Chapter 11
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: The Woodcutter's Plea
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The crowd, who had been cheering for the fearless challenger who’d beaten down the Slayer's men (though of course, they weren't), began to curse when the man dropped to his knees.
“Cowardly bastard!”
“Go to hell!”
At their words, the man whipped his head around and shouted.
“You all shut your traps!”
The people fell silent at the man's ferocious expression. Turning back to Luon, the man bowed his head deeply.
“I ask you again. Please, help me!”
Luon scratched his head, feeling the tension drain out of him. He had wondered if this was some advanced psychological tactic to make him lower his guard, but the desperate look in the man's eyes suggested otherwise.
“Get up.”
“Not until you agree to help me...”
“I need to know what the job is before I can decide whether to take it.”
Only then did the man awkwardly get to his feet. Luon waved his hand a few times at the people downstairs, signaling them to mind their own business. They all looked disappointed, but Luon's reputation had grown, and they obediently dispersed.
Luon asked.
“Before we begin, you do know I work for money, right?”
“I know. As for money, I'll give you as much as I can.”
Luon nodded.
“Let's hear what it's about.”
The man began to speak, his voice anxious.
“My name is Kyle. I'm a woodcutter from a village about half a day from Relijan... no, that's not important. In our village, there's a giant stone monument. But last night, a man and a woman showed up, said they felt something from the stone, and then suddenly tried to destroy it. Of course, all the villagers tried to stop them. That monument has been a symbol of our village for as long as anyone can remember. The elders say that ever since they were children...”
For all his fighting prowess, Kyle was not a good storyteller. As his rambling account started to stray, Luon cut him off.
“We can talk about that later. Continue your story. Did the two of them destroy the monument?”
“Ah, well...”
Kyle continued.
“At first, they tried to persuade us, but when that didn't work, they suddenly turned violent. They stabbed and killed the village chief, who was resisting the most... then they killed all the other villagers.”
His words dripped with rage. Clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white, Kyle spoke.
“I, shit, I... I ran. I was going to take at least one of them down with me, but people screamed at me to get to the city and tell someone what happened...”
The rest of the story was simple. After riding like a man possessed, Kyle reached Relijan and ran to the city guard to report what happened and ask for help. But the drunken lord and his corrupt officials just spouted nonsense in response to his desperate pleas.
Realizing he couldn't get help from the lord, Kyle had run to the back alleys to hire a mercenary. There, he heard about a slayer who had not only conquered the area with his fists but also hunted monsters daily, and he had come straight to the pub.
*Why are all the nobles in this world the same?* Luon shook his head, recalling the baron he had met in the deer village. The man's indifference toward him had been a plus, but when it came to managing his domain, he was utter trash.
Luon spoke to the anxious-looking Kyle.
“Alright. Let's go to your village.”
“Th-thank you!”
Kyle's face lit up as he bowed his head deeply. Patting him on the shoulder, Luon stood and prepared to leave.
*Something's up.*
The story involving the monument made Luon feel a long-dormant sense sharpening within him. He didn't know the full story yet, but with a strange certainty that he was onto something, he left the pub with Kyle.
***
Two horses galloped across a wide plain. The man urging his horse on from slightly ahead was Kyle; the one following at a moderate distance was Luon.
The horse borrowed from the pub owner ran quite well, even under Luon's unfamiliar hand. Though Luon wasn't used to riding, his exceptional senses and reflexes helped him follow the horse's dynamic movements, allowing him to keep up with Kyle without issue.
After riding for some time, Kyle stopped beside a wide, low-lying boulder.
“The path ahead is too rough for horses. It'll be much faster to go on foot.”
“Where is the village?”
“It's over there, where you can see.”
Kyle said, pointing with his index finger. Luon followed his finger and saw a large stone, conspicuous even from a distance. He asked.
“Is that the village monument?”
“That's it. It's still intact, so it looks like they haven't been able to destroy it yet!”
Luon nodded in agreement and said.
“Wait here. I'll be back soon.”
“I... I want to go with you.”
Kyle fell in step beside Luon as he started walking.
“If I don't smash one of their skulls with my own hands, I won't be able to rest in peace.”
“You'll only get in the way.”
“If I get in the way, you can leave me to die.”
“Then who's going to pay me?”
Kyle hesitated for a moment, at a loss for words, then answered.
“Under the floor beneath the table in my house, you'll find all the money I've saved. You can take it all... Oh, my house is the one with the blue cloth decoration at the entrance...”
“Fine. Do as you please.”
There was no reason to stop a man willing to risk his own life. And if Kyle became a hindrance during a fight, Luon could abandon him at any moment, regardless of his vow.
Just then, a loud *thump* echoed. The air, displaced by a powerful impact, rushed past the faces of the two men heading toward the village.
Startled by the shockwave, Kyle touched his face.
“Shit, what was that?”
“Looks like they've started.”
With that, Luon broke into a run toward the village. He quickly reached the village entrance, and another explosion hit his ears.
*BOOM!*
There was no need to search for the source of the sound. Two figures in black hoods stood beneath the trembling monument. One of them, retracting an outstretched hand, began to rant furiously.
“This fucking piece of rock! Why won't it break?”
“Are you sure there's something in there? We've killed everyone, so if jack shit comes out of this, are you going to take responsibility?”
“Can't you tell by the way my magic isn't working? This is no ordinary stone!”
“Then we can just come back after we finish the job. It's not like the monument has legs.”
“Just give me a little more time.”
Luon walked steadily toward the short, fuming man and the tall woman who was scolding him. Only then did the pair turn to look at Luon.
The short man spoke.
“Hey, did you really finish them all? There's still someone alive.”
“Idiot. Does he look like a villager to you?”
“...Now that you mention it, he is a bit big.”
Luon scanned the area around the monument, not the two people. There were quite a few bodies scattered on the ground. The man scowled, perhaps thinking he was being ignored.
“Hey. Who are you?”
The answer came from somewhere else.
“Shit! You crazy bastards!”
As Kyle, who had finally caught up, shouted with bloodshot eyes, the man who had been watching him tilted his head.
“That one looks like a villager.”
“That's right, you fucking shorty bastard.”
Kyle gripped a long-handled hammer in both hands, which he must have picked up from somewhere. Seeing him poised to charge, the tall woman sneered.
“Vilto, he just called you a shorty.”
The man, Vilto, raised the staff in his hand, a vein popping on his forehead.
“How dare this insignificant worm insult me? Looks like you brought a mercenary. I'll make your death especially painful and desperate. O Mother of All Evil, who slumbers in the depths—”
Vilto collapsed.
A dagger was lodged deep in his forehead.
*The bastard didn't even have a shield up.* Having thrown the dagger silently, Luon drew back his hand and gripped the hilt of his holy sword.
“Shit! Vilto!”
The woman cried out in shock. Her body momentarily frozen by her companion's death, the head of a hammer came crashing down on her. It was Kyle.
“Di-ie-ie!”