Chapter 7: White Witch(1)
Chapter 7: White Witch(1)
“According to my investigation, the skeleton and pig duo are hiding somewhere near the village we’re heading to.”
Investigation, my ass. She knows because she’s a regressor.
“Is that information certain?”
“Yes.”
She probably figured that since her regression was recent, there wouldn’t be any major butterfly effects yet.
At Lina’s firm reply, Natasha didn’t ask any more questions. To be fair, even from my perspective, Lina was quite trustworthy.
With the conversation over, Lina stared blankly out of the carriage.
She looked like something straight out of a photoshoot. Natasha was by no means lacking in beauty, but next to Lina, she seemed to be a step down.
“We’ve arrived, my lords.”
“Yes. Thank you for the ride.”
Lina thanked the driver on our behalf, and we all piled out. The first thing we saw was a marketplace in the truest sense of the word. It was so packed with people it was practically boiling over.
“This is…”
“I asked him to stop at the entrance to the village market,” Natasha said, a little excited.
“Lina. I want to find those bastards as soon as possible.”
“Even if we do run into them, shouldn’t you be properly equipped first? Sir Kerry has the gear he took from the bandits, but you don’t even have proper armor, do you, Natasha?”
Right. I just took whatever fit from one of the dead bandits… but there was no way those thugs would have had female armor or weapons that fit Natasha.
“That’s true.”
Natasha nodded as if she understood. Lina smiled faintly and handed Natasha a pouch.
“Th-This is…”
“Ten gold. This should be enough to get you some decent equipment.”
Kerry’s jaw dropped. Not ten silver, but ten gold! Just how much money did Lina have?
It felt like she hadn’t been back for long. Was it okay for her to have this much money already?
After receiving the money from Lina, Natasha and the grandmother headed into the market. It was time to get some new gear.
“Heehee. I like this.”
Natasha got herself a set of sleek equipment from the blacksmith: a pair of curved swords and a leather armor set.
“It suits you, Natasha.”
She’ll take care of me later, right?
Yeah. There was no way a regressor would be so rotten as to only look after her companions from a past life.
The cliché was that people like that always ended up getting stabbed in the back by the companion they neglected. A regressor would surely know that.
After buying Natasha’s equipment, we spent the remaining time wandering the market and eating street food.
The market was quite lively, so there were plenty of decent things to eat.
After looking around enough, we waited for Lina at the market entrance.
“There’s so much amazing stuff here. Hehe.”
Natasha said while munching on a chicken skewer. The grandmother, too, skillfully ate a skewer with the few teeth she had left.
Just then, Lina approached from a distance.
“It looks like you bought some good equipment.”
“Yes. Thank you, Lina. I feel like I’m always indebted to you.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m doing it because I want to.”
It seemed Natasha and Lina’s relationship had improved a little. Kerry handed over the remaining money pouch.
“The equipment cost five gold, and we spent a little on food. This is what’s left.”
“You could have bought something a little better, you know.”
“Natasha said she liked this set.”
Lina’s eyes swept over the gear Natasha was wearing.
I didn’t know how long she’d lived in her past life, but as a regressor, her eye for equipment was probably far from ordinary.
“This was five gold? For everything?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make sense… This gear should have cost at least six gold.”
“We were able to get it cheap thanks to my husband. Hehe.”
Lina stared at me. Looking like someone who couldn’t haggle to save her life, she seemed to regard me as someone rather impressive.
Lina, do you have any idea what kind of a scene I had to make to shave off that one gold coin, especially when it wasn’t even my money?
As an F-rank adventurer who had always scraped by, Kerry was quite confident in his haggling skills.
“Thank you, Sir Kerry. In any case, we won’t have to worry about equipment for a while. Let’s set off at once. I’ve just found out where those bastards are hiding.”
“You’ve found them already?”
Of course she has, she’s a regressor…
The party began to move toward the location Lina had discovered.
We left the village and ventured deeper and deeper into a deserted forest.
Lina, who had been leading the way in silence, finally spoke.
“There is one thing I must ask of all of you.”
“What is it?”
“From this point on, no matter what horrific sights you see… you must not get agitated.”
“?”
“The ones we are chasing are extremely cruel and merciless. They perform wicked human sacrifices… so brutal that I hesitate to even speak of them.”
Lina spoke as if she were worried about Natasha.
“Most importantly, you are not yet able to face that pig and skull. I will handle those two.”
“They’re my prey! I will have my revenge for my tribe…”
“Natasha. You must think rationally. You saw them with your own two eyes, so you should know. Can you truly defeat those two?”
“…”
Natasha trembled, her hands clenched into tight fists. The grandmother chimed in from the side. Looks like she can’t win.
“Natasha, it would be best to listen to our benefactor for now.”
“But… but…”
“There are times when you must endure. Besides, you are the last seed of our tribe.”
Only then did Natasha give a small nod.
“I will be the main force, and you will all play a supporting role. Please, refrain from combat until I say it’s okay.”
As we went quite deep into the forest, we saw what appeared to be the enemy’s underlings.
They were standing guard.
