Chapter 530
Raon held his heaving heart and raised his gaze.
Unlike the small and cozy village view that came to mind a little while ago, Capolli Village was filled with sophisticated yet large buildings.
If it grows a little more, it can be called a small town. It was completely different from the village in my vague memories.
However, the shape of the mountain ridge that seemed to overlook the village of Capley and the sunset that seemed to hang between it perfectly matched the memory that suddenly bloomed.
It felt like different pictures drawn by different people were overlapped into one.
‘I’m sure…’
Raon pressed down his pale lips.
‘This is the village where I lived.’
Just as muddy water rises when you play kickball in a valley, the past of your past life that was submerged deep in the sea of memories slowly comes to mind.
This was clearly the village where I spent my childhood before I was kidnapped.
‘So everything was familiar.’
When the village of Cappoli came out from the mouth of Siris, who was controlling the receiver, it felt familiar, the natural walking down the path on the way here, the confidence I gained when I saw the ridge visible from the entrance of the village, all of these things were that I lived in this village. It was because
‘Ugh….’
Along with a strong headache, new memories stimulate my brain. Young men and women. Two people who appeared to be the mother and father from their previous lives were depicted.
The faces of my mother and father were not visible. The only things that were exposed were their hands and mouths, but their hands were very hard and the corners of their mouths were stiff as if they were angry.
Next, I remember my mother running down the trail carrying me. My steps were rough. It seemed like he didn’t care whether I got hurt or not.
“Ha…”
Raon let out a low sigh while holding his forehead.
‘I thought I was kidnapped, but maybe I was sold?’
I tried to reassure myself that I wasn’t abandoned by my parents but was kidnapped by a shadow, but it seems that wasn’t the case.
I feel nauseous. The regret of coming here and seeing dirty memories comes over me like a wave. I felt sick to my stomach, as if ants were eating my heart.
‘Damn it…’
While I was holding my throbbing head, a low voice came from behind me.
“What makes you uncomfortable?”
Raon hastily turned his back. An old man with a kind look was bending over and smiling.
‘I couldn’t believe an ordinary person approached me and didn’t know…’
I couldn’t feel the slightest mana from the old man. An ordinary person who has not even entered martial arts. My emotions were so intense that I didn’t even notice that such an old man was approaching.
“…it’s okay.”
Raon spoke in the deep voice of a middle-aged man to match his disguised appearance.
“Hmm, I guess this isn’t my first time here.”
“Why do you think so….”
“The trail.”
The old man looked back and pointed to the path he had passed a while ago.
“People who come to the village for the first time walk along the wide road and do not pass through that path.”
He held out his hand with a faint smile.
“Chief of Capley Village. “It’s Berurik.”
“It’s called Balan.”
Raon said the pseudonym he had thought of in advance and held Berulik’s hand.
“I think he was surprised to see our village after such a long time.”
“That’s right.”
I nodded because I thought I could get information about the village from Berulik.
“It’s changed a lot. “Just a little longer and it will be worthy of being called a city.”
He looked around the entire village and gave a satisfied glance.
“Why has the village of Capley grown so big?”
“Of course it’s not because of the iron ore mine.”
“Iron ore mine?”
“hmm? You don’t even know that? The mine was discovered a long time ago…”
Berulik tilted his head, saying that the mine was discovered when he was young.
“I’ve been here a few times, but I didn’t know much about it because I just passed by every time.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to explain!”
He came to the side with a smile, probably because he was itching to let people know about the developed village.
“Please come in first.”
Berulik lightly gestured and entered the village first.
Raon licked his lips while looking at Berulik’s back.
‘It’s not a bad thing.’
Perhaps because we arrived at Capley Village too quickly, information about the black market has not arrived yet.
Since it was an opportunity to obtain information first, I followed Berulik’s pace.
“The reason our village developed like this is because, as I said a little while ago, an iron ore mine was discovered. “I don’t remember exactly because I was living in the next town at the time, but it’s been over several decades.”
“….”
Raon narrowed his eyes as he listened to Berulik’s words.
‘I guess it will be after I leave town.’
If there had been an iron ore mine before then, the village would not have been so small and compact. Whether they were kidnapped or sold, it was clear that the mine was later discovered.
“The iron ore at the entrance of the mine was of poor quality, but as you go deeper, the condition gets better and the reserves are large, so little by little, the name of our village is becoming known. “Not long ago, we opened a new business in the center of the continent.”
Berulik could not hide his smile as if he was happy to see the village developing.
“That’s a good thing. But how did you become the chief of this village after previously living in another village?”
Raon pretended to be interested in Berulik and asked him questions that would elicit information.
“I originally lived in Prisil Village, on the other side of Mount Iharo.”
“But why are you here….”
“There was a big problem in our village and this Capoli.”
“What if you say it’s a problem?”
“There was a landslide.”
Berulik sighed as he cautioned the children running around the village.
“Decades ago, more than half of the village, both this village and Prisil, where I lived, collapsed due to a landslide. “Many people, both adults and children, have died, and there are many whose bodies have not been found to this day.”
“Ah…”
“It was hell itself at the time. The village of Prisil where I was also suffered a lot of damage, but almost no one in Capoli survived. “When everyone thought they couldn’t maintain the village and were about to leave, an iron ore mine happened to be discovered.”
He pointed to the entrance to a mine built on the side of Mount Haro.
“I feel sorry for the dead, but the living must live. The survivors of Capley and Prisil gathered here and became miners. “A place called Oil Painting Merchants built a factory like that, so everyone was able to make a living.”
Berulik lowered his eyes as he looked at the huge factory built in the center of the village.
“I had no idea something like that happened. “There must have been many children who lost their parents, so it must have been a father-son crisis.”
