CH 62

Chapter 62

This wasn’t some matter that could be talked about on the open streets, so the three hurried into the chief’s house. As soon as they sat down at the table, Luisen asked, “What are you saying? The captain’s wife went back to Confosse?”

“It’s just as I said. Anna returned to Confosse about a month ago.”

The chief talked more about Anna, the wife. Luisen and Carlton already knew she had returned to her hometown to give birth. However, as soon as she arrived home and unpacked, she had a gigantic fight with her family; she packed up her luggage and said she’d go back. “She and her family originally didn’t have the best relationship. I asked them then, their daughter had finally returned to give birth–is it worth this fight? But, they told me it was family business…”

“Still, she’s pregnant… They let her go off alone?”

“Anna left with an entourage that came with her–an old woman and a servant. They were a small group, but they had a carriage as well. That’s enough. They made the safe journey here, after all.”

“Back then, was the centipede absent from the forest?”

At Luisen’s question, the chief looked hopeless, “Perhaps.”

“Perhaps?”

“Now that I think about it… It might have already infested the woods by then… But, at that time, we had no idea such a monster would live there.”

The villagers only noticed the giant centipede’s existence when it attacked their home–that’s when it showed its face for the first time. Until that moment, they had felt the forest was different from usual, but they had never expected for a giant centipede monster to appear. The forest had been their safe haven for a long while; they had vaguely thought they’d be sheltered.

“They arrived safely, so I thought they’d be fine going back as well. Furthermore, I couldn’t afford to spend more attention on Anna’s matters.”

“Why?”

“It was that night–the centipede attacked the village.”

The night Anna had left, the monster attacked. Many people died fighting back against the centpiede. People were terrified; their livelihoods were paused, and they were isolated within the village. They held out, afraid that the centipede may invade again; they survived by wasting the food they had stored for winter. He couldn’t afford to worry about someone who had left when their lives were in immediate danger.

“To be honest…I had completely forgotten about Anna until this Revered Pilgrim inquired about her. Then… you’re saying Anna isn’t at Confosse? She didn’t return at all?”

“Yes. At least, according to the guard captain…”

“Oh god, how could this happen?” The chief wiped his face with trembling hands. He quickly escaped to the kitchen, saying that he’d bring tea. The two could hear the chief crying from the kitchen–it seemed like he knew Anna well. This news must have come as a huge shock.

Disturbed, Luisen turned towards the mercenary. “The guard captain said his wife had gone home, and the chief said that the wife had returned to Confosse shortly afterwards. However, the wife is nowhere to be found. What in the world is going on?”

“There’s no need to complicate matters. The captain’s wife disappears; and no one knew of that fact because of the monstrous centipede.”

“…When you put it like that, it sounds simple.” Luisen grabbed his head. The guard captain had asked him to uncover the village’s situation, but that was incidental and secondary to the safety of his wife. However, now she’s gone missing! In the forest where the giant centipede roamed! No matter how optimistic the young lord tried to be, it all seemed futile.

“…Do you think she’s still alive?”

“It’s unlikely.” Carlton’s words were cruel but accurate. If the captain’s wife were still alive, she would have appeared somewhere–wherever that would be. Under these circumstances, it was very likely that she had been attacked by that monster.

“…What should we even say to the captain…” Luisen murmured.

How could he tell a man, eagerly waiting for his future child, that his wife died a month ago? The mere thought made him dizzy. Carlton patted the young lord on the back.

After weeping for a long while, the village chief returned to the table. He asked Luisen and Carlton to excuse him, left the house, and began to gather the villagers, informing them that Anna had disappeared. Then, along with the rest of the residents, the elder decided to look for the captain’s wife.

No one expected her to be alive, but many volunteered their services. The village, which had been excited enough to have a feast, was now grieving. A gloomy atmosphere befitting a funeral enveloped them all.

***

Leaving the village behind, Luisen and Carlton set out again. They couldn’t help the villagers, and they had to return to Confosse to give the captain the news.

They walked side by side along the forest road without riding on Zephys–the horse followed docilely behind. Luisen fiddled with the captain’s letter, which he carefully stored in his pocket. How could a floppy sheet of paper be so heavy? The thought of returning this letter, unable to be delivered, back to the original sender was the worst.

From behind them, they could hear noises from the hurried search party rummaging through the forest.

Then, Carlton suddenly put something at Luisen’s mouth. The young lord instinctively took a bite. “What is this? Mm? Jerky?”

