The Revenge of the Soul Eater

Priest Of the God of Law Sect 

 

The village of Melte where Larz and Iria came from is a rural village that’s located downstream of the Kale river.

It takes seven days to get there by horse carriage from the city of Ishka.
It’s a village by the borders between the southern holy kingdom and Canaria kingdom.

As Melte village came into sight, I recalled something that Larz had said in the past.

 

“I left the village because I was fed up with the poor village lifestyle”- was what he said.
It’s true that from what I could see, their village’s homes were small, the fences and gates were worn down, and the villagers’ clothes were shabby.
I couldn’t say anything good about the place even if I tried.
The village did not look very rich or lively.

 

The atmosphere feels like the entire village was retired.
This will definitely make all the young people want to get out of there.

 

…However, since the village was under attack by the epidemic right now, of course it won’t feel lively.
The Melte village should be a bit more lively in its normal days.

 

I walked up to the village’s gate with such thoughts in mind.

Clau Soras was hiding in a forest away from here.
I didn’t bring him because it would scare the villagers.

I had a big backpack on my back like a merchant, a black sword by my waist, and I did not have a horse carriage.
When the two guards by the village’s gate saw me, they became wary as I approached them.

They were a young man who looked younger than 20 and a middle-aged man who looked about 40.
The one who opened his mouth first was the young one.

 

「Stop right there! I haven’t seen you before, why have you come here?!」

 

「I heard that this village was suffering from the epidemic, so I have come here with some fruits that can counter the poison」

 

I answered his high and mighty questioning with a friendly face.

Like I said before, it takes 7 days to get here from Ishka on a horse carriage.
Naturally, that means Iria did not arrive yet.

 

I have thought about picking her up somewhere on the roads on the way here, but if I did that and said to her “I found a fruit that could cure your village, let’s go save your mother together!” like how Larz would, it would be so obvious that I might be up to something.

 

She would no doubt be on her guard as she questioned my motives.

 

If I entered the village with her like that, the entire village would be suspicious of me as well.

Then things will really become hard after that.

 

Therefore, I decided to enter the village before she gets here and gain the villagers’ trust first.

 

Once I made a positive impression on them, no matter what she’ll say after she arrives, the villagers won’t blindly trust her words.

Moreover, Iria’s mother was in this village.
They say that if you want to take down the general, you have to take down their horse first.

 

The two gatekeepers, especially the young one, still looked suspicious of me, but my next words made his complexion change all of a sudden.

 

「Lunamaria from『Falcon Sword』 asked me to come here.
She told me that this is the home village of their leader, Larz, and their warrior priest, Iria.
I was asked to do what I can, so I came here to help as soon as I could」

 

「『Falcon Sword』…You, you know Larz and the others?」

 

「Yes.
He had always looked out for me.
Ah, sorry for the late introduction, you can call me Sora」

 

After I introduced myself, I immediately paid attention to the expression of the two before me.

 

If these two gatekeepers heard of the term 『parasite』or know about the duel Larz and I had, they would immediately show a strong rejection on their faces.

 

Or…if they know about my clan 『Blood Spraying Sword』or the name of the rumored dragon rider, they would probably give a reaction as well.

 

However, there weren’t any big changes on their faces.

The Melte village is quite far from the royal capital or Ishka, and there is a reasonable distance from the village to Canaria kingdom’s main roads.

That’s probably why information travels here slowly, and why the quality of information would also be poor.

Maybe Larz or Iria’s family will know about me from the letters those two sent back home but…Hm, I don’t think they would go out of their way to tell their family about the dispute we had and the embarrassing things that happened to their party.

 

Well, I don’t care even if they know.
Everything will be exposed anyway once Iria gets here.

 

I will gain the villagers’ trust as much as I can until that happens.

 

After that, we had some small exchanges before I was given permission to enter.

I had to let them take away the black sword on my waist but it was a natural precaution since they are letting a stranger enter their village.

The first place they guided me to was the church at the center of the village.

I was told that they kept the sick villagers there.

 

「These fruits, they will really cure their sickness, right?」

 

The young man who has been guiding me asked me in doubt.
By the way, it was the fourth time he asked.

