Ch.18Chapter 18 – The Hero and the Heavenly Demon’s Mentor (3)

* * *

The village chief of Wonderhill, Kevin, was sweating profusely as he listened to the current situation.

This rural village was in a remote location where people rarely visited, which had made the locals even more territorial. And now a guest had arrived.

“The Gold Tower Master?! You mean Wolfram Alchemista has come?”

The master of the Magic Tower, which was supposedly built to protect this world from the Demon King’s attacks. This was Wolfram, who was said to be able to turn even stones on the street into gold.

She was famous for valuing people solely by money and wealth, and for removing anyone from her sight at any cost if they caused her loss.

Rumors of people who went bankrupt after owing her enormous debts were common even in the black markets of back alleys.

“Why on earth…?”

After hearing reports from other villagers, Kevin could only bite his nails and imagine the reason.

Had they discovered that he diverted goods meant for the capital, claiming they were attacked by bandits, and secretly shared the profits?

Or had word gotten out about buying sick or diseased beastkin slaves and selling them at a premium to provincial nobles with peculiar tastes?

Perhaps they’d found out he was unfairly collecting taxes to fill his own coffers?

Or worse, had the world discovered that he’d been working with black magicians to gather lepers and prostitutes in back alleys to use as living blood bags?

‘If even one of these is discovered, my head will roll…!!’

Chief Kevin gulped and hurriedly prepared to welcome the Gold Tower Master.

He didn’t know that all this was happening because Verdandi had received divine revelation from Verdandi and been chosen as the Hero.

He was simply a vile and disgusting person, trembling with fear that his hidden misdeeds might be exposed.

“Oh my goodness…! Welcome to our Wonderhill Village!!”

Kevin immediately ran to Wolfram Alchemista, the Gold Tower Master, and bowed his head deeply. His shiny bald head was so oily that it clearly reflected the sunlight.

“Ugh, it’s the bald mister? I thought you were an octopus when I saw you from a distance.”

Wolfram spoke with obvious disgust. It was quite a rude remark, but he suppressed his bubbling emotions and said:

“What brings such a noble person as the Gold Tower Master to our humble village…?”

Kevin rubbed his hands like a fly while reading the atmosphere. Wait, there were two unfamiliar figures.

A sturdy man with white hair and blue eyes, and a girl who seemed like his opposite with black hair and red eyes, both standing beside the Gold Tower Master.

“And who might these two be…?”

They looked nothing like fellow magicians from the Magic Tower, given their attire and aura.

“This guy? Sister?”

At that moment, a chilling sensation ran down his spine as if a knife had been stabbed into it, and a cold voice penetrated his ears.

“H-huh…! A ghost…!!”

Kevin, crushed by the killing intent, couldn’t stand up and committed an impropriety by collapsing on the spot.

“Yes! The village chief has always looked at me with sticky eyes! He would look me up and down while breathing heavily, just like a pervert!”

At that moment, Verdandi, who appeared from behind Bi-wol and Bing-yeon, covered her mouth with her hand and giggled as if finding the situation amusing.

“V-Verdandi…? How are you with the Gold Tower Master? Did you perhaps commit some offense…?”

Seeing her face, Kevin couldn’t help but realize something was wrong.

How could the child of a woman who had been thoroughly ostracized by the entire village be acting alongside the noble Gold Tower Master?

“The offense was committed by you!”

Verdandi pointed at Kevin’s wet crotch as she spoke. In this serious situation where a foul smell was spreading, someone stepped forward.

“Kevin Osclo, you know your crimes better than anyone.”

The white-haired man who was pressing his brow with his fingers, expressing his displeasure through body language, was Bing-yeon, who had come from the East to find Verdandi.

“What are you talking about…? I am a good person who has never committed a single sin, looking up to heaven…”

“…He’s evil! This person is definitely evil!”

Verdandi stuck out her tongue teasingly. At her behavior, Kevin clicked his tongue and cursed inwardly.

“Shut up! Verdandi, what do you know!”

He had always hated how she smiled brightly despite being born from a woman who had been raped by bandits.

He constantly had the sinister desire to paint over her bright smile with tears and despair.

“I was the only one who voted against expelling you from the village! You should be grateful for the kindness I showed you!”

Originally, he had planned to make the entire village ostracize Verdandi, then pretend to be the only person who understood her so he could take everything from her.

The desire to turn Verdandi into a toy that would beg not to be abandoned no matter what cruel pranks he played on her.

That was the ugly inner nature of the villain Kevin Osclo as described in the original work “I Need To Kill The Hero.”

“…Bi-wol. This fellow’s head seems a bit too high.”

Han Do-hyeon, the original author who knew this fact better than anyone and was now residing in Bing-yeon’s body, slowly pointed his finger downward.

“Yes, Master. I will follow your command.”

“…Ugh?!”

Soon, with a loud bang, Kevin’s forehead hit the ground once. As soon as Bi-wol’s hand touched the back of his head, tremendous force was driven downward.

“You illegally sold beastkin slaves to provincial nobles and turned children, the elderly, and women in back alleys into blood suppliers for black magicians.”

Bang! Bang!

Each time Bing-yeon listed a crime, Kevin’s forehead hit the ground. Warm blood flowed from his broken forehead.

“You lied about goods for the capital being attacked by bandits, and used this as an excuse to plunder more land and gold from the villagers.”

Shudder.

Kevin felt chills all over his body as he watched Bing-yeon list all the evil deeds he had been thinking about without missing any.

“H-how did you…!”

“How could you hide the sky with your palm?”

Bing-yeon let out a hollow laugh as if finding the panicking Kevin ridiculous, and began to list the crimes he hadn’t yet mentioned.

“You harassed married women and handed children over to bandits to be used as serfs.”

