79
Chapter 79
"The kid is awake, so get lost."
The old woman spat those words out when she saw me hesitating.
'I wanted to ask about magic, too.'
Just as I was about to open my mouth to ask more questions, I stopped after seeing her expression.
It wasn't a face that was willing to continue the conversation.
I had no idea what she might do to me if I said even one more word.
Left with no choice, I turned around and headed toward where Bill and Baldic were.
Baldic carefully put Bill on his back, and we made our way out of the cabin with heavy steps.
As soon as we crossed the boundary and stepped outside, the first thing I saw was the faces of Eileen and Silon.
Behind them, a party of at least ten people surrounded the area, maintaining a tense state of alertness.
Upon confirming our appearance, their stiff expressions finally relaxed, and they breathed sighs of relief.
"Bill!"
At that moment, someone came taking long strides through the crowd.
It was none other than the inn owner.
The inn owner stared at Bill's face, unable to speak for a moment.
Then, with reddened eyes, he bowed his head deeply toward us.
"Thank you... thank you so much. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
His voice was trembling, but it was filled with sincerity.
Baldic nodded silently and carefully handed the child over.
As I watched the inn owner's back returning to the village while holding Bill, I looked back at the party.
Eileen and Silon approached and surrounded us.
Eileen looked at me first and opened her mouth.
"I'm so glad you're safe."
"Yeah, nothing bad happened, right?"
"Right. What exactly happened inside?"
"Well, um... it's a bit complicated. I'll tell you about it later."
My head was too full of all the information I had just obtained to explain it right away.
As I vaguely brushed it off, Silon, who was standing next to me, followed up.
"Is Bill going to be okay?"
"He's fine for now. He might not be completely cured, but at least for now."
Silon let out a sigh of relief and said.
"That's a relief. You two weren't coming out for so long, I was getting worried."
"You weren't thinking of running away on your own, were you?"
At Baldic's words, Silon's shoulders flinched.
...He's certainly consistent, if nothing else.
"Take that!"
"Ack!"
Baldic lightly rapped Silon on the top of his head, then turned his gaze to me.
"...What on earth were you talking about for so long in there?"
"I had some important questions to ask."
Baldic sighed and shook his head.
"You're amazing. I couldn't get used to that appearance no matter how hard I tried."
...I couldn't deny that statement, either.
A hooked nose, rough skin, white hair sticking out in all directions, and a hunched back.
She called herself a warlock, but to anyone's eyes, she had the appearance of a typical 'witch'.
Suddenly, I wondered if the word 'witch' existed in this world.
So, I casually asked Baldic about it.
"...Why are you asking? You saw her earlier."
It was a statement that clearly referred to Marley, whom we had seen earlier.
Then it's certain.
"But she said she wasn't a witch herself?"
"...Is that so? I'm actually not a priest, either."
"...What? No wonder..."
As I nodded in agreement, Baldic flailed his arms and legs in a panic.
"No, damn it. That was a bad example. I mean, even if I say I'm not, it's a fact that I'm a priest. It's the same for her. Anyone can see she's a witch."
I couldn't really argue with that.
After all, the important thing is the perspective of the observer, no matter what you call it.
So... does that mean that woman is lying?
But is there any reason for her to go out of her way to lie?
"...She has no reason to do that."
Baldic snorted and spoke.
"What do you mean she has no reason? Just thinking about what happened fifteen hundred years ago makes it worth hiding."
"...Fifteen hundred years ago?"
Out of nowhere, fifteen hundred years ago?
What happened back then?
Eileen and Silon, who were quietly listening nearby, already seemed to know.
"Haa, seriously. I've felt this since the dungeon, but you really know nothing. Are all the magic tower nerds like this?"
Having just heard the exact same thing from the old woman, it didn't even phase me anymore.
I had no image left to ruin anyway, and pride doesn't put food on the table.
Since I have nothing in this world anyway, I have to ask if I need to.
I have to scrape together every little bit I can just to survive.
