148
My Villains Chapter 148
38. Golden Mire (5)
Below Longville's stronghold.
Rumble-
Just before Phoenix could come over, the passage closed, and Ellen let out a scream.
"Siren-!"
"I, this, how can I..."
"Open it right now!"
At Ellen's high-pressure command, Siren stammered, pale as a sheet.
"Oh, no. The 'land passage' requires an incantation, and there's no medium..."
"Stop talking nonsense and do something!"
"Uh, I... I..."
"Useless- move!"
After pushing away the Lao family's Mage, Ellen opened the glass bottle she was holding.
In an instant, all the terrible possibilities that could occur from drinking this dark-colored potion flashed through her mind.
"Whew."
But only for a moment, Ellen took a deep breath to wash away her fear and drank the potion in one gulp.
"Ugh."
A strange taste that made her want to vomit. Ellen, who was shuddering, was soon enveloped in a bizarre sensation.
Following the weakening of her legs, a sense of liberation came, as if she had shed a heavy burden...
'That's it.'
Ellen instinctively knew the gamble had succeeded and closed her eyes.
'The addiction is resolved. Though my magic is scattered...'
After a brief introspection to check her condition, she reached out to Amias.
"Phoenix's bag!"
"Yes?"
"Give it to me!"
"Oh- Here it is."
Amias, who was supporting the limp Boonie, was startled by Ellen's blue flames and quickly handed over the backpack.
The backpack was torn at the top, but most of the valuables were intact. Ellen's equipment, which Phoenix had been carrying due to magic addiction, was also fine.
"Phew-"
Absorbing magic from the crystal ball and puffing out her chest, Ellen put on Aelo's Feather Ornament and flew up immediately.
The small territory was instantly awakened by the unexpected commotion in the middle of the night.
Fierce cries and soldiers' shouts shook the doorway. The night sky was bright with torches on the wooden fence and flames spreading in the wheat field.
Ellen added to the noise and light.
"Lumfere (Burst)-!"
The fireball, grown within the wand's drawn circle, fiercely descended. A fire mass, swollen to the size of a human head, was embedded among the Anupad and exploded.
Bang!
More than ten monsters were swallowed by the rising pillar of fire, and a similar number were rolling on the ground, caught in the explosion.
The Anupad had no way to resist the bombardment from the sky. The two-headed Mages had disappeared with the queen, and the best archer, the half-breed Juama, was injured.
Whoosh.
Another falling fireball caused the Anupad to scatter in panic.
Clink, clang-
They not only had no means of counterattack but also no focal point. This was because the general Ownshida and Red Pshaka were killed by Utequais, and the lieutenant Shitug and Blue Pshaki were killed by Phoenix.
Clang-! Clang, clang!
'Bone Gishta', the queen's confidant, tried to quell the chaos, but his efforts were in vain when the third fireball blazed.
Seeing the Anupad swarming under the wooden fence disappear with their tails between their legs, Ellen breathed heavily and looked below.
Due to the fire pillars rising in the grass here and there, the area beneath the rocky outcrop was as bright as day. However, Phoenix was nowhere to be seen.
"Phoenix, Phoenix..."
Her breath quickened with an ominous premonition, and magic flowed out like fog through her eyes. Her mental state was shaken, weakening her control over magic.
Just before the Fire Witch loses her reason,
"Ellen!"
A loud, clear, and familiar shout.
Ellen's neck twisted as if about to break, and the dance spirit appeared without warning, embracing her. Flying over the soldiers' heads like a bird, Ellen quickly landed at a point on the wooden fence.
"Phoenix."
"Ellen!"
Phoenix frowned the moment he faced Ellen.
"Did you drink that potion?"
"...Yes."
"Recklessly- Hey! Do you know what it was? If it were something like poison..."
Phoenix, who was getting angry, soon discovered the teardrops hanging on his large eyes and closed his mouth.
"You."
Unlike her moistened eye corners, Ellen's expression had already turned cold. She had deliberately examined Phoenix's body.
Naturally, he was a mess.
His hair and tunic were covered in dust and dirt, his arms and legs were full of wounds, and there was an arrow stuck in his back and calf.
However, what caught Ellen's attention more than those things was the woman in Phoenix's arms.
