Ch.99Report on the Downfall of Kindness (9)

# People bewitched by the witch approach the cabin. They drool, grin stupidly, march like a parade with identical steps, swinging their arms at the same angle, tilting their heads with unfocused eyes.

A woman with a kitchen knife in her apron appears to have been preparing dinner. Someone holds an axe and whetstone, apparently interrupted while sharpening it. Another carries a shovel from fieldwork, while someone else is half-undressed as if washing off sweat…

The bewitched people pay little attention to what lies before them.

They trip over tree roots and protruding stones, fall into small puddles, twist their ankles, stumble and fall, but eventually get back up and continue walking.

Maria runs to Brother Henry, who keeps waving his hands as if trying to chase away invisible flies.

“Brother, snap out of it. We need to get you out of here first.”

But Henry shakes his head, sobbing. His eyes roll back and foam forms at his mouth.

“I cannot leave this forest. The trees hold my heart, and my body belongs to Her… If I leave this forest, I will wither and die like an uprooted tree, yearning for Her.”

Between his words, expressions of ecstasy keep slipping out. The corners of his mouth keep rising as if beyond his control.

“You all should run… away while you can. Just as every drop of my sweat belongs to Her, you too will soon be completely mine! Like those who came here before!”

“Brother!”

Maria snaps her fingers, creating holy fire—bright but without heat—and places it on Brother Henry’s forehead. But it’s useless. The brother continues to grin.

“Ah. An Inquisitor. This time I’ve caught something big. With such a prize, the hunt will be even more enjoyable!”

“Roberta!”

At Maria’s shout, the brother, now stripped of everything by the witch, snickered.

“I don’t ‘collect’ everyone who enters the village. It’s my principle to let those with clear destinations and schedules go. Calling the wrong ones would surely cause trouble.

That’s why I was planning to let you and your companions go. But now that I know you’re not just a simple nun but a ‘shepherd,’ and since you’ve ‘learned’ about this place, I simply cannot let you leave!”

Kain gritted his teeth. The word ‘shepherd’ was what Maria had used when trying to persuade Henry. Roberta shouldn’t have known about that conversation. Which means…

“Since when? Since when have you been listening?!”

Maria, reaching the same conclusion as Kain, confronted Roberta who stood behind Brother Henry. The brother clapped his hands and laughed hysterically.

“From the beginning, everything. Brother Henry makes the perfect bait. He thinks he’s warning everyone who approaches, but I’m merely letting him do as he pleases.”

Kain gritted his teeth, feeling as if ice was running down his spine.

It had all been a trap. Henry trying to help them but constantly being interrupted, leaving only a suspicious impression.

And finally, when he gave in and revealed the truth—it was all Roberta’s trap. Maria was now so angry she was on the verge of tears.

“Why? Why are you doing this? Why go this far?!”

“That’s what makes the hunt exciting. Please, I beg you, don’t get caught by me. I’ll give you time, so run away as much as you want. Please don’t get caught by me. Come on, run away!”

Brother Henry lunged forward. Maria, momentarily frozen, couldn’t react. Kain pushed Henry away with his body. As if that were a signal, the villagers outside rushed in all at once.

“Through the back door!”

Kain shouted, gripping a sword in his left hand and a staff in his right. He planned to escape on the horses tied up in the backyard.

But the backyard was empty.

The stake where the horses had been tied was pulled out and lying on the ground, with only chaotic hoof prints and bloodstains remaining.

Brother Henry tried to rush out through the back door. Lily and Maria pushed against the door to block him. With one arm sticking through, Henry tried desperately to grab them.

“Brother, please come to your senses…!”

Maria shouted with all her might, but Brother Henry was already beyond reason.

He roared like an enraged beast and swung his arm. Kain approached the doorway and extended his staff. He pressed it against the brother’s forehead and shoved him hard.

The brother fell backward with a thud, but got up again without even a scream. His eyes gleamed with madness, and his mouth drooled as he continued to smile. He was still like that when Lily and Maria closed the door.

“Ah…”

Maria squeezed her eyes shut. She seemed to turn away briefly, but then shook her head and looked forward.

Villagers were approaching from behind as well. They formed a semicircular encirclement that was gradually closing in. Banging sounds came from the closed door.

If they were going to escape, it had to be now.

Kain charged forward. Shadows were beginning to cover the sky, but it wasn’t completely dark yet. At least the sword in his left hand gleamed enough to catch people’s attention.

Kain deliberately thrust his sword in an odd direction. Though it was a ridiculous angle, the sunlight reflecting off the blade made a villager frown.

Seizing that moment, Kain struck the person between the neck and collarbone with his staff. A heavy impact followed by a crack of breaking bone.

The opponent collapsed, but Kain couldn’t watch until the end. Another person lunged at him from the side.

He struck the approaching villagers’ shoulders, above their knees, inside their thighs, targeting their solar plexus and Adam’s apples with his staff.

