The Desecrated Estate and the Hunchback’s Ambush

Noren encountered no ambush this time, passing safely through the forest. After traveling a mile south, she once again glimpsed the Osbrück Estate, though it appeared significantly different from ten days prior.

‘Osbrück, it truly has been incinerated.’

Everyone gazed upon the estate, a scene of utter desolation. Only charred ruins remained: crumbling wooden walls, collapsed stables, and servants’ quarters. The lavish wooden manor, standing proud ten days ago, was now reduced to ash, with only a few carbonized main beams left standing. The Osbrück family banner, which had once fluttered proudly from the flagpole, was gone, leaving behind only a broken, dangling stump.

“Tsk, how fleeting…” The young woman’s expression was momentarily blank before she clicked her tongue, her usual composure returning.

She had actually held a rather good impression of Lady Johanna. Yet, seeing the estate’s current state, the noblewoman’s fate was likely grim. She was either dead or had been forcibly transformed into a ‘pâté puff,’ a human shell for another’s use.

‘Her onion pies were quite delicious, actually.’ A hint of sorrow touched the young woman’s expression, a pang of regret in her heart.

“The party will halt and rest here. I’ll go in for a look; there’s no need for you to follow. I’ll just take a quick glance and be back shortly.” Noren instructed everyone to rest temporarily on the hard-packed road, preventing Tolke and the others from accompanying her.

She rode her warhorse alone into the ruined estate.

Yet, no sooner had she reached the ruins of the wooden manor than her warhorse began to act skittish.

“Whinny!” The large grey horse let out an anxious whicker. Faced with the unfamiliar sight of charred ruins and blackened devastation, it halted, refusing to move forward.

“Hey, now, you cowardly lump, are you truly that timid?” Noren’s fine, straight nose wrinkled in disdain.

She tugged at its mane, then at the reins, but the fearful horse refused to take another step. Noren had no choice but to dismount, stepping down from the stirrup.

With a helpless expression, her delicate hand kneaded the horse’s soft, black muzzle, then stroked its face. “You good-for-nothing. And you call yourself a warhorse? Even a sly farmer isn’t as tricky as you.”

The grey horse, hearing Noren’s scolding, curled its upper lip, attempting to nip her fingers with its teeth, but Noren easily dodged it.

Noren casually tied the horse to a nearby wooden post. The post’s surface was blackened by fire, but it was firmly anchored in the ground. She told the horse, “Stay here; I shall return shortly.”

The grey horse snorted two jets of air from its nostrils in response.

“Oh, this soft, fleshy nose.” Seeing this, Noren rubbed the horse’s nose again. The feel of it was truly delightful, but the large grey horse tensed its nostrils, unwilling to let her rub it anymore.

‘Time to see if there are any survivors…’

****

Noren first searched the ruins of the wooden manor for survivors, though the likelihood was slim. The only two survivors she had encountered were the maid Riva and the diminutive gnome, whom she’d met the previous night.

Finding no survivors within the manor, she unexpectedly discovered a large hole in the ground. Sunlight streamed into it, revealing a series of steps. This was the estate’s cellar.

However, the cellar’s entrance was open, indicating that someone had already paid a visit. There might even be brigands lurking below, waiting for unsuspecting victims to fall into their trap. It seemed there was little need for further exploration, yet…

‘But they’re just petty thieves. What should I fear? I’ll slay them all, whether they come singly or in droves,’ Noren muttered to herself, then descended into the cellar without hesitation.

The cellar was pitch black. Even with her pupils fully dilated, she could only discern the vague outlines of the path.

‘I should have brought a torch, but I still have my precious stone.’

She drew the silver necklace from her neck, extracting a blood-red gem from where it rested against her chest, nestled between her prominent curves. “Shine!”

The gem flickered with a sizzling red light, which soon intensified, illuminating the darkness with a fist-sized crimson glow. The light pulsed erratically, waxing and waning.

It was bright enough to see, certainly, but why did the sanguine glow feel so utterly chilling? Noren’s heart grew faintly cold. She tried to concentrate, to steady the blood-red light, but whether due to her many distracting thoughts or some other reason, the light remained unsteady, flickering like a candle in the wind.

‘Never mind, this will have to do.’ Noren sighed, closing her eyes.

This cellar was not what Noren had imagined. It was a combination dungeon and cellar, with the dungeon portion closer to the entrance. After traversing a long, narrow, eerie passage, one would finally reach the cellar, where food, wine, and earthenware pots were stored.

“How utterly uncouth! Who builds a dungeon and a cellar right next to each other? The stench would surely permeate everything!” Noren grumbled, slowly feeling her way forward along the wall.

But she quickly recalled how she had once tortured a hook-nosed Jewish scoundrel in a cellar herself, feeling like the pot calling the kettle black. She let out a dry laugh to ease her awkwardness.

At the end of the passage was a heavy oak door with an iron-barred window, likely intended to separate the dungeon from the cellar. However, the oak door now stood ajar, its copper lock nowhere to be found.

Noren stepped into the cellar, using the red light from the bloodstone to illuminate the ceiling and walls.

‘It’s been completely ransacked…’

The cellar was empty; not a single basket remained. Only fragments of shattered wine barrels were piled in a corner, indicating that all the food and valuables had been plundered.

Noren took two more steps inward, only to feel her foot land on something soft and fleshy.

‘?’ A question mark flashed in the young woman’s mind. ‘What was that?’

She looked down, and a pair of bloodshot black eyes stared fixedly back at her!

