Chapter 245 – After the War (3)

Inside a dilapidated farmhouse in the southern domain of the Empire.

In a house that looked like it would collapse at any moment, a woman was sighing as she looked at an empty food sack.

“Finally all gone. What should I do now…”

If it had been during the chaos a few months ago, she might have been able to help the refugees flooding into the domain and obtain food in return, but now even that was impossible.

The refugees who had fled from the eastern regions had returned home, and the lord was squeezing the domain’s people dry, claiming to be rebuilding the damaged domain.

Yet she couldn’t go into the fields or mountains to find food either.

The Empire, which had once been safe after clearing out most of the monsters, was now overrun with undead wandering about.

“I hope Tomi hasn’t gone to the mountains again.”

Her young child had left early in the morning, determined to find something to eat.

She couldn’t help but sigh at her inability to stop her son.

“I want to die.”

After making sure no one was around, she revealed her true feelings.

If not for her young son, she might have acted on those words rather than just speaking them.

Though life had been difficult, it had been bearable a few months ago.

Back then, her husband had still been alive.

Like her uncle who had been drafted into the army long ago, her husband had been conscripted into the domain’s forces a few months back.

And shortly after came the news of his death.

Now she had to survive in this hellish world with her young son.

“Still, I can’t just starve to death. For Tomi’s sake, I need to find something.”

Anna forced herself to move.

Though she was exhausted, tired, and beyond hungry to the point of feeling sick, she forced her body to move and picked up the rusted pitchfork leaning by the door.

It was a heavy farming tool for her to carry, but it was the only thing she had that could serve as a weapon.

If she was going to the dangerous mountains that she had avoided until now, she needed to carry something.

“Goddess, please, protect me, protect our family.”

She prayed to the goddess who had never answered for years as she tried to open the worn door.

Creak.

But before she could open the door, it opened first.

“Oh, there is someone here.”

A person who had opened the door and was surprised to see Anna inside.

She was a black-haired young woman whom Anna had never seen before in her life.

“Who… are you?”

“Ah. I apologize. I thought no one lived here… Oh, that’s rude too… Anyway, I’m sorry.”

The stranger bowed her head frantically in response to Anna’s question.

Anna neither laughed at nor was bewildered by the flustered stranger.

Instead, she bowed her head even deeper than the other person.

She had no choice.

It was obvious that this person was no ordinary individual.

Unlike Anna’s worn clothes, the stranger wore clean garments she had never seen before, with flowing long hair and clean skin.

Such a woman couldn’t possibly be an ordinary person.

Even if not a noble, she must be the daughter of a wealthy merchant or a village elder.

Either way, she wasn’t someone Anna could treat casually.

After they exchanged greetings and raised their heads, Anna could see that the other person was still uncomfortable.

Eventually, she had no choice but to ask again.

“Who are you? Why have you come to our house?”

The stranger made a troubled expression at Anna’s words.

“Oh, do you live here?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm. I might have come to the wrong place.”

The woman scratched her head and asked Anna:

“By any chance, did someone named Hoffman live here?”

Anna was momentarily stunned by the unexpected name before carefully responding.

“Do you mean Uncle Hoffman?”

“Ah! You know him? Wait, did you say uncle?”

“If you’re referring to the Hoffman who lived in this house, then yes, he was my uncle.”

“So he had a niece.”

“Are you looking for my uncle? But Uncle’s whereabouts have been unknown for years, since after my father passed away.”

“Ah, that’s not it. I have news about him, or rather, I was his comrade. I volunteered to come to his house first…”

The woman, who had been rambling for a moment, sighed.

“I shouldn’t have insisted on coming first…”

“I’m sorry. Let me introduce myself again.”

“I’m Yerim, and I was Hoffman’s comrade. I fought alongside him against the Demon King.”

That was quite a grand statement.

Anna carefully filtered the stranger’s words.

“So you fought against the undead, or rather, the Demon King’s army. If you’re my uncle’s comrade… Could it be that my uncle has passed away?”

“Ah, how did you…”

“If my uncle himself didn’t come, and instead his comrade did, there’s only one possible reason. Still, it’s fortunate. For a comrade to come all this way in person. It seems my uncle got along well with his comrades.”

“Ah… Yes. Hoffman died fighting the Demon King. Thanks to him, we were able to survive.”

“To come all this way for a deceased comrade… It must have been a long journey. That’s impressive.”

“It wasn’t that far. Yelena unnie opened a portal for us.”

“What? A portal?”

“She hadn’t been to this domain before, so it wasn’t easy, but she eventually succeeded. She’s truly an amazing mage.”

Anna couldn’t help but make a dubious expression as Yerim continued.

The woman kept telling unbelievable boasts.

“So you came to deliver the news of my uncle’s death.”

Her words were half meant to suggest that since the news had been delivered, the visitor could leave, but Yerim didn’t seem to catch that nuance.

“Ah, I didn’t know he had family left in his hometown. We came here to bury Hoffman’s remains in his homeland. I personally wanted to see the house where he lived, which is why I came looking.”

“So you didn’t come alone.”

“No, I came with my comrades.”

“So others have come too. It seems Uncle Hoffman lived well there. When he left this village, everyone spoke ill of him, but as my father said, it seems his character wasn’t bad after all.”

Apparently, before joining the army, he had been in a thieves’ guild and had been quite notorious in his youth.

