Don’t Look for the Resurrected Villainess - Chapter 70
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 70
As soon as we opened the door and stepped out, a ‘Village Resident who happened to be passing by’ blocked our path.
When we said we’d go see the monster without eating first, he found it strange but reluctantly stepped aside. He seemed to think it didn’t matter anyway since we couldn’t open the barrier.
“Since you say you’ll eat after returning, I’ll leave it at that. And as you’ve seen, only monsters can enter the barrier. Humans can neither enter nor exit. Even so, it’s dangerous, so don’t get too close.”
I stopped dead in my tracks as I was about to turn around after receiving the lamp. Forgetting my resolve not to stand out in front of the residents, I grabbed the resident’s arm.
“Humans can’t enter the barrier?”
“Yes, yes?”
“The barrier, I mean. Only monsters can pass through?”
“That’s right. It’s for capturing monsters… Fortunately, they can’t get out. But miss, your appearance is quite…”
“Ah, hahaha! I see! What an interesting barrier! I understand the precautions!”
Jeon hurriedly wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me away, inserting himself between the resident and me. Samuel followed, using his imposing build to glare menacingly down at the resident.
“Didn’t you say you were just passing by?”
“Ah, yes. Yes!”
The resident hurriedly backed away. Even so, he didn’t go far and kept glancing at us, watching our movements.
“Really, what are you doing speaking so suddenly like that? No matter how small a fishing village this is, they’d all know about Revivers!”
I looked bewildered at Jeon scolding me in a low voice, then turned to Samuel who was also staring at me intently. He too seemed to want to criticize my impulsive behavior.
After pursing my lips for a moment, I just walked toward the cave without saying anything. It would be better to show them rather than explain.
* * *
It didn’t take long to reach the cave. And I handed the lamp to Jeon and quietly walked into the barrier.
After confirming that surprise spread across Jeon and Samuel’s faces, I calmly looked around at the Dura’han.
[Captain!]
[Captain, can we leave now?]
[Captain… it’s so stuffy here…]
Jigol, Tristan, and Palides crowded around me chattering. After patting them, I moved a bit further inside.
Ganic, who had been sleeping like the dead until earlier, was standing in a corner looking at me.
[Captain…]
It was a thick, low bass voice. He stood there blankly facing me for a while, then slowly knelt before me.
[The eighth Knight who wanders searching for his lost head, Ganic greets you.]
His figure bowing his upper body deeply toward my feet looked like a Knight making a sacred oath.
“Yes, Ganic.”
[I’m sorry to meet you in such circumstances. Having taken a monster’s body, I’ve become unable to even break such a trivial prison.]
Ganic was serious to a burdensome degree. Palides and Jigol openly whispered, “There he goes setting the mood again.”
Tristan rubbed his arms saying he was getting goosebumps. But Ganic wasn’t swayed by their reactions at all. No, he was remarkably serious.
“That part can’t be helped. What I’m curious about is how all this started – can you explain it to me?”
[Of course.]
Ganic’s explanation was longer than expected.
To summarize, it went like this. When Ganic opened his eyes, before he could fully regain his reason, he faced a monster attack and instinctively fought and won.
However, he soon collapsed from exhaustion, and when he opened his eyes, he was trapped in this snare. That was how he was first captured.
Later, monsters appeared again, and Ganic was released like a hunting dog. Naturally, after defeating the monsters, Ganic tried to leave this place.
But he couldn’t.
[I heard screaming and went to look, and there was a bleeding Young Lizardman.]
What was there?
[It was trapped in an Iron Cage Surrounded by Holy Water, so I couldn’t approach it.]
“…Why was a Lizardman…”
[That creature… was the offspring of the monster I first defeated when I opened my eyes. The humans called it the offspring of a sea monster.]
Ganic continued in a sorrowful voice.
[I heard what the humans were saying. The sea monster was dead, but other monsters kept attacking so it was dangerous, which is why they couldn’t release the offspring. I’m sorry, Captain. I couldn’t ignore that creature’s screams… Though I couldn’t communicate with the humans, since I eliminated the threat for them, they’ll surely release that creature soon. Then my reason for being here will also disappear.]
“Do you believe that?”
I was so dumbfounded that a cynical question slipped out without thinking. At my question, Ganic answered as if it were obvious.
[Of course. Seeing them protecting the Young Lizardman with holy water means that even humans who fear monsters respect life.]
It was a very pure answer, without a speck of doubt.
[I remember. I remember how you, Captain, never lost trust in humans even after being betrayed ten times. I’m reflecting on your words that the nature of life is good.]
