Chapter 42

Chapter 42. You, Just One Hit (2)

“Huh, huff!”

Keter, who had arrived on the second floor, looked down at the trembling village chief.

“You won’t even have time to feel the pain.”

Keter’s voice echoed down to the lower floor.

Crack! Thud.

The sound of something breaking and then collapsing reached everyone’s ears.

“Keter!”

Luke, in a fit of rage, grabbed Keter by the collar as he descended. Keter spoke with a dry, emotionless gaze.

“Seems like you’ve got some energy to spare. If you’re going to do that, why don’t you go deal with that corpse? In the basement.”

“You! Did you really kill the innocent village chief!?”

“Who in this world is truly innocent? If you dig deep enough, everyone’s a scoundrel worth killing.”

Luke glared at Keter and hurriedly went up to the second floor.

“Ahh……”

The village chief lay collapsed. His breath had already stopped. Though he looked perfectly fine on the outside, his heart had ceased to beat.

Luke, holding back tears, carried the village chief down.

“Wait.”

Arbold blocked Luke’s path and gestured to his subordinate. The subordinate checked the village chief’s neck to confirm if he was truly dead.

Nod.

Having confirmed the village chief’s death, Arbold spoke to Keter.

“He looks fine on the outside. I guess he didn’t learn archery.”

“He’s from the Lawless City.”

“Ah… ah!”

As if realizing something more, Arbold smiled subtly.

Regardless, Luke pushed past the Baydant knight blocking his way and said,

“…Move.”

“Wait. Where are you going?”

“An innocent person has died. At the very least, I should bury him.”

Arbold clicked his tongue.

“Didn’t Prince Keter say to leave him in the basement? Why are you ignoring your master’s orders?”

“Master? Keter isn’t my master. Keter is my……”

Luke bit his lip before he could say ‘partner.’

“…We’re strangers now.”

Arbold looked at Keter. His face seemed to ask, “What do you plan to do with a dog barking at its master?”

“Sephira is so stubborn. This is why there’s no progress. Right?”

“Do you really need to stay on a sinking ship? Why not escape now, Young Master Keter.”

“…What are you talking about, leaving me out of this?”

Luke, who couldn’t grasp the situation—or perhaps just now starting to—alternately glared at Keter and Arbold.

Keter, with a bored expression, pulled out a pocket watch from his pocket and checked it.

“Well. Neither of us has time. Let’s just stuff that annoying corpse in the basement.”

“Is that really okay? He’s a knight of Sephira.”

“Don’t kill him. He’s not worth it.”

Arbold looked disgusted at Keter’s merciless words.

Luke, unable to believe this reality, clenched his teeth. Two Baydant knights approached him.

“If you’re going to resist, do it quickly.”

Luke was ready to fight.

But that was just in his mind.

He couldn’t move a finger. It was as if he was paralyzed.

‘Please, move. My body. Just this once.’

Luke screamed internally.

The curse binding him wouldn’t let go, even at this moment.

As Luke trembled silently, the Baydant knights thought he was scared.

Dragging a scared person away was easier than eating cold soup.

“You’re a villain, Young Master.”

After Luke was dragged away by the knights, Arbold fully understood the kind of person Keter was.

A villain from Absinthe.

An opportunist trying to plunder the sinking Sephira.

‘He’s simple, so he’ll be easy to use. What a stroke of luck.’

Arbold felt strongly that things were going well. His guard lowered, and his composure returned. Even though they hadn’t found the Birang Tribe yet.

“I’ll call the captain.”

“How long will it take? Be precise.”

“As thorough as ever. He’ll be back within 30 minutes at the latest.”

“If he doesn’t return, I’ll consider it betrayal.”

“Of course.”

Arbold signaled his subordinates. It was a signal to keep a close watch while he fetched the captain.

Seeing his subordinates nod in acknowledgment, Arbold quickly left.

* * *

“Haaa……”

In the underground storage of the village hall.

Luke sighed deeply, feeling as if the world had collapsed.

His own incompetence. And Keter’s betrayal.

The fact that he had tarnished his father’s name and betrayed the expectations of Lord Basil weighed heavily on him.

Honestly, he still couldn’t comprehend the situation. It was too sudden, and he had no prior experience with such things.

Though called a knight, Luke, who knew little of the world, was utterly confused.

Keter’s sudden strange words and Arbold’s response as if he already knew everything. What were they talking about?

He wasn’t sure, but one thing seemed clear.

“Did Keter really betray Sephira?”

He didn’t want to admit it, but it seemed to be the only explanation. If so, he needed to escape and inform Lord Basil immediately.

But that wasn’t easy—no, it was nearly impossible.

Outside, two Baydant knights stood guard. They were the type of knights who never let their guard down. He’d have to break through purely on skill, but did he even have that?

Even if he did, the curse made it impossible for him to even throw a punch.

“I’m stupid and incompetent.”

Thud, thud.

Luke punched the ground. His fine hands were scraped, and blood began to seep out.

Then his body trembled again. Even this level of self-harm was blocked by the curse.

“Go away. I’d rather die here.”

Luke had always been afraid. If the curse worsened, he might not even be able to breathe.

But now, it didn’t matter.

If even self-reproach required the curse’s permission, he’d rather suffocate and die.

After a while, his trembling hand finally moved.

Thud!

He overcame it. Overcoming the curse’s resistance, Luke finally slammed the ground. As his hands were stained with blood, he felt a sudden presence.

Startled.

Feeling an unexpected presence, Luke jumped up.

“What? Who’s there?”

