Zich led Hans and Snoc quickly down the mountain. His movements were rough, but both Hans and Snoc didn’t express any complaints. It was because the dark smoke that came out of the small village looked alarmingly dangerous.
‘Is it a raid? Or is it a simple fire?’
Because it came from far away, Zich couldn’t identify the specific source until they arrived at the village. However, he was sure that something abnormal was happening.
‘There’s a high chance that I could do a kind act.’
Although Zich had decided to beat bad guys to death to fulfill his goal, that wasn’t his only plan.
Their speed was so fast that it was hard to believe that they were running through a mountain course full of trees and bushes, but because the place was a great distance away, they arrived at the village a significant time later. Yet, the incident seemed to be on-going as the black smoke continued to rise. As they came closer and closer to the village, they saw the smoke with increasing clarity.
Nervousness flashed across Hans and Snoc’s faces. Hans placed his hand on his sword’s handle while Snoc hugged Nowem.
Sniff! Sniff!
Zich’s nose twitched. As they neared the village, a smoky smell wafted through the surroundings.
“This is…the smell of burning corpses.”
Hans and Snoc heightened their guard. The smell of burning corpses—it didn’t sound pleasant at all. After leaving the forests’ tree-covered boundary, they saw the city’s appearance in full view. They saw the wooden fences first, which were set up to defend the area, and the black smoke seeped through them.
“Perhaps bandits or foreign enemies ambushed them.”
Hans already had half his sword pulled out.
“No, I don’t think that’s the case.” Zich studied the wooden fence. “The fence around the village is too fine for it to be an ambush. And if the bandits caused the fire, they wouldn’t just let the smoke pour out. They would be waving fire around. There’s a strong possibility that the village could have been burned down to ashes, but the view of the village I saw from the top of the mountain looked normal.”
The three walked along the wooden fence and saw a door. The door was firmly closed, and two soldiers with spears stood in front of it.
‘They are not gatekeepers who are there to protect the village.’
For that to be the case, they were too heavily armored.
“Huh?”
One of the soldiers noticed Zich and his companions. The soldier’s eyes became menacing, and he lifted the spear he was holding.
“How did you get out of the village!”
The other soldier also saw Zich’s party and similarly reached out with his spear. Hans and Snoc stuttered in shock, but Zich took a step forward.
“We are travelers. We came to stay the night in the village.”
“What nonsense! All pathways to this village are blocked!”
‘It was?’
Considering the soldier’s aggressive voice, it didn’t seem like he was lying. However, they came in a straight line through the mountain instead of following any paths, so they weren’t aware that all the paths were blocked.
“We didn’t follow a path and went through the mountain.”
“You went through a mountain full of monsters?”
The soldier’s suspicions deepened. In response, Zich shrugged his shoulders and tapped on the sword at his waist.
“We are not so weak to be beaten by low-level monsters around this area.”
“Still, there’s no reason for you to go through the mountain. Following a path is much more convenient.”
“That would be the case if I didn’t have to train the guys behind me.”
Even with Zich’s explanation, the soldiers didn’t let down their guard. They were extremely cautious, and it probably had something to do with the black smoke coming from inside the village.
“Is there something going on in the village?” Zich looked over the wooden fence and asked, but the soldiers didn’t answer him. They grouped together and murmured about something. However, Zich was able to hear everything with his keen senses.
“Is he telling the truth?”
“I’m not sure. Since they are armed, it might be true. We can’t rule out the possibility that they might have escaped the village too.”
“What should we do?”
“What else can we do? Let’s take them to our boss first. We can’t just let them go.”
The soldier who noticed them first stared at them with dreary and slightly fearful eyes.
“They could also be infected with the disease.”
‘Disease?’
As soon as he heard that, Zich was able to grasp the village’s general situation.
‘It seems like there’s an epidemic going around here.’
The black smoke probably came from burning infected corpses and their houses and belongings; and the village was probably blocked so that the infectious disease would not spread to another village. In a way, this was a trickier and more dangerous problem than a bandit or foreign attack.
“Follow me for now,” the soldier placed his spear down and commanded. It looked like he wasn’t going to accept any form of counterargument or defiance.
Hans asked Zich, “What are your plans, sir?”
Hans was surprised to be treated like a criminal so abruptly, but in comparison to how he was at the beginning of the journey, he was much calmer and composed than before. He had now accumulated all kinds of experiences— quite extraordinary ones at that. On the other hand, Snoc still lacked experience, and he looked bewildered and even a bit scared.
“Let’s follow them for now.”
“Yes, sir.”
The three followed the soldiers. The soldiers didn’t guide them inside the village—no, they almost seemed like they wanted to go farther away from the village.
‘I guess it can’t be helped if an epidemic is spreading.’
If it was severe enough, an epidemic was something that could wipe out an entire country. And the horrors of an infectious disease increased as the fatality and infectious rates increased. Judging by the soldier’s wariness and response towards Zich and his companions, it seemed as if the disease that was spreading in the village had a considerably high fatality rate.
