Chapter 8: Hero Saving the Beauty
Of course, Alan had no idea that, not far from him that night, a certain silver-eyed forest ranger was feeling not only confused but also slightly restless.
Nor would he know that the scenes and memories of himself entangled by the Dragon Vine—especially when it had matured to almost a one-to-one neural connection with its host—had been deliberately extracted and studied in detail by someone.
The effect of the white wine–soaked peaches had been excellent. Alan slept well and woke up early the next day.
Breakfast consisted of cooked beetroot puree spread on a fluffy, buttered wheat cake.
The warm jam cake he had placed by the window as an offering to the fairies was also gone.
Alan felt a bit uplifted by this. After finishing breakfast, he unusually took the initiative to visit Green River Village. He wanted to speak properly with Village Chief Hans about that forest ranger.
Veles was clearly not an ordinary adventurer: the severe injuries he had suffered, his distinctly inhuman traits, his profound magical abilities… even the cold, sharp, and strange aura around him all hinted at an extraordinary origin. Such a person should not be a forest ranger in a remote mountain village.
Unless he was hiding from some kind of trouble.
Or perhaps… he himself was the trouble.
Thinking this, Alan couldn’t help but sigh—reluctantly, he had to admit that Veles did indeed seem very suspicious, yet Alan didn’t sense any malicious intent from the man.
The aura around him that inspired fear felt more like snow on a high mountain—cold, dangerous, but without any subjective malice.
Alan wasn’t sure whether he wanted to beg the village chief to drive Veles away or to let the man remain near the unsettled forest.
Lost in his tangled thoughts, Alan had unknowingly nearly reached the entrance of Green River Village.
It was still early; the area should have been quiet and empty. Yet, behind a slope, Alan suddenly heard a weak but angry scolding:
“Y-you! What do you think you’re doing?!”
Immediately following came the rough laughter of several men.
“Don’t be so tense, little girl. We just want to see where your milk comes from.”
“Hey, why are you hiding? We’re not bad people. Look, here’s our badge—we’re legitimate mercenaries.”
“Hahaha, Jack, don’t bother explaining. If it weren’t for the trouble here, who’d want to come to this godforsaken place? This country girl probably hasn’t ever seen a proper mercenary in her life.”
…
“Get away! Let go of me!” The girl’s voice sharpened. “I don’t care who you are. If you keep harassing me like this, I’ll call for help!”
Her threat only provoked more lewd teasing.
“Go ahead, little girl. Let’s see who you think you can call!”
“Hahaha, yeah, call them!”
…
Alan furrowed his brows.
He had already realized that the girl being harassed was the village’s milk delivery girl—Anna, if he remembered correctly…
Delivering milk was no easy task. She had to head to another village’s pastures before dawn to collect the milk, and then, before the sun had warmed the air, deliver bucket after bucket to the homes of the villagers.
In the past, no one near Green River Village would ever deliberately make things difficult for such a hardworking girl.
Alan quickly skirted around the slope and immediately saw Anna surrounded by several mercenaries.
Compared to the tall and burly mercenaries, Anna looked so small and fragile. Her face was already flushed with anger as she glared furiously at them.
“Get away!” She shouted again.
As for the mercenaries encircling her, Alan could tell at a glance that these guys weren’t real mercenaries at all—their armor was mismatched, their movements loose, and they didn’t look trained.
When he had been an adventurer, Alan had seen similar trash before—just some local thugs who couldn’t get by at home, forming small gangs, scavenging a few pieces of battlefield gear, and calling themselves mercenaries. They would then hang around remote village settlements to extort and intimidate.
Apparently, rumors about recent disturbances in the forest had spread, attracting these people who thought they could squeeze some profit out of Green River Village.
But Alan hadn’t expected that such trash “mercenaries” could be so despicable as to b*lly even a milk delivery girl.
“What do you think you’re doing? Stop it!” Alan shouted angrily, interrupting the mercenaries’ harassment of Anna.
Hearing the young man’s reprimand, the mercenaries quickly took a few steps back, putting some distance between themselves and Anna.
“We didn’t do anything! We were just… hey there, little beauty, where did you come from? Hanging around this slope so early isn’t safe, you know.”
The mercenaries, who had previously shown a hint of fear, immediately relaxed after seeing Alan.
No—more accurately, they became even more interested and excited than before.
Alan took a deep breath, staring at the mercenaries as they gradually approached. He quietly clenched his fists, the magical energy of several pre-cast spells warming his palms.
He wasn’t surprised that he had become a new target for these trash. After all, similar things had happened countless times in the past.
He didn’t know what it was about him that drew these so-called “villainous” types—whether grand evil overlords or lowly scum—to swarm him like flies to meat.
Ten steps… nine steps… eight steps…
Alan lowered his eyes, silently counting the distance between himself and the mercenaries.
His magical power was too weak; for any spell to be effective, he had to wait until they were close enough. He hadn’t faced a crisis like this in a long time, and even with preparation, he felt a bit nervous.
Especially since he quickly realized that, if Anna looked small and helpless compared to these towering mercenaries, then he—standing here in front of them—was outright fragile and easy to b*lly.
The shadows cast by the mercenaries fell over Alan. The stench and alcohol on their bodies, combined with their lech*rous gazes and lasc*vious comments, surged toward him.
