episode_0023

Aion and Carlos were on their way to the village where the client was.

The bandit that Carlos had defeated was not their leader, but one of the so-called captains. They had not yet completely eliminated the bandits and were on their way to the village where the client was.

After some time, Aion and Carlos were able to arrive at the village.

And when they arrived in the village, a man came running towards them barefoot and asked,

“Ho…Are you by any chance adventurers…?!”

A young man from the village who saw Aion and Carlos ran towards them and asked, and Aion nodded in response to the young man’s words.

“Yes, we are adventurers from the guild.”

“Didn’t you meet any bandits on your way here? How…”

“If it’s related to that, I’ll tell you because I dealt with the bandits myself, not this guy.”

While Aion and the man were talking, Carlos interrupted their conversation and spoke. The young man looked startled when he saw Carlos covered in red blood, but his face gradually began to brighten as Carlos continued to speak.

Carlos shrugged his shoulders, saying that he had killed every last bandit that had been on the path leading to the village.

As Carlos spoke, the people who had been listening to him also began to gather around them one by one, and soon a circle of people had formed around them to listen to Carlos.

He opened his mouth, delighted at the attention he received.

At Carlos’ words, people’s pale faces soon began to brighten.

“That..that means..”

“Maybe you can kill those bandits!”

People started cheering when they saw Carlos like that.

One of them began to tell Carlos and Aion what had happened.

***

When a man first showed up out of nowhere and declared that he was going to take over the village, I thought he was some kind of lunatic.

That’s understandable, because there’s no way anyone in their right mind would suddenly invade a village in broad daylight.

That’s why the villagers ignored the man’s words.

Strange things began to happen the day after the man appeared in town.

He blocked the passage between villages and prevented people from passing unless they paid a certain toll. People who used this road every day could not help but be outraged by the man’s actions.

Not only did they block the road I walked every day without fail, but they also demanded money.

Some people who were dissatisfied with the man’s unreasonable demands challenged him and threw punches at him.

The result was a victory for the men.

The man displayed the bloodied bodies from the fight in the center of the village, both to show off his strength and to show what would happen if he were to climb on them.

The villagers were surprised by the man’s behavior and said that they could not live like this, so they brought some strong men to try to drive the man out, but he also brought his companions and occupied the passage connecting the villages.

The villagers started to fight them, but eventually some of the villagers who fought them were seriously injured, and they had no choice but to do as the bandits said.

The townspeople had to pay to walk the road they used to walk for free every day.

The bandits sat there, making huge profits and enjoying the luxury.

As money rolled in even while they were sitting still, their eyes turned to the townspeople and they began to oppress them in order to covet more wealth.

A woman who could not stand their atrocities risked her life by sneaking out of the village late at night and putting in a request to the guild, thereby letting the outside world know about the seriousness of the village.

The reason it came to this point was that after counting all the villagers, if even one person left their house, they would search for them like lice and beat up anyone who tried to leave the village, including their family. So those who were afraid of violence could not go out, but because of the actions of one brave woman, this tragedy became known to the outside world.

And then Aion and Carlos came after seeing the request.

“Now that I’m here, you can rest assured. You’re all home.”

Carlos, who had heard everything they said, spoke with a confident expression.

At Carlos’ words, everyone in the village looked at him with faces full of hope.

“Please…Adventurer! Adventurer, you are our savior…!!”

The townspeople all looked at Carlos with faces full of expectation.

So, Aion and Carlos headed to the place occupied by the bandits, carrying the expectations of the people.

The extermination of the bandits could be completed in less than an hour.

The man who was said to be the leader of the bandits was so drunk that he was captured by them so easily.

Carlos did not kill the leader, but dragged him back to the village alive and shouted.

“Everyone!! I caught the leader of the bandits who were harassing your village!!”

Carlos showed them the leader he had captured alive and said:

At Carlos’s shout, the townspeople cheered as if the long cloud of despair had cleared away.

They rejoiced at the thought that they could now escape the clutches of the bandits, but at the same time they demanded that the men return the money they had taken.

“……….”

The bandit, with his head bowed, could not say anything to their words.

Like a man with his mouth sealed, the leader kept his mouth shut as if he was indifferent to the personal attacks of the people.

People were so angry at the sight of the bandit that they threw whatever objects they could get their hands on at his face.

The amount of money he took was enough to feed everyone in the village for several months, so the villagers asked where the money had gone, but the leader did not open his mouth easily.

The villagers were furious at the sight of the bandit and came with clubs and other objects and started beating him.

Carlos smiled in relief at the sight of such a leader.

Aion, who was watching the leader being beaten, turned his gaze for a moment and headed to the room where the leader was staying.

Aion entered the bandit leader’s room, but there was nothing particularly special about it.

Aion, who had been looking around his room for a while, tried to leave the room, but it was less profitable than he had thought.

“Huh..? What is this.”

As he was about to leave his room, a box caught Aion’s eye.

***

“That bad guy..”

The villagers stuck out their tongues in resignation as they watched their leader gasping for breath and spitting out blood.

The leader never opened his mouth, even when his life was in danger due to the continuous beatings, and the villagers who had been beating him with clubs eventually gave up the clubs they were holding in their hands out of exhaustion.

‘Huh…ugh…! It’s okay…if I just have that item, this kind of humiliation won’t be a big deal…just a little…just a little longer…!!’

The leader of the bandits was secretly smiling even as his eyes darkened due to their assault.

‘That thing’ that he bought with the money he stole from them and his entire fortune.

If only that were the case, then this humiliation I am experiencing now would be nothing.

If I had that, I could reign over people and everything in this world would be mine!

“Aion. What’s that box in your hand?”

“What…what did you say..!!”

“Hmm.. I don’t know the details, but there was a box like this hidden there. When I opened it, there was some kind of strange dried meat? There was nothing else inside.”

Aion said as he looked at the box containing dried meat from the leader’s room.

While briefly investigating the leader’s room and leaving, Aion found a box before leaving the room. When he opened it, he found something valuable inside that looked like dried meat.

He also saw a strange object for the first time in the novel, so he took some dried meat and came out.

So Aion and Carlos were silent as they watched the mysterious meat come out of his room.

On the surface, the meat in the box looked like nothing more than a snack you might pick up when you’re hungry, but if there was something odd about it, it was the undeniable strangeness that came from the meat.

Aion looked at the dried meat closely, feeling that it was impossible to believe that it was just dried meat.

Carlos, who was looking at the dried meat side by side, snorted and put a hand on Aion’s shoulder.

“Well..if you want it, I’ll give it to you. Because I’m a kind person. I’m so strong and kind..and above all, I’m also the hero of this town!! Isn’t that right, everyone?!”

When Carlos shouted, the townspeople responded loudly.

He felt proud as he listened to the cries of the townspeople.

“……..”

However, Aion continued to nod his head as if he didn’t understand the strange feeling he felt when looking at the meat that Carlos had given up.

The suppression of the bandits, which had caused so many troubles, has come to an end.