WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

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◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 93: Escape Route

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“Do not come here again.”

After delivering that cold remark, Gaf turned and walked away.

His attitude was unlike usual. He was far too blunt.

Shaperia lowered her head.

‘It must be because he learned who I really am.’

She was a spy for the Great Saint Church. She had secretly entered the lord’s castle and deceived everyone there.

Now that they knew, anyone would be angry.

Even kind-hearted Johan must have been furious at the betrayal.

Shaperia let out a long sigh.

She had betrayed those who had treated her kindly. She had only carried out her duty, but that did not erase her guilt.

She felt sorry for everyone in the castle, including Johan.

As Shaperia’s shoulders drooped, a boy carefully took her hand.

“You are a good person, Holy Knight.”

The boy’s name was Raon. He was the grandson of the chief of the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers’ village, and the child Zalkarin had once possessed.

Johan had saved him when Possession had nearly caused the Great Saint Church to take him away.

Shaperia looked at Raon.

“I am not a Holy Knight, nor am I a good person.”

She had been an apprentice Holy Knight. In truth, she had now lost even that status. Since her Sacred Power had vanished, Shaperia was now nothing more than an ordinary Holy Soldier.

Raon shook his head.

“The scriptures say that someone who protects others is a Holy Knight. You protected us all the way here. That makes you a Holy Knight. And a good person.”

The southwest was hundreds of kilometers from Myatro’s direct domain.

Because it was such a long journey, dangers waited everywhere along the way.

Lesser Evil Spirits had appeared several times, and bands of thieves had blocked their path.

Each time, Shaperia had dealt with them.

Without her, the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers would never have safely reached the Myatro territory.

Shaperia gently stroked Raon’s hair.

“Thank you. That helps a little.”

Raon gave her a bright smile.

Seeing it, Shaperia found it impossible to remain still.

At the very least, she had to let the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers meet Johan.

They had come all this way. She could not simply send them back.

Shaperia immediately raised her head.

Her gaze followed Gaf as he walked away.

“Please wait! Just wait a moment!”

Shaperia began running. She quickly caught up to Gaf.

Gaf turned to look at her. His expression was still stiff.

“What is it? I am busy.”

“Please listen to me for a moment. It will only take a little while.”

Gaf furrowed his brow.

“If this is about your spying, there is no need to make excuses. I already know the whole story.”

At Johan’s command, Gaf had kept a close eye on Shaperia.

He had heard every conversation she had with the Heretic Inquisitor.

Shaperia spoke.

“It is about something else. Did you see the migrants earlier?”

A little while ago, around forty people had been standing with Shaperia.

Naturally, Gaf had seen them.

“Yes. Why?”

“Never mind me. At least let them meet Sir Johan... no, the Baron. The Baron promised to accept them as his subjects. It was a promise.”

Gaf’s expression tightened slightly.

“The Baron does not have time to concern himself with such trivial matters.”

Shaperia’s voice filled with indignation.

“Trivial matters? They walked for days from the Southwestern Quarantine Zone to this place, trusting only the Baron’s word. Their survival depends on this. Do not dismiss it as something trivial.”

Gaf let out a long sigh.

“Do you know how many itinerant slash-and-burn farmers and drifters come here every day? If we accepted every one of them, the territory would go broke.”

Since Johan had taken up residence in the castle, Myatro’s reputation had steadily risen.

The baronial house had not even collected taxes from its subjects this year.

Hearing such rumors, many people had been coming to the territory.

It was difficult for Johan to take in all of them.

Shaperia felt frustrated.

“The group that came with me are not ordinary itinerant slash-and-burn farmers. They are the Baron’s benefactors.”

“Benefactors, all of a sudden?”

“Yes, benefactors. They cared for the Baron when he collapsed by the river, and in return, he allowed them to settle here.”

Gaf fell into thought for a moment. He felt as though Johan had told him something similar before.

He still spoke stiffly.

“I will confirm it with the Baron. If this is another lie, know that we will formally protest to the Great Saint Church.”

Shaperia was a spy for the Great Saint Church. There was a chance that the group she had brought belonged to the Great Saint Church as well.

As captain of the guard, Gaf had to screen them carefully.

Shaperia’s expression softened.

“I apologize for what happened before. Please convey my apology to the Baron as well.”

Gaf turned back toward the lord’s castle.

“There is no need to apologize. You were only following the Great Saint Church’s orders, after all. Wait in the village for now. I will meet the Baron and return.”

Gaf quickly walked away.

The moment he entered the lord’s castle, its gates closed tightly again.

The soldiers guarded the closed gates like an iron wall.

Shaperia found it strange.

Had the baronial house always been this closed off? In two months, many changes had come to the castle.

Shaperia quietly looked at it.

No matter how she thought about it, the atmosphere had changed greatly from before.

* * *

Johan sat in his office, blankly staring into space.

His eyes fell upon the blackened ceiling. There were deep gouges in several places, and it was shattered here and there.

Broken debris occasionally fell from above.

They were all traces of battle.

