LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 654
Chapter 654: Watch Me Fight
The villagers’ reactions were completely understandable.
It was shocking for them to hear such things from some beggars who just showed up.
‘Aren’t these just kids who’ve barely become adults…?’
‘Did they really take out all those ruthless bastards?’
‘And now they’re sharing the loot? Why would they do that? They should keep it all for themselves!’
The villagers couldn’t believe it. In these tough times, where would you find adventurers willing to share their wealth?
They thought these newcomers were trying to lure them into danger instead. Even Deneb, the priest, was seen as a fraud.
To regain their trust, Yulien started showing the treasures he had brought along.
Only then did the townsfolk tentatively call for the village chief. With the chief’s orders, a few of them decided to accompany the group to confirm the situation in the bandit hideout.
Seeing this, Kyle pouted even more. It was only natural for him to be annoyed since, despite offering treasure, they were still being treated like this.
“We’ll share with the other villagers who suffered as well.”
Yulien said that and went to visit other neighboring villages. They stopped by a total of four towns.
Everyone was skeptical, and only a few sent people to follow Yulien.
The cautious few who followed the party were shocked to discover the dead bandits.
“Th-This is real?”
“So, you’re really going to share with us?”
“Wow, how could this happen…?”
No matter whose village it was, everyone wore a dumbfounded expression. When they checked the storage, their mouths fell even wider.
“W-Wow!”
“This is amazing, isn’t it?”
“Are you really giving all this to us?”
Yulien and Deneb nodded.
“Yes, everyone must have suffered, so please share it.”
At those words, the villagers bowed their heads in joy.
“Thank you very much. Truly, thank you.”
“You got rid of these awful bastards for us.”
“The Goddess’s blessing will be with you all.”
With the villagers expressing their gratitude, Yulien and Deneb smiled. This scene was worth more to them than anything else.
Only Kyle continued to sulk.
“Ugh, foolish people.”
But what could he do? He liked and trusted these friends as they were.
Kyle vented his frustrations with Dark perched on his shoulder, as the villagers returned to their homes excitedly. Shortly after, they came back with many people to help carry the loot.
Everyone was fired up, and they came back with burdens on their backs. After checking the storages, they cheered and showed gratitude to the four again.
“Thank you so much for getting rid of those scoundrels!”
Sure, they were happy to gain treasures, but the greatest joy was that the bandits were gone.
The lord didn’t even manage to catch those bastards and let them roam free. Even if they wanted to leave, it wasn’t easy to change their homes. There were no proper places to go, and the lord didn’t allow migration.
They were just getting by, and with the bandits gone, they had every reason to rejoice.
Yulien and Deneb were still smiling. They felt proud helping the people.
However, the atmosphere, which seemed to be ending positively, quickly turned sharp.
“Hey, our village suffered more!”
“What are you talking about? Your village was the first to get looted of money and food!”
“Do you think we don’t know you plotted to raid our village first?”
Before long, people clustered by village, arguing with each other. The logic was that they deserved to take more treasures.
In the meantime, they were outlining each other’s weaknesses to belittle one another. It was clear their relationships were strained.
This was inevitable. Each village had been trying to send the bandits to another village for their own survival.
Now all those pent-up emotions erupted.
“Those bastards are seriously asking for it!”
“Oh? Do you think we’re weak?”
The villagers brandished clubs. Some even picked up the bandits’ weapons.
When the bandits were around, they didn’t dare to say a word, but now that the bandits were gone, they wanted to fight to grab more loot.
“Uh, uh?”
Seeing this, Yulien and Deneb were taken aback.
They had never experienced this before. All they did was gain treasures and share them with local villages without any trouble. They’d never encountered people entangled in interests like this.
As the atmosphere soured, Yulien looked at Ghislaine with a worried expression.
Ghislaine shrugged.
“There’s no need for us to get involved in all this. They want to fight among themselves.”
If something like this happened in real life, Ghislaine wouldn’t have remained idle either. Actually, he would have prevented the situation that led to such fights altogether.
