Chapter 77
Chapter 77
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 77
Chapter Title: Her (2)
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That didn't mean Veronica Sanchez meekly agreed to travel with Demian.
"Ah! I sense someone over there! It's gotta be bandits! I'll go find them and kill them!"
"It's getting late—should I catch something for dinner? How about a whole roasted wild boar?"
"I gotta go take care of some business! It's a big one! I'll be right back!"
She tried to slip away with every excuse under the sun. Each time, though, Demian dragged her right back.
"Why do I keep getting caught!"
"Because you're weak. That's what you get for only studying how to kill people."
"What's that got to do with me not being able to escape!"
"The fact that you're still resisting means your education's incomplete."
"Guh... No! I'm fine!"
It took a few more whacks to the head before Veronica Sanchez finally settled down.
The reason Demian was dragging Veronica Sanchez around was to reform her for good.
'It was the Personality Corrector's policy. Even after reformation, you can't let your guard down.'
The Personality Corrector had traveled with criminals for a time, constantly checking their progress.
'If reformation doesn't stick, I'll just kill her on the spot.'
He planned to keep a close eye on Veronica Sanchez while exploring the Longghost Mountains.
"You want me to set up camp? I can just sleep in the tree branches."
"I meant my bed, not yours."
"That's your job!"
"It's to make you reflect on your mistakes while doing chores."
"No way! You do it! I'm not going to..."
Demian raised his club. Veronica Sanchez bolted off to prepare the campsite.
'This is pretty convenient.'
Thanks to Veronica Sanchez, Demian was freed from all the tedious chores.
* * *
Juan and the mercenaries began setting up camp as well.
Some prepared food while others leveled the ground for sleeping bags.
Juan was in charge of the meal. He set an iron pot over the campfire and added ingredients to simmer.
As he stirred and mashed the softened vegetables with a ladle—
"Boss, got a minute?"
Brad sidled up and asked Juan.
"Can't you see I'm cooking? Speak here."
Juan kept stirring the pot.
Cooking was all about care. He couldn't step away even for a moment.
"That guy Victor—what's his deal, anyway?"
"I don't know much myself. Our rule is not to pry into clients."
Mercenaries followed a few key principles.
The big one: take the money and that's that.
Don't get curious about the client first.
"Then let me rephrase. Are all knights originally that impressive?"
Brad spoke with a dreamy look.
"You saw it yourself today, boss. Once that knight gave advice, everything changed."
The battle earlier had been unwinnable for Juan's crew against the sheer number of bandits.
But the moment Demian started advising, the tide turned.
"And that's not all. He took down that weird woman in one go."
The Longghost Mountains drew all sorts of criminals.
Among them, Hedgehog stood out for his skill, having united the local bandits into a major force.
Especially infamous was how he'd turned two low-class knights sent to wipe out bandits the previous year into corpses—a legend among thieves.
Yet a woman named Veronica Sanchez had slain that Hedgehog with ridiculous ease.
Even a clueless foot soldier bandit could see the overwhelming skill gap.
And Demian had toyed with her like a child before subduing her.
"You're a knight trainee yourself, so you know knights better than most."
As Brad said, Juan had been a knight trainee. Lacking talent, he'd been kicked out, but he'd trained for about a year.
His instructors back then were quasi-knights, with occasional visits from full knights.
Those full knights...
"No way."
The knights who'd trained Juan spouted vague nonsense. They bragged about themselves instead of teaching, then vanished.
In contrast, this knight gave precise advice at the right moments.
Just following it made their skills soar noticeably.
"It's that knight who's exceptional."
Juan glanced at the pot and said curtly.
* * *
The next day, Demian set out again.
Unlike yesterday, they encountered no bandits the whole way.
"Word must've spread that Hedgehog bit the dust."
Juan remarked as they climbed a ridge.
"That lady took him out in one stroke, but Hedgehog had quite the reputation in the Longghost Mountains."
With the strong one dead, the underlings were keeping their heads down.
Thanks to that, Demian reached deep into the Longghost Mountains without a single fight.
While taking a short break, he sat on a stump and unrolled his map.
"Water."
Demian held out his hand. Veronica Sanchez handed over the canteen with a bug-chewing grimace.
"You... treating me like a maid... How long do you think I'll put up with this...!"
Demian slowly picked up the club leaning nearby. Veronica Sanchez fled in a flash.
Demian sipped water while studying the map.
He'd extracted memories of the hideout from Yulan's leader, but details were fuzzy. He needed to check the map constantly.
