Chapter 67
The man couldn’t continue speaking readily.
As Kaiden guessed, it seemed there was a separate inside story.
“I was just scared….”
The man didn’t seem to intend to confess the truth willingly. Rather than wasting time like this, it would be better to take a strong measure.
Kaiden pointed his sword at the opponent’s neck.
“Eek!”
“If you lie, I could cut your neck right now.”
“I, I, I’ll tell the truth! Please spare me!”
The man started trembling and rubbing his hands together begging.
When he withdrew the sword, the man spoke rapidly.
“There is a common point among the people who turned to stone.”
“What is that?”
“……They are the men who lured Jane into the forest that night.”
The man reluctantly said and tightly closed his eyes.
Kaiden couldn’t immediately interpret the man’s words and made a puzzled expression.
A moment later.
“……Don’t tell me they raped her or something?”
When Kaiden glared, the man avoided his gaze and said.
“I, I had no choice. That incident was led by Charles, who was Jane’s fiancé. Charles is a young man noted as the next village chief in this village. His words were like law.”
Kaiden sent a contemptuous look to the man making absurd excuses.
Anyway, in the point of doing bad things to an innocent woman, his sin couldn’t be said to be lighter than Charles’s.
When Kaiden was silent, perhaps anxious, he continued.
“So, Charles died first! That day, I saw through the window those two going somewhere! The next day, I told my friends it was Jane’s doing, but no one believed me. Then they all turned to stone!”
He was trembling but didn’t hide the killing intent in his bloodshot eyes.
The man, terrified to the extreme, on the contrary, couldn’t control his agitated emotions and fiercely raged.
“Now only I am left. They all clearly died by Jane’s hand! Rather than waiting for the day to die, I just tried to kill her first!”
With momentum as if he would rush back if the village chief’s granddaughter was there, the knight beside sighed.
“He’s someone who usually lives immersed in conspiracy theories.”
The knight seemed not to believe the man’s words at all.
At that time, someone entered inside. The knight recognized the woman and was flustered.
“Jane! Why did you come here?”
“Uncle….”
Jane with a pale complexion staggered inside.
She said she was ambushed, and there was a vivid bruise mark around her neck.
Besides that, there were many small wounds, hard to look at with open eyes.
The man in the iron bars foamed at the mouth and collapsed as soon as he saw Jane.
Jane glanced at the man and continued.
“Just release him. He’s a pitiful person. I don’t want the village to be disturbed because of me.”
The knight looked at Jane pitifully. He probably thought she came thinking of the village chief.
At that time, Kaiden refused flatly.
“That won’t do.”
“Yes?”
“She’s still under interrogation. It just so happens I was about to talk with you too.”
At his words, the startled knight bravely stepped forward.
“Y-Your Grace. Jane hasn’t been long since she suffered the incident. It would be better to interrogate after some time….”
“No. I’ll do it. Your Grace, if it’s okay, can we talk at my house? This place is a bit scary after all.”
“Sure.”
Since the person concerned accepted, the knight had no choice.
Kaiden entrusted the criminal to the knight and followed Jane.
As they entered the village chief’s house, a strange scent came from inside.
“I lit some incense because grandfather seems to need calming.”
Jane said as if excusing and brought tea. At that time, Kaiden said softly.
“Did you perhaps already take care of the village chief too?”
“……Yes?”
Jane’s hand pouring tea stopped abruptly. A moment later, her eyes reddened.
“Don’t tell me you believe all that man’s words?”
The trembling voice was enough to evoke pity, but Kaiden was still indifferent.
Instead, he asked a strange question.
“There are many wounds on your body. Especially the wound on the wrist seems to have been made quite a long time ago.”
“This is….”
Jane hid her wrist and trembled in surprise.
“What I was reported is that only your neck was strangled. Perhaps it’s a scar from that night?”
That night. At the unwelcome word, Jane’s expression hardened in an instant.
“……When did you know?”
Jane asked with her head deeply bowed.
At that moment, her hair seemed to ripple in the air and took on a snake-like shape.
Kaiden closed his eyes and entered combat stance.
“Well. From the time a terrible smell came from you?”
“……”
“Did you think I wouldn’t know that the scent vibrating in the house is anesthetic poison?”
“You fell into the trap on your own?”
“Precisely, it’s the side that drove you into a corner. Poison doesn’t work on me.”
At that moment, Jane threw the hot kettle she was holding at Kaiden.
But he knocked away the kettle at once even with his eyes closed. At the same time, he struck down Medusa’s body with the scabbard.
“Kyaa!”
Jane, who crashed into the wall, screamed.
It was an impact that would have fractured if she were a normal person, but Jane got up fine and rushed at him. Kaiden sneered.
“Indeed a monster.”
At the same time, he started searching for the core while subduing her just enough not to kill.
It was because of what Reina had advised in advance.
“Be sure to secure Medusa’s core. Anyway, if you remove the core, the host can live. It will be troublesome, but you must never kill the host. If you do, the magic will engulf the entire village.”
Since he knew the host was human, there was no choice.
Moreover, if the magic spreads.
Unless one is trained with aura like him, they would be helpless.
Inevitably, Kaiden had no choice but to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
At that time, Reina and Michael, who came to the village chief’s house with Celine, entered inside.
“Reina?”
It was the moment Kaiden looked at her in surprise. Medusa took the opportunity and thrust her snake hair at Kaiden.
Slash-!
The snake’s head was cut, and strong poison spread inside the house.
Michael quickly covered his mouth with his sleeve and pulled Reina back.
Ritchie flapped its wings and blew the poison outside. Even with small wing flaps, tremendous wind moved from inside to outside.
In the meantime, Medusa rushed at Reina at the exit.
Because she looked the weakest among them.
But that was Medusa’s mistake.
Clang-!
A strong aura wall blocked in front of Reina.
It was the power that had been protecting her since the poison spread.
“Kuh!”
Medusa’s body bounced off like a ball. Kaiden, who quickly subdued her, covered her eyes.
“Grrr!”
Jane let out a beast-like cry and struggled.
At that time, when Reina approached without fear, Kaiden shouted.
“Don’t come!”
In the urgently turning situation, his voice was more agitated than usual.
If he hadn’t used aura just now, Reina would have been seriously injured.
Despite the cold attitude, Reina didn’t care. She, using Ritchie’s power, opened her mouth.
“The necklace. The necklace is the core.”
When Kaiden immediately took the necklace, the struggling Jane became quiet.
At the same time, the necklace turned into a snake and rushed at Kaiden.
Kaiden, who grabbed the snake’s head in one go, pressed the muzzle to subdue it.
Then, as if waiting, Reina held out the restraint for monsters.
“Don’t kill it, put it in here!”
“What?”
“Hurry!”
If he hesitated, she seemed ready to put it in herself.
She was unbelievably nonchalant for someone who was in danger just now.
In the midst of this, Reina trying to collect the core was absurd.
With a reluctant expression, Kaiden put the core into the restraint.
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By Anna 💓