Apparently, he and Larz used to be friends who played together back in the days.
Seeing how he told the senior gatekeeper “I myself will guide this man to the church!” in a loud voice, it was obvious that he did not believe me.

 

I don’t know if it was due to his personality or this is just how close-minded these villagers are, me saying “it will” again to this person isn’t going to do anything.
The fact that he asked me four times is proof of that.

 

Honestly, I want to ignore him, but that could end up troublesome.
Without showing any disgust on my face, I reassured him again.

 

「You’ll know once you see them in action.
If you’re worried about them being poisoned or rotten, I can try them first for you to see」

 

「Obviously.
I’m asking you if they’ll work on the illness!」

 

「I guarantee that they will.
If they don’t, you can punish me however you want」

 

「Okay, don’t forget what you just said.
Also, Sarah-san is a busy person.
If you get in her way or do anything disrespectful to her, I’m going to come beat you up right away!」

 

「Yes, I understand」

 

I did not stop smiling even though this youngster kept on pressing my buttons.

If I make a commotion here, I will not be able to gain the villagers’ trust.

In addition to that, the young man has been bringing up this Sarah person since earlier.

That’s the name of the woman who is in charge of the church.
She has been using recovery magic to cure the villagers all by herself.

I heard that the martial arts and recovery magic that Iria knows were inherited from her mother.
I don’t think there would be many magic users in such a rural village, so it’s highly possible that this Sarah person is Iria’s mother.

 

In order to make a good first impression on her, I should not show any irritation on my face no matter how annoyed I am…maybe I’ll just scare that kid with Clau Soras when I bring him here later.

 

While I was making such plans in my head, the church’s door was opened.

A terrible stench blew right past my face at that moment and it made me frown instinctively.

When I took a look inside, there were quite many people laying on the floor.

There were old people as well as children, and there were men who were in the prime of their life too.
They weren’t just five or ten of them.
The number of sick villagers exceeded what I had expected.

 

Honestly, I didn’t care about the epidemic this time.
I knew clearly about the cause (the basilisk) and the countermeasure(the Jiraiaooks tree) that’s needed.

 

In fact, the situation had been almost completely dealt with in Ishka.

 

However, it seems that the epidemic was still running rampant once you leave Ishka.

 

I have just said that the quality and quantity of information that makes it to rural areas like this was poor.
Naturally, since that would mean that news relating to the epidemic was behind the times as well, the villagers here were probably still terrified and anxious.

 

With those thoughts in mind, I looked for the woman named Sarah.

 

I immediately found who I was looking for.

 

What I could hear was a voice that sounded like somebody was singing a hymn.
That clear voice eased the hearts of those who heard her.

 

As soon as the glow on the female’s hand touched the patient who seemed to be suffering the whole time, the patient’s breathing immediately calmed down.

 

Was it a detoxification miracle? Or was it a stamina recovery one? Regardless, it would usually take more time than that for miracles to take effect.

 

I could tell even from a distance.
That woman was skilled, and she was high level.

She was most likely Sarah…

Then, the young man who guided me here suddenly yelled out as if he was confirming my guess.

 

「Sarah-san!」

 

The woman who was wearing a priest’s attire looked over in our direction as she responded to the voice.

…That moment, we looked right into each other’s eyes.

She looked like she was older than 30 years old.
Long black hair and a gentle pair of eyes.
White skin and a humble air around her.

I wonder if Iria would look like her if you took away her “sharpness” and replaced it with “composure”.
This woman was stunningly beautiful.

 

 

Back when I first met Iria, I thought she reminded me of my ex-fiancee, Ayaka, but I feel like her mother resembles my deceased mother.

The length and color of her hair were definitely similar to my mother’s, but how do I put it? The air around them feels the same too.

 

Her gentle movements and her long single ponytail that extended from the back of her head too, they all reminded me of my mother when she took me for a walk in the yard.

 

When I took a closer look, there was unkempt hair stuck on her forehead, and I could see signs of fatigue on her face.
They showed all the hard work she’s been doing.
The dark circles under her eyes and her hollow cheeks weren’t hiding either.

 

However, not only did those things not damage her charm, they enhanced them instead.
At the very least, that was what I thought.