Ch.337Side Story: Coincidence and Consolation

As I went deeper into the village, people’s gazes fell on me more frequently.

At first, I thought it was simple curiosity, but the hostility and displeasure I felt with each glance left me somewhat perplexed.

[This is excessive.]

Stella seemed to feel the same way as I did, wearing a worried expression.

She had just called it a minor concern, but with this level of hostility, there was room to reconsider.

“How strange.”

Wondering why they needed to be so hostile, I headed toward the sound of horses neighing.

The stable was located somewhat apart from the edge of the village—a considerate location for the villagers, given the smell of horse manure and the noise.

“Sniff.”

A middle-aged man who appeared to be the stable owner glanced in my direction and pretended not to see me as he began feeding hay to the horses.

“Excuse me.”

When I greeted the back of his head, the man slightly flinched and hunched his shoulders, apparently surprised that I would address him.

“Hmm, who are you?”

“I’m Shinwoo Kim. I’ve settled down and am living nearby.”

“Hmm? You’ve settled nearby?”

[He seems to know something.]

I felt like a suspect in a crime drama.

The stable owner suddenly asked in an overly assertive and quite aggressive manner.

“You’re not talking about the house on Bolt Hill, are you?”

“…Yes, I am.”

“Aish! What garbage!”

I wondered what was suddenly happening. The stable owner was pointing at me and spewing curses.

Fortunately, we were somewhat distant from the village; otherwise, everyone would have come rushing over at his outburst.

“How dare you crawl in here! Those drug dealers on Bolt Hill should all be beaten to death!”

[Oh dear…]

I understood immediately what he meant. Since Bolt Hill had originally been a den of drug dealers, he saw us as part of their gang since we had settled there.

“My friend Veren is still drinking himself to death over losing his son! If you bastards hadn’t ruined the kids with those strange flowers, his son would be married by now!”

The aftermath of tragedy.

It wasn’t just souls that had been destroyed through the golden flowers I had seen.

They had left deep, profound wounds in the village where they had originally lived.

[How sad.]

Stella clasped her hands together, offering a brief prayer for them.

I began to calmly explain to the fuming stable owner.

“I understand how you feel. But I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“Misunderstanding?! What misunderstanding! Just when we thought those bastards were finally gone! The Management Bureau already spread rumors that someone bought that land! I didn’t think they’d dare crawl back here!”

The Management Bureau.

From what I’d heard, it was a newly established department in the Republic of Clark, created to acknowledge the republic’s chaotic situation and serve its citizens.

They didn’t handle major issues but resolved minor incidents and civil complaints.

‘So the Management Bureau released that information.’

Feeling uneasy, I still tried to clear up the misunderstanding.

“Weren’t all the drug dealers eliminated?”

“Yes! The Management Bureau said they’d clear them out by a certain date, but it was earlier than…”

“That was me.”

When I stated it matter-of-factly, the stable owner was about to threaten me again, asking what nonsense I was talking about.

“I took care of all of them.”

“…Huh?”

His mouth, which had been open to shout something, froze as he stared at me blankly.

The timing felt natural, so I continued.

“I discovered that the gang cultivating golden flowers at Flower Garden was diverting some to grow elsewhere.”

“…”

“Having unpleasant memories related to that, I tracked them down and dealt with them. You may not believe me, but…”

I raised my hand, manifesting mana. A gentle blue flame rose, intuitively demonstrating my aptitude for magic.

“I’m a fairly skilled Mage.”

[Fairly?]

Stella, having finished her prayer, playfully leaned in and asked, but I deliberately ignored her.

Strictly speaking, it was Findenai who had dealt with them, not me, but I had given the order.

Besides, I couldn’t explain all those details here.

“…”

The stable owner seemed lost in thought.

After waiting for quite some time, he exhaled bitterly and smacked his lips. He looked like he could use a drink.

“As I said earlier, they were eliminated… earlier than the date the Management Bureau told us. The Bureau claims they arrested them, but everyone in the village knows they died brutally, as the smell of blood reached all the way to the village.”

If they had been arrested, there wouldn’t have been the smell of blood.

“Did you… did you really resolve this, Mage?”

The now-respectful stable owner asked with desperation, and I simply nodded slightly.

“If, if you don’t mind… could you tell my friend the same thing? Just, just once, please.”

Seeing his attitude completely change with such desperation, I didn’t hesitate much.

“Lead the way.”

I had come to buy a cart but ended up in a strange companionship.

As we re-entered the village, people’s gazes were still fixed on me, but seeing me with the stable owner, their hostile looks changed to curious ones.

The place we arrived at was a tavern.

I wondered if someone was drinking this early in the morning, but that wasn’t it—the tavern owner was the friend he had mentioned, Veren.

“Norman? What are you doing at this hour…”

“Veren, we have a guest.”

The introduction was brief.

When the stable owner, called Norman, introduced me, Veren’s eyes widened.

