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Chapter 128

Anyway, it wasn\'t an unpleasant misunderstanding.

A growling breath continued from behind. Glancing back, Ian saw Charlotte frowning. She was ready to start her long and flowery introduction at any moment, so Ian raised his hand slightly with a signal.

As Charlotte stuck out her tongue, the woman kneeled and added.

"I heard you help those who seek vengeance. Please, avenge my dead husband and neighbors...!"

Looking down at her, Ian finally opened his mouth.

"You\'ve got the wrong person."

"What...?"

"I am not the Agent of Vengeance."

"But... but... I\'m sure...." The woman stammered, her eyes wide.

She didn\'t want to believe it. Ian could fully understand her feelings. She had lost her family and friends before her eyes and barely survived herself.

"Being a mercenary is my profession. I don\'t fight for noble causes like the Agent of Vengeance. I killed them all because they came at me with weapons."

"...."

"So if you want, hire me. Don\'t ask for a favor."

As Ian\'s calm voice continued, the light in the woman\'s eyes faded. She seemed to accept reality.

Just then, an old man, who had been approaching hesitantly, stopped behind her. It was the same old man who had thanked him earlier.

"Stand up. It\'s rude to behave this way when you should express your gratitude and offer a reward..."

Muttering, he sighed as if pitying her, then looked at Ian.

"Please forgive her rudeness, sir."

"There\'s nothing to forgive."

"Then please, wait a moment."

Bowing, the old man turned around. Walking toward a cart on one side of the road, he looked back at the still-frozen villagers.

"What are you doing? Are you just going to let our life savior leave?"

"...!"

The villagers finally moved. Watching the old man rummaging through the cart, Ian smirked and muttered.

"I don\'t need any reward. I don\'t want to take from those who have nothing."

I thought he was going to give me a quest.

Ian, who had climbed into the carriage, looked at Charlotte. She nodded and grabbed the reins. The woman, who had been sitting on the ground, clung to the carriage at that moment.

"Sir, may I ask you one thing?"

When Ian looked at her, she continued.

"Did you mean you would accept a request?"

"I meant I would consider it."

"Then, in that case...."

She rummaged through her belongings and held out her dirty, blood-and-dirt-covered hands. A few silver coins glittered in them.

"This is all I have, sir. If it\'s not enough, I will become your servant to repay you. So please... kill that monster... in the knight\'s guise."

A quest window finally appeared before Ian\'s eyes.

[The Knight Bandit of La Drin.]

So it appears when I give up hope.

As he read the details, Ian\'s eyes twitched.

Time limit...? Did it have this before? I don\'t think it did.

Anyway, it was a quest he needed to do. The reward included an ability point.

"If the payment is too little... please take this too, sir. It\'s still insufficient, but...."

Thinking he was dissatisfied, the old man who had stood next to the woman offered a money pouch.

Other villagers arrived one by one around them.

"Sir, please take my money too."

"Take mine as well. It\'s not much, but...."

"Please, sir...."

It\'s chaos.

Ian closed the quest window and spoke. "Does anyone know where his base is?"

"I... I know...." One man raised his hand.

Ian nodded toward Charlotte.

"Explain it to her."

"...! Yes, sir." The man who had suddenly opened his eyes wide turned around.

As Ian looked back at the woman, he reached out and picked up the coin that had been placed in her hand.

"The request is established."

"Thank you... thank you, sir...!" The woman clasped her hands as if praying and uttered those words.

Relief and excitement spread across the faces of the others, including the elderly man. Just as another commotion was about to spread, Ian spoke.

"Now, everyone, disperse. Instead of wasting energy needlessly, it would be better to gather your belongings."

The villagers stopped their movements with a flinch, and Ian added with a dry gaze.

"Nothing has been resolved yet."

"...!"

The smiles disappeared from the faces of the villagers. Their faces were suddenly thrown back into reality.

It was to be expected. The request had not been completed, nor had they safely crossed the border. They had merely survived a crisis by luck, and there was no guarantee that such luck would repeat.

In the ensuing silence, the man who had finished explaining stepped back.

Ian, gathering his gaze, asked. "Did everyone hear that?"

"Yes. Clearly."

"Then let\'s depart."

Charlotte wasted no time and whipped the reins.

This time, no one stopped them.

The carriage passed through the chaotic hill and moved away. After a moment of watching the departing carriage, the villagers dispersed in various directions. The daunting reality awaited them once again.

