Encounter

Protected by the darkness of the night, Isa moved through the edge of Noda Forest.

Having heard the word “knight” in the conversation, the cautious Isa chose not to walk directly along the road toward the sound.

Instead, she chose to use the woods to conceal her tracks, allowing her to firmly grasp the initiative whether she advanced or retreated.

Isa had to thank the knight named Balun for learning this lesson.

Although he had already become fertilizer for the trees around her house, his caution when facing enemies had left a deep impression on Isa.

The surroundings in the woods were dim, so dark one couldn’t see their own hand in front of their face.

Isa relied on her spiritual power to avoid getting lost.

As she walked through the forest, her pace slowed the closer she got.

Isa had a feeling she was not far from the source of the voices.

Sure enough, after walking for only a few more breaths, she saw two faint lights, one in front and one behind, appearing outside the woods.

Knights in worn-out armor, mounted on horseback and holding torches, illuminated the road.

Their actions seemed to be a deliberate declaration of their presence; anyone who noticed the light would immediately see the two of them.

When Isa moved closer to observe, she found a crowd of people surging between the two knights.

Aided by the illumination scrolls used by the knights, Isa could see many poorly dressed people walking numbly within the procession.

The moment they showed any signs of falling behind, they were met with the knights’ whips.

Hiding in the darkness, Isa did not move, continuing to coldly observe what the two knights before her were doing.

To her, the armor on these two knights bore no emblem of the Church.

They were clearly soldiers of some unknown noble.

Therefore, Isa did not make a move.

Just then, someone in the driven crowd accidentally stepped into a pothole and fell to the ground.

Because the people behind weren’t paying attention, the once orderly procession collapsed like a row of dominoes.

A cacophony of gasps and groans rose and fell.

It seemed impossible for the group to restore its original order anytime soon.

The knight on horseback viciously whipped the people beside him twice.

After confirming they truly had no strength left, he threw down his whip and dismounted.

As he got off his horse, he said, “Rest for a bit, we’ll continue on the road later.”

After speaking, he spat towards the collapsed crowd.

Faced with the knight’s spittle, these people still had no reaction, even maintaining their fallen postures without moving, hoping to seize the moment to recover their depleted stamina.

“It’s all because these peasants colluded with the witch. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have had to spend so much effort escorting them back to the city.”

The shorter knight at the rear of the procession, wearing ill-fitting armor, walked forward to join the sturdy knight leading the group, complaining about the mission.

“Say less. This is a mission assigned by the Church. Our city lord has ordered that it must be completed.”

The leading knight cut the topic short, took some dry rations from his bag, and threw them to the other man.

He reminded him solemnly, “Even if you truly hold a grudge against the Church, you can’t say it out loud.”

“I heard Fodi and the others were all taken down by the witch. Serves them right for all the grease they skimmed in the city without leaving any for us!”

The short knight took the rations and bit into them fiercely, as if the dry bread was the Fodi he spoke of.

“That’s right, all the knights of the Laita City Church were wiped out. Otherwise, why would those passing knights turn back? It was to avenge them.”

After hearing the other’s words, the sturdy knight nodded, confirming the truth of this rumor.

“Now that the Church in the city has no more knights, we’re the only ones the city can rely on. Once the beast tide is over, it’ll be our turn for the good days.”

The two knights sat together, eating their dry rations and chatting idly about matters in Laita City, fantasizing about their bright futures.

Nearby, hidden in the woods, Isa had by now recognized the group being escorted by the knights.

They were the villagers from the village where she had revealed her identity as a witch.

From the two knights’ conversation, Isa understood that the reason they had captured these villagers was largely due to the chain reaction caused by Balun’s death.

The cause of Balun’s death, in the end, was their own greedy report.

One could say they had single-handedly created their current predicament.

For Isa, all she had to do was turn and leave, and nothing that happened here would have anything to do with her.

She could go straight back to her campsite and rest, forget everything when the sun rose tomorrow, and then continue on her way.

However, looking at these villagers with whom she had once lived day in and day out, Isa sighed.

She took out a bottle of paralysis potion she had made from her ring.

To avoid running out of potions, Isa had taken advantage of her free time to make a considerable number and store them in the ring.

The two knights before her looked like slackers, but they were at the level of Sequence One apprentice knights.

Isa did not want to cause a major disturbance.

She poured out the anesthetic potion directly, controlling the liquid to drift toward the knights’ resting place.

In less than a moment, the two knights began to yawn, closed their eyes, and fell asleep.

Under the horrified gazes of the villagers, Isa, cloaked in black, emerged from the forest and easily sent the two knights to report to hell.

Then, holding her blood-stained longsword, she walked up to one of the people and slowly removed her hood.

Her beautiful chestnut hair cascaded down.

Isa gave a sweet smile and greeted the person before her, “Uncle Kold, hello there!”

Kold felt he must be going mad.

First, he was captured by the knights of Laita City, then forced to walk until he was half-dead.

Then someone killed the knights, and the person who killed the knights was actually Isa from the village!

Kold’s lips trembled as he asked uncertainly, “You’re Isa? Weren’t you supposed to be burned to death by the Church?”

It wasn’t until the still-steaming longsword was pressed against his neck that Kold realized everything he was experiencing was real, and the Isa before him was also real.

“It seems Uncle Kold really wished for me to die, didn’t you?”

Hearing Kold’s words, Isa’s heart sank.

The thing she had been unwilling to believe in her heart turned out to be the cruel reality she had to face.

“No! It had nothing to do with me! I met a woman, and when I came to my senses, you were about to be captured by the Church! I only found out you were a witch from others afterward!”

Perhaps realizing that Isa’s current state was different from his memory of her, Kold clasped his hands over his head and hastily spilled everything he remembered in a single breath.

“A woman? Can I believe what you’re saying?”

Faced with Kold’s explanation, Isa did not fully believe his words.

But the mention of a woman instantly put her on high alert.