But now, it was up to Yulien and Deneb. So Ghislaine simply stood there, arms crossed, watching.
As the villagers were about to start a serious fight, Deneb stepped forward.
“Stop it! Why are you fighting now that the bandits are gone? Can’t we just share amicably? If you’re still short, I can offer mine!”
*Thud.*
Deneb pulled out her backpack and placed it in front of her. Kyle facepalmed while the villagers’ eyes widened.
There was quite a bit of treasure stuffed in her backpack. Just taking that would allow them to live well for a few months.
Seeing this, Ghislaine smiled.
‘Such a saintly thing to do.’
She didn’t hesitate for a moment to offer her belongings. It was as if she was born to sacrifice.
‘But it seems she doesn’t yet understand how ugly people can become.’
Ghislaine glanced at the villagers. Their gazes were increasingly filled with greed.
Initially, they hesitated to take her backpack. But then their eyes wandered over to Yulien, Kyle, and Ghislaine.
In the brief silence, they exchanged glances, scheming.
They had captured the bandits, but they looked weak and were quite young. Not to mention their ragged clothing showed signs of wear and tear, indicating they likely bore wounds.
They didn’t appear more fearsome than bandits. Somehow, they felt like they could win if they all attacked at once.
Kyle was the first to catch on to the strange atmosphere.
“Ungrateful bastards…”
Kyle unsheathed his sword. It didn’t take a fool to realize what thoughts were crossing their minds.
It wouldn’t be hard to bury a few travelers deep in this forest.
The villagers flinched for a moment. But they didn’t look away or claim a misunderstanding.
They merely kept stealing glances, weighing their options.
Ghislaine smirked at the disgusting sight.
‘How did the saint and hero end up in such a world?’
This was chaos. In some ways, it could even be harsher than reality, where Ghislaine used to be.
Everyone was exhausted from the long fight against the demon lords. It’s no wonder even knights resorted to banditry.
Even the townsfolk showed their greed towards the ones who saved them. Yulien and Deneb were bound to witness this ugly side of humanity as they moved forward.
Performing good deeds in such a world isn’t easy. Ghislaine was increasingly curious how those two could become the “light.”
Deneb also sensed the changing atmosphere and spoke up.
“W-What are you doing? You can’t be serious about us?”
The villagers neither affirmed nor denied anything. They lacked confidence in their chances to win.
But if someone incited them, they wouldn’t hesitate to wield their weapons.
They kept a close eye on Deneb, the only woman among them.
At first glance, she looked like a priest, but that was evidence of her weakness. If she were a proper priest, she’d be in a temple.
So if they could capture her as a hostage…
The villagers exchanged glances, flinching. If they launched a surprise attack, they felt they could capture Deneb.
“Wh-What’s going on…?”
Deneb noticed the shift in mood but couldn’t act rashly. If she retreated, they would swarm her all at once.
It was clear Deneb was in danger. Kyle crouched, preparing to leap forward.
Then, a chilling voice rang out around them.
“Don’t anyone move.”
At the sound of the perfectly timed voice, everyone flinched, missing their window to act.
In the sudden silence, Yulien moved alone.
*Tap, tap, tap.*
Slowly walking to stand in front of Deneb, Yulien pointed at her.
Then he unsheathed his sword and swiped it across the ground.
*Crack!*
A long line was etched in the soil.
With a cold gaze, Yulien addressed the villagers.
“If you step over this line without my permission… you will die.”
Ghislaine raised an eyebrow in mild admiration.
Finally, Yulien seemed to resemble the person he truly was.
‘So he knows how to be decisive when it’s necessary?’
That was better than being flustered. But it still felt a bit lacking.
Just as Ghislaine had expected, the villagers remained cautious. They had gained some momentum, so a threat like this wouldn’t easily make them yield.
A strange standoff continued.
‘It’s unavoidable to be underestimated.’
Since they hadn’t shown their strength, Yulien’s party appeared young and wounded. It was only natural for them to react this way.
