Chapter 41 – Flowing Forest (1)

It was an unnatural quiet. From the edge of the village, screams and whimpers could still be heard continuously. However, only a heavy silence descended around the inn where the fierce battle had taken place.

Therefore, Velloc’s low voice resonated much more clearly in the surroundings.

A priest swallowed. Over the dirty and blood-splattered robes, a slender Adam’s apple could be seen moving. Immediately after the battle, Velloc’s sharply honed five senses captured even such trivial movements.

‘They must be nervous.’ Smirking, Velloc leaned his shoulder once again against the greatsword he had planted.

The steel pillar firmly supported him while simultaneously presenting intense pressure to those looking at it.

“Why are you silent? Where did that momentum from earlier go?”

The green young knight spat out informal words.

“That… about that.”

“Umm…”

Nevertheless, the order’s party hung their heads and hesitated as one.

While there was his shivering military power, the most important fact was that they no longer had any justification.

The order had defined the suspicious party of knights as demons in order to restore their fallen prestige. Fortuitously, there was also a good charge of being the killers of Hameln’s bishop and lord. But what do you know?

In that moment, real demons attacked them, and they were instead saved by the knights they had defined as enemies.

Just this was already a losing battle for the order’s party. However, the decisive factor was the presence of the female knight standing proudly next to the man.

In the midst of the urgent battle, when they saw the flames burning around her body, the order members made the sign of the cross without realizing it. Because the female knight used the goddess’s flames, which were said to be usable only by those who directly received holy power from Her.

That was equivalent to saying that the bishop of Hameln was truly corrupted, and the lord was a madman possessed by him. The surviving order members put their heads together and shared opinions.

“Many brothers have died. How should we…”

“That is not what is important right now. How to overcome this situation is the problem.”

“Because we have essentially insulted the goddess’s sword now.”

A priest mumbled with a pale face. At those words, the faces of the remaining order members also visibly stiffened.

Instead of sending gratitude and respect to the faithful knight who defeated the demons as the goddess’s agent, they threatened and tried to kill them? And that too to a Paladin who was directly baptized by the goddess?

An event occurred where apologizing a hundred times would not be enough. If so, what the order had to do was clear. Bowing their heads and begging for mercy.

“First, a sincere apology…”

“Indeed. We have committed a grave error just now.”

Listening to this, the female priest Luna let out a sneer internally.

‘See? I was right. I told you the bishop was a demon.’

At the same time, she looked at Kadan, who had insulted her, with eyes of satisfaction.

Although the wounds he received from the demons were almost healed thanks to the treatment of the priests, his pride was visibly cracked at a glance.

His trembling shoulders and bloodshot red eyes were very impressive.

‘Even usually, his pretentious behavior as the order’s rising star or whatever was a sight to behold. Now with this, that guy’s pride will be taken down a notch.’

In the first place, this expedition had also occurred due to Kadan’s insistence. Once this situation was over, he would have to bear his own responsibility. Then, his position within the order would also weaken.

Did that fact make Kadan impatient? He ended up bringing up words he should not have.

“I’ve been listening, but aren’t your words too harsh?”

“Is he crazy?”

“Sir Kadan?!”

Luna held her head, and the Paladins around him were startled. However, Kadan did not stop. He pointed a finger at Velloc’s party and shouted.

“In the first place, isn’t it the problem that you guys committed acts worthy of receiving misunderstanding?! Bishop Luzback… No, if that person was truly a demon, had you requested support from a nearby church, this wouldn’t have happened…”

It was a mind-bogglingly far-fetched argument. However, Velloc did not swing his sword out of nowhere. He simply cut off Kadan’s words and spoke solemnly.

“What if we waited for them and the damage to the citizens grew greater?”

“That is…”

Kadan trailed off. In the first place, he had not spoken after thinking properly.

It was merely an impulsive cry that came from the combination of resentment and impatience filling his heart. Velloc still spoke calmly.

“Of course, I admit there is logic to your words. Because it is true that our actions left room for misunderstanding. However, I did not think that was worth turning away from suffering people.”

The reality was a bit different, but packaging is important anywhere. Cara, who was listening with an amused expression next to him, drove in the wedge nicely.

“To add a bit of a mage’s perspective, he was spreading a curse of ghoulification in the city, using the citizens’ suffering and despair as sacrifices. As time passed, the ritual of the curse would have become broader, and in the end, it would have turned the entire city into a land of the dead.”

Her words were also no longer the trick of a gloomy spellcaster. They were the opinion of a heroic mage who saved the village and fief from demons.

At this point, Kadan could not even open his mouth. This was also because the intense gazes of the order members around him pierced through him.

“Sir Kadan! What on earth have you been saying since earlier! Do you truly not know that this situation occurred due to your wrong judgment?”

The Paladin who shouted was one who had trained with Kadan since childhood, enjoying drinking or playing dice games, someone who could be called a close friend.

“Sir Camilla? How could you, to me…”

It was more painful when hit by a trusted axe. Kadan’s face distorted unsightly.

In that moment, Adel, who was standing behind Velloc, whispered something to her master’s ear. Velloc’s expression turned strange. Soon, after glancing at the two and smirking, he nodded.

