Chapter 4: Revenge(1)
Chapter 4: Revenge(1)
So, Natasha wants revenge for her tribe… That’s good information to have.
Lina nodded. Considering Natasha’s personality in her past life, it was more than expected.
Anyone would dream of revenge if their family and tribe were massacred.
In her past life, however, Natasha had been violated by the bandits until she was broken, then sold off as a slave years later, making revenge impossible.
“Kerry, was it…”
He was an adventurer. A man who, at first glance, seemed unremarkable, yet for some reason, was the object of Natasha’s fervent affection.
For Lina, who had only ever seen the man-hating Natasha of her past life, it was utterly baffling.
I suppose this is Natasha’s true self.
The Natasha of now was fresh-faced and cute.
It was impossible to imagine her as the Natasha from the past, the one they called the Red Madwoman, who had been driven insane by bloodlust.
For some reason, Lina hadn't been able to get close to Natasha in this timeline, but with Kerry’s help, an opportunity might arise.
Lina walked over to Natasha with Kerry.
“Natasha.”
“Husband!”
Why does she keep calling me that?
“Natasha, you said you wanted revenge on the bandits, right?”
“Yes. As soon as my body recovers, I’ll find a way…”
“I don’t know the details… but I heard they’re a terrifying bunch. Much stronger than the bandits who held us captive…”
“Yes. The bandits here… they aren’t the ones who slaughtered my tribe. The ones who massacred my Maruna tribe… they left me and my grandmother with these bandits and went somewhere else.”
“You heard her, right?” Kerry said, looking at Lina.
“Yes. Lady Natasha. The ones who massacred the Maruna tribe… wasn’t it a skeletal, bone-thin man and a hulking brute with a pig’s nose?”
“!”
It was obvious how Lina knew that. She must have heard it from Natasha in her past life.
“Natasha, it seems Lina knows about them.”
“Is that really true?”
“Yes. In fact, I’ve been hunting them for some time now…”
Was that true? It could just be a line to win Natasha over, but if it was the truth, it meant they were dangerous enough for a regressor to want to eliminate them immediately upon returning.
“…If you are amenable, Lady Natasha, would you consider joining me?”
Lina asked, her eyes filled with a subtle desperation.
Lina’s strength had already been proven. With her, Natasha’s quest for revenge would surely go much more smoothly.
But for some reason, Natasha’s eyes darted back and forth, a look of hesitation on her face.
Even though Lina was offering her help, Natasha still seemed to regard her with an unwelcoming gaze.
To be precise, it was the look one gives a romantic rival. It wasn’t overt, but it was there.
Does she think there’s something going on between me and Lina?
Even so, he never imagined she would hesitate to accept help when it came to avenging her tribe.
“Natasha, Lina is strong. She’ll be a great help in getting your revenge. Of course, I’ll help you too, just like I promised… but honestly, I’m not that strong.”
“…”
After a moment of hesitation, Natasha finally answered as if she had no other choice.
“…Yes. Lady Lina. Let’s travel together.”
At her words, Lina clenched her fists tightly.
And so, a four-person party was formed: Lina, Natasha, Kerry, and the grandmother. This gave him a reason to stick by the regressor’s side for the time being.
After a short rest, we followed Lina and escorted the other former hostages to a nearby village.
There, Lina not only arranged lodging for the women but also hired a major guild to act as their security.
Inn fees… security fees… food expenses… how much is all that costing? Our dear Regressor is way too much of a sucker, isn’t she?
The fact that the regressor was a big spender wasn’t bad news. For a moment, he worried that she was spending too much, that the scraps falling his way might shrink, but that feeling quickly passed.
“Thank you! Lady Lina. Thank you so much. My husband is dead, and I had no idea how I was going to live… hic… sob…”
“Kerry, thank you so much, too. You were so cool when you stood up to that bandit.”
Watching the women pour out their thanks with tears and snot running down their faces, he couldn't help but nod in agreement.
If they had been left alone, more than half of those women would have died, and the rest would have become prostitutes. As a former cellmate, that would have been a sad thing to see.
“Let’s all stay in this village for the night.”
Lina coolly arranged a room for him as well. Meals were included, of course.
He had some belongings in the village where he used to live, but their value was about equal to his overdue rent, so he felt no need to go back for them.
Lina, wanting to get closer to Natasha, said the women would all share a large room together.
Ahhh. This is nice. Free lodging in another world.
It seemed Lina had quite a bit of money on her.
Maybe she came from a wealthy family, or maybe, being a regressor, she had some way of earning money easily.
Entering the room, he saw a well-made bed and furniture. It was a decent inn.
