Under the blazing sunlight, an old man dozed off with a blade of grass between his lips. Half of him was hidden in the shadow of the grass, while the other half was being scorched by the sun.
He probably hadn't intended to photosynthesize only halfway; initially, he must have sat properly in the shade to enjoy his leisure. But as the sun moved, the shadow's position shifted, leaving him in this awkward state.
Clop-clop. Clop-clop.
A carriage passed by in front of him. Though not particularly large, one glance revealed it to be of high quality.
A noble young lady looking out the window from inside the carriage smiled faintly at the sight of the old man. In just an hour, he would end up looking ridiculous—half white and half black.
Unless a kind-hearted traveler woke him up, or he woke himself.
If the young lady had the power to stop the carriage... she would have paused her journey briefly to tap the old man's shoulder and suggest he find a wider patch of shade.
But the young lady had no authority. She wasn't traveling—she was being isolated far away from her family. She didn't even have the right to offer the smallest kindness.
Clink.
Though disguised as a pretty ornament, she wore restraints that tightly suppressed her magical power. The young lady couldn't exercise any power at all.
Farewell to her homeland where ice crystals sparkled.
Farewell to the reindeer that gazed warmly at busy humans crossing the snowfields. Farewell to the coniferous forests that stood tall even in the bitter winter. Farewell to everything.
Far, far away, in a place where only the Goddess knew who she was—in a small, isolated, remote monastery—the young lady would end her life.
She had no regrets.
Born with blue blood, she had enjoyed many good things. Though her remaining life would be painted over with dull gray, devoid of joy or sorrow... the fifteen years of brilliance spent in her homeland would forever remain in her heart.
And, though unlikely.
Perhaps, by chance, a prince on a white horse might appear to rescue her?
Clop-clop. Clop-clop.
The carriage carrying the young lady passed by.
The dozing old man immediately opened his eyes slyly. Under his wrinkled eyelids gleamed malice like a well-honed dagger.
He had only been pretending to doze; he hadn't slept for even a moment. His job was to select prey.
The carriage was luxurious but bore no family crest. There were no knights, and the coachman looked like a greenhorn who had never handled a sword.
The mercenary sitting next to the coachman seemed to know how to use a sword. The crystal ball in his possession showed a single floating star.
First Star level. A bronze-badge mercenary.
Those who earned metal badges instead of wooden ones were undoubtedly elite. He was quite capable, but this village had a "Holy Knight" who had reached the mature realm of Three Stars. No match at all.
This was doable. This was a secluded path rarely traveled. They could make a carriage disappear without a trace. The old man signaled.
"Pull the rope."
Twang—!
The rope stretched across the path was pulled taut in an instant. It was high enough to reach the horse's knees.
"Huh? What—?!"
By the time the coachman noticed something wrong and tried to change direction, it was already too late.
Neeeigh...!!
Thud, crash!
The horse fell with a shriek, and the carriage shook before tipping over. The young lady inside, who had been reminiscing, tumbled and rolled across the floor, hitting everything around her.
The pain came belatedly after the sudden incident. When the young lady regained her senses, her entire body ached. An attack? But why?
Was banishing her to a monastery... not enough to put their minds at ease?
"Ugh, hnngh..."
Her vision spun dizzily. Perhaps she had hit her head. Staggering, the young lady poked her head out of the carriage.
The poor coachman lay dead with a broken neck. Though feeling sorry for him, she forced herself to look away. Now she needed to identify the attackers. Who were they?
She looked up.
There, villagers armed with tridents and rakes surrounded her in a circle. And then—clang! clang!—the sound of metal rang out.
She had heard that poor mountain villagers sometimes turned into bandits, but she never imagined experiencing it herself.
To keep her banishment to the monastery secret, the coachman had chosen a secluded forest path with few people. That had been the fatal mistake.
The carriage had an escort... or rather, a guard. She'd heard he was a mercenary with ten years of experience. He should be able to handle poorly armed villagers.
Her expectation was crushed helplessly.
A man in his mid-thirties, about two meters tall with a body full of marble-like muscles, was literally toying with the hired mercenary.
The difference in magical power, control, and combat skill was overwhelming. The mercenary was quickly cornered, his left arm severed. With confusion on his face, he cried out:
"This... this sword style. Why is there a Holy Knight in a mountain village bandit group—ack!"
"Since you've figured it out, I can't let you live. Everything is for my noble Goddess, so don't resent your death."
The Holy Knight raised his heavy greatsword. Under the large shadow of the blade, the mercenary left his last words with an expression stained with anger and resentment:
"You never... intended to let me live... anyway... ugh."
The mercenary was cut in half from the waist along with the trees caught in the sword's trajectory. So effortlessly.
Thud. The cut trees fell, landing on the gruesome corpse. With the sound of bones and flesh being crushed, it became a green grave.
The young lady, frozen with shock, was grabbed and forcibly lifted by the villagers. Having caught their prey, they needed to drag her to their nest. Though she resisted...
"Let go of me...!"
"You'd better come quietly if you don't want rough treatment. Or would you prefer to crawl like a dog while being whipped?"
"With skin so white, handprints would show clearly on your buttocks if we spanked you. Heh heh..."
Their vulgar rudeness and blatant desires cut into the young lady's heart with a sharpness she had never imagined. Her strength drained away.
