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Chapter 130: The Isolated Village (4)

Before Ketal could grow more interested, Naplas changed the subject.

“Anyway, it’s over now, so let’s go back.”

“Hold on a moment.”

Ketal turned his gaze towards the forest.

Naplas tilted his head in curiosity.

“Is there something there?”

He couldn’t sense anything.

Ketal, who had been staring silently, withdrew his gaze.

“No, it’s nothing if it doesn’t move. Let’s go back.”

They returned to the village.

And they told the villagers that the bandits would no longer come.

The villagers, who had been waiting anxiously, showed a surge of emotion on their faces.

“Wow!”

“It’s over!”

“Thank you! Thank you! It’s all thanks to you!”

The villagers were powerless against the bandits.

If this had continued, they would have been starved to death.

That was their inevitable fate.

But that fate was shattered by these sudden outsiders.

To the villagers, Ketal’s group were nothing short of saviors.

So, from the depths of their hearts, they cried out.

“Blessings to Kalosia!”

“A prayer to the god who showed us mercy!”

They exalted the names of Kalosia and Ketal.

Naplas didn’t mind watching this sight.

“Good.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he saw such heartfelt praise.

Heize also looked pleased.

“Well, it’s worth a try, isn’t it?”

Ketal laughed heartily.

Naplas looked at Ketal with newfound interest.

‘Did he foresee this outcome?’

Had this barbarian intended to relieve the villagers’ rejection of Kalosia?

To make them remember Kalosia’s name, had he shown them by his actions?

Was there such deep meaning behind his actions?

To Naplas, Ketal was a person of profound insight.

He began to find meaning in every action.

The villagers tried to hold onto them, trying to scrape together a reward.

After repeatedly declining, they barely managed to leave the village.

“It wasn’t bad.”

Ketal muttered.

It was an enjoyable diversion.

He asked with a smile.

“So now, will the bandits be punished by the town?”

“That’s how it will be.”

Due to Naplas’s constraints, the bandits would go to a nearby town and confess their crimes.

“They will receive punishment fitting their crimes. Likely hard labor or execution. Cassandra, she will probably face the latter.”

For a top-tier fighter to be a criminal of Magnarein, she was at least a murderer.

She must have killed countless people, and would inevitably be executed.

“I see.”

“Anyway, it’s all over.”

Naplas was certain they would never see them again.

But Ketal looked uncertain.

“Is that so?”

“Why do you say that?”

“No reason. It doesn’t really matter.”

Ketal took the lead.

“We have a long way to go. Let’s move quickly.”

“Understood.”

Naplas and Heize followed him.

Time passed and night fell.

Naplas spoke to Heize.

“Heize, let’s go pray.”

“Yes.”

Heize nodded.

Once they had traveled far enough, Naplas spoke.

“I now understand why you said Ketal’s values are so different.”

“Right? They really are different!”

Heize hastily agreed.

Finally, Naplas was understanding her!

She felt relieved.

“His enlightenment is too great for us to comprehend. That’s why you felt it was different.”

“…What?”

Heize stopped.

This was not the response she had expected.

She belatedly looked at Naplas’s face.

His face showed admiration and reverence.

“There was a reason you felt that way. His enlightenment surpasses ours.”

“Uh, what?”

“Instead of thinking of him as different, try to accept it. Then you’ll see his greatness.”

“…What?”

Heize’s face twisted in dismay.

* * *

While they were heading towards the holy land of Kalosia, the bandits were trudging towards a nearby village.

In their midst, their leader, Cassandra, was scolding the bandits.

“You fools. You should have told me about such a barbarian beforehand. Ugh, you’re all useless. That’s why you’re doing banditry.”

“No, no…”

The bandits looked aggrieved.

In truth, Cassandra wasn’t their original leader.

She had suddenly appeared one day, beaten them up, and taken over.

She was so terribly strong that they couldn’t run away and had to call her their leader.

‘She got beaten up and subdued herself,’ the bandits grumbled inwardly.

They didn’t dare say it aloud.

If they did, Cassandra would beat them up.

Cassandra grumbled.

“What kind of restriction did he put on me? I can’t do anything but head towards the village and scold you guys. All my powers are sealed.”

At that moment, the bandits’ eyes gleamed strangely.

“…You can’t use your powers?”

“Yes, I’m just a completely ordinary woman now.”

“Is that so.”

At that moment, the bandits stopped walking.

They started to move sneakily, surrounding Cassandra.

“Hey! Guys, what’s wrong?”

Cassandra asked with a smile.

The bandits gave a sinister grin.

“Great. You little girl.”

“We’ve hated you for flaunting your strength.”

Naplas had imposed a restriction on them: to go to the village and confess their crimes, preventing any other actions.

However, there was no restriction on interactions between the restricted individuals themselves.

