Genius Corpse-Collecting Warrior - Chapter 49

Ash Witch (1)

“I plan to stay for a few days.”

Dallen picked up a lamb rib. The steaming lamb ribs were the most expensive dish in this tavern.

It is said that the meat was lightly smoked once, then wrapped in herbs and steamed for four hours.

Dallen looked back at the explanation of the waiter who served the food and ate the ribs from end to end in one bite.

“hmm.”

Juicy juice flows into your mouth through the gently torn skin. I couldn’t feel the peculiar smell of lamb.

Instead, the meat juice, rich in the subtle scent of grass roots, enhanced the flavor in my mouth.

“I’m glad I got a few days off. You should definitely rest when you rest. Especially before and after a long journey like this one.”

Volkmar nodded and ordered more lamb ribs. And I also picked up a rib and asked.

“So you two are still accompanying us?”

“yes. “I plan to be with Dallan while he is receiving requests from the Holy Knights.”

It was Lucia who answered, not Dallon. As she said that, she glanced to the side.

Dallen was chomping at the meat in his mouth and moving his hand to the next rib.

After receiving attention, he slightly raised his eyebrows and then silently focused on the meat again. The lamb ribs here are really delicious.

“A request from the Holy Knights? “Can I hear it too?”

Volkmar’s eyes sparkled. Lucia shook her head as if embarrassed.

“I cannot tell you the details of the request. “Because it is a sensitive issue.”

“Well, if it’s a request from the Holy Knights, of course it is. I’m sorry. “I was presumptuous.”

Volkmar quickly apologized. And around that time, the waiter brought out a new lamb rib dish.

Dallon, who had already finished his third rib, naturally reached for a new plate. Seeing that it came out quickly, it seemed like it was cooked in advance because it was popular even though it was expensive.

The three continued eating like that. The table was constantly filled with lamb ribs, stew, meat pies and beer.

And as time passed, Volkmar became more talkative. I got drunk after drinking a glass of low-alcohol beer.

It is said that prices in the city have gone down due to increased supply due to the influx of merchants, and that as many as three Mandrake will be sold at the upcoming special auction.

The stories that were poured out were all things that merchants would like.

Dallen, who had experienced the injection once in the crow’s nest, did not respond and just focused on eating in silence.

Only Lucia, who was vaguely caught in the middle, was in trouble.

As she moderately responded to the drunken merchant’s chatter, it became like she was neither eating nor having a conversation.

About an hour passed like that.

Volkmar, with a blush on his face, stood up.

“Haha! Then I will go up first. I need to relax for a day and start working properly tomorrow. “I’ve left the lunch money for you, so you can eat and drink as much as you want and then take a break!”

A merchant hums a song and goes upstairs to the inn.

Dallon watched the scene behind him, then called the waiter and ordered additional lamb ribs and an expensive bottle of liquor.

Then Lucia opened her mouth.

“So what is this thing to do?”

Before leaving the labyrinth city, Dallen had told her in advance that he had work to do in Lvivbach.

They just haven’t said exactly what it is yet.

Dallen answered, placing the seasoned ribs on the bowl.

“I will kill the witch.”

Lucia’s eyes widened.

***

“witch……?”

One beat late reaction. Dallen nodded instead of answering.

Then, her face suddenly became embarrassed and she immediately looked around with wary eyes.

The inn bar was noisy after lunchtime. There was no attention paid to them at all.

No, to be exact, there was only one.

“We served lamb ribs steamed with herbs and medicinal liquor, a specialty of Lvivbach. “Because herbal liquor has a high alcohol content, I recommend drinking it with a little water.”

Sweet.

The waiter put down the plate and two wooden glasses, collected the empty dishes and took them away.

When he disappeared, even that gaze disappeared. Lucia asked back with a nervous expression.

“Are you… the witch I know?”

“That’s right.”

Pong.

When I open the cap, a bitter and poisonous scent hits my nose. Dallen grinned. This sounds delicious.

“The mandrake is an inconspicuous plant.”

Squeak.

Dallen poured some alcohol into a glass and tried to get lucky.

“It is said that even experienced herbalists cannot distinguish it from a weed before its distinctive red flowers bloom. Actually, it doesn’t really matter. Mandrake that has not bloomed is still underdeveloped and has no efficacy as a medicinal herb.”

“Where one mandrake root grows, at least three or four more roots grow around it. That’s what I meant.”

“…It’s unexpected. “Do you learn things like that in the Holy Knights these days?”

Lucia smiled slightly. She said.

“I read it in the main library. “When I was young, I was a bit of a bookworm.”

“Right.”

Dallon answered briefly and tipped his glass.

Lvivbach’s medicinal liquor was strong.

