Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Decision (2)

At Anagin's words, color returned to the Red-Feather Helmet Man's face.

The Witch's disciple was dead, and the mission had effectively failed...

Now there was only one way left to survive.

Kill the Witch.

The problem was that with their own strength, killing the Witch was impossible.

The Witch who lived in the tower rising from the swamp was protected by countless traps, beasts, and mages. Ordinary people like them couldn't even get close.

That was why the various villages under her rule didn't even dare to think of rebelling.

Honestly speaking, there was no guarantee that the Giant before them could defeat the Witch just because he stepped forward... but this was no longer a situation where they could afford to hesitate.

"I—we'll guide you. O hero! We'll lead you all the way to where the Witch is!!"

"Ah, forget it. Don't need you."

Anagin waved his hand and rejected the Red-Feather Helmet Man's offer on the spot—an offer made after he'd steeled his resolve.

"...What? Why?"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man asked back in a stunned voice.

It would be easier to accept their cooperation. He couldn't understand why Anagin was refusing.

"How am I supposed to trust you people to guide me?"

"...We're equally in a bind if the Witch stays alive."

"That's exactly why I can't trust you. You lot were living under the Witch's protection, and now that things are looking bad for you, suddenly you'll guide me...? Where's the guarantee you won't betray me again when things go south?"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man tried to say something, but couldn't get a word out.

He had no grounds to argue.

"I've decided I'm going to crush the Witch, but that has nothing to do with you. So don't get your hopes up—get lost."

The Red-Feather Helmet Man understood Anagin's meaning well enough. He'd decided to defeat the Witch, but he had no intention of helping them.

"Hey.... You're really going to fight the Witch?"

"First, let's sleep. And I'm not going to fight."

"Then?"

"I'm going to go beat the crap out of her one-sidedly."

"......"

"W—wait a moment, please listen!"

While Anagin and the Robe Girl were talking, the Red-Feather Helmet Man urgently cut in. That was how anxious he was.

"We didn't follow the Witch because we wanted to! We too, just to survive—!"

"Hey."

Anagin cut the man off.

"I'm not particularly criticizing you for following the Witch. I don't care about that. I'm not some judge."

There were as many ways to live as there were people. Anagin didn't care how others lived. Much less did he want to weigh right and wrong.

"What matters is the simple fact that, like it or not, you people were the ones following the Witch's orders. I don't care about the reasons. More than anything..."

Anagin looked at the Red-Feather Helmet Man.

His gaze was sharp enough to pierce right through him.

"I have zero interest in traveling with people who scheme and plot.... If you keep staying here, I'll take it as you wanting to have a go. Decide for yourselves."

After that final warning, Anagin pulled a tent from his subspace bag.

It was a magic tent he'd taken from Diodia's hideout—annoyingly heavy, but it set itself up and packed itself down.

Fwump!

When he dropped it on the ground with a thud! it unfolded on its own.

Anagin went inside, lay down, and shot the Red-Feather Helmet Man a sidelong look.

"Want to have a go?"

There wasn't the slightest room for negotiation in that gaze.

The Red-Feather Helmet Man had no choice but to lead his men and withdraw in silence.

---

Once the Red-Feather Helmet Man had taken all his subordinates and left, the surroundings fell quiet again.

The only things audible were the chirping of insects and the rustle of grass blades.

Just as he was about to close his eyes with the white noise as a lullaby, an irritating sound reached his ears.

"Hey."

"Ah, fuck..."

Anagin, whose sleep had been disturbed, showed his displeasure—but the Robe Girl paid it no mind and asked.

"Is that a trap, by any chance?"

"What kind of nonsense is that, out of nowhere?"

"Saying you're going to crush the Witch."

"Explain it so I can understand."

The Robe Girl organized her thoughts carefully before speaking again.

"You know as well as I do, but those people only have one way left to survive now. Reporting to the Witch that you're planning to kill her."

That was right. Having failed their mission, and with Anagin having made clear he wouldn't help, there wasn't much powerless people like them could do. Nothing except report the fact that Anagin was targeting the Witch and beg for mercy.

