Dark Fantasy’s Extra – Chapter 58

Author: Dawn

From ancient times, the village of Hameln had repelled all Beast attacks without help from hunters.

The land was so fertile that not a single villager had ever died of starvation.

That’s why they barely maintained livestock that other villages would cherish like human life, not even raising them properly.

They also had so much money that every household owned at least one gold necklace or jeweled ring.

It could truly be called a village blessed by the gods without exaggeration.

But everyone in this world knows there are no such kind gods.

Instead, there are demons.

“Demons? Do you mean Beasts?”

Hilde asked.

“People call it the guardian deity.”

Julia said.

“A guardian deity that drives away Beasts, grows crops, and gives gold and treasures.”

“There’s no way such a thing exists…”

“So, what’s the price for providing all of that?”

Though I already knew the answer, I couldn’t help but ask.

“…Children.”

Julia’s answer made Hilde hold her breath.

The being called the guardian deity truly gave everything to the village of Hameln.

It drove away all the Beasts that wandered nearby or tried to attack, and made crops like potatoes and wheat grow on their own in the fields.

And occasionally it brought treasures from somewhere and distributed them to the villagers.

The guardian deity wanted only one thing in return.

It demanded they offer a child under 10 years old once every 10 years.

If not, it would take back all the blessings it had given and rain disaster upon the village.

Though it was an extremely cruel deal, the ancestors of the current villagers accepted.

After all, it was a world crawling with Beasts where death was common.

One life every 10 years seemed rather few in comparison.

Moreover, it wasn’t able-bodied adult men or women who could bear children, but young children who could be replaced easily.

Though nauseating, it could be called a rational deal.

This is that kind of world.

“For something like an old fairy tale…”

“It must be true. Look at this village. Hardly anyone was working. Yet the houses are built so splendidly. And…”

I pointed at the table in the house.

There was a cup made of gold with jeweled decorations.

There were even various colorful gems inside the cup.

“That must be the price paid for selling children.”

At my words, Julia collapsed covering her face.

“Se-Senior!”

Hilde called out to me in shock.

“Why are you speaking like that?!”

“Am I wrong?”

“Th-that’s… like consolation money given to mothers who lost their children…”

“How many children do you think have disappeared from this village?”

“Wh-what do you mean?”

“They sell a child every 10 years and receive payment from the guardian deity. Three children means 30 years, ten children means 100 years. Not a short time at all.”

I pointed at Julia.

“For all that time, the villagers all agreed to sell their children. This woman is the same. She sold other people’s children, and now it’s simply her turn.”

“N-no…! When it was Donar’s turn, I tried to escape from the village! But the village chief, he wouldn’t let me leave…”

Julia said.

“You never thought about leaving before it was your turn.”

“…!!”

She flinched violently.

“But… but… if we left, where could we even…”

“Right. It would be hard. Since a difficult life awaited, you chose to sell someone else’s child to avoid that hardship. Just like everyone else in the village.”

“Your words are too harsh.”

Hilde stood in front of Julia and glared straight at me.

“Surely Mrs. Julia and the villagers all did wrong. But even if it wasn’t their turn yet, the others wouldn’t have let someone try to escape before then. The secret couldn’t get out.”

“Oh? Your mind went that far? Not bad.”

“Senior!”

“Then couldn’t everyone have left together?”

“Wh-what?”

“If there were many people who wanted to leave this suspicious life behind, the village wouldn’t be this quiet. There surely would have been a commotion. But did you see anything like that?”

“That’s…”

“And regardless of their reasons, the fact remains they kept selling young children. Plus the so-called guardian deity even distributed treasures to the villagers? Then couldn’t they have sold those treasures and settled somewhere else? Afraid of the guardian deity’s retaliation? Then they should have asked the Hunting Order for help. If there was a Beast intelligent enough to make deals with humans nearby, the Order would have surely tried everything to eliminate it. Isn’t that right?”

“…Then… then what are you suggesting?”

“What we need to do is obvious.”

I looked at Julia who could only hang her head without speaking.

“Where is this guardian deity.”

* * *

When deep night fell, Eugene and Hilde left Julia’s house.

Unlike when they first entered Julia’s house, there were now men patrolling the village streets carrying torches.

Some even had farming tools or guns in their other hands.

“The two of us stand out too much. I’ll draw their attention while you head to the mountain.”

Eugene said.

Julia had said the guardian deity was in the hills opposite the village gate.

