The Villagers' Reckoning
{The Villagers' End}
"No way in hell."
Kang Jin-ho couldn't believe it.
A hollow laugh escaped his lips.
Outer God, of all things.
Why did these kinds of misunderstandings keep popping up everywhere?
"They worship one, so everything looks like an Outer God to them, huh."
Kang Jin-ho glanced down at the ground.
Alexia lay there, passed out cold.
Everything she had—blown to dust by a single punch from Kang Jin-ho's physical therapy session.
No wonder she'd been rambling nonsense.
It wasn't unusual for someone who'd lost everything to lose their mind and spout gibberish.
Esmi seemed to realize she'd said something foolish and quickly shut her mouth.
"Alright, show's over."
Kang Jin-ho dusted off his hands.
He turned his head.
Esmi was staggering.
She'd depleted too much mana.
With the tension gone, her body was giving out.
The Village Chief was carefully supporting her.
"Great-uncle."
"Yes, Esmi. Thank goodness you're safe."
Relief spread across the Village Chief's wrinkled face.
His one remaining blood relative was unharmed.
But his eyes held a deep skepticism as well.
He glanced at the villagers.
The ones who had tried to kill him and his grandniece.
Despite years together, they hadn't trusted him.
Today, he'd seen their ugly true faces clearly.
"Great-uncle, what will you do now?"
Esmi asked cautiously.
Her voice was thick with exhaustion.
"We'll leave."
The Village Chief's answer was firm.
"No more attachments here. We'll find a quiet place to live together. There must be somewhere safe for this old body of mine to rely on."
Esmi nodded at his words.
She'd already planned to leave the forest.
The Outer God followers had figured out her location.
It could no longer be her safe haven.
She needed a new secure spot.
"So what about those village idiots?"
Kang Jin-ho cut in abruptly.
He jerked his chin toward the villagers.
They were holding their breath, watching nervously.
Alexia's monsters were all down.
With the immediate threat gone, selfish calculations flickered back in their eyes.
"……."
Esmi bit her lip hard at Kang Jin-ho's question.
Her gaze fell on the villagers.
The wounded ones.
The faces that had screamed curses at her.
She'd risked her life to protect them.
But all she'd gotten was scorn and maledictions.
Even the last shred of lingering attachment in her heart shattered.
"We'll cut ties with them."
Before Esmi could answer, the Village Chief stepped in front of her.
His voice held no trace of pity.
"This child has done more than enough. She bled to protect them. But they repaid kindness with enmity. There's no reason for her to take responsibility anymore."
The Village Chief's words rang true.
Kang Jin-ho smirked.
He nodded.
"Yeah, makes sense. Very wise call."
Kang Jin-ho turned to face the villagers.
His eyes were utterly cold.
Like he was looking at corpses already.
No—like he was looking at things that should be corpses.
"From now on, you're on your own to survive."
The villagers flinched at his words.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Survive on our own?!"
A man asked in a trembling voice.
Kang Jin-ho scratched his ear casually.
"Exactly what I said. You still don't get why this village stayed safe all this time?"
Kang Jin-ho pointed to the forest behind him.
The fog-shrouded Black Mist Forest.
Beyond it lay a demonic realm teeming with ferocious monsters.
"This girl was blocking the entrance. She drove off the swarming monsters all by herself. That's how you got to sleep soundly with legs stretched out."
The villagers' faces turned ashen.
Deep down, they knew.
They'd seen Esmi taking down the monsters that attacked the village.
They'd just turned a blind eye.
Now they were forced to face the truth they'd ignored.
"But now the shield's gone?"
Kang Jin-ho grinned cruelly.
"Wonder what happens next. Hungry monsters will come pouring down into the village. You'll have to fight them with pickaxes and sickles. Sounds fun."
His words were a death sentence.
Terror wildly shook the villagers' eyes.
Fight monsters?
How were peasant farmers supposed to beat trolls or ogres?
It would just be a one-sided massacre.
And yet, they'd thought a black mage like Esmi—who casually killed trolls and ogres—could be taken down easily. Pathetic.
