Ch.22Pig Farm

*

Despite it being midday, the weather was gloomy with heavy dark clouds,

As if rain could pour down at any moment.

If it’s going to rain, just rain already,

The dark clouds in the sky seemed to be gathering some ominous energy, growing larger and thicker by the moment.

The pale-faced man with his hair slicked back with oil slowly got out of the carriage, then walked away with heavy steps, sighing.

His destination was a shabby pig farm built on the outskirts of the kingdom’s capital.

From the outside, it appeared to be just an ordinary pig farm with a large yard and a small livestock shed, but strangely, two fully armored guards stood at the entrance.

The man slowly approached the guards and spoke.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“You’ve arrived, Priest Melvin.”

Yeah, I fucking came, the man muttered to himself.

The guards, hearing this, showed no particular reaction, as if understanding his feelings.

“…Is Lady Alice inside?”

“Yes, Holy Virgin Alice is waiting for you.”

“…Hah.”

“…Is this your first time?”

“Thankfully, I’ve had no reason to come here until now.”

Melvin sighed and took out two small glass beads from his pocket, handing them to the guards.

“These are stones engraved with heating magic. It looks like it’s going to rain soon, so keep them in case you get cold.”

“Thank you, Priest.”

The guard bowed slightly and slowly opened the door.

“Priest.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“…”

The guard was silent for a moment before slowly speaking.

“Please be aware that the smell is quite foul.”

“…Yes.”

Melvin slowly approached the livestock shed.

Indeed, as the guard had warned, with each step closer, the nauseating stench grew stronger.

By the time he reached the door of the shed, he could no longer hold back the rising nausea.

It was fortunate that he hadn’t eaten anything before coming.

Melvin nervously spat thin stomach acid onto the muddy ground and sighed.

Then, with his eyes tightly shut, he opened the sliding door of the livestock shed in front of him.

“Ugh!”

As he opened the door, a hot and disgusting wind blew directly into Melvin’s face.

No, it wasn’t wind.

It was the stench.

It was just air filled with a terrible smell pushing through, but the stench filling the livestock shed was so intense and dense that it made Melvin’s hair flutter.

It was beyond what could be described as simply having a terrible smell.

It felt as if the bridge of his nose was being torn apart from the inside.

He couldn’t even take a deep breath because he absolutely did not want to take such air into his body.

But Alice was in there, deep inside.

Melvin steeled himself and slowly entered the livestock shed.

‘Oh, my goddess. Now I understand why this pig farm is so infamous.’

Having taken just one step inside, the painful groans of suffering pigs filled the air, penetrating his ears from all directions.

Inside the shed, there were ten pig pens on each side, twenty in total.

At the end of the central passage wide enough for a person to walk through, there was a chair, and sitting on it was a woman wearing a thin shirt and thick work pants.

Her hair, cut short above her shoulders, was a messy mix of reddish dark brown and blonde, but it was so dirty with filth that it was impossible to tell its original color.

The blue irises set in her large eyes glowed faintly with a dull, dirty color, and those eyes were fixed precisely in the center of her eyelids, not touching any part of them.

Her lips were firmly closed in a straight line, giving her an overall chilling, expressionless look that made it impossible to read her thoughts.

Melvin approached her and, holding his breath, said:

“Holy Virgin Alice.”

Melvin tried to kneel before her.

It was a courtesy that he, as a priest, had to show before her, who held a high position in the Goddess Church.

But Alice stopped him, saying:

“You don’t need to kneel on the floor. It’s good that you want to show respect to your superior… but I doubt you want to kneel in this pig manure.”

“…Thank you for saving me. I appreciate it, Lady Alice.”

Melvin tried his best not to look around.

The terrible rumors about this pig farm owned by Alice were already famous among the priests.

Hell was unfolding on both sides of the passage where Melvin and Alice stood.

Melvin tried his best not to be conscious of his peripheral vision.

It felt as if a primal fear was beckoning to him from the edge of his sight.

“…The investigation results are in.”

Melvin took out a parchment scroll from his pocket with trembling hands and handed it to Alice.

His voice, trembling as much as his hands, showed no signs of calming down.

It was understandable, being in front of Alice.

Although this was the first time he had seen her up close, Melvin was already afraid of her.

From the beginning, he had feared Alice, even outside of this pig farm.

Alice Goldfield.

Member of the Goddess Church’s Heresy Judgment Division.

Holy Virgin, the heaviest sword of the Goddess Church.

While heresy inquisitors are commonly known as the “hammers” of the Goddess Church, she was called a sword because she hunted corrupt power holders rather than heretics.