“Green River Village, huh… and yet there’s a little thing like you here? Such a waste.”
“A little beauty like you belongs in the royal city; the noble lords there would love you.”
“You’re not human, are you? An elf? Hehe, let me have a closer look…”
“Alan?!”
Anna’s terrified voice rang out from behind the mercenaries. When no one was paying attention, Alan gave her a subtle look. Anna froze for a moment, then nodded. She quickly unhitched the heavy compartment of her milk cart, leapt onto her beloved bright red horse, and galloped as fast as she could toward Green River Village.
“Hey, damn it—no one’s watching the girl?!”
Hearing the sound of hooves, the mercenaries seemed to finally snap back to attention.
They cursed loudly, realizing quickly that Anna must be heading back to the village to fetch help.
Their expressions darkened, now even more vicious and greedy as they turned their gaze back toward Alan.
He was alone, and he looked so delicate, so small, that one could almost reach out and carry him away effortlessly.
“Little beauty, come on, come with us. Let us take you to the royal city to see the world!”
The mercenaries immediately charged at Alan, grinning menacingly.
Alan pressed his lips together, holding his breath, his eyes fixed on the trash before him.
This was exactly the moment he had been waiting for—
But before Alan could release his magic, the so-called mercenaries were suddenly hurled through the air.
Their screams came a few seconds later, echoing from a distance.
Alan’s jaw dropped at the scene before him: the mercenaries seemed to be gripped by invisible vines around their necks, thrashing against the ground. Their old, battered armor quickly shattered under the cruel, violent impacts. Dirt and blood sprayed up as the men screamed in distorted, pained voices. The scene was horrifying enough that any ordinary villager would have fainted on the spot.
Unfortunately, Alan was not an ordinary villager.
He could only stare blankly at the nightmare unfolding before him, frozen in shock.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly. Only after a long while did Alan realize that a man was silently standing right beside him.
“Forest Ranger—Mr. Veles?!”
Alan cried out in shock.
The instant he saw Veles, Alan almost took back the judgment he had formed not long ago. He had thought that although Veles looked frightening, there was nothing malicious about him—but the silver-eyed man standing beside him now looked like a great demon lord stepping out of the abyss, dragging a bloodstained greatsword behind him. The distorted black aura enveloping him was so thick it was nearly visible to the naked eye.
“You were attacked.”
Veles stared fixedly at Alan, his gaze so intense it felt as though it could bore a hole straight through him.
“Yes, I was harassed, but… wait—Mr. Veles, please stop! If you keep going like this, you’ll kill them all!”
All right—now Alan finally understood why those mercenaries had ended up in such a state.
Bracing himself, Alan hurriedly spoke up.
“You want me to stop?”
Veles was still wrapped in his long cloak as before, most of his face hidden beneath the hood. The small portion of his face visible beneath the fabric was expressionless, yet strangely, Alan could sense his confusion at that moment.
“Yes, please stop. They’re bad people, but if they’re to be executed, that should be decided by a court of law…” Alan said weakly.
In a world like this, on a foreign continent, it was perfectly normal for powerful individuals to casually kill those who offended them—but Alan had never liked that, not from the beginning.
He had assumed that Veles would ignore his request. Yet as his words fell, the mercenaries were flung to the ground by that invisible force, no longer subjected to further brutal treatment.
They lay there groaning in pain. They were badly injured—but all of them were still alive.
“Killing them would be more convenient.”
Veles stopped, but he still hesitated as he spoke to Alan.
“And… they attacked you.”
He emphasized it again.
He continued staring at Alan.
Only then did Alan belatedly realize that perhaps… maybe… possibly… Veles was worried about him being hurt?
“I’m fine.” Alan held out his hand, letting Veles see the magic in his palm that hadn’t yet been released.
“They didn’t even touch me before you arrived.”
To make it clear to Veles, Alan rolled up his sleeve. The wrist that emerged from the wide cuff was delicate and slender, without a single scratch. Beneath the fine skin, faint blue veins were even faintly visible.
Veles stared at Alan’s arm for a long while.
He licked his teeth, feeling an unexpected, intense urge to gnaw on something—not the kind of brutal, blood-spattering bite, but a light nibble, just enough to ease the ache in his gums.
Veles didn’t understand why, even after confirming that Alan was unharmed, he still felt restless.
And when he thought of the male humans that had swarmed around Alan earlier, that restlessness quickly twisted into a nearly uncontrollable urge for violent, murderous action.
“…Anyway, really, thank you,” Alan said stiffly, directing his thanks toward Veles.
He lowered his gaze, his eyes flickering, avoiding direct eye contact. He hadn’t forgotten that he had come to Green River Village early that morning specifically to discuss with the village chief whether Veles could be trusted.
Yet now, without seeing the village chief, he had been saved by Veles himself.
The awkwardness made his cheeks flush slightly as he thanked him.
Especially since Veles had begun staring at him again with that peculiar, unwavering gaze.
Alan awkwardly touched his own face.
“Is there something dirty on my face?”
He cautiously tested the waters.
“I’ll be keeping an eye on you from now on.”
But at that moment, Veles suddenly said something completely unrelated.
Then, the silver-eyed man abruptly turned and quickly vanished from Alan’s sight.
“Mr. Veles???”
Alan stood frozen in place, utterly bewildered.