Even without the restraints, she couldn't imagine evading that monster-like Holy Knight. Resistance was futile. There was no way out.
The young lady was dragged to the village and locked in a filthy underground prison.
===============================================================
"We finally scored today, cheers!"
"Heh heh heh... cheers!"
The villagers sat around a bonfire, raising their glasses in celebration. The woman they had caught clearly looked high-born and would fetch a good price when sold.
Lately, fewer people had been passing through this route, so there had been no harvest. How fortunate they were today. Today was truly a lucky day.
No, the lucky day was... not today but a week ago.
In the excited atmosphere, a young villager quietly asked the village chief:
"Brother, how did that Holy Knight end up joining our business? I just can't understand it."
"I don't know either, kid."
"But you two were talking privately. You mean to tell me you didn't learn a single reason during that long conversation? If you don't want to tell me, just say so. Don't embarrass me."
"No... I really don't know. The reasons he gave were all nonsense. Here, you try to make sense of it."
That bear-like Holy Knight had come to this village from Elmest Territory a week ago. The middle-aged village chief, thinking their human trafficking had finally been discovered, was ready to gather all the village's money as a bribe.
But the Holy Knight said he "already knew."
Furthermore, he said this human trafficking was a holy act that pleased the Goddess greatly, and urged them to continue capturing and selling people with all their might.
(The Holy Knight himself added various explanations about how the Goddess purifies the world through pure souls, but that's all the villager understood.)
And he ordered that since he had work to do here, the villagers should follow him to prepare "the Goddess's body."
"The Goddess's body...?"
"He was saying something about the Goddess being dead? That bear-like man was crying his eyes out, saying something about foolish believers failing, causing the Goddess to die. So he needs to resurrect her."
"Can goddesses even die...? Aren't they gods because they don't die?"
"How would I know? All I know is how to put a noose around a woman's neck."
The village chief thought the Holy Knight had gone mad, or perhaps the world had.
But either way, it was beneficial for them. A monster of unknown strength wanted to help their business.
Moreover, preparing "the Goddess's body" was even enjoyable.
The Holy Knight said he needed a female body of extreme beauty, and he gave away mediocre prey to the villagers for free.
However, he asked that if they happened to die while being "played with," the bodies should be given to him.
The chief knew what to call people who chose to do such disgusting things. That Holy Knight was probably a Dark Mage. They did all sorts of terrible things like extracting people's souls.
But he wasn't as frightening as the stories made him out to be. He communicated well and cooperated without problems.
Occasionally, when he saw him crying profusely while praying over a glass vial containing some liquid... and when he muttered about "The Nest" and "pleasure," his fanaticism was admittedly a bit creepy.
But he was an ally now! And a powerful one at that.
"I secretly used that realm-judging device the Holy Knight gave us on him. Three stars appeared. That means Three Stars, Gold Badge level."
"A Gold Badge mercenary... isn't that the kind that noble lords pay fortunes to hire?"
"Yes. The kind that can kill an ogre with a single slash and wipe out an entire village if they want to. A real monster. I think he might even be the strongest in the world."
"Didn't they say there's something above Three Stars? I heard the Empire boasts about having something called 'woo-something' this many."
The village chief snorted.
Ascension was fake. Such a thing couldn't exist. Even that Holy Knight was so strong it seemed like a dream, so how could a person be any stronger?
They were probably just trying to intimidate people to control them. Making a fuss. Stories of a single person destroying mountains and bringing down the sun belonged in children's fairy tales.
If it were true, it would mean those so-called "Ascended" could destroy the world if they wanted to. One person could destroy ten or a hundred villages.
That couldn't possibly be real.
The frog in the well gulped down his beer. They were drunk on romance—the romance of continuing this beautiful cycle of capturing people, selling them, and making money forever.
As they laughed and chatted, a scout came running breathlessly.
"Another carriage is coming this way!"
"What did the old man say?"
"He said, um... he can't see any stars? And there are three women. There's one man, but he's skinny and weak. And all three women are drop-dead gorgeous."
"This must be our day. Hey, stop eating and grab your tools! And tell the Holy Knight lord to come!"
The village chief ordered with a hearty laugh. With three women, there would be more than enough for all the villagers to use. What a beautiful life!
They hurriedly moved toward the forest path.
===============================================================
As they had done before, they pulled the rope hard just as the carriage approached. The taut rope caught the horse's legs.
With the horse's neigh, the carriage flipped over and rolled on the ground.
While the Holy Knight stood with his arms crossed, the villagers approached the carriage with cheers. But...
Something was strange.
From the overturned carriage came surprisingly calm conversations:
"I told you to be careful. I told you to be careful!"
"...No, I thought they'd serve food with sleeping pills when we entered the inn. If they just flip the carriage like this, what if the hostage breaks her neck and dies? If they had any sense, they would obviously—"
"Stupid bastards don't think about that stuff! You lost the bet. You have to follow my order once! Hahaha!"
"Damn it... So, what. Do you want to do it, or should I? Oh, Tower Master, are you angry? Getting flipped over just 10 minutes after getting a lap pillow? Oh my."
Silence.
After a brief silence, the villagers surrounding the carriage felt an itchiness like termites crawling inside their heads. And then.
With a whisper-like incantation:
"...Take away the light, close your eyes. 'Darkness.'"
The world turned pitch black. So dark they couldn't even tell where their own limbs were.
Night had come to the night.