Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Just as empty lethargy follows intense passion, Shan, who had collapsed from exhaustion, felt emptiness rather than excitement when he opened his eyes.
It felt as though all the strength in his body had drained away.
Judging by the sunlight filtering through the left and tickling his face, the sun seemed to already be hanging high in the middle of the sky.
“Ugh…”
Though he had never been lazy with physical labor, his muscles throbbed painfully as if they would tear apart, perhaps because the previous night’s exertion had been far too intense.
Places across his body also stung, likely because several attacks had grazed him.
That he had not been eaten by wolves or monsters during the night was probably thanks to the village hunter periodically roaming the forest to drive away wild beasts.
Leaving a word of gratitude in his heart that could no longer be delivered, Shan stumbled over toward the dead bandits.
Surprisingly, even seeing spilled intestines swarming with bugs only smelled foul to him; he did not particularly feel like vomiting.
‘It just feels like looking at hunted animals.’
Was it because he had realized that the hulking men, who had been so terrifying just the day before, were actually ridiculously dull and weak creatures?
Or was it because everything that had happened the previous day felt unreal?
Even while thinking about it in his head, his body naturally searched the corpses, stripping off clothes and looting items.
Unhesitatingly, just like when he butchered animals the hunter had brought back in the past.
First and foremost, he secured the scabbard that paired with his first spoils of war, the bandit chief’s sword.
He stripped and wore the leather pants of the shortest archer who had died last night, and attaching the scabbard to it made it look quite decent.
On top of that, he took a short spear that was relatively easy to handle, a dagger easy to conceal in his coat, and even the mace that had felt satisfying in his grip.
However, meaningful gains ended right there.
The clothes were all either far too large or torn, making them difficult to wear, and there were no valuable, easily portable items like money, jewels, or ornaments.
Even the guy who seemed to be the chief was no exception.
‘Maybe they became poor buying weapons, so they tried banditry?’
Admiring his own sharp deduction, Shan first made a meal out of the dried rations recovered from a few corpses.
Shoving dried grains, meat, and some vegetables into his mouth and gulping down water from a foul-smelling leather canteen, he managed to swallow it down fairly well.
“Burp.”
It was a meal that could not be called delicious even as a joke, but to Shan right now, it felt like heavenly food.
Perhaps because he had exerted so much energy while ravenously hungry, he felt that if he didn’t have this, he might have even chewed on the bandits’ flesh.
Enjoying happiness from such an unfamiliar sense of fullness for a brief moment, he now had to figure out a way to carry as many usable items as possible.
After tearing up a few pieces of clothing, tying them together, and placing relatively intact weapons and several pieces of leather armor inside, a bundle was roughly completed.
“Nnnngh.”
Carrying the clattering items, he walked for about ten minutes.
Finally, the ruined village came into view.
Most of the wooden buildings had burned down, leaving only skeletons behind.
‘Looks like there are no survivors.’
Then again, even if there were any survivors, they would have fled far away rather than remaining here.
Since they wouldn’t want to risk the bandits returning.
After walking a loop around the area searching for survivors, Shan returned near the village square and looked down at the scattered corpses.
“Priest…”
One of the few in this village who did not despise the sinful Altoan orphan boy, but took pity on him instead.
Shan wondered how he would have judged the sight of Shan defeating the bandits with demonic power.
Would he have said it was fine because an evil power was used for a good deed, or would he have said it was the Goddess’s will to quietly take the blade?
A moment later, Shan found an unburned shovel and dug a grave for the priest in the church backyard.
Unable to read or write, Shan could not make a gravestone, but he could at least pray as he had been taught so that his soul might ascend to the Goddess’s temple.
As he quietly closed his eyes and prayed, a teaching the priest had regretfully shared during his life came to mind.
‘I really was a child of a demon.’
The thrill of murder and violence he had felt last night, along with the exhilaration that filled his head to bursting, remained vivid.
