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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Nasen and Huruuku were being held in a huge, boiling cauldron. Their lower bodies were being boiled, a horrific torture.
“Haaaaak! Sa…Save me! I did everything you asked!”
“Buhiiik! I hate hot water! I don’t want to become boiled pork!”
The one torturing Nasen and Huruuku was Barickmeteo, a grotesque monster with a lion’s head and wings. Barickmeteo had saved Nasen, but it certainly wasn’t for Nasen’s sake.
“You did everything I asked? Then where is the White Witch?”
“Th…That, we really don’t know! The orb disappeared without a trace!”
Nasen believed Lina and her companions had the White Witch’s sealing orb, but if he revealed that now, he would be eaten immediately.
“Then you must die.”
Barickmeteo stoked the flames beneath the boiling cauldron, causing the water to bubble and churn even more fiercely.
“Haaaat! If…If you just spare me, I’ll somehow…I’ll find the White Witch’s seal orb! We’re the only ones who can find it now.”
Nasen cried out, gritting his teeth. Barickmeteo picked at his ear with a finger, pretending not to listen.
“I accepted you into the organization because of that seal orb. Without it, you are useless.”
“Th…That’s why I’m saying I’ll get it back! You need it!”
“What about this time’s sacrifice?”
“…”
“Did you lose the sacrifice too? Tsk. You truly are useless. You’d be better off becoming my snack.”
“Buhiiik! I…I know where the sacrifice is! I received a telepathic message from the ghoul who chased after them last!”
“Where is the sacrifice now?”
“The cliff in Nordway Forest…Buhiiik! They fell there with the annoying man! Buhiiik! It’s too hot! Put out the fire!”
“Annoying man?”
Nasen instantly knew who Huruuku was talking about. The man who always ruined their plans at crucial moments.
It was Kerry.
Of course, Nasen and Huruuku didn’t know his name.
“Th…That guy is the problem!”
“That guy?”
“The man who fell with the sacrifice! That guy always interferes with our business! If it wasn’t for him, everything would have gone according to plan!”
“Is that man stronger than the blonde woman?”
“Th…That’s not it, but…It was always that man who ruined our plans at the critical timing.”
“Hmm. I think I have a general idea of what type he is. Those types are more troublesome than those with mere strength.”
“Buhiiik! Nasen is telling the truth! That man is annoying!”
Barickmeteo growled and stroked his chin.
“I’ve decided. I will capture the sacrifice and that man. I cannot leave alive someone who interferes with the organization’s work.”
Nasen was delighted. That man’s interference had led to his current predicament. Even if that man was incredibly skilled, he wouldn’t be able to handle Barickmeteo.
“Give us one more chance!”
“I wonder what I should do. Entering my stomach now would be better than angering me further.”
“I’m so frustrated I can’t die even if I want to! I went through hell to get the White Witch’s seal orb!”
“Hehehe. Fine. You can’t escape anyway. I’ll give you one more chance. Find the White Witch’s seal orb.”
Barickmeteo released Nasen and Huruuku. Then he soared into the sky. Nasen smiled grimly as he watched him go.
The annoying man who always interfered with their plans was finally finished. Then retrieving the White Witch’s seal orb from those women would be much easier.
Nasen’s reddened legs ached, but he felt a sense of relief.
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Meanwhile, Kerry was carefully descending to the first floor of the plank house in the old tree.
He couldn’t sleep, feeling uneasy. The scratching sound he’d heard during dinner still bothered him.
Then he sensed a presence behind him. Kerry spoke in a low voice.
“Victoria. I told you to wait. Why did you come down?”
“I thought about it. Since I’m stronger…Shouldn’t I be protecting you?”
While it was true, Kerry could handle an old man by himself. His stats were pathetic.
But Kerry found Victoria’s worried expression as she followed him cute, so he decided to let it go. It didn’t seem like she would go back even if he told her to.
Kerry and Victoria carefully descended to the first floor.
The old man was nowhere to be seen. Did he have a separate bedroom? The unlit first floor felt eerily quiet.
