The Abandoned Village (2)
The Abandoned Village (2)
Until morning came, I held Ria's hand and walked around, introducing her to various places.
"This spot...hmm, this must have been where the village hall was located."
"I see!"
Each time I introduced a place, Ria's eyes sparkled as she looked around the site where a building once stood.
"It's a village filled with the Hero-nim's memories."
"That's right."
It was a village steeped in memories from my childhood.
Although that once massive village hall now doesn't even have its skeleton remaining.
'I miss it.'
Thinking that, I looked at Ria.
Ria probably has no such places of memory.
Well, because Ria's memories begin from a dark and dirty orphanage.
She said she lived not even knowing if being beaten daily was sad or unfortunate.
She just cried because it hurt.
She thought all the children in the world lived like that.
At first, she says she knew so little she could barely speak properly.
The orphanage director who couldn't even provide the bare minimum.
The sight of Ria's back, having let go of my hand and gazing out at the vast, spread-out plain in the distance, seemed somehow lonely.
As I thought about approaching and giving her a gentle hug...
"...Now, this place will also be filled with my memories!"
"...!!"
Ria turned around and said that.
Her fluttering skirt.
And her pure white hair, scattering in the wind along with it.
Looking at me with eyes half-closed from smiling, Ria gave a mischievous smile, slightly bowed her head, and asked.
"And...I'm going to pack the Hero-nim into those memories."
Ria, saying she would fill her happy memories with me, spread her arms wide.
I knew she wanted a hug, so I slowly approached Ria.
Then, puffing her cheeks slightly, she went 'udada' running and jumped into my arms.
"...You should come and hug me quickly! Why are you coming so slowly!"
"Sorry, sorry, Ria was just too pretty."
"...!!"
When I said I was distracted, Ria froze completely.
I chuckled and poked her cheek kok kok, and she went 'hmhm' and let out a fake cough.
"...For the first time in my life, I'm going to be greedy."
"Yeah?"
"Yes, because I'm going to monopolize the Hero-nim."
"That's a good kind of greed."
"You think so too, Hero-nim?"
"Yes."
When I nodded, Ria gave a 'hehe' laugh and stood next to me again.
Since the best site was right where the village hall had been located.
'Shall I build the house here?'
Thinking that, I was calculating the estimate when...
"Hero-nim."
"Yes?"
Ria tugged firmly on my hand.
Tilting my head in question, she looked up at me with a somewhat serious expression.
"...There seems to be someone nearby who needs help."
"Someone...?"
Ria said that with a serious face, frowning.
'...There's no way someone is in such a remote place.'
There's no way someone is here.
To begin with, the only village that was here was my village.
Though it was a fairly large village for being in a remote area.
It's a village with quite a distance even to the neighboring villages.
There's no way anyone is here.
Even if someone is here, they're definitely suspicious.
"Ria."
"...Yes, Hero-nim."
"Let's go take a look."
Since removing any threat was the right thing to do, Ria and I decided to hurry.
Ria hurriedly pulled out her staff.
I also summoned the Holy Sword from the air.
Even though the Hero's duty is over, the Holy Sword that still remains with me.
Gripping it tightly...
"Hero-nim...! The feeling was like someone pleading for help."
Ria said with a voice full of concern.
There are two types of human presences Ria can sense sensitively.
One is the presence of a rotten-to-the-core villain.
The other is the presence of someone sincerely wishing for salvation from the depths of their heart.
'Is it a situation where help is needed?'
If so, combat might be necessary, but since it probably wouldn't require excessive force, I relaxed my grip a bit.
"Yes, got it."
"Let's go...!"
Ria said let's go.
Holding Ria in my arms, I started running at full speed.
"That way...! I can feel it from the forest!"
The forest.
'...There was a strange legend when I was young.'
The passage to the Fairy Kingdom, now corrupted in the past.
The girl was exhausted.
Perhaps because she had expended her stamina too quickly, her vision was blurry.
On top of that, she could no longer muster strength in her arms and legs.
Heat rose hukkeunhukkeun from her entire body, and sweat poured down like rain.
The heat rising from her body was scorching.
Thanks to that, she let out a ragged breath.
She felt pain in her throat.
Whether from sweating too much and lacking water, she felt her throat cracking.
The scratched and slightly bitten wounds continued to sting painfully.
"...The re, recovery potion is...guhh."
She sprayed the last remaining recovery potion on the injured areas.
Whether her mana had run out too, the recovery speed was considerably slow.
In this desperate situation, tears threatened to well up and pour out.
"Huuk......."
