Chapter 89 – Ulterior Motive (1)

Keuk.

The wing of a monstrous bird that spat out blood snapped with a crack. It was because of the chill that had suddenly penetrated its body. The coldness of the blade soon turned into burning pain, and the demon’s eyes also lost the light of life. Watching the monstrous bird fall to the ground, Belloc stretched out his hand.

The spear embedded in the creature’s heart tore through the remaining flesh. Soon, it flew back to his hand with a whish. “This is quite useful. It’s a complete boomerang.” Belloc smiled slightly. The spear, which had a strange wavy pattern engraved on it, did not have a single nick. Even without the spells cast on it, its value as a weapon seemed sufficient enough.

Kweeeek!

The sound of flapping wings coming from above grew even more intense. It was the sound of the demons, who had lost their kin, burning with vengeance. If not that, it might simply be a roar of anger because they did not like their prey’s resistance.

Whatever the case, the three of them had no intention of being eaten by the demons.

“So they are flying monsters? Personally, I’d like to freeze them all with a frost ray, but this is a desert. Cold-attribute spells are bound to be greatly weakened. I’ll support you with shockwave spells!”

Finishing her words, Cara chanted a spell in a low voice. Adele pulled out a thorny whip instead of her halberd. At that moment, the monstrous birds rushed in. There were as many as eight howling human heads. Folding their feathered wings and plunging down, they looked like falling boulders.

Belloc drew upon the power within him. The spear in his hand sparked with a crackle, and his shoulders moved in a blur. The monstrous birds showed the bizarre feat of rapidly turning in midair, but the spearhead flew even faster. A hole was pierced through one bird’s wing. While the electrocuted monster was trembling violently, Belloc flicked his finger.

Flash.

A flash of light erupted from the spear. The inner power, responding to his will, had summoned lightning. With a rumbling crash, the three creatures nearby were roasted crisp. “What a shitty smell. We can’t even eat these things.” Leaving behind the falling ashes, Belloc drew his sword. The remaining six monstrous birds had descended to a mere step away. Before he and Adele could swing their weapons, Cara’s spell burst out first.

“O wave that disrupts all things!”

The space at the tip of her staff distorted. Soon, an invisible force exploded with a bang. Three monstrous birds were blown away like puppets with their strings cut. “Excellent.” While the sand mound crumbled down, Belloc’s sword flashed. The merciless blade sliced through the demon’s soft feathers and skin, spilling bones and intestines.

Kweeeek!

He did not stop. While pushing Cara out of the monster’s trajectory with one hand, he plunged his blade in like a dagger. The monstrous bird, its stomach pierced, screamed as if its throat would tear. However, it also resisted fiercely. It eventually swung its raptor-like talons and firmly grabbed Belloc’s shoulder.

The monstrous bird slammed down on him with its heavy weight, and they rolled on the ground together. Fine sand and dust poured mercilessly through the gaps in his coat of arms armor. While the knight and the monster rolled on the ground, Adele was also moving.

She could not crush the monstrous bird’s physical charge head-on. Therefore, before its talons could reach her, she nimbly rolled to the side.

Sand scattered in all directions, and the monstrous bird’s human face turned left and right. It was looking for its prey. Soon, it was startled. This was because something was holding its ankle tightly. From behind the creature, a woman’s voice was heard.

“My will is the Goddess’s will, and I shall rightfully exercise that power upon evil creatures. You shall suffer in the eternal, unquenchable hellfire, and you shall be judged…”

The moment Adele’s prayer ended, the thorny whip burst into flames. Soon, the fire traveled up the monstrous bird’s leg and spread to its entire body. Screaming horribly, the creature quickly rolled on the ground. It was to extinguish the fire on its body.

Adele did not bother to stop the creature’s struggles. She simply walked over and picked up the axe she had left on the ground. Standing with her back to the sun, the paladin cast a deep shadow. She looked like some grim reaper.

Kuuuu…

The monstrous bird’s human face distorted unsightly. Soon, it drooled and staggered. It was a living creature’s struggle to survive. “Dirty and ugly.” With a brief thought, Adele swung her axe down, and the monstrous bird’s head split in half.

