Everything She Loved Dies Away
Early in the morning, Capier and his party packed their necessary supplies and set out beyond the kingdom borders. Their first expedition had begun.
“Merian, aren't you excited? We actually made it into the hero's subjugation team!”
“U..uh, y-yes.. It's so amazing.. I never even dreamed of joining a subjugation team since I'm not a saintess like Henessi.. I'm really lacking, too..”
Henessi gazed into Merian's eyes as she spoke.
“Merian, you undervalue your own abilities far too much. There are only two priests in the entire kingdom chosen to accompany the hero. Those two are Rasitena and you. You can afford to have a lot more confidence.”
“St..still..”
Rasitena scowled, as if the sight of timid Merian and her encouraging words from Henessi was too saccharine to stomach.
“Well, it's not like being in the hero's subjugation team makes you all that special. Everyone pulled some strings from their families, right? If it was purely on merit, some people definitely wouldn't have made the cut.”
Rasitena glanced subtly, as if her words were aimed at Frensia—the parachute who had dropped in thanks to the hero—before whipping her head away the instant her eyes met Capier's.
“Enough chit-chat. You think we're here on a fucking field trip?”
The party fell silent at the hero's icy command. Capier approached Frensia and spoke in a low voice.
“Don't get down on yourself. You've got the skills. I don't drag around dead weight—that's just inefficient bullshit.”
Frensia, knowing he never minced words or spoke emptily, finally broke into a pleased smile. Rasitena, watching it all, could only gnaw at her own lip in frustration.
Suddenly, Henessi spoke up.
“Hero, where are we headed now?”
“Good question. We're going to a village on the Pinemari Continent. Word is, it's getting hit with periodic raids from the Demon King's army nearby.”
Rasitena cut in from the side.
“Hero. Isn't the Pinemari Continent some backwater dump? Is there any real reason to head there?”
“Didn't you hear me? The Demon King's army is there. I'm going to wipe them out.”
“Even so, do we really need to drag ourselves all the way out there? It's crawling with uneducated poor folk who can't even read or survive properly. What's the point in saving trash like that?”
Capier trudged right up to her face.
“Listen up, Rasitena. I'm not doing this shit for some grand meaning. Sure as hell not for the world. I got stuck as the hero by some fluke, so I'm just knocking out whatever a hero's supposed to do. All with the faint hope that grinding through this crap might get me back to where I came from.”
“So next time, cut the altar bullshit and don't hunt for meaning on your own. You? Just shut your fucking mouth and follow when I say move. Whether it's saving poor bastards, slaughtering Demon King's troops, or rescuing some pathetic, shaking noble. Got it?”
“...”
Rasitena went quiet, her pride clearly stung, but Capier wasn't letting it slide.
“Drop the haughty pride bullshit and answer me. Seeing you pout like a dumb bitch makes me want to rip your mouth open for real.”
“Y-yes...”
Rasitena forced out the reply right to his face, her insides boiling with rage. She must have cursed the goddess a thousand times over why this brute had become the hero. But she quickly regained her composure.
Your cocky ass won't last much longer...
The Demon King's army stood behind her. If their current plan went off without a hitch, she'd plunge a blade straight into that arrogant throat. She clung to that belief fiercely.
With Capier and Rasitena's exchange at an end, the party boarded their carriage in silence and arrived at the village on the Pinemari Continent.
The scene that greeted Capier and his companions was a nightmare too horrific to behold.
“S-sa-save me..!”
“H-here... someone's crushed under this!”
“Ugh.. ugh... please.. somebody.. help..!!”
The village was engulfed in flames, its people plunged into utter panic. The reason soon became clear. Dozens of skeletons were rampaging through, turning everything to ruins.
“What in the world is this..”
“H-how could they do something so vile...”
“It's too horrible..”
Everyone but Rasitena murmured their pity at the gruesome sight. Soon, Frensia cried out to him, her face frantic.
“Hero! We have to save them now! These are just civilians—they won't last against skeleton attacks and they'll all die!”
