Chapter 90
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Porter's Diary - 3
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Eram snapped awake at the sound of screams and immediately began barricading all the doors inside the house.
"What's going on? A War Bear?"
"It's a monster. You don't happen to not know what a War Bear is, do you?"
"Of course I do. But is it really something to make this big a fuss over? It's just a War Bear."
"I know you're deep into your delusions, but this time, just sit tight. I'm begging you."
"So, you'll let me sleep with you tonight, then?"
"Sigh... just this once."
"Fine. I'll stay put, like you said."
Ian tilted his glass again with that infuriating smirk, and Eram itched to punch him—but given the circumstances, he swallowed his anger.
Yet for some reason, the War Bear was stubbornly targeting only Eram's house.
Thud! Thud!
"B-Brother... I'm scared."
"There's no food here, so it'll leave soon enough. Don't worry too much."
Parrel tried to reassure his little sister Collin as the big brother he was, but deep down, he was trembling in fear too.
It wasn't common for a monster to fixate on one house like this.
Still, whenever this happened in Lugeron Village, they dealt with it the same way.
'Mountain sacrifice.'
They needed a sacrificial lamb to draw the monster's attention.
Naturally, it was always the woman in the house who contributed the least to the labor.
But Eram couldn't bring himself to cast out his own daughter, Parrel.
Unlike his father, who had driven out his sister Ellis, Eram just couldn't do it.
In that moment, memories of those he had abandoned flooded his mind.
First, it had been Aunt Bibi. She had feared abandonment more than anyone.
She still had daughters she needed to support.
Next was his own wife, Mavelly. Her mother had been abandoned in the exact same way.
Even with her frail body, Mavelly had faced it with a smile.
Why had Mavelly smiled like that?
And then he kept abandoning people.
And there he always was—the one doing the abandoning.
And now, he had to abandon someone again.
And he would have to keep doing it in the future.
But he never wanted to abandon his own child.
Yet if no one was abandoned, everyone would die.
What choice should he...
"Hey, Eram."
"What?"
Ian shattered Eram's brooding, which had grown as long as the alcohol he'd drunk.
"If you play along with my delusions, I'll lure that thing away."
"You're volunteering to sacrifice yourself?"
"Sacrifice?"
Ian drew his longsword with utter confidence.
It looked no different from any ordinary longsword, but for a split second, Eram glimpsed a golden aura enveloping the blade.
"It's the brave hero showing his courage and valor."
Ian strode out the front door with bold assurance.
And then...
"Eram! You said it was a War Bear?!"
"You..."
Terror-stricken, Ian fled back inside.
Eram was dumbfounded, but Ian had his excuses.
"A War Bear? I've never seen one that huge in my life!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, but all the War Bears in the Dark Forest are about that size."
"Damn it all, why the hell do people live in a place like this? Do the villagers have nine lives or something?"
Ian recoiled in horror at the beast, which was at least two heads taller than any War Bear he knew.
A knight who had reached the 4th rank could usually take down a normal War Bear with ease, but not this one. It would take a top-tier 4th ranker at minimum.
"And it's a Vengeful Ghost on top of that! Looks like today’s my last day."
Boom!
A massive front paw smashed through the door amid Ian's lamentations.
The door crumbled in an instant, revealing a bear larger than the house itself.
A War Bear.
And it was a mutant, judging by its ominously colored fur.
"‘Ooooppaaaah~’"
Everyone, Eram included, began to quake in fear at the eerie cry of the mutant.
"Everyone, close your eyes!"
Ian was the only one who overcame his terror. He quickly invoked his skill.
"Goddess of Light, grant us your radiant brilliance!"
A dazzling light filled the house in response to Ian's prayer.
Whether it was particularly effective against monsters or not, the War Bear writhed in agony from the glare.
"Run while you can!"
"Yes!"
Quick-witted eldest son Parrel grabbed his sister Collin and bolted outside.
"Eram, you not running?"
"In our village, when a monster attacks a house, at least one person has to stay behind and lure it into the forest. It's tradition."
"What? That's some bullshit tradition."
"It's something you outsiders wouldn't know."
"Weird. Well, whatever. Good choice anyway. That thing's been after you from the start."
"Me?"