Despite his large frame, his shoulders were slumped, and the powerless tavern owner clenched his fist.

“I, I followed the smell of blood and saw the bodies… torn to pieces, completely butchered.”

“Yes, that was my maid’s doing. There must have been marks from axe blows everywhere.”

“…!”

At my words, Veren nodded vigorously.

“That’s right! That’s right! When I saw that, I knew there was a god in this world! Those bastards truly deserved divine punishment!”

“If you want to associate it with divinity, go ahead. I didn’t do it to avenge you, but for my own purposes.”

“Ah.”

Veren covered his face with both hands and leaned on the counter. The sound of sobbing echoed briefly.

“My, my son… his face melted. Watching him die as his eyeballs fell out, you can’t imagine how painful it was for a father.”

“…”

“He couldn’t even die looking human. Fearing the drug-melted bodies might contaminate other corpses, we burned them completely.”

He asked me desperately.

“My, my son, even though he changed like that, would the gods still embrace him?”

“…”

I didn’t hesitate about how to answer. But before speaking, I suddenly felt as if I had become Deus Verdi.

Come to think of it, my speech pattern had reverted to that time.

‘This is difficult.’

Perhaps it was because I equated myself with Deus, recognizing myself as an inevitable existence on the continent.

Lately, I’ve frequently had the illusion of becoming him.

But.

Whether it was him or me, the answer here would be the same.

“The golden flower corrupts even the human soul. The victims, even as spirits, wandered searching for the golden flower.”

“Ah…”

“Ma-Mage!”

Veren trembled and banged his head on the counter at what seemed like a despairing answer, and Norman behind him urgently called out to me.

“Thanks to them, I was able to locate the flowers.”

I don’t lie.

Cruel as it may be, I know that clear and firm truth is more comforting than sweet lies.

“Thanks to them, I prevented the golden flower from spreading across the continent. Now that flower won’t grow anywhere on the continent.”

“…”

“Also.”

Slowly.

I reached out and placed my hand on Veren’s hand.

A recent wound on his wrist.

Despite being a tavern owner, the void left by his son couldn’t be soothed with alcohol.

His rough hands conveyed his suffering.

“A man risked his life to provide a place for them. Unlike their bodies, which couldn’t be buried with others, their souls are safely resting together with the others.”

Thinking of the souls that would be resting within Deus Verdi’s body, I added comfortingly.

“If you wish.”

I glanced at Stella beside me.

“I’ll ask the kindest god I know to pray for him.”

Stella naturally clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. Her gentle smile was truly sacred and beautiful.

A quiet prayer for those who had been corrupted and burned away in this land.

As Stella’s divine aura gently filled the tavern.

“Sob.”

The father who had lost his son.

“Huk! Be-Ben!”

Though he continued to shed tears, he forced his voice to be clear as he called out.

“My, my son’s name is Ben.”

With that, Veren continued to pour out his tears. The grief of losing a son would never fade completely, even over a lifetime.

But I hoped it would provide him with at least some comfort.

* * *

“Huff! Huff!”

Laila, a Level 2 administrator from the Management Bureau, urgently entered Iceburn Village on her bicycle.

Wiping her sweat-soaked blue hair, she headed straight for the tavern after receiving reports from the villagers.

What could have happened?

As she arrived in front of the tavern on her bicycle, worried.

From inside the tavern came a man’s wailing. Yet somehow, despite being the sound of crying, it conveyed an emotion stronger than sadness.

Should it be called tears that released han?

But more noticeable was a woman blocking the entrance.

A woman wearing a pure white dress with bleached white hair exuded nobility just by her appearance.

Laila approached her as if entranced.

“I’m Laila Vesh, Level 2 administrator from the Republic of Clark’s Management Bureau. What’s happening here?”

[Ah, you’re from the Management Bureau.]

The voice that greeted her with a bright smile somehow resonated in her head, but it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.

Rather, its warmth made her feel good just from hearing it.

“Who are you?”

At Laila’s question, Stella thought for a moment before answering with a smile.

[Just a passing nun.]

“A nun?”

Though she wasn’t wearing a nun’s habit, the description suddenly felt perfect.

It was so fitting that Laila wondered why she hadn’t realized it from the start.

“What’s happening inside?”

[You could call it consolation.]

Stella answered, scratching her cheek. But Laila, with an expression of incomprehension, tried to enter the tavern.

[Wait a moment.]

Stella grabbed her shoulder and spoke carefully.

[You’re someone with strong convictions, aren’t you?]

“What?”

She wondered what this sudden comment meant.

She had often been told at the Management Bureau that she was stubborn, but…

With a worried expression, Stella advised Laila.

[Don’t try to learn too much about the person inside.]

“…What are you trying to say?”

[In my experience…]

Frowning slightly, Stella sighed with concern.

[People with strong convictions… tend to fall easily.]