Of course, if they did that, the Witch would tighten her defenses thoroughly.

Since he'd said he would come to her himself, she wouldn't need to bother chasing him down.

"But if we just leave from here, the Witch will look like a fool. The ones who misreported will suffer something horrible. Surely that's not it?"

"No, I'm really going to go crush her."

"Really? Why?"

The Robe Girl asked back as if she couldn't understand.

Come to think of it, it was strange. He'd said he'd go crush her because it seemed like a hassle otherwise, but wasn't it more of a hassle to go back the way they came?

"The world is full of things that don't make sense. Just accept it and move on."

"See, that's the thing, hey. I left home because I hate exactly that kind of attitude. I want to know everything properly."

"Who asked for your opinion? Just deal with it. I've got power too, and I'm putting up with you clinging to me, aren't I? You deal with it too."

The Robe Girl flinched. In particular, the area around her rear flinched noticeably.

"Heh.... I have no idea what you're talking about?"

"I'm good at talking nonsense. Filter it out as you see fit."

"...You're kinder than I thought?"

"If you're going to keep spouting nonsense, I'm sleeping. If you want to be a bother, go do it with your own shadow."

"I'm being serious.... If we're not just leaving, then you did help those people, didn't you? If they'd taken you along, the Witch wouldn't have stayed quiet."

In the Witch's domain, there were birds that served as the Witch's eyes. The Robe Girl, who had been under the Witch, knew this. Of course, the villagers probably knew it too, but in their desperation they must have forgotten for the moment. If they had taken Anagin along, the Witch, sensing the betrayal, might have taken revenge on the village. In other words, by refusing the villagers' request for help, Anagin had actually helped them.

When the Robe Girl explained this, Anagin snorted.

"Dreams mean more than you think... How would I know any of that and say it that way?"

"Hmm.... You're definitely not that kind, that's for sure. Your way of talking is way too harsh, and you don't have a speck of consideration."

"Go on, curse me out, why don't you."

"Come to think of it, it's like the cow backing up and catching a mouse. But what matters is the result of catching the mouse, isn't it? ...I'm going to think of you as kind."

"Think whatever you like."

"Got it. And speaking of which... can't I sleep in the tent too? You're not going to tell a delicate girl like me to sleep outside alone, are you?"

She asked in a girl's earnest tone.

Anagin answered by closing the tent flap.

It was still a chilly spring.

---

"What should we do now, Village Chief?"

A dark night.

A group with torches scattered among them.

A man asked the Red-Feather Helmet Man in a voice full of worry.

He was the head of a household with a wife, a son, and a daughter—but right now, in this moment, he wore the expression of a child about to cry.

Still, it didn't strike anyone as unsightly or pathetic.

If anything, it was because he had a wife and children that he couldn't help but cry.

The Witch, crueler than before, might punish even their families.

"What should we do?"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man agonized as well.

He wanted to cry just as much. It was just that his position as Village Chief wouldn't allow it.

Whether it killed them or saved them, they had to find a way to survive. Even if someone died, they had to move in the direction where fewer died.

That was the role of a Village Chief.

'Urgh... Should I report it after all?'

The Red-Feather Helmet Man agonized over whether he should report to the Witch what had happened earlier and the fact that the Giant intended to kill her.

It was true she had grown more erratic compared to the past, but there was still a rational side to her.

Just like in his grandfather's and father's time.

If he reported a Giant with monstrous strength who solved magic with brute force, she might not punish them. It was beyond their capabilities, after all. Perhaps, as reward for warning her of danger in advance, she might even reduce their labor and tribute.

The Witch had that much judgment in the past. Probably....

"Village Chief. Village Chief!"

While he was deep in thought, the man beside him shook the Red-Feather Helmet Man's shoulder and called out.

Interrupted, the Red-Feather Helmet Man responded irritably.

"What in the world is it?!"

"Over there, there's a person over there."

"A person?"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man looked ahead warily.

A person alone in the forest in the dead of night was rare.

Just as the man said, he could see the silhouette of a person.

It was only enough to make out the outline, but something about it was unusual.

