Chapter 16: Brown-haired Ellie(2)
Chapter 16: Brown-haired Ellie(2)
The villagers went to get their money without a moment’s hesitation. It was only natural. Having your family turn into ghouls was, in a way, crueler than death.
“Adventurer, sir. Please don’t go anywhere, you must stay right here!”
“We’ll get the money, no matter what. To think you’d part with high-grade holy water imbued with the divine power of the Goddess Elena for our sake.”
They could believe what they wanted, but Kerry just wanted to get rid of the damn holy water from that incompetent goddess as quickly as possible.
I think I have a rough idea of what that skeleton and pig are plotting.
They were turning the villagers into ghouls and blatantly revealing their own location.
It felt very much like they had let the village youths track them on purpose.
Why? They were probably waiting with a trap set at the farmhouse. It was almost certainly some kind of ambush.
At the very least, a surprise attack by ghouls was a hundred percent guaranteed. I didn’t know much about ghouls, but since this was a scheme they’d prepared, it was bound to be a pain in the ass.
Still, they’re just ghouls. Isn’t their weakness obvious? It’s gotta be fire.
This might be resolved more easily than I thought. But rushing headfirst into a trap was still daunting, so I needed more information.
However, it didn’t seem like there was any more information to be gleaned from the villagers.
If I go by what Lina said about the pig and the skeleton trying to resurrect the White Witch, then maybe the White Witch knows something about them. Could she also be involved in human sacrifice?
I didn’t know yet. I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.
Whatever the White Witch had been like in the previous timeline, she wasn’t involved with them now. The future had changed.
All I had to do was ask her myself.
Kerry grasped the orb, and just like always, his surroundings changed. He was in the White Witch’s bedroom. The pristine white room, without a single speck of dust, still felt like the interior of a mental hospital to him.
“You’ve come.”
The White Witch spoke while looking out the window. Was my arrival no longer a big deal to her? I felt a little disappointed.
“My lady Witch.”
“What is it?”
“I have something to ask you. Do you happen to know anything about human sacrifice?”
The White Witch stared blankly out the window for a moment before turning to look at me as if I were absurd.
It was a condescending look, but it suited her quite well.
“Do you also believe that I achieved my power through unjust means? Like those fools from the Magic Tower? Or did you perhaps hear such tales outside and come to me with them?”
Was it just my imagination, or did the White Witch sound disappointed?
“I achieved everything through effort and talent alone. If you mean to say such things…”
“I apologize, my lady.”
“Hmph. You’re quick to apologize. Seen this way, you are rather cute.”
“My lady. Then allow me to ask one more thing.”
“What is it?”
“Do you happen to know anyone matching this description? One is gaunt, with a skeletal face. He also has a great many piercings. The other is an incredibly fat man with a pig’s nose…”
“I know no such fools. From their descriptions alone, they sound like wretches I’d never want to associate with.”
“That’s a relief.”
“What is?”
“The duo I just mentioned are the worst kind of human scum. Honestly, if you had been involved with them…”
“If I had been?”
As Kerry clenched his fist, the White Witch hastily turned her head away, as if she’d seen a ghost.
“Fortunately, it seems you’re not as evil as the rumors say, my lady White Witch.”
“…I have done many wicked things as well.”
“Yes, I know. I can tell you’re not in your right mind just by seeing you stay in this white room that looks like it could drive someone insane. And then there are those hardcore sadistic tools…”
“D-Do not condemn another’s tastes! And this room is very beautiful! It is you who lacks an eye for such things.”
Kerry simply shook his head.
“I’m short on time, so I must be going.”
“…”
“You seem disappointed.”
“I am not. More importantly… how goes your training?”
Seeing her try to find an excuse for me to stay, the White Witch was clearly disappointed.
Then again, once I left, she would be alone again. I felt a little sorry for her.
I didn’t have much time, but a brief chat should be fine.
“I’ve been practicing the breathing technique you taught me whenever I have a spare moment.”
“Good. Come closer. I must check how well you are doing.”
The White Witch took my wrist as if to take my pulse. She held it gently, then said with a blush on her face:
“…You truly are talented. It’s going smoothly. Just keep doing as you are.”
“I see. Understood. I’ll really be going now. I’m busy.”
The White Witch waved her hand dismissively, as if telling me to hurry up and leave. Kerry knew by now that it was just an act.
It was after Kerry had gone.
Not a sound could be heard in the White Witch’s room, now empty save for her. A quiet stillness descended. It was a familiar solitude.