I was speechless and silent for a moment. What kind of captain had these Dura’han served in the past? At this point, it seemed I absolutely needed to find out.
What am I supposed to do when you’ve made what should be terrifying Dura’han into such lacking but kind beings?
“So the old captain was like that.”
[Yes, following your teachings, I too tried to trust them.]
“But now I’m the captain. So let me correct that.”
I gave Ganic a benevolent smile.
“Human wickedness always exceeds imagination.”
[…But didn’t you tell us that no matter how nasty the opponent, we can change them with effort?]
“Oh my, did the past captain say such nonsense?”
I don’t know who it was, but I want to grab them by the collar and shake them. If you’re going to have such stupid thoughts, do it alone – why did you have to corrupt innocent Dura’han too? I’d need to spit on them to feel better.
Grinding my teeth inwardly, I emphasized to the confused Ganic in a firm tone.
“Humans aren’t for fixing and reusing.”
Once might not be enough, so twice, three times. Until Ganic answered that he would take it to heart.
* * *
The giant Dura’han knelt reverently. Toward Anelli.
“So they’re subordinates…”
They seemed closer to faithful retainers than simple subordinates. Beside Jeon, who couldn’t continue speaking, Samuel also stared at Anelli with a stern face.
Anelli’s words that she wasn’t controlling monsters were now properly understood. She seemed to have no need to control monsters.
With that level of devotion, she could probably move them as she wished without the trouble of controlling them.
“How did she pass through the barrier?”
Jeon muttered suddenly. Samuel also couldn’t understand that part. But to conclude that Anelli was a monster…
“The conversation’s over.”
She was walking out so easily that they couldn’t call her a monster either.
“What’s the situation? Did you really become a guardian deity?”
At Jeon’s question, Anelli scowled deeply.
“Guardian deity, my foot. They were threatening a kind Dura’han.”
“A kind Dura’han?”
At Jeon’s dubious question, Anelli frowned and said.
“He can’t leave because he’s worried about a Young Lizardman – if that’s not kind, what is?”
“Could you explain it more understandably?”
“He defeated the sea monster for them, but these village bastards don’t know gratitude and are using the sea monster’s offspring as a hostage to exploit my good Dura’han.”
Anelli briefly explained the situation in an angry voice.
The sea monster the villagers spoke of seemed to be a Lizardman. And it started when the Dura’han somehow ended up defeating that Lizardman.
The villagers had somehow captured a Young Lizardman alive, and the Dura’han who learned of this belatedly tried to rescue the offspring but failed.
After that, the villagers claimed they couldn’t release the offspring because of monsters, and the Dura’han, believing this completely, had been defeating monsters for them all this time.
“But I didn’t sense any monster presence in the village.”
Even a Young Lizardman should give off a distinctive aura to some degree. At Samuel’s words, Anelli crossed her arms and said.
“It’s trapped in an Iron Cage Surrounded by Holy Water – could that be related?”
“Holy water isn’t something you can easily obtain…”
Samuel, who was continuing to speak, suddenly recalled the food laced with aphrodisiac that had been naturally placed out for dinner earlier. Also Mari’s words about a Knight who had come and gone.
Originally, the first time is always the hardest for anything.
“Holy water is water imbued with divine power. Just having it nearby can weaken monsters, and for something like a Young Lizardman, it could even mask its presence.”
While explaining calmly, Samuel still felt bitter and slightly lowered his gaze. It seemed he’d need to request a separate investigation from the Temple.
As he was mentally going through nearby temples, Jeon spoke up.
“Come to think of it, I heard something like this while traveling.”
Jeon glanced toward the Dark Cave Entrance and continued in a sighing voice.
“They say sprinkling monster blood attracts fish. But monster blood also draws stronger monsters, so I wondered if there’d really be anyone who’d actually do such a thing.”
Anelli pressed her lips tightly together. Her already pale complexion and cool atmosphere made the tension flow as she remained expressionless.
“….”
Samuel found himself unconsciously staring intently at Anelli. Having grown accustomed to her magically altered appearance, she looked quite unfamiliar now that she had returned to her original form.
Her violet eyes, which had been lost in thought, turned toward Samuel.
“You can detect holy water, can’t you?”
“I can sense divine energy. I felt it earlier too. But it’s not uncommon for villages to enshrine small statues to pray for peace, so I didn’t think much of it.”
“It would be right to assume that sea monster came to retrieve its offspring in the first place.”
“There’s also the possibility they caught the offspring later, isn’t there?”
Jeon suggested another possibility, but Anelli responded to his words with derision.
“Human greed is a reliable motive in any situation.”
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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