There were no screams. Only dull impact sounds. The cracking of breaking bones. The sound of bodies collapsing and desperately trying to crawl forward.

Even though they were “bewitched” by Roberta, grinning and drooling as they mindlessly crawled forward, their bodies were still human.

They couldn’t withstand martial arts techniques that disrupted their balance and fell.

A man with a large butcher knife approached. Though unconscious, he carried the knife on his shoulder as if by habit, a blade capable of slaughtering a cow in one stroke.

If Kain approached carelessly, he would be sliced by that thick blade. Moreover, the man was sturdy. As Kain hesitated for a moment, something rushed past him.

It was Lily. She held a long, blunt pole that looked like a flagpole.

A flagpole needs to be sturdy enough to hold large flags in any condition. Therefore, the wood of a flagpole must be as solid and durable as any decent weapon. Moreover, the end of Lily’s pole had a metal cap.

Lily thrust the pole into the man’s solar plexus. There was a deflating sound, and the man’s posture crumbled. Lily then brought the pole down on the man’s foot.

It was more like she was trying to smash it rather than just strike it. With a crunching sound, the large man immediately fell forward.

Yet the man still crawled forward, smiling.

“It’s open!”

Maria, who had just knocked down a villager with a kick, jumped up. Lily ran, swinging her pole sideways. Finally, Kain escaped. When he briefly looked back, Brother Henry was smiling brightly in the open cabin doorway, drooling. But his eyes were crying.

* * * * *

They ran along the path into the forest, but it was shallow. They couldn’t go beyond the path. This path led to that narrow ravine where bandits had blocked the way to extort money. If Roberta was a “hunter,” she would have already prepared for such routes.

So Kain, Lily, and Maria climbed up a tall tree. The trees in the Black Forest had branches as sturdy as their trunks. The forest was so dense that one could easily jump from tree to tree if needed.

“Alright. Let’s sort this out.”

Kain whispered. Maria sighed.

“What else is there to sort out besides the fact that the gamekeeper who defeated the Demon King turned out to be a mad witch who’s mobilizing all the villagers to catch us?”

“There is. We no longer have horses. And we definitely can’t leave on foot through this path.”

Kain recalled the commotion they experienced before entering this village. The bandits had fled at the mere mention of “Berta Village.”

“They must have noticed something strange happening here, if not everything. Maybe they know but choose not to speak. Seeing how the bandits and the count’s guards were fraternizing, they’re probably all in it together.”

In response to Kain’s speculation, Maria whispered softly.

“So, what do we do?”

Lily also looked at Kain curiously.

“We need to confront Roberta. Think about it. A hunter skilled enough to catch the Demon King wouldn’t let us go without reason. Perhaps, just like with Brother Henry, she can freely manipulate the senses of all the villagers.”

“Damn it, what kind of game is this?!”

Maria raised her fist. She looked like she wanted to punch the tree trunk.

“It’s a driven hunt,” Lily whispered.

“We seem to be the prey in a driven hunt. Look at how the villagers move… just like hunting dogs driving a fox. They’re spread out, but not too far apart. And they seem to be trying to drive us in a specific direction.”

“If we continue like this, we’ll just be eaten.”

Kain muttered. The situation was already advantageous for Roberta in many ways, and if they moved according to her intentions, they would truly have no options left.

“But what can we do? You saw that even the holy fire didn’t work. Brother Henry wasn’t ‘purified’ by the fire.”

In response to Maria’s objection, Kain recalled the unpleasant trees with faces. The place where the Holy Grail Knights had their accident, shown to them by the woman missing one hand.

“What about the trees?”

“Trees?”

“Those trees that supposedly grew from human bodies. What if we set fire to them…?”

After thinking for a moment, Maria nodded.

“That makes sense. But to do that, we’d have to either cross almost the entire village or go all the way around. It’s exactly on the opposite side from here.”

How could they evade the eyes of villagers searching everywhere and a hunter who had lived here for over ten years and shaped the village herself?

Maria couldn’t think of any viable plan. So she gripped her dagger in reverse. But she couldn’t bring herself to stab herself.

“No.”

Lily firmly held Maria’s wrist.

“Maria, you can’t do this.”

“There’s no other way. And I still have the leather strap. I don’t want to do this, but no matter how I look at it…”

“There is.”

Kain said heavily. Lily and Maria looked at him. Kain pointed to his bruised arm.

“They said I was ‘tainted,’ remember? When I placed my hand on the tree, it even spewed out some terrible sap.

Whatever it was, it was very bad and harmful to you, Maria, so ‘Mother’ burned away whatever was in me… but I didn’t feel anything special, and neither did Lily, right?”

“That’s right. I… didn’t notice anything unusual either.”

Lily nodded. Maria still seemed confused.

“So, what are you suggesting?”

Kain lowered his voice even more.

“What happens when an impure offering is placed on the altar?”