Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Even This Village Has Its Own Tricks

“Oh my God, the barbarian used poison! He’s spreading poison in our village!”

The chief screamed at the top of his lungs and tried to turn to flee.

Seeing him take a step forward, I grabbed him by the nape of his neck once more.

'I should be a bit harsher here.'

If I wasn't careful, I could be accused of using poison myself.

For some reason, this world seems to favor whoever shouts the loudest.

With one hand, I held the chief, and with the other, I slammed my axe down into the ground.

The earth cracked beneath us with a thunderous noise.

"..."

Well, that wasn't what I intended.

Maybe I used too much force.

It might’ve been a bit much, but I doubt it showed on my face.

Instead, I made my expression as fierce as possible and looked around at the scene beyond the shattered doorway, through the settling dust.

Everything suddenly went silent.

Even the noisy chief shut his mouth tightly.

Shrinking back, the chief seemed noticeably smaller than just moments ago.

After glaring at each of them with a fierce expression, I turned my gaze to the chief.

“You’re the one in charge of this village. Open that man’s mouth and show me what’s inside.”

"..."

The chief's eyes slowly moved to the face of the dead man.

Moments ago, the man’s face was only half-black, but now it had turned entirely pitch-dark, as if dyed with ink.

Anyone could see that it would be dangerous to touch him.

The chief’s head shook like a broken wooden puppet.

“N-No, no, I can’t, please, spare me, Adventurer, please, spare me.”

Tears were streaming down his face.

But I couldn’t back down here.

If I checked it myself, people might assume I was the one who put whatever poison there.

Pushing the chief’s back toward the dead man, I pointed my chin toward a piece of fallen wood and a stone nearby.

“Use that to open his mouth.”

"..."

The chief hesitated, refusing to move.

But when I slammed my axe into the ground again, the chief had no choice but to approach the corpse and kneel.

Large teardrops rolled down the chief’s face.

“Huff… Huff… I’ve lived a hard life, and now I die like this… If I’d known it would end like this, I would have slaughtered another pig in the winter… Now I die without even having a piece of pork... Ah, what a life… This wretched existence never had any luck… I die after living with a wife like a pig, only ever holding her pig-like hands... Ah... Oh…”

His lament as he wept was strange.

The old woman crying outside must’ve been his wife, given their similarities in demeanor. It must’ve been a case of married couples growing alike.

As the chief pushed the wooden stick into the dead man’s darkened mouth, a slender tube rolled out.

“Huh? What?”

The chief stared at the tube in confusion.

“Why is something strange inside his mouth?”

Instinctively, the chief reached out to grab it, and I quickly stopped him.

“Don't touch it. If you make a mistake, that poisoned needle might end up killing you.”

“Hiii.”

The chief swiftly withdrew his hand.

Even though I already knew these villagers were innocent, I glared sternly at the chief to drive the point home.

“That man tried to kill me with a poisoned needle. Are you all in on this?”

Finally, it seemed to dawn on him.

The chief's face turned pale as he shook his head vigorously.

“No, no, Adventurer, no! He was just a drifter. He wasn't originally from our village.”

“Then why did you send a non-villager to me deliberately?”

I raised my eyebrows, and the chief shook his head so hard it looked like his head might fly off.

“No, no, he was a member of our village, without a doubt... I mean, we thought he was trustworthy. You see, he arrived here a few years ago. He was trying to settle here... Yes, trying to settle. He seemed like a good person—someone we could trust. I swear it.”

The chief desperately tried to explain himself, and the other villagers, who had been standing at a distance, also started to chime in.

“What the chief is saying is true.”

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“We all thought he was a good man.”

“He followed orders without complaint.”

“He always took on the hardest work in our village.”

“H-he was kind. Really, he was.”

“We couldn’t have imagined he’d do something like this.”

I could see the situation clearly now.

This drifter, who’d settled in the village, just happened to be one of my mother’s enemies.

And he must’ve mistaken me for someone else.

I guess it’s just one of those things—after a few experiences, you get a sense for it.

'Mother… just how many enemies did you have?'

Sigh.

By now, it feels like every place I visit has someone holding a grudge against my mother.

And for it to reach the point where a poisoned needle is flying toward me… It makes me a bit apprehensive about what lies ahead.

'Poisoned needles, of all things. How troublesome.'

If this were a wuxia novel, I might be able to walk on water, sense danger, or fight my enemies with palm strikes. But this is a world more akin to a medieval reality.

Dodging a flying poisoned needle... Wait a minute.

Why not?

Maybe I could do it.

After all, I can use wind magic.

I might not be very good at controlling it, but I can launch something like a palm strike.

I've never run across the surface of a lake, but I can already leap through the air using wind.

Sensing hostility is probably the only thing left to figure out.

That’s challenging, but if I can manage the rest, it shouldn’t be impossible.

"..."

Heh, seems like mastering martial arts isn’t as impossible as I thought.

A cynical smile tugged at my lips, and for some reason, the chief threw himself flat on the ground and shouted while crying.

“It’s true, Adventurer! Our village has nothing to do with what that man did! We are innocent! Please, believe us!”

The people outside had turned pale as well.

I suppose my smile must’ve looked terrifying.

"..."

Ah, that stings a little.

When I said I believed him, the chief looked back into the house and opened his mouth hesitantly.

“T-Then, would you like to eat now? There is food prepared inside.”

“No, it’s fine. Just give me the guild token. I’ll be leaving now.”

After almost being hit by a poisoned needle, I wasn’t about to linger here.

For all I knew, that man might’ve had a brother or a lover who would want revenge.

There was no proof that this dead man was the only one with a grudge against my mother.

I’d be more comfortable camping somewhere near the village.

