I Became a Dark Fantasy Villain - Chapter 69 (2)

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Sparks leapt from his fingertips, instantly igniting the firewood.

Charlotte, who had been dejectedly staring at the campfire for a moment, immediately whipped her head back around.

“A fight? A fight is happening?”

Her orange eyes flashed.

Her face seemed to show that the moment to prove her worth had finally arrived.

She immediately pricked up her ears and looked out into the darkness.

“Right…! They’re coming…!”

“…You can sense them already?”

As Ian asked back, Charlotte held her head high.

“No surprise there. The senses of the beast race rank among the sharpest of any race on the continent. And I’m especially gifted in that regard.”

“Ah, I see.”

Ian chuckled and gestured with his chin.

“Better jam lots of rocks into the wagon wheels too. Unless you want to go chase after a runaway wagon by yourself.”

“…Ah. Right.”

Charlotte hurriedly began moving around.

It seemed she wasn’t even aware anymore that she was simply following Ian’s instructions.

Meanwhile, Ian stretched his body this way and that, scanning the surrounding darkness.

For now, only the thick darkness was visible to his eyes.

The northern lands he remembered were a paradise for all manner of monsters.

Most of the people of the Northern Territories lived clustered around strongholds like the Temple of Furnace or Travelgar.

According to Miguel, even the already harsh villages became more dangerous as the Black Wall’s madness awoke all manner of ancient beings that had been slumbering.

Wheeeee—

From beyond the desolate darkness.

The rustling gave away the movement of many approaching creatures, as if proving Miguel’s words true.

Ian’s pupils dilated like an owl’s as he leapt onto the edge of the wagon.

Undead clad in tattered rags.

They must have been the revived legions of the ancient northern dead.

‘Hopefully this doesn’t happen every single night.’

Thinking that, Ian drew his sword.

As Meave had done in the past, he gripped the blade near the crossguard and launched himself forward.

Shwahhhck—!

The rushing wind whipped at him as he charged.

One of the shambling skeletons was instantly upon him.

Unlike the ones he had seen in Agellan, this ones immediately took a defensive stance upon seeing Ian.

Meaning it was no mere mindless undead puppet.

Not that it made any difference in the end.

Pershck—!

The Sword of Condemnation smashed through the decrepit sword and skull of the undead in one stroke.

In the brief flash as the wraith within scattered, Ian was already slamming the next undead’s skull.

Pakhk—!

Another. And the next.

Ian relentlessly shattered the undead soldiers’ heads without hindrance.

Kvajik! Pahk—!

Commotion rang out nearby as well.

Charlotte had charged in like a bullet, thrashing about.

Gripping twin blades, she seemed intent on proving her feral nature was alive and well as she battered the revived corpses.

It was a different fighting style from before.

More ferocious perhaps, but far less efficient.

‘She’ll definitely draw aggro at least.’

But considering the role she would eventually take on, it wasn’t an entirely bad change.

It took little more than ten minutes for the undead troop to be reduced to piles of bones.

“…Hah.”

Resheathing his sword, Ian caught his breath briefly.

The fact that his body felt invigorated clearly showed he had fully acclimated to this world.

The resonance in his palm had already faded, but it felt like an unmistakable sign the same phenomenon would repeat.

‘Doesn’t it seem contradictory to summon monsters after telling me to find them?’

Did he want to put me through trials as the Chosen One or something?

Thinking that as he sat by the campfire, Ian realized Charlotte was still wandering in the darkness.

Throughout the fight, she had kept glancing at Ian, and now she was wandering among the undead he had struck down, looking around warily.

“What are you doing?”

“…No. Nothing.”

Charlotte returned to the campfire.

But she could not hide her shocked expression.

Staring blankly at the flames, Charlotte suddenly blurted out.

“How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“How did you…take down more monsters than me? I’m definitely supposed to be a bit better at melee combat at least…”

She was that shaken up over that?

Ian raised an eyebrow slightly, but Charlotte remained serious.

“How…?”

After observing her briefly, Ian spoke.

“In my view, you seem more suited to be an assassin than a warrior.”

“What…? I was born a warrior, and I am a warrior still.”

Charlotte spoke as if her pride had been wounded.

Well, if that’s how it is.

Ian shrugged.

“Then keep fighting like that. It makes no difference to me.”

“……”

***

Ippotranslation

***

Charlotte had been eagerly awaiting the nights.

But on the next night, there was no large-scale attack like the previous day.

Just a few stray monsters wandering nearby and finding them was the extent of it.

It was the same the day after that, and the day after that too.

And finally, on the night after that, the undead troop attacked again.

Charlotte seemed to have been waiting for it, as she went all out thrashing about.

“Why…?”

But nothing had changed. At best, she only achieved a similar contribution as Ian.

“I really don’t understand why you’re so hung up on that.”

“……”

While Ian seemed completely unbothered, she could not be the same.

Because fighting was the only thing she knew how to do.

Her ceaseless rushing had even slowed their progress at times by spreading rumors, and she failed to properly identify suitable campsites. She still struggled to start campfires, even frequently burning the jerky.

So to rightfully demand her tail’s return, she should have at least exceeded her share as a warrior.

But instead, her mistakes and sense of indebtedness only accumulated deeper over time.

The more it did, the more rapidly her feral nature was fading without her even realizing it.

All she could think was that she had to make amends.

It wasn’t until several days later that a suitable opportunity was finally detected by her senses, which had been strained to the limit all day long.

“…?!”

Charlotte’s ears suddenly pricked up as she focused her mind to keep watch.

Her gaze turned towards the darkness beyond the wagon.

Her pupils dilated to almost perfectly round, and the fur all over her body stood on end.

A faint scent of blood wafted into her now hyper-sensitized sense of smell. And that presence was unmistakable.

Charlotte had first sensed that presence three days prior.

Initially, it had been more overt.

Panicked, fearful breathing sounds. A slightly thicker stench of blood.

It resembled the signs of an injured monster, and had soon disappeared, so she hadn’t paid it much mind at first.

But when that presence was fleetingly felt again the next day, things changed.

It only approached close enough for even Charlotte to vaguely sense it before disappearing once more.

Just like now.

Charlotte was finally certain that presence had been following them.

Why it would approach and then retreat, was obvious.

It was looking for an opportunity to attack.

Never considering that they might have noticed.

Though to be fair, sensing such a stealthy presence would be nearly impossible for anyone not as exceptionally gifted among the Xun’ren as she was.

“Don’t you sense it?”

“Sense what.”

Ian’s deadpan response said it all – he clearly had not noticed.

Charlotte’s lips curled back, baring her fangs.

If she eliminated this threat lurking behind them that he hadn’t even detected, it would count as a significant achievement.

“Then I’ll go check it out for a bit.”

“…?”

Translator; ippo

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