Wandering Mercenary in an Open World

Chapter 75

As soon as Ruon, who had invested his stats in strength by submerging himself in his inner self, opened his eyes, the door of the inn burst open and a man ran in as if he had collapsed.

“Ah…”

He fell to the floor with his legs giving out. He was Bobby, the young man who had guided them to the village. His face, which had been full of laughter, was pale with fear as he trembled.

“Ru-run away.”

Ruon ignored his urgent warning and looked at another man who came into the inn behind him.

The man looked at Bobby, who had fallen, with his blurry eyes that had lost focus. He said.

“Why are you running away?”

Bobby shivered his chin in response to his gloomy voice.

“What’s wrong with you, bro? Put down the knife. Put it down!”

The man glanced at the kitchen knife in his hand at Bobby’s words, and then tapped his left chest with his other hand.

“I, feel, empty, here.”

His choppy voice began to get louder.

“I’m so empty, I need to fill it up, blood, flesh, soul, I need them, I need to find myself. I have to find it!”

As Ruon stepped forward at the murderous intent in the man’s eyes, a soft voice came.

Then the man’s body twitched like a puppet pulled by a string. He turned his head unnaturally and looked at the person behind him.

“…What, what, did you do?”

The fairy who entered the inn answered in an incomprehensible language, and the man screamed and twisted his body.

“Stop, stooop!”

The man dropped the knife and his knees buckled. He kept mumbling all the while.

“Kuh-!”

The man collapsed to the floor without a trace, and a faint sphere came out of his motionless body. Then a foul smell wafted out.

Tarwen, who carefully caught the sphere floating in the air like a firefly, blew it out of her hand and opened her mouth.

“It’s over.”

At her words, Ruon loosened his clenched fist and looked at the man who had fallen. The flesh, which looked like it had died a few weeks ago by the smell that stung his nose, was rotting even now, at this moment.

Meanwhile, Bobby got up with a limp. He looked back and forth between Tarwen and the rotten flesh. He muttered.

“What, what is this… Why did my brother become like that?”

He rubbed his eyes roughly, as if he had a hard time accepting the scene in front of him. Tears flowed from his bloodshot eyes. Tarwen, who watched him pitifully, said.

“That’s not your brother. It’s just a nameless corpse that held his soul. They are disposable products that don’t care about the harmony of mind and body, so they break down at the slightest trigger.”

It seemed difficult for a young man from an ordinary village to understand, but she continued to speak. It seemed as if Bobby had the right to know the whole story of the incident.

“They are monsters that are born by clinging to hatred for the living, unable to overcome the emptiness that comes from the gap between spirit and flesh. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”

Bobby blinked his eyes blankly and asked.

“Who made my brother like that?”

“A witch.”

Tarwen finished her short answer and turned her head to look at the monster’s corpse with its head smashed.

“…A fusion, huh. It seems that Hella was directly involved in consuming magic on that guy. The rest were out of control and attacking people indiscriminately.”

Ruon asked.

“What about the people?”

Tarwen answered with a bitter expression.

“Four of them died. No one expected that the proud sons who returned safely would suddenly swing their blades at us.”

“So your guess was right.”

“I wish it wasn’t.”

As the two exchanged words, a buzzing sound came from outside the half-open door. The villagers gathered together and looked into the inn with anxious expressions.

Among them, an old man with his hair peeled off entered the inn, shivering.

He found the monster’s body and the flesh that was emitting a rotten smell on the floor, and muttered lowly, clasping his fingers.

“Goodness, Tivella…”

He calmed down his surprised heart by chanting the name of the goddess for a while and said.

“I’m the village chief, Anderson. Thank you for your help.”

Tarwen pointed to Ruon with her thumb as he bowed his head deeply to her.

“Thank the person who knocked down the fusion. I just separated the lost soul from the flesh.”

Anderson didn’t seem to understand her words at all, but he wasn’t clueless, so he quickly bowed his head to Ruon.

“Thank you for your grace. Warrior.”

He lifted his head and opened his mouth to Tarwen. He seemed to feel less burdened to ask something to the mysterious fairy than to the intimidating Ruon.

“I’ve heard of monsters that mimic the appearance of others a long time ago. The beasts that attacked the village this time are those monsters, right? Otherwise, how could the kids who were fine suddenly do this to us?”

He must not want to believe it.

Ruon could feel the desperate hope in the village chief’s question.

It was his last remaining ray of hope.

He would rather believe that the monsters were not his beloved family, but impostors who mimicked them to deceive him.

Tarwen spoke to the village chief, who was waiting for an answer with an anxious expression.

“Yes, there are such monsters that exist. But you know better than anyone that they are not the ones who came back. Did they seem like they were acting to you?”

As the village chief opened and closed his mouth like a mute, she continued.

“They were your neighbors who were born and raised in this village. Unfortunately, they lost their lives on the battlefield, and their souls were taken and used by the witch. It’s hard to accept, but that’s the truth.”

Her firm words made the villagers who were listening outside sigh. Some of them even fainted from the shock.

The village chief collapsed on the ground.

“Oh, Tivela. Have you forsaken us?”

Ruon watched him shed tears like a chicken’s droppings and moved outside with a faint sigh.