The room had always been this way, but because of that interloper, the familiar solitude now felt strange. The silence was beginning to feel frightening.
She realized that, at some point, she had started waiting for Kerry to arrive.
“…I’m waiting for that boy?”
What a ridiculous notion.
“I am the White Witch.”
The archmage who made the continent tremble in fear.
A woman who was never satisfied, even when men more handsome and distinguished than him lined up for her.
Yes. She had just gotten a little lonely from being by herself for so long. There was no way she could genuinely welcome the man who had raped her.
“Come to think of it… do I not even know the boy’s name yet?”
It wouldn’t hurt to learn his name the next time he came.
*
Kerry returned to the village.
After waiting a short while where he had parted with the villagers, he saw them running toward him in the distance, carrying heavy, clinking pouches. Wow. How much was all that?
The holy water business is booming.
This is why you had to pick the right side. How much had his life changed just by siding with a regressor?
“Adventurer, sir! This is all the money we could scrape together in a hurry!”
“I brought more! Adventurer!”
“It’s not money, but… these are the wedding gifts I had prepared! Adventurer, sir, these should be quite valuable too! Please, give the holy water to me…”
High-grade holy water was a miraculous item.
He didn’t know what kind of powerful curse the skeleton had cast, but a hastily prepared curse meant to counter their arrival could surely be lifted with a single bottle of high-grade holy water.
After receiving all the offerings the villagers had brought, he handed over the holy water.
The villagers bowed repeatedly, thanking him profusely.
“Alright, I’ve got the money… now to prepare to take them down.”
He had already confirmed the location of the farmhouse where the fiends were hiding. All that was left was to meet up with Lina and Natasha and relay the plan.
Just then, he heard an unusual sound.
BOOOOM—!
The sound came from quite a distance away from the village. He could see a white cloud of dust rising into the sky.
It was in the direction of Ellie’s farmhouse, where the pig and the skeleton were hiding. Damn it. It seemed either Lina or Natasha had gotten impatient.
“Just in case. I’d better prepare thoroughly before I go.”
Kerry grabbed one of the villagers and hastily began his preparations.
A single move to defeat the bastards.
*
Lina clenched her fists after confirming the information about the skeleton and the pig. The fiends were brazenly hiding in a certain farmhouse.
She was told they had been staying at that farmhouse for several days.
If I go now, I might be able to save the people in the farmhouse.
Lina couldn’t stand by while thinking of the farmer who was likely trembling in fear, begging for his life.
Just then, she spotted Natasha.
“Natasha!”
Lina explained the situation to her. Upon hearing Lina’s story, Natasha ground her teeth.
Those bastards were trying to reenact the same horrific acts they had committed against her tribe.
It felt a little too easy, finding them like this, but what did that matter?
The faces of the warriors who had died so helplessly in her village flashed before her eyes. An unbearable rage welled up inside her.
“Even if it’s a trap, we just have to smash our way through it,” Natasha muttered. Lina nodded in agreement. The two of them charged toward the farmhouse where the pig and the skeleton were.
As expected, it was a trap, and the situation took a turn for the worst. Even so, Lina was busy trying to check for victims.
“Buhik! You stupid bitches fell right into our trap!”
“They must have been overconfident in their own abilities. Trying to get by in this world with strength alone will get you seriously hurt.”
Lina’s eyes flashed sharply. Ghouls were surrounding them. They all appeared to be residents from the nearby village.
The fiends were mocking them for falling into a trap, but Lina didn’t care. No, in fact, she affirmed her own decision.
The later I arrived, the more victims there would have been.
In that case, falling into a trap was better. That was the way the regressor Lina thought.
Natasha, too, was growling, her killing intent flaring.
In the dead villagers who had turned into ghouls, she saw a faint reflection of her own tribespeople.
Hatred surged, but she hadn’t lost her reason yet. She clenched her jaw and endured, determined not to repeat the same mistake.
“Natasha. This may be difficult, but we have to end this here, just the two of us.”
Natasha nodded wordlessly. To be honest, the situation was overwhelming.
Facing Furuku and Nassen was tough enough, but now ghouls were surrounding them.
Individually, the ghouls weren’t frightening, but the power of a mob was not to be underestimated.
Most importantly, there was no way Furuku and Nassen would just stand by and watch while the ghouls attacked.
This won’t be easy.
Lina glanced at Natasha, who was growling beside her. Her companion, who had died so miserably in the previous timeline.
She had sworn she would never let that happen again, yet here they were. It was frustrating. So incredibly frustrating.