Yerim made an uncomfortable expression at Anna’s words.

Not noticing Yerim’s expression, Anna said with an apologetic face:

“I’d like to invite your comrades in, but as you can see, our house is in this state…”

In truth, more than the house, the problem was that she had nothing to serve them.

Despite her boastful talk, these were comrades who had brought her uncle’s remains all the way here, and she had nothing to offer if they came to the house.

At Anna’s words, Yerim shook her head vigorously and spoke urgently.

“Ah, we’ve all been living roughly, so it’s fine. Actually, would you like to come with me for a moment? Everyone would like to meet you.”

Anna bit her lip at the stranger’s words.

She felt ashamed for not being able to welcome the guests into her home, and wondered if perhaps, if she went with the stranger to meet her uncle’s comrades, she might receive some help.

As her thoughts grew complicated, she heard her son’s voice.

“Mom! Mom!”… The voice of her son who had left home at such a young age to find food.

A voice brighter than before came from in front of the house.

And her son rushed in through the open door.

His face was flushed red.

“Mom! Mom! Outside! Outside! There’s a knight! And a mage! And a really pretty woman with long ears!”

The child, who appeared to be five or six years old, was shouting as he entered, but when he saw the woman standing next to his mother, his mouth fell open.

“Ah! There’s another unfamiliar person here…”

The child was about to point at Yerim in amazement but quickly covered his mouth with both hands.

Though still young, even he knew not to speak carelessly in front of someone who appeared extraordinary.

Anna’s eyes widened at her son’s words.

“Could it be that the people outside are…”

“Yes, they’re my comrades.”

Anna found it hard to gather her thoughts.

‘Could it be that this wasn’t just boasting?’

If her son’s words were true, then the outlandish stories she had just heard might not be exaggerations after all.

No, no, that couldn’t be possible.

Fighting the Demon King?

Her uncle, who had left the village when she was young, had been little more than a hoodlum.

The news she had heard afterward was that he had gone to the city and joined a thieves’ guild, followed by news that he had been caught stealing and drafted into the army.

Her father had sighed, saying he had been drafted into the worst division of the army, one that roamed the mountains fighting monsters.

For such an uncle to be fighting the Demon King alongside knights and mages?

She had never heard such a thing even in storytellers’ tales.

In any case, Anna had no choice but to follow the guest’s invitation.

If, as her son said, there were knights and mages outside, this wasn’t an invitation but an order.

Anna steadied her trembling heart and, holding her son’s hand, stepped outside.

As she exited, she could see people standing on the road in the distance.

Two women and one man standing on the road.

Just as her son had said, there was a knight, a mage, and a woman with long ears who was said to be from another world. Anna felt a surge of fear.

A mage and a knight.

Though not nobles, both knights and mages were such high-ranking individuals that commoners like her weren’t even supposed to look them in the face.

As she moved forward with a frightened expression, Yerim waved cheerfully beside her.

“Sir Knight! Unnies! This person is Hoffman’s niece.”

The three people looked at her with surprised faces.

Anna’s face gradually lowered.

Standing before the three, Anna trembled.

“Hoffman’s niece, you say?”

In her haste to bow, she hadn’t gotten a good look at their faces, but the voice she heard was remarkably deep and pleasant.

However, Anna found that voice more frightening than pleasant.

“Y-yes. Yes, Sir Knight.”

“Hmm, should we verify this separately?”

The knight’s next words sounded even more terrifying.

A knight’s verification?

For an ordinary commoner, thoughts of a noble’s torture chamber naturally came to mind.

But the woman beside her puffed her cheeks at the knight’s words.

“I’ve already checked. She wasn’t lying, and she wasn’t thinking anything suspicious.”

Words that acknowledged and protected Anna on her behalf.

It was truly appreciated, but the problem was that the content was somewhat strange.

And even stranger words came from the knight.

“Well, if the Saintess has confirmed it…”

“What? Did you say Saintess?”

Anna looked up in surprise.

Yerim quickly explained:

“No, no. The Saintess is in the Imperial capital. She’s the Imperial princess. I couldn’t possibly be a Saintess.”

Anna nodded at Yerim’s words.

She too had heard the domain’s herald enthusiastically proclaiming not long ago.

The news that the Imperial princess had become a Saintess and, together with the hero, had defeated the Demon King.

There seemed to be some complicated story in between, but ultimately the herald’s message was that the Imperial princess and the hero were to be married, and that the Imperial bloodline was a great lineage recognized by the gods.

“I’m just an ordinary, pretty woman with black hair.”

Yerim introduced herself once more, glancing at the child who had followed his mother, and then introduced her comrades to Anna.

“Unlike me, Sir Egger is someone who recently became the lord of a small country. That beautiful unnie over there is a real Saintess from another world. And that mage unnie is a grand mage who created a portal by herself to bring us here.”

Anna’s face turned pale at Yerim’s words.

“What?”

This clearly wasn’t boasting anymore.

It had been a form of revenge and excuse for calling herself a Saintess, but her explanation only made Anna more dumbfounded.

As a result, the former hero’s party had to work hard to revive the unconscious niece of their comrade, and it took even longer to place their comrade’s remains in the family tomb and bring his niece’s family to the knight’s domain.

Only after several days could Anna and her son visit Egger Knight’s domain through a portal created by the mage.