A Hero Saves With Her Body - Chapter 111

“Ah, got it. Just, uh, stay here for now.”

Podrick, who rarely got flustered, was even sweating as he went outside. Lunan, who was inspecting the next house, frowned as he saw Podrick running over, pale as a ghost.

“Brother Podrick?”

“We, we found a missing person. But she seems badly injured.”

As soon as Lunan heard this, he checked the opposite side of the street where the search team was. They were just coming out of the fourth house.

“We need to tell Peon.”

If there was anyone among them who could treat external injuries, it would be Peon.

As an instructor responsible for the cadets’ injuries, Peon had knowledge not only of swordsmanship but also of medicine.

Lunan and Podrick ran to Peon simultaneously to explain the situation. Peon, already concerned about the survivors, followed them without needing to hear more.

Entering the shabby brick house, Peon confirmed the old woman leaning against the kitchen stairs and pressed his lips together.

Despite the overpowering stench from the old woman, there was a faint but definite presence of dark energy.

“Black Cloak. Excuse me for a moment.”

Rosé stepped aside for Peon. As Peon examined the old woman’s hand, his face gradually hardened.

Peon occasionally asked the old woman about the injuries, but she did not open her mouth. Her dark pupils were unfocused. She just rocked back and forth, pale as a ghost.

Peon seated the old woman in a chair and went to the others gathered in the living room.

At that moment, Lunan, who had sensed dark energy from the old woman, was discussing with the other executives the possibility that monsters had swept through the village.

“It’s dark poison. She had high resistance and managed to hold out until now, but she won’t last much longer.”

Usually, those poisoned with dark energy died within an hour. Fortunately, the old woman had a small wound and naturally high resistance, allowing her to survive until now.

But the dark energy spreading from the wound was now permeating her entire body. She wouldn’t make it through the day.

‘Of all people… an old woman.’

Rosé clenched her fists tightly.

She had a history of purifying the dark poison on the Blue Knight Commander, but that was only through absorbing s*men. In other words, it didn’t work on women.

Whenever the monster to be defeated was female, or when someone like today was poisoned by dark energy, Rosé always felt helpless.

“There must be more survivors.”

Beth said. If there were indeed survivors, those who requested rescue from the Red Knights would be in the village.

“Peon should stay here, and the rest of us should continue searching the houses.”

No one disagreed with Beth’s suggestion. The remaining six quickly paired up again to search the houses.

The search continued throughout the day. Finally, Mingus, who found a bow and arrow seemingly used by a Red Knight in the last house, gathered everyone, ending the three-hour-long search.

There are no additional survivors. Nine bodies were found. The sole survivor, the old woman, had long since passed away in Peon’s arms.

A heavy silence hung over the seven gathered at the shelter. The shelter, expected to contain magic stones, had nothing but rusty weapons and a diary presumably written by Turner.

The diamond-like magic stones Oster had mentioned were nowhere to be found.

“Those red bastards deceived us.”

Venter spewed harsh curses. Unable to contain his anger, he grabbed Peon, who had always defended the Red Knights, by the collar.

“Hey, teacher. They’re your students, right? How did you educate them, huh?”

“…There must have been a mistake.”

“Mistake, my as$! Does this look like a mistake to you?”

Podrick, who rarely intervened in fights, grabbed Venter’s arm.

Venter was an arrogant noble who couldn’t resist a fight, and Peon was sensitive about anything related to the knights. If they’re left alone, it was clear one of them would end up seriously hurt.

“What are we going to do? If we go back empty-handed, we won’t even get our compensation.”

Beth, who regained her composure relatively quickly, waved the map. They could return empty-handed, but it was still daylight, and there was enough time to search for the magic stones.

At that moment, Lunan, who was reading Turner’s diary, spoke nonchalantly.

“It’s rare to get a chance to enter an unclosed boundary. Even more so if it’s in Kamit. If this is our last opportunity, we should search one more time. If the magic stones are really buried here, we’ll be the first owners.”

