93. will take action
Leaving the Karnai ruins, we are completely out of Hesete.
Before I knew it, I entered Argent Kingdom, where Goulun Cave was located.
Even within Argent Kingdom, Goulun Village was a small village located on the outskirts.
Of course, it was rare for someone to deliberately visit such a small village on the outskirts.
Especially if you are an outsider.
Even in Argent Kingdom, it was a place that was not particularly managed.
“But again, this place is a hidden sake restaurant. I just don’t know because it’s not known. If there’s a rumor about this place, it’s going to go crazy? Besides, people like it, so the taste of alcohol doubles and triples…”
Orhel gulped and teased our ears all the way to the ode to the taste of wine.
And let’s just get there.
Everyone had the same expression.
‘Now I’m going to stop drinking…’
‘I won’t have to listen to alcohol anymore!’
By the way.
The atmosphere of Goulun Village when they arrived was quite different from what they had heard through Orhel.
After arriving at Goulun Village.
The first thing I felt was a sense of distance.
Strangely enough, it felt like everyone was avoiding us.
Let alone talking to find accommodation.
Even if you approached nearby, you could see them slowly widening their distance.
Diaz, Grendel, and Andrew, seeing this town for the first time, were bewildered.
Even though I was only getting closer, I avoided it as if I saw some kind of bug.
“I didn’t even say a few words…”
“That’s right. I just bowed.”
I also didn’t know why.
In the original work, this place had already been devastated, and it was just a hunting ground with no people living.
I only knew where it was.
In other words, the only one who has actually been here is Orhel…
“Why are people here? Why has it changed like this? The atmosphere.”
Even that Orhel is confused about everything.
It was a frustrating situation.
Indeed, the atmosphere in the village was quite depressing.
It seemed even more so because the weather was dark.
while there is no sunlight.
People trudged down the street with their eyes wide open.
Sometimes, when we approached, all we did was startle and open our eyes wide.
“Heh, heo-eok! Kaka, I’m surprised. Go away.”
After saying what I had to say, everyone left as if they were running away.
Seeing that scene, Orhel tilted her head.
“What is it?…… It wasn’t like this even ten years ago. Hmm…”
He surveyed the situation, then turned his gaze to one side.
“Hey, there’s a brewery that I stop by every time I come to this town over there. Let’s go there. The owner is probably still alive.”
Orhel’s words suddenly made me curious.
“Are your friends only brewery owners?”
“That can’t be the case. Besides the owner of the brewery, the owner of the bar. Also… that, that… Ah, I don’t know. There is. Anyway, let’s go from there.”
Orhel turned around and started off first.
Apparently, it really didn’t exist.
“No, by the way. I can understand the owner of the bar, but why are you getting close with the owner of the brewery?…”
with unresolved questions.
We also moved along with Orhel.
To get even a small hint of something.
* * *
[Blanco Brewery]
A name that seems quite old greeted us.
Orhel smiled at the sign.
“Yeah. It’s the same, it’s the same. Let’s see.”
And then knocked on the door.
“Hey! Owner! Come out! I’m Orhel, Orhel!”
thump thump.
However, there was no response from the brewery.
The door is still firmly closed.
Seeing this, Andrew asked softly.
“You’re friendly, right?”
“Ah, is that right? Can’t trust people? Have you been deceived… Hey! Owner!”
Orhel glared at Andrew once and knocked on the door again.
But this time, too, there was no answer.
“It’s so quiet? It’s not that it doesn’t come out, it just seems like there are no people at all…”
Orhel tilted her head.
It was the same opinion as me.
I tried to focus on the sound by raising my senses, but…
‘I can’t hear anything.’
Diaz commented on that.
“Rohan-nim. Grendel and I will first find a lodging together. Camping until we reach the village is probably not good for recovering from fatigue.”
“Yes. That’s it. We’ll continue to monitor the situation.”
“Yes.”
So we first divided into two groups and started to act.
It’s not like there’s going to be a fight any time soon.
There was no need to be all in one place.
Diaz and Grendel fall first.
The rest of me, Andrew and Orhel.
The three of us to find another way out.
I was standing in front of the Blanco Brewery.
at that time.
An old man with his hands behind his back came up to us.
“Nysios.”
Orhel turned her gaze to the old man.
“Ah. I’m close with the owner here. I can’t see where he went. Does the old man know?”
Orhel changed his tone and naturally hid that he was a vampire lord.
It was a way of living in human society.
“Blanco? He died a while ago. I want to go back.”