"To put it simply, there was a time of witch hunts about fifteen hundred years ago."
Baldic continued speaking, his gaze dropped to the ground.
"It was a simple thing at first. People who used strange medicines in the neighborhood or caused unexplainable phenomena—those were the ones who got suspected. They called them heretics, or said it was a curse. They were sometimes taken away, but killing them outright was still rare back then."
"Then why did it spread to such an extent?"
"Because a certain witch caused a massive incident."
His tone became slightly heavy.
"Her exact name wasn't passed down, but there were rumors that she blew up an entire major city right in the center of the kingdom. It's hard to call it a true story, but the records are too clear to dismiss as a legend. That city actually disappeared from the map, and after that, the witch hunts spread throughout the entire kingdom."
"...She blew up a city?"
One person blew up a city?
It's not like she's a nuclear weapon, how is that even possible?
"People said her magic power went out of control, or that she made a contract with a demon... Anyway, after that incident, the word 'witch' itself became a symbol of terror. Hundreds of people were beheaded because of one person's madness."
"So what happened after that?"
"The witch hunts spread. For a while, anyone doing anything even slightly suspicious was sent straight to the stake. There was no interrogation, no trial. Even just for using magic."
They must have gone to extreme lengths.
It was no different from the witch hunts I knew.
"...What about now?"
"It's officially banned by the kingdom now. The witch hunts, I mean. There were too many innocent victims to begin with. Now, there's a system to manage it within the institutional framework."
Baldic turned his head, glancing toward the old woman, and added.
"So, the reason she insists on being called a warlock or whatever and avoids the word witch is probably because of all that. Even though they're people who use the same magic, being called a 'witch' still makes people look at them with prejudice."
Is that so.
If there was such a backstory, it does make sense to some extent.
But... it didn't really feel like she was hiding it for that reason.
Because rather than fear, I felt a stronger sense of sheer annoyance coming from her.
...Is it just my imagination?
"But, how do you know all this so well?"
I know this guy has his fair share of knowledge, but this is the first time I've seen him talk at such length.
Baldic shrugged his shoulders and answered in a slightly lower tone than usual.
"It was originally the clergy like us who took the lead in the witch hunts."
"...Ah."
"Ah, of course. It has nothing to do with the god I believe in. The Ulgran followers aren't like that. We have no interest in purification, heretics, or anything of the sort."
He paused for a moment and stole a quick glance toward the cabin.
His eyes held a mix of wariness and an inexplicable hint of apology.
"...That's probably why she didn't say anything to me. If I belonged to a different order, things might have been different."
"That's a relief."
If someone had suddenly snapped and a fight broke out... I don't even want to think about it.
"But hey, what was the name of that witch you mentioned earlier? If it was such a famous incident, you'd think it would be recorded in a history book."
"I don't know either."
"...Excuse me?"
Was this guy cut from the same cloth as me?
"I really don't know. Because that name was erased even from the religious records. Literally obliterated from history. They wiped out her very existence."
Baldic slowly shook his head as he spoke.
"It means it was that massive of an incident, and the fear it instilled runs deep. Even now, her name probably isn't in any official documents. It might only survive in old oral traditions or banned books like forbidden manuscripts, if at all."
"So, practically no one knows about it."
"Exactly. Only clergy like us or a few magicians might have heard of it in passing. To normal people, it's just a legend. The word witch is now only used in tales told for a bronze coin."
Does that mean I actually met someone who belongs in a story told for a bronze coin?
Just thinking about it made the back of my neck tingle.
"Speaking of bronze coins, it reminds me of the stories my mother used to tell me when I was young."
"Did those stories mention witches too?"
"Yeah. A witch kidnaps a princess, and a hero saves her... It was a very common tale."
He tilted his head back, seemingly lost in thought.
"What was the witch's name back then... Benir? Vanilla? I think it was something like that."
Hearing that name, I slightly furrowed my brow.
...Benir?
That sounded strangely similar to the name of the old woman who had been drawing a magic circle right in front of me just a moment ago.
