Chapter 58 : Turnaround Table

After successfully acquiring the digestive abilities from the boar Sarkas, my appetite increased significantly. I wasn’t a light eater to begin with, but now I was eating twice as much as others at a time.

Luna, who was watching me eat, said worriedly, “Eat slowly. You’ll get indigestion.”

“Luna, can I have another bowl?”

“Again!?”

Invidia, who was watching the scene in Daengdaengi’s form, sent a thought.

[It’s good to be able to activate the ability at any time, but there was a side effect of increased appetite.]

‘Do something about it. At this rate, I’m going to double my weight.’

[That’s not possible. Who knows when there might be a risk of poisoning? Anyway, you don’t have to worry about your weight. I’m converting most of it into my nourishment.]

It’s good that my body won’t balloon up, but I feel bad for Luna, who has to cook for me every day. The only solution is to gradually reduce it…?

“Luna, can I have another bowl too?”

There was one more person besides me who was diligently piling up bowls on the opposite side. Yuri, who started eating with me, was closely following my eating speed without any sign of being full.

“Yuri too? Oh, okay….”

Luna busily moved around, and I asked Yuri with a curious look.

“..Aren’t you full, Yuri?”

“I am.”

“Then why are you still eating?”

“I feel like I’m losing to you. I have to eat accordingly.”

‘..Huh.’

I never thought she would be burning with a competitive spirit even in this. I thought she was quiet these days, but she felt more active since the dispatch.

“You two, stop bothering Luna, will you? Anyone would think this is a restaurant.”

Carne said to us, sipping her black tea. Hearing her voice, Luna asked, holding the syrup in her hand.

“Would you like another dessert, Carne?”

Carne, who was watching us, muttered softly.

“..Two.”

‘You’re just the same.’

These days, our team was short-handed even with two Lunas.

Cled, with dark circles under his eyes, called us together to deliver the mission as usual. But unlike usual, his hair wasn’t messy, and there was no characteristic alcohol smell.

“Aren’t you drinking these days?”

“…I quit.”

At his answer, everyone made a surprised expression.

‘Cled quit drinking…?’

It was surprising that he, who used to pile up bottles of alcohol in his private warehouse, had quit drinking.

“…More importantly, let me explain about this mission.”

Cled unfolded the map and pointed to the lower part of the Armonia Empire with his finger.

“This mission is also an extension of the bandit sweep. This is the operation area this time.”

The area he pointed to on the map had the name of the region written in small letters.

[Luden]

“…..”

As soon as I saw the letters, my expression hardened.

“You all know what kind of region Luden is, so I don’t need to say it. It’s the most dangerous place in Armonia, boasting the highest crime rate.”

It was the terrible, if not horrifying, area where Luna and I were born and raised.

“For reference, Commander Violet will be participating in this mission.”

“The commander…?”

“This mission isn’t like last time, where we simply eliminate a group of miscellaneous bandits and return. The commander plans to unleash Spirit Masters throughout the area and properly deal with related criminal groups.”

Cled folded the map and turned away from us.

“..In the past, there was a young Spirit Master named Windgart Luares. He was a national talent who lost his life to bandits in the Luden region.”

“Luares….”

At the name he mentioned, Yuri muttered softly.

“..He’s trying to avenge his grudge, and he’s going to put a lot of effort into this operation.”

Everyone was focused on his words, but I couldn’t. While sweating cold sweat, I stroked the handle of the dagger.

The two daggers I have were made by melting down the longsword of that Windgart Luares.

[Interesting! You killed him, Saya.]

‘….Yes.’

I was the one who killed him when I was a bandit. When he came to the bandits alone, I pretended to be a prisoner and stabbed him with a knife when he was off guard.

It’s a memory that has faded a lot now, but hearing that name brought back memories of that time little by little.

“Other teams will be in charge of the bandits made up of humans. The place where top-class Spirit Masters like you will follow the commander is near the Luden Forest here.”

