episode_0033

Early morning.

It was early in the morning at the mountain lodge where the bandits lived. While he was busy repairing the weapon and moving around, a black figure caught the eye of the person standing guard on the wooden fence of the mountain lodge.

At times it looked like a young woman and at times it looked like a young man. Although she looked elegant, the clothes she was wearing looked like black monastic robes, but it was difficult to tell her gender.

“Hey, what is that?”

“Well, you’re not crazy. Why do you come close to the mountain house where the bandits live?”

“I guess he’s homeless. It’s clear it won’t make any money, so just kill it.”

While the two bandits were chatting briefly, the black figure disappeared from sight.

“What is it? Has it disappeared?”

“I think he ran away as soon as he confirmed that there were wild vegetables.”

But that was the wrong answer.

“… Are you a bandit? You’re a bandit because you’re in the mountains. For a hastily made wild vegetable, it looks pretty decent.”

“What, what is it? Surely the child on the other side has suddenly…!”

He was clearly 300 meters away, but he quickly approached the living quarters.

“The door is properly equipped, but…”

He put his index and middle fingers in contact with the thick wooden fence of the mountain lodge.

“That’s all.”

It was a thick door made by double plaiting solid logs.

It was a door that could not only be broken down unless siege weapons were brought with it, and even pushed open with normal force.

But the door was completely shattered with a single touch of a finger.

“Chi, it’s an intruder!”

They hurriedly rang the bell to signal their colleagues, but it was too late.

“Wouldn’t it be meaningless to give an alarm after the door is breached?”

“When did this guy come up here…?”

“My name is not this guy.”

As soon as they saw Raoul, they tried to draw their weapons, but before they could do anything, they were grabbed by the shoulders.

“… Let me give you a piece of advice. It is best to always have your weapon drawn.”

But before they even had a chance to remember that advice, their upper bodies exploded.

The body, which had lost its upper body, was just rolling around helplessly on the floor and spewing out blood.

“And it looks like there are people who took that advice to heart.”

When Raoul looked back, the bandits who had heard the bell were glaring at him with their weapons drawn to kill him.

“What are you doing you idiot!!!”

“… Can’t you see this body? So what is the meaning of those words?”

“The fucking imperial army…?”

“By the way, I heard there are giants, but I can’t even see them. No, considering that the scale of the mountainous area is larger than that of a serious camp…”

“You asked me if I was an imperial soldier, you bastard!!!”

“Are there any temporary buildings in this mountain village where giants might hide? Unfortunately, I can’t see it with my eyes right now.”

Raoul’s bad habit was to often ignore what others said during conversations.

The defense mechanism he developed to avoid being hurt by other people’s words backfired, but his close friends ignored the habit, saying that it would be better to ignore him than to be hurt by other people’s words.

As a result, those who talked to Raoul were upset, but his close friends thought it was better for someone else to be upset than to be upset with Raoul.

“That bastard is making a fuss, so it’s clear he’s an imperial soldier! Let’s kill it quickly and escape!”

“… Ah. Did you ask if it was the imperial army?”

Raoul began to think seriously, resting his chin even though bandits were running toward him with weapons.

He then gently touched the heads and chests of the bandits who had brandished their weapons to kill him.

Of course, the moment it touched Raoul’s hand, whether it was the head or the chest, it spurted out red blood and disappeared.

“Hmm…”

After easily killing about 30 bandits, Raoul still rested his chin and approached the bandit who had first spoken to him.

He was so scared that he collapsed on the ground and urinated, but Raoul didn’t care at all.

“Does whether or not you are currently employed or previously employed have any influence on that question?”

“Yes, yes…?”

“He used to be an imperial soldier, but now he is just a patient.”

While Raoul was shaking off the blood from his hands, the bandit who had spoken to him was trembling with fear he had never felt before.

He knew it would be pointless since his opponent was a crazy person who killed people without any hesitation, but he decided to muster his courage and beg for his life.

“Now, I was wrong…! Please save me…!”

“Let’s do that. Under the assumption that he reflects and pays for his sins.”

“Yes…?”

“Didn’t you ask me to save you? That’s why I’m saving you, but is there some problem?”

“Well, then those who just died…?”

“Didn’t you say that? Also, since he attacked me with a weapon, I think it was self-defense.”

The bandit could clearly see that the Raoul in front of him was not a normal human being.

Raoul, who seemed to lack an important part of humanity, was absorbed in wiping the blood from his hands.

