Chapter 92 – Karma (2)

Belloc looked at the villagers, who had even more haggard expressions. There weren’t that many of them. Most of the people had left their places, whether having been eaten by the monsters, fled out of the village altogether, or still huddled inside their houses. He spoke.

“Do you have something to say?”

“Um, that is…”

Unlike the others, an old man dressed quite neatly trailed off. One could tell just by looking at his trimmed beard and clean face. He was a local influential figure of the village. The village chief. If not that, he was probably some bastard with a bit of power.

To Belloc, it did not matter. Whether this sinister old man had persuaded the villagers to poison outsiders and offer them to the witch, or had been sacrificing the villagers bit by bit for his own safety and had now turned his eyes to travelers. Whatever the case.

“If you don’t, instead of holding back a busy person, you’d better move quickly too. Whether cleaning up the village or gathering the residents, shouldn’t you be doing something?”

Belloc spat out a word. As long as they didn’t attack him, he had no intention of killing them. Because he was not a person so worn down that he would deliberately kill opponents who did not resist.

Of course, that didn’t mean they had good feelings toward them, so Cara’s eyes narrowed. Adele also spat and toyed with the handle of her axe. At the clear hostility, the old man squeezed his eyes shut. Soon, after fidgeting with his fingers, he spoke haltingly.

“Could you… please show us mercy? Please help us.”

With those words, the old man fell to his knees. In response, the villagers standing behind him also bowed their heads in a rush. Blood-stained soil soaked their linen pants wet and tangled in their hair. Yet, not a single one of them stood up from their spots. They looked reverent, as if worshipping a god.

“Hmm…”

“Ha…? You tried to kill us just a moment ago, and now you want us to save you?”

Looking at the bowed old woman and the six-year-old child, Cara stroked her lips, and Adele let out a dry laugh. Belloc did not say anything. He merely stood like a stone statue, his eyes calm. The old man’s pupils darted here and there. He had stopped them for now, but he seemed to be racking his brain for what to say. A brief wait was enough.

The old man possessed enough guts to have negotiated with the witch who had tried to devastate the village. He also perceived that the three people in front of him were not blood-crazed murderers or merely cold-hearted warriors. He hunched his shoulders like a bug. Then, wearing the most pitiful expression possible, he spoke.

“It wasn’t as if we were like this from the beginning. Monsters beyond common sense began to roam outside, but we somehow embraced each other and defeated them. There was warmth, courage, and tolerance. Until that woman clad in a black robe appeared.”

The old man spoke passionately. In response, wails flowed from a few of the kneeling villagers. They seemed to be recalling the terrible memories of that time. The old man spoke in a calm yet suppressed voice.

“We resisted fiercely at first…”

The old man’s words were cut off. This was because the stone statue that had been standing motionless suddenly moved. He easily walked past the wailing people and adjusted the size of his spear. Then, holding a sharp carving knife, he began to harvest the manticore.

As expected of Cara’s boast, it was hard and tough. However, there was no way it could withstand his grip strength and the blade of the famous sword used by a king. “Judging by its size, it’ll yield a few suits of armor.”

“Lord Belloc! I will do it! Please hand the knife to me!”

“The heart, liver! I need the lungs and stuff too! Pack them all in here!”

A bizarre scene unfolded. On one side, the ruined people were sobbing, and on the other, the three of them were chatting noisily. Soon, the yellowish-brown manticore hide was stacked neatly, and the fragmented skull and organs were also packed into glass jars. The group busily moved to load the luggage. Before long, they mounted their camels and nudged their bellies.

Grrrr…

The four pairs of camels let out strange noises and moved their hooves. As their long joints moved dynamically, the heads of the people snapped up. It was the kneeling villagers. The old man hurriedly stood up and blocked the path of Belloc’s group. He spoke.

“Why… why are you doing this?!”

Belloc’s expression became strange.

“What do you mean, why?”

“Surely, you were going to listen to us…”

“Aren’t you guys the ones who just ranted on your own?”

The village chief’s pupils shook. He spoke haltingly.

“Well, isn’t there a saying that silence is tacit consent?”

“Then when we decided to kill the monsters and leave this village, the fact that you remained quiet—does that also correspond to that consent?”

“How could we…”

Belloc laughed. Mounted on the beast, he already had a large build, making him look like some giant. Moreover, standing with his back to the sun, it was as if a mass of dark shadow was looking down on them. He spoke.

“Yes, if we don’t speak, we won’t know. How could I have known you would behave in such a shameless way? Shall I tell you more clearly?”

His mouth growled, revealing sharp fangs.

“Hey, you hopeless bastards. You poisoned people to capture and sacrifice them, and now that the situation has changed, you’re asking for help? Did you think using old people and children as excuses to cling to us would work? Did you think we would move for people we have no acquaintance with?”

The village chief’s pupils shook. The shoulders of the people also flinched. They also knew that this request was close to unreasonable. But they had no choice. Through this incident, the young men and soldiers were wiped out, and the village’s foundation of support was destroyed. Now, they had very few choices left.

It was either dying of thirst here or crossing the desert. They disliked both. Because it was a path of terrible suffering. So they acted as they always had. Just as they had preserved their lives by worshipping the monsters, they simply changed their target this time.

“P-Please forgive us… show us mercy and tolerance! That’s it! Money! I will give you money. If you need, even the young ladies of the village…”

No need to listen. Belloc swung his right hand. The spear flew and the half-destroyed house collapsed with a crash. To the villagers who sat cowering and screaming, he spoke.

“If you had explained the circumstances and asked for help from the beginning, I would have gladly granted it. Because those witches are our enemies as well. But you bastards deceived us by putting poison in our food. In the end, you even pointed spears at us. You brought all of this upon yourselves. If so, rightfully take responsibility for your actions.”

