Volume 3, Chapter 23 – The Terror of the Beast Attacks

The village we arrived at was called Fu Yie Village.

Apparently, it serves as a sort of logistics hub where goods from the surrounding villages are gathered.

From my perspective, the mere fact that a village exists in a place like this is impressive enough, but I was surprised to learn that there are even smaller settlements scattered further deep into the mountains, all of which are overseen by Fu Yie Village.

“If I may, traveler… by your attire, I believe you are a cleric from the West. Would you be so kind as to lend us your strength?”

The man who spoke to me was the village chief, Lu Chao-san. He had a deeply troubled expression.

“Yes. Did something happen?”

“To be honest, the village has been under attack by an unidentified beast lately, and as a result, many people have been injured.”

“You want me to cast Healing Magic?”

“As we are a poor village, it pains me that we cannot offer you a proper reward…”

“That’s quite alright. A reward within your means will suffice. Now, please lead the way.”

“Thank you very much.”

After introductions, we were guided to a simple wooden house. Inside, a man lay in bed, his face twisted in pain.

“Look, Liu Yin-san, a cleric has come to help you.”

“Uuuugh…”

When I peeled back the duvet and removed the bandages, a gruesome wound was revealed.

There were rough claw marks on his chest, likely from four claws, and a bite mark on his shoulder.

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However, there was something stranger than the wounds themselves.

A faint, black, mist-like substance was visible around the wounds.

“What on earth happened here?”

“We do not know. Judging by the wounds, I believe it was a beast—a quite large one at that—but…”

“Were there no witnesses?”

“Unfortunately, no. Even the victims themselves seem unable to remember. We have been at our wits’ end.”

“I see. Hmm, perhaps some sort of curse? I’ll try a Dispel Curse.”

I cast Dispel Curse and felt a slight response.

It seemed to be a weak curse, since the dispel succeeded easily.

However, the black mist remained.

“Hmm? It looks like there was a very weak curse, but that’s not all. In that case, Purification!”

This time, I felt a distinct response as the wound was purified. The black mist clinging to the injury vanished completely.

“Ah, the purification worked. Now, let’s heal this. Healing!”

Liu Yin-san’s wounds closed up rapidly.

“Ugh!”

“Oh, Liu Yin-san, thank goodness!”

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“Huh? Chief?”

“Ah, you were also attacked by that mysterious beast and severely injured; this person has saved you.”

I raised one hand slightly and gave a beaming smile.

“O-Oh. Thank you very much.”

“You’re very welcome.”

Liu Yin-san looked at me with eyes full of gratitude.

The chief then pressed the man for information.

“Say, Liu Yin-san, do you remember the situation when you were attacked?”

“No, not at all. Wait… huh? I can remember it now! It was a giant grey wolf, about as tall as I am. It suddenly lunged at me from the front. When I screamed, it ran away.”

Liu Yin-san spoke with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

“Um, you couldn’t remember until now?”

“Y-Yes. That’s right. How strange? There was something like a black mist around its body; it should have left a strong impression…”

“I see. Thank you.”

Since it didn’t seem like I would get any more new information from him, we headed to the next patient’s house.

The condition of the man lying there was similar to Liu Yin-san’s.

“Purification! Healing!”

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The wound healed cleanly, and the man woke up.

“Oh, thank goodness. Mi Fan, this is Fiene-sama, the one who healed me.”

“You are the one who saved me. Thank you. I am most grateful.”

“Not at all. More importantly, I’d like you to tell me about the beast that attacked you.”

“I am sorry. For some reason, I cannot recall the memory of the attack at all…”

“Fiene-sama. All the victims have been like this. It is a miracle that Liu Yin remembered.”

Hmm? Come to think of it, I didn’t use Dispel Curse on this person.

“Dispel Curse!”

Sure enough, there was a small response.

“How about now? Can you remember?”

“A-A-Ah, I remember! Yes, I was suddenly attacked from behind, and—ah, it even bit my head!”

“What kind of beast was it?”

“Ah, well, I only saw its back, but it was a large grey wolf, and I believe there was some sort of black mist swirling around it.”

I see. They’ve been attacked by a quite troublesome beast. Or rather, isn’t this just a monster?

After treating all the victims in the village, I was able to determine the following:

– The attacker is a grey wolf.

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– All of them are shrouded in a black mist.

– Their attacks leave wounds emitting a mysterious black mist, which are extremely difficult to heal.

– The victims are cursed, causing them to lose their memories of the time before and after the attack.

Once the information was gathered, I consulted with the group.

“I feel like a wolf capable of doing this has to be a monster. Does anyone have any leads?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know of any such monster.”

“I’ve never heard of one either.”

“I’ve never heard of anything like that either. However, it is strange that this wolf doesn’t seem to possess any intelligence.”

“Meaning?”

“If that wolf possessed the intelligence to curse its opponents, it would not simply create more victims like this. In other words, I believe it is either acting under the orders of someone who wishes to distress this village, or it has been caught up in something unrelated to the village.”

I see, that certainly could be the case.

If so, who is targeting this village, and for what purpose?

A new mystery now stood before us.

Translator Note

These new characters still don’t have confirmed genders. I’m using he/him here only for translation purposes.