Each time, his head was driven into the ground by Bi-wol’s hand. The punishment was repeated so many times that a hole was forming.

“Ch-Chief…?!”

“Isn’t that the Gold Tower Master…?”

The villagers who finally noticed the situation gathered around the chief and whispered. The village chief with blood streaming from his forehead, and suspicious outsiders with Verdandi.

“And you were the one who led the entire village to slander and point fingers at my precious disciple.”

Bing-yeon slowly lowered his gaze to look at Kevin, who was covered in tears and snot, moaning in pain.

Even though it was a setting he had created himself, he had thought Kevin might change if given a chance to repent.

“You’re trash.”

“That’s right! He’s trash!”

As Bi-wol and Verdandi said, this guy was indeed trash. Even now, he kept repeating that he was wronged, as if he had done nothing wrong.

“I… I haven’t done anything… wrong…”

“Fine, then let’s ask the villagers directly. You there, tell me one bad thing the village chief has done.”

Bing-yeon, who was sick of such hypocrites, pointed at a boy to confirm the kill.

“Me? Me?”

“Yes, who else would I be pointing at here besides you?”

When the boy looked around trying to avoid answering, Bing-yeon released a slight chill to make him speak.

“…He spread false rumors that my sister was a witch and called for a trial to burn her at the stake!”

The words that came out of the boy’s mouth were shocking even to Bing-yeon. An innocent girl had been reduced to ashes because of the chief’s evil deeds.

“T-that’s because your parents didn’t pay the village development fund to me…! If you have children, you’re supposed to pay double…!”

“Actually, you tried to touch her with lustful thoughts, and when she resisted fiercely and ran away, you spread rumors to kill her.”

Bing-yeon ground Kevin’s face into the ground himself as he was still trying to make excuses. He couldn’t stand hearing anything more from that filthy mouth.

At that moment,

There was a sound of tuk, tuk, as something flew toward them.

“…You devil wearing human skin!”

“That’s right! You trash! Die!”

“We didn’t know he was this kind of person!”

The villagers began throwing stones at their feet to shift all blame onto the chief.

“Gold Tower Master! We’ve been deceived by the village chief all this time!”

“Everyone, help these people who came to save our village!”

Good and evil had switched as easily as flipping a palm. They were dark and sinister human beings who changed their stance incredibly quickly.

– [The person in front of you is ‘evil’.]

As if throwing stones at the village chief could erase all the evil deeds that had accumulated over time.

“Verdandi, you’ve been through a lot, haven’t you…?”

They showed kind smiles to Verdandi and reached out their hands. To her, their hands felt like those of beasts rather than humans.

In that moment of fear, disgust, and discomfort.

“Shut up, you’re all the same as that bastard getting stoned!”

A broad back and shoulders appeared, blocking between the villagers and Verdandi. A man who now gave her a sense of relief.

“You had your chance!”

It was Bing-yeon with his distinctive white hair and blue eyes.

“You could have treated Verdandi kindly, you could have rebuked the chief for his wrongs knowing what he did, and you could have willingly accepted those who were driven to the back alleys of this village…!”

Bing-yeon raised his voice toward the surrounding villagers. Veins stood out on his neck, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“But you didn’t. For the pathetic reason that you were afraid and thought you had to do what everyone else was doing, you turned a blind eye to injustice!”

At Bing-yeon’s words, the stone-throwing stopped abruptly. Everyone was looking at Verdandi with disapproving faces.

“I hate people like this the most. Trash who lie even to themselves, trying to rationalize their own wrongdoings.”

At Bing-yeon’s sharp words, the beating in Verdandi’s heart began to grow louder.

‘He’s getting angry on my behalf…’

She felt as if her heart was malfunctioning, so she placed her hand on the center of her chest to try to stop the pounding, but.

“…None of you are free from committing the same wrongs as the chief. You damn dogs.”

She couldn’t.

Because Bing-yeon, who was angrily emitting a chill that enveloped the entire village, looked too cool.

* * *

“It’s a shame to leave like this. I feel like I’ve grown attached to you all. Thanks for telling me the location of the Philosopher’s Stone too…”

“Then take good care of Verdandi’s mother.”

I said as I boarded the carriage to meet Azazel, taking a different path from Wolfram.

It was time to part ways with the Gold Tower Master. I’d entrusted Aila’s well-being to her, so it should be fine.

“Yes! Take care, Bing-yeon! If you ever have a reason to visit the Magic Tower, make sure to find me!”

Wolfram waved her hand vigorously as she said goodbye. I felt deeply moved having saved a character who was originally supposed to die.

“You owe me one now, Sister. I got revenge on the villagers for you, didn’t I?”

“Thank you, Senior!”

Bi-wol and Verdandi were chatting happily in the carriage. My suggestion had worked successfully, and the corners of my mouth naturally turned upward.

“Verdandi, don’t you have any regrets? We got revenge on those villagers, but it might have been too late for you to accept…”

I asked how Verdandi was feeling, just in case. No matter what, the wounds deeply engraved in her heart probably wouldn’t disappear.

But,

“…It’s not too late!”

Instead, she spoke brightly as if nothing was wrong.

“I’m grateful to have met my master even now! I might have done something crazy just believing in the divine revelation!”

Since I had prevented her from accidentally killing her mother and falling completely into the path of madness.

It wasn’t strange for her to feel grateful like this.

“I’ll work hard like Senior!”

“Yes, that’s good thinking… What did you say?”

And so, Verdandi took advantage of the moment when I was distracted looking at the scenery outside the carriage.

Smooch.

“As a hero, I want to rescue my master, the princess, and make her my wife!”

She shyly kissed me on the cheek, and,

“Y-you wolf cub…!! Doing something I haven’t even done yet…?!”

Bi-wol, seeing this, shouted with a face that had turned as hard as stone.