How could someone who found joy in killing people be anything other than a demon?
Now he could understand why people avoided Altoans so much.
With a complex mix of self-hatred and relief, Shan prayed before the grave for a long time.
After finishing the priest’s burial, he combed through the village just as he had looted the bandits’ corpses, looking for anything worth taking.
He did not feel like retrieving the corpses of the villagers, so he left them alone.
However, he did not gain much from the village either; items that could be considered real wealth, such as grain sacks or dried lumber, had long since turned entirely to ashes.
Collecting a few charred bits of gold and silver coins from the houses of the village chief and prominent figures, as well as silver candlesticks and plates used for religious ceremonies in the church, was his only decent harvest.
‘I’m sorry, Priest. But if I just leave them here, someone else will steal them anyway.’
Leaving a prayer of atonement to the Goddess and the priest, Shan slung the bundle containing all sorts of goods onto his back and departed the village.
As a completely free person unbound by anyone.
*
Truth be told, Shan had never left the village in his life.
That was because in his childhood, he was the nuisance of the chief’s household, and as he grew older and gained sense, he had been bound to the village as an unpaid laborer working endlessly for it.
In other words, he knew nothing about the outside world.
He did not even know where the neighboring village (the one people occasionally traded with) was located, how to get there, or what lay beyond it.
What little he did know was merely the southern continent where elephants were said to live, which he had heard about from Celina, and the land of monsters far to the east that Priest Ador had mentioned in the past.
In a situation where he didn’t even know which way was south or east, it was entirely useless knowledge.
Therefore, Shan moved along the dirt road stretching from the entrance of the village, which had been naturally formed by people frequently walking on and trampling the grass.
While moving his body, his mind pondered his next destination.
‘Should I try looking for Celina?’
Since she was the only person outside the village Shan knew, it was an option worth considering.
Of course, to her, Shan might be nothing more than a shabby orphan kid who used to listen to her boast…
How long had he walked lost in thought? He felt the surroundings grow dark as the sun gradually set.
It was because he had woken up late and spent a lot of time holding the funeral and searching the village.
Shan decided to walk a bit more and then spend the night by the roadside.
Although his vision wasn’t particularly hindered by the night, it was certain that no village would welcome a guest arriving after dark anyway.
Besides, his muscle aches hadn’t eased yet, making it difficult to walk.
At least it was fortunate that the season was slowly approaching summer.
If it had been cold, he would have had to make a fire, but he didn’t know how to do such a thing.
He only knew vaguely that striking and rubbing stones together did something, but even after trying several times, the results were not good at all.
Wrapping himself in the bandit chief’s cloak that he had been using as a sack cloth, he leaned against a fairly large tree and closed his eyes for a few hours.
Shan, who had been sound asleep, opened his eyes as a chill ran down his spine.
A primitive stone axe, made by tying a stone to a stick with vines, was plunging down toward his head.
“Ugh!”
As he quickly jerked his head back to dodge and kicked the cloak covering him forward, a sharp screech rang out.
The identity of the attacker was a monster about half the height of a human, with a bridge-less hollow nose, buck teeth, and long ears.
The creatures surrounded Shan, their pitch-black eyes without whites shining as they threatened him.
[Kaaak! Kyak! Karrr!]
Though it was his first time encountering them directly, it wasn’t hard to identify them since he had heard descriptions of their appearance several times before.
Low-grade monsters frequently found throughout forests and fields, goblins.
Though they were said to be cowardly creatures that wouldn’t dare attack even when several sturdy men gathered, they seemed to have attacked thinking they could handle Shan because he hadn’t lit a fire, was alone, and was small in stature.
Shan snorted at their rough momentum.
“How dare you.”
Had it been just yesterday, it might have been different, but there was no way Shan, who had already struck down multiple warriors larger and stronger than himself, would be frightened.
