IRM Chapter 17
The atmosphere in the small camp suddenly became tense, with swords drawn. Kael’s originally gentle and friendly gaze suddenly turned cold and sharp as he stared at Ji Chi and asked again, “Who exactly is in the house? Why didn’t they make any sound before?”
Ji Chi secretly sighed at the trouble, but his expression showed complete confusion as he hurriedly stood up. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Ah, you mean inside the room?”
His natural degree of feigning ignorance made even Saintess Coralie couldn’t help but lift her head to glance at him.
Ji Chi stepped past Vanessa and the others, walking step by step toward the small wooden house in the night. Before opening the door, his movements became very gentle and light.
Vanessa had obviously misunderstood. She turned her massive sword blade, with the broad sword tip pointing toward Ji Chi’s direction—a posture shifting from defense to attack.
Ji Chi opened the door just a small crack, turned his head back, and gently waved to them. “Keep your voices down, my little brother had a nightmare and just fell asleep.”
Kael hesitated for a moment and was about to step forward when Vanessa frowned and stopped him. “Captain, let me go.”
Kael didn’t insist on being stubborn. He nodded and took out a cylindrical object from his armor with his left hand—it was a summoning scroll. He gripped the summoning scroll tightly, looking ready to tear it open immediately if the situation turned bad.
Vanessa put away her great sword and walked toward Ji Chi step by step, her boots forcefully leaving shallow pits in the ground with each step.
She reached the doorway, leaned her shoulder against the door frame, and turned her head to look inside.
The hunter’s cabin deep in the forest had a very small area—you could walk from end to end in five or six steps. Soft moonlight poured in through the window, spreading across the simple wooden single bed.
On the narrow bed was only a small curled-up figure that looked completely unthreatening. The young man who had entered earlier was crouching beside the bed, his fingers resting on the bed’s edge, speaking in low tones to that small bundle.
The small bundle moved restlessly, revealing a pair of eyes that looked fearfully toward Vanessa.
The dim environment concealed the small undead’s dull deep blue eyes, making his eyes look identical to Ji Chi’s rare black pupils. Vanessa pressed her lips together and slowly returned her great sword to her back.
She nodded apologetically toward Ji Chi, turned and walked outside. The clanking of her armor became much quieter as she walked, as if worried about disturbing the child’s shallow dreams inside the house.
Ji Chi withdrew his gaze and looked down at the small undead before him.
The small undead trembled. “I’m… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I was just too scared…”
Seeing his terrified appearance, Ji Chi sighed helplessly and said, “Tomorrow, be honest with them about the village situation. Since they want to help you, they have the right to know the truth.”
This “them” referred to Evan and Saintess Coralie outside the house.
The small undead’s thin fingers twisted within his cloak. He was silent for a while, then pleaded in a small voice, “When we reach the village, I’ll definitely tell them, okay?”
Ji Chi: “Why wait until then?”
The small undead curled up his body. “I want you all to see that everyone isn’t bad people, that we’re not dirty at all…”
Ji Chi went through the game’s plot in his mind and closed his eyes: “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”
I’ll wait for you to bring me the True Ending.
When Ji Chi returned to the campfire, the atmosphere in the small camp became harmonious and pleasant again.
Locke swung off the heavy bow and arrows from his back, rotating his shoulders with both hands in circles. He rummaged through his pack at his feet for a while and pulled out a piece of hard, dry bread that had gone sour.
Locke’s expression went blank for quite a while. He cracked his neck and stared longingly at the sizzling, oil-dripping roasted meat on the fire. “Can I increase the payment a bit to exchange for some roasted meat?”
Kael pressed down on his dog-like head and looked apologetically at Ji Chi. “I’m terribly sorry about earlier… Please forgive our rude behavior.”
Ji Chi shook his head. “I understand, it’s right to be vigilant.”
This statement made the three knights feel very comfortable, and even Vanessa’s frozen expression softened a bit.
Locke became even more familiar and sidled up. “That’s right! You don’t know how many people we’ve encountered who seem normal on the surface but are actually hiding ghosts.”
Evan’s roasting motion paused, and he took an inconspicuous breath nearby.
Saintess Coralie sneered at the corner of her mouth. She stretched out her leg and kicked the large remaining half of the bouncing rabbit carcass toward Locke. “If you want to eat, roast it yourself. The rest was going to be thrown away anyway.”