"Vengeful Ghost."
"What's that?"
"You really don't know what a Vengeful Ghost is?"
"No."
"Simply put, sometimes when a monster eats a person, that person's grudge possesses it. And the grudge possessing this one is probably related to you by blood, so it's targeting you."
Eram felt as if a hammer had smashed into his skull at Ian's explanation.
It denied his entire life as a porter in one blow.
And among his blood kin, three had been abandoned.
His father and mother, midway into the Dark Forest.
And then...
"‘Ooooppa...’"
The voice emerging from the War Bear's maw.
It was an utterly repulsive howl, but faintly, it sounded like a young girl's voice.
"‘Nooo, don’t throoow me awaaay—’"
The people of Lugeron Village committed sins to survive.
"E-Ellis..."
So Lugeron Village knew only despair. The methods they chose for survival only led them deeper into a cycle of despair.
Ian finally dragged Eram into the forest and shouted at him.
"Eram! Snap out of it!"
"Ah..."
"If the Vengeful Ghost gets hold of you, you're done for! Pull yourself together!"
"O-Okay."
Eram managed to regain his senses, but that didn't improve their situation.
Unlike Ian, who could wield mystical skills, he was just a simple farmer.
"Eram, you fast on your feet?"
"I'm retired now, but back in my prime as a porter, I was trained for it."
"Fast, huh?"
"No one in this village could outrun me."
"Haha, perfect!"
Ian laughed at Eram's confident reply, drew his longsword wreathed in golden aura, sliced through a massive blackwood tree legendary in the Dark Forest, and blocked the War Bear's path as it pursued them.
Eram couldn't hide his shock at the sight.
By all common knowledge, blackwood trees were impossible to cut.
"You really a hero?"
Cough! Cough! "Only now you believe me?"
"Ian?"
"Quit gawking and help me out."
Eram panicked at Ian suddenly vomiting blood and hurriedly hoisted him onto his back.
Cough! Cough! "Ugh... If not for this damn curse, I could've one-shot that thing."
"Don't spit blood on my back. It's gross."
"You're heartless. Is that any way to talk to your savior?"
"I'll thank you once we survive that thing."
"Oh? It's a promise then."
Even in this life-or-death crisis, Ian joked around as casually as ever.
'I envy that composure.'
Of course, he also wanted to shut that endlessly yapping mouth.
"You know this forest better than I expected."
"Didn't I tell you? I used to be a porter."
"How am I supposed to know what a porter even is in this village? What the hell is it anyway?"
"Simple: it's the job of abandoning people in the forest. It's unique to folks living near the Dark Forest."
"What the fuck?!"
Eram was shocked to hear Ian curse for the first time.
He'd seemed like such an upright young man who never swore.
"Y-You..."
"Shut up!"
Ian shoved Eram away like he was an arch-enemy.
"I thought people living in a place like this had their reasons, but you're all just monsters."
"M-Monsters? You really calling us that?"
"What else should I call you? A insane village mass-producing Vengeful Ghosts?"
"W-We didn't know any better."
"Huh? Does ignorance make it not a sin? Fuck, can I kill you since I don't know better either?"
"......"
"Never thought I'd visit a village of subhuman scum. Goddess, why put me through this trial..."
Ian raised his longsword and pointed it at Eram.
"So who got eaten by that War Bear?"
"My sister."
"Sister? So you personally threw her to her death?"
"No, my father forced her out."
"Still disgusting. Your sister dies, and you and your dad live to a ripe old age?"
"We had no choice. For the whole family to survive, someone had to be sacrificed."
"Unbelievable. The more I learn about this village, the sicker it gets. Even bandits wouldn't stoop this low. Impressive."
Eram couldn't help but feel offended by Ian's mocking words and tone, so his voice rose naturally.
Their tempers flared, and they forgot to flee, starting a full-blown argument.
"You wouldn't understand. What it's like living in this village. Facing monsters that could strike any night without warning."
"No, I wouldn't. But this I do know: what happens to your sister who became a Vengeful Ghost."
"What?"
"Sins born of ignorance are still sins. Your sister will have her soul torn apart, never to reincarnate, wandering in eternal torment in Niflheim. Truly pitiful!"