You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿-Chapter 87

"Damn it!"

As soon as Han Jae-young realized that the fog was engulfing ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ the group, he quickly activated his defensive armor.

It was a barrier against attack magic.

At the same time, Han Jae-young hastily scattered the fairy wing powder he had in his pocket, thinking that there might be poison in the mist.

But...

Whoosh!

The black fog swept over the three of them without caring for Han Jae-young's efforts or the barrier at all.

'Not a magic attack, nor poison...?'

In fact, after the black mist passed, nothing had changed.

The three of them blinked at each other.

"What was that just now...?"

"Neither the armor nor the fairy powder reacted, so it doesn't seem like an attack...?"

Since this dungeon was already beyond ordinary, there was no way to be certain about anything.

It was a frustrating situation.

Jeong Da-on furrowed her brows.

"For now, let's head into the inner fortress..."

"No, more importantly, Yoo Han-ul, what was that earlier? What do you mean 'the princess'?"

"Huh?"

Yoo Han-ul blinked at Han Jae-young as though he didn’t understand what he was being asked.

"The princess?"

It sounded as though he didn’t even realize what he had just said.

This was definitely not a normal reaction.

Han Jae-young, who had been looking at Yoo Han-ul with an expression of disbelief, turned his gaze toward Jeong Da-on.

"Why are you acting like this? You just..."

"...Han Jae-young, wait a moment."

Jeong Da-on quietly whispered to Han Jae-young.

"It seems like he’s been attacked mentally, and it’s caused some confusion. Don’t provoke him unnecessarily."

"But the mana flow is still normal. And we need Yoo Han-ul to be back to normal to proceed with the dungeon."

"What does his mind have to do with it? He just needs to swing his sword."

"How can you say that?!"

Han Jae-young stared at Jeong Da-on in shock.

The things coming out of her mouth had been outrageous since earlier.

It had become clear that any hope of a rational relationship between these two was nothing but a delusion.

"Yoo Han-ul’s nonsense aside, there’s something more important."

Jeong Da-on pointed toward the inner fortress.

"The flow of mana that was going in has stopped."

"Now that you mention it...!"

Yoo Han-ul had been distracted by his ramblings and hadn’t noticed the change until now. As Jeong Da-on had pointed out, after the black mist passed, the flow of mana that had been absorbing everything like a black hole was gone.

This was unexpected news for Han Jae-young, who had assumed that the monster in the inner fortress was absorbing mana from the surroundings.

"Did the monster stop absorbing mana? But why?"

"I think this barrier... Ah!"

Jeong Da-on suddenly screamed.

Thud!

A small stone had been thrown toward them.

However, the stone didn’t hit Jeong Da-on as intended, instead bouncing off the shield Yoo Han-ul had quickly raised.

Yoo Han-ul turned to look at Jeong Da-on.

"Are you alright, Your Highness?"

"You seem to be the one with a problem, not me."

Although it was nonsense, the tone with which Jeong Da-on spoke to the knight who had just protected her by blocking the stone was harsh.

Han Jae-young shook his head and looked away.

The one who had thrown the stone was...

"Can't you just get lost?!"

A young boy, his face flushed red, was holding a handful of stones.

He looked to be in his mid-to-late teens.

Thud!

"Our village doesn't accept outsiders! Don't come in!"

The boy, with a hostile expression, continued throwing the stones.

Each one was blocked by Yoo Han-ul’s shield.

Han Jae-young was left dumbfounded.

"Wait, stop throwing. We just..."

"Leave! This is not a place for outsiders!"

"No, it’s a misunderstanding..."

"Dammit!"

The boy, having thrown all the stones in his hand, turned to flee.

But before he could, Han Jae-young stepped forward and grabbed him by the arm.

Crunch!

Han Jae-young slammed the boy to the ground, pinning him down as he screamed.

"Ah! It hurts! It hurts!"

"You're making me feel like the villain here... Listen, let's have a conversation."

"What conversation! I told you to leave! Our village..."

"So, where exactly is this village?"

In Han Jae-young's eyes, there was nothing but a desolate ruin, except for the inner fortress.

The boy looked at him in disbelief.

"What do you mean? This is our village."

"What...?"

"Han Jae-young."

Jeong Da-on, who had approached without him noticing, gently tapped his shoulder.

"Look up."

"Huh?"

Han Jae-young, who hadn’t been paying attention to the surroundings while dealing with the boy, looked up and was taken aback.

Jeong Da-on said bitterly.

"It seems like we’ve fallen for it."

The castle walls, which had seemed like ruins just moments ago, had now completely transformed.

While the shabby fountain with no water remained the same, the once desolate area now had small houses lined up.

Though few in number, these were houses in a village, vastly different from the empty, lifeless ruin they had seen before.

It was a village, just like the boy had said.

The chilling feeling of the blood running cold set in.

‘Was there another barrier within the illusion magic?’

The black mist that had just enveloped them.

It seemed clear that the mist had drawn them into another barrier, showing them a landscape that had been hidden until now.

‘So, were these barriers created to protect the village? But if that’s the case, then what about the monster that was sucking mana...?’

"What’s going on?"

"Why is it so noisy?"

Suddenly, the sound of voices murmured through the village, as if someone had heard the commotion.