"Victor, you aren't thinking of going even deeper, are you?"
"That's right."
Demian's reply hardened Juan's expression.
"Hmm... Victor, going further is dangerous. That area's called the Forbidden Zone—even bandits avoid it."
"Forbidden Zone?"
"No one's come back alive from in there. Not even knight-trained ones like Hedgehog."
Demian smiled at Juan's words instead.
Proof he'd found the right spot.
"I have business inside. If you judge it too risky, you don't have to follow."
Juan sighed heavily at Demian's words.
"Can't abandon a paying client."
After the break, Demian and the mercenaries pressed deeper.
"B-Boss, isn't it getting kinda chilly?"
Once they'd gone some distance, one mercenary spoke up—the burliest, Bob.
"Yeah, something feels off to me too."
"Weird for this hot weather."
It wasn't just Bob; the others reported strange symptoms too.
"Bunch of weaklings. See that? That's what weakness looks like. I'm not weak!"
Veronica Sanchez, meanwhile, was still full of energy.
'A curse blankets the whole area.'
That's why they felt cold.
A curse of debilitation plagued the mercenaries nonstop. No doubt Yulan's barrier against outsiders.
'The deeper we go, the stronger it gets.'
That explained the Forbidden Zone reputation.
Demian invoked his Gluttony Authority. As he did, the curse swirling around began to dissipate.
"Huh? I feel better all of a sudden."
"The air's warming up."
The mercenaries' faces brightened.
'But low-class knights not returning nags at me.'
Unlike the mercenaries, low-class Veronica Sanchez showed no curse effects.
Which meant something else killed low-class knights.
As Demian pondered, something emerged ahead.
Half-rotted flesh, rusted weapons, sluggish movements.
"...Z-Zombies! Zombies!"
Juan panicked and yelled. The mercenaries hastily drew weapons.
Zombies—corpses moved by black magic—were low-tier undead, not too dangerous.
"B-Boss! There aren't just one or two!"
The problem was numbers. Dozens had suddenly surrounded them.
Likely mercenaries who'd entered the Forbidden Zone and died, now zombies.
"Perfect for gaining experience."
The mercenaries gawked at Demian. He leaped to a tree branch and said,
"What're you waiting for? Go fight. If you're about to die, I'll help, so don't worry."
Grumbling, the mercenaries charged out.
"Gather here! Back to the trees! They're slow—don't panic!"
Juan and crew tried their usual tactics. Demian called out,
"Staying put against zombies is suicide. Keep moving and fight! Shake them off!"
The mercenaries switched strategies on the spot.
Shield-bearers cleared paths while spearmen harried the zombies.
"Want me to help?"
Veronica Sanchez, who'd climbed a tree too, asked Demian.
"You've got your own opponent."
"Huh? What? You? It's you, right?"
Demian pointed. Behind the zombie horde, a massive monster appeared.
-Roooaaar!
A troll.
But not a normal one. Two heads, four arms.
No natural troll looked like that. Stitches ran down its central body.
A flesh golem.
The familiar vibe suggested Corpse Play had made and delivered it.
'Yulan's hideout is definitely here.'
That flesh golem was proof.
"Whoa, what an ugly thing. I'll go kill it!"
"Huh? At least listen to—"
"No need!"
Veronica Sanchez charged with her twin swords. Demian clicked his tongue.
'It won't be that easy.'
Guarding Yulan's hideout—Corpse Play wouldn't have half-assed it.
"Die! Die!"
She gleefully swung her blades. Aura-charged slashes dug into the flesh golem's forearm.
The aura sliced flesh easily at first. But it slowed, then stopped.
"Huh? Wha?"
Veronica Sanchez's aura could cleave a human from bone to muscle.
Even a thick troll forearm shouldn't halt her blade like that.
-Roooaaar!
The flesh golem swung a fist at her. She dodged back without time to retrieve her sword.
"Wh-What! Why won't it cut!"
For the first time, she couldn't shake her bewilderment.
"I don't know what's up, but... if once doesn't work, hack it a bunch!"
She grabbed another sword from the ground—a zombie's.
She frantically slashed while dodging, carving wounds all over the flesh golem.
But soon her movements visibly slowed.
"Hah! Hah! Hah!"
Exhausted, she started panting.
Clearly abnormal. A low-class knight shouldn't tire that fast.
'That flesh golem absorbs mana.'
Each aura strike drained her mana, wearing her out quick.