“This is where they are hiding. They are in the middle of performing the evil ritual I mentioned on an altar, so security is tight.”
Watching the two large, brutish-looking men standing guard, the reality of the situation finally sank in.
We were really here to fight. It was a little scary.
It was obvious that they vastly outnumbered us.
“Don’t worry. My role is to go in through the front. Natasha and Sir Kerry, I’d like you to block the pig and skull’s escape route. Of course, there’s no need to overdo it. If it gets dangerous, make your own safety the number one priority.”
So we just had to stop them from getting away.
I might be able to manage that much, somehow.
Natasha stared at me for a moment, then smiled faintly and said, “Don’t worry, husband. You protected me. Now it’s my turn to protect you.”
Her words were a small comfort.
“I will charge the front in five minutes. You two, please circle around to the back of the altar and block the pig and skull’s escape route.”
Kerry and Natasha crouched low, moving stealthily from cover to cover.
Though it was called an altar, it was just a hastily erected structure in the forest, with no wooden fence or anything, so we could see inside clearly.
Just as Lina had said, they were performing a gruesome ritual. They had surrounded the altar with severed human heads and were doing a strange dance.
Where are the pig and the skull?
Their appearances were so distinct that I spotted them right away.
A man who looked literally like a gaunt skeleton and a hulking figure with a pig’s nose seemed to be at the center of the ritual.
It was certain, as their subordinates in drab cloaks were performing some kind of rite around them.
I could see the severed heads and red blood around the altar.
It was a testament to just how inhuman the ritual being performed here was.
I thought I’d gotten used to seeing dead bodies since coming to this world, but the sight of that was enough to make me want to vomit.
Just then, Kerry felt a chilling sensation.
He glanced to his side and saw Natasha trembling with rage.
“Natasha. Calm down.”
It was understandable, with the murderers of her tribe and family right before her eyes. But Natasha’s agitation was brief.
“Yes, husband… I’m… I’m okay.”
Impressively, she endured it and followed the plan.
We had just reached the back of the altar when a loud noise erupted from the front.
“Intruder! Intruder!”
“Prepare for battle!”
The ones performing the ritual didn’t stop. But the ones who looked like guards began to move frantically.
What kind of important ritual is this that they won’t even stop?
Curious, I used the Goddess’s Eye on the altar. I’d never actually used it on something like this, so I wasn’t sure if it would work.
[Dance to Summon an Ancient God.]
[Summary - A human sacrifice ritual to resurrect the White Witch using life force as a medium.]
The White Witch? So what Lina said was true.
I had heard about the White Witch from Lina before we came here.
From the front, screams echoed, a sign that Lina was doing her job well.
Only then did the pig and the skull seem to realize something was wrong and began to halt the ritual.
I have to trust the regressor. She must have told us to block their escape because she can win on her own.
Just then, the grandmother called Natasha’s name.
“Natasha… calm down… what’s wrong?”
“Ah… ah… ah…”
Natasha’s mouth was agape, tears streaming from her eyes. Was she shocked by the horrific ritual?
With dozens of human heads severed and offered on the altar, it was certainly shocking, but I didn’t think that was why she was so stunned.
I understood the reason from her next words.
“F-Fa… Father…”
I followed Natasha’s gaze and saw the face of a middle-aged man among the severed heads. I didn’t need to ask who it was.
Shit. We’re fucked.
“Father… Father… Father… Ah… ah… AAAAAAAAH!!!”
Natasha lost her reason and began to charge toward the altar.
[Talent - One Who Craves Blood (SSS)]
[Summary - The angrier you become, the stronger you get. Self-control is consumed in proportion to the increase in power.]
Natasha’s movement was not something the likes of me could ever hope to stop.
She surged toward the pig and the skull like a cannonball.
“Die!!”
Natasha brought her two curved swords down on the pig.
“Oink? What’s with this bitch?”
But the pig-faced man blocked the swords effortlessly. Still, Natasha didn’t stop, her blades continuing to rain down at a terrifying speed.
Amazingly, the pig, despite his large frame, was keeping up with Natasha’s speed, but he was slowly being pushed back.
Lina must have heard the commotion, as I could see her rushing over. She immediately charged not at the pig, but at the skull.
It was to prevent Natasha from being ganged up on.
It was utter pandemonium. Watching these beings, who could only be called superhumans, run rampant, goosebumps popped up all over my skin.
How am I supposed to beat monsters like that?
The grandmother next to me had her eyes closed and was muttering, as if chanting some kind of spell.
Was there anything I could do? The only useful thing I had right now was my eye. I was scanning the area with the Goddess’s Eye.
That’s when I saw a single orb on the altar.
[White Witch’s Seal]
[Grade – Legendary]
[Summary - The orb in which the White Witch sealed herself.]
Wh-What the hell? Legendary grade? I’ve never seen one before!
CR-CR-CRASH!
The fierce battle was still raging around the altar.
Perhaps due to the shockwaves from the fight, the orb on the altar rolled off.
It fell from the altar and trickled across the ground.
The orb rolled to a stop right in front of the bushes where Kerry was hiding.