The Village's Shadow - 3
"That hunter bastard gave up on Isolde and chose Isabel, didn't he? What terrible taste."
"I heard his hunting skills are pretty good. At this rate, won't he snatch the militia captain's seat?"
"Pin, don't cross the line. You might end up dead."
"Ah, sorry."
When Kaylen, the former mercenary, threatened him with a knife, the atmosphere turned hostile in an instant. Sensing that Kaylen might draw blood again, John hurriedly stepped in.
"Kaylen, that's enough. Pin doesn't know what he's talking about. That guy isn't someone you need to worry about."
"Of course not. As if the great Kaylen would fall behind some hunting dog."
"R-right. I was mistaken for a moment. Sorry."
"Pin, cross the line one more time and you're dead."
"Ah, got it."
"More importantly, the Brightness Festival is coming up soon. Pin, is that thing you mentioned before ready?"
Wanting to clear the air, John brought up the real reason his gang had gathered. At his words, Pin quickly pulled a small bundle from his coat and showed it to everyone.
"The sleeping powder is ready right here."
"Does that stuff actually work? Last time that girl from the neighboring village almost woke up."
"Don't worry. I asked the bandits to increase the concentration this time. She won't wake up no matter what you do to her until at least the next morning."
Pin handed the small bundle of white powder to the potbellied man — Torm, the innkeeper's son.
"Just mix it into water or ale."
"Heh heh, got it."
"It's expensive, so use it sparingly. Don't skim any off for yourself."
"I said I got it."
Watching Torm grin lecherously at the sleeping powder made Pin uneasy, but since Torm's father was a major customer of Pin's shop, he couldn't show it.
"Devon, is it true the church might pull out soon?"
"According to Kate, yeah. I don't know the details of why. They're looking for something, but apparently haven't had any results."
"Come to think of it, this guy's the craziest of all. How do you even think of screwing a nun? If you get caught, it's castration at minimum."
"No need to be scared just because she's a nun. Nuns want men just like any other bitch. And where can a nun who's lost her virginity go? They're too scared to tell anyone themselves. Heh heh, a nun's pussy is tighter than you'd think. Kaylen, you should try screwing a nun too."
"Fuck! Why are you telling me about something that good now?"
"Ah, just thinking about it is getting me hard. I should screw Kate one more time before they leave."
"Let me in on it too."
"How much are you gonna pay?"
"You fucking bastard, last time you freely screwed my wife! This time you share!"
"Iva, that bitch was pretty good. No matter how hard you hit her, she couldn't scream a word — that was nice. Some bastard lost his temper and killed a perfectly good cum-dumpster."
"Fuck, are you saying Iva's death was my fault?"
"You should've beaten her more carefully. You can't thrash her like you're handling a beast."
"Bitches only come to their senses when you beat them. Daring to talk back to her husband? She deserved to die."
"That's right. Bitches like that need to die."
John snorted a laugh and agreed with Kaylen. When it came to handling women, the two of them were of the same mind.
"Anyway, everyone remember to stick to the plan."
"So we'll finally have this village all to ourselves?"
"That's right. So everyone keep your heads down. Especially you, Kaylen — stay quiet for a while. Ever since Iva died, people haven't been looking at you kindly."
"Got it. I got it."
"Alright, that's enough for today."
Having finished their conspiracy, John's gang quietly dispersed.
They had no idea.
Interesting.
That a sixth person beside them was eavesdropping on every word of their conversation.
So this is how the scenario fits together.
In The Affairs of a Rural Village, the story progression was mostly covered only from Ian's point of view. Because of that, everything leading up to the start of the incident had been unknown. But through the conspiracy John's gang had just hatched, he could roughly piece together the scenario.
With Torm's help, dosing the village men with sleeping powder won't be difficult.
The reason a typical fat loser like Torm could mix with John's gang was thanks to his father running the biggest inn in the village. And the bandit raid on the village would have been Pin's doing — he was already dealing with the bandits under the table. Being skilled at playing both sides, he could probably arrange the timing of the raid to some degree. Finally, John's gang, who wouldn't have fallen asleep, would use Kaylen to wipe out the bandits, and through that, John planned to elevate himself and his gang as the village's heroes.