Her actions and tone were quite impolite, even rude, but Locke didn’t get angry. Instead, he stared blankly at Saintess Coralie’s face, inadvertently exposed in the firelight.
“Saint, Saintess…” Locke stammered, but quickly realized it was impossible. He came to his senses and asked carefully, “Miss, has anyone ever told you that you look very much like…”
“What?” Saintess Coralie frowned impatiently, propped her arm on her knee, and tore off a large piece of scalding roasted meat with her mouth, asking unclearly.
Locke swallowed and, as if he couldn’t bear to see someone with a face similar to the saintess performing such crude actions, averted his eyes and said quietly, “Nothing… sorry to disturb you.”
Locke, having suffered a spiritual shock, had no energy left to cause trouble. The entire camp became much quieter. Kael thanked Saintess Coralie and took the large half of the rabbit that was still warm, processed it slightly, and shared it with his two companions.
As night deepened, the three Holy Knights showed no intention of competing for the small house. They skillfully took out a type of lightweight oilcloth from their packs and spread it on the damp forest clearing.
In the silent deep night, only the dying embers of the campfire remained flickering. The tireless magic tiger beast quietly guarded the camp until dawn appeared.
When dawn was just breaking and Ji Chi’s group of three, along with the tightly wrapped small undead, emerged from the wooden house, Kael and his companions had also been awake for a while.
Since the noisy Locke had been sent by the captain to hunt for provisions in the forest, the camp was now very quiet. In front of the dying campfire, only Vanessa was silently packing her gear.
Kael was replenishing magic power for his summoned beast not far away. When he saw Ji Chi come out of the house, he walked over to them. “Are you setting off?”
Ji Chi nodded.
Kael took out a money pouch from a gap in his armor. “Then, we’ll leave the situation in Bien Village to you all. Here’s a small deposit, and the remaining payment will be sent to the Magic Academy.”
Ji Chi accepted the money pouch and looked inside. Coins glinting with bright golden light weighed heavily in the small cloth bag—it was half a year’s income for an ordinary commoner.
Ji Chi glanced at it and withdrew his gaze. “Don’t worry, we’ll convey the message to the Church.”
As for whether the message is truthful or not, that’s hard to say. Ji Chi added silently in his heart.
Kael smiled gratefully at him, made a fist with his right hand, and struck his chest. “The God of Light will bless you all.”
When the three magic beasts carrying the small mages disappeared into the jungle, Kael withdrew his gaze and said to Vanessa, “Judging by the time, Locke should be back soon, so let’s hurry and set off as well.”
Vanessa was still looking in the direction they had left. She recalled the scene she had just witnessed—when that female mage mounted her magic beast, a strand of sun-like golden hair had slipped out from under her cloak.
That pure golden color was very rare. She had only seen it on two people.
Former Saintess Sheryl, and current Saintess Coralie.
“I feel something’s not right,” Vanessa turned to Kael and said expressionlessly.
Hearing this, Kael frowned. As a warrior bathed in blood and gunpowder, Vanessa’s intuition was rarely wrong, so he looked back toward Bien Village’s direction. “Even you say so… It seems we must go to Bien Village.”
****
The Gentle Wind Forest in the early morning was shrouded in cool, moist thin fog. Along the way, unknown birds and beasts were startled by the running magic beasts, causing a commotion.
When the trees became increasingly sparse and sunlight gradually penetrated the forest, the outline of Bien Village had already appeared faintly at the forest’s edge.
The magic beasts stopped in their tracks when they were less than a hundred meters from the village, restlessly pacing in place, refusing to advance another step.
But at this moment, no one paid attention to them. Evan and Saintess Coralie both stared blankly toward the village ahead, their eyes filled with astonishment.
Only Ji Chi, sitting behind the small undead, held the reins with his eyes completely calm.
The village that was once called the bridge connecting to the Angel Kingdom was now shrouded in an ominous aura of death. Ordinary people might just find it gloomy and terrifying, but in the eyes of two light mages with high talent, this village was submerged in extremely concentrated dark magic.
Evan stiffly turned his head and asked the small undead. “What… what’s going on?”
The small undead lowered his head to avoid his gaze. He stared at the blackened, withered grass and trees on the ground, his low tone full of sorrow, “We… are all dead.”