Transmigrated Into A Tragic Romance Fantasy-Chapter 81: Im...Just curious, yes. Merely curious.

Clang-!

Pang-!

Bam-!

Ah, it seems I was wrong for dismissing their gang’s name.

Iron Pot Gang.

The juicy sound of the beat matched their foolish name, informing us of the reason behind such a choice.

Just like the sound of kicking a can could be rather addictive, I couldn’t help but smack these fellows a bit more just to hear it again.

Clang-!

Crack-!

“Awn. It broke.”

As I continued to crack their skulls, the club I was using snapped, so I grabbed a new one they had so graciously donated to me.

Then, I approached their leader.

The reason they called themselves the ‘Iron Pot Gang’,

Was because of the pot-like brass helmets they wore, and every time I smacked those ‘pots’ with the club, a truly splendid sound echoed.

“Here’s your toll for the next 10 years.”

Clang-!

Pang-!

“S-Stop! P-Please...! We were in the wrong...!”

“Oh? It’s not over yet, you know? I’ll pay generously for the residents of the Northern Territories as well, here take it.”

Clang-!

Clang-!

Paaaaang-!

Rattle-!

“M-My head...R-Ringing....”

“Well? Is this enough for your toll?”

“Yes! O-Of course-!!”

“Good, but one last thing...”

Clang—-!!!

“Can’t forget about the taxes.”

As an upstanding Lord, It was my civic duty to extract the taxes for those 10 years of tolls.

The gang leader was truly an exceptional fellow.

While I extracted the taxes, his pot-like helmet continued to produce the best sounds yet.

What on earth have they done to transform these helmets into musical instruments?

Seriously, I could make a whole concert with just these helmets and my club.

Tap, Tap-.

After smacking their ‘iron pots’ to my heart’s content, I dusted off my hands.

And looked around.

The bandits, deeply moved by me giving them so much toll in advance, lay scattered around.

While Rachel swung her sword to clean off the blood from her blade, not caring about the deceased(?) bandits she left behind.

“Did you get hurt?”

“No. You?”

“Oh, I’m fine. There were quite a lot of them, though.”

“Indeed, it seems this is something very profitable for them.”

“Maybe their base might be nearby?”

There were at least thirty bandits here.

It was an unusually large group, and based on experiences over these past six months, there was a high probability that their main base was nearby.

Also, they might have some captives in there.

After all, weren’t they drooling over Ariel and Rachel just moments ago?

“That makes sense. Looking at the scale of this raid, there must be at least fifty in their main base.”

I looked at Rachel.

Grin-.

...So the Student’s pain was indeed the Teacher’s joy...

Or perhaps, was she taunting me?

“Are you nervous?”

Rachel used to drill into my brain that for a smooth Culinary Journey, one should know how to deal with humans more than monsters.

And every time I questioned her ‘why’, Rachel would always say ‘In the wilds, humans are far more dangerous than monsters.’

Her eyes would also become unnaturally sharp when she said this.

Just like now.

Moreover, this was the road leading to Gelida, and it wasn’t far, meaning the villagers must be suffering too.

“Nah.”

I shrugged nonchalantly as I joked.

This was something I never intended to run away from.

Rachel was my Teacher, and as her student, it was my duty to follow her instructions.

While my main goal was the Culinary Journey, I simply couldn’t ignore the injustice and oppression I had encountered along the way.

Oppression and injustice.

Ignoring those was like ignoring all I went through in my past life as Jun-Woo.

There was no reason to avoid helping those in danger, and unlike in my past life, I had no reason to fear a band of bandits.

So, I picked up the club I had thrown on the ground.

After looking for a still-alive bandit wriggling on the ground, I walked over to him and grabbed his neck.

And proceeded to kindly ask him for information, while rewarding him with a bonus.

“Where is it?”

The location of their main base.

“...What?”

Clang-!

Since I was feeling very generous today, I made sure to even pay him his severance.

And within a few moments, my companions and I were heading towards their gang’s headquarters.

**

Bang-!

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.

“A monster—!! Run!!”

Bang!

“Save me—!!”

Bang!

“Shit! Kill those bastards—!!”

The Iron Pot Gang, nestled in the snowy mountains west of Gelida Village, had been terrorizing the area for six years.

This gang of bandits, numbering around a hundred, primarily made their income from their ‘tolls’, and secondarily, by extorting money from Gelida and robbing merchants who passed around the mountain path.