“You think you two can handle this? I’ll admit you’ve got some skill, blondey, but breaking through this situation is impossible.”
“We won’t know until we try, will we?”
“Such bravado. More importantly, you brought the item, right? It would be a problem if we killed you only to find you don’t have it.”
“Item?”
“Don’t play dumb. We’ve already confirmed that the orb is gone from the altar.”
“?”
“You’re quite the actress. If you just hand over the orb quietly… we’ll spare your lives.”
Lina was bewildered by the situation.
Weren’t they the ones who had the orb? She was certain she had also confirmed the orb was missing from the altar.
But seeing as they’re offering to spare our lives, it doesn’t seem like they’re acting… and there’s no reason for them to lie about this.
It would be best if Lina disposed of the orb herself, but if it wasn’t in their hands, that wasn’t so bad either.
First, I’ll take care of Furuku and Nassen right here!
“Cut the crap and offer up your necks. Do that, and I’ll grant you a painless death.”
“Damn bitch. Fine. I’ll just cut off your limbs and torture you until you confess where the orb is.”
Those bastards were always like this. Lina ground her teeth.
“So negotiations have failed. How foolish. Buhik! Ghouls! Attack those bitches…”
The moment Furuku gave the order to the ghouls, a bottle came flying from somewhere.
It looked like the end of its wick was on fire. It was a Molotov cocktail Kerry had improvised.
“Lina! Natasha! Get away from the ghouls!”
“Husband!”
CRASH!
Natasha, who welcomed him as if she’d never been enraged, and Lina both leaped. In an instant, they broke through the ghouls’ encirclement.
At the same time, the Molotov cocktail Kerry had thrown shattered, and the ghouls began to burn fiercely.
“Kueeeek!”
The burning ghouls screamed and thrashed about as if they were alive. In reality, they were dead things that couldn’t even feel pain.
Was it a similar principle to how a fish’s nerves still made it twitch after its head was cut off? No. This wasn’t the time for idle thoughts.
Kerry threw another Molotov cocktail.
Thanks to the fiends flailing in the blaze, the fire spread like wildfire.
“We have to stop him! Furuku!”
“Buhik! Got it!”
Furuku charged at Kerry, his massive body thudding against the ground. Despite his heavy frame, he was quite fast. Much faster than Kerry.
But Kerry wasn’t scared. He even had the composure to flip the pig off with his middle finger.
There was a good reason for his confidence.
An enraged Natasha was rushing over like a madwoman.
“You won’t lay a single finger on my husband!”
“Buhik! This bitch is getting in the way again!”
Lina, seemingly content to leave Furuku to Natasha, charged at Nassen.
“Husband! Get back!”
“I’m counting on you!”
“Yes!”
Natasha, who had maintained some semblance of her sanity, slowly began to corner the pig.
She didn’t charge recklessly like a beast, the way she had when she’d lost her mind before.
Natasha used her incredible speed to execute repeated hit-and-run attacks.
Slaaash!
Cuts began to accumulate on Furuku’s body. Red blood trickled from the wounds.
“You little rat!”
Furuku swung his iron mace, but Natasha dodged it with ease. She was completely different from when she had first fought him.
‘…I can’t put my husband in danger again with my foolishness!’
Natasha calmly pushed Furuku back. The sight was as thrilling as a lioness hunting a water buffalo.
Though Furuku was much larger, he was steadily accumulating wounds and being forced onto the defensive.
“Buhik! Stop flitting around and acting so cocky!”
Furuku swung his iron mace wildly. That alone was threatening enough.
But Natasha dodged every blow with movements as light as a feather.
“Kueeeek!”
Just then, a burning ghoul joined the fight. It was on fire, but its instincts still craved human flesh.
“This is it! Buhik! Ghouls! All of you, attack the red-haired bitch!”
At Furuku’s command, the burning ghouls and the ones still intact rushed toward Natasha.
Fuck. We’re screwed.
“Natasha, retreat for now…”
Before Kerry could finish his sentence, Natasha’s form blurred for an instant and seemed to vanish. Then, the heads of the ghouls began to roll onto the ground, one by one.
She had lopped off all their heads at a speed so fast it was nearly invisible.
“Hah… haah…”
But Natasha, too, seemed to have overexerted herself, as she was panting heavily.
“No one… will ever touch my husband.”
The power of love truly was great. Natasha’s strength was more incredible than I had imagined. As expected of the regressor’s former companion.
Even Furuku seemed stunned by the movement Natasha had displayed for that brief moment. On the other side, Lina was relentlessly hammering Nassen.
It looked as if everything was about to end.