Chapter 141

The village was burning.

The raging flames devoured everything indiscriminately, be it people or buildings.

Sparks flew in the wind, and the streets were filled with black smoke.

The pale mass of tentacles that leisurely strode through the streets was limply dangling what looked like its head.

Soot-covered people were running with all their might.

Humans stampeding in one direction, terrified like a herd of gazelles that had spotted a lion.

There was a man going against this human current, alone.

In his right hand, he held his old cherished sword,

In his left, a blue sword made of ice that would not melt even in the flames.

He knew who this man was.

He tried his best to reach that person, but his legs felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, making it impossible—

"—Your Grace!"

"Huh!"

Was it a dream?

Right in front of his face was Amelia.

Startled, he sat up abruptly and looked around.

Where was this place? What about the village elder? Surely at that time...

"I-It seems we're in the s-stone building that was in the s-square. Some kind of tall t-tower... Do you r-remember?"

"This is that place?"

He remembered being dragged out of the hall.

His whole body had felt paralyzed, unable to move at all.

It was probably because of the water the elder had personally offered.

That cunning old man.

Amelia pointed to Verde who was lying limply in a corner.

"I-It seems I was the f-first to wake up. I l-looked around but there's n-no way out. And th-this physician hasn't w-woken up yet."

"What do you think we ate?"

"S-something that p-paralyzes the nerves, th-that kind of thing... B-but it seems they d-didn't intend to k-kill us."

No, they probably did intend to kill them.

The floor was covered with straw, and even though there was a window high up, the walls were damp.

The door on one side was clearly locked tight without needing to check.

The slippery moss could be felt in the crevices where the stones were stacked.

Though he hated to recall it, if he had to compare, it was similar to the warehouse in the south where he had been imprisoned when he first possessed this body.

"Do you think we can escape from here?"

"I-I don't know. It s-seems my body still d-doesn't move well."

[Amelia was ashamed that she had drunk the beverage given by someone else without a shred of doubt.

If the former Duchess had been here, she would have been severely scolded.]

The faint narrative flickered behind Amelia.

If Amelia couldn't move well, neither could he or Verde escape.

He glared at the door for a moment.

Could he use the human-faced rat to steal the key to this tower?

No matter how he thought about it, that was the only way. But since he didn't know the location of the key, he would have to search for it first.

And that would take an unknown amount of time.

In the meantime, Leandros might be in danger.

Amelia anxiously looked around.

"I-I think someone m-might be standing outside. A-and even if there's n-no guard, since th-this is in the square, th-there would be many p-people walking around."

"This means we can't move at all until nightfall when there would be fewer eyes watching, even if we come up with a plan to escape."

He and Amelia just looked at each other with faces on the verge of tears.

What should they do?

It was a complete dead end.

* * *

When the black eyes finally appeared on the snowman's smooth, pure white face, there was no one in the room.

The snowman turned only its head around to look at its surroundings.

"The incarnation of the great Lord Aphoom-Zhah has awakened. Where did everyone go? They don't even kneel to pay homage. Are they crazy? They're not in their right minds?"

With a groaning sound, short stubby ice limbs suddenly protruded from the round body that had fallen to the wooden floor with a thud.

After wobbling for a moment, the snowman could finally stand on its own.

"The great me has appeared. Where did my worshipper go? I know this is disrespectful behavior. But it's presumptuous."

Fortunately, the snowman moved by feeding on Arenheit's magic power, so as long as he wasn't too far away, it could track him down wherever he was.

The snowman, intending to surprise Arenheit, hopped across the room.

As soon as it left the guest room, the snowman retracted its limbs, disguised itself as a round ice lump, and rolled stealthily to avoid being seen by people.

It rolled through the dusty corridor,

Bounced down the dented stairs here and there.

Upon reaching the first floor of the inn, the snowman rolled along the wall and stopped briefly.

The first reason it stopped was because the inn's door was firmly closed,

And the second was because of the conversation of the people gathered at the inn.

"...So, you've locked them all up there?"

"Yes. Everyone is taking turns guarding the area now."

"It would be troublesome if the village's affairs spread outside. It would have been good if they had just rested comfortably like travelers and left quietly."

"We need to strengthen the artifact that leads to the back alley. Look, even without those people, there have occasionally been people escaping that way."

The murmuring voices stopped at the sound of something pounding the floor.

"Everyone be quiet! The red-haired one and his companions have been locked up, so use them effectively when reinforcing the artifact."

Red-haired one?

The snowman, a ball of ice, rolled silently towards the source of the voice.

The old man's stern voice continued.

