RD | Chapter 15

Louise was someone who had been discriminated against all his life. No one had ever judged him solely by his actions.

He was always the ‘son of a traitor’, and he couldn’t stop thinking of himself that way.

After all, his parents, who were village chiefs, had decided to open the gate connecting the middle world and the demon world, leading their family.

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Even though this happened before Louise was born, he was labeled a sinner. Because everyone said so, he came to think of himself that way too.

The first person to defend him was someone he had never expected would stand up for him.

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Although Louise was the ‘son of a traitor’, he had never betrayed anyone himself. However, selling out Ian, who was both human and the royalty of this land he should serve, was an act of betrayal.

He was forgiven by the very person he had betrayed for the first time.

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Moreover, Ian even said he would accept him as his subject. Louise couldn’t hold back his tears.

Ian was so lenient that he didn’t even hold the kin who had pushed Louise into the role of a guide accountable. He took into consideration the reasons why they had no choice but to do so.

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Has anyone in a high position ever understood the circumstances of someone bowing their head? Even the village chief would not have considered Louise’s situation. Louise witnessed such a sight for the first time in his life.

A master so lenient that it seemed impossible in this world had accepted him.

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Louise decided to serve him with all his heart.

‘Loyalty is a foolish thing.’

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The thoughts he used to have when he saw village children sometimes expressing admiration for royalty or knights vanished somewhere.

He would protect Ian. He would carry out whatever orders he gave.

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However, this order was a bit hard to understand.

‘What does he mean by borrowing from the Elf Village?’

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Does he have connections with the Elf Village? As expected of Ian.

But for something like that, he seemed to be arming himself pretty thoroughly, and the people around were giving advice like ‘do this and that to confront the elves’. It felt like they were heading for a raid.

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Of course, that kind and noble person would not actually attack the Elf Village. It seemed like he was joking with some other intention, but Louise couldn’t quite grasp it.

Frustratingly, the frail-looking mage who had followed Ian seemed to understand the meaning of his words. Louise was upset because he couldn’t nod along with what the mage did.

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The frail mage, Sema, approached Louise. He extended his hand as if to make a pledge.

“His Majesty said to get along without discrimination, so we are comrades. Let’s get along well!”

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‘……?’

“Let’s do that.”

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“……?”

Louise checked his bowstring with his head bowed.

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He had lived alone for a long time. Even before his parents passed away, he was an outcast in the village. After they died, he became truly alone, spending long hours in his cabin.

For him, socializing was something for others. Who would want to be friends with the ‘son of a traitor’? He didn’t understand the intention behind the extended hand.

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Sema, bewildered, then realized. ‘This person is a subordinate directly chosen by Ian!’

Ian had particularly trusted him, which Sema could confirm every time Ian involved him in his plans. Sema firmly believed this was a privilege.

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Yet, Ian had decided to bring Louise along for this secretive and important task.

‘Is he trying to compare our abilities?’ Sema swallowed.

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To inform his opponent of his lead in this competition, he casually said, “Lord Ian is quite… capricious! But if you serve him long enough, you’ll get used to it.”

This was to show ‘I know Ian better than you do’.

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Louise responded, “He must have a strong sense of purpose.”

‘……!’

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This made it seem like he was badmouthing Ian! Sema hurriedly defended himself.

“Of course, but! How should I put it, he gives out hard-to-understand orders, you know?”

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“It’s not that his subordinates are foolish for not understanding him, right?”

“……!”

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Sema realized his opponent had no intention of losing in this competition.

He pulled out his trump card. “His Majesty is frail.”

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“……!”

This time, Louise’s hand paused. Seeing his reaction, Sema revealed more of what he knew.

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“He even coughed up blood.”

Louise finally looked up. “Could it be that he’s bearing too much burden on those frail shoulders?”

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‘Frail shoulders?’

Sema tried to match the adjective ‘frail’ with Ian but found it difficult.

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“He’s not frail, is he…? Maybe he is…? No, we were just following orders! But he coughed up blood… Going underground in the first place was too much for him. He might have some underlying condition.”