It couldn’t be the Baydant knights.

Just before entering here, he had been thoroughly searched by them. It hadn’t been long since he was imprisoned, so they wouldn’t be bringing food. There was no reason for them to come in.

It wasn’t the presence of bugs or mice either. It was definitely a human presence. But there was no one here. If anyone, it would be the village chief’s corpse……

“Ugh.”

“……!?”

The corpse moved. The village chief had come back to life.

Luke’s eyes widened. He had confirmed with his own hands that the chief was dead. No breath, no heartbeat.

For a moment, he thought the chief had become an undead, but seeing the color return to his face, that wasn’t it.

This was a true resurrection.

“Are, are you awake?”

“Ugh.”

The village chief, still disoriented, only writhed.

Then.

Bang!

The door suddenly opened.

Luke, unable to hide his shock, jumped up.

If the Baydant knights found out the chief was alive, it would be truly unstoppable. He had to hide him somehow.

But it wasn’t the Baydant knights who entered.

“The smell of alcohol is sweet, nice.”

“Keter……!”

As soon as Keter entered, Luke grabbed him by the collar. The Baydant knights, watching from behind the door, clicked their tongues and closed it.

“What face do you have to come here?”

Luke even hid from Keter that the village chief had come back to life.

“Don’t make a fuss. Did I kill anyone? He’s alive. That old man.”

“…….”

The village chief lay still as if dead again.

But Keter knew the village chief had come back to life. Even someone as slow as Luke could realize that by now.

“Did you do this? How?”

“Not how, but what are you going to do now?”

“…….”

“Before that, let me ask you one thing. Do you have the will to fight?”

“I do. But……”

He didn’t want to say it.

About his curse, about his incompetence.

But his curse was too prominent to hide completely. If it was going to be exposed embarrassingly someday, it was better to say it now.

“I’ll be honest. I’m cursed. I’ve been like this since birth. Whenever something dangerous happens, my instincts block me. I can’t do anything. Some say it’s protecting me, but to me, it’s just a curse.”

“Ah, that type? Oh… this is rare.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying you might be a bigger deal than I thought.”

“What?”

Luke couldn’t follow Keter’s words with his own head.

“Okay. Request accepted.”

“Wait. What request are you accepting?”

“That curse, I’ll solve it for you. In return, you just have to do one thing for me. How about it?”

“You’ll solve it? My curse? It’s just called a curse, but it’s not really a curse. Even priests and mages couldn’t figure it out.”

“That’s not my concern. One condition: you must do one thing for me. Will you accept or not?”

“Sigh. If you can solve it, what’s one request? I’d do it three, no, ten times.”

“Great. Do it ten times.”

When Keter shamelessly demanded, Luke quickly changed his words.

“No, I was joking. Let’s make it once.”

“Tsk, fine. Once it is. But swear it.”

“Swear too?”

Luke really wondered if Keter could solve his curse. He was too confident.

But he didn’t have much faith. It might just be a trick to deceive him, like now.

However, no one had ever spoken with such certainty about solving his curse.

So Luke wanted to believe, even if it was a lie.

“I swear. By Queen Lilian and……”

Keter cut off Luke, who was about to make a conventional oath.

“Don’t swear by Lilian. Swear by your ancestors.”

“Keter. Are you messing with me? I don’t even know who my real parents are, how can I swear by my ancestors?”

“Then there’s no need to hesitate, right? They’re just strangers anyway.”

“Sigh. I swear by my ancestors. If you solve my curse, I’ll do one thing for you, no questions asked.”

“Okay. Request accepted.”

“So, how are you going to solve it? You can tell me now, right?”

“Well, aren’t you curious about the situation first? It’s nothing much. Those guys came here looking for the Beastman Tribe.”

“Beastman Tribe……?”

Even though he heard the answer, Luke couldn’t understand.

Luke wasn’t called ignorant anywhere. As weak as he was in actual combat, he had worked hard to build up theory and knowledge, so he knew more than others, never falling behind.

“That long-haired pervert said there’s a reward for information. The amount was 10,000 gold. In this world, there are only three cases where you get 10,000 gold just for reporting.”

Keter held up three fingers.

“First, discovering an ancient god’s ruins. Second, sighting the missing Elf Goddess. And the last?”

Luke, taking the baton, opened his mouth.

“Reporting one of the Seven Evil Tribes who rebelled against the Empire……”

“And among them?”

“Birang Tribe, Moon Beast Tribe, Tahlon Tribe… that’s all I know.”

“There are more, but those are the only ones presumed to be alive, so you’re right.”

“Then… is one of those three hiding in Hakoz Village? And the Baydant family came here to find them?”

It was an unbelievable story. That such a massive figure of a beastman was hiding in this small village.

Moreover, how did the Baydant family know, and how did Keter figure it out?

Luke began to see Keter as even more mysterious.

“Do I look impressive now?”

“No. More suspicious.”

“Problem solvers tend to be prejudiced against.”

“I get that the Baydant family is looking for the Beastman Tribe. Then we can just take the money and leave quietly, right?”

“No, we have to stop them.”

“Huh? Why? It’s 50,000 gold, right? That’s huge. If you bring that to Lord Basil, he might even hug you and dance. And if you’re going to stop them, why not just fire a signal flare?”

“Luke. You really must have saved a country in your past life. Getting lessons from me isn’t easy. When you go back, be nice to Old Man Jacques, really.”

“…What else don’t I know?”

“A lot. First lesson.”

Keter pointed silently at the village chief, who was pretending to be dead, and smiled.

“There are no coincidences in this world.”