Raon said he was sorry and subtly asked about the child.
“Unfortunately, most of the children and the young couples raising them were crushed by the landslide. “At that time, it was not filled with children’s cries, but only adults’ cries.”
Berulik shook his head, saying he still can’t forget that hellish sight.
“I see…”
Raon trembled with the hand he was hiding in his sleeve.
‘They didn’t just take me.’
Even in such a quiet village, if many children are kidnapped, the nearby Mugana Kingdom will have no choice but to move.
It was clear that Derus kidnapped the children and forcibly caused a landslide to thwart an external investigation.
‘They’re like demons…’
It wasn’t enough to kidnap children, but they also caused a landslide and killed their parents, something even the devils of hell wouldn’t do. My stomach groaned as if I was about to vomit.
“Huh…”
My lips open naturally and a rough breath comes out. If Derus had been here, it seemed like he wouldn’t have been able to resist and would have attacked him.
“Here it is.”
While Raon was suppressing his emotions, Berulic’s steps stopped. At the beginning of Mt. Haro, a large stone tower the size of a building was built.
“This is a cenotaph and tomb created to comfort those who died at the time. “Survivors of the time built it themselves.”
Berulic looked at the stone tower with faint eyes.
“This cannot be used to comfort those who unfortunately died, but…” “
….”
Raon approached the stone tower while listening to Berulik’s words. As I tried to touch the tower with trembling hands, a new memory came to my mind with a strong shock.
No, it’s not a new memory, it’s a memory I saw as soon as I came to this town.
However, unlike then, the faces of my mother and father were clearly revealed.
The father has a thick beard and looks fierce, but has soft eyes, and the mother has a graceful appearance with her black hair. The rough hands and firm mouths of the two people were the same, but their eyes were different.
My parents looked at me with sadness, regret, and urgency in their eyes.
After patting my head carefully, my father handed it over to my mother and picked up the ax hanging on the wall.
Mother nodded and climbed out the window. I crossed the village entrance barefoot and entered the trail.
My mother’s feet and face were covered in blood as she ran without stopping, and she was breathing heavily as if she was dying, but she did not stop walking until the end.
But my mother could not leave the trail. The moment the black shadow covering the thin moon approached, she collapsed, vomiting blood, and my memory ended there.
‘Then those hand gestures…’ The
stiff hand gestures, stiff mouth, and rough steps of running through the forest that I saw from my mother and father when I first came to this village were all in an attempt to save me from Derus’ men.
I wasn’t abandoned or sold.
My parents desperately tried to protect me even when they were about to die.
Through my subsiding headache, I could hear my mother and father’s voices.
William.
My name that two people called. A friendly name that means a gentle and peace-loving person. It was the name of me who could not live like that.
After the clear memory of my mother and father smiling at me, all the past memories that had bloomed in my mind subsided.
The stone tower comes into view again. I feel weak throughout my body. My limbs shook so much that I couldn’t stand.
Raon fell to his knees. I chewed my tongue and clasped my hands together to avoid revealing the anger burning from the bottom of my soul.
‘Mother and father.’
I will take revenge. I will do whatever it takes to bring Derus Robert’s head here.
Comfort for the dead comes later. Now was the time to swear revenge on those who lost their children and died without even being able to close their eyes.
“Thank you.”
Berulik patted his shoulder and smiled softly.
“They will be grateful to you, too.”
He seemed satisfied, as if he thought he had prayed to comfort the dead.
“Do you have any more questions? “Everyone knows these stories, but after speaking for the first time in a while, this old man is in a good mood.”
Berulik smiled as if he liked the person Raon had created named Balan.
“I am looking for work. How are the factories and mines here doing?”
“Oh really?”
Berulik smiled and said that if he wanted to work, he would introduce it to him. I felt like I won points for quietly listening to everything he said.
“First of all, I have to talk to an acquaintance of the village I originally planned to go to, so I just want to look around today.”
“You won’t regret coming here. “It will soon become a city.”
He quickly gestured and entered the factory first.
“uh? “Chief?”
“What brings you here at this hour?”
The factory workers standing in front of the furnace looked at the village chief and bowed their heads.
“I heard it while passing by.”
The village chief waved his hand and said not to worry.
“You chatted with a young person again.”
“Looking at the dry corners of your mouth, it looks like you’ve been suffering for a while.”
“I only get one person every week.”
The workers shook their heads, saying it was pitiful.
“Yekki! These people! “Don’t say anything to a good person!”
The village chief blushed and waved his hand as if he was embarrassed. I don’t think this was the first time this happened.
“….”
Raon nodded to them and looked around the factory.
‘They are all ordinary people.’
There is no mana inside and no movements unique to an assassin. It was clear that he was literally the one who maintained the factory here.
At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be any major problems with the factory. But there was no way Siris was lying, so it was clear that there was something in it.
As I was about to evoke the ring of fire and sense of lore, the room on the left opened and a voluptuous middle-aged man with a bulging belly walked out.
“Oh, Chief. Are you here?”
“Work leader. “Why is it so hard to see your face?”
Berulik frowned as he called the middle-aged man the foreman.
“There’s so much work to do. “Who is next to you?”
The work crew leader smiled at Raon. However, unlike his mouth, his eyes were not smiling.
“Oh, I caught it on the way. “It’s been a while since I cleared my throat.”
Berulic grinned, saying he approached first.
“Ha, the number of victims has increased by one.”
The foreman waved his hand, saying he would like to chat with the village chief.
“no. “I’ve heard a lot of good words, so I’m even more thankful.”
Raon lowered his head as he looked at the work leader. As he looked up again, his eyes sank into an eerie light.
‘found.’
