Village Resistance

Zenos shouted resolutely.

“Hold it! Everyone, stop moving!”

Melissa asked, surprised.

“What is it?”

“Everyone, cast Detect Poison on the food!”

Detect Poison is a divine magic that checks if there’s poison or medicine in the food.

When several priests and paladins, including Melissa, cast magic on the food, green light flowed out of it.

A priest shouted.

“Damn! There’s poison in it.”

Murmur, murmur.

Melissa asked with a curious face.

“Zenos. How did you know?”

“I just took a spoonful, and there was poison in it. I detoxified it with divine power.”

“Ah, I see.”

Melissa shouted.

“Paladins and priests, detain the cooking staff and those in charge of serving!”

Today’s cooking and serving staff totaled five people, and the culprit must be among them.

“It wasn’t us!”

“Damn it! What’s going on!”

The remaining paladins and priests grabbed the arms of the cooking and serving staff tightly and searched their bodies.

At that moment, Zenos, with his keen senses, detected a priest subtly pulling his hand behind his back.

Zenos snatched his hand and cast magic.

“Detect Poison.”

A faint green light came from the priest’s hand.

Zenos shouted.

“This is the bastard!”

The other paladins and priests cursed with bewildered faces.

“Crazy bastard!”

“A disgrace to Goddess Elia!”

The church members had spent a long time together, so trust was high.

Melissa looked at the priest with an unbelievable face and said.

“Amaris. How could you…? Send this guy to the dormitory’s underground torture chamber! And everyone, go together.”

The priests and paladins chanted.

“Understood!”

Every church has a dark side, and the dormitory’s underground prison and torture chamber were the dark side of the Bradon Village Church.

———————

Amaris, who had poisoned the food, was tied to a thorn chair and had been tortured for five hours.

Amaris let out painful groans.

“Keueok. Keuaaaaak. Kehk, kehk.”

He was only wearing his underwear, his face was bruised,

nails were hammered under all his fingernails,

and his legs were covered in blisters from being doused with boiling saltwater.

His body was also full of wounds from thin slices of skin being cut off with a knife.

Zenos admired.

“This guy. He’s still keeping his mouth shut. Was Amaris such a strong-willed guy?”

Melissa and all the surrounding priests and paladins were also similarly impressed.

Melissa asked with a doubtful face.

“Zenos. Could it be that he really doesn’t know?”

“There’s no way. The poison was found in his hand. He’s just incredibly good at keeping his mouth shut.”

Amaris shouted while crying.

“Why are you doing this? I really don’t know!”

Melissa spoke in a gentle voice.

“Amaris. Just spit it all out and be at ease. I’ll heal you if you just talk.”

Zenos called Melissa as if something had come to mind.

“Wait!”

“Why?”

“Didn’t you say it was an epidemic?”

“That’s right.”

“Then use Scan Body magic. It might really be a disease.”

“Oh. That’s right. It’s probably a nervous system disease, and his brain is likely swarming with germs.”

Scan Body is a divine magic that finds foreign substances such as cancer, arrowheads, and clumps of germs inside the human body.

Melissa cast Scan Body on Amaris from head to toe.

Melissa’s face, who had cast the divine magic, darkened noticeably.

Zenos asked.

“Melissa. What did you find?”

“There’s something like a tentacle in Amaris’s head. It seems like he’s being controlled by it.”

Everyone was so surprised that they lost their words.

A priest shouted.

“Melissa-nim. Please cast Scan Body on us too.”

Zenos affirmed.

“That’s right. From now on, anyone who leaves will have their head smashed without question.”

Everyone here received Scan Body.

Afterward, everyone’s face showed a sense of relief.

Melissa stroked her chest and said.

“Everyone is normal except for Amaris.”

Zenos said.

“Amaris, that bastard, must have been infected while wandering around the square so much.”

“Then it makes sense that he wouldn’t open his mouth no matter how much we tortured him. It’s because the tentacle is controlling him, not his own ego. Now, what should we do with Amaris?”

“Let’s open his head and take out what’s inside.”

Amaris realized the destruction that was coming to him and twisted his body wildly, but he was tied up and couldn’t move.

Zenos said.

“It seems like this guy knows what’s going to happen. The tentacle’s quite intelligent.”

A paladin stuffed a rag into Amaris’s mouth and held his head tightly.

Another paladin brought a saw and horizontally sliced Amaris’s skull.

Sseuksak, sseuksak.

Amaris screamed silently.

“Eup! Eup, eup!”

