CHAPTER 28: PEACE RETURNS

Before she could process what happened properly, astral laughter echoed in the distance.

She knew where this laughter came from—Pale Draggles.

And from the intensity of the laughter, there should be at least four or even five of them.

Just meeting one Ghost would be a death sentence for Granny Linsa and Adrian, but five? Might as well kill themselves right now. But she didn’t lose hope, or at least, she didn’t want to lose hope, "Y-Young master! Please! I thought you said that you’d spare us!"

Silence.

Nobody answered her.

All she could hear was the sound of the approaching Pale Draggles.

"We’ll change!" Granny Linsa screamed again. "I swear we’ll change! Just spare us!"

Realizing that it was futile, she continued ahead, now more desperately.

She had already abandoned searching for the spear; instead, she wanted to leave the woods.

As long as she gets out of the woods, her chance of survival will significantly increase.

Each step was a struggle.

Granny Linsa exerted everything that she had, but it was impossible to outpace the Pale Draggles that were known to be small and fast. Her eyes bulged in search for a way out, a way to survive, but there was nothing she could do.

Hiding behind a tree with arms crossed was Deklan.

Of course, he never intended to spare them.

I never said I’d spare them. I said I’m not going to kill them, but that doesn’t mean these Ghosts aren’t.

In the face of death, people tend to spill out anything in order to survive.

Deklan only used his mean face earlier, and Adrian told him everything he wanted to know and more.

Other than their plan for Marsha, Adrian also told him about the rotten flesh.

Earlier, when Deklan first saw the Pale Draggles, he wasn’t found because he was careless. No. He was found because Adrian had thrown a piece of rotten meat at his position. It was only then did he realized the Pale Draggles love rotten chunk of meat.

It was the reason why Deklan’s position was exposed.

Deklan took a rotten chunk of meat from Adrian’s stash and did it to them now.

It was payback.

[You’re cruel, host. Did you have to play with their feelings like that?]

"Of course. For having the heart to use my cute Marsha as a tool, this is their appropriate end."

[For once, we both agreed on something. Good work, host!]

Peeking from behind the tree, Deklan clicked his tongue repeatedly—as he watched Granny Linsa ditch Adrian when the first Pale Draggle made its appearance. Adrian called out to her weakly, but she didn’t even look back and run as fast as she could.

"Aren’t you supposed to really care about your son? What’s this? How selfish can you be?"

Brutally, the Pale Draggles killed Adrian by tearing him apart.

One even possessed his body and toyed with him, showcasing how vicious a Ghost could be.

As for Granny Linsa, she didn’t go far as two Pale Draggles managed to intercept her.

She kept screaming Deklan’s name—asking him for help, but Deklan was already walking back to the hamlet. Even though these two deserved a painful death, he wasn’t going to keep watching, especially now that he had finished his sudden quest.

[Sudden Quest completed!]

[50 Spooky Dollars, 20x Basic Mana Candy, and Awakening Ritual have been rewarded.]

[Keep up the good work, host.]

...

A couple of days passed.

Quickly, the people of Slosa Hamlet returned to their normal lives again.

Deklan came back the next day after sending Granny Linsa and Adrian to their deaths and hunted down the remaining Pale Draggles. He was still wounded and weak, but seeing how depressed Marsha was, he simply couldn’t stand it.

He decided to quickly hunt down the Pale Draggles so that the hamlet became busy again.

Seeing the people recovering from Granny Linsa’s tyranny should lift up her spirit a little.

And it did.

Now, with the bridge safe and secured again, the hamlet could resume their trade.

Most of them were carpenters since wood is abundant around them, so the day was loud and busy.

Nobody asked about Granny Linsa and Adrian.

Deklan simply told them that Granny Linsa—and Adrian are going to work for him, so the two wouldn’t be seen around the hamlet anymore. Nobody complained about it. Even Marsha did not protest, and she didn’t even bring up those two ever again.

It was best for the people and Marsha to be told this instead of the fact that they were fed to the Pale Draggles.

No need to give the people an impression of a tyrant replacing a tyrant.

And more, he even gave Hendrick a chance to lead the hamlet, to replace Granny Linsa’s position.

Hendrick had already seen how bad going against Deklan was, so he’s the perfect fit.

As for Deklan, he had been taking it easy these last couple of days.

Even though he used violence not for his own pleasure, and the fact that Granny Linsa and Adrian were more than deserving of it, he could feel the burning impulses showing signs of life again. Deklan can’t go back to his old ways, so he has been isolating himself from anything that involves violence.

Marsha greeted the people with a smile as she carried a loaf of bread and hot stew in a wooden bowl.

Forgetting her family was hard, but she was now slowly learning to smile again.

It has been great.

She knocked on Deklan’s lodging and entered—the food was for him.

"Young master, I brought fo—"

"Aooumm...."

Marsha stopped mid-sentence when she saw Deklan sitting on the wooden floor, meditating with both hands resting above his knees. His eyes were closed, fully immersing himself in the path of solitude and peace.