Whether it was appropriate for someone devoted to religion to judge worldly powers was still a matter of debate within the Goddess Church,

But with the Pope’s favor towards her, her justification that she couldn’t ignore the suffering people, and her actual record of saving those in pain, no priest within the Goddess Church openly criticized her activities.

No, from the beginning, priests feared her and wanted to avoid getting involved with her as much as possible.

There were several reasons why she was feared despite all her achievements, but the first was the support of the common people behind her.

The general public’s support for her had already transcended trust and reached the level of faith, almost fanaticism.

Most of the commoners who had recently become more active in religious activities flocked to the cathedral to see her, not the Goddess.

They would ignore the bishop’s sermon but weigh heavily on her every word.

She herself had become a symbol of the Goddess Church.

The second reason was her power.

Of course, she had been a promising knight academy student showing outstanding talent from the beginning, but six years ago, she had been rejected from the hero party selection process due to insufficient skills.

She was excellent, but still within the limits of an ordinary human.

However, since last year, after she joined the Goddess Church as a holy knight, her power began to grow tremendously.

There were even rumors that Alice Goldfield had received a revelation from the Goddess.

After she dedicated herself to the Goddess Church, there were major incidents in her family, he had heard.

Her father was driven out due to a conspiracy, and her mother committed suicide after being violated.

Was her sudden power and growth driven by anger?

Now, she was considered such a formidable being that some even compared her to Silvia, the hero who defeated the Demon Lord and sacrificed herself.

Alice quickly unfolded the parchment and read through it.

Melvin began to add explanations, inferring which parts she was reading.

“Balder Staff is still missing.”

“…That rat bastard.”

Alice growled with an angry voice.

Her anger sent a chill down Melvin’s spine.

Melvin continued speaking, following Alice’s gaze.

“But, as you can see if you read the paragraph below…”

“…What?”

Alice’s already large eyes widened even more.

The dull blue irises set in them slowly trembled.

Melvin continued his explanation.

“The two people you mentioned. Ash Staff and Layla Staff apparently left the mansion on the day the Staff family was attacked.”

“…Then, there’s a possibility they’re not dead.”

“Lady Alice, that’s difficult to confirm. After all, the place where those two fled to is…”

Alice, who had already read the content, spoke first.

“…The forest near the Demon Lord’s castle?”

“That’s correct.”

“What’s the name of the forest?”

“Since it’s near the Demon Lord’s castle, there’s not much human traffic, so it doesn’t have an official name, but it’s nicknamed ‘Lying Tree Forest’.”

“Lying tree?”

“The trees are deformed due to the Demon Lord’s miasma, hence the name. As you get closer to the Demon Lord’s castle, the trees grow lying sideways…”

Alice rolled up the parchment she had finished reading and handed it back to Melvin, saying:

“The Demon Lord is dead now. The demonic energy won’t spread anymore, so doesn’t that mean there’s a high chance those two are alive?”

“…I cannot give a definitive answer.”

“Hmm, is it because of the ferocious monsters?”

“Yes. After the Demon Lord disappeared, the forest is full of monsters and beasts that have lost control and gone berserk. It’s a demonic area where even if we send the best-trained soldiers in the kingdom, one out of three doesn’t return.”

“…”

Alice closed her mouth tightly.

Judging by the twitching of her jaw, it was clear she was grinding her teeth, suppressing her anger.

“You said it was a powerless man and a young girl about ten years old.”

“Ash and Layla. Yes, that’s correct.”

“Lady Alice… The possibility is very low. I’m truly sorry to say this, but those two are probably already…”

Alice stood up from her chair.

Just by standing up, Melvin unconsciously stopped speaking and lowered his head.

Her expression was so chilling that he couldn’t help but look down.

Alice spoke each word distinctly:

“The possibility. Is low.”

“…Huh.”

“Low means there still is some, right?”

“…Well, that…”

Alice slowly approached Melvin and stood to his right.

As she came closer, the pigs around them squealed in terror.

Melvin, still with his head lowered, trembled all over and tightly shut his eyes.

Whether from fear or not, Melvin’s breathing became rapid, and he unconsciously took a deep breath.

“Ugh, uwek!”

Melvin finally couldn’t bear the stench and tension anymore and fell to the ground, retching.

Alice slowly approached Melvin and helped him up.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It’s quite dirty here, isn’t it?”

As Melvin was being helped up by Alice’s hand, he saw it.

The pigs lying miserably and wailing on both sides of the livestock shed.

He made eye contact with them.

“Ugh, up, uweeek,”

He knew.

He had already heard about it, but seeing it directly with his own eyes, the shock was indescribable.

Humans with their arms and legs cut off, crawling on the ground.

That was the true identity of the pigs in this farm.