The place he was talking about was near the supply route near the Luden Forest, and he said that it was notorious for bandits consisting only of beastmen preying on carriages.

“They will be the biggest opponents of this operation. Luden is twice as far as Krio, so if you have any luggage to pack, pack it in advance.”

If you say that there is only one bandit group consisting only of beastmen in Luden, it was only one.

The Black Dog Bandits.

I was dispatched as a Spirit Master to a mission to kill them.

“..Ugh….”

The carriage stopped with a jolt, and I quickly opened the door and vomited what I had been holding back. Since I hadn’t eaten anything, only stomach acid came out.

Luna, who was worried about me, put her hand on my shoulder and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yeah, I think it’s motion sickness.”

Carne, who was looking at me carefully, said with a curious look.

“That’s strange. You didn’t say anything about being dizzy during the last dispatch.”

As Carne said, I had never had motion sickness before. This headache was closer to psychological than dizziness.

[I feel a terrible headache. Will you be okay in that state?]

‘..Don’t worry about it.’

Even if I tried to clear my head, the familiar faces of the bandits kept coming to mind and bothering me.

‘..Let’s not think about it.’

Now I’m going to fight them.

The people I have to protect now are the people who are with me now.

“Enemy attack!”

The carriage I was riding in was attacked by an unknown bandit group. They seemed to be a small group of human bandits, but they chose the wrong opponent to attack.

In about five minutes after the fight broke out, the bandits were subdued by the Spirit Masters who were riding, and from some of the survivors, they interrogated their hideout, which was not far from the attack site, and raided it with the Spirit Masters.

“Capture them all. Don’t miss even one child.”

In the hideout, there were remaining bandits, as well as children and women who seemed to be living there. Of course, the combatants were beheaded on the spot, and the remaining women and children were trembling and looking at the Spirit Masters.

Cled saw them and asked Commander Violet.

“Commander, the disposition of these personnel…”

“No different. Behead them as well.”

At his words, the woman sobbed and hugged the child tightly. Cled was also a little flustered by his words, and said again.

“Commander. These people have no intention of harming us. It would be better to put them on a transport carriage and take them to Semal…”

“You’re soft, soft. Cled.”

“..Yes?”

“If we release these people, what do you think they will do later?”

Violet grabbed the woman’s hair and lifted her up strongly.

“Do you think these people will go out into society and do anything that will help the empire?”

“…”

“In the end, the women will beg for food or become prostitutes, and the children will live as pickpockets and wander the streets, and eventually they will become the same bandits as those just now.”

Violet drew his sword and looked at the Spirit Masters and said.

“Does no one agree to execute them?”

The Spirit Masters each avoided his gaze and turned their eyes away.

“Then, I will do it.”

He swung his sword without hesitation and dropped their heads to the floor. It was a cruelty that was hard to even imagine from the usual Violet.

Violet wiped the blood on his sword with a cloth and passed by Cled.

“…Remember that useless compassion will only return as a disaster.”

Cled lowered his eyes to the floor and quietly answered.

“..I understand. Commander.”

Everyone in that place had no choice but to remain silent.

Before long, the carriage approached Luden, and Carne muttered softly.

“…I can’t believe it. For the commander to do such a thing.”

As one of Violet’s many adoptees, Carne found his inhumane behavior difficult to accept.

“That’s…. like it’s not Violet-nim…”

Luna gently grabbed Carne’s hand, which was trembling slightly, and calmed her down.

Luna looked at Cled with serious eyes and asked.

“..Instructor Cled. Do you think the commander’s actions are right?”

“….”

Cled, who was silent for a long time, quietly opened his mouth.

“..I understand it with my head, but personally…. It’s hard.”

Since the Invidia subjugation battle, Commander Violet’s personality had changed noticeably. He often got angry over trivial things, and according to rumors, he even had a sinister hobby of catching and torturing small animals in the forest.

“..But, in the end, the commander’s actions are undeniably the way for the empire in some way. We are clearly Spirit Masters under his control, and we just do our assigned duties.”