The woman, wearing a familiar half-cape covering only her essential parts, had her eyes closed as if she had fainted.
There were red marks on the woman's palms, wrists, thighs, and calves. With blood droplets, they seemed like abrasions from a rough rope.
Ellen's twin-candled eyes did not see these details.
Instead, her vision was filled with the woman's slightly upturned long eyes, the smooth line extending to her nose tip, her slightly parted small lips, her transparent skin illuminated by moonlight, her delicate jawline and neck revealed beneath her flowing black hair, and the small rope neatly knotted around her neck.
Phoenix's arm firmly supported the woman's unblemished arms and taut thighs.
Her eyes, sharp as frost, were fixed on Phoenix.
"...What is this?"
They say life is unpredictable, and this time, things had unfolded strangely as well.
With several named characters dead and the Anupad scattered after being showered with arrows and fireballs, only the tongues of corpses remained around Longville.
There were divided opinions on whether they were completely dissolved or temporarily retreating. I thought it was the latter since they hadn't captured the 'Queen Ramashida', the boss of Chapter 3 and leader of the Anupad army.
Even considering those uncertain factors, the situation had significantly improved. It was natural, given that the external enemies visible before had completely disappeared.
If asked if I was happy, I would say not really.
Two days had passed since entering Longville.
Baroness Dionea had given us four rooms in the lord's mansion. The largest room was where Amias's group was staying.
I scratched my eyebrow and asked Boonie, "How are you feeling now?"
"I'm much better, Lord Phoenix."
"...That's good."
The lanky Boonie smiled with a pale face while lying on the bed.
"Why do you look like that?"
"You were against it."
"Pardon?"
"Dio, I mean, the Baroness's request. You were against it."
As I muttered, Boonie slightly nodded.
"I was. But don't worry. Actually, since coming to Longville, I've been against almost everything."
"Everything?"
"I wasn't showing it, but I'm quite a coward. So I was against joining you, against continuously following you..."
The cheerful young man scratched his nose with an awkward hand and continued.
"I also didn't want to enter that mine."
"...Really?"
"Yes. I have a bit of good intuition, and I could tell it wouldn't be a good thing. We were lucky to all survive..."
"No, it's true. We were lucky."
"Right? Considering what happened to veteran Vittorio, us surviving was miraculously lucky. Moreover..."
Boonie smiled brightly.
"If you think about selling an arm for 100 silver coins, it's not such a bad deal. Plus, we got an incredible adventure story. We could probably live off selling this story to a minstrel for the rest of our lives."
He lost his right arm in the battle with Anupad. Wearing a bandage on his shortened shoulder, he was smiling, though it was hard to tell if he was genuinely happy or just pretending.
As I chose my words inside my mouth, silence fell in the room. Among the colleagues keeping their mouths shut, the bald Steedman scratched his forehead and spoke.
"Yeah, it's fortunate. Considering your pathetic skills, surviving retirement is a miracle."
"Steedman."
Amias frowned, but he just shrugged.
"What about it?"
"Is this a time for jokes?"
"Then what kind of atmosphere is this?"
"Do I really need to explain?"
Steedman chuckled and grabbed a glass bottle on the table with his bandaged hand. Drinking a high-quality wine straight from the bottle, he wiped his mouth and continued.
"What's the problem? Boonie will return to Lavalton and live comfortably. Even if he's lost an arm, his purse will be full, and his lower body is fine, so he can find a wife. Buy a spacious ranch and fill it with pigs or chickens..."
Boonie, who had been listening silently, frowned and interjected.
"I don't like chickens. I'll raise cows."
"Fine, milk the cows or do whatever you want with goats. The important thing is that Boonie now has a rosy life ahead. So why is everyone looking so gloomy?"
It wasn't entirely wrong.
Boonie had saved 40 silver coins in less than a month. Additionally, I, as his employer, had added 60 coins as consolation.
100 silver coins.
It was a considerable sum for a mercenary in his early twenties retiring. If he saved carefully, he could live without working for the rest of his life.
"...Yeah. A life he dreamed of."
Boonie smiled, but the atmosphere in the room did not improve.
The Amias group were novices.
Although they had improved their skills and become somewhat useful, they were fundamentally lacking in experience. It was natural for them to be dejected seeing a colleague disabled.