The alcohol flowed down my esophagus and stomach, warming me up, and the bitter and slightly unpleasant scent of medicinal herbs lingered in my mouth.

“Lvivach is originally a city that lives on medicinal herbs. Do you know how many Mandrake roots grow in this place each year?”

“Wouldn’t it take about two or three roots to grow? “Even in the city of medicinal herbs, aren’t medicinal herbs truly precious?”

“That’s right. That’s roughly it. By the way, have you heard how many mandrakes have been discovered in Lvivbach in the past month?”

“I heard a story about fifty roots falling in front of the castle gate.”

Dallen nodded.

“That’s just the rumors that were spread out loud. “The fact that so many merchants came from all over the continent means that it is actually more than that.”

“That means…”

“The Mandrake blooming in the forest is at most hundreds of roots. “It would be a number that should be called a disaster, not a good harvest.”

Lucia’s expression darkened.

Mandrake was a herb famous for its legendary efficacy, but it was also a strange plant that screamed when uprooted and killed.

Even the magic contained in that scream is a spell itself that destroys the heart of the listener.

If hundreds of roots screamed at the same time, it was no wonder that everyone in the forest was annihilated.

Of course, it is unlikely that hundreds of roots will be uprooted at once, but this does not change the fact that it is a bomb that may explode at any moment.

Dallen poured himself another drink. He said.

“As far as I know, there is a witch living around here. Compared to other witches, she is a witch who is particularly full of venom towards humans. “The unseasonable Mandrake harvest was probably her fault.”

“Then shouldn’t we go catch him right away?”

Lucia jumped up. Dallen chuckled. he asked back.

“Do you know where that witch is?”

“Isn’t it in the forest where mandrakes are said to be found?”

“Then let’s go all out and attack that forest?”

Dallen asked with a smile. Lucia, who was about to say that right away, stopped talking because of that laugh.

The witch she knew was a fully-fledged magician from birth.

Monsters who overwhelm superhumans created through talent and effort with just the power of their bloodline.

And it is well known that when magicians plan something, they thoroughly defend their territory with numerous spells and traps.

In other words, if you go into the forest like this, your life will only be in danger as you get caught up in the spells prepared by the witch.

Even if you were lucky enough to break through all the spells and reach the witch’s core, the witch would have easily escaped through her own escape route.

“…It must be difficult.”

Lucia frowned. She couldn’t see any way.

Dallon said as he filled his glass again.

“If it’s about how to approach a witch, don’t worry.”

Lucia suddenly raised her head. Dallen smiled lowly and nodded toward the inn window.

The sun was still high in the sky, and sunlight was pouring in through the bars. He said.

“As the sun sets, it is the perfect time for witches and warlocks to be active.”

***

The day was over. Dallen and Lucia headed to the back alleys of the city.

Lvivbach is a small city. The size of the back alley was also not that big.

However, due to the recent rapid increase in the number of foreigners visiting the city, back alley commercial districts were also experiencing an unprecedented boom.

“Now, let’s take the money and eat it!” “The magic that turns silver coins into gold coins just by matching the dice!”

“You guys over there, take a break at our store!”

After passing through the red light district, a mixture of commercial establishments, illegal gambling houses, and drug dealers, the two arrived in front of a shabby building.

“Are you here?”

Lucia asked.

She had wide arms and her entire body was covered with dark robes.

In addition, he even hid his divine power to avoid being discovered by the warlock.

‘Light seeping into the shadows. It’s a C-grade skill. Even in the Knights Templar, it is a technique that only interrogators can use.’

The main mission of the Inquisitors is to track down and eradicate evil within the Order.

Due to its nature, there are bound to be situations where one must not reveal oneself as a Holy Knight.

This skill, which hides divine power, was a skill that could occasionally be seen in the game during infiltration missions with Lucia.

‘Is the skill C grade as expected? I don’t know what the principle is, but one effect is certain.’

Dallen thought as he looked at Lucia, who covered her entire body with a robe.

Even he, who had sensitive senses, was unable to sense the subtle energy that he usually felt from Lucia.

Of course, even if he couldn’t feel any energy, he would be able to tell from Lucia’s posture and breathing that she was a skilled swordsman.

‘There’s no way the black magicians would have that kind of insight.’

Thinking so, Dallon grabbed the doorknob and knocked three times.

Bang bang bang.

Not long after, there was a noise coming from inside the building. And the small window above the door swung open.

What appeared inside the window was a buck-toothed man with his eyes wide open.

He looked Dallen up and down slowly and then opened his mouth.

“Who are you looking for? “I’ll tell you in advance, this is not a place that sells women or drugs.”