As he mumbled, the salty taste bloomed on his tongue and a savory taste seeped out. It wasn’t as good as the ones made in the castle in his duchy, but the smoky scent and meat texture uplifted his mood. “When did you buy this?”

“I bought some–they were made at the inn. My duke keeps groping at his chest pocket–it looked empty.”

”Ah. I did?” Luisen’s face heated up. He was talking about the piece of beef jerky he always carried near his heart, right? Was it that obvious? It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was an embarrassing habit.

“I was going to use it if my duke wasn’t going to listen to my words, but I used it now.” Carlton handed the leftover pieces in his pocket to the young lord.

‘His tone sounds teasing, but he must have been paying attention to me.’ Luisen put the meat in his pocket after handing the mercenary a piece as well.

As they shared the beef jerky, it sounded like a pandemonium had broken out behind them. ‘What is it this time?’ Startled, Luisen turned around; simultaneously, they could hear a villager shouting.

“A carriage! Anna’s carriage!”

“We found the carriage! And…people….their corpses….Agh!”

Luisen turned to look at Carlton. ‘Let’s go–it could be the guard captain’s wife,’ his eyes conveyed. Carlton nodded–he understood the young lord’s silent signals.

They had found the carriage in an open space, a little off the road between Confosse and the village. It wasn’t so far from where the young lord and Carlton were. When the two arrived, several villagers had already gathered to observe the scene.

A small carriage, fit for two, had been broken and scattered across the vacant space. Blood had been splattered about–a disastrous sight.

“It seems the carriage went off road and drove wildly in that direction. They must have been attacked before trying to escape their pursuer,” Carlton, looking around the lot, said.

“Was that pursuer the giant centipede?”

“Most likely.”

As the young lord observed the area with his companion, a villager approached him.

“Revered Pilgrim. Over there…” The villager pointed to the side. Two corpses were laid neatly, side by side. Since they had been abandoned in the forest for a month, the bodies were in a pretty horrid condition. Luisen, though, was indifferent because he had seen too many horrible deaths. Seeing his attitude, the villagers thought that the pilgrim was a truly impressive being.

“Have you confirmed their identities?” Luisen asked.

“They don’t seem like residents of our village–they’re probably the servant and the old woman that were part of Anna’s entourage.”

“There’s only two there?”

“Yes. For now. We’re searching the surroundings at the moment… We’re planning to move them into the village right now, would you please pray for them before that?” the villagers cautiously asked. The people of this land were superstitious about moving those that had been recently deceased under unfortunate, unfair circumstances. They believed that if a priest prayed to soothe those regretful souls, it would all be fine.

A pilgrim was quite different from a priest, but, in the eyes of those ignorant of religious hierarchy, the two seemed similar. ‘I’m not even a pilgrim, really, but this is what the living requested.’

“I can pray for them, but it’s best to cremate the bodies. I’m a pilgrim, not a priest,” Luisen said.

“Thank you so much, Revered Pilgrim.”

Luisen approached the corpses and recited a short prayer. He copied the one-armed saint, who still remained vivdly in his memory–co-opting speech patterns, gestures, and the way he maintained eye contact with his audience. The performance was incredibly believable; even the vaguely or noncommittally faithful put their hands together and imitated prayer.

Carlton looked around the area while the young lord prayed. At the end of the prayer, the villagers moved to transport the bodies, and the mercenary approached Luisen. “They were attacked by the centipede.”

“You’re certain?”

“Yes.” Carlton brought Luisen around the carriage. When he brushed away the long grass with his foot, the young lord could see dotted tracks on the ground.

“What’s this?”

“It’s probably centipede tracks.”

“How can you know?”

“That monster doesn’t drag its body around; it travels by poking its legs, on either side, into the ground.”

Luisen recalled how, earlier, the centipede moved and tamped down on a wave of nausea, however futile his efforts may be. ‘Ngh! So gross!’

“And, if you look this way, there’s bloodstains alongside the tracks. It goes over there,” Carlton said.

“Then, the captain’s wife is…”

“From the lack of body and the bloodstains, she must have been taken by the centipede. With that said, I don’t think she’s still alive.”

”Mmm…”

It was somehow discomforting. Why would it leave the other two behind and just take the captain’s wife? If it wanted food, the servant would serve as a better meal.

Luisen stared motionlessly in the direction the footsteps led. Even though it was bright daylight and the sun was shining, the distant forest looked gloomy. The centipede was dead. They had burned it, destroying its corpse. Nevertheless, he had an ominous hunch that this whole business had not finished yet.