The bandits grinned wickedly.

“Heh heh heh.”

“We’ll teach you a lesson!”

The bandits lunged at Cassandra.

One bandit, seemingly the most impatient, lunged the fastest.

And then darkness swept by.

The lead bandit’s body crumpled to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

“…Huh?”

The bandits froze.

No life could be sensed from the fallen bandit.

“Hey. Guys, what’s wrong?”

Cassandra smiled gently.

“Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson? Come on.”

“O-okay.”

Something was off.

One bandit, sensing it instinctively, trembled and backed away.

At that moment, darkness swept by again.

The retreating bandit’s body collapsed.

“Ah, ahhh!”

At that point, the bandits started to flee in a panic, their faces filled with terror.

Cassandra clicked her tongue in disappointment.

“How boring. Finish them off.”

As soon as she finished speaking, darkness swept across the ground.

It enveloped the bandits’ bodies in an instant, slamming them into the ground.

In the blink of an eye, about a dozen bandits lost their lives.

Cassandra looked up at the sky.

“Come out.”

And the darkness took shape.

A figure in a black robe slowly appeared next to Cassandra.

“My lady.”

A low voice echoed.

Cassandra grumbled.

“You should have waited a bit longer. It ended too boringly.”

“Apologies. I couldn’t stand it when those lowly creatures dared to be rude to you.”

“Whatever. How long have you been watching?”

“From the beginning.”

The servant spoke softly.

“I’ve been following you since you left the city.”

Cassandra grimaced.

“So, you saw me getting beaten up too?”

“I thought it would be a good experience for you.”

“Ugh. Insolent servant.”

Cassandra waved her hand.

“Remove this restriction. Even while talking, my body moves automatically.”

“Understood.”

Naplas was a first-rate warrior.

The restriction imposed by such a follower was not weak.

Since Cassandra had consented to it, it was difficult for an outsider to interfere.

To lift such a restriction, one would need a well-prepared ritual or be overwhelmingly stronger than Naplas.

The servant murmured softly.

“Darkness calls upon greater darkness, bury it.”

Kiiing!

With just a single sentence, the restriction that had been oppressing Cassandra was shattered.

Cassandra stretched, feeling refreshed.

“Ah, that’s better.”

“Now, let’s return, my lady. You’ve enjoyed yourself long enough.”

“I wanted to have a bit more fun… Alright.”

Cassandra muttered with a hint of regret.

“If it weren’t for that strange guy, I could have had more fun. Ugh.”

“The barbarian, you mean. He was strong. I had no information about such a barbarian in my records.”

“Can’t you beat him if you fight?”

“…I am not sure.”

“Huh?”

Cassandra’s eyes widened.

Her servant was incredibly strong.

There were few in their family who could confidently say they could defeat him.

Yet this servant couldn’t be sure of victory?

“Really? He’s that strong?”

“Based on the strength he showed, he wasn’t that remarkable… but he seemed to be hiding something.”

The servant said.

“That barbarian noticed my presence.”

“Huh?”

Cassandra’s face showed surprise.

“He saw you while you were hiding? Is that even possible? Even my father couldn’t do that.”

“It could have been a coincidence. So, I can’t be certain.”

“Hmm. I see.”

Cassandra narrowed her eyes.

“Ketal… was it?”

She muttered, as if trying to imprint the name in her memory.

“For now, let’s return.”

“Alright.”

Cassandra took the servant’s hand.

“Let’s go back. To the city where our sunlight doesn’t reach.”

Darkness enveloped them.

Only the cold corpses of the bandits remained on the roadside.

* * *

Ketal’s group continued on.

There were no significant issues.

Even the bandits, seeing Ketal, seemed to flee in terror, allowing them to proceed without any interference.

During this time, Ketal and Naplas continued their conversations.

Naplas would react greatly or think deeply about even Ketal’s most trivial comments.

And Heize stopped saying anything altogether.

Though she continued talking to Naplas, he never changed his mind.

Instead, he began to look at Heize strangely.

‘Am I really the strange one?’

Was Ketal truly a great and spiritually advanced person?

Had she been mistaken all along?

She began to doubt herself.

And so they continued on.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination, the holy land.

* * *

“There it is.”

“Ohh.”

Ketal exclaimed.

A vast plain.

In its center was a city.

Not very large, but neatly arranged.

In its center stood a grand church.

And visible to anyone, a gentle light bathed the village.

The light was different from sunlight.

It seemed to emit from the holy land itself, illuminating the surroundings brightly.

This was the holy land of Kalosia.

The domain of the divine.

But it wasn’t just a bright, shining place.

Despite the sun not having set yet, the plain around the holy land was shrouded in darkness.

Darkness surrounded Kalosia’s holy land widely.

And within that darkness, all kinds of monsters could be seen.