A tone of voice that hides a lot of annoyance, even yawning.

The man who was rubbing the stuffed eyes off his face looked like an unremarkable resident of a back alley.

However, the magical power level that reached the level of a superhuman and the sensory level that had surpassed that level from long ago clearly spoke differently.

An ominous magical power swirls around the man, and the faint scent of blood and reagents stimulates his sensitive sense of smell.

The answer to who the man was was immediately answered.

‘Warlock.’

It’s natural.

The place Dallen visited is one of the few places in the city where warlocks gather and sell their talents.

At the same time, it was one of the places where the Ash Witch hid her identity and made her home until she began her activities in earnest.

Dallen scratched his nose for no reason. Then he asked the man in a slightly slurred tone.

“I heard there is an old woman here who is good at fortune telling. “Did I come to the wrong place?”

The buck-toothed warlock slightly raised his eyebrows and said with a hollow smile.

“Oh, you were a customer there.”

Grumble.

The window closes. Immediately, the sound of a lock and latch being unlocked was heard from inside, and the wooden door creaked open.

“Come on in. “Let’s talk inside.”

The buck-toothed warlock greeted him with a slight smile. Dallen slowly entered the door.

It was dark inside the door. It was a space where you couldn’t tell if it was a hallway or a large room without a single torch.

Dallen hesitated, as if he was afraid of the darkness.

It was the attitude of a barbarian from the North, where fear of black magic was rampant.

“…….”

And Lucia followed him, holding the hem of his clothes with her head down.

A script that was decided in advance when leaving the inn.

It was a performance of a barbarian warrior and a servant wearing old robes who followed him.

“Hehehe. “That servant looks like a puppy loyal to his master.”

The warlock said as he looked over Lucia’s body. Dallen felt her hand, which was covered by the sleeve of her robe, tighten.

“Sniff. It smells like a young woman. “Isn’t it a waste to just keep him as a servant?”

“My father passed it on to me when I left the tribe. “Don’t even think about coveting.”

As he said that, he patted the hand holding the hem of his clothes a couple of times.

A small, silent sigh. And the strength that slightly loosens from the hand.

The warlock, who had no idea that his life had just been put in danger, slammed the door shut when the two entered the room.

Then he said as he fastened the latch and lock again.

“The old woman was away for a while. But if it’s fortune-telling, I can do it too, so don’t even think about leaving without paying. If you’re a guest from the north, you probably know how terrifying the warlock’s curse is, right?”

Words spoken in a smirking tone are both appeasement and a clear threat.

And as soon as the door was completely locked, the pitch-black darkness disappeared and a large room appeared.

Paat –

A blazing bonfire and magic stones scattered here and there on the ceiling.

The room is so large that it doesn’t feel stuffy even though it feels closed off due to the brick walls surrounding it on all sides without a single window.

This room, which was completely different from what it looked like from the outside, was built in the basement of the building.

Originally, two spaces above ground and underground were not connected to each other.

Like the secret abode of warlocks, the only passageway between the two spaces was the barrier, which was triggered by the opening and closing of the door.

“What are you doing? “Are you a customer as soon as it opens?”

“That’s a big customer. Come on. How about dangling your little finger in front of the pot of fate and guessing the future? “Giggle, giggle.”

Several people were already seated in the large room.

An old man leaning against the counter with medicine bottles and books piled up behind him, like in a pharmacy.

A bald man laying a mat and fiddling with a cracked crystal ball.

A woman with bald hair stirring a cauldron and making something strangely colored, like a stew, etc.

In front of him, Dallon smiled softly and expanded his senses.

Due to the barrier installed by the witch, it was impossible to look inside from the outside.

Once inside, the moment the door was locked, his senses were free from restrictions as he entered the barrier.

His sensitive senses scan the entire space and feel the magical wind flowing within it.

What Bucktooth said was right.

The Ash Witch wasn’t here.

The only people here are half-baked warlocks living in a small city.

In addition, perhaps because it was the time when the warlocks were just starting their activities, there was not a single customer who would suffer any harm.

“Now then, what kind of luck do we barbarians need…huh?”

The buck-toothed warlock turned around after completely locking the door and tilted his head when he saw the fierce smile at the corner of Dallen’s mouth.

Feeling strange, he opened his mouth to say something.

But Dallon’s hands were a little faster than that.

“Kuheook…!”

As the thick hand touches his cheek, the warlock falls down, spewing out broken teeth and blood.

The air in the room instantly froze.

Dallen said as he stepped on the half-fainted Bucktooth’s head.

“You worked hard to be patient. Now you can do your duty as a paladin.”

Lucia drew her sword without saying a word.

White light leaked through the cracks in her robes.