Ch.390EP.81 – They Should Have Seen Where They Were Lying (2)

Contrary to what Ihan had expected, the mercenaries didn’t pick a fight with him.

They briefly glanced at him, but…

Flinch!

As if they’d seen something they shouldn’t have, they quickly averted their gaze and went about their business.

‘…That’s disappointing.’

Ihan clicked his tongue.

It would have been more fun if they had started something.

Perhaps this was the natural response.

Sometimes mercenaries pick fights with others in taverns, but those are usually nobodies or fly-by-night types, not like these…

‘They’re veterans, those guys.’

This wouldn’t apply to mid-to-high-ranking mercenaries.

Click, click.

Though their leather armor appeared worn at first glance, the material was quite good.

Probably made from the hide of a mid-to-high-level magical beast.

Their high-quality iron swords, spears, and shields also showed they had invested properly in weapons and armor.

In other words, it was evidence they weren’t just any rabble, and sure enough…

“That’s the Oberon Mercenary Company.”

“Are they famous?”

“They’re an elite small group. They only accept mid-to-high-ranking mercenaries, and they’re known for their loyalty despite being mercenaries.”

“I thought they seemed extraordinary!”

Famous mercenary companies, like prestigious knight orders, tend to become well-known.

People quickly gave them admiring glances.

But at the same time…

“Why would such people come to this remote countryside?”

“I wonder about that too.”

They whispered these questions while busily chatting among themselves about new topics.

“…Hmm.”

Ihan eavesdropped on all the whispers discussing the mercenaries.

No matter how quietly they conversed, they couldn’t escape his ears.

He could even hear conversations from people farther away. Ihan was able to gather quite a bit of information.

Territorial wars breaking out simultaneously.

Damage caused by magical beasts.

Talk of Imperial mages fleeing to the south.

There were also many suspicious conversations, as well as uninteresting talk about how hard life was, children, and marital relationships, but Ihan listened to everything he could to extract meaningful information.

“Sir Knight, how is it?”

“As expected, most of the information is unverifiable. There are many baseless rumors too. …Still.”

“?”

“I can tell the world is unstable.”

Ihan wasn’t just listening to the conversations; he could sense the underlying anxiety, impatience, and despair in their voices and atmosphere.

Especially considering that more than half the conversations included complaints about how “hard life is these days,” it showed just how chaotic the south had become.

‘A lot must have happened while I was away from the kingdom.’

And in a negative direction at that.

‘Demons and witches…’

Ihan’s eyes gleamed as he focused on the more reliable information amidst the flood of chatter.

As he drank the warm milk that had just arrived.

Thud!

* * *

“…Hey, don’t look at him.”

Oberon Huang, captain of the Oberon Mercenary Company, ordered his men not to make eye contact with the man sitting over there.

At this command, the rest of the mercenaries nodded vigorously while breaking into a cold sweat.

“Why is such a monster in this rural place…”

“D-did you see when we came in? The light flashing in his eyes, it was just like…”

“Did you see his forearms? I’ve never seen such crazy forearms in my life. I bet even a sword couldn’t pierce them…”

Though they were renowned mercenaries, they were still a group of vigorous young men.

It wasn’t uncommon for them to waste money on alcohol and women, but right now, neither alcohol nor women caught their attention.

They had glimpsed the woman sitting across from the unidentified man.

Though her face was hidden by a hood, even her silhouette revealed exceptional beauty, and normally they might have shown interest despite her having a companion.

…But somehow they sensed that doing so would truly mean departing from this world, so the mercenaries didn’t even glance at the woman.

Powerful survival instinct!

The reason veteran mercenaries became veterans was because this instinct was more developed than in others, and they faithfully followed it.

“L-let’s talk about the job.”

“Y-yes, Captain.”

Swish-

With unusual eagerness to get on with their work, they lowered their voices.

“…Is she really a ‘witch’?”

“If the rumors are true.”

The reason the Oberon Mercenary Company came to this remote rural village was a request to capture a [witch] in the area.

Among the mystical races, witches had the worst reputation, being able to handle both sorcery and magic simultaneously, and having an innate talent for summoning demons, bringing misfortune wherever they went.