"Not letting go?! If everyone gathers, you won’t be able to handle this!"

The boy, lying on the ground, struggled.

"Why is it so noisy...? No, Jax!"

A middle-aged woman holding a broom rushed out of a house, her face full of shock.

"An outsider! Everyone, come out! Jax has been caught!"

"Outsiders?!"

"What did Jax do?"

The sound of people rushing out filled the air.

They came armed with farm tools and makeshift weapons, all with guarded expressions.

Jax, the boy who had been caught by Han Jae-young, continued struggling defiantly.

"You saw it, right? Let me go! You’re no match for us!"

Han Jae-young, honestly, was taken aback.

It wasn’t that he was scared of Jax’s threats.

What surprised him was...

"Do you really think I’d let you go in a situation like this? Who are you people?"

"Ah!"

"Jeong Da-on Hunter!"

Jeong Da-on shoved Han Jae-young aside and grabbed Jax instead.

She pinned Jax to the ground by his head and yanked it up.

She even stepped on his back while doing so.

Anyone who saw it would think she was torturing a prisoner.

"My God, Jax!"

"Let Jax go!"

The villagers who witnessed it all were clearly shocked.

As was Han Jae-young.

Though it was far from a situation where they would release the prisoner, this felt almost too much like playing the villain!

Han Jae-young glanced at Yoo Han-ul.

"Why is she acting like that all of a sudden? Try stopping her!"

"...Your Highness must have her reasons."

"Ah, my wings are going to fall off."

On one side, someone was acting like a villain, and on the other, someone was babbling nonsense after being affected by some magic. Han Jae-young was at his wit’s end.

"Dammit. What do we do?"

"Let’s charge together! They don’t look that strong."

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Just as the confrontation between the villagers and Jeong Da-on was about to intensify...

"Enough, everyone!"

A stern voice rang out.

An old man with a long white beard, hunched over with age, stepped forward, parting the crowd.

Everyone began pleading with the old man.

"Village chief!"

"Village chief, the outsider caught Jax..."

"Everyone, put down your weapons. What do you plan to do with those?"

"But..."

"Enough!"

"...Alright."

The villagers reluctantly dropped their weapons at the village chief's command.

It seemed like the old man had some influence.

"Hmm, it seems we’ve been rude. We won’t attack anymore, so don’t worry."

The village chief glanced between Jeong Da-on and Jax.

"And the child you’ve captured... he’s still just a kid. He must have been too startled by the outsider. I’ll apologize for the rudeness, but please release Jax. We’ll ensure your safety."

Jeong Da-on raised an eyebrow at his words.

"Why should I? He doesn’t seem that young to me."

That was true. Even though he was called a boy, Jax looked about the same age as Jeong Da-on.

"Even if he’s young, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to throw stones at others. Just because you apologize doesn’t mean I have to accept it."

That was true as well.

"I’m not exactly the forgiving type."

That seemed to be the most accurate statement.

While Han Jae-young nodded in agreement, sensing that the village chief had realized Jeong Da-on was not someone to be trifled with, the village chief’s face darkened.

"Do you think there’s any benefit to killing Jax? If we kill him, we won’t get any information from him."

"That’s not true."

Crack!

"Ah!"

A woman who had been sneaking up with a farming tool jumped back in surprise.

A fierce flame erupted from the air, engulfing her.

Jeong Da-on’s face flickered in the light, casting an ominous shadow.

With her usual expressionless face, her features appeared even more inhuman in the firelight.

"What do you think I’m capable of?"

"...A magician. I’ll admit you’re a rare outsider, but..."

The village chief stroked his beard and continued.

"You can want whatever you like, but there’s nothing here, and even if you take something, we don’t have the power to stop you. What I’m saying is, there’s no need for this confrontation. So please, just let my kin go safely."

Jeong Da-on stared at the old man, then...

"Take that!"

Jeong Da-on released Jax, and he quickly ran into the crowd of villagers.

The village chief deeply bowed.

"Thank you. We’ll continue our conversation later. Everyone, go back to your homes."

"Village chief!"

"Hurry!"

At the village chief’s command, the villagers hesitated for a moment but began returning to their homes one by one.

Han Jae-young could understand why the village chief acted the way he did.

Frankly, it was obvious that the villagers were ordinary people, and no matter how many of them there were, they were no match for a mage who could summon flames or a knight standing firm like a mountain.

Yoo Han-ul still hadn’t lowered his shield in front of Jeong Da-on, even as the villagers returned to their homes.

"I just detected mana during that contact."

Jeong Da-on whispered softly as she watched the villagers reluctantly return.

"Huh? Oh, I see. But why ask me to do it...?"

"Because if you release your mana, there was a chance it would purify the area."

"Ah, that makes sense!"

Han Jae-young was impressed.

...Of course, Jeong Da-on wasn’t the nicest person, but he knew well enough that she wasn’t the type to ignore or torment the weak.

Now it made sense why she had acted like a villain toward ordinary people.

Jeong Da-on furrowed her brows.

"That makes sense? What on earth are you thinking...?"

"So, what was the result?"

"As expected, as expected."

"Don’t tell me..."

Jeong Da-on nodded.

"Everyone you see in front of you is the one absorbing mana from this area."

The moment Jeong Da-on said this...

The system’s message delivered its verdict.