The creatures, which had charged at him wielding primitive weapons crafted from stone and wood, fled in horror as Shan lightly swung his sword and sliced two of them to pieces in an instant.
“Oh.”
In the process, Shan let out an exclamation as he realized that his first spoils of war, the bandit chief’s sword, was an even better weapon than he had thought.
This was because, small and weak as goblins were, they were still beasts about the size of a dog, yet they had been cut through so effortlessly.
It seemed that even if the opponent were a human, an unarmored body could easily be split in half.
Though it would be best to refrain as much as possible, since hacking through bones frequently would quickly dull the blade.
After wiping the blood on the dead goblin’s reddish-brown skin and tidying himself up, Shan looked around and clicked his tongue upon realizing that more animals had gathered.
Foxes, lynxes, and even wolves.
It seemed all the beasts that hadn’t dared approach the village out of fear of the hunter were around here.
When he threw the two goblin corpses toward them, a few growled and claimed the bodies, while the rest howled mournfully and vanished into the forest.
At any rate, today’s lesson was clear.
Sleeping defenselessly in the forest at night was absurdly dangerous.
*
The next morning, Shan woke up and walked for another two hours before finally arriving at another village.
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he arrived at ruins that had once been a village.
“Ah…”
Judging by its state similar to Willow Village, the attackers were likely those same bandits.
The only difference was that another day had passed, so bugs swarmed heavily and a foul stench lingered.
They must have raided Willow Village a day after attacking this place.
Was this the village Celina had married into? Or did he have to go further from here?
If only there were at least someone to ask, but with not a single survivor, there was no way to know.
‘Where should I really go now?’
The dried rations taken from the bandits’ corpses were running low, so he needed to sell items to buy food.
As he was pondering, someone shouted from a distance.
“There’s someone over there!”
“Hey! You! Freeze and don’t move!”
Urgently shouting as they ran over, they were men armed half with proper weapons and half with farm tools.
Their number reached as many as sixty.
“What, it’s just a kid?”
“Hey kid, do you know about the ones who attacked this village?”
“Where did you get all those weapons?”
As they rushed over trying to surround him, Shan thrust out the short spear he had been using as a walking stick, keeping them from approaching.
“Don’t come close.”
The men’s eyes narrowed at his defensive posture.
“His clothes are covered in blood, and a brat is draped with weapons… Suspicious.”
“Didn’t he steal them from the village?”
At the rude attitude of the men whispering among themselves, Shan took a breath and gathered his inner courage.
Otherwise, he felt as though he would immediately bow his waist and adopt a servile attitude.
“Who are you people then?”
Ah, that might have sounded too impudent.
Seeing as Shan wasn’t the only one who thought so, the men clearly looked displeased, but regardless, they answered his question faithfully.
The spear aimed toward them probably helped a great deal.
“We are the Leaf Village vigilantes.”
“We came to help after hearing that Mountain Shade Village here was attacked by bandits.”
After answering, a middle-aged man who appeared to be the representative stepped forward and asked a question.
“Now it’s your turn to speak. Do you happen to know anything about the attack on this village?”
“First, put down that damned spear… Ugh!”
Right then, a bearded hulking man beside him interceded, reaching out to snatch the spear, only to let out a scream.
It was because Shan had flicked his wrist and scraped the man’s palm with the spear blade.
Seeing blood, the eyes of the vigilantes turned fierce, but Shan did not yield and voiced his intent in a somewhat trembling voice.
“I told you. Don’t come near me. If you try to touch me, I will attack.”
Even if they were scarecrows who couldn’t even handle their own bodies properly, once his weapon was taken, he wouldn’t be able to resist.
Because with his light body, he couldn’t put enough force into his fists and feet to stop an opponent.
Whether Shan’s attitude seemed arrogant to them, the vigilantes began shouting and thrusting their weapons forward without waiting for anyone else.
“This bastard must be a bandit minion!”
“Catch him and chop off his wrists!”