***

It was now night. Ian chewed on some jerky, looking up at the cloud-covered sky. It had been days since they last saw a sunset. The sky had darkened at some point and then brightened again.

"Looking at this, the signs of corruption are quite blatant."

It was a perfect environment for the corrupted. Not to mention the demons and demonic beings. And soon, it would become even more so, likely for the entire frontier region.

It was a flow that no individual could stop. All he could do, as always, was solve the minor problems in front of him.

Ian casually opened his mouth. "Let\'s stay up a little later today and move."

"Understood." Charlotte, who had been sitting quietly, responded.

Are you really paying attention? Ian slightly narrowed his eyes and added.

"Make sure we don\'t lose our way. We\'re already taking a detour, and I don\'t want to waste more time."

"Don\'t worry. I think I know where that bastard\'s den is."

"You think?"

"Since it\'s close to the Empire. I\'ve been there a few times when I worked for the guild. It looked like a barbarian village with its log houses and fortifications. I don\'t know if it still looks the same now."

"Excellent...."

Ian slightly smiled and added.

"When do you think we\'ll arrive?"

"Probably by the afternoon. At least before nightfall."

Tomorrow afternoon. That\'s cutting it close.

Ian scratched his chin, recalling the quest\'s time limit. It wasn\'t common even in games to have a precise timer displayed. Anyway, if they were late for any reason, it would end in failure.

"Then we better hurry."

"Understood. ...But."

Charlotte hesitated for a moment, then sneakily looked at Ian.

"Was that knight Elinor responsible for creating that monster earlier?"

"Probably. That\'s the most common way for the corrupted to increase their minions. They tempt with power and then use it as a shackle to enforce obedience. The ones we saw earlier are just the lowest-ranked minions."

"I see... Then... Can you leave those minions to me? They seem like good training partners."

Ian glanced at the leather eye patch hanging around her neck and shrugged his shoulders.

"Sorry, but not this time."

"... Not this time?" Charlotte asked back, not defiantly but curiously.

Ian didn\'t mind and nodded. "Yes. You need to guard the carriage."

"The carriage... right...."

Charlotte answered in a deflated voice, turned to look ahead, and added.

"It seems I\'m not of much use this time either... Alright. Let\'s do that."

What are you saying, again?

Ian snorted and said, "We\'re just dividing the roles. There\'s no need to head directly into a den teeming with armed robbers, right?"

Ian recalled his experience in the game.

The robber knight\'s stronghold, on a gentle mountainside, was practically a wooden fortress or a fortification.

It had been converted and expanded from a village, turning it into a base for an armed force. Though they were called robber knights, they were essentially a burgeoning warlord group. They looted nearby villages for supplies and kidnapped residents under the guise of conscription.

They\'re probably planning to expand their power to oust the lord... or join the forces of their master.

The exact circumstances didn\'t matter. In the game, it was a massive stronghold, so it was important to know that it wouldn\'t be much different now that it had become a reality.

Charging head-on into a place swarming with creatures that wouldn\'t even give experience points was inefficient. Normally, Ian would have just set it on fire, but this time, doing so would mean that many of the enslaved people would be burned to death as well.

"So, we\'re going to sneak in quietly and take that knight\'s head first. We\'ll only kill those who attack us. Once their leader is gone, the lackeys will probably just pretend to fight and then flee. We won\'t bother chasing them. So we can\'t leave the carriage behind."

Ian tapped on the armrest.

"If the escapees find this, they won\'t just pass it by. But if you\'re guarding it, no matter how many come, they won\'t be able to take it."

"I see... Got it. If that\'s my role."

"And stop talking nonsense like that."

"..." Charlotte lowered her head instead of answering. Her shoulders slumped and her short tail drooped. Soon, a subdued voice followed.

"But it\'s true that I\'m useless, Ian. Especially against those we can\'t kill with just blades."

"...."

Why is the conversation going there?

Even as he thought this, Ian didn\'t interrupt. It was the first time since their journey had resumed that Charlotte had opened up. Besides, there was nothing else to do, anyway.

"I can\'t shake off the thought that I need the power to kill them. If things continue like this, the same will happen in Lu Sard."

"You sound as if there\'s a way to gain such power."

"... Yes. Though you would never allow it. I know it\'s not the right choice. I\'m just tempted by it."

Ian\'s eyes narrowed slightly.

"You\'re considering conversion."

Charlotte flinched as if she hadn\'t expected him to realize it immediately.

