Ch.8484. Shadow

“An attack.”

Berger muttered with a frown. The village had been attacked. It was something even he hadn’t imagined. Despite his bewilderment, he maintained his composure.

Among the scenes Berger had witnessed over his long years, there were countless tragedies worse than this. Standing here blankly staring at the village reduced to ashes wouldn’t change reality one bit. What needed to be done now was to investigate what had happened to Waldenbrook.

Berger gripped his longsword in one hand and looked back.

“Are you alright?”

The question wasn’t directed at Chloe and Elin.

Though they appeared shocked, they were maintaining at least minimal rationality. Rex was different. His reaction was something even Berger hadn’t anticipated. His wide-open eyes were bloodshot, and dense currents of holy power were flowing from him.

It meant his emotions were so disturbed that he couldn’t control his energy. Why? Of course, it was a shocking sight for anyone. It was unexpected coming from Rex, though. Berger narrowed his brow and exhaled lightly. Rex’s killing intent made his skin tingle.

“Get a hold of yourself.”

Whoosh! Berger pushed back against Rex’s energy. It wasn’t as easy to push back as before. It took considerable effort to erase all the killing intent. Only then did Rex flinch and turn his head.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Uncontrolled anger consumes oneself. It’s a rather useless emotion in our current situation. Since we can’t just turn back now, let’s get closer to the village first.”

Rex nodded with a hardened face. The sight of the burning village overlapped with the memory of his hometown in flames, causing him to momentarily lose his composure.

“An attack… right?”

Chloe spoke with a worried expression, glancing at Rex. The excitement she had felt about their pleasant outing had already faded.

Though she had lived in Lindvale all her life, she knew enough about how things worked outside the city. Villages being raided by naturally occurring monsters or bands of vicious bandits was so common it didn’t even count as an incident.

“You two should go back.”

Instead of answering Chloe’s question, Berger pulled on the reins.

“I shouldn’t force help from outsiders who bear no obligation. I have no intention of making you suffer needlessly. Though it’s quite a distance to Lindvale, if you leave now, you should arrive before the gates close.”

“No. I’m coming with you.”

When Chloe answered immediately, Elin added in an indifferent tone.

“We can’t just leave Rex behind.”

“…You’ve got good friends.”

One invitation was enough. Berger immediately rode toward the village. Elin’s horse kicked up dirt as it galloped forward. Rex stared blankly at the village before following after the group.

***

“They’re all dead.”

The blue light on Elin’s wand dissipated. Berger had said that magic and holy power shared the same origin, but strictly speaking, the effects of magic were closer to blessings. Elin put her wand back inside her garment. What she had just used was magic that tracked life forms in the vicinity.

“Not even a single animal.”

“Can you tell approximately how much time has passed?”

Berger stroked his chin as he looked around. As they had seen from the forest, every building in the village had been burned to the ground long ago.

They already knew there were no survivors in the village. They had searched the village once, but all they found were piles of black ashes. Still, considering the possibility that they might have missed someone, they used Elin’s magic, but the result remained unchanged. Given the situation, they needed to at least find out who had attacked the village.

“A week. The traces… lead that way.”

Elin pointed to the back of the village. Waldenbrook was surrounded by forest. Dense woods also spread in the direction Elin indicated.

“About thirty people.”

“What are you going to do?”

Rex, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke.

Putting together the available clues, the situation was clear. A week ago, this village was attacked by a group. Thirty people was quite a large number for bandits. So large that it was incomprehensible why the domain hadn’t tracked their whereabouts all this time. They were probably wanderers who had recently crossed over from another region.

Berger replied in an impassive voice.

“Deal with them.”

Numbers are meaningless to a holy knight who has reached a certain level. Moreover, even if the opponent was too much to handle, they couldn’t just let this go. It was a knight’s duty to protect the lord’s people. If they had failed in that duty, they must at least fulfill the duty of punishing the guilty.

“Elin, lead the way.”

“Understood.”

Returning with soldiers would take too much time. Since a week had already passed, it was right to track the culprits as quickly as possible. The longer they delayed, the lower the chances of finding the bandits.

The group immediately followed Elin’s guidance in the direction where the traces led. But soon, they had to stop their horses. As they moved deeper into the forest, the path narrowed, and protruding bushes blocked their way.

“We’ll have to walk from here.”

The horses’ stamina was also decreasing after moving continuously without rest. The group tied their horses in a visible spot and continued on foot. After a while, Elin’s guidance was no longer necessary.

Footprints were visible.

Rex quietly drew his zweihander. He had been reciting the Thousand Strength Technique since entering the forest, preparing for any surprise attacks. Thanks to this, he didn’t miss the very faint sound that he would have normally overlooked.

“Who’s there?”

A faint rustling of bushes. Berger heard it too. He pointed his longsword and murmured in a cold voice.