‘Well then… should I take on the role of the villain?’
As a peculiar tension hung in the air, Ghislaine suddenly took action.
*Tap, tap.*
Only Ghislaine’s footsteps broke the silence. All eyes turned toward her.
Ghislaine smiled slyly at the man at the front, raising her staff.
“W-What are you doing?”
The man leaned back, confused. But Ghislaine didn’t answer; she swung her staff.
*Smack!*
“Cough!”
The man who was unexpectedly hit collapsed to the ground. Ghislaine then struck the fallen man’s leg with her staff.
*Crack!*
“AAAH!”
With his leg shattered, the man screamed in agony. Ghislaine didn’t stop there; she turned to the next person and swung her staff again.
*Smack!*
“Ugh!”
In an instant, two men writhed on the ground in pain. The villagers flinched back, realizing the danger Ghislaine posed.
She continued to attack without uttering a word, and her silence only intensified their fear.
*Smack! Smack!*
“Ughhh!”
In a flash, many fell to the ground. Terrified, the others dropped to their bellies.
“Please, spare us!”
“Why are you doing this all of a sudden?”
The villagers’ confidence shattered in an instant. There was no way they could handle Ghislaine when she turned serious.
Just as she was about to strike the next person, Deneb rushed in and stopped her.
“Enough, enough!”
Ghislaine looked at Deneb.
“Don’t get it twisted.”
“What do you mean?”
“Think about the bandits around here. Most of them were ordinary people. There were even some from the royal army defending the kingdom.”
“B-But…”
“They’re just bad because they’re stronger. If they had power, they’d be the ones acting like bandits.”
“But still… they haven’t crossed the line, right?”
“Hmm.”
“It’s a tough world. They wouldn’t want to live like this either. So… at the very least, someone needs to help them. Offer a hand to prevent them from going down this path.”
Not everyone has to make the sacrifice. Ghislaine held back the words that almost slipped from her throat.
She had no intention of bickering with Deneb. She merely presented one way to solve the problem.
However, it seemed that approach didn’t resonate with the “Saint.”
Leaning her staff on her shoulder, Ghislaine smiled.
“Okay, then let’s hear that side of the story. Hey, you lot. If you’re going to jump us, then come at us now. If you’re not going to, stop with the pointless thinking.”
“W-We didn’t mean anything by it.”
“We were just pondering how to handle this situation…”
“We absolutely didn’t have any ulterior motives!”
The villagers protested ardently, claiming they had no malicious intent.
Deneb approached them, reassuring them.
“It’s okay. My friend might have misunderstood a bit. Everything’s fine.”
Deneb offered a gentle smile. It was a smile that felt warm and genuinely unbothered by the situation.
The villagers, seeing her, lowered their heads in embarrassment.
They had held ill will against their benefactor who saved their village. To see her act so kindly despite being aware of that was almost too much to comprehend.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
The villagers repeatedly expressed their gratitude. If it hadn’t been for Deneb, they would have been done in by that little one.
Dark whispered from his place on Ghislaine’s shoulder.
“Only the master turned out to be the bad guy.”
“Pfft, I’m used to playing the villain.”
“It’s not just villainy; it’s pure evil! AAAAH!”
Dark, who had been playfully teasing, ended up getting caught by Ghislaine and screamed.
Deneb channeled her divine power towards the fallen villagers. Even when exhausted, she was trying to heal those injured by Ghislaine.
The suffering individuals looked up with tears in their eyes, overwhelmed with gratitude.
And as Ghislaine observed this, her eyes narrowed.
‘Divine power…’
After climbing the cliff and engaging in combat, she must have spent a lot of her divine power. In fact, the amount of divine power should be similar to right after the fight ended.
Yet, the divine power itself seemed to have become more potent and purer.
It was a subtle change, so faint that even the caster wouldn’t be aware. But Ghislaine caught on to that delicate difference.
‘Could it be…?’
A hypothesis formed in her mind. Similar cases had occurred in the Territory of Penris.