And honestly, I was no different from a novice.
Whether a thirty-year-old office worker or a twenty-one-year-old knight, I had no expertise in comforting and encouraging dispirited people.
All I could do was remind them that they had other options.
"Amias."
"Yes, Lord Phoenix."
"Mira, Steedman, Jenessa, Cole."
The Amias group's gazes gathered at my call. They all had bandages, but their limbs were mostly intact. I looked them over and spoke.
"If you want to quit, just say so."
"...What?"
"If you want to retire safely, leave now. I won't stop you."
The mercenaries' expressions hardened at my resolute tone.
I am not a hero. I do not believe that someone like me, an ordinary citizen, could become a hero.
But I must become a hero.
Because I know about the approaching apocalypse and how to prevent it. I may not be able to succeed, but if I do not act, the world will surely perish. For my own survival, I must become a hero.
To this vague sense of mission and faint responsibility was added the specific goal of clearing Ellen's false accusation. This motivation was what drove me to continue the adventure.
In contrast, the Amias group's motivation was money.
"Can I guarantee that what happened to Boonie won't happen to you?"
"But......
“Everyone's earned quite a bit of money. Aren't you starting to miss your hometown?”
“If you swear to give up mercenary life, I'll give you a generous retirement pay.” The room fell silent again.
At that moment, a careful knock - *knock knock* - was heard. The one who visited the room was Father Bowen, the priest of Longville. As I followed him, I added to the Amias group.
“......Think about it slowly. You have time.”
Father Bowen was treating the wound on Utequais's shoulder.
He was pouring divine power to drive away the inflammation, and only after sweating profusely for a long time did he finish the treatment. It seems the axe-spear used by 'Red Pshaka' was quite a brutal weapon.
“......Whew. From now on, it will naturally heal.”
“That's fortunate. Thank you, Father.”
The priest wiped sweat from his scalp, which was peeled, and shook his head.
“There's nothing to thank me for, sir. I've just done what is natural as a shepherd of God.”
Suddenly, he looked up at me with an unsatisfactory gaze.
“May I offer a word of advice as a priest?”
“Oh...... Of course.”
At my answer, the priest glanced at the bandaged barbarian. Confirming that Utequais was asleep, Bowen whispered in a small voice.
“Stay away from pagans.”
“......Pagans?”
“I mean the barbarians with primitive faith.”
Referring to Utequais and the druid Zhanabas, I quietly scratched my eyebrows.
'Stay away as much as possible, and if you can't, pray every day. So that your soul doesn't get contaminated.'
"Oh"
“As a shepherd of God, I am very worried about your condition.”
As the priest's eyes flashed coldly, I reluctantly nodded.
“......I understand. I'll pray every day.”
“Good.”
“Thank you for worrying, Father.”
As I handed him three gold coins, Bowen finally showed a kind smile.
“Then. May the light's protection be with you.”
“May the light's protection be with you as well.”
After Bowen left, Ellen, who had been silently leaning against the window, pouted her lips.
“Look who's talking about being a priest, he's just full of greed. No wonder his head is peeled.”
Whether he heard that muttering or not, Utequais, who was lying in bed, slightly opened his eyes and looked around.
“Is he gone?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
Utequais, who had been pretending to sleep, stretched and got up from bed, touching his wound.
“He talks rough, but he's a skilled priest.”
Despite hearing derogatory terms like 'pagan', 'barbarian', and 'soul contamination', Utequais didn't seem to care. He rolled his shoulders a couple of times and looked at me and Ellen.
“You said you had something to say.”
“Oh, that.”
Just as I was about to answer, Ellen's firm voice intervened.
“Not ‘you’.”
“Not you? What are you talking about?”
“It's Phoenix who has something to say, not me.”
He crossed his arms and looked at me askance.
“I don't know anything about that yet.”
“That?”
As Utequais kept asking, Ellen furrowed her brow.
"The woman tied up in the next room!”
“......Ah. You mean that peculiarly looking woman.”
“Yes.”
Ellen, with her arms crossed and leaning against the window, interrogated me as if conducting an investigation.
“Now tell me. Is that Lump?”
Somehow avoiding the burning gaze, I let out a sigh inwardly.
How much should I explain this time?
The deliberation was brief.