She wiped the blood and brain matter from her cheek with one hand. When she turned her head, Belloc was chopping off the heads of two monstrous birds. Cara was also throwing a fireball from her hand to burn the last remaining one.

Adele rested her axe on her shoulder and took a step. She then approached her master, savior, and beloved. She spoke.

“Lord Belloc. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“These guys are tougher than I thought. Other than mouthfuls of sand, I’m fine.”

Belloc shook his head and spat. Cara, who was next to him, pointed at herself and said.

“What about me? Aren’t you going to ask if I’m okay?”

Adele wanted to snap at her to stop talking nonsense. However, the moment she locked eyes with Cara’s brown eyes, she was choked up. The harsh words vanished. Adele muttered without realizing.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Huh? What did you say? I didn’t hear you. Can you say that again?”

Cara approached Adele with a broad smile. Judging by her expression, she seemed to be pretending not to have heard despite hearing it. “What bad taste.” Adele shook her head and ignored Cara. However, her mouth was also subtly curling upward. To the girl who had only looked at Belloc and wandered from battlefield to battlefield, Cara was also a fairly special existence.

“Adele? What did you say? Huh?”

“Eek! Be quiet! Just be careful not to get a hole in your stomach like last time!”

Of course, that did not mean Cara’s playfulness or Adele’s bluntness disappeared. The three of them brushed off the sand, gathered the frightened camels, and finally wiped off the blood and fat residue from their blades with a cloth.

The three of them quickly mounted their camels and began to move. Dealing with other monsters drawn by the smell of blood was the last thing they wanted. On the swaying saddle, Belloc spoke.

“I think this is the first time we’ve fought in the middle of a desert. It’s not as easy as I thought. Everyone had better be careful.”

“Since the ground sinks beneath us, we can’t exert our strength properly. Moreover, the sunlight even restricts our vision, which makes it extremely tricky.”

Adele squinted and looked up at the sky. Even for a paladin serving the Sun God, that intense direct sunlight was equal to all. Cara, who was listening, also chimed in.

“These monsters that attacked us, I thought they were manticore at first. Since they had human heads on bird bodies. But they are too weak for that, and they look a bit different.”

“So they’re monsters that even a mage doesn’t know.”

“Perhaps they are minions of that archdevil called the Demon King. Whatever the case, it remains an undeniable fact that the ecosystem here has changed drastically.”

“Hmm… it is certainly a problem. It is written that there is a small village nearby, but… judging from the recent situation, I don’t know if it will be safe.”

Adele spoke while looking at a map she had pulled out at some point. Belloc evaluated whether the high-quality dried rations provided by the lord or the culinary skills of a tiny village would be superior. The conclusion came quickly. Even under a roofless ceiling, the former would taste much better.

Each had their pros and cons. ‘Well, if there isn’t one, we’ll just sleep under the stars again.’ He drove his camel, brushing it off. They walked for a long time, half chatting and half worrying about the future. Right ahead, three rocks jutting out like fingers came into view. Next to them, earth and sand were piled up like mountains. “It looks like cheese.” Adele’s eyes shone as she saw this.

“According to the markings, the village should be below, just beyond that sand mountain.”

“I just hope we aren’t going to see corpses.”

Along with Cara’s worried words, the group crossed the sand mountain. Before long, they were surprised by the sight of a village that was surprisingly intact. Although it had no stone walls like Altanis, it was a small hamlet tightly surrounded by wooden palisades. “It didn’t go under?”

Cara and Adele were delighted at the thought of washing up with hot water, and Belloc held a faint expectation for the culinary skills of this village’s innkeeper. A moment later.

“Who goes there!”

A cautious voice rang out from atop the wooden palisade. His senses detected the tightly drawn crossbow bolts. The three of them pulled down their hoods. Before they could start a fuss about being outsiders and block their entry, Belloc reached into his coat. He grasped the recommendation letter written by the Lord of Altanis.

