N/T: Translation made by our friend 'Irving'. A big round of applause for him :)
Chapter 530
Raon held his churning stomach as he raised his head.
Unlike the small and cozy village that had appeared in his mind, the village of Capeoli was home to sophisticated and large buildings.
It was almost a small city, and it was completely different from the image of the village in his hazy memories.
However, the shape of the mountain ridge that overlooked Capeoli Village and the sunset that seemed to hang in between them perfectly matched the memories that had suddenly bloomed.
It felt like two different paintings drawn by different people were overlapping into one.
‘It's certain…”
Raon muttered, pressing his lips that had slightly quivered.
‘This is the village where I lived.’
Like the mud that rises when you splash your feet in a stream, the past from his previous life that had been buried deep in the sea of memories slowly began to surface.
This was undoubtedly the village where he had spent his childhood before being kidnapped.
‘That's why everything felt familiar.’
The feeling of familiarity when Capeoli Village popped out of Siris' mouth, walked down the path while coming here, and gaining certainty by looking at the mountain ridge at the entrance to the village – it was all because he had lived in this village.
‘Ugh…’
A strong headache accompanied by new memories stimulated his mind. A young couple. The images of what seemed to be his mother and father in his past life.
Although their faces were not visible, only hands and mouths, the touch of their hands was rigid, and their mouths were clenched as if angry.
Then, the image of his mother running with him on her back along the path appears. Her steps were rough, she didn't seem to care if he got hurt.
‘Ha..’
Raon sighed softly, clutching his forehead.
‘I thought I was kidnapped, but was I sold?’
He comforted himself by believing that he hadn't been abandoned by his parents but rather kidnapped by the Shadows, however, that was not the case.
He felt like vomiting. He regretted coming here and seeing the dirty memories, and a wave of regret came over him. It felt like ants were gnawing at his heart.
‘Damn it…’
As he was holding his throbbing head, a low voice came from behind him.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Raon quickly turned around. A kind-looking old man was smiling with his back bent.
"It's...fine."
Raon spoke in a deep voice that matched his disguised appearance.
"Hmm, doesn't seem like your first time here."
"Why do you think so?"
"The dirt path."
The old man turned around and pointed to the path he had just walked down.
"Those who come to the village for the first time don't walk this path, they take the wider road."
He smiled faintly and extended his hand.
"I am the village chief of Capeoli Village. My name is Berurik.”
"My name is Baraen."
Raon mentioned the alias he had prepared and shook Berurik's hand.
"It seems you're surprised to see our village after a long time."
"Yes."
He nodded, hoping to get information about the village from Berurik.
"It's changed a lot, hasn't it? It won't be long before it can be called a city."
He looked around the village with a satisfied expression.
"Why has Capeoli Village grown so much?"
"Of course it's because of the iron ore mine."
"Iron ore mine?"
"Hmm? You didn't know that either? The mine was discovered a long time ago..."
Berurik smirked, reminiscing about the mine's discovery in his younger days.
"I've been here a few times, but I've only passed through, so I didn't know much about it."
"Well, then I guess I need to explain it to you!"
He approached, eager to share the development of the village.
"Come in first."
Berurik gestured lightly and went into the village first.
Raon licked his lips as he looked at Berurik's back.
'It's not a bad thing.'
Arriving at Capeoli Village too early, information from the Black Market about the village had not yet been received.
It was an opportunity to get information first, so he followed Berurik's footsteps.
"The reason our village has developed, as I mentioned earlier, is because of the discovery of the iron ore mine. I don't recall the exact details since I was living in a neighboring village back then, but it's been over several decades."
"......"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he listened to Berurik's words.
'It must have been after I left the village.'
If there had been an iron ore mine before, the village would not have been so small and cozy. It was clear that the mine was discovered after he was kidnapped or sold.
"The iron ore near the entrance wasn't of good quality, but as we went deeper, the condition improved, and the reserves were substantial. Our village's name is gradually becoming known. Recently, we even opened up new trade routes in the central continent."
Berurik couldn't hide his smile as he was happy to see the village developing.
"That's good news. But you used to live in another village, so how did you become the chief of this place?"
While feigning interest in Berurik, Raon subtly asked questions to extract information.
"I originally lived in the village of Frisil, which is on the opposite side of Mount Haro."
"But why did you come here?"
"Both our village and Frisil faced a significant problem."
"What do you mean by a problem?"
"A landslide occurred."
Berurik sighed as he warned the children running around the village.
"Over a few decades ago, this village and the Frisil where I lived both collapsed due to a landslide. Many adults and children died, and there are still many people whose bodies have not been found."
"Oh..."
"At the time, it was hell itself. The damage was great even in the Frisil village where I was, but there were almost no survivors in Capeoli. When we thought we couldn't maintain the village itself and were about to leave, we coincidentally discovered the iron ore mine."
He pointed to the entrance of the mine, which is located halfway up Mount Haro.
"I fell sorry to the deceased, but those who are alive must find a way to survive. The survivors of Capeoli and Frisil gathered here and became miners. Thanks to the establishment of a factory by Yuhwa Guild, everyone now has enough to eat and live."
Berurik closed his eyes as he looked at the giant factory in the center of the village.
"I didn't know there was such a thing. There would have been many children who lost their parents, so it would have been a heartbreaking scene."
Raon said he was sorry and asked about the children in a subtle way.