The sun hung in the clear sky without a cloud and shone its warm light on the ground. But it seemed not enough to comfort the village that was immersed in sorrow.

***

Tarwen gaped at the huge pit in front of her.

“This is the result of a few shovels? Unbelievable… What a monstrous strength. You don’t even need magic.”

Then, Ruon, who had thrown the headless body of the monster into the pit, asked.

“Are you just going to watch?”

“Can’t I even compliment you?”

She grunted and kicked the rotten flesh next to her foot. Soon, a clanging sound came from below the pit.

Ruon looked at the torn flesh and asked.

“Why do you have to do this much?”

Tarwen stretched and answered.

“Because the corpses are exposed to the curse. We have to be careful. If some wild animals eat them, it would be trouble. It would be lucky if they just become more ferocious, but sometimes they turn into monsters.”

As she finished her answer, she licked her lips. Then, a small spark flew in the air and fell into the pit.

The corpses started to burn fiercely. Tarwen, who was staring blankly at them, asked.

“Was I too honest?”

Ruon looked at the fairy’s face without a word. She continued.

“I could have sugarcoated it a bit. Anyway, the villagers wouldn’t understand what I was talking about, whether it was souls or curses. I wonder if I should have just told them what they wanted to hear, that these were monsters pretending to be people.”

The flames engulfed the twisted flesh and made a crackling sound. Ruon thought it sounded like a scream and opened his mouth.

“I doubt that would have made any difference. That would not be a kind lie, but a blind denial.”

“…You’re probably right.”

Ruon lightly patted the shoulder of the dejected fairy.

“I don’t know why you’re so sorry. You did the aftermath without getting a penny.”

At his joking words, Tarwen smiled faintly.

“Put it on my tab. I’ll pay you all at once when the job is done.”

“Didn’t you say you’d give me your whole fortune? What else are you going to add?”

“That didn’t work, huh?”

She clapped her hands and giggled. But soon, the laughter faded from her face. She said with a serious expression.

“Now that Hela knows we’re together, they’ll be well prepared in the cradle.”

As he expected, Ruon nodded.

“I guess so.”

Tarwen added with a grave expression.

“We can’t go on like this, exposed to danger all the time. Of course, Ruon, I’m not worried since you’re an unbeatable warrior by my side… But the problem is that innocent people keep getting involved.”

He couldn’t argue with that. Ruon was a powerful warrior who could look beyond the boundary of superhuman, but he was still a human with two arms and legs.

That’s why, in this situation where he didn’t know what would happen next, it was almost impossible to go on without any innocent casualties. Didn’t three villagers die today, despite his quick response?

Ruon nodded and asked.

“So, do you have any other way?”

“Not exactly. But I need your name value.”

Name value?

At his unexpected words, Ruon opened his eyes slightly and Tarwen said.

“Remember? When we hunted down Belducius, we got support from the Grand Church of Tivela. You said you were with a priest named Igor, right?”

Could that be called support?

Ruon swallowed a snort and replied.

“I don’t know if we got support from the Grand Church, but it’s true that I was with a competent priest.”

At his words, Tarwen widened her eyes.

“…A person who gets the modifier ‘competent’ from your mouth. Could he be the incarnation of Tivela?”

“He’s just a prayer fanatic.”

“Huh?”

She opened her mouth belatedly, as if she had lost her words and blinked her eyes for a moment.

“Anyway, by now, the Grand Church must have started to announce the fact that Belducius has fallen. They are the ones who are obsessed with raising their prestige, so they have no reason not to publicize that there was a priest of Tivella in the legendary party that defeated the Great Demon. And the nobles and commoners in the cold regions will probably bring donations to the temple of Tivella.”

She said, sticking out her tongue low, as if she was displeased with that fact.

“If the priest named Igor had delivered it properly, soon there would be no one in the continent who doesn’t know the name of Ruon. He is the one who brought down the Great Demon, after all. Right?”

Here we go again.

Ruon shook his head at the fairy’s lengthy explanation.

“I always wonder, can’t you just get to the point? What do you want me to do with my name value?”

She answered, fanning her face that had turned red with embarrassment.

“There are usually portals in large churches or temples. Of course, they can’t be used in a normal way, but… I thought it might be different for you. Frankly, who would refuse the Great Demon slayer if he asked to use it? You’re the person who helped raise the reputation of Tivella, so they should at least allow you that much.”

In the end, her words boiled down to two things.

To take the portals that connect the churches and move to the west in an instant. And to use his name value in the process.

He didn’t like getting involved with the church.

Ruon hesitated for a moment, but soon nodded. It was much easier to quickly strike their base than to continue the journey under all kinds of threats.

Then, the rune on his waist began to flutter as if it was happy. Tarwen, who was watching it with curiosity, tilted his head.

“Geez, it’s always amazing to see the sword communicate its will. What is it saying now?”

Ruon shrugged his shoulders.

“It’s happy that we’re going to visit the church of Tivella.”

“Huh? It was a faithful sword? That’s amazing.”

“It used to be a holy sword.”

“What? Why do you have such a sword…”

Ruon chuckled at the fairy who frowned as if he was talking nonsense.

“I was often called the champion of Tivella before I became the Great Demon slayer.”