"N-no!"
"That can't happen!"
The villagers erupted in clamor.
Their gazes turned desperately to Esmi.
Moments ago, they'd called her a witch and tried to kill her.
Now they looked at her like a savior, eyes pleading.
"L-Lady Esmi!"
"Please don't go!"
"Don't abandon us!"
"We were wrong! It was a misunderstanding!"
The height of shamelessness.
The moment things turned against them, they flipped like pancakes.
They surged forward as if to grab her robe.
"You have to take responsibility for us to the end!"
"Right! If you live in the forest, protecting the village is your duty!"
Some even spouted nonsense.
Kang Jin-ho clicked his tongue at their bottomless selfishness.
Truly nauseating scum.
"Let's go, Esmi."
The Village Chief took Esmi's arm.
He too looked sickened by their audacity.
Esmi nodded.
No more hesitation in her eyes.
"Hold up."
Kang Jin-ho rummaged in his pocket.
Letting them off like this felt off.
He decided to hand out some cheap pity to clear his unease.
He pulled out a small notepad and pen.
Kang Jin-ho scribbled something quickly.
Scritch-
In the silence, only the pen scratching paper echoed.
Soon, he tore out a page.
He tossed it to Esmi like it was nothing.
"Here."
"What... is this?"
Esmi received the paper politely with both hands.
Crude handwriting filled it.
"A certificate from Kwonje Jin?"
"Yeah. Like my guarantee."
Kang Jin-ho crossed his arms, explaining.
"Head south. There's Escar City at the southern tip. Got a big-shot merchant group there called the Lapis Merchant Group."
"Lapis Merchant Group..."
"The head's named Seraphina. My wallet. Or partner, whatever."
Kang Jin-ho smirked, thinking of her.
She was probably busy raking in cash right now, no time to breathe.
"Show that paper to her. She'll handle everything."
His words brimmed with certainty.
"Food, shelter, new identity, even retirement for your great-uncle. All perfect. It's got my name on it."
Seraphina was sharp.
Anyone he sent personally, she'd treat like royalty.
Plus, Esmi was a 7th Circle black mage.
A genius on the verge of 8th Circle.
Seraphina wouldn't let that talent rot.
She'd put it to good use for the merchant group.
Win-win.
"Ah..."
Esmi's amethyst eyes widened.
Tears welled up again.
Not from fear or sorrow this time.
Tears of gratitude.
"Hic..."
She'd thought the world had abandoned her.
But this gruff man before her had opened a new path.
Without asking for anything in return, he'd extended a saving hand.
"Thank you... truly, thank you."
Esmi bowed deeply.
Her voice trembled faintly.
"I thought Lord Kwonje was just... rough."
"...?"
"But you're surprisingly kind."
Esmi wiped her tears and beamed.
A pure, innocent smile.
Sincere praise from the heart.
She genuinely saw Kang Jin-ho as unexpectedly kind right now.
"Ha."
Kang Jin-ho scowled in disbelief.
Kind?
The least fitting word in the world.
It was just cheap pity.
"Cut the nonsense and get going."
He snapped curtly.
"Or I'll take it back."
"R-right! I'm going! Right now!"
Esmi tucked the paper deep into her bosom like the world's greatest treasure.
"Where do you think you're going!"
"You can't leave!"
"If you abandon us, you're murderers!"
"You killers! Planning to let us die?!"
That's when it happened.
The villagers lunged again, screaming.
They realized they'd be dead without Esmi.
Shamelessness thrown to the wind for survival.
Brandishing sickles.
Wielding clubs.
Desperate to grab Esmi and the Village Chief.
"Where do you think you're going, leaving us!"
"You bitch! Where are you off to!"
One man reached for Esmi's robe hem.
Lust even glinted in his eyes as he stretched toward her.
That instant.
Rumble—!
An explosive aura burst from Kang Jin-ho's body.
The overwhelming pressure slammed into the villagers like a physical force.
"H-heek!"
"Gasp!"