"Unfortunately, most of the children and the young couples who raised them were buried under the landslide. At the time, it was filled with the cries of adults, not the cries of children."
Berurik shook his head, saying that he still can't forget that hellish sight.
"That's... sad."
Raon's hand, hidden in his sleeve, trembled.
‘They didn't just take me, they took others too.’
No matter how secluded a village may be, if many children are being kidnapped, nearby families or kingdoms cannot remain idle. It was evident that Derus had kidnapped the children and forcibly caused the landslide to cover up the investigation that followed the abductions.
'That heartless creature...'
Kidnapping children and causing a landslide to kill their parents was a horrendous act, something even demons from hell wouldn't commit. His stomach churned, almost as if he were about to vomit.
‘Huuk....’
His lips parted involuntarily, and a rough breath escaped. If Derus were here, Raon felt he would have attacked him without hesitation.
"Here it is."
When Raon was suppressing his emotions, Berurik's footsteps stopped. A large stone tower, like a building, stood at the entrance to Haro Mountain.
"This is a memorial built for the deceased at that time, a tomb. The survivors at that time built it themselves."
Berurik gazed at the stone tower with a melancholic look.
"Although this may not be enough to console the pitiful souls...
"......"
Listening to Berurik, Raon approached the stone tower. When he tried to touch it with trembling hands, a vivid memory flashed in his mind.
No, not a new memory, but a memory he had seen as soon as he arrived in this village. However, unlike then, his parents' faces were now clearly visible.
A father with a rugged appearance but a gentle eye and a mother with a dignified appearance with her black hair combed neatly. The two people's rough hands and firm lips remained the same, but their eyes were different.
Her parents looked at him with eyes that exuded sadness, regret, and urgency.
After gently patting his head, his father handed him over to his mother, who picked up an axe hanging on the wall.
Her mother nodded, then crossed the window. Barefoot, she crossed the village entrance, entering the path beyond.
His mother's running footsteps and face were stained by branches, creating a bloody mess, and she gasped for breath as if dying. However, she never stopped walking.
But his mother couldn't leave the path. The moment a slender shadow, blocking the thin moon, approached, she fell, vomiting blood. Raon's memory ended there.
'Then that gesture....'
The firm gestures of her mother and father, the rigid touches, the resolute expressions, and the rough steps in the forest all were their efforts to save him from Derus' subordinates.
He was not abandoned or sold.
Even in a life-or-death situation, his parents desperately tried to protect and preserve him.
Amidst the sinking headache, Raon heard his parents calling his name.
William.
The name they called him meaning a gentle person who loves peace was the affectionate name his parents gave him, It was a name that he could not live up to.
The vivid memory of his parents smiling at him marked the end of the past memories resurfacing in his mind.
The stone tower came back into view. A sudden weakness spread throughout his body. His limbs trembled so much that he could hardly stand.
Raon collapsed to his knees. Suppressing the burning anger that flared up from the depths of his soul, he bit his tongue and clasped his hands together.
'Mother, father.'
I will avenge you. I will bring Derus Robert's head to this place, no matter what I have to do.
Comforting the souls of the dead could wait. Now was the time to vow revenge for those who had died, unable to close their eyes because they had lost their children.
"Thank you."
Berurik patted his shoulder with a gentle smile.
"They will be grateful to you too."
He seemed satisfied, thinking that he prayed for the souls of the deceased.
"Is there anything else you're curious about? Although these are stories everyone knows, I feel good opening up my mouth after a long time."
Berurik smiled as if he liked Baraen, the person that Raon had created.
"I've been traveling for work. How are the factory and mine here operating?"
"Oh, really?"
Berurik smiled and said that he would introduce him to a job if he wanted one. It seemed like quietly listening to everything he said had earned him some points.
"First, I need to speak to someone I know in the original village I intended to visit, so today, I just want to look around."
"You won't regret coming here. It will be a city soon."
He quickly gestured and went into the factory first.
"Oh? Village Chief?"
"What brings you here at this hour?"
The factory workers in front of the furnace bowed their heads when they saw the village chief.
"I just happened to drop by."
"You caught a young man again and talked a lot?"
"Your lips are dry, so you must have been tortured by him for a while."
"Every week, one person is caught."
The workers shook their heads in pity.
"Hey! You guys! Don't say anything to the good person!"
The village chief, blushing awkwardly, shook his hand. It seemed like this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.
"......"
Raon nodded at them and looked around the factory.
'They are all ordinary people.'
There was no mana inside, and there was no movement unique to an assassin. It was clear that they were the ones who maintained the factory here.
At first glance, there seems to be no problem with the factory. But since Siris wouldn't lie, it was clear that there was something inside.
When he was about to activated the Ring of Fire and the Perception of the Snow Flower, the door on the left opened and a plump middle-aged man with a bulging belly walked out.
"Oh, village chief. Have you come?"
"Foreman. Why is it so hard to see your face?"
Berurik frowned as he called the middle-aged man the foreman.
"I'm just too busy with work."
"Who is the person next to you?"
The foreman smiled at Raon. However, unlike his mouth, his eyes didn't share the same warmth.
"Oh, I met him on the way. Just felt like chatting after a long time."
Berurik smiled, saying that he had approached him first.
"Ha, one more victim has been added."
The foreman waved his hand, saying that he would take care of the village chief's chatter.
"No, I'm more grateful for the good words I heard."
Raon bowed his head to the foreman. When he raised his gaze again, his eyes sank with a chilling light.
'Found it.’
