“…….”
“…….”
“Ah, was it that it’s a grave crime for a commoner to touch a noble?”
After a long silence, he tried speaking sarcastically, but Jake didn’t even make excuses.
It was unpleasant.
He almost forgot how insignificantly those with West blood flowing through them viewed life forms outside their own family.
Jake was the same.
When he saw poor people, he avoided them, and when he went to dirty neighborhoods, he frowned. And while doing so, he thought the wealth and honor they enjoyed was entirely built by themselves, not knowing how to be grateful or sorry. Exactly West itself.
The reason he tried to run out when he saw the village and children wasn’t because he was glad to see them, but simply because he was happy that his claim that there was a village here wasn’t wrong.
‘What was I expecting.’
It was foolish to have expected, even for a moment, that this guy would be different from others. It was laughable that he trusted and tried to help a West even after being treated like that.
“Klad.”
Jake called Klad as if nothing had happened. His gaze was fixed on some random place, as if he hadn’t even noticed the bad atmosphere.
Klad tried to cleanly ignore Jake’s words. If not for what followed.
“This village seems to have been attacked by demons recently.”
“What?”
Klad turned his head following Jake’s gaze.
If it had been attacked by demons, he should be able to feel demonic energy, but there wasn’t any kind of aura here…..
‘…It’s real.’
He felt demonic energy.
No matter how much his abilities weren’t what they used to be, to notice the demonic energy rippling right before his nose later than a weak hero was shocking.
Had his senses dulled from being stuck underground for such a long time?
Klad frowned and drew up his mana, scattering it where the demonic energy had clumped. The demonic energy entangled with mana sank to the ground and disappeared without a trace. The demonic energy that had accumulated in this village over time seemed to have been seeping deep into the ground and piling up layer by layer instead of ordinarily hovering in the air.
But….
“Is there some problem, Klad?”
Klad stared intently at Jake for a long while.
He couldn’t figure out what he was thinking at all.
“How did you know something I didn’t notice right away?”
“I am the Hero. When it comes to the Demon King and demons, I can detect things you can’t sense.”
Jake straightened his chest as if showing off his ability.
He was a hero weak enough that he couldn’t kill a single demon, but did that mean there was no problem with the hero’s basic ability to sense demonic energy? Being able to detect demons right away was a good ability. Though it might feel like a curse when you think about experiencing the enemy’s activities with your whole body while being unable to retaliate at all.
“Can you also tell approximately when the demon attack was?”
“I have no way of finding that out.”
“Where do you feel the demonic energy most strongly?”
“Hmm.”
After pondering for a while, Jake walked into the village interior following the path where the child had fled. Instead of nagging him to be on guard and act carefully, Klad followed behind him with a hardened face.
The village interior was more miserable than what they saw from outside.
Houses built by stacking wood had rotted and crumbled, and the walls with traces of clumsy repairs had also collapsed more than half, having long lost their original purpose. Houses destroyed as if torn apart were also visible.
Surprisingly, the presence of village residents hiding while holding their breath could be felt here and there in the ruined houses.
‘Did the demons penetrate into the village interior?’
If so, it didn’t make sense that the residents of this place, who seemed to have no way at all to respond to external attacks, had survived.
‘Were they receiving someone’s protection?’
Nonsense.
When battle begins, the ripples of mana from it spread wider than expected and remain for a long time.
No matter how much the air here was mixed with demonic energy and all kinds of unpleasant auras, there was no way he wouldn’t have noticed the mana that should remain among them.
It didn’t make sense unless the commoners who couldn’t handle magic or swords had faced the demons. Since demons don’t move around in groups, if only one appeared each time, perhaps all the village residents working together could have driven them away.
However, the entire village wouldn’t be stained with demonic energy from just that much.
It might have been possible if a demon appeared once a day every day. But demons don’t repeatedly attack places other than the capital, which has the highest population density.
It was impossible unless someone deliberately lured demons to attack this village. Logically, someone who would do such a thing…..
“The place where demonic energy feels strongest is inside here. Right over there across…… Klad?”
There was. A bastard with not even an orc’s toenail worth of common sense who would do such a thing.
