Rage's Branch Point
“What? You said that elf left last night, didn’t you?”
“I-I did say that, yes, but I don’t know what happened after that.”
He kept pressing the soldier who had reported the elf’s whereabouts, but it did no good.
“Damn it. Get the villagers assembled, now!”
Ho-yeong was certain of it now.
It’s confirmed. That elf bitch, whatever her name was, Lingling or Dingding, is the one who kidnapped the kids. She came here from the start with a clear purpose.
Rio’s words echoed in his head.
“A few weeks ago, an elven adventurer visited a village in this area. At first, everyone found her unfamiliar, but elves are rare enough that people were wary by nature. Still, she was friendly for an elf, and she helped the villagers with magic, so she quickly won them over. She especially got along well with the children.”
She especially got along well with the children. She especially got along well with the children. She especially got along well with the children.
She used magic to draw people in, predicted and repelled monster attacks, built trust, and then won over the children in the end. I don’t know what she’s planning with the kidnappings, but it’s a filthy, vicious method.
Even if they were only children, there were well over ten of them. One kidnapper would have a hard time dragging them all away at once. They would cry, resist, and try to run. If they were tied up with ropes or the like to stop them from escaping, it would only slow the whole process down.
But what if the children went along willingly?
Then it would be a piece of cake. If neither the children nor their parents suspected a thing, all she had to do was lead them away.
And as he thought of kidnappings, another memory surfaced.
The day he had first seen Rubia, in the prison of the royal palace.
“I killed not a person, but a single monster! If it wears a human shell, does that make it human?”
The apostate priestess had shouted in fury.
“And you call the one who kidnaps children and sells them to black mages a human?”
That shrill metallic voice still seemed to pierce his ears.
“That alone deserves death, but this bastard lures the parents of missing children into thinking they’ve found them, only to sell them too. How can anyone wearing a human face do something like that?”
As before, Ho-yeong let out a low groan.
Was that black mage Rubia mentioned the same person as this elf? She said child kidnappings were happening in other places too. Are the same bastards behind all of it? Damn it. I should’ve asked Rubia in more detail back then!
Strictly speaking, none of this had been Ho-yeong’s fault. It had been the beginning of his possession, when everything was still a blur, and he had not even been given a system prompt telling him this was important information.
Damn it, what the hell did I do?! I heard something that important and just let it slide.
And yet he blamed himself anyway, furious at his own carelessness.
Whoever it is, I’m going to crush them. Snatching up innocent kids like this, and using dirty tricks to do it…
The flames of his anger shifted toward the kidnapper and burned hotter.
As a young man supporting three younger siblings, Ho-yeong despised crimes against children more than anything. That hadn’t changed in this other world.
To him now, this world was not some game’s illusion. It was another reality entirely.
“I want to become a knight as cool as the count!”
The children’s voices came back to him with painful clarity.
Warning! Guardian’s anger level is rising rapidly. If it exceeds the threshold, the item Burning Blood Droplet will activate automatically.
The sudden heat in his wrist snapped him back to his senses. The jewel in the bracelet was not only glowing red, it was radiating heat.
He started to tug it off in alarm, but the bracelet tightened even more.
Notice. During your rage, and for a period afterward, Burning Blood Droplet cannot be removed. Item transfer is also on cooldown. Time until transfer becomes available: 22 hours.
“Haa... right. I need to calm down. I’ll need to save my strength now if I want to beat the crap out of that bastard later.”
He steadied his breathing.
Search or defense. Which one comes first?
At times like this, the system had always shown him the branching point.
Time remaining until the trolls’ attack begins: 89 minutes 52 seconds
But now it was only telling him the time. He had already passed the chapter’s final branching point.
Ho-yeong could not tell whether that was a blessing or a curse. It felt as if countless branching paths had been stamped directly into his neurons instead of into the status window, like the title of Chapter 1: Endless Crossroads.
I can’t send the whole force out searching for the kids. If they run into trolls in the forest first, we’ll be in trouble. We’ll lose the whole advantage of defense. And... unless I know what the enemy is after, charging around blindly won’t solve anything.
He forced himself to stay calm and sort out the priorities.
But if I abandon the search entirely, I may lose any chance of saving them forever. Then I’ll have to prioritize the defensive battle, but start the search with a small unit.
After quickly checking the soldiers’ lower stats, he selected the ones with the best foot speed and sharpest eyes.
“You four soldiers, listen up! Find any trace of that elf woman and the children at once! She said she went to the mountain nearby, so search the trail thoroughly. When you find a clue, have one of you come report back, and let the rest continue a focused search. Repeat that at regular intervals. If you find nothing within an hour, fall back to the defensive line by the post station. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
With two veteran souls sharing one body, his commands came out cleanly. Joren Tamer, especially, had been assigned search and tracking as his primary duties, so his experience and knowledge were a tremendous help.
“Use this to mark traces. If you find anything suspicious in the terrain, sprinkle this dye over it.”
What Ho-yeong handed over was a bottle of dye, confiscated from the unscrupulous fruit merchant who had pulled off that orange scam in Rainpa City.
“First, paint a few stones with this and take them with you. When you fan out for a focused search, leave one stone behind at regular intervals along your route. That way the people who return can find their way back easily, and it’ll make it simpler to search the area again later.”
