episode_0017

As we left the forest, a small village appeared in the distance.

“That’s Leanso Village over there.”

“Wow, it’s really far. It’s much bigger than I thought.”

If that’s considered big, I’d faint if I went to Odellin City.

It could be possible from Medela’s perspective when she first came to the starting village when she was very young.

At the entrance of the village, several people were making something.

As we approached, the people’s expressions turned cautious.

“Hello.”

“Hello.”

However, as Mirella greeted them first, the villagers responded with friendly attitudes.

Mirella is so cute and pretty that most people treat her with great respect.

“We came from the starting village below. We’re on our way to buy pigs in Odellin City.”

“Pigs? Then you’re heading in the right direction. There’s no other village around here that has such good pig trading.”

“But what are you doing?”

When Mirella pointed to the steps being built on the ground, the villagers looked very proud.

“We are making a statue of the hero who saved our village.”

“A hero?”

“She’s a silver-haired girl about your age who rid our village of the crazy doctor who caused trouble for us.”

It’s the story of the original protagonist, Alaina.

When she first came to our store, she told us about the crazy doctor, the first boss she encountered in Leanso Village.

The crazy doctor, who is no longer of this world, tried to create hybrids of demons and humans.

To do this, he kidnapped humans and forced them to mate with demons, resulting in many deaths.

To avoid being caught by the Empire and the Kingdom, he kept moving his laboratory until he settled in the abandoned mansion in Leanso Village.

After the crazy doctor settled there, there were continuous cases of people going missing in the village, and eventually, Alaina took on the quest from the villagers to kill the crazy doctor.

Mirella, after hearing my explanation, widened her eyes.

“Such a thing happened? How did you know, brother?”

“Adventurers who visit the store told me.”

I can’t say it’s thanks to the original knowledge, so I just glossed over it.

“They must need a sacred purification for a place conducting wicked research.”

It’s a place that the noble sacred knight Livenne cannot simply pass by.

“Shall we go up once?”

The path to the villa was not very rugged.

The slope of the mountain itself was gentle, and there was a small trail like one animals would use.

“It’s quite eerie.”

Mirella muttered as she looked up at the old, filthy villa.

The entrance was already shattered, and an unknown dark red liquid was staining the floor.

Alaina is truly amazing.

I could never enter a place like that, it seems too daunting.

It was quite dark inside the villa.

The surrounding trees were so dense, and boards were nailed over the windows, so hardly any light came in.

Dust was seen floating in the sunlight seeping through the gaps in the boards.

“It looks like they hardly ever clean.”

“Seems that way.”

As I continued inside, a large hall used as the doctor’s laboratory appeared.

“Ugh!”

Mirella, who saw the bodies scattered on the floor, grabbed the lid in horror.

They were grotesque hybrids created by the doctor.

The worst results of crossbreeding demons, animals, humans, and different races, physically mixed and created.

“This is insane….”

The security guards muttered curses as they looked at the bodies.

“That one has quite a large build.”

Liberone pointed to one side.

There lay the crazy doctor’s bodyguard, a monstrous creature with its head severed, a mix of ogres and other species, wearing metal restraints on both hands.

That could be considered the first boss in practice.

If we kill that creature instead of the mad doctor, it will be much easier to take down the doctor.

Looking at the severed neck, I could tell that Alaina had stopped by Mestophin’s junkyard before arriving here, as per my advice.

You can’t cut so sharply with the basic knife given at the beginning of the journey.

It seems she picked up a decent weapon from Mestophin’s junkyard.

“Great, Alaina.

“What’s making you smile so happily?”

“Me?”

“Yeah.”

Mirella asked with a very suspicious expression.

“It seems like you’ve mistaken me for someone else because it’s dark.”

I counted the number of bodies, but there was no useful information to be gained.

In the game itself, it’s not clear how many of the mad scientist’s experiments there are.

Whether they’re all dead or some have survived, we can’t know from here.

“Let’s keep looking around.”

We went up to this floor and entered the doctor’s bedroom at the end of the hallway.