“T-That, that… Please, just stay one more night!”

"..."

“There are women… There’s plenty of food and drink too.”

There was definitely something strange going on with these villagers.

I grabbed the chief by the collar and lifted him.

The chief’s feet dangled in the air, swaying.

“Speak honestly. What are you planning? Why do you keep insisting I stay?”

“... I... it’s nothing...”

Pale-faced, the chief stammered.

But when I tightened my grip, the chief began choking, and he gasped out his confession.

“Kaagh… Sorry… I’m sorry… There aren’t just one... There are two more…”

Ah, so that’s it.

As my grip loosened, the chief looked at my face, trying to gauge my reaction before continuing.

“... So... In order to complete the request, you need to kill two more...”

“What?”

I raised my eyebrows, and the chief cried out, desperation etched on his face.

“Y-you see... That’s how it is... Perhaps the Adventurer doesn’t know, but here, you’re supposed to finish off all of them to complete the request. We thought there was only one, but then two more showed up later. We were about to inform the guild, but you arrived before we could, so we thought we’d prepare some food to make it up to you...”

The villagers standing outside seemed to regain their senses, and they each added something.

“Y-Yes, that’s right.”

“In fact, we were just about to contact the guild.”

“The Adventurer arrived sooner than we expected.”

Sigh.

A sigh escaped my lips.

“Shut up!”

I barked, and all the noise abruptly stopped.

“Do you all think I’m some kind of fool? Is this a joke? You think just because I’m a barbarian, you can pull one over on me? What? I have to kill them all to complete the request?”

“T-That’s…”

The chief looked at me with a frightened expression.

“Don’t think I can’t read. I read it all, and I received an explanation. One was worth 150 ril, an extra one adds 100 ril, and any more than that is an additional 200 ril each.”

"..."

The chief's face turned ghostly pale.

So did everyone else.

“Give me the token.”

“... A-Adventurer…”

“If you don’t give it to me right now, I’ll go straight to the guild and tell them you broke the contract. Then, no adventurer will ever come here again—not even if one-eyed dog grandfathers show up instead of one-eyed dogs. You know what that means, right?”

“G-Got it. I’ll get it right now, Adventurer.”

The chief flailed his arms, and a young man, probably his son, ran inside the house.

After a while, he returned with a wooden token bearing the same number as mine.

Just as I received it and left the house, I heard someone crying nearby.

Turning my head, I saw a child who seemed barely school-aged, crying loudly.

A frail-looking woman stood next to the child, and she ran over and threw herself onto the ground.

Rubbing her forehead against the dirt, she pleaded.

“Adventurer, please save us. My child has already been eaten by those monsters. This is my only remaining child... If you leave, they’ll take this one too. Please, show some mercy... Please, I beg of you…”

The woman sobbed bitterly, and the child behind her cried even louder.

"..."

It was infuriating.

More than the money, it was the fact they treated me as a barbarian, constantly feeding me lies—it was infuriating.

'But the child isn’t at fault.'

The thought that the child might die if I left now made my feet feel heavy.

Seeing my hesitation, the men standing at a distance hurried over and knelt down.

“Adventurer, please save us. We beg of you.”

“We were wrong.”

“For the sake of the child, please...”

“They’ve already eaten five children.”

Wait… five?

I stared at the man in shock, and another, seeing my expression, started fake crying.

“In fact, it’s six. Last night, they took another one…”

Ah, these bastards—they’re lying.

It made me angry again, but honestly, it was better if that were a lie.

With a small sigh, I called the chief, who was standing awkwardly.

“Bring some paper and write a contract. Write down exactly how many there were, and that I didn’t just hunt them down on my own but did it at your request.”

“... Adventurer, if we do that… Our village is very poor; we simply can't afford such an enormous amount...”

“Shut up.”

“Yes.”

“Bring the paper.”

“Yes.”

Once again, the chief's son ran into the house and came out with some paper and a charcoal pencil.

“Charcoal can be erased. Get ink instead.”

Hearing that, the chief practically collapsed forward.

His face twisted as if he were about to cry.

“Well… Ink is too expensive… Our village doesn’t have any…”

Sigh, these guys.

Really can’t let my guard down.

Were they planning to write it in charcoal so they could pretend nothing happened later?

With a weary sigh, I spoke.

“Shut your mouth, and just bring it.”

“Yes.”

Once again, the chief’s son ran into the house.

The chief, half in tears, began to write.

[Three one-eyed dogs have appeared in our village.]

Watching him write, I let out another sigh.

“Add the village’s name as well.”

"...Yes."

The chief continued writing.

After pointing out several more things, I finally got a properly written statement.

It seemed the chief's conscience was a bit twisted.

He kept trying to find a way out.

If that mother and her child hadn’t cried, I probably would have left without dealing with the one-eyed dogs.

Once everything was written down, the chief handed me the paper.

“Now, sign it with your name and stamp it with the village seal.”

“Eh! How did you know about the village seal?”

"..."

I shot him a glare, and he fell silent, pulling a seal out from his belt.

'So even a village like this has an official seal.'

I didn’t know that either.

I only mentioned it because I had seen a seal next to the village’s name on the guild request form.

'Interesting. For a world that seems so haphazardly put together, it has a proper system.'

Just as I had received the paperwork, a mournful animal howl echoed from far away, carried on the wind.

"Woof…"

Something about the sound seemed different from usual, so I glanced at the chief’s face. The old man was looking into the distant sky with a fearful expression.

“It seems… the one-eyed dogs have realized their young one is dead.”

"..."

“I think the one that died today was the young one. It had just started learning to be independent.”

So that’s what it was.

If I had left this village, everyone here might have been slaughtered.

Sigh.

A small sigh slipped out without me even realizing it.