“Yes, sir!”
The dye had been enchanted with a glowing spell, so it would be easy to spot even in the forest.
“Vulcher, you keep watch from above. And you’ll have to return toward Bojedo in an hour as well!”
- Kkweok-kkwik-kkweok! (Understood!)
He also ordered the converted hogryphon to conduct an aerial search.
If he had his way, he would have ridden Vulcher himself, but battle preparations came first. The villagers’ evacuation was not finished yet, either.
“Um, Count Byeonbangbaek? What exactly were you just saying?”
“Is something happened to the children?”
“Now that you mention it, why did you gather us all here...?”
Sensing something was wrong, the villagers were growing anxious.
Given the circumstances, the kidnapping is all but certain, but should I even tell the villagers? It’ll cause a huge commotion, obviously. Some people will say they can’t leave without the children. But if I announce the troll attack, they’ll ask how the children are supposed to evacuate too... Argh!
His head throbbed.
Time remaining until the trolls’ attack begins: 88 minutes 44 seconds
Time passed without care.
“Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
Ho-yeong explained quickly and concisely.
“M-My God. The trolls are coming to our village instead of the southern villages?!”
“Lingling kidnapped the children? That can’t be... there’s no way that kind elf would do such a thing...”
As expected, the villagers were thrown into turmoil.
“Everyone, calm down! We will drive the trolls back. And we will absolutely find out where the children are. So first, evacuate to a safe place...!”
“We can’t go! We can’t leave until we know the children are safe!”
“How can parents run away and save only themselves? We should be evacuating together with our children, not leaving them behind! Sob...”
What he had feared came to pass.
“...This won’t do.”
The moment Ho-yeong reached into his robes for the totem, Peach stepped forward and cut in sharply.
“You’re all shameless, you know that?”
“You entrusted your children to a stranger of another race whose name you didn’t even know in the middle of this chaos. And now you’re throwing a tantrum?”
“But, you see, we’re so busy making a living that we can’t really spend enough time with them, and the children happened to like Lingling and follow her around...!”
“That’s exactly what neglecting your role as parents means!”
Ho-yeong flinched at the sight of her, sharper than he had ever seen her before. Unlike her usual gentle coaxing, Peach’s words were laced with poison.
“Hey, what’s with this girl? Listen to her, she’s got no manners at all!”
“What does a young lady like you know, speaking up like that!”
“Look at her, she can’t even be twenty yet, and she’s talking so rudely to people old enough to be her parents. Girl, don’t you have parents yourself?”
The mothers were getting worked up.
“No, I don’t. I’m an orphan.”
Peach calmly threw the insult back in their faces.
“My life has been nothing but being abandoned. When I was young, the people who gave birth to me abandoned me. When I was old enough to work, I was abandoned by the noble house I served because I refused their advances. And before I even became an adult, I was abandoned by the country itself. I was told I had to leave the orphanage because I was old enough now.”
Her beautiful pink lips were bitten so hard they had gone bloodless.
“You ask what I know? I know the pain of being left alone. And I know the hurt of waiting and waiting, too. Just like the children you’ve been too busy to care for. Sadness and pain may dull, but they don’t disappear. They stay in your heart forever as a hole. But the knight who took me in taught me something.”
Peach lifted her head, her eyes brimming with tears that seemed ready to fall.
“That the deepest holes can be filled with joy.”
The aura of Influence flowed out from her tear-filled eyes.
Ability level increased! The level of the main skill tree Influence Edification within the passive skill Influence has risen from 1 to 3.
Character stat increased! Peach’s charm stat grade has risen from A+ to S.
“It’s only natural that you’re worried. But I think you must not rush in when you know nothing at all. Please trust my master and wait. Our guardian knight will keep his promise, protect this village, and protect the children. He has done so before.”
In the barren wind, her pink hair swayed like the breath of spring.
The villagers’ agitation has stopped. Edification level is rising.
Ho-yeong took up the baton.
Peach had moved their emotions, so now it was his turn to persuade them with reason.
“I want to find the children just as badly as you do. But if we rush into the search, we’re likely to scatter chaotically without any system or command. What happens if you spread out in every direction and run into trolls or other monsters? How are you, who’ve never properly swung a weapon before, supposed to face those creatures? Fathers may resist by swinging wooden sticks if they have to, but what about the mothers?”
Those who had already experienced the terror of the trolls shrank back.
“Please leave the first search to the professionals. The sooner we stop the trolls, the sooner we can devote ourselves to a second search. For that, we need your cooperation. We don’t have time. Please trust me and follow my lead!”
The villagers, now recovered enough to think, immediately cooperated.
“All right, don’t waste time, let’s move!”
“We’ll help drive the trolls back! Everyone, let’s protect the village until our children return!”
The fathers, too, resolved themselves at once and stepped forward.
“Boarding is this way. We’ll escort the elderly first.”
Peach guided the old people with a polite smile.
“Militia support is being handled here by Captain Rio.”
The tears were gone from her face, replaced by a brisk, determined expression.
Inspired by Peach’s sorrowful smile, Ho-yeong steadied his own heart.
I may have to admit that I couldn’t protect everyone. But that’s for later. I can’t start by deciding that I won’t be able to save everyone!
To protect what mattered, he resolved to hold fast to his own convictions first.
---