Kerry carefully surveyed his surroundings as he moved forward. He passed the kitchen and cautiously peeked his head into the hallway where he’d heard the sound earlier.
Then something touched him from behind. Startled, he turned around to see Victoria looking sheepish.
“So…Sorry. There was such a tempting backside presented in front of me, I couldn’t help myself…”
Victoria had touched his butt. This woman really had no sense of timing. He let it slide because she was cute.
Then a chilling laugh echoed through the air. It was terrifying.
“Kikikik….Just a little…Just a little…longer.”
It was the voice of the old man who had served them dinner. However, the voice was now chillingly different.
“Who are you talking to?”
“Well, there’s no one else here but us, is there?”
A door at the end of the hallway was slightly ajar. The voice was coming from there. Something was in there.
Kerry and Victoria exchanged a glance and nodded. They had to check inside.
They tiptoed like cats, walking carefully. The old man’s chilling voice became clearer as they walked down the hallway. This was straight out of a horror movie.
If there had been any other place to stay, he would have wanted to run away immediately.
Kerry reached the slightly open door. He peeked inside through the crack.
A somewhat shocking scene unfolded before his eyes.
The old man was stroking an elderly ghoul.
“It’s okay…It’s okay…Everything will be okay…Kikik. If I offer such young and beautiful ones as sacrifices, surely He will calm His anger…He will turn you back into a human…Kikikik…”
The ghoul was bound and captured. Its mouth was gagged, likely to prevent it from making any noise.
Looking closely, the ghoul resembled a very old woman. Seeing the old man stroking the ghoul, it seemed likely that she was his wife when she was alive.
“It was my mistake to peek into the hideout. No matter how curious I was about eternal life, I shouldn’t have looked…I’m sorry…my dear…But just wait a little longer…I’ll turn you back into a human soon….Kikik. Who knew young ones would come here on their own…”
‘Hideout?’
The old man looked like a madman. No one else would caress a ghoul with such tender care.
‘There’s no way to turn someone who has completely become a ghoul back.’
Ghouls were animated corpses. There was no way for the dead to return.
“But…my dear, what have you been staring at? Do I no longer look tasty to you?”
That was when it happened. The old man, who had been intently gazing at the ghoul’s eyes, suddenly snapped his head back.
The crazed old man’s eyes met Kerry’s at the same time.
“Oh! Shit! You scared me!”
Kerry immediately ran forward and kicked the old man. Then he pointed his wooden spear at him.
The ghoul next to him started convulsing, trying to lunge at Kerry.
It wasn’t trying to save the old man. It was simply reacting to the fresh meat it hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Wh…What?! You brats….How did you get here?”
“You should have locked your door, old man.”
Victoria also looked around the room, her face darkening. It was understandable.
“I heard everything, old man. Who are you to decide who gets sacrificed?”
“…Did you hear everything?”
This old man was indeed crazy. He wasn’t even scared though a wooden spear was held to his throat.
“You don’t seem to have any intention of making excuses.”
“Would you believe me if I did?”
“Absolutely not.”
“I knew it.”
At that moment, the old man’s eyes turned crimson, and he began to transform grotesquely.
Perhaps it was something like this. The old man’s completely transformed appearance was no longer human.
Red eyes, black skin, sharp fangs. He was no different from a monster, whatever he was.
“It would have been better for you to die peacefully in your sleep. Kikikik!”
The monstrous old man was confident. After all, any ordinary human would be terrified and run away after seeing this form.
But Kerry was different. He had already seen ghouls many times and had fought monsters.
From the beginning, after checking his stats with the Eyes of the Goddess, he knew the old man wasn’t that strong.
“Fuck! Don’t act tough!”
Kerry immediately kicked the monster. The monster tumbled noisily in the small room.
“What…What the hell! Aren’t you scared?! Look at me!”
“So what, weakling. You’re barely stronger than a goblin.”
That was it. Despite his demonic appearance, his abilities were insignificant.
“Don’t underestimate me!”
