Illusory Dream
Illusory Dream
[1 Aura has been consumed.]
I muttered to myself.
'Whoa... that startled me...'
I looked down at the Orichalcum Dagger in my hand.
The place where the golden energy had swept through was truly a wreck.
Romanike, standing beside me, also couldn't close his gaping mouth.
"I'd heard you wield a sword, but I never imagined it would be this much..."
Before me, I saw the earth split wide open and the remains of the forest cleanly pierced through.
And beside it, there was the wolf beastman Prodi, kneeling on the ground, his head bowed, covered in dirt and dust.
My original plan had been to deal with Prodi in one go, then quickly clean up the surrounding beastmen.
But since it was the first time using this skill, my control and accuracy were quite lacking, it seemed.
It truly missed by a hair's breadth.
To finish it for sure, I raised the dagger once again.
At that moment, Prodi, with his head pressed to the ground, shouted urgently.
"J-just spare me...! I'll do anything you say!! My wife and children are waiting at home...!"
At that shameless cry, I let out a scoff in disbelief.
"A guy with kids kidnaps children? You'd have nothing to say even if you died twice. And we have to get to the village quickly."
As I took a step closer with the dagger, Prodi trembled like a leaf and hurriedly continued.
"The thing about sending the kids to the village was a lie...! You can check with that eagle bastard and it won't be too late...? And the kids, really... I have nothing to say. It was my last resort...! I'm the only one who knows the other kids' locations... I'll tell you, please..."
I let out a deep sigh, deflated.
"Hwu..."
If we were in the heat of battle, it might be different.
Attacking a guy who's flat on the ground like this, completely having lost his will to fight, wasn't as easy as I thought.
Of course, I wasn't letting my guard down.
Every nerve was focused on Prodi, so that if he tried any tricks, I could cut his throat right away.
I tapped my shoulder with the dagger I was holding and turned to Romanike.
"What should we do?"
At my question, Romanike fell into deep thought.
Soon, as if making a decision, he asked the swiftest eagle beastman to go and confirm the village's safety first.
As the eagle beastman took flight, Romanike approached me and added,
"The fact that he has a wife and kids is true. He's a crafty bastard, but I've known him for a while. I never dreamed he'd do something like this. First, tie them all up."
Following his orders, the other beastmen around started binding Prodi and his subordinates tightly with sturdy ropes.
Not long after, the eagle beastman who had flown across the forest returned with rough flaps of his wings.
"I searched every nook and cranny inside and outside the village, and there were no signs of intruders. Just in case, I doubled the security before returning."
Only after hearing that report did Romanike's stiff shoulders loosen a little.
Now that the village's safety was confirmed, all that remained was rescuing the other kidnapped children.
We made Prodi, tightly bound with ropes, lead the way.
We were walking deeper into the forest, stepping on damp soil.
After a long silence, Romanike asked Prodi with suppressed anger.
"...Why did you do such a thing?"
At that question, Prodi's face noticeably haggard.
He looked ahead with unfocused eyes and, in a hollow voice, revealed the reason.
Some time ago, his wife and children had fallen into a deep sleep and never woke up again.
From that day on, Prodi had scoured the entire forest day and night to solve his family's problem.
Then an old beastman who called himself a physician came to the village.
The physician, after checking the condition of his wife and children, said he needed materials to make medicine and young children to test the efficacy.
So, little by little, to check for any side effects, he kidnapped and used the village children as test subjects.
After hearing the whole story, Romanike's patience finally hit rock bottom.
He exploded in anger and grabbed Prodi by the collar.
"That... you started all this because you listened to such an unbelievable person?!"
Caught by the collar and struggling, Prodi's eyes reddened.
He too shot back with an agitated voice.
"I don't think I did the right thing. But can someone like you, without children, understand me? Even if it was a rotten rope...! I only did what I could. ..."
At that desperate and selfish cry, Romanike's hand clutching the collar trembled.
But in the end, he roughly threw Prodi down and shut his mouth tight.
I, too, could only walk silently, listening to that bitter excuse.
As we walked and talked under that heavy atmosphere, we soon reached the dark edge of the forest.
Before us, a shabby old warehouse that Prodi had indicated appeared, standing alone.
I had been quietly listening to the exchange between Romanike and Prodi, and I inwardly rested my chin.
The children's worsening condition was due to an incomplete formula for the medicine meant to cure them.
If that's the case, then if I'm given enough materials, I calculated that by using my Custom Production skill, I could somehow make a proper cure and solve the problem.
Following Prodi's directions, we roughly tore open the door blocking the front of the shabby old warehouse.
Upon entering, the musty smell of dust and the sight of children collapsed on the floor hit us.
Their condition was far worse than expected.
On the small children's bodies, unpleasant dark purple spots had bloomed everywhere, and agonized groans constantly leaked through their parched lips.