“Huh? Why? No, he has come a long way since the taste of alcohol was faint.”
“I also really liked that house’s sake… but what can I do.
“Gee, can you hear why he died?”
to that question.
The old man’s face hardened slightly.
“……”
He forcibly straightened his back and looked around.
Even that was not enough, and I had been thinking about it for a long time.
I could feel it on his face.
a sense of fear.
Even if I don’t know what the hell makes me feel scared.
fortunately at least.
The old man opened his mouth with a determined face.
“If you’ve been friends with Blanco, you know. That friend had two daughters.”
“Everyone knows. That guy. It still seems like yesterday that I saw him getting drunk every time and rubbing his daughters’ cheeks with his beard until they turned red.”
“They lost both of their daughters, and their friend also took his own life.”
“…What? What happened?”
gulp.
The old man swallowed his saliva as if he was nervous.
spoke in a low voice.
“The villagers are all crazy. They’ve been making human sacrifices to strange monsters for years… Somehow, they’re all crazy… Blanco and his daughters are all like that… ..”
“Human sacrifice? To what?”
I listened to the conversation and cautiously intervened.
“Arachne.”
in my words.
The two reacted differently.
Orhel, who already knew that Arachne was nested here.
“ah……!”
and the sigh of enlightenment.
And the old man seeing us for the first time.
“Uh, how did you…”
I was surprised.
He seemed to think that an outsider would not know what was going on inside.
Not even that.
That’s because everyone was hesitating like that.
“I’d like to hear more details.”
* * *
That night.
After many twists and turns, Diaz and Grendel managed to find two rooms.
Thanks to this, I was able to avoid the misfortune of camping until I reached the village.
One was just there.
Diaz sighed as he replayed the events of the day.
“Even equipment maintenance and long-term storage of groceries. Even if they gave money, nothing was properly obtained.”
Grendel also added words to that.
“Whoa… I don’t think it’s going to be easy to eat. Even if you stay overnight, you won’t get breakfast.”
At that, Orhel scratched her head.
“This. It’s serious. What do you think, brother? After all, it’s because of that Arachne guy, right?”
“That’s right. It seems that he possessed people with poison. Even if he possessed only a certain degree of the core class, anxiety and fear would spread on their own.”
“Yes… that Arachne guy. He was originally like that. I forgot about it.”
I shared the story I had heard from the old man with them.
“According to an old villager, Arachne continued to attack the village for a certain period of time. At first, they fought back, but in the end, the village vigilantes could not deal with it. .”
“Negotiations… you mean?”
“Once every three months. I heard that the condition was to stop other monsters and stop hunting humans in exchange for human sacrifice.”
“What does that mean? In the end, isn’t it a surrender?”
“It is said that the villagers gathered their opinions at a meeting. It was judged that the troops of the kingdom or the paladins of the church could not come to this rural corner. It is not without reason.”
“But that’s… so the answer you found is human sacrifice…”
I nodded too.
“Of course, there must have been people who objected. But there must have been some kind of Frakchi in the meeting who had already been distracted by Arachne’s poison.”
“Even if there was a meeting among the villagers… In the end, it must have gone according to Arachne’s will.”
“right.”
Diaz, who had heard all the stories, gave his opinion.
“I think we need a quick action. Anyway, there is no way to supply supplies in this village. If time drags on, our forces will weaken.”
I agreed with her.
“I’ll try to move right away tomorrow. The distance to Goulun Cave isn’t that far.”
“Okay. Then I’ll assume that it will move like that and prepare for it.”
“Please.”
“Yes.”
That moment when I was making my own plan.
thud! thud! thud!
Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the room.
Everyone’s gaze was directed towards it.
Diaz got up first and walked out.
The rest of the members either reached for their weapons or tensed up.
It had to be.
after entering this town.
Because we’ve never seen anyone benevolent.
Diaz grabbed the doorknob and turned to me.
I nodded and gave a signal.
to him
Cheekyuk, kiwik.
The locked door opens.
The faces of the two women could be seen under the pressed hoods.
They opened their mouths with quite sharp eyes.
“I need your help.”
Any help at all?
I asked them back.
“Who is it?”
The answer that followed.
It was a bit unexpected.
“I am Rosesta of the Seven Knights. And this is Aphelia, the Heretic Inquisitor.”
At the same time, isn’t it revealing the seal that proves the identity of the Seven Knights?
“If you don’t comply… I’ll take some harsh measures.”
with mild intimidation.
Unintentionally, a smile came out of my mouth.