Ilea and Gawain had utterly wrecked the castle.

It gave Johan quite a headache. He had confidently told Ilea not to worry, but in truth, he had no idea how to repair the castle.

‘...Should I abandon it and build a new one?’

That might be the right choice.

If he called workers to repair this castle, there was a chance that the location of the Forbidden Archive would become known to the public.

‘Build. Building a new one is right.’

This place would remain the old castle, and he would build a new one.

Johan swallowed a groan and began writing a letter.

He intended to lean a little on the Count’s wealth.

The Count would probably be unable to refuse Johan’s request.

After writing for some time, Johan suddenly snapped his pen.

He abruptly clutched his head.

‘Idiot. The castle is not the urgent problem right now.’

The greatest problem was Gawain.

No matter how hard he thought, he could not find a way to deal with him.

His focus on rebuilding the castle was probably an act of avoidance.

His head hurt so badly that he wanted to run away from Gawain’s problem.

‘Do not avoid it. I need to stop Gawain’s corruption first.’

There had been no solution in the original work either.

Johan had to find one himself.

He slowly organized the situation in his mind.

Gawain’s corruption was the backlash from corrupting the Holy Spear into the Dread Spear.

What if he purified the Dread Spear back into the Holy Spear instead?

Johan shook his head.

There was no way to purify a corrupted Abomination.

That was how it had been established in Inmarok.

Johan clutched his head again and sank into thought.

His concerns continued for a long time.

How much time had passed? Someone entered the office.

Johan emerged from his thoughts.

“Without even knocking...”

“There is no door. What would I knock on?”

Gaf was leaning against the doorframe as he looked at Johan.

As he said, the door itself had been blown away.

Johan clicked his tongue.

“This place is nothing but ruins. So, what is it?”

Gaf spoke calmly.

“Shaperia has come.”

“She arrived later than I expected.”

Gaf looked somewhat puzzled.

“You expected that woman to come back?”

By royal decree, all investigations into the baronial house had ended.

Shaperia’s mission to watch the baronial house had naturally ended as well.

Gaf could see no reason for her to return to the territory now.

Johan nodded.

“I promised to open the gate to Narak for her. She believes that if she visits the Holy Site sleeping in Narak, she can regain the Sacred Power she lost.”

It was nothing but superstition. There was almost no way to regain lost Sacred Power.

Gaf asked.

“Then do you intend to meet Shaperia?”

Johan thought for a moment.

He had allowed Shaperia to stay with him in order to monitor the Great Saint Church’s movements.

There was no longer any reason to do that.

Keeping Shaperia around brought him no benefit.

Johan opened his mouth.

“Send her away. Even the time spent meeting her would be a waste.”

“What about the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers from the southwest?”

Johan looked as though he had no idea what Gaf meant.

Gaf briefly explained who they were.

Only then did Johan remember.

“Give them land and houses. I owe them my life, so I should repay them.”

Gaf nodded.

“I will send Shaperia away and accept the itinerant slash-and-burn farmers. Is that settled?”

Johan opened his mouth, then closed it again.

‘Wait.’

An idea suddenly came to him.

‘If I make use of Shaperia...’

Shaperia and Gawain had quite a few similarities.

For one, their talents were similar.

Both were beloved by the Great Saint.

Perhaps he could use Shaperia to purify Gawain.

Johan rose from his seat.

“I have changed my mind. I will meet Shaperia. Right now.”

Gaf had grown used to Johan’s sudden changes by now.

“You are planning something again.”

“Just lead the way. I will explain later.”

Without another word, Gaf gestured.

The two immediately headed down to the village.

* * *

At the village hall, Shaperia drank tea given to her by the village chief as she waited for Gaf.

Several villagers had come to the hall to see her.

Word had already spread that she was a Holy Knight.

It was not easy to see a Holy Knight in a remote southern village.

The villagers could not help being curious.

‘They all look happy.’

Every villager who had come wore a bright expression.

It was very different from two months ago.

‘Changing a single lord can make this much difference.’

As she marveled at this, a commotion arose at the entrance to the hall.

“My lord, it has been a long time!”

“Have you been well?”

“Please visit the village from time to time!”

“A calf was born this time. I would like to offer it to you, my lord!”

Welcomed by everyone, Johan entered the village hall.

Shaperia stood and straightened her clothes.

For some reason, she felt that she needed to show proper respect.

Her eyes met Johan’s.

Shaperia bowed her head.

“Sir Johan... no. Greetings, Baron.”

Johan approached her with a blank expression.

Shaperia felt a little tense. Johan’s atmosphere seemed heavy for some reason.

He spoke calmly.

“Dame Shaperia, it has been a long time.”

Shaperia’s expression turned solemn.

“Thank you for meeting me. I sincerely apologize for everything that has happened.”

Johan gave a small laugh. The stiff atmosphere loosened in an instant.

He lightly patted Shaperia’s shoulder.

“If you are sorry, would you grant me one favor?”

Footnotes:

“Old castle” and “new castle” form a Korean pun on a phrase meaning “flexibility.”

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