Their hidden headquarters had become a personal den of debauchery.

Women kidnapped from the Village or from traveling groups were turned into sex slaves, while the men were forced into labor.

However, the sudden assault by a man and a woman seemed like a natural disaster for the gang.

Accustomed to always being the aggressors, the entire gang crumbled under the surprise assault.

One after another, they fell helplessly as a man with black hair and a woman with purple hair wreaked havoc.

So, their headquarters was quickly reduced to ruins.

By the time they realized that the man and woman were the infamous Vampire Lord and [The Purple Knight], once famous in the northern battlefields, it was too late, and the poorly trained, disorganized band of bandits were easily annihilated.

“Ugh...It can’t end like this...! N-Not like this...!!”

“If you ask me, that’s a very fitting end for third-rate villains. Farewell clankers...Wait...that’s wrong...What was the name again...? Ah, I got it! Farewell, Tin Head Gang.”

Clank-!

With the last member defeated, Elden and Rachel began searching the stronghold as the captives held there started to embrace each other in joy or offered tearful thanks to their saviors.

Soon, Ariel and Rendler approached and started guiding the freed captives outside the stronghold, watched attentively by a woman observing the scene.

Lumia, draped in a deep hood, stepped down from the cart feeling compelled to offer her assistance as well.

“Thank you. Sob. Thank you so much...!”

“We only did what had to be done.”

When those captives came to thank Elden, he responded with a bright smile.

He casually grasped the hands of commoners, expressed humility to those celebrating their salvation, and occasionally patted the back of those who rudely hugged him without decor.

Lumia watched all of this happen, from a distance.

And then,

A memory surfaced.

[I hope to see Elden helping the weak or saving those in peril if the chance arises.]

[I'm curious as to what he would look like while performing such heroic deeds.]

[Elden helping those struggling with adversities...]

[Elden assisting those driven to the edge of the abyss...]

[I'm...Just curious, yes.]

[Merely curious.]

It was something she had once written in her diary.

On the day of the Grand Ducal Betrothal, rumors about Elden had circulated through Winterfell.

About how he had helped a woman and child who almost died under the brutal hands of a man.

It was something so unbelievable to Lumia that she even wrote about it in her diary.

Lumia could see the stark contrast of how Elden would always act scornful and dismissed the ‘weak’,

And how he now bloodied his hands for their sake.

Lumia’s eyes took in this sight as she studied everything with a sharp focus.

“Sir! T-Thank you! You are a true hero!”

“Hero? Me? I’m just doing what everyone else would do.”

“C-Can I be like you when I grow up?!”

“If you wish to...”

“Really?!”

“Of course.”

Elden ruffled the hair of a small child who glomped his waist.

The little child wished to be like Elden.

The pure and innocent admiration contained in the child’s eyes shook Lumia.

‘......’

It was something she...also...longed for... Yet, it was unimaginable.

Lumia tried to envision it, but only Elden’s crimson eyes, filled with contempt, emerged as if to thwart her attempts.

Despite having seen the warmth in his eyes when he helped her, and despite hearing the kind words he spoke to her, the ‘Elden’ these people were labeling as a hero was just something that her mind had trouble accepting.

The sight of him liberating captives and subduing the bandit gang felt utterly alien to her.

And then.

Just like the rumors...

He was magnificent.

The sight of Elden swinging that heavy club for the ‘weak’ was splendid.

The sight of Elden comforting and encouraging those he saved conflicted with the ‘Elden Raphelion’ that existed in Lumia’s memory.

Over that fearful impression, a new layer was painted.

Now that she wasn’t the one who received help, but simply a bystander to his actions, Lumia was finally able to replace that cruel picture from her mind.

And then,

Lumia finally understood.

[L-Lumia?]

When she was on the brink of death, his concerned and perplexed voice carried an unmistakable hint of warmth.

It was then that Lumia realized those outstretched hands towards her were indeed what she had longed for, for so long.

“You must be a Hero the God’s sent to save us! Please, grace us with your holy name!”

“There’s nothing holy about me.”

“He’s the Vampire Lord.”

“R-Rachel...!”

“Praise be! Praise be the Vampire Lord!”

“Vampire Lord! Vampire Lord! Vampire Lord!”

“N-No...”

Just like that,

‘......’

For a long while,

Lumia stared at Elden’s figure.

As if,

She was gazing at a mythical figure from the legends.