And the food was delicious, too… The regressor bus is off to a good start.
When the four of them had dinner with Lina, the old hag had said this:
[Before we can get revenge on those bastards, we’ll need quite a few ingredients to break the curse on Natasha.]
[What do you need?]
[A hobgoblin’s heart, the leaf of a laughing flower, a salamander’s tail, and so on. There are many small things, but I can prepare those. However….]
[The hobgoblin’s heart is difficult for you to acquire, right, Grandmother?]
[Correct. Natasha and I will prepare the other ingredients, so I need you two, the pretty lady and the adventurer lad, to get the heart.]
[You can call me Lina, ma’am.]
[You can just call me Kerry, Grandmother. But how do you know about all these ingredients?]
[Ahem. Because I am the greatest grand shaman of the Maruna tribe!]
That was more or less the conversation.
The sun had set by the time we reached the village, so we decided to set out to find a hobgoblin with Lina early the next morning.
“Hobgoblins are scary… but it should be fine, right?”
By his standards as an F-rank adventurer, a hobgoblin was a bit much. Not impossible to kill, but enough to cause some concern.
But he was with the regressor, so he should be safe. He couldn't just tuck his tail and run because of a mere hobgoblin.
More importantly, it’s a chance to be alone with Lina tomorrow… I might be able to get closer to her.
For the first time in this world, he saw a glimmer of hope. The hope that maybe, just maybe, he could live a decent life here.
Phew. All this thinking… It’s already gotten pitch black outside. I thought I’d be so tired I’d pass out.
He was thirsty. It seemed like a good idea to get a glass of water and then get a good night’s sleep.
Kerry walked down the creaking inn stairs. He could see groups of men drinking all around.
From a distance, some pretty young women waved at him. Looking closer, he saw they were his former cellmates.
He was too tired to join the women for a drink, so he just waved back. Kerry got some water from the innkeeper and went straight back up to his room.
The women who had been waving at him smacked their lips in disappointment.
“Tsk, what a shame. I thought we could have a drink with the adventurer…”
“Goodness, you shameless hussy! Have you no shame?”
“What did I do? I just said I wanted to have a drink with him.”
“Don’t play dumb at our age. We all know what’s what.”
“Hmph. Honestly… I’m a widow now, so what does it matter? Besides, my husband never did a single nice thing for me when he was alive. He wouldn’t have bravely said, ‘Everyone, run! I’ll hold them off!’ like the adventurer did. He would’ve just abandoned me and run away.”
“Hehe. The adventurer was pretty cool back then. His face is so pale and his skin is flawless, without a single scar. He looks like a young master who’s never done a day of farm work in his life.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would a noble’s son be working as an adventurer?”
“You never know. Maybe he’s the son of a fallen noble family. Hehe. But more importantly… honestly, what we saw of the adventurer’s package in that prison was truly… hnnngh.”
“Shh! Are you crazy? What if someone hears you?”
“So what? Did I say something bad? It was a compliment.”
“My husband’s… which I vaguely thought was decent enough… was half the size…”
Once the topic was broached, the women chattered endlessly about the magnificent member they had seen with their own two eyes.
Morning came. When he went outside the inn at the promised time, a fully prepared Lina was waiting for him.
“You’re out early.”
“You were out earlier than me, Lina.”
Kerry’s gear looked quite respectable. He had taken all the usable equipment from the dead bandits.
Before he was captured by those bastards, just getting a single decent set of leather armor had been such a struggle.
Leather armor, one longsword, one backsword, and even a potion for wounds.
They say a tiger leaves its skin when it dies; bandits, it seems, leave their equipment.
“Let’s get going, then.”
No “did you sleep well?” or any other pleasantries before setting off. Does regressing make everyone this cold?
He walked behind Lina, who strode ahead without a single word. It was so quiet he started to worry she was angry about something, but the regressor’s emotions, as seen by the Goddess’s Eye, were different.
[Emotion – Hope. Anticipation. Refreshment.]
On the outside, she was as cold as ice, but inside, she was hopeful and happy. It seemed the regressor was just awkward at socializing.
Still, the continuous, silent walking was too awkward to bear.
“By the way… Lina, how did you end up at the bandit hideout?”
“…I was walking down the road, and they started a fight with me.”
“Ah…”
Wiping them all out just because they picked a fight? It was obvious she had come looking for Natasha, but he decided to let it slide.
“If you don’t mind my asking, where are you from?”
According to the Goddess’s Eye, Lina’s homeland was Astria. He had no idea where that was. He’d never even heard of it.