Called a sacred mountain by Hameln’s villagers, only the village chief and a few close associates were allowed to enter, so she didn’t know where exactly in the mountain the guardian deity was or what it looked like.

However, Eugene knew exactly where and what was there thanks to his knowledge from his past life.

“But if you get caught, Senior…”

“I definitely won’t get caught. Even if I do, they’re just ordinary people.”

In Blue Paper Moon’s Hameln, there were also armed villagers patrolling the field, but combat wouldn’t occur as long as you didn’t deliberately choose dialogue options to provoke them.

However, if they caught someone trying to enter the mountain where the guardian deity was, a fight with the villagers would be unavoidable.

“Go ahead first and wait. Understood?”

“Yes.”

Eugene ran in the opposite direction from the mountain to draw attention.

“There!”

“It’s the hunter!”

“Catch them!”

The villagers chased after Eugene as he deliberately showed himself slightly while running.

When the surroundings became quiet again, Hilde gripped her axe tightly and ran toward the mountain where the guardian deity was said to be.

Running quietly while carrying such heavy equipment was extremely difficult.

Fortunately, she had practiced the method of muffling footsteps somewhat.

Hilde reached the sacred mountain where the guardian deity was said to be without encountering any obstacles.

At the entrance stood massive wooden statues carved like guardians on either side.

Though there should have been guards, no one was visible watching the place.

Now she just had to wait quietly here.

Though she was worried about Eugene going alone to draw people’s attention, her faith in his abilities was stronger.

There was also reassurance that even if he was caught, he could handle it somehow since they were just ordinary people.

After Hilde hid herself in the bushes for a while, she sensed someone’s presence.

Thinking it might be Eugene, she peeked slightly in that direction.

But the silhouette she glimpsed was very small, like a child.

Not even 10 years old yet…

“…!?”

Though she wondered if it might be Donar that Julia mentioned, she wasn’t sure if she should go out now.

Eugene had clearly said to wait.

But the child was entering the mountain alone.

If she missed this chance, she might lose the opportunity to save the child forever.

And a small desire spurred her on further.

If she discovered the guardian deity’s location herself, wouldn’t he praise her, especially today when he seemed so distant?

Hilde pondered for a long while, and by then the child had gone far enough that waiting any longer would mean losing sight of them.

She gripped her axe handle tightly and rose from the bushes to follow the child.

But before long the child’s figure vanished, and other ominous presences appeared.

“Screech!”

“Screech!?”

Beasts emerged on the forest path.

Unlike normal Beasts, they were small enough to be about Hilde’s size.

Their faces were elongated with very large ears, and they had whiskers and tails like rats along with large front teeth.

They approached Hilde making cries that sounded like a mix between rat and human screams.

“Tch.”

Hilde clicked her tongue but wasn’t scared.

She could now somewhat gauge the difference in ability between opponents and herself.

Just low-tier Beasts, and only five of them.

Not even worth comparing to what she fought in Cranion.

When Hilde took her stance with her axe, the Beasts all charged at her at once.

She split the head of the Beast in front with her axe and struck the head of the one beside it with the back of the axe blade.

Two fell instantly and she pushed away the Beast that had approached right in front, knocking it down, then easily dispatched the two behind just like before.

Then she finished by striking the head of the Beast she had knocked down.

“Easy.”

Saying she wasn’t her old self anymore, Hilde marveled at her own growth.

Though others praised her as having incredible talent, she had been able to become like this thanks to Eugene after all.

“I wonder if Senior… will praise me.”

She shook the blood off her axe.

Gathering and burning the Beast corpses would be too conspicuous so she postponed that for later, and now she needed to find that child again.

Hilde easily climbed a tall tree and looked around.

She was able to spot the child not too far away.

She climbed back down from the tree and ran in that direction.

There were several more Beast attacks along the way, but she was able to repel them all without much difficulty.

And the place she arrived at was a cave.

At the entrance stood carved statues identical to the ones she had seen at the bottom of the mountain, and she could see the child just entering the cave.

Three massive Beasts different from what she had seen so far were guarding the cave entrance.

Though they still looked like rats, they were nearly twice as tall and extremely thick sideways as well.

Moreover, they were wearing silver plates like armor so they wouldn’t be easy to take down.

Unfortunately she should turn back here…

“Screech…”

Just then she heard a Beast’s cry behind her.

Hilde hurriedly turned around.

It was the smallest Beast she had seen on this mountain so far.

But the presence felt through its dirty silver cloak was greater than those at the entrance.

“Screeeech…”

It opened its maw.

And countless eyeballs were revealed inside.