The Witch's Smile and the Ear's Last Stand
The witch, her belly full of noble-grade grilled tripe, climbed into my lap. I wiped her messy mouth with a cloth and gently stroked her hair.
“Looks like I’ll have to head up sooner than planned.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“I have a lot to prepare if I want to show you what I’m thinking.”
Myu slid off my thigh and stepped into the shadow. “When the time comes, I’ll come find you again.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“I can’t wait to see the looks on those bitches’ faces that day! Hyahaha!”
Myu let out a wicked laugh and vanished into the shadow. The spells that had been moving alongside her disappeared as well.
“She’s gone.”
“Uwaaang… Master Kang Seo-jaaa…”
I pushed the drunken, clingy Syucali away and fell into thought. It seemed we had a lot of preparations to make too.
“Eos.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Come here.”
“Understood.”
Eos walked over to me. I reached out and examined her body.
“There’s a spot where your mana is sealed by a spell.”
I could feel a deep sealing spell embedded near her left armpit. Something that hadn’t been visible before was now clear thanks to Vestia and the witch Myu’s power.
“Can you see it?”
I nodded.
“The spell is intricately twisted. It’s going to take quite a while to undo.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
This wasn’t a mana seal that could be broken in a single day. First, I had to find the beginning and end of the spell, and that alone would likely take an entire day.
She really is impressive in more ways than one.
It meant Eos had been casting magic while pushing through this tangled mess of a mana seal all this time. I began to wonder if she might be an even more remarkable demon than I had imagined.
“We’ll continue this upstairs in the room.”
“Yes, Master.”
I lifted the drunken Syucali and walked side by side with Eos. I wanted to see her true form as soon as possible, even if it was just one day sooner.
I woke up early the next morning among the slaves.
“You’re awake, Master?”
Eos had been lying beside me with her eyes open, waiting.
“Yeah. Let’s wash up and have a simple breakfast.”
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
We got up together. “I’m coming too!”
Syucali, who looked surprisingly sober, sensed our movement and latched onto my side.
After washing up, we stepped out of the room.
“Vestia.”
“Black-hair?”
I ran into the shaman in the hallway.
“What are you doing here?”
“…I made a deal with Isabella. She said she needed me or something.”
“Hmm…”
I could roughly guess the situation. Since she had appeared at the villa with us, it seemed she hadn’t gone to the Red Ratman’s location but had met Isabella and come to the villa together. The deal must have been made then.
“Was it for my sake?”
“…If I abandoned my benefactor and left, Finlay would have hated me for it.”
“He must be a good man.”
“Of course he is.”
Finlay was probably the Red Ratman. Just mentioning him made Vestia’s expression brighten considerably.
“Where is he now?”
“He’s in the witch’s villa. That’s where his body is. He’s currently performing a spirit ritual.”
It seemed one of the preserved corpses in the secret room had been Finlay’s body. I guessed Vestia was in the process of transferring Finlay’s soul from inside the Red Ratman.
“He’s not by your side?”
“The witch isn’t here, so why bother? A spell only needs a sacrifice and time.”
She spoke as if she were the strongest in this village. Well, she was once called a hero. It made sense that she was the strongest in this farming village.
“The Ear tried to deal with the Red Ratman. If they want to hide what they’ve done, they might push through anyway.”
“I’m not an idiot. I know all that. I deliberately left the spot open so they’d try.”
“I see.”
Ordinary people who knew nothing of spells wouldn’t be able to break into a villa filled with them. If anything, they might get caught and hit with a mental pollution spell instead.
“Looks like you made an arrangement with Isabella.”
“That’s right. Once Isabella leaves, I’ll take charge of Kron Village for a while. She asked me to clean up the village before she goes.”
“Are you going to wipe them all out?”
“No. I’m only going to kill the bitches who touched my man. The rest… Isabella said she needs them?”
Killing intent rose from Vestia. The current Vestia might become even more ruthless than the witch.
“I wish you success in your revenge.”
“Yeah. And you, try not to die.”
Vestia lightly tapped my lower abdomen and headed toward the room where Isabella was staying.
“You’re better at night service than Finlay, by the way.”
“…”
She gave me one last seductive glance before turning away without looking back.
“Master Kang Seo-ja?”
“Let’s go.”
Vestia had left to handle her own business. Now it was time for me to start mine.
After finishing breakfast, I headed straight for the adventurers’ guild.
“Welco— H-him…!”
The receptionist jumped in fright the moment she saw me and stumbled backward.
“I’m here to collect the reward for subjugating the Red Ratman.”
I didn’t know why she was so afraid, but receiving the reward came first.