Seeing that horrible scene, Romanike's eyes burned red with rage.
He grabbed Prodi by the collar once more and roared.
"How dare you do such a thing...!"
But Prodi's face, facing Romanike's fury, was instead colored with shock.
As if he himself was more surprised seeing the result of his actions, Prodi's eyes widened, and he shouted urgently.
"W-what is this...! Just before I went outside, their body temperature only slightly rose! It wasn't this severe! We need to find that physician quickly!"
He struggled with his bound body, trying to get out of the warehouse.
As Romanike forcefully suppressed the excitedly rampaging Prodi.
My eyes, quietly examining the children's condition, caught a strange phenomenon.
It seemed invisible to Romanike and Prodi, but it was vividly clear to my two eyes.
Above the children's bodies, an ominous and murky black energy was squirming and rising up like heat haze.
The moment I witnessed that, the Orichalcum Dagger of Purification and Crushing at my waist began to hum and resonate, buzzing low.
'No way?'
One option that the dagger held flashed through my mind.
Without hesitation, I walked forward with determined steps, approaching the suffering children.
Then, I drew the Orichalcum Dagger from my waist and lightly slashed through the black smoke swirling above them, like drawing a line.
-Dding!
[Salvation has been activated.]
The system notification rang inside the warehouse.
Along with that sound, the oppressive black smoke over the children scattered and vanished instantly like snow melting in morning sunlight.
The dark purple spots that had hideously covered the children's skin faded and disappeared as if they were a lie, and a healthy flush returned to their cheeks.
Their rough and painful breathing also returned to normal.
"......!"
At that unbelievable sight, everyone in the warehouse stared at me with startled eyes.
The most shocked was, of course, Prodi.
As if he couldn't believe the miracle he had witnessed, he stood there with his mouth agape, then threw himself to the ground, hitting his head with a loud kung.
Tears and snot mixed together, dripping down his dirt-covered forehead.
He crawled to my feet and pleaded.
"...I know I'm being shameless. Please... with that power, can you save my wife and children...?"
I looked down at Prodi, clinging desperately, and sank into thought for a moment.
What this bastard did was utterly detestable, but what crime did his family commit?
'...Ah, whatever, save them first and figure it out...'
Swallowing a short sigh inwardly, I nodded and ordered him to immediately lead me to where his wife and children were.
Prodi nodded wildly like crazy and started running ahead.
In the inner room of Prodi's house that we reached, his wife and young children were lying motionless.
From their bodies, a heavy, black smoke, incomparably darker and thicker than that of the children in the warehouse, endlessly poured out.
That energy, which was either a curse or a poison, filled the room.
Without delay, I raised the Orichalcum Dagger and cleaved through the thick black smoke in one stroke.
-Dding!
[Salvation has been activated.]
As a light purple trajectory cut through the air, the black energy that heavily oppressed the room vanished.
And soon after, the fingers of the wife and children, who had been lying like the dead, twitched faintly, then they slowly opened their eyes and rose from their place.
"Yeobo! Kids!"
Prodi burst into a beast-like cry and ran to them, embracing them tightly.
But the wife and children wore puzzled expressions, like people who had just woken from a deep afternoon nap.
The wife patted the back of her weeping husband, who was hugging her and sobbing, wondering why he was making such a fuss.
However, that peaceful atmosphere didn't last long.
Through the mouths of the now-calmed Prodi and Romanike, the wife learned what her husband had done, that he had kidnapped the village children and put them in danger, and her face grew frighteningly cold.
The more she listened, the thicker the veins on her wife's forehead bulged.
When the entire story was over, the wife's patience completely hit rock bottom.
"You son of a bitch!"
The wife started beating Prodi as if to half kill him.
"There's a line between what you can and can't do! Kidnapping other people's precious children?! Just die!!"
"Aagh! Y-yobo! I was wrong! It was all to save you and the kids... uk!"
Watching Prodi scream as he was repeatedly struck on the back and his fuming wife, I scratched my head.
Well... did it get resolved okay...?
The village crisis was averted, and the suffering people were saved, so ultimately it was a happy ending.
Just as I was trying to wrap up the situation inwardly and let out a sigh of relief.
From behind my back, a spine-chilling and eerie energy hit me.
A blatant sense of otherness, like a sharp ice awl piercing the nape of my neck.
Reflexively, I lowered my body, readjusted my grip on the Orichalcum Dagger, and turned around in a combat stance.
There stood an old beastman who had appeared without any sign whatsoever.
He leaned on a cane with a bent back, but the energy radiating from him was by no means that of an ordinary old man.
It was certainly the mysterious old beastman Prodi had mentioned earlier.
The old beastman stroked his long white beard with his thick-knuckled hand and let out an unpleasant laugh.
"Kkeulkkeulkkeul... The children aside, was it you who lifted the wolf beastman's Hwanmong?"