‘…Duke West.’
If it was that bastard, he had both the reason and ability to do such nonsense.
*Grind,*
A village that received concentrated demon attacks in this generation, which had unusually little demon damage considering the Demon King appeared. And a secret village that wasn’t even marked on maps and hadn’t been established for long.
If Duke West, who had a map with this village’s location marked, was the party who created this place, it wasn’t difficult to guess the reason.
“As a breakwater to block the demons’ invasion of the capital?”
“Ugh,”
Simultaneously with the small muttering, tremendous bloodlust poured out from Klad.
Jake couldn’t withstand that energy and staggered backward.
Cold sweat flowed down his spine. This wasn’t the first time he’d felt bloodlust, but this was the first time it felt this painful even though it wasn’t directed at him.
“K-Klad…!”
Only after discovering Jake sitting collapsed on the ground as if crushed flat did Klad withdraw his bloodlust.
“Huk, haah….”
Jake forgot even the hero’s dignity and caught his breath for a long while while sprawled on the ground.
‘The West brat… didn’t know, it seems.’
That stupid expression of not knowing what on earth was going on made it certain. It was obvious that Jake hadn’t even known there were subjects who blocked demon attacks in his stead all this time.
Jake was just a thoughtless hero who coincidentally learned of this village’s existence and made it his destination.
“A breakwater. What on earth do you mean by that, Klad.”
“When the Demon King is born, the first to rampage aren’t the Demon King but the demons. That damage is mostly concentrated on the capital and nearby large cities.”
Jake still blinked with a dumbfounded expression. It was a face as if asking why he was explaining such an obvious thing.
Klad continued in a chilling voice.
“Duke West established this village as a shield upon news that the Demon King was born.”
“So the demons would attack this village instead of attacking the capital?”
“Yeah. The probability of the capital being attacked decreases, and if by any chance a situation arises where he needs to flee, it can also be used to buy time.”
The reason the Duke of this generation thought of this atrocious method was probably because Jake was too weak.
Because he knew Jake had no power to stop demons, let alone the Demon King.
He must have been anxious. He must have wanted to live.
But didn’t those who would have died miserably here also want to live?
‘How ridiculous.’
*Grind,*
The sound of Klad grinding his teeth echoed through the empty village.
Jake watched such a Klad for a long while, then soon nodded with an expression that hadn’t changed at all.
“So that’s what it was. I understand.”
At those words, Klad felt even worse.
“Are you sympathizing with the Duke’s actions?”
“Sympathize? I merely said I understood the reason this village was created.”
Understood.
Klad couldn’t comprehend it at all.
Neither the Duke’s actions nor Jake’s words.
“If the plan was to stop demons, there was no need to bring humans—they could have just built the village!”
“But, Klad. There are no demons who would attack a village where people don’t live.”
“So. You’re saying you ‘understand’ that terrible act of using all these people as bait.”
Klad’s two tightly clenched fists trembled. Simultaneously, a fierce wind blew and dust flew up.
Jake tried to calmly appease Klad.
“What are you doing, Klad. Do you intend to destroy the village?”
“If necessary.”
“If this village disappears, the capital will be attacked by demons.”
“Ah, right. Since there are noble lords in the capital, you can’t let that place be attacked.”
Having forced out words full of anger, Klad turned around just like that.
“Don’t go, Klad.”
Klad ignored Jake’s words and moved his feet.
An urgent voice struck at Klad’s back.
“It’s an order.”
Ha. He couldn’t even laugh now.
“Do I look like someone who would listen to noble trash?”
“I’m not giving an order as the noble Jake West, but as the party’s leader giving an order to my party member.”
It was an absurd statement to the point that his past few days of firmly believing that at least Jake would be different from other Wests felt foolish.
Klad answered resolutely without even looking back.
“Humoring your playing house ends here.”
“Klad….”
Ignoring Jake’s desperate call, Klad walked into the darkness and disappeared.
“…….”
Even after Klad left, Jake stood alone in the empty street for a long while.
No matter how long he waited, Klad didn’t return.
“This is serious.”
Jake’s expression as he muttered that was more calm than expected.