Violet was certainly close to a national hero.

The crime rate of the once chaotic empire was drastically reduced after he became commander, and it was a fact that everyone knew that this would lead to the peace of the empire.

While everyone was confused, Yuri and I didn’t say a word and just looked out the window. Would she be willing to succeed to the position of commander even after seeing him like that?

It was questionable whether what was inside him was really Violet,

or whether it was just something else wearing Violet’s mask.

The carriage ran safely and arrived at the Luden Spirit Master Headquarters. The atmosphere was very subdued overall, and everyone was exhausted from the long journey, so everyone fell asleep as soon as they unpacked.

Waiting for everyone to fall asleep, I opened my eyes that I had closed and quietly got out of bed. I picked up my equipment and was about to leave the barracks with quiet steps.

“Where are you going at night?”

Surprised by someone’s voice, I looked to the side, and Cled was leaning against the barracks tent.

“Are you going back to the bandits, unable to break the habit, Saya?”

It was Cled who knew that I was once a bandit. It was also within the expected range that I would sneak out at night and try to visit them.

“…The commander’s actions crossed the line. At least, I have to evacuate the women and children in the bandit group in advance….”

“You are a Spirit Master.”

Cled’s voice, more resolute than ever, suppressed my words.

“You should know that even trying to inform the enemy of our information is a serious act of treason.”

“….”

“If you chose a job where you kill people to save people, you have to take responsibility for it.”

There was nothing wrong with his words.

I was clearly trying to commit treason, and he was just pointing it out as an instructor.

“…But….”

He walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder.

“.. I also know very well that you are not the kind of person who would stop just because you hear this.”

He didn’t try to meet my eyes, but he didn’t look angry either.

“As a human being, before a Spirit Master, I also think that the commander’s actions have crossed the line. I won’t see your solo actions, so don’t die and come back quickly.”

“..Cled….”

“It’s Instructor Cled. You’re slacking off….”

“..Thank you, Instructor.”

Cled stopped me as I was about to leave right away.

“Oh, and by the way….”

He scratched his face and said to me.

“If there’s a daughter of a man named Heukrang there, please tell her this.”

Heukrang was Cled’s former mercenary colleague and the founder of the Black Dog Bandits. Heukrang’s daughter was probably referring to Heukgyeon.

“Your father was an idiot who fought for beastmen until he died.”

He, who had been trying to regain the human rights of beastmen until just before he died, eventually met his end at the hands of a Spirit Master.

“..Yes.”

I smiled slightly at Cled’s request, nodded, and quickly left the headquarters.

Now it was a race against time. When the sun rises, the Spirit Masters of the academy will raid the Luden Forest, where the Black Dog Bandits’ hideout is, and I have to go there first and inform them within the given time, and then return to the barracks.

‘Invidia, lend me your back.’

When I got far enough away that the barracks were out of sight, I summoned Invidia, got on board, and picked up speed. As I ran at a tremendous speed, the entrance to the Luden Forest gradually appeared, and I cut through the bushes and recalled the direction of the hideout.

Even though I had left the bandits, it was not difficult to find the shortcut to the hideout, as I was a bandit until last year. The problem was elsewhere.

[Saya, something is flying!]

“..!”

To avoid dozens of arrows flying from all directions, Invidia jumped high with his leg power.

“Anemos!”

When I thought I had avoided the arrows, I was swept away by a strong wind caused by someone’s spell.

‘Magic…?’

Naturally, I was subdued by a net that flew in from the opposite direction.

Towards me and Invidia, who were unable to move, black-clothed people gathered one by one. Among them, a man with crutches approached me and said.

“It’s strange. This road is a road that outsiders can’t know. What’s your identity?”

He lifted the hood I was wearing and met my eyes. He looked at me for a moment, then his eyes widened and he took a step back.

“…Saya!?”

I smiled awkwardly and said to him.

“..Hello, Gillian.”

It was a very long reunion since I left the bandits.