"But the real problem is outside the village. There's news that they'll soon spread those eggs here. We don't know how they'll invade here."

"But Elder, how can they break through the artifact and come here? After hatching, their intelligence drops severely. Even if they try to come to the center, they'll get lost."

"But there were people who went from here. That means they could come from there too. That fact is clear."

A moment of silence fell.

Someone carefully asked.

"But how else can we prepare... We're doing everything we can. We can't be more thorough than this."

"Not measures to stop them. Measures to attack them first."

Someone gasped.

The murmuring began again, but the elderly man called Elder spoke calmly.

"Since we became at odds with them, we've always had to be wary of them. Those eggs they spread are symbols of corruption, evidence of denying humanity. Unless we completely drive them out of the village, we will end up shedding tears as we watch our loved ones walk the path of corruption."

"But Elder."

"I know what you're going to say. Of course, if it's not feasible, we have the option to leave this village. But can you abandon the house where your parents lived? Or can you leave behind the new house and land you built dreaming of a different life?"

People fell silent again.

The elder raised his voice even more.

"Those heretics, blinded by immortality, who have given up on being human! We must drive them out of the village. Otherwise, Gallo will no longer be a village of humans, but a village of monsters!"

"Y-yes, drive them out. This is originally human land!"

"That's right, there's no place for such monsters!"

"Drive them out! Reclaim it!"

"Burn it all down, leave nothing! All of them!"

"Why should we be cooped up in the center, frightened? Let's get rid of them!"

The excited voices grew louder and louder.

Burn them, eliminate them, kill them all!

The snowman, now ice, tried to quietly back away from the ominous atmosphere.

But at that moment, there was a creature blocking the snowman's path.

"A hybrid? Why is a monster rat here? Won't you step aside? Even looking like this, I am fearsome ice. How insolent?"

The human-faced rat thrust its old man's face at the snowman and sniffed.

The snowman rolled around trying to avoid it, shouting.

"How insolent! I am the incarnation of the great Aphoom-Zhah! Show respect! Bow down! Smelly creature!"

Perhaps frightened by the snowman's chattering, the human-faced rat retreated for a moment.

Then the rat stood on its hind legs and grabbed the snowman.

"Huh?"

The rat started running with it.

The snowman began to scream frantically, and people, confused by the sudden wailing, began to look down at their feet.

"Insolent! Insolent! Crazy rat! My worshipper! My worshipper! Save me! Save me!"

The human-faced rat ran through the gaps between people, the furniture and household items in empty houses, and the tall grass in the backyard.

The sight of a rat holding a round piece of ice and running on two feet was truly bizarre.

The snowman's shrieks continued all the way to the back alley.

The screams of the snowman, which had been a medley of anger, pleading, and threats to kill, finally stopped,

After a large hand took the snowman away from the human-faced rat.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice somewhere. Why are you causing a commotion in a place like this?"

"Human male!"

The snowman was so happy it almost shed tears.

Of course, that would only be if the snowman were human.

The snowman, struggling in his hand, pulled out its limbs.

"That worthless monster rat went crazy. It brought me all the way here. It will be punished! I'll freeze it! Freeze its brain and bury it at the bottom of a glacier!"

"You talk a lot for someone who was kidnapped."

When Leandros put the snowman down, it crawled onto the top of his foot on its own.

"The great me is generous. But where is this place? What kind of place is this?"

"A place you don't need to know about."

There were many people on the street.

It was completely different from when he was just at the inn.

He thought it might be a different road, but as soon as he saw the people bustling about with seemingly happy faces, the snowman noticed something strange.

"Why are ■■-■■■■'s children here? Strange. Is this where she built her nest? Not yet. I didn't feel anything."

"What did you say?"

"■■-■■■■'s children. Unhatched eggs. Ripened pods of beans. They parasitize humans or animals. But this is the first time I've seen so many."

Leandros turned away from the name that was mixed with noise and completely unintelligible.

On the bodies of passing people, each had a grayish-white egg attached, whether large or small.

"With so many children, it's hard work. Do humans willingly take on hardship? Foolish. There are quite a few hatched children too. I can feel that."

"Are you talking about those gray eggs? What happens when many children hatch in one place?"

"Human knight, you don't know that? Then the mother finds out."

"Mother?"

What did he mean by mother?

But before that, the snowman completely blew away Leandros's doubts.

"People at the inn said it. Burn it all. Eliminate everything. That's effective. With so many children? All humans will die. They become hosts for the children. And then the mother of darkness comes. The village burns. Everyone watches the fire. Everyone here disappears. All humans. If your life is precious? Run away."