If you kill the monster guard from earlier, it becomes the place where the doctor makes his last stand.

There’s no significant battle scene; you just break down the door, kill him, and then loot the safe. It’s a simple event.

We searched every corner of the bedroom, but there was nothing left.

Alaina looted all the items as written in the strategy guide.

“Oppa, have you been here before by any chance?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“But how do you navigate so well around here?”

“The layout of the mansion is pretty straightforward.”

Smoothly passing over Mirella’s rather sharp question, I looked around.

There’s nothing more to see.

Even if there were any surviving test subjects here, they would have fled far away. Would they wander around here thinking they’re insane?

As we left the mansion, Riverone stopped in front of the mansion.

“Everyone, step back. I will commence purification.”

Riverone said, holding up the sword.

“It’s dangerous, so secure a safe distance.”

I don’t know why we suddenly need a safe distance, but anyway, following Riverone’s lead, Mirella and the guards went into the bushes behind us.

After confirming that the group had moved far enough away, Riverone raised the sword high.

Could it be that he’s about to unleash a powerful divine power that covers the entire building?

Like hammering, Riverone struck the wall of the mansion with the sword.

Kwaaaah-!!

Everyone was startled and covered their ears with both hands.

The wall hit by the sword crumbled inward, collapsing with a rumble.

After striking several times, the pillar supporting one side of the mansion and its roof collapsed, causing the roof to sag suddenly.

Even as the roof sagged, Riverone mercilessly continued to strike the remaining support pillars with the sword.

Dust billowed thickly and swallowed up Riverone as he struck with the sword.

After a while, when the dust settled, all that remained there were the pile of stones that used to be a villa and Reverone calmly retrieving his sword.

“Master Behind-the-Scenes Angel. Purification is complete.”

Divine purification (physical).

The guards clapped absentmindedly.

At that moment, beyond the dispersing dust, I spotted something among the trees in the forest.

Something very suspiciously green-shaped was looking in this direction from between the trees.

What’s that?

I squinted my eyes and looked again, but there was nothing there.

I must have seen something wrong.

* * * * *

The sun slowly tilted to the left and completely set behind the mountains across the river.

The sky, gradually turning blue from the right, suddenly darkened, and the stars timidly peeked out.

Unable to see the road properly due to the dark shadows of the trees, I decided it was time to camp for the night.

We parked the carriage by the roadside and had Reverone find a suitable spot.

Soon, the guards found a small space among the trees.

“There seems to be some kind of structure here, Jack. It looks like a good place to camp.”

Upon inspection, we found benches made of wood and bricks, which seemed to have been used as a guard post or temporary shelter in the past.

Perfect.

We built a large fire in the middle of the clearing and unpacked our belongings.

While the others tidied up the campsite, I prepared the meal.

The menu was stew.

When you’re outside, there’s no food as simple to make as stew.

Just chop potatoes, carrots, turnips, and whatever else you like, put them all in water, add some seasoning, and let it simmer. That’s it.

It’s not for nothing that people always eat stew in movies and novels.

“It’s so delicious.”

Mirella, who was slurping the stew, smiled, and Reverone silently nodded, scraping the bottom of his bowl clean.

The guards also enjoyed it, polishing off two bowls each.

After a satisfying dinner, we sat around the fire, basking in its warmth.

The guards gathered on the other side, lighting a torch and chatting.

I read a book about potion-making that I had brought, and Mirella pulled out a book and read earnestly.

It turned out to be an old, worn novel.

Looks like she took one from the bookshelf in the corner of the store.

She’s been learning to read well lately, and now she’s even reading novels.

It’s impressive.

Libero just stared at the bonfire without doing anything.

I couldn’t tell at all what he was thinking by looking at him.

So we silently devoted ourselves to our activities.

After reading a book for a while, I raised my head and opened my eyes wide by chance.

Beyond Libero’s shoulder, something green was standing inside the forest.

Strange?

Didn’t I see it when the laboratory was destroyed earlier?

As I tried to get up in confusion, it disappeared from sight in an instant.

What’s going on… Lately, I keep seeing things that aren’t there.