Could this be a coincidence?
"A witch!? Did you see a real witch?"
Silon made a fuss, his eyes widening in shock.
"A witch..."
Eileen, on the other hand, quietly muttered the word as if chewing on it.
It was a moment that perfectly revealed their two distinct personalities.
While we were chatting, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from behind.
As we shared our idle talk, the slow, deliberate sound of footsteps approached from the rear.
It was a relaxed stride, accompanied by a familiar way of speaking.
"Wow, you guys ended up finding him after all."
"Ah, Mister Nas."
Looking back, Mister Nas stood there with messy hair, wearing loose-fitting armor.
When I chuckled and raised a hand in greeting, Mister Nas nodded as if he were used to it.
"I only made a wasted trip, but I'm glad he was found regardless."
"Still, don't you think they'll pass around a round of beer at the inn?"
"Haha! Of course they should. Right, everyone?"
At Mister Nas's hearty laugh, the mercenaries standing behind him burst into laughter all at once.
With the tension relieved, everyone started throwing in a word or two.
"What do you mean one glass? I'm confident I can empty an entire barrel!"
"That guy Meni has been hiding some good liquor, you know? We have to make him open it this time!"
Meni was the name of the village inn owner.
"Anyway, where did you find him?"
"Ah, well..."
How should I even begin to explain this.
If I were to point at the empty air right now and say, "He came out from there," I'd definitely be treated like a crazy person.
Besides, I had no desire to go out of my way to reveal that I was a magician.
In the end, I slightly averted my eyes and made up a suitable excuse.
"I just... accidentally found him in a bush nearby. He happened to be sleeping there."
"Really? That kid has some damn good luck."
Fortunately, he didn't pry any further.
In times like this, it's much better to brush it off vaguely than to explain things in unnecessary detail.
"We just wandered around and only picked up things like weird stones."
"Haha...... A stone?"
...A stone?
"Yeah. They were weird-looking stones. I picked up a few and gave them all to Monta in the back. Said he was going to make a necklace or something."
"...Weird-looking... By any chance, could I see them right now?"
My heart sank.
A really, really bad feeling began to creep up on me.
"Oho? Did you have a hobby of collecting stones too? Hey, Monta! Take out what we picked up earlier!"
Mister Nas turned around and shouted.
However, there was no answer.
"...Huh? Why has that guy been slouching like that for a while? Is he sick or something?"
Mister Nas's gaze headed to the very back of the formation.
Following his gaze, I saw Monta with his shoulders drooping heavily, his head bowed low.
He was so motionless that I couldn't even tell if he was breathing.
"Hey, Monta! Are you sick anywhere?"
Another mercenary approached him, looking worried.
And the moment he reached out his hand,
"Ughhhhh..."
A bizarre groan leaked out.
Monta, who had been trembling, suddenly raised his head.
His eyes were not the eyes of a human.
Pupils dyed blood-red, burst capillaries, and black mucus flowing from his mouth.
"...Step back!"
The moment I shouted, Monta's body began to twist madly.
A gruesome sound of joints breaking echoed, as if his bones and muscles were being rearranged from the inside.
"Keuk... Aaaagh!!"
"Damn it, what is that!"
"Get back! Everyone, get back!!"
Someone shouted urgently.
But it was already too late.
"Aaaagh!"
Crack, crunch.
Screaming, one of the mercenaries standing closest got caught in Monta's arm.
A hideous mass mixed with stone and flesh, which couldn't even be called an arm anymore, grabbed him and smashed him into the ground in an instant.
Along with the sound of a metal helmet getting crushed, the sound of bones shattering could be heard.
Explosively enlarged muscles, twisted joints, and black stone fragments protruding out of his body.
That was no longer a person.
Another monster, infected by the demon stone, was being completed right before my eyes.
"...Baldic, to the back!"
"Damn it, what is that thing!"
I reflexively shouted at Baldic, and the air surrounding us froze over coldly.
'The peaceful days are all gone.'
Water began to surge at my fingertips.