‘!’ Her heart gave a violent lurch. She instinctively recoiled, but her foot landed on another cylindrical object, causing her to lose balance. Her foot shot up, then stomped down hard, regaining her footing.

Yet, that stomp seemed to have landed on something else, for a crisp, bone-cracking sound echoed beneath her foot—”Crunch!” This sharp sound reverberated through the enclosed space, adding an even more vivid touch of horror to the already eerie underground vault.

“Hiss… *whoosh*—” The young woman inhaled with a slight tremor, then exhaled smoothly. Noren didn’t need to guess what she had just crushed.

[Noren—Stress +25]

[Tier One Stress!]

‘Damn it all to hell, why did I insist on entering this damp, cold cellar? Wouldn’t it have been better to stay above ground? Bloody hell, when I get back, I’m going to give that horse’s nose a thorough rub, to soothe my wounded spirit!’

At the thought of the horse’s soft, plump nose, the young woman’s agitated mind seemed to calm, and her stress eased slightly.

[Stress -30 (petting animal)]

[You are no longer overwhelmed by stress.]

After suppressing all her fear, Noren directed the bloodstone’s light towards her feet. In the illumination, she clearly saw what she had stepped on. It wasn’t merely ‘something,’ for it was a person—more precisely, a dead person. A stark-naked male corpse with a shattered head.

“Bloody hell!” Noren finally swore, unable to hold back. ‘Who was so utterly depraved as to leave a cadaver here? If she ever discovered who was responsible, she’d give them two solid punches. She’d show them that just as Lu Zhishen could fell Zheng Guansi with three powerful blows, she too could smash a man’s head with two!’

“No, wait!”

The blood-red light from the gem flared intensely for a single instant. Though it quickly dimmed thereafter, she still precisely captured the scene on the ground: a score or so of men, women, and children, sparsely clothed, lay quietly on the ground. Some had their ears bitten off, others had broken pitchforks sticking out of their backs, and still others had their heads split open.

Each upturned face was frozen in a grotesque rictus of death, a ferocious expression congealed upon their features. Even in their final moments, they had been consumed by a wild, desperate frenzy. Yet, upon closer inspection of their skin, hands, and feet, it was clear they were farmers, accustomed to hard labor.

What could have driven these people to such madness, to sacrifice their very lives? Was it merely for the food, pottery, and valuables in the cellar?

“Madness.”

The young woman gazed at the corpses on the ground, her expression complex, tinged with sorrow. “Humans perish for wealth, and birds for sustenance. To think these people, having escaped the oppression of their feudal lords, hadn’t even awaited the return of new ones, only to bring about their own demise…”

“Was there no one to stop them?”

She looked at their bare backs and understood: “These are the vanquished, those who failed to plunder the cellar. The victors have long since fled with all the spoils.” Finally, she let out a short, mocking chuckle.

“I wonder what Igor will think when he returns to find his home in such a state?”

“I’m rather keen to see his tormented expression… heh-heh!”

“Heehee! You’re so wicked~ I absolutely adore it!” A sharp, hoarse male voice came from behind her.

“Who’s there!”

Noren immediately drew her sword and spun around, the silver blade flashing with cold light, but the figure deftly dodged it.

“Hoh! So fast, so fast! Much faster than old man Černý.” The man’s voice turned to surprise, marveling at Noren’s swift movements.

Using the red light, Noren now clearly saw the man. He was thin, short, and hunched, his build resembling a slightly enlarged version of the Hobbit ‘Gollum.’ His face was even uglier than an Orc’s; his left and right cheeks seemed stitched together from two separate, hideous visages. In short: a hideous hunchbacked man.

“What do you want?” Noren prepared for a verbal sparring match. This hunchback was peculiar; despite his hunch, he had managed to dodge her strike. Even Tolruk, the berserker carpenter, couldn’t evade her attacks. Why could a hunchback?

She didn’t understand.

“Oh, nothing much…” The Thin Man extended a long tongue, licking the blade of his dagger, which was coated in a repulsive, viscous fluid.

His action thoroughly disgusted the young woman. She suppressed her discomfort. “If it’s nothing important, then please leave, sir!”

“Heehee!” The Thin Man reversed his grip on the dagger, clutching it tightly, and revealed a twisted smile. “However, there is one small matter I’d like to ask for your help with, my lady.”

Noren adopted a combat stance, her sword pointed forward. Her gaze was sharp as a falcon’s, her pupils faintly glinting with an electric spark, and her voice was laced with murderous intent. “What matter?”

The Thin Man’s body began to convulse, and his grating voice trembled. “What else could it be? Of course…”

His jovial smirk vanished instantly, and his eyes blazed with a chilling light!

“To kill you!”

The Thin Man flashed before Noren’s eyes, then, with a low crouch, darted behind her. The sharp point of his dagger plunged viciously towards the young woman’s lower back, aiming for her kidney!

“What!” Noren exclaimed in alarm. *So fast!*

The bloodstone’s protective aura, already clinging to her body, suddenly inhaled and swelled, deflecting the lethal blow. The Thin Man was momentarily stunned by the resilient aura that repelled him. He once again flashed away, dodging Noren’s counter-slash, and stood at a distance.

“What was that?” The Thin Man’s voice was no longer playful; his expression was utterly serious.

“Ask the gods above!” Noren’s eyes crackled with electricity to their fullest extent, and she lunged forward, knowing she had to give it her all!

“Hoh! Gods!” The Thin Man curled his lip in disdain, his body vanishing, leaving only an afterimage in his wake. The next instant, a rapid succession of metallic clashes erupted in the darkness…

****