She soon nodded. "Yes. You\'d probably call it corruption. And you wouldn\'t be wrong. The once noble Primal Wildness has been tainted by the chaos of the void."

She had mentioned this story before. The God of the beastfolk was exiled to the outskirts of the void by the Gods of humans.

Ian scratched his chin and spoke. "I don\'t think serving him would grant you power immediately."

"He probably would. Kruxica cherishes his descendants."

"Descendants?"

"Yes. We are all his descendants. That\'s why other gods, including the Radiant Goddess, don\'t bestow divinity upon us. But the Primal Wildness would willingly embrace even the descendants who abandoned him."

"Along with side effects."

"... Of course. Regardless of his will, I have seen many warriors corrupted by the power of the void. Some even became demons. So in the past, I secretly despised warriors who served the Primal Wildness. I thought they were selfish and weak. But now..."

Charlotte growled lowly.

"Now I understand them. I, too, want to get stronger power even if I have to take such risks."

She spoke with a self-deprecating smile, as if confessing.

"I know how this sounds to you, who face the darkness of the continent. But that\'s why I think you can understand my conflict—"

"Think carefully and decide."

"What...? What did you say?"

Charlotte turned around.

Ian spoke calmly. "I said, think carefully before deciding."

"Are you serious?"

"I think you\'re doing your part well enough. But if you still feel unsatisfied, that\'s something I can\'t fix. It won\'t go away just because I stop you."

Charlotte, gazing quietly at Ian\'s eyes, eventually sighed.

"You really mean it, Ian."

"Why wouldn\'t I?"

"Because you\'re the holy knight of a Strict Goddess, the Great Warrior of the North, and the saint of the church, the Agent of the Platinum Dragon...?"

"That doesn\'t mean I serve them. I don\'t serve anyone."

"...! ... Yeah, come to think of it, Ian, you\'re also a mage," Charlotte murmured as if she had only just realized.

Being a mage is my primary job, though.

Ian chuckled briefly. To him, the Gods of this world were merely tools to be used. He still had no intention of worshiping what had once been just bits of data. He would simply use whatever power he needed. Just as he had embraced the shards of chaos.

"I don\'t care who you serve or what power you wield, as long as you can control yourself. That\'s all that matters to me."

Ian looked into Charlotte\'s orange eyes.

"But if you become a beast tainted by madness, just know that I won\'t hesitate to kill you."

"...." Charlotte\'s eyes flickered with a mix of conflict and relief.

Eventually, she nodded. "Alright... I\'ll think it over a bit more. And whatever decision I make, I\'ll let you know."

"Do that." With jerky in his mouth, Ian looked away.

Charlotte added. "One more thing."

"What now?"

"Do you still think I\'m more suited to be an assassin than a warrior?"

Did you still hold on to that? Ian smirked and answered without hesitation.

"Of course."

***

The forest grew dense on both sides of the road. The carriage climbed a gentle slope.

At least we\'re not late.

Ian put on each piece of equipment properly that he had either loosened or taken off. There was still about an hour left before the time limit expired. It wasn\'t a lot of time, but it wasn\'t too little either.

"I\'ll look for a place to stop the carriage soon," Charlotte said.

Ian nodded slightly and secured the shin guards of his steel boots so they wouldn\'t shake. Soon, the carriage pulled into a clearing on the side of the road. Beyond the tall, leafless, ash-gray trees, a barely discernible watchtower peeked out. The carriage stopped.

"There will surely be those trying to escape. Keep a close watch on the horses," Ian said.

"I will," Charlotte replied, setting down her battle ax and jumping off. She walked toward a nearby tree with a securing rope in hand.

"No matter how many come, not a single one will..."

She stopped mid-sentence as a chilly wind blew down the mountainside. She frowned and looked back at Ian.

"I smell blood, Ian."

"...?" Ian paused as he was adjusting his shoulder guard. He took a deep breath but couldn\'t smell anything.

Charlotte dropped the rope and turned around. "It seems to be from up there. I\'ll check it out."

She leaped forward. Ian, frowning, quickly moved his hands.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Soon after getting off the carriage, he ran up the mountain path. From above, Charlotte raised her hand.

"Here, Ian."

The source of the blood scent she had detected was close by. It was, of course, a corpse. However, there wasn\'t just one. Four men dressed similarly to those they had previously fought lay sprawled with their innards spilling out or their heads split open. Ian\'s eyes narrowed.

So this is why it had a time limit.

"There was someone here before us."