Chapter 302: Where it all started
Luke took hesitant steps toward the woman, his mind refusing to accept what his eyes were seeing. Rationally, he knew she wasn’t the person he feared. Her clothes were different. Her hair was different.
But reason no longer mattered.
Until he saw the face, he couldn’t breathe.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears as he finally reached her. Kneeling beside the motionless figure, he gently turned her onto her back.
"Ah..."
A shaky breath escaped his lips, one he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding.
It wasn’t...
It was Roxanne’s mother.
She was barely alive. Her face had gone deathly pale, and a deep gash across her stomach soaked her clothes with blood.
Luke didn’t hesitate.
Whether she was family or not was irrelevant.
She was dying.
He immediately pressed both hands against the wound to slow the bleeding before uncorking a healing potion.
"Drink this. You’ll survive."
Supporting her head, he carefully poured the potion between her lips.
Nothing happened.
The liquid disappeared into her mouth, but there was no glow, no sign of the wound closing, no return of color to her face.
Her breathing remained shallow.
Her body continued to grow colder in his arms.
[Host, the target has suffered severe blood loss. Nothing below a high-grade potion will be enough to save her.]
Luke gritted his teeth and pulled out the high-grade potion.
It was the only one he had.
He knew he could buy another later by spending Gamma Points if necessary. Those could always be earned back.
A life could not.
He was just about to uncork the vial when a weak hand wrapped around his wrist.
"Ah."
Luke looked down in surprise.
The woman was staring at him through half-lidded eyes, each breath sounding more fragile than the last.
"Don’t... bother..." she whispered. "I... I don’t want to live anymore..."
Her fingers weakly tightened around his hand.
"Just... save my daughter..."
Luke clicked his tongue.
"Did Manbaru do this to you?"
She gave the faintest nod.
"I... always knew... he was a bad person..." Her voice trembled as blood trickled from the corner of her lips. "That’s why... I didn’t want... Roxanne to stay here..."
A lone tear slipped down her cheek.
"I... I couldn’t even... talk to my child..."
Luke’s chest tightened.
Everything suddenly fell into place.
She had known something was wrong with Kirb all along. That was why she had pushed Roxanne away, saying those cold, hurtful words. She had never meant them. She only wanted her daughter to leave before the inevitable happened.
Neither of them had understood.
And now...
It was too late.
"Luke..."
She clutched his hand with the last of her strength.
"He... is waiting..." Every word scraped against her failing breath. "He said... he would meet you... where it all started..."
Luke’s eyes turned ice cold.
He knew exactly where that bastard had taken his family.
"Promise me..." she pleaded, her voice growing fainter with each passing second. "Promise me... you’ll keep her safe..."
Luke tightened his grip around her trembling hand.
"I promise."
His answer came without the slightest hesitation.
"I won’t let anything happen to them."
A faint smile bloomed across her lips.
The fear that had haunted her until her final moments quietly melted away. Her fingers loosened around his hand, and her eyes slowly drifted shut.
At last...
She could leave this world knowing her daughter would not be alone.
Luke remained beside her in silence for a few moments before gently lowering her body onto the ground. He covered her with a cloth, treating her with the dignity she deserved.
He would give her a proper burial.
But not now.
Right now, there was only one place he needed to be.
....
"Hmm... Hmm..."
Manbaru sat comfortably on a wooden chair in the middle of the forest, lazily humming to himself.
More than a hundred armed men stood around him in a wide circle, weapons drawn and eyes fixed on the surrounding woods.
In his opinion, they were completely unnecessary.
Why would he need such vigilance?
A slow grin spread across his face as he glanced over his shoulder.
Five women were bound to separate trees, thick ropes cutting into their wrists as they hung there helplessly.
"Now then..." he murmured, idly balancing a blade on the tip of his finger. "I wonder if you’ll still be able to stand so confidently with all of them in my hands."
His gaze drifted toward the dark path leading into the forest.
The grin on his face widened.
"Come."
His voice was little more than a whisper.
"Walk straight into the trap I’ve prepared for you, boy."
....
"I am relieved that you’re safe, Chief," said the leader responsible for the security of the chief’s residence.
Along with him, several loyal warriors emerged from the underground shelter hidden beneath the house. They had been locked inside from the very beginning.
Everyone left outside had been working for the traitor.
Agram stared at the mangled body of the former guild master, his brows knitted together.
"I still don’t understand..." he muttered. "How did he recruit so many men right under my nose?"
The more he thought about it, the heavier his heart became.
Gorrem had never revealed his ambitions.
He had remained quiet, patient, and invisible, replacing the chief’s security one man at a time until the entire defense side answered to him instead. By the time Agram realized something was wrong, the few guards who had remained loyal had either been murdered or imprisoned.
It had been a coup planned over a long time.
"He acted now because the Head Chief is due to arrive tomorrow," the warrior beside him said, unable to hide the bitterness in his voice. "If he had succeeded in framing someone else for today’s incident and had that person captured as well, the Head Chief would have had little choice but to appoint him as the village’s acting leader."
The realization left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouth.
Everything had been calculated from the very beginning.
Everything had been meticulously planned.
Had Gorrem succeeded, which he very nearly had, he would have gained far more than control of the guild. His influence would have spread across the entire village, one of the four pillars supporting the Head Village itself.
With that level of authority and wealth at his command, there was no telling what he would have attempted next.
Today, a catastrophe had been narrowly avoided.
Countless lives had been spared.
"Ah!"
The head of security suddenly flinched. In one swift motion, he turned toward the entrance, sword raised and every muscle in his body tensed.
A heartbeat later, Agram sensed it as well.
A crushing presence was racing toward the residence.
From outside came the frantic cries of soldiers.
"Stop him!"
"Hold the line!"
The desperate shouts echoed one after another, yet instead of reassuring anyone inside, they only made one thing painfully clear.
Whoever was approaching was cutting through them with ease.
"Get behind me, my lord," the security chief said, stepping forward without hesitation.
This time, he was prepared to lay down his life if that was what it took.
The doors burst open.
Agram blinked before letting out a surprised hum.
"You?"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Braven, he’s the one who saved my life."
The security chief’s eyes widened.
This young man...
He had expected someone far older.
Yet the overwhelming pressure radiating from Luke made him feel as though a seasoned veteran had just stepped into the room.
Luke greeted neither of them.
"I am taking him."
Before anyone could react, he was already standing over Gorrem’s unconscious body. He bent down, grabbed the man by the collar, and effortlessly hoisted him onto his shoulder.
"I can’t allow that," Braven said, stepping forward. "We still need to question him. His hideouts, his accomplices..."
"Braven."
Agram’s calm voice stopped him.
"Don’t."
Luke paid no attention to the exchange.
Without slowing for even a second, he turned toward the window.
The next instant, he leaped.
Glass exploded outward as his figure shot through the opening. He landed heavily on the ground below without losing momentum and sprinted straight toward the forest.
Within moments, he had disappeared from sight.
Silence settled over the room.
Braven finally turned toward Agram, confusion written across his face.
"I know he saved your life," he said, "but Gorrem could have told us where the others are hiding. We may have just lost our best chance to uncover the rest of the conspiracy."
A faint smile crossed Agram’s face.
"You still don’t understand, Braven."
His gaze lingered on the shattered window.
"That young man who saved my life..."
His voice grew quiet.
"If taking Gorrem had required killing the two of us, he wouldn’t have hesitated."
Braven froze.
He looked back toward the broken window, trying to picture the young man who had just vanished into the village.
"...Just how strong is he?" he whispered.
~~~~~~
A/N:- I hope you liked the Chapter.