Was it memories of nearly dying to goblins herself? She looked utterly desperate. As Capier scanned the surroundings, he spotted a young woman, barely an adult, shielding her father from a skeleton through a shattered hut door. She gripped a log for firewood, her hands trembling violently, yet she didn't budge an inch.
The village on the Pinemari Continent where the girl lived was small but peaceful. Fetching water meant a trek of over an hour, and there wasn't a single convenience in sight, but the residents were still happy.
“Shailia!”
An auntie who spotted her from afar called out.
“Auntie! What is it?”
She handed over the basket of fresh vegetables she carried.
“From our harvest this time—so fresh, right? Thought of you and grabbed some.”
Then a man's voice echoed from afar.
“Honey! Where'd you go now!”
“Aigoo, can't wait even a minute. Shailia, I gotta run! Say hi to your dad for me later.”
“Sure thing. Thanks, Auntie.”
After she left, Shailia hummed along the path, basket in hand. Tonight, she'd cook her father a meal with these fresh veggies.
I'm happy.
She was happy. Even without extravagance or wealth, she cherished what she had and gave thanks each day. The rest of the village felt the same. No greed, no coveting others' things. They shared joys and appreciated the little happinesses—like simple folk.
Not just the girl, but everyone in the village was content. No grand facilities like the kingdom, no crowds, but they never asked for more than they had. So even with lacks, they were happy.
Until today.
“R-run.. away..!!!!”
Puuk.
The shouting man was impaled by a skeleton monster's blade. With his scream, the villagers began dying horribly right before the girl's eyes.
The old man who loved fishing collapsed, arm severed. The woman who sang beautifully fell with her throat pierced, eyes still open till the end. The friendly uncle who greeted her cheerfully every morning had his head rolled from his body across the ground.
“Ugh... uh......”
She couldn't scream or flee—frozen, taking in every sight. The precious village scenes she loved and cherished were drowned in blood in an instant. Utter despair.
Like she'd forgotten how to speak, she stared with lifeless eyes.
“Shailia, what are you doing—run!!”
The woman who'd given her the basket spotted her mid-flight.
“Honey.. hurry, take Shailia and run..”
She called to her husband for help, but only a limp corpse remained. He was already gone.
Puuk.
Soon, a skeleton's sword plunged into the woman's gut. With her dying breath, she gasped to the girl.
“Run.... aw.. ay....”
The woman's blood splattered across her face. As the skeleton swung at her next, the girl instinctively bolted, dodging the oncoming blade.
Her acquaintances dying before her eyes—but too much at once, her brain couldn't process. It felt unreal. More accurately, she didn't want to believe people were dying right in front of her for the first time.
“Hah.. hah..”
No time to think—she ran like mad, tears streaming unnoticed down her face. Legs threatening to give, but she couldn't stop. Or she'd be bisected too.
No matter how exhausted, how near death, she had to keep moving.
But her flight halted abruptly before her own home. A skeleton lurked there.
Her disabled father was inside.
Halt.
Desperate to save her own skin, she'd fled fiercely—but now she abandoned escape. Running farther might save her, but her lame-legged father would die the moment they spotted him.
Kkiiik.
She darted to the back door to hide him. Too late.
Kwa-jik.
“Wh-what the hell...”
The skeleton smashed through the wooden front door and entered. Her father trembled inside, voice choked with terror.
“D-da..ddy!!”
The girl snatched a nearby firewood log and faced the skeleton. She knew it herself. This scrap of wood couldn't fell the monster.
And after she was cut down, her father would follow on its blade.
Logically, fleeing alone to preserve her life made sense. But her legs wouldn't move.
“Sha.. Shailia! Are you insane?! Run, now!”
Her father shouted desperately, but no sound reached her ears. Only one thought: save Dad.
Whoosh.
The skeleton's sword whipped toward her at blinding speed. Clutching the log with both hands, she knew resistance was futile from the start.
Yet she stood firm. The instant she dodged, her father would die horribly.
Shailia squeezed her eyes shut, awaiting death.
Puuk.
A chillingly cold sound echoed through the scene.