Tall stature and build, upright posture, a shield, a spear and a sword. It didn't look like an ordinary person.

"W—who goes there?!"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man stepped forward and shouted.

He tried his best to look imposing, but he was afraid nonetheless.

They'd been beaten and wounded by the tree, and their numbers were still fifty-four—but even so, they were just farmers who farmed. If this turned out to be a proper warrior, or a Giant, they were all dead.

It was absurd, but the world itself had always been absurd.

Step. Step...

The man standing far off approached.

He was quite tall, and his upright posture made him seem even taller. A tempered body radiated solid strength.

Whoooosh...

The man gathered Gi in his hand, producing a light that overwhelmed the torches and illuminated the surroundings.

He was a Giant.

"Greetings, elder. I am Spanichi Dolos, an Ascetic who has come to this place for my training."

"...An Ascetic?"

The Red-Feather Helmet Man asked back.

It wasn't that he didn't know what an Ascetic was.

He too knew of those who, under God's blessing, endured trials to become higher beings such as heroes or kings.

He'd simply asked because they were a rare sight in a backwater like this.

On top of that, there was one more name attached to this man. A surname.

A surname that only Ascetics permitted by God—along with kings and nobles—to establish a lineage could possess.

The Red-Feather Helmet Man felt as though he could see new hope.

"I heard there's a Witch living near here who oppresses the people. Do you know anything about the Witch? I've come to defeat her."

---

When the sun rose, Anagin opened his eyes as well.

He opened the tent flap and stepped out, and the Robe Girl, already awake, greeted him while eating breakfast.

"You're up early. Was it nice sleeping alone in a warm, cozy tent?"

What the Robe Girl was eating was the dried rations Anagin had given her last night. She'd set some aside and was eating them now.

"I figured you'd run off. Color me surprised you're still here."

Anagin washed his face in a nearby stream, then spoke while pulling dried rations from his subspace bag.

He gave her not only his own portion but an extra share for the Robe Girl.

"Why would I run?"

The Robe Girl tucked the dried food Anagin gave her inside her robe.

"Because I said we're going to the Witch. I figured you'd sneak off during the night."

"Ah.... Honestly, something did feel off about it, but when I thought about it, it felt unfair. I did all that laundry, and if I just left on my own, that'd be a loss for me, wouldn't it? So I didn't run. I don't want to do things that only benefit you."

The Robe Girl flashed her golden eyes and glared at Anagin.

She was fiercely murderous, like a predator eyeing its prey.

He'd assumed she liked doing laundry, the way she sang while she did it, but apparently not.

"Who in the world likes doing laundry?"

"I suppose not. No one would do that for fun. She must have put up with it even though she hated it. Because it was her job."

"?"

"Anyway, since I stayed instead of running, you're going to have to help me a bit."

"With what? I'm a delicate girl, so I can't fight."

"You can guide me, can't you? You were the Witch's disciple, so you should know where she lives."

The Robe Girl hesitated for a moment.

"Technically, I'm a former disciple... I can do it, sure. But are you sure about this? Maybe it's because she's gotten old, but there are all sorts of wild beasts roaming around where the Witch lives, and there are traps too. If I were you, I'd just leave."

"It doesn't matter. Just guide me there. I'll handle the rest."

---

"You said there were wild beasts roaming around? Doesn't look like anything's roaming."

Anagin, who had entered the Witch's domain under the Robe Girl's guidance, asked.

He was sure she'd said several vicious beasts guarded the Witch's domain, but not a single one was guarding it. It was because they had already been killed by someone.

"Looks like a visitor came."

"You seem to have a guess who."

"Yeah, one.... There's an Ascetic family near here."

"An Ascetic family?"

"Yeah. Their territory's been increasingly overlapping with the Witch's, so one day they'd have clashed—"

"Who goes there?!"

While the Robe Girl was explaining, a voice rang out from far off.

It was a sturdy man armed with a shield and a spear and sword.

The moment he laid eyes on him, Anagin could tell the man was from an Ascetic family.

"I am Spanichi Dolos. An Ascetic who has come to defeat the Witch. It's dangerous here, so you'd best leave at once."