Chapter 40: The Abandoned Village, Filat (2)

The village chief, Ahad, too, displayed the tenacity of an old warrior as he swung his sword busily. But then, Ahad was sent sprawling backward when a Saliva Wolf rammed into his body.

The Saliva Wolf drooled as it bared its teeth toward Ahad.

Chwaak—!

In that instant, the Saliva Wolf’s neck was severed.

The one who had swung the sword was Raion.

Seeing him, Ahad suddenly recalled their encounter at the meeting hall.

“Y-you’re…!”

“I told you I’d help, didn’t I? Storage!”

[Storage]

Steel Sword × 50

Steel Spear × 50

Wooden Arrow × 1,000

Raion opened the storage and pulled out the weapons he had crafted little by little before coming to the village of Filat.

As weapons piled up like a mountain on the ground, Ahad’s eyes widened.

“How in the world did you…?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, distribute them to the people. I’ll handle the rest of the monsters.”

Cha-cheng! Chwaak—!

Raion blocked a goblin’s dagger, instantly countered, and charged at the monster.

The combination of True Martial Art techniques and Raizen-Style Swordsmanship was incredibly fast.

Furthermore, with the Energy Emission imbued with mana, a single strike was enough.

Pwak—!

In a flash, more than twenty Saliva Wolves and goblins fell around him.

“At this level, my body must have grown even stronger than in my previous life.”

Raion didn’t stop there and continued cutting down every monster he saw.

Moreover, since the sword bore an Engraving of Decomposition, it even tore apart the regenerative abilities that monsters gained under the full moon.

Meanwhile, Village Chief Ahad instructed the villagers to quickly distribute the weapons supplied by Raion.

The tide of the battle began to tilt in favor of Filat Village.

Jade, too, was cutting down numerous monsters, allowing the defensive line to be held at the palisade.

Once most of the monsters outside the village were driven off, Raion climbed up the palisade and drew a Fire Formation.

“Remote Engraving! Engraving Expansion!”

With his incantation, the formation traced by his fingers appeared in large patterns on the ground outside the wall.

The monsters continued to charge, trying to leap over the palisade.

Watching them, Raion waited for the right moment—then activated the formation.

“Emission!”

As the formula of the spell Fire was triggered, immense flames rose up, surrounding the outer wall.

The monsters were engulfed in fire and began to burn.

Graaah! Grrrk! Gahk!

Startled by the sudden inferno, even the monsters began to flee.

But then, the flames caught the trees and started spreading in the direction the monsters had come from.

“Huh?”

As the forest began to blaze stronger, Raion realized something was wrong.

Then, Jade, having mostly cleaned up the remaining monsters, ran up beside him.

“This looks like it’s turning into a forest fire!”

“I can see that!”

Raion, now flustered, thought about casting the 1st Circle spell Water, but the amount of water it produced would be far too little.

So instead, he drew the formula for the 2nd Circle spell Water Shield and expanded its engraving to enlarge it tremendously.

A massive shield made entirely of water materialized in Raion’s hands.

He immediately hurled it toward the part of the forest where the flames burned fiercest.

Once it landed roughly in the right place, he cast another spell.

“Decomposition!”

The Water Shield instantly lost its shape and turned into pure water, raining down onto the forest.

Shwaaaaaaa!

As the torrential water fell like a downpour, the rapidly spreading fire began to die out.

“Phew… We’re safe.”

“If you hadn’t acted so quickly, the whole village would’ve burned down.”

Fortunately, the wind had been blowing westward, rising along the Clamen Mountain Range.

Of course, Raion had noticed that and expanded the fire formation accordingly—but he hadn’t anticipated that the flames would spread so rapidly through the forest.

“That was really close. Are all the monsters gone now?”

The bright blue full moon had already dipped beyond the opposite side of the Clamen Mountain Range.

That meant the battle had lasted a long time.

Most of the monsters that had invaded the village were already dealt with.

Confirming that, Raion sheathed his sword.

Inside the devastated village lay the corpses of both monsters and villagers alike.

“How terrible.”

“Master, even though this must be your first time witnessing such a scene, you seem far too composed—as if you’re used to it.”

The former Raion would never have been able to even face monsters like this.

But now, Raion also carried the life of Kang Inhyuk, who had wandered through countless battlefields in his previous life.

To survive, he had slain more people on the battlefield than he could ever count.

Of course, in a battle like this, I could remain calmer than anyone else.

“So, does that seem strange to you?”

“No, not at all. I only think it’s fortunate.”

While the two of us were talking, the village chief, Ahad, approached with the village men.

As soon as they reached Raion, Ahad and the men immediately fell to their knees.

“Thank you so much! Had it not been for your help, my lord, our village would have been annihilated!”