The children’s cries grew louder. The wails of the old women also grew louder. Soon, all kinds of curses were hurled along with thrown objects, and groans were heard. Whether the chief, who had lost his authority, took the brunt of the villagers’ anger, or the villagers who had hidden like moles cursed the group, the three of them moved again. On the swaying camel, Cara looked back and said.

“How many of them will survive?”

“We should have killed them all. Aren’t they dirty bastards who worship monsters? Even if they luckily survive and blend into other villages, they will harm or sell out other people someday.”

Belloc did not reply immediately and merely nodded. It was as the two said. They would soon have to make a choice. Whether struggling to survive or giving up and collapsing. Well, the karma they sowed had returned to them like a boomerang…

Then, is it me, who chose the Hellfire mode, that is the root of all these problems? Rather than the devils making a mess of the world, am I, who clicked the mouse once, the worst bastard? After contemplating, he soon shook his head.

Could he have known that something like this would happen? Did he know he would suddenly enter the world inside a game? Shit. And they probably didn’t know that the two manticores and the witch would be smashed by just three people. ‘Only the children are to be pitied.’ Belloc smacked his lips bitterly and spoke.

“Let’s stop caring about this now. We have a long way to go.”

Muttering briefly, he raised his head. Clear sky, my foot. A sky filled with miscellaneous dust and yellow sand welcomed him. The scorching direct sunlight was a bonus. He did not care. He merely stared intently at the ceiling created by nature, as if watching something. It was as if he was peeking at the Heavenly Palace existing above the sky, the home of the gods.

How long had he been staring at the sky? Belloc suddenly raised one hand. Soon, along with a clinking sound, his extended middle finger glinted in the sunlight.

‘If you are hiding behind that and mocking me, just wait a little. I’ll smash your head.’

It was a kind of warning and resolve. Of course, it was a rather arrogant attitude for a mortal to show to a transcendent. Yet, for some reason, the sunlight beating down on his body was gradually turning cool.

#

Having escaped the village, the group rode holding the camels’ reins. However, because they had too much luggage, including the treasure chest they possessed, they couldn’t gain proper speed. Yet, they couldn’t reduce their food supplies in a desert where not a drop of water could be found… In a situation where they could do neither, several days passed.

“Who would have thought that overflowing gold and food would hold us back? Adele, how far is it to the capital of Arian?”

The tower where the witches were said to reside was at the edge of Arian, in the Rungen Desert. And to head to the Great Desert, they had to cross the capital of Arian, Alvein. Adele unfolded the map. She then stroked her chin while assessing the surrounding terrain.

“It is still far. At this rate, just getting to the capital will take at least… three months.”

Was it because of the sweat running stickily down her neck? Or was it because the end of this journey was not in sight? Cara shook her head irritably. Then, using the hairband wrapped around her wrist, she neatly tied up her flowing hair. She spoke.

“It is clear that we have to come up with a plan. At this rate, it will be faster for them to devastate this country than for us to destroy their stronghold. Moreover, Isabel, who is being consumed by mana and modified by the witches, will also gradually become an insane monster.”

“But… there is no way, is there? Even if we discard the treasure chest, we need four camels anyway because of the food. Moreover, monsters attack us along the way, so our footsteps are bound to slow down.”

It was as Adele said. While they crossed the desert, all sorts of demons held back the group at every turn. Representative examples included the human-faced monstrous birds from before, giant scorpions, stag beetles, and wild beasts resembling hyenas. Furthermore, as living creatures, the camels had to be rested and fed fodder in between, so their journey was bound to be delayed more and more.

Dammit. What should we really do? Belloc also frowned, feeling the hot armor’s heat throughout his body. If not for the robe received from the Lord of Altanis, he would have buried his bones here long ago. He spoke.

“Cara. Using a portal spell would be impossible, right?”

Cara wore an intrigued expression. She seemed to want to escape this terrible hell right away. However, she soon slapped her head and shook it.

“Belloc. As I told you before, the success rate of the portal spell is eighty percent. With a ten percent chance, we become lost in the dimensions, and with the remaining ten percent chance, our bodies are shattered to pieces. I don’t want to hear the resentment of you guys as ghosts. Much less do I want to end up like that myself.”

That is true. Unless it’s an emergency, we can’t stake our only life as a bet. Damn it. Is there really no way? While he was wrapping his head, Cara muttered.

“I wonder if some artifact would just fall from the sky.”

“An artifact?”

“I’ve read a record somewhere about a teleportation scroll boasting a hundred percent success rate, or a treasure that assists spells to increase their power or safety. Coincidentally, I think the location mentioned there was also Arian…”

Belloc smirked. What would be the probability of obtaining the item he wanted or needed in a place where everyone looked like dots? It would probably be scarcer than winning the lottery in a gray city. ‘Shit. If life worked out that well, there would be no reason for me to suffer like this until now.’

At that moment, whitish yet yellowish structures caught his eye. It was the now-familiar Arian-style wall. ‘Is it a city?’ ‘Indeed, it’s about time one appeared.’ But something was strange. Along with Belloc’s wonder, Adele, who was looking at the map, spoke.

“It is a city called Lutanka. Seeing that a huge oasis is marked, it seems to have been built around it. However…”

Adele also frowned, perhaps feeling the unusual atmosphere. This was because the top of the wall was far too empty. Moreover, the city gate was also half-destroyed. Cara muttered.

“I’d like to hope my prediction is wrong if possible… but it seems warm bathwater and a bed have gone down the drain this time too.”

Cara’s words hit the mark like a prophecy. And the group had to admit that the vortex of change happening in Arian was wider than expected.

On the oasis in the center of the city, corpses were floating.