A priest put his hands together and recited a prayer for Amaris.

“Where there is a beginning, there is an end. Goddess Elia said that there is neither eternal joy nor sorrow. Our priest Amaris offers this body for Goddess Elia, so bury his imperfect body and let it be a new life on the sacred path ahead. A-men.”

The paladin opened Amaris’s skull.

In Amaris’s brain, a small tentacle creature was wriggling its tentacles.

When the paladin grabbed the tentacle and pulled it out, Amaris died and slumped down.

“Priest Melissa-nim. Here’s the tentacle.”

The tentacle wriggled and then stopped moving and died.

Melissa held the tentacle in her hand and said.

“This must be the root of everything. Let me tell you what I’ve found out.”

Zenos urged.

“Speak so that everyone here can hear.”

“One. The tentacle can enter the human brain and control the other person. Two. Humans who have been entered by the tentacle are hostile to other humans. Three. Infected humans act as usual. Four. These things spread like an epidemic.”

“I see. Amaris putting poison in our food must have been to infect us while we were down. Using poison even though there’s an excellent paladin like me. How foolish.”

“And five. These things move systematically. Amaris isn’t a pharmacist. There’s probably a colleague who gave Amaris the medicine. The person who handles various medicines the best in the village would be Lucy….”

“Our church has been too inward-looking. We need to see the situation outside. We need to check how much the village has been encroached upon. And I’ve never heard of a tentacle monster that parasitizes and controls humans and is contagious. We need to inform the Holy Kingdom of its existence.”

Priest Melissa thought for a moment and then gave orders to another paladin and two priests.

“The three of you, take this tentacle right now and go to the Holy Kingdom at the risk of your lives. At least one person must arrive in the Holy Kingdom with the tentacle. Goddess Elia will watch over you.”

“Understood!”

The paladin and two priests went outside and came back.

The guard had locked the village’s main gate for the evening and wouldn’t open it, and when they tried to secretly climb over the wall, guards were densely guarding every part of the wall.

Priest Melissa ordered.

“Leave the moment the village’s main gate opens tomorrow morning.”

“Understood!”

———————

It is now the moment when Amaris was being tortured.

The sky darkened, and it was almost dinner time.

I, Kyle, was happily playing chess with Lucy-nuna on the second floor of Lucy-nuna’s house.

Next to us, Catherine and some of my female friends were cleaning the house and cooking.

Since I had almost occupied Bradon Village, I didn’t hide anymore and openly roamed around the house.

I made some of my female subordinates do the housework.

Lucy-nuna and I comfortably played, ate, and had sex.

While playing chess, I sensed that the tentacle mental network connection with a tentacle soldier had been cut off.

“Did you feel it too, Nuna?”

“Yeah.”

I barely caught a priest who wandered around a lot and infected him, then sent him to the church, but that guy died.

‘He didn’t seem very smart. In the end, he died.’

A message from Edgar came through the tentacle mental network.

• [Master. The soldier sent to the church has died. Did you feel it?]

• [Yeah.]

• [We need to seal off the village right now.]

• [Why?]

• [I don’t know what happened, but Priest Melissa killed our soldier. The church can do anything for Goddess Elia. They will definitely find out about the existence of the tentacle. And Melissa will send that tentacle to the Holy Kingdom right now.]

• [What happens if they send it to the Holy Kingdom?]

• [If the Holy Kingdom knows about the existence of the tentacle, they will send inquisitors and elite soldiers. Then we’re all done for! The inquisitors will open our heads and experiment on us for Goddess Elia. Even if Winston is there, the inquisitors and elite soldiers are strong. We can’t stop them all!]

• [I understand.]

• [We need to strengthen the defenses right now so that no one can leave. And tomorrow morning, we need to isolate the village by sending out all the outsiders except for the villagers, using the excuse that an epidemic has been discovered.]

• [I authorize it. Order Winston to carry out the detailed plan yourself.]

• [Understood.]

———————

It is now the early dawn of the day after Amaris died.

The owners of hotels and inns came with the guard and refunded the full accommodation fee and an additional 20% penalty to the people who were staying there, and kicked them out to the square.

Winston and the guards forced the outsiders in the village to leave.

The nominal reason was that an epidemic had been discovered in the village, so it was to protect the health of the guests.

A guard shouted.

“Leave this village quickly! An epidemic has been discovered.”

“I don’t care. I spent a lot of money to come here.”

“Leave quickly! This is what the village mayor has decided. We will isolate the village!”

