Reverse Dungeon

The elemental vanished.

Louise turned to the Village Chief.

"Get the children and the elderly into the village hall first. Have the hunters arm themselves and come out. Are you willing to follow my orders?"

"More mamool are coming?"

The Village Chief's face turned pale.

That's not what I asked.

Louise thought.

"When is Lord Ian coming? He'll protect us, won't he? Why did you only bring this few men? There are countless mamool heading this way—!"

The Village Chief grabbed for Louise's arm, intending to shake him.

Louise simply took half a step back and avoided the hand.

What would Lord Ian do in a situation like this?

When confronted with an idiot who refused to listen.

As a diligent student, Louise quickly arrived at the answer.

He raised his bow and aimed it at the Village Chief.

Following the legendary story about Ian that he had heard from Sema.

"Get the children and elderly into the village hall."

"...?!"

"L-Louisе. Have you gone mad?"

"You little bastard! How dare you point a bow at—!"

Within the dungeon, Louise was a member of the Clan of Betrayers.

But he was also Ian's close aide and the commander of the archery unit.

To the people of the dungeon, the latter identity was naturally the important one.

Louise, the Poison Hunter and close aide to Ian.

But in the village, Louise was nothing more than the Son of a Traitor.

That was all he had ever been.

The villagers were accustomed to treating him however they pleased.

Just because he had suddenly appeared like a savior and started issuing threats didn't mean they would be frightened.

It was natural for Louise to serve them.

The idea of him defying them was something else entirely.

However, the situation changed when an entire military unit stood behind him.

The archers at Louise's back simultaneously aimed their bows at the Village Chief.

"What are you waiting for? Move it already. Didn't you hear the captain?"

"...?!"

The villagers froze.

Weren't they here to save us?

Only then did they realize the one fact they had overlooked.

Louise may have led these soldiers here.

But they were still the army of Tyrant Ian.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

"Waaah! Mommy!"

"Don't cry. Don't cry. There, there... Mommy will come back soon."

The largest building in the village.

The village hall.

The people gathered inside huddled together, trembling.

Among them sat the elderly Village Chief.

The reason he was shaking was slightly different from everyone else's.

Louise, that little bastard...!

The boy had genuinely aimed a weapon at him.

There had not been a trace of hesitation in his movements.

Did he come back for revenge?

When Louise and the soldiers first appeared, relief had flooded through him.

But perhaps Louise's true feelings were much darker.

Hadn't he suspected as much already?

There was no way Louise held positive feelings toward him or the villagers.

Ungrateful beast. Less than an animal...

The Village Chief clutched his white hair.

Cold sweat glistened across his weathered face.

A small hand tugged on his sleeve.

"Grandpa. Are you okay?"

"Mhm. This old man is fine. Eliza, keep your eyes closed."

"My knee hurts..."

His granddaughter whined.

Blood was visible on the knee and palms she had scraped when she fell.

The Village Chief's heart ached.

"Oh, my poor child..."

"But... do you think Louise is okay?"

She glanced up at him.

She had almost died moments ago, yet she was already worried about a boy.

The sheer childishness of it made him want to click his tongue.

Again. Again.

That had probably been her real reason for speaking to him in the first place.

Louise had always had a decent face.

Young girls were easily charmed by him.

The Village Chief had repeatedly warned his granddaughter about what kind of person Louise was and why she shouldn't get close to him.

But when did children ever listen?

There had even been a time when she was caught sneaking into the shed where Louise slept.

That incident had been one of the reasons the Village Chief treated Louise so harshly.

The root of the problem was that he had been too generous in taking the boy in to begin with.

Such a naïve child.

Louise had saved her life.

Naturally, her young heart would be excited.

"Don't trust him too much. He's someone who doesn't know gratitude. Even if he dies fighting mamool, that'll just be his fate. It might even be for the best."

The Village Chief imparted what he considered wisdom.

His granddaughter's eyes widened.

"Why? Louise saved me!"

"Do you think he did that because he wanted to? His master ordered him to. Didn't he point a bow at me the moment things didn't go his way?"

"But that was kind of cool..."

"What?"

His granddaughter muttered something outrageous.

The Village Chief couldn't help wondering just how terrible an influence Louise had become.

"Village Chief, that's a little too much, don't you think?"

"Who said that?!"