He had lived in this world for about two years, but he wasn’t exactly an expert on its geography.
“…You wouldn’t know it even if I told you. I came from far away.”
“…Right. You’re like me, then. I came from far away, too. A place called Korea…”
“Korea… I’ve certainly never heard of it.”
Lina seemed to be putting up a wall, as if telling him not to ask any more about her origins. Since he’d already confirmed it with the Goddess’s Eye, he didn’t press further.
The conversation mostly flowed with him asking questions and Lina answering.
Her stiff, cold expression made him worry that she disliked him, but it was a needless fear.
[Status – Hope. Anticipation. Refreshment. Favorable.]
The addition of “Favorable” to her status meant her reaction was actually quite good.
She’s a tough one.
But Kerry knew that people who didn’t awkwardly pretend to be nice were often the real deal.
“I see a hobgoblin over there.”
At Lina’s words, he instinctively crouched down. He could see a hobgoblin leading a few goblins.
“There are three goblins with it.”
“Kerry, please wait here. I will take care of it.”
“No, then there’d be no point in me coming along. I’ll take the three goblins.”
Lina smiled faintly and nodded. Looked like he’d scored some more points.
Lina charged forward first, and Kerry dashed out after her. The hobgoblin and goblins, having spotted them, shrieked, “Kieeeek!”
Goblins were definitely small-fry monsters, but their habits and wrinkled, green skin were disgusting enough to remind one of small demons.
On top of that, they were vile creatures famous for raping any captive they took, regardless of species. For the record, when he first came to this world, he was almost raped by goblins, so he absolutely despised them.
“Die, you rapist bastards!”
Kerry swung the two-handed sword he’d taken from the bandits. It was his first time using a two-handed sword, but it was a much higher quality weapon than the crude backsword he’d been using.
A goblin that only came up to his waist was instantly sliced in two.
“You damn rapist scum! This is what you call justice!”
Two goblins remained. They seemed a little intimidated by the power of the two-handed sword and hesitated, holding their ground.
“Kireuk! Kirrrreuk! Kiek!”
“Shut up, you’re noisy!”
He swung the two-handed sword at the two goblins standing side-by-side. One of them rolled on the ground and dodged, but the other was cut in half.
“You dodged?”
Against something like a hobgoblin, he couldn’t afford to be cocky, but three mere goblins were no problem.
Plus, his gear was good. A two-handed sword! It was the best weapon he’d ever used.
Is this what it feels like to be strong?
The sudden equipment upgrade made him feel immensely powerful.
He had been helpless against the bandit leader, but that was only because the bandit leader was too strong.
With gear like this, I’m a pretty decent adventurer myself. But this isn’t the time to show off my newfound strength. It might be better to finish this quickly and help Lina…
He decided it would look better to the regressor if he finished off his weak opponents quickly and joined the fight against the hobgoblin.
“This is the final blow!”
He stabbed the remaining goblin as it rolled on the ground, kicking up dust, and skewered it with his two-handed sword.
“Kieeeeek….”
“Lady Lina, I’ve taken care of them. I’ll help you…”
“I’m finished over here, too.”
The hobgoblin was lying on the ground, tongue lolling out, dead. He didn’t know when she’d finished, but from the way she was watching him, it seemed like it had been a while.
He felt a sudden wave of embarrassment.
Shit… was she watching the whole time?
While he was making a big fuss over three goblins, Lina had silently dispatched the hobgoblin and was just watching the show.
“We found a hobgoblin sooner than I expected. It looks like we can head back early.”
“Right. I’ll do the butchering.”
“No, it’s alright. I’ll do it.”
Lina insisted she would do it, but he took the task from her and began to carve out the hobgoblin’s heart.
Since I’m freeloading off her… I can’t let her do the dirty work, too.
Honestly, Lina was objectively, jaw-droppingly beautiful, so he couldn’t deny he had some ulterior motives.
Could this be why Natasha was so wary of her? Probably not. He was being careful not to show it.
He cut through the hobgoblin’s tough hide and carved out the heart, which dripped with blood.
“All done. Let’s go back.”
“Yes.”
He packed the hobgoblin’s heart in his bag, and they started on their way back. Suddenly, something he had been pondering all last night came to mind.
Having spent some time alone with Lina, he realized she wasn't as cold and heartless as she appeared, which gave him a little courage.
“Lady Lina, may I ask you just one question?”
“Yes.”
“Do you happen to know how to use this?”
Kerry took out the magic orb he had kept carefully tucked away in his pocket.
If he was lucky, he might be able to learn not only how to use the orb, but also how to handle mana from the regressor.