“I’ll have to hope there’s someone among them who can read.” At that moment, the gate in the wooden palisade opened, and a few turban-wearing guards ran out. Soon, they took a look at the group’s attire and asked.

“You look like you’re from a foreign country. Are you mercenaries? No, looking at your attire, you seem to be knights.”

Belloc spoke.

“Is there a problem? Do we have to pay money to enter?”

The soldiers all shook their heads. Then, even before he could present the recommendation letter, they cleared away their loaded crossbows and spears and made way.

“Seeing as you’ve come this far, you must know the surrounding situation. Monsters are overflowing. And our village is at a level where we need even a single warrior. Ah, not that you must fight. You can just stay here and spend some of the money you have. Even if it’s an outsider’s money, gold is gold.”

If they fought, great; if they didn’t, they could just spend money. There was no coercion whatsoever in the guards’ proposal. There was no discrimination against outsiders either. That made it even more suspicious. “What are these bastards? Why are they letting us through so easily? I expected them to demand bribe money at the very least.”

Cara and Adele must have thought similarly, as wariness clouded their expressions. However, the group eventually entered the village. Since they had come this far, turning back the way they came was a bit out of the question.

The group trudged down the barren, sandy path that could hardly be called a road. They planned to go to an inn first to fill their stomachs and wash their bodies. Scanning the surroundings, Cara muttered softly.

“Is it because of those monstrous birds from earlier? To the point that they want to borrow even outsiders’ hands?”

Adele replied.

“Didn’t they say so themselves? That it’s not mandatory.”

“You don’t believe those words literally, do you? They could threaten us by pointing spears and arrows at us, you know?”

“Then we can just make them pay the price, can’t we?”

“Well, that’s true. But… something is strange. From what I see, if just a few of those monstrous birds from earlier attacked this village, this place would already be in ruins…”

The conversation ended quickly. The countryside village was small, and there was only one inn. Before pushing open the door, which looked like an old, ungreased chest, Belloc’s gaze drifted. His dark eyes thoroughly swept the surroundings.

A farmer whistling while carrying a plow, young men with their arms around each other’s shoulders heading somewhere, a woman holding a child with a bundle of luggage on her head, and other various people passed by them. One commonality was that a sticky gaze could be felt from them. Different from wariness toward outsiders… what was it? Expectation?

He slightly turned his head. His superhuman vision discovered another anomaly. It was a structure that looked like an altar at the edge of the village, constructed by joining wooden planks together and placing torch stands on it. “There is indeed something here.”

“Belloc? Aren’t you coming in?”

Cara, holding the doorknob, was waiting for him. Belloc shook his head and followed her. Whether Adele had ordered in advance while waiting for the two of them, or the quick-witted owner had brought it out beforehand, the round table was piled high with refreshments.

From grilled meat of unknown origin to salad with dressing, and beverages and beer stuck with strange fruits—these were menus rarely seen in a countryside village. “What is all this?” While he was slightly surprised, the innkeeper, who was putting down the plates, wore a good-natured smile.

“Since times are what they are, customers have dropped off completely. But I couldn’t let the ingredients rot, so I specially showed off my skills. Although prices have risen a lot… considering the beauty of the ladies there, I’ll only take half. Silver coins…”

Belloc cut the owner off and flipped a gold coin. It was a genuine coin of Arian design received from the lord. At his display of wealth, the owner swallowed his words, left a single phrase, “Enjoy your meal,” and disappeared somewhere.

Adele portioned the food onto each of their plates. Cara picked up her knife and drooled. Her eyes also flashed with anticipation.

“Let’s fill our stomachs first and then see how the situation is unfolding. What is this made of?”

The knife in her hand easily sliced through the crispy roasted meat. Soon, her quickly moving fork was about to enter her bright red lips. *Clack.* Cara’s hand stopped. It was due to Belloc’s restraint.

“Why, why?”

With Cara and Adele blinking in front of him, Belloc reached out. It was toward the fruit drink in the glass. Without saying a word, he abruptly drank the beverage. Then, with a smirk, he spat it out.

“This village itself is already in on it. How dare they pull a stunt like this?”