The Village Chief whipped around toward the voice.

The village hall contained only the elderly, the children, and those unable to fight.

Among everyone present, he was unquestionably the strongest.

Yet no one stepped forward.

And not a single person avoided his gaze.

These people...?

A sense of alarm rose within him.

His granddaughter's reaction.

The villagers' attitudes.

None of it felt normal.

If Louise shot him dead right now and simply said, "I'll protect this village from now on," wouldn't they switch sides without hesitation?

No.

The Village Chief's suspicions deepened. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Until they reached a horrifying conclusion.

To begin with...

Why would Louise leave them alive?

Protecting the elderly and children?

Why had he believed that nonsense?

The Village Chief hurried toward a window.

Pulling the curtain aside slightly, he tried to peer outside.

The murmuring around him faded from awareness.

If those people had abandoned the village hall and left...

He would have to grab his granddaughter and run immediately.

At that moment, a deafening noise erupted outside.

The ground itself trembled.

The approaching mamool were so large and ferocious that the floor shook beneath them.

"What is that?"

"What's happening?!"

The others, who had been watching the Village Chief, rushed toward the windows in alarm.

They shoved him aside and he fell backward.

But he still saw everything he needed to see.

Unlike him, the others simply tore the curtains away.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

His field of vision was narrow.

Half the window was blocked by the backs of the villagers.

Lying on the floor, he could only see a small portion of the upper window.

A shadow passed across it.

Each step belonged to a massive creature.

It stood taller than the buildings themselves.

The village hall was located deep inside the village, yet the thing was large enough to be visible even from here.

What is Louise doing, damn it?!

He had allowed the mamool to get this far into the village?

He had known this would happen!

The thought escaped his mouth before it reached his brain.

"You ran away, you bastard!"

Then came the sound of something slicing through the air.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Boom.

The foremost shadow collapsed.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Boom.

Then the next one.

The Village Chief didn't even realize his mouth had fallen open.

"O-Oh..."

Mamool were dropping like toys.

Who could remain calm watching such a sight?

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom!

The shadows suddenly sped up.

Looking closer, he realized the mamool weren't advancing.

They were running away.

"...?!"

Mamool...

Running away?

The Village Chief doubted his own eyes.

But no matter how many times he looked, the scene remained the same.

Running from what...?

The thought never finished.

One of the mamool followed its survival instincts and abruptly changed direction.

Unfortunately, it chose the wrong direction.

A building collapsed, revealing its leathery belly and fur-covered hind legs.

The creature was charging directly toward the village hall.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Each approaching step shook the floor beneath them.

Its monstrous face drew closer.

Then, before the creature itself arrived, the arm it swung crashed down toward the roof.

"Eliza!"

"Eek!"

The Village Chief threw himself over his granddaughter.

We're going to die!

For the first time, not a single bitter thought entered his mind.

BOOM!

In the next instant, the Village Chief felt his body lift slightly from the ground.

The crash of a gigantic body falling.

The vibrations rattling every bone.

The thick cloud of dust.

The sounds of people coughing.

All of it happened at once.

The Village Chief opened his eyes.

A white Holy Knight stood atop the mamool's head.

Because the creature had crashed through the wall of the village hall, the Holy Knight who had severed its neck stood fully visible before them.

The white armor gleamed with immaculate radiance, untouched even by the monster's blood.

Only after the knight sheathed his sword did the Village Chief realize where that light came from.

A rider leapt from the back of a wolf that had arrived behind him.

"Casualties?"

The black-haired man asked.

He wore neither a helmet nor heavy armor.

Yet he seemed untouchable.

As though no one in the world could lay a hand upon his pale skin.

His youthful face was as smooth as porcelain.

His eyes were clear as polished gems.

His appearance was beautiful, but the determination in those eyes left a far stronger impression.

Still, more impressive than his appearance was his behavior.

He surveyed the area.

Only after confirming that nobody had been injured or killed did his expression soften.

This person is our lord.

The king who protected the Wanderer Clan.

The king who had gathered into his embrace those whom nobody accepted and who belonged nowhere.

The only one...

Trembling, the Village Chief spoke.

"N-No... none."

The strong and benevolent king pointed a finger at him.

"Then why didn't you run and save me the trouble of doing the same job twice? I told you to come to the dungeon if things got dangerous."

"...?!"