Then, Adel, wearing a bleak smile as she slightly pulled up the corners of her mouth, approached Kadan.

Her sturdy and elegant steel boots stepped roughly on the dirt ground. As she approached, the order members around Kadan naturally cleared the way. Kadan unconsciously brought his hand to his waist, but his sword was already broken.

“Wh… What? Right now… Ack!”

With a slap sound, Kadan’s head whipped to the side. Although a female, Adel’s muscle strength also was on a different track from other knights. With a single slap, Kadan, whose inner mouth was sliced open, spilled blood.

“Ugh, even after doing… such a thing.”

“This son of a bitch still hasn’t snapped out of it.”

Adel, who growled, shook her hand once and looked around. Startled, the order’s party turned their eyes away from the two.

The meaning was clear. They knew what would happen next, but they meant to pretend not to know.

Adel grinned, and Kadan’s face froze like stone. After a while, along with clattering tin sounds, the Paladin’s screams echoed crazily.

“Are you really okay with this?”

“It’s fine. Wasn’t it an event caused by a misunderstanding from the start?”

Velloc slightly looked up at the sky and said. ‘It feels humid, looks like it will rain. Not a good weather to set off.’

“To think you are such faithful and honorable people. Indeed, you are worthy of Priest Anton’s guarantee. I am truly sorry for last night’s event.”

The Paladin who newly came to lead the order members instead of Kadan made the sign of the cross. Velloc laughed internally.

It was mind-boggling how they had called it a scrap of paper earlier, and now their completely changed attitude. But that was how living in the world originally was. That was why power, justification, and face were needed.

Hiding his inner thoughts, Velloc shook his head.

“Didn’t you give us three warhorses, some travel expenses, and even treated our party? This much is enough to completely shake off the past distrust. As expected of the goddess’s order’s generosity.”

As Velloc saved the order’s face, the Paladin also laughed loudly. Although it started as a bad relationship, as time went on, they communicated well. Still mounted on his horse, looking at the goddess’s sword, Sir Adel, who wore a sulky expression, he drew a deep sign of the cross.

“May Helena’s blessing accompany your noble journey…”

Adel turned her head away as if she found it ridiculous, and Velloc nodded in her stead.

“Take care of yourselves too. Since the world is chaotic.”

Leaving the greetings of the order members and the surviving villagers behind, the three set off on their journey. The party realized the preciousness of mounts once again.

They no longer had to move carrying heavy luggage on their shoulders. Among the three horses, one was particularly strong. Although staggering, it walked carrying Velloc somehow. Cara, who recovered her body after receiving treatment from the priests, spoke with a much brighter expression.

“Velloc. That horse you’re riding.”

Velloc took a sip of the strawberry wine packed from the inn and replied.

“What about this fellow?”

“They say it belonged to that Paladin.”

“That Paladin?”

Cara smiled while looking at Adel, who had taken off her helmet and was shaking her hair.

“The guy who became half-crippled from being beaten by Adel. Goodness… I didn’t know such sounds could come out of a person’s mouth. It wasn’t even like slitting a pig’s throat.”

“Hmph. Rather than that kind of fellow riding it, it’s a better thing for the horse to have Lord Velloc ride it.”

When Adel snorted, Cara shook her head side to side. Just as Velloc was about to add a word,

Neighhh.

The horse enduring his weight shrieked and raised its forelegs. Thanks to that, Velloc spat out the wine he was drinking. The dignified knight’s appearance disheveled in an instant.

Seeing this, the witch held her stomach, and the female knight also covered her mouth and smiled softly. Velloc, with wine on his lips, also let out a smirk.

Right on time, rain poured from the sky. Falling water droplets bounced off the armor with clangs, and gathered like dew on the robe. Velloc gulped down the wine mixed with rainwater, and Adel put her helmet back on. Cara also pulled the hood of her robe over.

Now, the only trace they left behind was the rainwater gathered in the grooves of the horse hooves.

Perhaps because they defeated the pursuers, a peaceful journey continued for the past few days.

The three were finally able to arrive at the place they aimed for. Cara, narrowing her eyes, muttered as she looked at the wide expanse of vegetation.

“That place is the Flowing Forest. In other words, the Labyrinth Forest, the grave of lost adventurers, and the land of ancient elves.”

As Cara built up the atmosphere, Adel, who was next to her, also spoke.

“In my eyes, it just looks like a normal forest. Except that it looks damn wide.”

“Hmm. You’re saying there’s a way to break the seal of this book over there. And mysterious relics on top of that. But to go right away…”

Cara looked at the sky. The sun, which had long passed noon, was now setting in twilight. Velloc also shook his head. Preparation was needed. He pointed toward the castle wall built proudly with the forest as its boundary.

“First, we will rest well for today. Since it is not a place we can find overnight. Let’s first secure lodging and gather information.”

“Are you going to the lord’s castle?”

“No, this time it is an inn. It seems that place is more suitable for hearing various rumors.”

The two nodded. Soon, the knight, the Paladin, and the witch crossed the gates of Karben.