“If you don’t come out by the count of three, I’ll cut you down. Three.”

No answer came.

“Two.”

Chloe looked at the bushes with a tense face. Still no answer. Elin held her wand and moved her lips. The ground trembled, and fierce winds began to blow. Sharp ice picks were summoned in mid-air.

“Should I shoot?”

Though one count remained, those words were enough to make the person hiding in the bushes reveal themselves.

“Sp-spare me, please!”

Rex examined the man with an expressionless gaze. He was a rough-looking man wearing rags no better than a burlap sack. He seemed to have gone unwashed for a long time, with filth stuck all over his body, and numerous scratches and abrasions covering him.

The man looked fearfully at the blade and ice picks pointed at him, then prostrated himself.

“I’m just a beggar with nothing! My lord, please show mercy to this lowly one just this once!”

“Why were you hiding?”

Berger stepped closer to the man and asked. He didn’t put away his longsword. He held it closer, so that even a slight pressure would make the blade cut into the skin. The man gulped and answered.

“Y-your lordships looked so noble that I hid without thinking. Really. I didn’t want to displease you with my filthy appearance… I smell and look awful, don’t I?”

The man rolled his eyes around and gave an awkward laugh.

“If your question is answered, may I leave now? I have a long way to go, hehe…”

“You smell of corpses.”

The man’s smile disappeared. He drew in a sharp breath as he stared at Berger. Ignoring this, Berger slightly twisted his longsword. A thin drop of blood formed on the man’s neck.

“Don’t bother with excuses. This isn’t the smell of just one person’s blood. It’s easily the blood of dozens.”

“That’s…”

“Besides, what are you doing alone in these mountains? You have no luggage to be going somewhere. Your appearance suggests you’ve been sleeping outdoors for a long time, but you don’t look particularly starved. You look exactly like a shabby bandit, and coincidentally, a village nearby was annihilated a few days ago.”

“If-if I tell the truth, will you spare me?”

Berger removed his longsword from the man’s neck and said.

“That depends on how sincerely you testify. Are you one of the bandits who plundered Waldenbrook?”

“…I didn’t do it alone.”

That answer was as good as a confession. Rex and Chloe glared at the man with cold faces. The man’s complexion turned deathly pale at the sudden oppressive atmosphere. Berger raised his hand to restrain the two and asked again.

“Where is your group’s hideout?”

“H-hideout? Why do you…”

“I am Berger von Altrich, a knight of Lindvale. Bandits have disturbed the peace of the domain, so it is my duty to administer appropriate punishment.”

“No! Just behead me now. I would rather die than go back there of my own accord.”

“If that’s your thinking, fine. It can’t be far from here anyway. I’ll kill you and find it myself.”

Berger raised his longsword with an indifferent tone. As if he hadn’t expected Berger to actually move to kill him, the man’s eyes widened.

“W-wait!”

The falling blade stopped abruptly at the tearing scream. The man looked up at the longsword with trembling eyes. I’m going to die! Fear flooded his mind. Finally, he bit his lip tightly and spoke in a resigned tone.

“Alright! I’ll guide you, just please spare my life. I have an elderly mother to take care of.”

“You should have done that from the start.”

“But it’s really dangerous. Even if you’re a knight, my lord, I can’t guarantee your life.”

“You don’t know your place.”

Rex blurted out before he realized it. Only after speaking did he become aware that he was sneering. He didn’t bother to hold back. Rather, it felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.

“Vermin gathered together are still just vermin. Is it because you always prey on the weak? You can’t see yourself objectively. It’s laughable.”

Chloe looked at Rex with a surprised face. Elin also flinched and turned her head. The words Rex had just spat out were so aggressive that they momentarily doubted their ears. The clear smile he always showed them was gone, replaced by hostility and anger.

“Trash wearing human skin. I hate people like you. You fear death for yourself, yet you kill innocent people indiscriminately. Thirty guys like you aren’t even a problem, so shut up and lead the way.”

The man gaped at the sudden insult with a dumbfounded expression.

“N-no… I think you’re misunderstanding something…”

Before the man could finish, instinct warned of danger. Rex and Berger hurriedly threw themselves backward. Elin’s magic moved herself and Chloe.

“Huh?”

The man exclaimed in startled confusion. In that moment, the shadow beneath the man’s feet writhed like a snake, then suddenly surged upward and swallowed him whole. —Crunch! The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed.

[I agree.]

The shadow slowly seeped into the ground. The man was nowhere to be seen.

[Self-objectification is important.]

The shadows cast by the trees grew increasingly dense. No. The world itself was darkening. Though the sun was clearly in the sky, visibility became as black as the darkest night. The darkness filling their vision concentrated at a single point. Dripping shadow droplets pooled to form a sticky swamp.

A black-haired man rose from the swamp.

“Found you.”