you just break down the door, kill him, and loot the safe—a simple event.

After thoroughly searching the bedroom, we found nothing left.

Alreina must have looted all the items as written in the walkthrough.

“Brother, have you been here before?”

“No.”

“Then how do you know your way around so well?”

“All villas have similar layouts.”

I smoothly deflected Mirella’s rather sharp question and looked around.

Nothing more to see.

If any test subjects survived, they would have fled far away—no one would be crazy enough to hang around here.

As we left the villa, Liberone stopped in front of it.

“Everyone, please step back. I will begin the purification.”

Liberone said, raising her greatsword.

“Please maintain a safe distance as it could be dangerous.”

I wasn’t sure why a safe distance was suddenly necessary, but since Liberone said so, I retreated to the bushes behind with Mirella and the guards.

After confirming that everyone was far enough away, Liberone raised her greatsword high.

Could she be about to unleash powerful holy energy that would envelop the entire building?

Liberone struck the villa’s wall with her greatsword as if hammering it.

CRASH!!

Everyone was startled and covered their ears with both hands.

The wall shattered where the greatsword hit it and collapsed inward.

After striking it several times, one side of the villa and the pillars supporting the roof were destroyed, and finally the roof caved in.

Liberone’s greatsword mercilessly pounded the foundation that was still standing even after the roof collapsed.

The thick dust that rose up engulfed Liberone as she swung her greatsword.

When the dust cleared moments later, all that remained was a pile of stones that used to be the villa and Liberone calmly retrieving her greatsword.

“Guardian Angel. The purification is complete.”

Holy purification (physical).

The guards applauded in a daze.

Just then, I noticed something beyond the settling dust, between the trees.

Something green and extremely suspicious was watching us from among the trees.

What is that?

When I narrowed my eyes to look again, there was nothing there.

I must have seen wrong.

* * * * *

The sun gradually tilted to the left and completely set behind the mountain range across the river.

The sky, which had been gradually turning blue from the right, darkened rapidly as stars began to appear.

When the dark shadows of the trees made it difficult to see the road, I decided it was time to camp for the night.

We parked the carriage by the roadside and sent Liberone to find a suitable spot.

Soon the guards found a small space between the trees.

“There’s some kind of structure here, Jack. It would be good for camping.”

Upon checking, I found benches made of wood and brick, perhaps once used as a guard post or temporary shelter.

Perfect.

We lit a large campfire in the middle of the clearing and unpacked.

While the others set up the campsite, I prepared dinner.

The menu was stew.

When you’re outdoors like this, there’s nothing easier to make than stew.

Just cut potatoes, carrots, radishes into bite-sized pieces, throw them all in water, add some seasoning, and let it simmer—that’s it.

There’s a reason stews appear so often in movies and novels.

“This is so delicious.”

Mirella beamed as she ate the stew, and Liberone also nodded silently while scraping her bowl clean.

The guard uncles must have liked it too, as they each finished two bowls.

After enjoying dinner, we sat around the campfire to rest in its warmth.

The guards gathered on the other side, smoking tobacco and chatting.

I read a book about potion-making methods that I had brought, and Mirella also pulled out a book and read intently.

Looking closer, I saw it was a worn-out novel.

She must have taken one from the bookshelf in the corner of the shop.

She learned to read well, and now she’s even reading novels.

I’m really proud of her.

Liberone didn’t do anything and just stared blankly at the campfire.

I couldn’t tell what she was thinking at all.

So we all silently focused on our own activities.

After reading for a while, I happened to look up and my eyes widened.

Beyond Liberone’s shoulder, something green was standing inside the forest.

That’s strange.

I think I saw it earlier when we were destroying the research facility too.

As I started to get up, it instantly vanished from sight again.

What is that… I keep seeing things lately.