I Became the Older Brother of a Villainess - Chapter 16.2
Within the bounds of not saving Pippin.
“Who are you?
[My name is Phoebe. I’m Pippin’s only sister, formerly a clerk at Kaku’s butcher shop, and a victim murdered by the village chief.]
Tears of blood streamed down the Spirit’s eyes.
[The village chief is determined to feed people to Monsters for money.]
“Feed them? Metaphorically?”
[Behind it all is Slos, the captain of the mercenaries! He’s jealous of Master Kaku and intends to use the humans as his prey, including Pippin and the people of the village! The village chief is taking bribes and pretending not to know!]
“Prey…”
[My body was also discarded as prey for the Monsters…]
“Oh, real prey… um…”
I closed my eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
I had hoped for a simpler and easier conflict… something like an inheritance issue would have sufficed. Ah, if only they committed simpler misdeeds…
The village chief’s inspiration turned out to be a much bigger villain than I had anticipated.
[The village chief disliked both my sibling and Kaku. He deliberately tried to torment us]
From some point onwards, Monsters started appearing in the village. Initially, they were no different from small wild animals, but gradually, larger and more aggressive Monsters emerged.
In the small village, the only one capable of capturing and killing such Monsters was Kaku, the former captain of the mercenaries. The village chief, citing a lack of funds, refused to hire any mercenaries.
Kaku fought the Monsters until his body was battered and bruised, cutting off their lifelines. Watching Kaku, Pippin began helping with hunting, starting to wield a knife.
Although the number of Monster hunters increased to two, the work only became more arduous. This was due to the fact that stronger and more relentless Monsters appeared as time went on.
If Kaku and Pippin expected rewards for capturing Monsters, it would still be useless.
They don’t even pay them for the leather because the village tanner would always take it. The tanner happened to be the village chief’s nephew. Fortunately, they could obtain the meat from the Monsters, but even that was taken away, with 90% of the sale proceeds being confiscated as a village security fund.
Only a few people, including the village chief, knew how the security fund was used. Kaku and his destitute siblings, who still received the treatment as outsiders, were shunned by all the villagers.”
[Even so, Kaku did not complain. He said it was a natural thing to do to live in the village. He urged us siblings to work together to live in harmony]
[But the villagers deliberately wanted to mess with us.]
It was a clear and quiet summer night. In the midst of preparing the Monster meat, Pippin accidentally knocked over a salt container. The meat had to be salted quickly before it spoiled.
While Kaku and Pippin stayed behind to organize the meat, Phoebe went to the village outskirts to fetch water for cleaning.
It was a night by the well where fireflies buzzed annoyingly. In the place where no one should be, a secret meeting was in full swing.
‘Last time, the Monster trampled the guild. We can’t handle bigger Monsters anymore.'”
The complaining voice clearly belonged to the village chief. Phoebe halted her steps as she approached the well. Concealed behind a tree, she quietly observed the scene where the village chief and another man were conversing.
“That guy, Kaku, is pretending to be weak. Doesn’t he know that the stronger the monster, the more money comes in?”
“Well, now even that clumsy fellow, Pifin, is helping with the hunting…”
The village chief chuckled ominously, stroking his beard.
“It wouldn’t be much of a problem if Kaku were to die.”
“If we put in a bit more effort, the Garden Ogre will become even more powerful. But for that, sacrifices must be made.”
“Aren’t we providing enough human meat?”
“It’s not sufficient with just humans. We need to feed the human hunters.”
“…Kaku. Are you suggesting offering Kaku as food for the Garden Ogre?”
Phoebe remained silent, her mouth tightly shut. The conversation left her dumbfounded. The appearance of monsters that had turned the village into chaos was, in fact, orchestrated by the village chief.
He was even willing to betray Kaku, who had helped in hunting down the monsters, all for the sake of profit.
As she was slowly stepping backward to deliver the news, Phoebe felt a grip on her shoulder. In the darkness, a bulky mercenary revealed himself, laughing. Suddenly, a thick hand grabbed Phoebe’s throat. In her final moments of consciousness, Phoebe saw a monster.
In the shadow resembling a round dish, a colossal creature pushed its body forward. It exposed jagged teeth, chuckling sinisterly. Multiple eyeballs illuminated in the moonlight.
The monster spoke. It hungered for souls.
“Wait, just a moment.”
In the dish-like shadow, the lumpy body, teeth, eyeballs… and it could even speak? Phoebe’s description resembled the monster I knew. Nothing other than the Death’s Door.
“Hey, Phoebe. I think I might know what that monster is.”
The monster Phoebe mentioned resembled my ‘Death’s Door.’ Perhaps the Death’s Door was somehow related to this incident.
“Take a look at this, Phoebe.”
[Hmm? What is it?]
Capturing Phoebe’s attention, I summoned the Death’s Door. The air in front of me seemed to ripple, and a round mass condensed, revealing its form like dense cigarette smoke.
The Door of Death revealed itself, round and flat, hovering in the air. I belatedly glanced around my surroundings and out of the window. No one was watching what I was doing in the room.
Nevertheless, just in case, I closed the curtains completely and leaned towards Phoebe.
“How is it?”
[What am I supposed to see? This black dish?]
“Well…”
The Door of Death, usually resembling the abyssal jaws, was now concealed and lying flat. When I tapped it with my hand, it made a sound akin to tapping on a steel plate. Phoebe looked at me with a puzzled expression.
It seemed like I had to directly summon the Spirit to wake it up. Summoning an ant swarm into the room right now would be foolish. The only manageable option was the Sugar Princess. I placed my hand on the Door of Death and called for the Sugar Princess.
“Summon the Spirit.”
Immediately, the black door rippled, and its distinct grotesque appearance began to gradually reveal itself.
Simultaneously, Phoebe began to glow.