Corrupt politicians, exploitative lords, fallen clergy that Alice had hunted.

The one whose eyes met Melvin’s was even a cardinal he had once served.

He had been caught raping a young boy and became a target of Alice’s punishment.

This was the final reason why priests feared Alice.

She was insane.

Melvin continuously vomited.

After throwing up bile and taking a breath, the disgusting smell filled his lungs, forcing him to vomit again.

Alice patted Melvin’s back and said:

“I’m sorry. It’s before cleaning time.”

“Kuk… It’s alri- uwup,”

“Now, listen while you’re vomiting, Priest Melvin.”

Alice spoke to Melvin, who was retching:

“I understand what you’re saying. I understand that there’s a high possibility those two are dead.”

“Th-thank you for, ugk, understanding…”

“Please bring those two people back, even if they’re just corpses. At least… they should be buried next to their family, shouldn’t they?”

“But… that would just waste the church’s military resources…”

“This is not a request, Priest.”

Alice spoke firmly, dropping the honorific “nim” she had been using until now.

Melvin, whose nausea had finally subsided, wiped around his mouth with his sleeve and slowly looked up at Alice.

She was still looking down at him with that expressionless face.

“I’m not asking you to find them. Just try, at least. This is not a request, okay?”

Try.

It’s an order.

Isn’t this essentially demanding results no matter what?

But Melvin already lacked the energy to argue or the grounds to refuse.

He just wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

“…Yes, I understand.”

“The order is just to search. If a life-threatening situation arises, you may abandon the mission and return.”

“…Yees,”

Melvin answered weakly with a drained face.

Alice knelt on one knee in front of Melvin and personally brushed off the filth on his knees.

It was even more frightening to see a superior kneeling so casually.

This woman defies common sense.

Melvin realized this fact with his whole body just from this cursed pig farm and her current behavior.

Melvin thought he might as well lose his mind too.

He openly questioned Alice:

“Why… why do you need to find those two people so desperately?”

“…”

“What is this Ash Staff to you…”

Alice slowly stood up and stared directly at Melvin with that chilling expressionless face.

Melvin swallowed hard as he looked at Alice.

Suddenly, Alice pulled the corners of her mouth up into a smile.

It was an artificial and creepy smile, as if someone had pulled it up with strings.

“He’s my fiancé.”

“…Ah,”

“Do you need more explanation?”

Melvin shook his head and slowly turned around to leave the livestock shed.

Outside, it was raining as he had worried, but that was actually better.

After closing the door of the shed, he ran like mad, trying to wash away the terrible stench on him with the cold rainwater.

The guards looked at Melvin and silently clicked their tongues.

After Melvin left, Alice lowered her head and sighed.

Then she quietly spoke to the pigs in the livestock shed:

“You disgusting maggots.”

The ‘pigs’ all trembled in fear.

Those who had received the ‘punishment’ of having their arms cut off at the shoulders and legs below the knees, forced to crawl with their heads on the ground, shed tears, crushed by fear at just one word from Alice.

“You’re making my guest uncomfortable, you disgusting things.”

Alice took out a whip from behind the chair and lashed it at the pigs.

With her strength, comparable to that of a hero, the pigs’ backs burst open, splattering pieces of flesh like fragments.

Alice flicked off a piece of flesh that had flown onto her hair and said:

“Start cleaning, you maggots.”

Alice personally went from pen to pen, urging the pigs with her whip.

The pigs screamed and put the pieces of flesh and filth from their bodies back inside themselves.

It didn’t matter if someone died in this filthy pit of hell.

From the beginning, this pig farm was a space she created to kill them in the most painful way possible.

If someone died, she would just capture another deserving person and confine them.

She had sworn before the Goddess that she would never stop until all the bad people in the world disappeared and this pig farm was completely empty.

But.

The leftmost pen at the back of the livestock shed.

That one pen was kept empty.

That place was special.

That solitary cell already had a designated owner.

She had even attached a nameplate in advance.

[Balder Staff]

The uncle of the Maria siblings.

The man who killed Maria’s parents and also made Ash and Layla go missing.

Alice’s mother took her own life because her honor was tainted by the terrible things done to her, but Ash’s parents met an even more horrific death.

They probably… would have envied the opportunity to take their own lives.

Alice gritted her teeth and threw down the whip.

She would definitely catch him.

If she couldn’t catch this man, she would have no face to show her proud friend Maria, who had met an honorable death.

Ah, Maria. My lifelong friend.

I will definitely catch this trash who harmed your family.

I will definitely catch him and torment him for a long time.

And…

“If you’re alive, if we can meet again, I’ll show you the scene of that bastard suffering, Ash.”

Alice strode out of the livestock shed.

.