Her initial slash hadn't gone deep because it sucked mana fast, snuffing the aura.
'Hard to counter aura head-on, so they made this workaround.'
Mages couldn't match knights in raw power. But their cunning outdid knights.
Veronica Sanchez's biggest flaw, though, was something else.
She was only used to cutting people.
"U-Uwaaah! Save me! Help!"
Finally, mana nearly spent, she fled the flesh golem's attacks.
Demian tsked and drew his iron sword, blocking the golem's path.
-Roooaaar!
It bellowed and swung. Veronica Sanchez yelled,
"Hey! Be careful! It's weird! Aura doesn't work well—"
Demian dodged the fist and swung twice. The thick wrist severed and hit the ground.
"...Huh?"
Veronica Sanchez gaped at him severing a troll wrist without aura.
-Roooaaar!
Feeling no pain, the golem ignored its lost wrist and charged.
Demian gripped his sword two-handed and swung big twice. Crossed gashes appeared on the golem's torso.
Then it split apart and collapsed.
"..."
Veronica Sanchez's jaw slowly dropped.
"Rest up."
Demian said curtly, then ran to aid Juan's crew.
Veronica Sanchez stared back and forth between the flesh golem and Demian for a long while.
* * *
Demian helped Juan's mercenaries wipe out the zombie horde afterward.
Not directly—he advised to let them gain experience.
After the fight, the group gathered to rest.
"Thanks to you, we survived again."
Juan said, drinking water. Without Demian's advice, it'd been dicey.
"But why's that lady so quiet?"
He pointed at Veronica Sanchez. Since the golem fight, she'd stared blankly into space without a word.
"She has stuff to think about."
Demian brushed it off.
"By the way... what exactly are you hunting in these mountains? With undead showing up, it doesn't seem like treasure."
Even taciturn Juan couldn't hold back here.
Undead weren't common monsters. They arose only from black magic.
Demian pondered.
Juan was tight-lipped, but honesty risked too much.
Better to show than convince.
Demian opened his subsace. Juan's eyes widened at the sight.
"Wh-What is that? D-Don't tell me you're a mage?"
"Just a magic tool. Calm down."
Demian drew the holy sword from subsace. Holy light poured out.
Everyone bathed in it felt their stamina surge instantly. Juan blurted,
"H-Holy power...? D-Don't say... you're a Holy Knight?"
"Not a Holy Knight. But the Church gave me this holy sword."
Juan looked awed.
"Now I get it—you're a Church ally... Explains why you're in the Longghost Mountains. To deal with undead."
He nodded, convinced.
"Keep my reason for being here secret. It's a classified mission."
"Got it. Lips sealed. Can't jeopardize the Church's grand plans."
Juan crossed his arms and nodded repeatedly.
* * *
"From here, I go alone."
Demian told the mercenaries after the break.
"What? We'll come too."
"Not telling you to leave. Wait here. Won't take long, so no need for camp."
Hesitation crossed Juan's face. Demian added,
"It's a request from your client."
"...Understood."
A proper mercenary didn't meddle unnecessarily. Juan had no choice.
"Hey."
Demian approached Veronica Sanchez. She looked at him blankly.
"I'm heading inside briefly. You guard the mercenaries here."
She nodded—like a broken machine.
Demian left the group and entered the valley.
He dispatched a few more undead en route—no issue.
Finally, he stopped before a cliff.
"Definitely here... What was the rune pattern again?"
Demian released a bit of black mana from his bracelet, drawing runes.
The cliff vanished, revealing a massive cave.
"Found it."
Demian entered. The illusion resealed the cave behind him.
* * *
Demian pressed deeper into the cave.
Soon a vast cavern appeared. Two flesh golems knelt inside.
'Made from trolls, just like the one outside.'
As Demian stepped to the center—
The golems raised their heads.
-Unauthorized mana pattern detected.
-Intruder confirmed. Eliminating per security protocol.
Suddenly weapons and bones rained from the ceiling. They intertwined into human skeletons.
Skeletons.
Black magic binding souls to bones for soldiers. Hallmark of necromancy.
"Figures the interior has intruder countermeasures."
Demian reached for his sword, then stopped and opened subsace instead.
He pulled out a leather trunk and opened it. Writhing black darkness inside.
"Come out."
Something burst from the dark.
Androgynous features hard to gender.
Smaller than average build.
An eerie, alien aura.
"Miya, let's see what you've got."
Miya grinned ferociously at Demian's words.