Barely holding back the ache beneath her eyes, the girl covered her mouth with trembling hands.
Because, if she cries now...
'...Are the monsters still around...?'
The monsters she barely shook off might hear the sound and chase her.
With her mouth covered, she blankly stared outside the forest.
The boundary of the vast, sprawling grassland.
The identity of the brightly visible light was the grassland where the sun was slowly rising.
If she could just stretch her foot a little further forward, she could survive.
'...If I can just get out of the corrupted land...I might manage somehow.'
Now that the Demon King is dead.
If I can just get out of the corrupted land, the monsters' power weakens drastically, so I can survive.
With that, the girl stood up and stretched her foot.
"Eeuk...!"
An intense pain felt the moment she stood up.
Because of the ankle she sprained while running, she immediately hesitated again.
Simultaneously, the sounds of her pursuers from behind the girl began to grow clearer.
"...!!"
The sound of beasts galloping reached her.
The sound of galloping, scattering the dark forest's soil and fallen leaves around.
The characteristic panting sound of canine beasts also began to grow closer.
Hot panting sounds.
"Keuk...!"
With that, the girl got up.
There was no time to dawdle.
'Did the mana in the stones run out!?'
It seemed the mana imbued in the stones she threw was depleted faster than expected.
It seemed the blood flowing from wounds that hadn't fully healed yet had led the wolves here.
If she stays like this, she'll die.
"I do, don't wanna die...!"
Not wanting to die, she chose to run, so the girl stood up again.
She couldn't gallop forward quickly.
Limping, biting her lower lip firmly, the girl desperately moved her feet.
Tears welled up, causing the dazzling plain before her eyes to blur into a single light, then become clear again.
Simultaneously, the footsteps of the hunters reached her ears.
As those footsteps gradually grew clearer, the girl's pace slowly quickened.
However, compared to her opponents, it was ridiculously slow.
Now the hunter's howl was clear enough to pierce the girl's ears.
'Right behind...!!!'
It approached right behind her.
When the girl turned her head back, what she saw was the gaping maw of a monster with its mouth wide open.
It had the form of a wolf, but its mouth was filled with teeth and split into four parts.
A twisted monster created by demonic energy.
"Hik...!!"
The girl, who had unconsciously looked back, let out a hiccup.
She would die here.
Horribly swallowed by that greedy maw filled with teeth.
"Save─"
The girl unconsciously opened her mouth.
But she intuitively realized she would be swallowed before even finishing her plea.
Death had come right to her nose.
In that fleeting moment, just as her life was about to flash before her eyes.
-KWAJIK!!!!!
"...!!!"
The monster's maw closed with a kwajik sound.
No, to be precise, it's more correct to say it bit into a barrier that appeared right in front of the girl's nose.
A warm feeling.
'...Divine power?'
The divine power that only high-ranking priests could wield.
Wondering why she could feel it...
-SHUWAAAAAAAK!!!!!
As the sound of air being torn was heard.
-KWAAAAAAAAAANG!!!!!!
The body of the wolf monster biting the barrier exploded on the spot.
"Are you all right!?"
"Hi, hikkeuk...!!"
A pure white woman said that and stretched out her hand.
And in that moment.
"Hik...!"
The girl burst into tears.
The exploded monster's body turned into black demonic energy and scattered into the air.
'...Demonic energy corrosion.'
Demonic energy corrosion.
The power of the Demon God that twists causality and goes against natural order.
It is also the power that creates monsters and dungeons in this world.
If left alone, it gradually corrodes the surroundings, and once the corrosion reaches a certain level, it spews out monsters while simultaneously turning the area into a dungeon.
'Is it just left neglected because there's no Adventurer's Guild?'
Who would have thought the legend about the passage connecting to the Fairy Kingdom being corrupted was true.
The number of wolf-type monsters nearby was six in total.
'Were they wolves that lived in the forest and got twisted?'
Thinking that, I shook off the demonic energy clinging to my fist and grabbed the Holy Sword.
Since the child behind me was being calmed well by Ria, my job was...
'Cleaning, I suppose.'
The job of cleaning up filthy things.
Don't you usually do a big cleanup when you move?
With that feeling, I decided to clean this forest today.
"Ria!"
"Yes!"
I immediately asked Ria for support.
The divine power used by ordinary humans takes lifespan as a price.
However, it doesn't recklessly take the lifespan of the Saint, who receives the Goddess's love.
Especially.
"...Goddess-nim, please help me purify these pitiful and impure beings before my eyes."
If it's work substituting for the monster cleanup the Goddess should do, it doesn't take a fixed amount of lifespan.