Chapter 14: The Possibility of Replacing the Male Lead

"Th-thank you very much."

Genzaburo, the loyal servant of the village chief's household, wept uncontrollably. Though he was no longer young, he had steadfastly followed the ninja clan all the way into the mountains, personally bringing the little girl, Yema, into his arms.

"Young lady, you really scared me half to death."

Tears streamed down the old servant's wrinkled face.

From the memories related to Yema within the game, it was clear that Genzaburo was one of the two people closest to her at home. Apart from this old servant, there was her wet nurse, who was willing to listen to her, while her grandfather was often busy with various tasks and rarely kept her company.

"I-I'm sorry... Genzaburo."

The girl apologized honestly.

"It's all my fault for making you worry."

Hyakusuke noticed that the girl, still held tightly in the servant’s arms, bit her lip and stared at him with unyielding eyes.

‘…She really does hold a grudge against me.’

He sighed inwardly.

In truth, Hyakusuke’s approach was quite ordinary for this era.

One must understand that in this age, exorcists were universally of the ‘kill ‘em all’ style.

“Monsters are filth, filth must be cleansed,” “Root them out,” “Kill kill kill kill kill,” “I will banish every last monster without exception”...

These were not mere stereotypes; these lines were from the game itself. The exorcist community universally accepted that monsters were to be mercilessly slain.

Even ordinary farmers, upon encountering minor demons, would swing their hoes with all their might to kill them. Most people’s hatred of monsters was born from harsh lessons learned through countless tragedies. In such an environment, it was Yema, the little girl, whose mindset was somewhat peculiar.

‘No, to be honest, it’s disturbingly out of place...’

Hyakusuke felt a vague but strong sense of dissonance.

Recalling the tragic conclusion of the Inamori Village story, a troubling suspicion arose in his mind.

‘Putting together the players’ theories, perhaps... there is more to this matter than meets the eye...’

He felt himself drawing closer to the truth.

“No, no, no, as long as you’re safe, that’s what matters.”

Genzaburo wiped his tears and bowed respectfully to Saizo.

“Lord Saizo, we are truly grateful to you and the rest of the ninja clan.”

“It’s nothing.”

Saizo was busy directing his subordinates to haul out the mountain imp’s corpse from the cave and handle the remains.

The monster’s body parts were infused with demonic energy, which could attract scavenging monsters and easily mutate into corpse demons or corrupt entities.

However, some parts of the monster’s flesh, bones, horns, feathers, and scales could be crafted into weapons, elixirs, or talismans. The exorcists quickly removed the useful and saleable parts.

The remaining remains were purified and burned. All the mountain imp corpses in the cave were to be incinerated by fire, especially the charred bodies of the mountain men, which required a simple purification ritual before being completely burned.

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