RD | Chapter 7

A small hunting village in the southern territory.

This village, located near the forest, was an ordinary, unremarkable place, except that everyone in the village was a hunter.

Louise, a resident of the village and also a hunter, lowered his head in front of the demon. With the news of the Southern Demon Duke’s arrival, the village became lively.

The Demon Duke’s subordinate had said, “Send someone who knows the forest well to guide us,” so the villagers had to offer someone from among them to the demon.

The villagers didn’t hesitate long.

The village chief spoke up as a representative. “Louise. Will you go?”

“Yes, Chief.”

‘I knew they wouldn’t listen even if I said no.’

Louise was an orphan. His deceased parents had committed a great sin in the village, so Louise was also considered a sinner here. The villagers often sent Louise to dangerous hunts, and always gave him the dirty and hard tasks. Louise knew that this task would fall onto him as well.

‘Even if I die, no one will cry for me.’

He gritted his teeth.

‘I won’t die. I won’t die. I’ll survive. No matter what it takes.’

He would survive, even if it meant licking the demon’s feet. Was this the mindset his parents had?

‘Why did they…’ Louise’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice from above.

“Human hunter. Think of how precious the person you are serving is, every minute, every second, and guide him down the fastest and most comfortable path.” said the Demon Duke’s subordinate.

Louise, without raising his bowed head, responded. “Yes.”

“Lead the way. We must ensure that the branches of the forest do not touch His Majesty.”

“Yes, I shall do so.”

‘Shall I? Is this the right way to speak?’

He wondered, but couldn’t ask. Keeping his gaze fixed on the ground to avoid looking at the other person, he carefully backed away and headed for the forest. He then turned his body.

He gathered all the tools needed for hunting. Tools necessary for survival as well. But the forest was a dangerous place. No experienced hunter would roam the forest at night. But Louise had to do it.

‘Damn the village chief.’

He knew exactly what his task was. To find the refugees from the kingdom who had fled into the forest and hand them over to the demons. It was similar to the work his parents had done… and the fact that this was entrusted to him felt like an act of vengeance.

The village chief probably didn’t even have that much malicious intent.

‘The son of a traitor,’ Louise thought.

‘I’m doing this to survive. I didn’t choose this.’

It wasn’t his fault. Just like it wasn’t his fault that they were called the “traitor clan.” But still, the feeling was awful.

“This way… this way.”

“Hm?”

At a fork in the road, Louise paused for a moment. He was looking at the recent traces left behind. The footprints on the ground, The broken branches. Small traces that only those with the eyes of a hunter could notice.

Would the fleeing people survive if he misled the demons? But Louise didn’t have the courage to do that.

“I think they entered that cave.” He reported politely.

The Demon Duke found the cave dungeon.

“My poor slaves have died here.” A tear fell from the Demon Duke’s eye.

It wasn’t really his business if some monsters had died. But the unpredictable and emotional Southern Demon Duke suddenly felt an unbearable sadness over their deaths. He decided to honor their souls with the blood of humans.

And he would enjoy a rare delicacy….

Surprisingly, Ian’s hardships were not over after the tutorial. Ian had to prepare for the challenges ahead.

‘The Demon Duke’s raid.’

The crazy game developers surprisingly put a Demon Duke defense as the next stage after the basic character tutorial.

Given the difficulty, for those who hadn’t quit the game by the tutorial, was almost as if the developers were kindly telling them to quit here.

Of course, there are also people like him who think ‘if you can’t do it, just pay,’ end up spending money on a new character.

Anyway, after getting used to the game, Ian believed that the developers weren’t foolish enough to place an unbeatable character at the beginning. The creators were perverts and idiots, but they weren’t so shameless as to make the game impossible. Probably….

Ian believed they at least had some decency, like throwing eggs at a rock, and attempted to defeat the Demon Duke with a weak character dozens of times.

And he succeeded. He had found a route where the Demon Duke could be defeated, though the chances of success were low….

‘Can I give up the Demon Duke experience points?’ Ian asked himself.

It was impossible.

‘No, it’s not that.’

He tried to calm himself by looking at the people who were downcast.

Would they follow his lead? Probably not.

The chances of success still seemed too low.

‘But I have a level 7 farmer character.’

And that character had the “cheerfulness” trait, so they weren’t as despairing as others. Work efficiency wouldn’t drop too much either. And at level 7, they were experts.

‘No. Think calmly. If I die here… it’s going to hurt, right?’

Ian stopped himself again. Actually, it wouldn’t just hurt.

When he punched the wall, he thought his bones had broken. Now his knuckles were swollen and bruised. It was a detail that probably wouldn’t happen in a dream.

If he died here, it wouldn’t just be ‘Ouch, that hurts.’ It would really be dying, wouldn’t it?

That fear snapped Ian back to reality. For now, he decided to focus on what needed to be done.

“Sema. Bring the priest.”

“Where to?”

“Over there.” Ian pointed to the depths of the cave.

The mage Sema’s expression darkened.

“Ah, we haven’t properly checked that place yet. The priest isn’t in a good condition, can we leave him there alone?”

“We’re too noisy where we are. Since the priest is in a bad condition, I thought I’d let him rest.”

“I’m fine. I’m not deserving of rest. Others went through pain, and I shouldn’t be the one to sleep peacefully…” The priest mumbled.

‘Then stay there and die.’

Why did he follow them all the way here and continuously sap everyone’s morale in real time?

Ian took out an item to put the useless priest to sleep.

‘Inventory.’

Ding!

The inventory screen, filled with random items, appeared.

‘A bow and arrows, a dagger for self-defense, and what’s this ?’

It was a book containing portraits and information about every beauty in the kingdom…

‘…’

Ian was a surprising person to look at. But even he had something useful.

“Priest. I have a good potion made at the monastery. How about you take a sip and rest your eyes? If you pray for the dead, it will bring comfort to them too.”

“Lord-Ian?! That’s…” Sema was surprised when he saw the bottle in Ian’s hand.

Ian put his hand on the priest’s shoulder in a friendly manner and handed the bottle to him.

“Drink it all.”

“Pray… Will my prayer really help? Will a coward like me’s prayer reach the heavens?”

“If not you, who will pray for them?”

“Ah, you’re right. I almost neglected my duty again.” The priest nodded, his face tear-streaked, and accepted the bottle. He drank it, and after a moment, his face turned flushed.

“Hmm…? What is this…?” Ian dragged the unconscious priest and tossed him into a corner of the dungeon, closing the door.

A moment later, the sound of quiet snoring filled the air.

Done. The risk of depression spreading among the group was now gone.

“That’s alcohol, Lord Ian!” Sema shouted in panic, his voice lowered, as if he had done something wrong. he didn’t know why he was acting like that, even though it wasn’t his fault.

“It’s made at the monastery. I didn’t lie.” Ian said sweetly.

“If it’s not a lie, then can I say whatever I want?!”

Why does he only say the right things?

“You want that poor guy to wake up and keep thinking ‘I deserve to die’? Then go ahead and wake him up.” But there was a way to deal with such people too.

Ian turned and scolded Sema. Sema was now flustered.

“No, that’s not it….”

“Then let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Introduce me to some people. I need to know the names of the soldiers I’ll be commanding.”

“Eh?”

What was that supposed to mean? But Ian was already approaching the others.