“I agree. We even turned down a 500-phondo request to come here.”

Mingus, who seemed to have had this in mind from the beginning, took out a pickaxe he had slung over his back. Podrick shrugged and picked up an old pickaxe lying next to the armory.

Despite being terrible at mining, which was why he was in the transport team, given the situation, he couldn’t avoid picking up the pickaxe.

Even Venter, who had been furious, clicked his tongue and picked up a pickaxe.

It seemed everyone more or less agreed. Beth scanned her companions, checking the state of their pickaxes. But there was one person who hadn’t picked up a pickaxe yet.

“Black Cloak? Aren’t you going to mine?”

Rosé hesitated. She was eager to mine. The problem was that in all her past experiences, she hadn’t been able to extract even five magic stones.

“Hey, forget it. Take this. Then this brother will share one with you.”

Podrick, acting generous, handed over the bag he was carrying to Rosé.

Instantly demoted to a porter, she couldn’t refuse Podrick’s offer to share one stone. She obediently slung the bag over her shoulder and stood close to Podrick.

“Lunan, did you find anything?”

In response to Beth’s question, Lunan, who was flipping through Turner’s diary, smiled meaningfully.

“It’s mostly complaints, but it seems he saw the magic stones somewhere. Near Lake Restin, he said.”

Beth opened the map and checked the locations marked as lakes.

Lake Restin. It was a large lake starting from the northwest of Ermel Village and extending to the north.

“Wait, here…”

Beth’s voice trailed off. Lake Restin was connected to Lake Ires, which the Red Knights had warned about.

“Well, it’s not exactly there, just next to it, right?”

Mingus said, picking his ear. Even if they encountered monsters, they could fight them off. With seven people who roamed Grade 1 boundaries, what could possibly go wrong?

Finding the buried magic stones was more important. Even finding one would offset the opportunity cost of coming here.

“Wait, we have until sunset.”

Peon, still holding a grudge against Venter, said firmly. Venter sarcastically replied, asking if he wouldn’t do the same.

In the end, the seven of them rode to Lake Restin. It was about an hour away from the village, so finding it wasn’t difficult.

Seeing the frozen winter lake for the first time, they were speechless at its beauty for a while.

The lake, as it reflected the sky, looked like a grand ballroom. The white clouds resembled chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and the snowflakes on the branches looked like pure white dresses.

Just as a Red Knight had said, it was hard to believe this beautiful area was a boundary. It was a shame that this beautiful place was now trapped within the fortress walls.

Lunan reminded the executives who were gazing at the lake like tourists.

“We have 3 hours until sunset. Let’s hurry.”

Finally, everyone picked up their pickaxes and started investigating the lake and the surrounding forest.

One hour passed, then two hours. Considering the time it would take to return to the gate, they needed to leave now.

Podrick and Rosé, who had been searching the forest, returned to the spot where they had tethered their horses, shoulders slumped. Beth and Peon, who also had no results, were there, looking disheartened.

“It’s all just snow.”

Lunan, who had checked the hill a bit further away, shrugged as he returned. Beth sighed and untied the rope from the stake.

“They must have mistaken ice for magic stones. Let’s go back.”

“Wait, Venter isn’t back yet.”

Beth gestured towards the lakeshore when Lunan looked for Venter. Venter was squatting on the dry grass, staring at the lake.

“The magic stones are in the lake.”

“The magic stones?”

Beth twirled her finger near her head, implying that he was out of his mind.

Magic stones mined within the boundary were usually embedded in hard rock crevices like gems. Occasionally, they grew on trees like mushrooms, but that was extremely rare.

Let alone underwater. Was he looking for fish?

“Venter! Give it up and come back! We’re leaving without you!”

Podrick shouted, but it had no effect. Eventually, Venter entered the frozen lake, feeling the ice surface.

Good grief. He’s really lost it.

“Haa, that guy, seriously.”

Usually, Podrick was the only one who could stop the half-crazy Venter.