“Stop it! Stop! Everyone calm down! What are you doing to a frightened child?!”
Fortunately, thanks to the man who had stepped forward as the representative urgently mediating, it didn’t escalate into physical conflict.
Though it was impossible to say which side was fortunate for that.
After the atmosphere calmed down slightly, the representative of the vigilantes spoke with a voice containing more respect than before.
“I am Orgo. The chief of Leaf Village.”
“I’m Shan. I live in Willow Village.”
“If it’s Willow Village… that’s south of Mountain Shade Village.”
As Orgo spoke and glanced back, one of the men behind him asked.
“What’s the name of the hunter in Willow Village?”
“Mr. Bon.”
“Who is the wife of woodcutter Jexen?”
“Mary.”
“They’re all correct.”
Once Shan proved that he was a local villager rather than a wanderer from nowhere, the explosive atmosphere relaxed somewhat.
A moment later, the man who had been asking questions exclaimed as if realizing something.
“Wait, I thought the name Shan sounded familiar. Isn’t he that Alto guy raised in Willow Village?”
“What? An Altoan? They sure have a strong stomach.”
“But he looks normal on the outside. He doesn’t even have horns.”
Because the traits of Shan’s eyes didn’t reveal themselves unless it was in a dark place, here on the field in broad daylight, he appeared no different from ordinary people.
As the people grew confused, Orgo, who had stepped forward as the representative, quickly changed the subject.
“Alright, Shan. Could you tell us where you got those items? And why you’re out here alone instead of in Willow Village?”
Tone soothing a child, unlike earlier.
Shan hesitated briefly before quietly explaining the situation to him.
From the bandits suddenly raiding the village, the people dying helplessly, to killing them after a continuous battle and leaving the village.
The reaction of the people who heard the whole story was just as expected.
Hollow laughter, and snidely mocking remarks.
“What kind of nonsense…”
“If you’re going to lie, make it believable, kid.”
That the bandits who attacked this place had also attacked Willow Village was plausible enough.
But that their numbers were merely a dozen or so, that over forty to fifty village men had died without even properly resisting, and that he had killed such formidable bandits all by himself were not stories anyone could accept at face value.
How could a boy who was at most eleven or twelve years old, with a frame so scrawny that the bones of his limbs stood out, possibly do that?
Everyone knew that even if Altoans were descendants of demons or used evil magic, they lacked such capability.
Because if they truly could, those creatures would have already ruled the world.
“You don’t have to believe me, but I didn’t lie.”
“Bullshit!”
The hulking man whose palm had been scraped by Shan’s spear earlier shouted as he strode forward.
Cloth was wrapped tightly around his right hand, as if he had stopped the bleeding in the meantime.
“Roden, calm down a bit…”
“Calm down my ass! How long are we going to be played around with? It’s obvious he hid in a corner of the battlefield and stole a few weapons!”
Huffing and puffing, the hulking man soon turned his eyes toward Shan.
“You! Lower your spear and drop to your knees right now or I’ll kill you! I don’t go easy on brats!”
“So you weren’t going easy on me when your hand got scraped earlier?”
Flustered in his mind for a moment at the sarcasm that had slipped out of his mouth unawares, Shan saw veins bulge all over the hulking man’s face.
Snatching a pitchfork from a comrade right beside him, he roared and charged forward.
‘What to do.’
Should he just give a light warning like before?
But if he did that and the opponent rushed in while enduring a minor injury, it could be dangerous.
After all, if it came down to a close-range brawl, strength and weight rather than footwork and reflexes would decide the outcome.
Worrying only for a moment, Shan felt the opponent thrusting as if he didn’t care if Shan died, and discarded the thought of showing mercy like before.
Clang! The moment the spearhead and pitchfork engaged and twisted, his hand released the spear and smoothly gripped the hilt of his sword.
“Aaaargh!”
With a scream, the hulking man’s arm flopped onto the ground.