The problem was that their plan had been completely ruined because of Ian. They never would have dreamed that a single hunter would annihilate the bandits.
The fact that Ian's heroic tale never spread through the village was probably John's doing too.
He could roughly guess why John had prepared this plan.
It must be because of the village chief's inheritance.
John had a half-sister. In typical medieval fashion, inheritance usually went to the eldest son, but John's situation was different. Despite appearances, John didn't have a good relationship with his father, the village chief. This was because John's mother had committed adultery and broken the family, while the chief had a good relationship with his second wife. The stingy village chief had even paid expensive tuition to enroll his daughter in an academy.
I'd leave my inheritance to a virtuous wife's daughter over an adulteress's son too.
Outwardly, John was treated as the village chief's only son, but inwardly he had to worry that the inheritance might go to his half-sister.
He plans to kill the village chief amid the chaos.
He had a rough idea of how to move going forward. But one thing still bothered him.
I never expected the scenario to connect like this.
The nun Kate that Devon — the village's famous Casanova — had mentioned was one of the nuns who appeared in the prologue of The Affairs of a Lewd Nun, where Reina was the protagonist. She wasn't just a minor supporting character — she was the nun who reported Reina's lost virginity to the Inquisitor.
She's not a virgin herself, and she was going to report Reina? Is she out of her mind?
It was absurd, but thanks to that, a way to keep Reina in Entiel Village had come to mind.
By the way, the thing the church is looking for...
Could it be that?
Lately, Adelia had been living happy days. It was all thanks to her son-in-law, Ian.
"Isabel, I made stew this time."
"It's delicious."
Ian truly cherished and loved Isabel. He attended to Isabel, who couldn't do anything, more diligently than anyone.
"Cough, cough — I'm sorry."
"It's alright. It's hot, so next time I'll blow on it to cool it for you."
Even when Isabel made mistakes, Ian never showed any displeasure. Instead, he carefully wiped Isabel's cheek with a handkerchief and smiled.
"I'm happy just having Isabel by my side, so you don't need to apologize."
Even watching from the side, Ian's love was utterly devoted.
"The day is already starting to fade. Miss Isabel, I'll come see you again tomorrow morning."
"See you tomorrow morning."
"My heart aches when this hour comes. To have to leave my beloved wife behind."
Saying so, Ian kissed Isabel on the forehead.
"I hope tomorrow morning comes quickly."
"...I'll be waiting."
Thanks to that, Isabel, who normally never smiled, had begun smiling much more often lately. Seeing that, Adelia felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
But that happiness didn't last long.
"Sniff..."
Once Ian left, Isabel began to sob. When her daughter, who normally never showed emotion, revealed her sadness, Adelia didn't know what to do.
"Isabel, what's wrong?"
"Waaaaah—"
Isabel cried for a long while, and there was nothing Adelia could do. She could only stay by her side as a mother.
"Mom, why did you give birth to me?"
"Huh?"
At Isabel's words, Adelia's heart sank.
"I can't do anything. Ian works so hard for me, but I can't do anything for him as a wife."
Isabel poured out the emotions she never showed in front of Ian.
"I want to love Ian too! I want to kiss him like a normal couple! But with this body, I can't love him!"
Below her neck, there was nowhere she could move of her own will, and pus and discharge seeped from all over her body. Unlike her healthy and beautiful older sister, she was nothing but trash.
Isabel knew it too. That she had no value as a woman or as a wife. So she had given up. She had thought she would never be loved.
But she was loved. And that was why it hurt. The more Ian loved her, the more she could only lament her own condition.
"I-I'm sorry."
Faced with Isabel's cry of despair, Adelia once again could do nothing.
"Mom is sorry..."
She could only apologize over and over — without knowing that it might wound her daughter further.
I went to see Reina again today. This time not for training, but to calculate the lunar eclipse cycle through the Shadow of the Moon.
Then I learned one important fact.
"Oh my, there's a lunar eclipse soon?"
"Really?"
The time to cure the Rose's Punishment that had tormented my beloved wife was right around the corner.