Normally, mystical races were treated with respect wherever they went, but witches were often ostracized because of their talent for summoning demons.

There were few greater threats.

“Hmm, this is the first witch sighting in almost 60 years. Isn’t this a witch hunt?”

“That doesn’t really matter. We can confirm the truth with our own eyes. If it’s fake, we just collect the request fee. And if it’s real…”

“…”

“We can make a hefty profit.”

“Hehe, I hope it’s a real witch…!”

Their eyes were filled with greed.

And for good reason—witches were valuable.

Born naturally with magical and spiritual power, their hearts were special, and it was said that if an ordinary person ate a witch’s heart, it would cure all diseases.

A true panacea!

The price was whatever someone would pay, and there was no shortage of nobles and merchant guilds willing to buy such hearts.

That’s why the mercenaries gladly accepted the request.

“Did you properly prepare the demon hunting tools?”

“I’ve secured ten bottles of holy water from the market.”

“We can hunt the witch easily enough; we just need to be careful of demons.”

The mercenaries had devised their own strategy.

Though their plan seemed somewhat amateurish, considering that hunting witches and demons was uncommon in the current era, they had done their best to come up with a strategy.

Given how inadequate it was, some of them would likely not see tomorrow’s sun, but mercenaries were people who lived with their lives on the line.

As long as it wasn’t them.

They wouldn’t be the ones to die.

They believed in their own survival skills, and even if someone died, they each thought it wouldn’t be them.

…At least until that dawn, when seven of the 21 mercenaries who had fallen asleep at the inn were found dead in gruesome condition.

*

*

*

Pitter-patter.

Dawn broke with dark clouds still filling the sky and rain pouring down.

The wind outside grew stronger, and the weather was so severe that villagers couldn’t leave their tightly locked homes. Meanwhile, the inn was forced into an early awakening.

“M-Marco! Dino!”

“R-Ridon… W-why did he suddenly…!”

…Because people had died.

Those who had been perfectly fine last evening were now dead.

And not just dead.

“T-the organs!”

The dead were left as mere shells.

Their eyes, hearts, livers, and other vital organs—indeed, all their organs—had been extracted, leaving them in a miserable state.

What on earth had happened!?

“W-who dares…!!”

Oberon Huang was furious.

The death of comrades wasn’t usually something to be angry about.

After all, mercenaries lived constantly in the face of death.

But this kind of death was unacceptable.

If they had to die, they should die while earning money—dying like this, stripped of everything, would ruin the mercenary company’s “reputation.”

Though it seemed like a selfish anger, it was precisely the kind of anger befitting a mercenary.

Therefore…

“Innkeeper! Lock the doors immediately and gather everyone in the inn!!”

Oberon Huang angrily ordered the innkeeper.

Declaring that no one could leave until they caught the culprit.

The innkeeper, frightened, gathered everyone.

From sleeping guests to serving maids.

Everyone wore annoyed expressions, but when faced with the intimidating aura of the mercenaries, they sobered up quickly and lowered their gazes with pale faces.

Too afraid to make eye contact.

“From this moment, not a single person will leave this place! If you want to leave, you’ll have to prove your innocence!!”

The angry mercenaries’ fierce declaration.

The dense killing intent emanating from the remaining 14 mercenaries was too terrible for ordinary people who had never experienced a battlefield.

Some were on the verge of foaming at the mouth, but the enraged mercenaries paid no attention to such things.

Now was the time for merciless mercenaries…

“-Quiet.”

…or so they had planned.

“If you disturb my lady’s sleep with your loud voices, you’ll die by my hand.”

Unfortunately for the mercenaries, among those staying at this inn was one person who couldn’t be measured by common sense.

“This is not a joke, by the way.”

“……”

It was a calm warning.

A serenity that seemed out of place at a murder scene.

Gulp….

It seemed strange that he could be so composed when people had died, but he appeared nonchalant.

As if it were nothing special.

There was something alien about his demeanor, and the mercenaries forgot their anger and were simply dumbfounded.

“W-what are you…!”

“Lower your…”

“……”

“I said lower your voice.”

