The people who were cheering and shouting towards the fearless challenger who had brought down the subordinates (of course, not Ruon’s subordinates) of the Slayer spewed curses when the man fell to his knees.
“You coward!”
“Get out and die!”
Upon hearing those words, the man snapped his head around and shouted.
“Shut up!”
The people fell silent at the man’s sharp expression. He turned his head towards Ruon again and bowed deeply.
“I beg you once again. Please help me!”
Ruon scratched his head, slightly relaxing his muscles. It could be a psychological warfare tactic to let his guard down, but judging from the man’s desperate gaze, it didn’t seem like that was the case.
“Get up.”
“Until you agree to help me…”
“Whether I take on the job or not, I need to know what it’s about.”
Only then did the man clumsily get up. Ruon gestured a few times to the people downstairs as if to dismiss their attention. Although they all looked disappointed, they reluctantly backed away due to Ruon’s reputation.
Ruon asked, “First, do you know that I’m someone who works for money?”
“Yes, I know. I’ll pay you as much as I can if it’s about money.”
Ruon nodded.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
The man opened his mouth anxiously.
“My name is Kyle. I’m a lumberjack from a village about half a day away from Relizan… No, that’s not important. In our village, there is a massive monument. But last night, a man and a woman suddenly appeared and said they could sense something from the monument. They tried to destroy it. Of course, the villagers stopped them. The monument has always been a symbol of our village. According to the elderly, since they were young…”
Kyle wasn’t the type to explain things well, in stark contrast to his fighting skills. As the rambling story seemed to veer off course, Ruon intervened.
“We’ll save that for another time, so tell me, did those two break the monument?”
“Well, um…”
Kyle continued speaking.
“At first, they tried to persuade us, but when things didn’t go their way, they suddenly changed. They stabbed the most resistant village chief to death… and killed everyone else in the village.”
Anger was seeping through his words. Kyle clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white as he said,
“I, damn it, I–I ran away. I was going to take one of them with me, even if I died, but people were shouting at me to run to the city and find help, so—“
The following explanation was simple. After riding his horse relentlessly, Kyle arrived in Relizan and rushed to the guards to report the truth and seek help. However, the drunken lord and corrupt officials spouted nonsense in response to his pleas.
Unable to receive help from the lord, Kyle ran to the back alleys, intending to hire mercenaries. There, he heard stories about the Slayer, who had taken out the best fighter in Relizan with a single punch and hunted monsters every day without fail. That’s why he immediately rushed to the pub.
‘These noble bastards in this world, I don’t understand why they’re all like this.’
Ruon tilted his head, recalling the viscount he met in the Deer Village. It was good that the lord here was indifferent towards him, but as someone responsible for managing the territory, he was no better than trash.
Looking at Kyle’s anxious expression, Ruon spoke.
“Very well. Let’s go to the village.”
“T-Thank you!”
Kyle bowed deeply, showing gratitude. Ruon patted his shoulder lightly and stood up, preparing to set off.
‘There’s something going on here.’
With the story about the monument, Ruon felt his dormant senses sharply awaken. He hadn’t fully grasped the truth yet, but he had a strange conviction that something interesting was occuring. With that feeling, he left the pub with Kyle.
***
The two of them rode their horses across the wide plain. The man urging the horse forward from slightly ahead was Kyle, while Ruon followed at a reasonable distance.
The horse borrowed from the innkeeper was running quite well under Ruon’s unfamiliar touch. Although riding was unfamiliar to Ruon, his exceptional senses and reflexes helped him keep up with the dynamic movements of the horse, allowing him to follow after Kyle effortlessly.
After riding for a while, Kyle stopped near a sturdy boulder.
“The path ahead is treacherous, making it difficult to ride. It would be much faster to walk.”
“Where is the village?”
“It’s over there, can you see it?”
Kyle said so, extending his index finger. Following his gaze along his outstretched hand, Ruon noticed a prominent large stone in the distance and asked.
“Is that the village monument?”
“Yes, it is. It seems like it hasn’t been destroyed yet!”
Nodding in agreement, Ruon said, “Wait here. I’ll be back soon.”
“I… I want to come along.”
Kyle immediately caught up to Ruon’s side as he started walking.
“If I don’t help stop them with my own hands, I won’t be able to shut my eyes, even in death.”
“You’ll only get in the way.”
“If I’m in the way, you can just leave me to die.”
“Then who will pay me?”
As if his words were stuck in his throat, Kyle hesitated for a moment before answering.
“If you search under the floor of the table in my home, you’ll find all the money I’ve been saving. If you take it all… Oh, our house has blue cloth decorations at the entrance…”
“That’s enough. Do whatever you want.”
There was no reason to pry into it when he was willing to risk his life. And if he became a hindrance during the battle, Ruon could easily abandon him.
At that moment, an explosion echoed. The forceful impact pushed the air away, hitting the faces of the two individuals facing in the direction of the village.
Startled by the shockwave, Kyle rubbed his face.
“What the hell is happening?”
“It looks like they’ve started.”
With that remark, Ruon dashed towards the village. As he quickly reached the entrance of the village, another explosion pierced his ears.
Bam!
There was no need to search for the source of the sound from a distance. There were two individuals wearing black hoods standing under the shaking monument. One of them retracted their outstretched hand and cursed while thrashing about.
“You damn rock piece! Why won’t you break?”
“Are you sure there’s something there? If nothing comes out even after killing everyone, are you going to take responsibility?”
“Can’t you see that my magic isn’t working? This is no ordinary rock!”
“Then I’ll come back after you finish. It’s not like the monument is going to run away.”
“Just give me a moment.”
Ruon walked steadily toward the short man and the tall woman. Only then did the two of them turn their heads and look at Ruon.
The short man spoke, “Hey, are you sure you killed everyone? There’s still someone alive.”
“You moron. Does he look like a villager?”
“Now that you mention it, he’s quite large.”
Ruon glanced around the monument, past the two individuals. There were quite a few corpses lying on the ground. Thinking that they were ignoring him, the short man furrowed his brow.
“Hey, who are you?”
The response came from elsewhere.
“Damn it! You crazy bastards!”
Kyle, who had rushed in, shouted with bloodshot eyes. Observing him, the man raised an eyebrow.
“That guy looks like a villager, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, that’s right. You shit-eating son of a bitch.”
Kyle was clutching a long-handled hammer that he’d picked up with both hands. Seeing him, the tall woman sneered.
“Bilto, he called you a bastard, you know?”
The man, Bilto, raised his staff with one hand and clenched his fist.
“How dare a lowly bastard insult me? It seems like he brought a mercenary or something. Let’s kill him in a particularly painful and despairing manner. Let him meet his wretched mother, who lies buried underground—”
Bilto fell to the ground with a thud. A dagger was deeply lodged in his forehead.
‘That bastard didn’t even have a defense barrier.’
Watching the dagger silently hit its target, he grasped the handle of the Holy Sword.
“You’re insane! Bilto!”
The woman exclaimed in surprise. As her body momentarily stiffened in response to her companion’s death, Kyle’s hammerhead fell heavily toward her head.
“Die!”