Meanwhile, the group that had gone out to hunt for breakfast returned.

“I’m back! But why is the door broken!!!”

“Could you tell it to them too? If you are truly sorry, save me…”

Raoul turned his head to see who it was and swallowed what he was going to say.

“No, I don’t think that’s necessary.”

What came into Raoul’s sight were giants.

They were over 4 meters tall, and as they entered the living room with their backs bent, they made eye contact with Raoul.

“Ah, ah… it’s the devil!”

Despite their huge bodies, they were scared and began to run away.

No, rather than being scared, it was closer to an instinct based on learned fear.

Even though they broke the fence and ran away, Raoul caught up with them right away.

“…… Breathe.”

They desperately struggled to survive, but in the end it was just a struggle.

“Who said it was okay to breathe?”

When Raoul struck down his staff, the giant burst like a blood-filled water balloon on the floor with a loud bursting sound.

“How dare you… belong to a group of thieves impersonating her name.”

“Sa, save me…! He said he did it because he had no way to make a living!”

“Don’t buy it.”

“What…?”

The other giants who saw Raoul’s eyes froze.

“Others may not know, but it means you should not live.”

“What kind of nonsense…!”

However, the giant who tried to protest also ended up dying because his head exploded.

“Unfortunately, I seem to be stronger than you. So remember it well. The force of someone stronger than you is not force.”

He adjusted his staff and began to slowly approach the remaining giants.

“It’s called providence, you disgusting pieces of flesh.”

And the remaining giants were also struck down by Raoul’s staff and turned into puddles of blood soaking the floor.

The problem was that a giant impersonated the name of the woman Raoul loved.

Raoul sighed as he looked at the blood covering his hands and staff. Even if I tried to live quietly, the blood on my hands and staff would never dry.

“….”

He also knew that his hatred was wrong. Even so, he was able to kill his anger and hatred towards dragons and giants.

If I kill my feelings for them, I feel like I am forgiving them, I feel like I am letting go of the hands of those who have died, and I feel like the self they created will disappear.

Raoul was so afraid of such things that he decided not to forgive them even if he died. Even if I fall into hell when I die, I decided to carry that hatred with me.

“Leila.”

Raoul quietly called the name of the woman he loved.

“Leila Nevermore.”

I tried calling him by his full name, wondering if it would make a difference, but there was no answer. Even if you call the name of a dead person

Although it was a very natural thing, Raoul’s heart was somewhat depressed.

Committing a crime that was sure to leave regrets again, the reality that the dead would not return, and the blood on his hands were all disturbing.

So Raoul returned to the mountain where the bandits were and confronted the female leader who was impersonating the name of the woman he loved.

Of course, even though it was face-to-face, it was closer to strangling her after knocking out all the other bandits who were guarding her.

“… Who gave it to you?”

“Yes…? What are you talking about all of a sudden, old man…?”

“Who gave you the right to wield her honor?”

There was no way I could answer.

In the first place, it wasn’t a question that was asked with the expectation of a proper answer.

Ironically, that question was a question that was itself a wrong answer.

“No one has the right to impersonate her. Isn’t it?”

“Yes, yes…!”

“Give me one last chance. Stop banditry and live in peace. Personal circumstances have nothing to do with me. Still, if you want to commit thief.”

Raoul quietly struck the rocks around him with his staff and turned them into powder.

“Just as you took away the rights you did not have and wielded them, I will have no choice but to take your lives, which I do not have, and wield them.”

“Ah, I understand! From today, I will stop banditry and live as a tenant farmer or at least a business…!”

After hearing this, Raoul quietly put her down, took out three gold coins from his pocket, and threw them to her.

“Whether you are a tenant farmer or a business owner, you will need money to settle down. to use it. If I hear that it was stolen, I too…”

She was afraid of what kind of threat he might make, so she blocked that possibility in advance.

“Is that possible? thank you! Thank you so much!”

Raoul left her bowing her head in humiliation and walked towards the prison where they were imprisoning the people.

There was a fairly diverse group of people gathered here, from top employees, adventurers, herbalists, hunters to painters who painted landscapes.

Raoul forgot to get the key from the leader, but he had two master keys on his arms that could break the lock.

“… Be careful when traveling on mountain paths in the future.”

While I was freeing people, I heard a familiar voice.

“Oppa…?”

Raoul turned his head in the direction where the familiar voice came from, and soon came face to face with a very familiar person.

“Liesel…?”