“We already prepared it for you!”
She handed over an E-rank adventurer tag and placed a pouch full of gold coins on the counter.
“This looks like more than 37 gold.”
“W-well… the guild master felt bad about the delay and told me to add 20 gold…”
“I see.”
It seemed the rumor that I had been with Isabella had already spread. The fact that they handed it over so hastily suggested they were worried sparks might fly their way too.
“Then I’ll be going.”
“Take care!”
After leaving the guild, I showed the E-rank adventurer tag to Syucali and Eos.
“Congratulations on your promotion~”
Syucali clapped as if it were her own achievement. Eos watched for a moment before awkwardly joining in with her own claps.
It was still a long way to S-rank, but I wanted to cherish the fact that I had finally started. For now, my goal was to catch up to Syucali’s C-rank. Once we returned to Cashu Village, I planned to start taking requests immediately.
“Next is the general store.”
“Yes, Master.”
“We have a lot to collect from the Ear.”
“Hehe, I’ll squeeze every last drop out of them for you!”
“I’m counting on you.”
Syucali followed with a wicked grin. Our real destination wasn’t the general store itself. We would enter the underground passage through the stairs behind the shop and rob the Ear’s information brokers hidden there.
“Welcome— Huh?”
“Good to see you.”
The general store owner greeted me warmly. As expected, men stuck together.
“What brings you here?”
“I’ve come for information.”
“Hmm~ I’m afraid that might be difficult right now.”
Though his words were a refusal, his eyes pointed toward the inside. When I focused on the flow of mana, I sensed presences near the stairs leading to the underground passage. The store owner was helping me.
“…Surround them.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Where do you think you’re going?!”
Along with Eos’s magic, Syucali vanished. She charged behind the counter.
“Y-you— Black-hair!”
“Going on a trip, are we?”
The hidden members of the Ear were carrying heavy-looking backpacks. The moment they tried to set their luggage down during the surprise attack, we pressed them hard.
“Hiiik…!”
“Looks like you were trying to run. Too late for that, don’t you think?”
The girl in the information room gasped when she saw her fallen comrades.
“Where is Juri?”
“I-I don’t know…!”
“If you don’t open your mouth, I’ll throw you to Lady Isabella first.”
The terrified girl hiccupped and trembled.
“Hic… Hiccup… She’s… inside the underground passage…”
“You were going to abandon your comrades and run alone?”
“N-no…!”
Syucali’s blade stopped right at the girl’s throat.
“I hate bitches like you the most. After working together, you try to run off alone.”
“I-I was wrong!”
The girl begged with both hands, crying.
“Now that you’ve eaten your fill, it’s time to spit it all out.”
“N-no, please…”
“Too bad, bitch.”
-Thud!
Syucali struck the back of the girl’s neck, knocking her unconscious. As soon as the girl collapsed, the rest of the group dropped their weapons.
“I should tell Paula about this.”
“I’ll go.”
“No need.”
The door opened and Paula walked in.
“All stairways leading to the underground passages are to be sealed off. Lady Isabella’s orders. And this is the last one.”
“No wonder that bitch was heading this way.”
When I had gone to the adventurers’ guild, Isabella had already begun to move. She was cleaning up this farming village together with her close aides and the shaman Vestia.
“Doesn’t look like Lady Isabella brought that many soldiers.”
“That’s why she brought the upper-rank knight Vesna. There’s a shaman too.”
“Wait, Vesna? Didn’t that knight return already?”
I had heard from Eos that she had gone back to the territory first to train Vera.
“Last night, Vesna went around searching for the Ear.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You have to fool your allies first so the Ear stays quiet.”
“So that’s why… she invited me to Lady Isabella’s room on purpose.”
“Exactly. Everyone was watching you, so they didn’t notice the baroness moving separately.”
“I see.”
That cunning Isabella had invited me into the room and acted from beginning to end. She’s terrifying. I absolutely don’t want her as an enemy. She had hidden it so perfectly that I hadn’t caught even the slightest hint. I realized once again why she had become both a top merchant and a noble.
“The remaining members of the Ear are inside the underground passage.”
“I’ll go down.”
“It’ll be dangerous, Kang Seo-ja.”
“Wasn’t that why I signed five times last night?”
“Hehe… That’s true.”
Seeing Paula’s affectionate smile, I turned toward the stairs.
“When you’re done, I’d like you to make that seasoned tripe for me.”
“If I’m still alive by then.”
With those words, I descended the stairs.
“You bastard!”
“Black-hair brat!”
I drew my sword as the Ear members charged from blind spots.
Noble Swordsmanship