The soldiers took them to an area where there were huge barracks.
‘It’s the command post.’
Considering that all the paths leading to the village were blocked and trained soldiers were stationed in front of the village’s entrance, it was evident that the control tower in the center was still functioning. To lower their chances of catching the disease, it seemed like the soldiers had stationed their command post a good distance away from the village.
The soldiers took them to the largest barrack.
“What is it?”
The soldier guarding the barrack asked this out loud. The soldiers who brought Zich to the place responded politely, indicating that the soldier in front of them was his superior.
“We found some suspicious fellows and brought them here.”
“Suspicious fellows?”
The superior took a quick glance at Zich and his companions.
“They suddenly appeared in front of the village’s entrance. According to them, they went through the mountain and didn’t know about the blocked paths.”
“The mountain? Why?”
“They said it was for training.”
The superior’s eyes landed on Zich’s group for a moment.
“Are they villagers?”
“They don’t seem to be, but we are not certain. So, we brought them to you, sir.”
Suddenly, they heard a voice from inside the barrack.
“Bring them in, please.”
The superior stared at the entrance and looked at Zich again. Then he nodded at the soldiers.
“Take them in.”
Zich and his companions followed the soldiers and went inside. The inside of the barrack was quite cozy; there was a bed in a corner for sleeping and a desk in another corner for doing work. There wasn’t any other furniture besides that, so it almost felt like the resident was wasting the tent’s huge space.
Thump!
The soldier guarding the tent raised his spear and saluted in front of the desk. A man was sitting there. He looked quite young, looking like he was only two or three years older than Zich at most. His cheeks were hollow while the areas under his eyes were so sunken that his cheekbones looked more pronounced. Overall, his health looked very poor.
The man stood up. He was tall but thin, which added to his gaunt, frail-looking image. However, his sparkling eyes clearly showed that he had a keen sense of intelligence, contrary to his frail and sickly appearance.
“Hello, I am Joachim Dracul. I’m the person in charge of the task force dispatched in this village.”
Joachim Dracul. He was someone Zich knew and more.
‘To think that I would meet him so early on…’
Joachim was one of Zich’s four closest confidants who he immediately sought out. Zich couldn’t help but feel glad to see him. Joachim had stirred up the world and gone through all kinds of happenings with Zich. How sad Zich was when he heard that Joachim’s life was cut short under Glen Zenard’s sword! Zich wanted to wrap his shoulders around Joachim, talk about their past and future—of course, of stories that reek of blood—and clink their wine glasses. However, in this world, this was Joachim’s first meeting with Zich, and Zich had to repress his joy at seeing an old friend.
“I’m Zich. The guys behind me are my servants, Hans and Snoc.”
“I see, Mr. Zich. I know how impolite it is to interrogate someone I just met, but considering the circumstances, I ask for your understanding. Where are all three of you coming from?”
Joachim’s voice was sharp, and the soldier gripped his spear more tightly.
“We are on our way from Suol. Like I told the soldier here, since I was traveling through the mountain to train my servants, I didn’t realize that the paths to the village were blocked.”
“Hm.”
Joachim made eye contact with Zich as if he was trying to see through the truth, but Zich showed no change in his facial expression.
“I understand. I will believe you.”
“Sir!” the soldier shouted. “They might be guys escaping from the village in secret! If that’s the case…!”
“Please calm down.”
Joachim raised his sword and blocked the soldier’s words.
“I’m not just blindly trusting these people’s words. To be frank, it doesn’t matter what these men’s identities are.”
Joachim stared at Zich, Hans, and Snoc in order and opened his mouth.
“Since wherever they are from, I don’t plan on letting them out of here.”
“What? What do you mean…!” Hans shouted in surprise and closed his mouth. When Joachim looked at him, Hans’ mouth closed shut by itself. Although Joachim looked frail, he exuded a mystical aura and suffocated Hans.
‘Amazing. He has this much charisma already?’
Zich was impressed. Joachim deserved to be his sidekick for sure.
“I know this is a lot to ask, but as long as you are in this village, you will have to move with us. Here—”
“There’s an epidemic spreading around.”
Zich finished Joachim’s sentence. Both Hans and Snoc looked stunned, and Joachim’s face was filled with a slight look of surprise.
“You were aware of it?”
“Blocked roadways, a barricaded village, and the smoke coming out of the village. In addition, army troops from the central government disguised as a task force. There were many clues.”
“That is true. You are right. An epidemic is spreading around the village, and our troops were dispatched to retain it. Since you made contact with us, all of you could be infected too, so we can’t let you go back outside.”
“I understand.”
Zich nodded obediently, and Hans felt relieved.
‘Even Sir Zich would accept a reason like an epidemic.’
Considering Zich’s personality, Hans had been nervous that Zich would refuse confinement; he was almost worried about Zich’s response more than the epidemic. However, Hans didn’t realize that Zich was more agreeable than usual because he was glad to meet one of his four subordinates from his past.
“If you like, we can help with the work here.”
Hans also had no idea that this was also the reason for Zich’s overly kind behavior.