Chapter 130: The Isolated Village (4)

Before Ketal could show more interest, Naflas steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Anyway, it’s over now,” he said. “Let’s head back.”

“Wait a moment,” Ketal replied, turning his gaze toward the far side of the forest.

Naflas tilted his head as he felt nothing. “Is there something out there?”

Ketal studied the distant trees in silence, then finally shook his head. “No, it’s nothing. As long as it doesn’t move, I don’t see a reason to worry. Let’s go.”

They returned to the village and announced that the bandits would never come back. The villagers, who had been anxiously waiting for news, erupted in relief.

“Yes!!”

“It’s finally over!”

“Thank you so much! We owe you everything!”

They had been at the mercy of those bandits, forced to give up what little they had until they reached the brink of starvation. To them, it felt like a foregone conclusion that they would eventually perish. That terrible fate was unexpectedly shattered by these outsiders, and the villagers saw Ketla’s group as saviors.

“Blessed by Kalosia!” they cried.

“We offer our prayers to the god who showed us mercy!”

They chanted Kalosia’s and Ketal’s names again and again.

“This is great,” Naflas said. He watched with approval. He couldn’t remember the last time he had seen such genuine praise. Hayes also looked pleased.

“Whatever happens,” Ketal said with a hearty laugh, “we’ll figure it out somehow.”

Naflas glanced at him with renewed interest.

Did he plan for all this? Was his real goal to help the villagers open their hearts to Kalosia? Was this a way to teach me that we have to take action if we want people to remember Kalosia’s name?

From Naflas’s point of view, Ketal seemed to possess a profound level of insight. He began to attach deeper meaning to everything the barbarian did.

As they prepared to depart, the villagers tried to reward them with whatever they could spare. Ketal and his companions repeatedly refused and managed to leave only after much persistence.

“That wasn’t half-bad,” Ketal muttered once they were finally on the road. The entire episode had been entertaining enough for him. Chuckling, he asked, “So, will the bandits face punishment for extorting that village?”

Naflas nodded. “They will. I put a constraint on them, so they will head to the nearest town on their own and confess their crimes.”

Then, he let out a quiet sigh. “They will receive the punishment they deserve, probably forced labor or execution. As for Cassandra... she’s likely to face the harsher verdict. Anyone who’s an Advanced fighter and a known criminal in Magna Rain has undoubtedly killed many people. Execution would be the natural outcome for her.

“I see,” Ketal said.

Naflas shrugged. “Anyway, it’s all settled. I doubt we will ever see them again.”

Ketal’s expression clouded a little. “You think so?”

“What’s wrong?” Naflas asked him, curious.

“It’s nothing. It’s probably not important,” Ketal answered. Without another word on the subject, he quickened his pace. “We still have a long way to go. Let’s hurry.”

“Understood,” Naflas said, and Hayes followed alongside him.

Night fell soon after. Naflas turned to Hayes and said, “Let’s go pray.”

“Yes,” Hayes answered, nodding.

They made sure there was enough distance between them and Ketal, and then Naflas spoke again. “Now I understand why you said Ketal’s values feel so alien.”

Relieved that he was finally seeing her point of view, Hayes replied quickly, “Yes! He really does seem strange, right?”

Naflas’s eyes shone with admiration. “It’s because his understanding of the world is far beyond ours. You call it

alien

, but that’s exactly why. We cannot fully grasp how deep his insight is.”

“Excuse me...?” Hayes stopped in her tracks. This was not what she had expected at all. She turned back and looked at Naflas’s expression.

He gazed ahead with reverence. “He surpasses us in ways we can’t easily comprehend. Try to accept him instead of treating him as if he’s too different, and you will realize just how great he really is.”

“What...?” Hayes’s face twisted, caught between confusion and dismay.

***

While Ketal’s group headed toward Kalosia’s holy land, the bandits were trudging toward the nearest town under Naflas’s compulsion.

Cassandra, who had taken over as their leader, grumbled at them as they walked. “Idiots. If you knew a barbarian like that was around, you should’ve told me sooner.

Ugh,

you guys are as useless as ever. No wonder you’re stuck doing bandit work.”

“But, but...” The bandits’ faces showed nothing but indignation. Cassandra wasn’t truly their leader. She had simply appeared one day, beaten them all into submission, and forced them to obey. They despised her brutality, but they couldn’t flee because of her overwhelming strength.

She got beaten up too, yet here she is complaining,

the bandits thought to themselves, careful not to say it out loud. If they dared, she would thrash them again.

Cassandra clicked her tongue in annoyance. “Just what kind of spell did he cast on me? I can only walk to that town, and the only other thing I can do is keep badgering you lot. My strength is entirely sealed—there’s nothing I can use.”

At her words, the bandits all seemed to notice something at once.

“You can’t use your power...?” one of them asked her.

“That’s right. I’m nothing but a helpless girl right now,” Cassandra replied with a smirk.

The bandits halted in their tracks. Slipping into position, they encircled her.

“What’s wrong, boys?” Cassandra asked them with a sweet smile. They responded with feral grins.

“You’ve been acting high and mighty all this time, little miss,” one of them said. “Let’s see how tough you are now.”