At the entrance of the village, the guards were distributing 50 gold per person as compensation and selling food and supplies for the journey out of the village.

“If you leave now, we will give you 50 gold per person as compensation. Leave quickly!”

A merchant shouted.

“Damn it! What are you doing to your guests! Don’t you know who I am? I’m the great merchant Jair!”

There were always people who didn’t listen anywhere.

At that moment, Winston pulled out his sword from its scabbard and shouted.

“Kuaaaaaaa!”

Everyone in the square was startled and looked at Winston.

The atmosphere instantly cooled down.

Winston shouted in a resolute voice.

“You have two choices! Leave peacefully now and receive 50 gold, or resist and get beaten up and kicked out of the village!”

“I am the great merchant Jair! You can’t treat me like this! Bring the village mayor!”

Winston exuded killing intent and approached Jair with his sword.

“I’ll have to cut off your head as an example.”

Jair was terrified by Winston’s tremendous killing intent and eyes and said in a small voice.

“Ah. I’m sorry. I’ll leave quickly.”

“Get lost.”

“Yes!”

Jair packed his bags to leave the village quickly.

The two priests and one paladin who had received orders from Melissa yesterday mingled among the outsiders and headed towards the village’s main gate.

A guard stopped them.

“Wait!”

The paladin asked as a representative.

“What is it?”

“Villagers cannot leave. Stop!”

“We must leave. Didn’t you say it was an epidemic? We need to inform the Holy Kingdom about this disease.”

“The village mayor said that we can solve this epidemic with our own strength. Don’t spread germs outside and go in.”

“We have to leave.”

“That won’t do. Guys, catch them.”

The surrounding guards took out weapons and ropes and approached them.

The paladin gave a signal to the priest, and the three of them quickly rushed towards the main gate.

The paladin took out his flail.

The soldiers shouted.

“Block them!”

Shield warriors blocked the main gate.

An arrow that flew from somewhere pierced the priest’s shoulder.

Piyoong, peok.

In the moment when the priest flinched from the pain, the second arrow accurately pierced his neck bone.

Piyoong, peok.

“Keok, keok.”

Koong.

The paladin shouted in anger.

“Damn it! You killed a priest. You crazy bastards!”

A guard shouted.

“You attacked first. We don’t want to fight either. If you had followed the rules peacefully, this wouldn’t have happened!”

The paladin continuously consumed life force and cast Sacrifice, a divine aura that enhances physical abilities, speed, and attack power, on himself.

The paladin gathered divine power in his flail.

The paladin rushed towards the shield warrior and swung his flail.

When the shield warrior held up his kite shield to block, the flail and the kite shield collided, creating a loud noise.

Kuaaaang!

The kite shield was crushed, and the shield warrior slid backward.

“Ugh, what kind of strength is this!”

Other guards from the side ran towards the paladin with weapons.

The paladin used his enhanced reflexes to wildly deflect the swords, spears, axes, etc. coming from around him with his flail.

Kwang, chaeng, kagang, kwang.

The remaining priest cast a divine aura that enhances speed and stamina on himself and quickly rushed through the gap between the guard and the main gate.

However, the priest’s feet did not completely exit the main gate.

It was because Winston, who had jumped from somewhere, blew off the priest’s head.

The paladin screamed.

“No!”

The paladin took the tentacle from the dead priest’s body and wildly deflected weapons to approach the priest’s side in order to get out himself.

A magic that restricts movement, which flew from somewhere, slightly slowed the paladin’s movements.

A guard struck the paladin’s leg with an axe, cutting down to the bone.

The paladin screamed.

“Keuak!”

Another guard pierced the paladin’s neck with a spear.

“Kehk! Keogeok!”

The paladin collapsed.

Winston shouted to the outsiders.

“What are you looking at! Don’t you turn your eyes?”

All the outsiders turned their eyes as if they had made a promise.

“These guys ignored the rules and tried to attack us first, so we inflicted punishment! I and the village mayor will go to the church and apologize in person! Those who do not follow the rules may end up like this!”

The outsiders trembled in the grim atmosphere and fled the village one by one.

In that way, all the outsiders in the village left the village.

The village’s main gate creaked and closed firmly and was locked.

Guards waited at the village’s main gate, preventing anyone from leaving or entering.

On the wooden fence and stone walls surrounding the village, and on the watchtowers, guards patrolled the surroundings in pairs, thoroughly guarding the area.

It was like a state of war.

Bradon Village was completely isolated from the outside world.