But then again, she wasn’t surprised to see this, as Deklan had been doing this in the last couple of days.

Every early morning, he’d be doing this to clear his mind.

"Aoouumm...."

"Aouumm..."

Instead of disturbing him, Marsha took a seat on the side and watched him meditate.

She supported her cheek with her hand and waited.

For some reason, watching Deklan’s serious face as he meditated to clear his mind was calming to see.

’How did someone like him be labelled as an untalented trash?’ She questioned inside, as Deklan was the complete opposite of the young master she expected. Someone who was far away from the word trash. ’He’s kind... Hardworking, assuring, and also... handsome.’

Realizing what she was thinking, Marsha’s face reddened.

She straightened up and looked down at her lap, embarrassed that she could even think like that.

It was her first time thinking like this about another man.

’Get it together, Marsha... You’re only a peasant, and Young Master Deklan is a noble. How can you—even think like that?’ Marsha pinched her thigh, trying to snap out of this trance that made her thoughts run wild. ’But Young Master Deklan does not seem to be a person who’s fixed with status. And he’s also very kind to me...’

’What if he likes me? What if he asked me to become his girlfriend? What would I say?’

"Marsha? Hello?"

"Yes, young master. I’m willing to be your girlfriend..."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

"Girlfriend? What girlfriend?"

Marsha blinked her eyes and realized that Deklan was standing in front of her.

Not to mention, it seemed she had said what was in her mind out loud.

"Marsha...? What’s wrong? Your face is so red!" Deklan looked at her in worry, seeing her face turning so red that he was afraid she would explode. "Are you sick? Is it a magical sickness or something? My dad always said to man up if you’re sick, so toughen up, will you? Don’t make me worry."

Marsha smiled acutely as Deklan shook her body back and forth.

’I’m not a man, though, young master... And why is your dad so mean?’ She thought inwardly.

Just then, she raised her hands assuringly.

"I’m... I’m okay, young master," She said, calming him down. "Please eat, I’ve brought you breakfast."

Although Deklan was worried, if she said she was fine, then she must be fine.

Besides, the food is getting cold, so he needs to eat it quickly.

Deklan ate the loaf of bread and strew heartily—for some reason, he didn’t need to eat as much as when he was back in his home world, but eating is still a good feeling. That being said, other than meditating, he was also consuming the Basic Mana Candy he got as a reward from the sudden quest.

And now, he realized he had reached a bottleneck.

...

Name: Deklan Tiernan

Persona: Agna the Red Scarecrow (Inactive)]

Rank: 3-star Iron

——

STAT(S)

Strength: E+

Agility: D-

Endurance: E

Intelligence: D-

Perception: F

Mental: C

Sanity: 100%

——

SKILL(S)

[Ghost Conqueror] [Dual Existence] [Eerie Smile]

——

TRAIT(S)

[Iron Spine] [Breeze Affinity] [Mini Ghost]

...

Deklan had reached the three-star iron rank, but he could progress further.

He had already absorbed some of the Basic Mana Candy, but felt something was wrong.

For some reason, he doesn’t feel like he’s making progress.

No more pleasant feeling from his body being strengthened. No more blood-pumping mana that surged across his entire body. Instead, he felt like he was bloated, like he had eaten too much and his stomach was about to explode.

Because of that, he had stopped eating the Basic Mana Candy and had only been exercising.

It’s good that I’m working my scrawny body and eating well, but I thought working out would get rid of this bloated feeling. It didn’t. I can still move well without much problem, but it’s uncomfortable. It felt like it won’t go away until I found out the reason why.

Deklan sighed dejectedly, annoyed by this bloated feeling.

Had he known about this, he would’ve refrained from consuming the Basic Mana Candy.

But then again, what’s done is done.

At least I know for sure now that I’m not walking the path of Exorcists.

...

[Awakening Ritual]

Rank: S

Description: A powerful ritual that would tap into the hidden talent inside the host’s body and awaken the dormant Mana Veins; the more mana harvested from the sacrificial material, the stronger the result of the Mana Veins would become.

...

It was another reward from completing the sudden quest.

From the description of the item alone, he could already assume that he didn’t have Mana Veins since this ritual awakened Mana Veins. At least not yet. He had already tried finding his Mana Veins before, but he couldn’t sense them.

And this item confirmed his suspicion.

Deklan hadn’t been treading the path of Exorcists, but Ghosts instead.

In that case, the path to grow stronger should lie with that Pale Night Lady.

Unlike Pumple, who was still at the iron rank, the Pale Night Lady, though, has lower potential, was in the bronze rank. So, the answer to get rid of this bloating feeling should lie in that ugly ghost. But what? She didn’t seem special in any way.

Deklan folded his arms, contemplating.

Just then, he flicked his fingers as he recalled one thing that the Pale Night Lady had.

It was the Minor Presence.

Am I supposed to make a Minor Presence of my own? But how, though? Can I even talk to her?

[Prison function can help host with that.]

Oh...? Is that so?