“Kerry. Leave this to me.”
Victoria stepped in front of Kerry. Then she punched the charging monster in the stomach.
Her fist sank deep into the monster’s belly. That had to hurt.
The monster clutched its stomach and fell to its knees.
“Kuhhh….”
“Do you understand the situation now, gramps? I have a question. May I ask?”
“Kill me…Kihihik…”
The old man truly seemed to have no attachment to life. Had he lived long enough? No. It seemed more like life had become that difficult for him.
No matter how many times Kerry threatened him with the wooden spear, it was useless. Then he suddenly noticed the old woman ghoul still tied up and drooling.
Oh. This was a bit trashy, but there was no other way.
Kerry walked towards the old woman ghoul. The reaction was immediate.
“Kiheeek! You bastard! Don’t go near my wife!”
“And when did you tell me to cut you open?”
As Kerry poked the old woman ghoul with his wooden spear, the monstrous old man went berserk. Victoria pinned him down with her foot.
“Treasure! I hid my treasure. I’ll give you everything, so please don’t touch her!”
Treasure? He had intended to ask something else, but he’d gained valuable information.
“I’ll hear about the treasure later. That’s not what I’m curious about right now. You mentioned something about a hideout earlier…What did you mean?”
Kerry was fixated on the word “hideout.”
There couldn’t be many people around who turned people into ghouls. It might be the Skull and Pig’s hideout.
In fact, there was a high probability that the regressor, Lina, knew about the hideout, but it wouldn’t hurt to know, just in case.
“If…If I tell you…we’ll die.”
“If you don’t tell me, you’ll just die now.”
“….If I just tell you that, will you not touch her?”
“I promise.”
“I don’t know what the inside of the hideout looks like. But…I saw them entering an abandoned mine in the Magic City. The hideout is hidden there. I really didn’t see anything else. I thought there would be an elixir of immortality there…But it wasn’t…Sob. They were upset with me…and turned me into this…My wife became a ghoul because of me…Sob…This wasn’t what I wanted…”
“Thanks for the information, mister. Shall we hear about the treasure you have now?”
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Morning dawned. Kerry gathered firewood and lit a fire. Atop the high pile of wood were the bodies of the Old man and woman.
“Kerry. Do not be too sad.”
He wasn’t sad at all.
There was no other way. They had already become monsters and craved humans. There was no way he could leave them alive.
If he let them live now, they would continue to prey on people. He had already seen human bones discarded behind the old tree.
Cremating them was a return favor for the treasure.
“Victoria. Shall we check out that treasure?”
“Hmm? Yes. Let’s do that.”
They retrieved a box from the old man’s room. It was an old, shabby box, but inside were several items that looked quite valuable. Earrings, necklaces, rings, things like that.
“It looks like they were taken from other people after killing them.”
“Selling them would be quite profitable.”
Kerry took the old box.
“After selling this, I’ll split it with you, Victoria.”
“…I don’t need it.”
Victoria seemed a little depressed for some reason. Was it because they had killed the old man she initially thought well of? He had told her not to get attached to him from the beginning.
“It’s not that. It’s just…I pity those two who had to live as monsters.”
“…”
Victoria seemed to feel both anger and pity for their ways. She was unexpectedly kind.
“Let’s get going. We can’t get directions anymore, but…I heard which way to go to get out of the forest.”
“Okay.”
Kerry and Victoria walked through the forest. Lost in thought, Victoria wasn’t in a very bright mood.
“Are you worried again? That the people in the castle might have turned into monsters like them?”
“…”
“Trust me. Lina and Natasha would have handled it well.”
“I hope so…”
They continued walking through the forest. Then, finally, they saw the edge of the woods. Home at last!
“Look, Victoria. The forest is over. We can go back now.”
“But…I see something strange, too. What is that? A lion…no, a person?”
A grotesque monster with a lion’s head was approaching the edge of the forest.
“It’s you. The sacrifice and the annoying man.”
The lion-headed monster muttered as it approached.
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[Translator Notes]