“Thank you!”

Raion didn’t think much of their attitude.

“It’s enough that I was of help.”

In truth, Filat Village should have disappeared with this full moon.

The village’s finances and condition had been in utter ruin, and in the end, it couldn’t withstand the monster attack.

But thanks to Raion’s foresight and help, that future had been completely erased.

“Please forgive my rudeness last night! If my behavior offended you, I’ll gladly offer my neck!”

“V-Village Chief! You mustn’t say that!”

The men quickly tried to stop him.

Raion frowned at Ahad’s extreme words.

“I don’t have a hobby of chopping off perfectly fine heads, so let’s leave it at that. More importantly, what are you planning to do with Filat Village now?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“I mean the village. Are you going to keep living like this, trembling in fear every time monsters attack?”

Ahad’s face darkened at Raion’s question.

“Even if you ask that, we have no solution. Marlen and Praizen both deny that this is their village. In the end, it was handed over to Kanas Territory, but what can we possibly expect from them?”

Normally, a village was affiliated with a territory, paying taxes and receiving support from its lord.

However, Filat Village, being adjacent to the Clamen Mountain Range, had suffered monster attacks not only during full moons but quite frequently.

Since the village contributed little tax, both Marlen and Praizen found it troublesome and kept pushing the village’s jurisdiction onto each other.

“You said it was passed on to Kanas? Are you certain of that?”

It was the first time Raion had heard of it.

Naturally, in the original future, Filat was supposed to be destroyed by this full moon, so he wouldn’t have known.

“Yes. A couple of months ago, representatives from Marlen and Praizen came and officially handed over the documents.”

“So, you’re paying taxes to Kanas now?”

“We’re supposed to, but… it’s impossible since we can’t cross the Clamen Mountain Range.”

In the end, Filat Village had been abandoned by both territories.

They had merely survived this long by clinging to life.

Meanwhile, a faint smile appeared on Raion’s lips as he muttered to himself.

“This might turn out better than I thought.”

“What do you mean?”

Jade asked, not understanding what he meant.

“If Filat Village is already under Kanas Territory, that means the Clamen Mountain Range is included as well.”

“Well, yes, that’s true… but what good comes from including such a dangerous mountain range in the territory?”

A lord was responsible for everything that happened within their domain, including monster extermination.

Naturally, the more dangerous regions a territory contained, the more disadvantageous it was for its lord.

Jade understood that much, which made him even more confused.

But Raion had already planned to include the Clamen Mountain Range within Kanas Territory.

In the original future, he had lived too secluded a life to ever notice such details.

“You’ll see soon enough. More importantly, let me reintroduce myself to the chief. I am Raion Canel, Third Prince of the Canel Kingdom.”

The chief and the men, who had been listening quietly, gasped at that introduction.

“Y-you mean, you’re truly a p-prince?”

“I know it’s hard to believe. I was actually on my way to Kanas Territory for an important matter. This might serve as proof.”

Raion took out a golden badge from his coat and showed it to the chief.

A golden lion’s head was engraved on it, with the noble name Canel deeply inscribed.

“T-this is a real royal badge!”

In fact, Ahad had once worked as a royal guard soldier in his youth.

He had seen the royal family’s badges several times back then.

Moreover, after witnessing the skills and strange magic Raion and Jade had displayed in battle, he had no choice but to believe.

“So, you believe me?”

“Of course, I do!”

“Then, are your villagers trustworthy?”

Raion was asking about their loyalty.

Ahad pondered for a moment before replying.

“The people of this village are those who risked their lives to stay until the very end. I can proudly say they are indeed trustworthy.”

Raion found his earnest tone reassuring.

“Good. Then from now on, Filat Village will become a key outpost connecting to Kanas Territory. You’ll receive full support in supplies and manpower, so you need not worry any longer.”

“R-really?”

Ahad’s tone trembled with disbelief.

Raion fully understood his reaction.

“Do you not trust my word?”

“N-no! I believe you!”

As Ahad bowed his head deeply, some of the men behind him whispered among themselves.

“So we won’t have to buy weapons and food from that damned greedy merchant anymore?”

“I’d say so. If I see that bastard again, I’ll tear him apart myself!”

Of course, Raion could hear their conversation.

It was strange to him that a peddler would visit such a dangerous village at all.

“A traveling merchant comes here?”

The men fell silent, so Ahad answered in their place.

“There’s one merchant who somehow shows up near the end of every full moon.”

“That must be the greedy one they mentioned. Just how bad is he?”

If it was a merchant who sold things unfairly, Raion was already thinking of dealing with him personally.

“He brings weapons like steel swords and spears, but sometimes charges two to three times the market price.”

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