Another quiet warning.

Normally they would have bristled at the affront to their pride, but instead…

Shiver…!

They felt a chill run down their spines and had to step back and close their mouths.

Once again, the extraordinary survival instinct of veteran mercenaries was on display.

“Hmm.”

He gave them a look that suggested they weren’t bad.

With this level of provocation, they might have charged at him, but they showed restraint instead, suggesting they weren’t without skill.

…However, because of that…

“Amusing fellows. How can men with such good survival instincts fail to see where they should lie down before stretching their legs?”

“?”

“…Frustrating fools.”

He sighed involuntarily, then shook his head.

As if he had already given them enough hints.

He was about to return to his room, and the mercenaries couldn’t stop him, when—

Halt-,

“…I was going to let this slide, but you’re crossing the line?”

“!!”

He stopped and turned around again, and the mercenaries were terrified the moment their eyes met.

His gleaming gaze.

It felt like facing a predator, and they froze like rabbits before a lion, even trembling.

It was a shameful situation unbecoming of the brave Oberon Mercenary Company, but in the wave of fear that prevented them from even feeling shame, they quickly deliberated.

What did we do to offend him?!

Should we kneel and beg for forgiveness immediately?

—As such countless thoughts raced through their minds…

“Not you, these things.”

Whoosh!

He naturally pulled out the hand axe from Oberon Huang’s waist and threw it, and the axe flew with powerful rotation and then!

Crack-!

“…H-how?”

…It pierced the serving maid’s skull.

“!!”

“What is that!”

The skull of the trembling, cowardly maid was split precisely in half, but the maid was still speaking even with her head split in two, creating a truly grotesque scene.

The mercenaries and guests were horrified, but he…

“Who told you to show hostility?”

Ihan remained calm.

As if he had already known the maid’s true identity.

And seeming to understand what the “how” was asking, he provided a somewhat kind explanation.

“If you had only targeted the mercenaries, I wouldn’t have interfered. They came to hunt you, so they should have been prepared to be hunted by you in return. But the moment you showed killing intent toward me, you lost your chance.”

“Keuuk…!”

“I heard you were a witch, but you’re no different from a spellcaster. I shouldn’t have given you a chance.”

Ihan clicked his tongue.

Saying that magic users always lack conscience.

“W-what is happening…?”

The mercenaries still couldn’t grasp the situation.

They couldn’t understand how the serving maid wasn’t dead despite having her skull pierced, or why this man was so calm about it all.

But they shouldn’t have tried to understand.

Rather…

“You shouldn’t just stand there, you know?”

“What?”

“You said witches summon demons too, right? Then naturally.”

Point.

“—Shouldn’t you have considered that this isn’t over yet?”

Following the direction of his finger, the mercenaries’ gazes automatically turned.

And what they saw was none other than…

“—Hmm, there’s a strange human here?”

…The innkeeper and guests who had been trembling in fear just moments ago, but something was off about them.

“Ke, keke.”

“Things, have, gotten, interesting?”

“—.”

Gone were their frightened expressions, replaced by emotionless eyes like glass beads and expressionless faces like dolls.

The mercenaries unconsciously stepped back, and “they,” sensing the humans’ fear, smiled faintly with pleasure.

“D-demons!!”

The mercenaries sensed it.

Those were demons.

Though they looked human on the outside, an ominous aura emanated from them, and the mercenaries hurriedly raised their weapons to resist, but…

“I’ve decided, since you’re annoying—.”

“—.”

“—.”

“—.”

“—Let’s kill them!”

The demons charged without giving them time to prepare.

It was truly a rush filled with manic gazes and sticky malice, and even the veteran mercenaries felt their steps grow heavy and their breath catch…

“I—.”

Crunch!

“!!!?”

“Told you to keep it down, didn’t I?”

“Keu, keuuk!?!!”

“Why can’t you understand what I’m saying?”

Crunch!

The demons’ bodies twisted and swelled repeatedly.

Like fireworks exploding inside their bodies.

“I said our lady is sleeping.”

Ihan demanded silence once more.

For the comfortable slumber of his lady.