“What were you doing without looking after him properly?”

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“We did look after him well! But Lord Ian coughs up blood even when the Demon Archduke just snorts!”

“Good heavens… to be that frail…”

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Louise had never seen anyone so weak. His village was a Hunter Village, where everyone did physical training as a basic practice.

Louise shared his determination with the frail mage. He had already intended to do so, but hearing just how weak Ian was only strengthened his resolve even further.

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“I’m prepared to die in his place during this journey.”

“I, I am too.” Sema said reflexively, taken aback by the seriousness of his opponent.

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‘Is that so?’

In truth, he wasn’t sure.

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“You’re quite something. Let’s get along well,” said the hunter boy.

“Ah! Okay!”

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Sema shook hands with him.

Though he didn’t know why, it felt like he had been acknowledged.

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Ding!

[People think you are frail!]

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Ian couldn’t understand why his reputation was dropping again.

Still, he handed over all his liquor to the priest and stepped outside.

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‘Depression is worse than alcoholism.’

Since an alcoholic wouldn’t give away their precious alcohol to others, alcoholism wouldn’t spread…

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‘……’

Ian tried not to think of himself as trash.

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This bizarre party—led by Ian and consisting of two archers and a mage—pushed through the forest.

Ian headed toward what Louise’s village called the ‘Dark Forest’—a place of danger. Despite Louise’s warnings, Ian knew the way and didn’t hesitate.

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“But Ian, the Dark Forest is dangerous because people who enter get cursed. Everyone who has come out of the Dark Forest in the last twenty years has gone mad, spewing black smoke and dying.”

“It’s demonic energy poisoning.”

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“Yes, that’s right. Only high priests can cure it. But as you know… there’s no way a high priest would come to our village.” Louise hung his head low.

Ian realized he had stepped into an area where his HP would start depleting. He waved his hand as if brushing away the darkness and said.

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“It’s okay. We won’t get cursed.”

A breeze of purification swept past him, carrying a soft, holy light that pushed back the creeping darkness.

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Before Ian, the darkness recoiled.

This was the effect of his Level 5 <Purification> skill.

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Ding!

[The level of the skill <Purification> has increased.]
[Purification LV.4 → LV.5]

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His status window flashed before his eyes.

‘There’s merit in leveling up.’

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It was a level he gained from defeating demons. As his level increased, so did the experience required, so he could only level up by one.

“……!”

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As the holy wind followed Ian, Louise was moved.

‘As expected of him…’

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He must be blessed by the gods. Otherwise, he wouldn’t show such kindness to the discriminated. Louise should have realized this sooner.

The surprised Sema exclaimed, “Lord Ian, were you a priest?!”

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“No way.”

Ian answered in disbelief. This guy had seen him messing around in the royal palace; what nonsense was he spouting?

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Elf’s Forest

They entered the Elf’s Forest. Ian knew this because a translucent text saying <Elf’s Forest> appeared in the air, which the other two couldn’t see, indicating it was a game system. Ian took it for granted.

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In games, the location name usually appears when entering a new area so players don’t mistake the difficulty level.

Of course, it wasn’t problematic for players to struggle; the problem would be if players left negative reviews.

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Anyway, Ian confidently set his direction using the system map. While the system map was blank except for the dungeon where Ian had been active and the nearby ‘Traitor Village’, Ian remembered roughly what was at each coordinate from just seeing latitude and longitude.

Not because he was obsessed with maps, but simply because he had seen them often. Writing guides for beginners required more than just screenshots of maps; you needed to indicate latitude and longitude, which required effort. To promote the game, you had to work hard. After doing this a few times, even a fool would remember the main locations.

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However, to the people around him, Ian looked mysterious, as if he were finding his way by looking at the sky.

Since he couldn’t really be looking at the sky, he must be reading the stars. Louise thought, ‘Ian must be well-versed in astronomy too,’ while Sema had no particular thoughts.

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