Naflas’s constraint forced them to confess their crimes at the nearest town. It prevented any other actions—except actions against each other. The bandits intended to take full advantage of that loophole.

“Hehehe,” one of them growled.

“We will teach you a lesson!” another shouted, lunging at Cassandra, eager to be the first to strike.

A silent shadow tore through the darkness. The leading bandit dropped to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

“Huh?” The others froze. The man on the ground wasn’t moving at all.

Cassandra’s smile widened. “Weren’t you going to teach me a lesson? Hurry up and come at me.”

“O-or... maybe not,” one of the bandits muttered, suddenly trembling as he tried to back away. Darkness flickered again. A moment later, the bandit also collapsed onto the road.

“Aaaah

!

”

The remaining bandits turned and ran in a panic, terror plain on their faces. Cassandra made a disappointed cluck of her tongue. “What a bore. Finish them.”

No sooner had she given the order than the darkness streaked across the earth and crashed into the scattering bandits. Bodies thudded against the ground, limp and lifeless. In the space of a few heartbeats, more than a dozen had been killed.

Cassandra looked up into the empty air. “Come out, I know you’re there.”

A dark figure emerged from the shadows, clad in a black robe, and slowly stepped closer to Cassandra.

“My lady,” the figure said in a soft, low voice.

Cassandra frowned. “You should’ve waited a bit longer. You ended the fun too soon.”

“My apologies,” the retainer replied. “When those lowly fools dared to show such disrespect, I couldn’t stand by and watch.”

She waved a hand dismissively. “Forget it. How long have you been following me?”

“Since the moment you left the city, my lady,” he answered in the same quiet tone.

Cassandra scowled. “So you saw me get beaten up, too?”

“I thought it would be a valuable experience for you, my lady.”

“

Ugh,

how cheeky,” she muttered. Then she held out her arms. “Can you at least break this constraint? Even while I’m talking, my body keeps forcing me to move toward that stupid town.”

“Of course.” Naflas was an Advanced priest, so his binding was no weak spell. Because Cassandra had unwittingly agreed to it, a normal intervention wouldn’t suffice. Breaking it required either extensive preparations for a special ritual, or power that far exceeded Naflas’s own.

The retainer whispered, “Darkness shall summon a deeper dark—bury it.”

Cling!

With just a single incantation, the constraint that had bound Cassandra shattered. She stretched with obvious relief. “I’m finally free.”

“It’s time to go home, my lady,” the retainer said. “Haven’t you had enough fun?”

“I’d like to play a bit more, but fine,” she grumbled, then she heaved a small sigh. “If that strange barbarian hadn’t shown up, I could’ve stayed a bit longer.”

“The barbarian? He seemed strong,” the retainer observed. “I don’t have any record of a barbarian like that in my files.”

Cassandra cast him a sidelong glance. “Couldn’t you beat him if you fought?”

“I’m not sure...,” he said.

Her eyes widened. This retainer possessed enough might that few in her family could hope to defeat him, yet he couldn’t be certain of his victory.

“Really? Is he that powerful?”

“Judging only by the strength he showed, he didn’t seem that extraordinary,” the retainer replied. “But he appeared to be hiding something.”

He paused, then continued, “That barbarian noticed I was there, even though I was concealing myself.”

“What?” Cassandra’s eyes went wide. “He saw you? Is that even possible? Not even my father managed to do that.”

“It may have been pure coincidence,” the retainer said, “So I can’t be certain.”

“Hm, I see.” Narrowing her eyes, Cassandra murmured, “Ketal, was it...?”

She spoke the name softly, as though committing it to memory.

“For now, let’s return, my lady,” the retainer suggested.

“All right,” Cassandra took the retainer’s hand. “Let’s head back—to the city where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Darkness swirled around them, and in the next moment, they disappeared. All that remained on the roadside were the cold bodies of the bandits.

***

Ketal and his companions continued their journey without incident. Perhaps any bandits who spotted them recognized Ketal and fled in terror, because no one bothered them. During that time, Ketal and Naflas kept talking, often spurring Naflas to reflect deeply on even the simplest statements Ketal made.

Hayes, however, remained silent. She tried discussing things with Naflas, but he refused to change his view. If anything, he seemed to think Hayes was the odd one.

Am I really the strange one?

she wondered.

Is Ketal actually someone special, with a stronger mind and spirit than I realized? Am I the one who can’t see the truth?

Little by little, she began to doubt herself. Finally, after pressing on through these thoughts, they reached their destination.

***

“That’s the place,” Naflas announced.

“Oh, wow.” Ketal breathed, awestruck.

A vast plain stretched out before them, with a small but orderly city at its center. A towering church stood in the middle of the city. It was clear to anyone watching that a gentle light radiated there, not at all like the sun’s glow. It seemed to shine from within, bathing the holy land in a soft brilliance.

This was Kalosia’s holy land, the domain of a god.

However, it wasn’t entirely full of light. Even though the sun hadn’t yet set, darkness clung to the plains surrounding the holy land, as if enclosing the bright city. And within that darkness, countless monsters prowled, forming a menacing ring around Kalosia’s stronghold.