CHAPTER 41: VISITOR

Zephyr sat in front of a bonfire to warm his body. The night had consumed all warmth and light, leaving only the flicker of lightning. Any second now, the storm would return with even more ferocity.

’If it were any other day, I would have eaten my fill and slept without a care in the world.’

’The warmth of food and the happiness of a good night’s sleep was the only thing that could save me from the gloom.’

Zephyr thought while throwing firewood into the bonfire.

His mind was occupied by the information he received from Gale’s mask. Thoughts one after another blazed through his mind, planning for the inevitable future.

Meanwhile, the firewood fell hard onto the flame, flicking it upwards, lifting ash and dust along with it.

He gazed at the flame and sighed.

Unfortunately, today was not a typical day. Ignoring the transmigration, he still lost an arm and almost died. How could he relax in such circumstances?

Even the bonfire before him was lit with the purpose of incinerating his arm.

Sitting quietly before the fire, he observed the wound on his left arm. Because of trying to heal it with mana, the bone fragment of his forearm had fallen out as the muscles and tissue contracted around it. The wound was healing just fine. There was no weird infection or abrupt blood flow.

"The wound will fully heal in a day. Great." He mumbled.

The pain had finally eased to a level that he could freely move his left shoulder. It was getting better and better as time passed.

"But, I don’t have a day to waste." He added a short while later.

From what he had seen from Gale’s memories, the necromancer was trying to hatch a godspawn.

Godspawn were creatures of immeasurable power. A fully grown one could decimate a region on its own.

The newborn would not be that strong. But it will grow quickly and take over the land where it was born.

Therefore, the entire viscounty was at risk of being destroyed. That meant the life and death of almost everything in the area.

Even if he tried to escape, Zephyr didn’t know if he would be able to.

’The scale of destruction would be disastrous. The godspawn will hunt and kill everything to grow. If it is not stopped quickly, tens of thousands of people will die.’

’It will be tragic to say the least.’

Zephyr frowned.

These days, he was frowning a lot.

’The necromancer must have realised by now that his undead knight is dead. He should have called back up to save his ass. And, at the same time, he will probably kill the villagers to hasten the growth of the godspawn.’

’Everything is speeding up after I destroyed the lighthouse.’

Zephyr’s frown deepened. The bonfire crackled as the scent of cooked meat flew into his nose.

The smell woke him out of his reverie, making him focus on the present.

The smell he breathed in came from the arm he had thrown into the fire.

"Grr..."

In response to the scent of meat, his stomach growled.

Zephyr was stupefied by it.

His body seemed to be craving protein. Even if it was his own arm that was being cooked.

"Smells delicious. I must taste great." He said and threw more firewood on his burning arm.

While it smelled appetizing, he didn’t want to eat his arm to satiate his hunger. He suppressed his curiosity and sat there gloomily.

"Tak."

Suddenly, he heard the sound of twigs snapping.

Zephyr snapped his head around and looked at the path leading to his house.

There, he saw a giant shadow move through the darkness.

It was a familiar figure. He was approaching the bonfire slowly.

"Jack?"

He asked.

"Yes." The voice from the fog spoke.

Zephyr didn’t believe it, even though the person answered. He swiftly activated a mana bolt with lightning enhancement to stun the person if necessary.

But the person walked through the fog and stood a few meters away from the bonfire.

He looked at Zephyr with a hint of anger. He seemed to have mistakenly thought Zephyr was grilling meat as the entire village was abducted.

Covered in dirt and grime, he ferociously glared at Zephyr.

Zephyr watched without a single change in his expression. Although he felt hostility from the man before him, he didn’t care about it one bit.

He had seen such gazes at him a thousand times.

After all, he had been accused of being a thief, a bully, and an insane psychopath more than once. Although Zephyr didn’t know why, others tended to blame him for everything wrongfully.

He was used to it by now.

"What do you want, Jack?" Zephyr asked, sitting on a wooden plank.

"..."

Jack gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

"..."

Zephyr also stayed silent, watching his every movement.

If Jack so much as twitched, he was ready to kill the burly man.

After all, Zephyr didn’t know if Jack was his ally right now.

Jack took a deep breath. His purpose for climbing the hill was to ask Zephyr for help. He suppressed the wild emotions rampaging through his mind and decided to give in.

The villagers kicked Zephyr out of the village. So, even if it was Zephyr’s duty to protect the village in times of danger, they couldn’t exactly blame him. At the same time, grilling meat and eating it was not a sin.

Zephyr might not even know the villagers have been kidnapped. So, Jack decided to forgive Zephyr.

With all the emotional burden out of the way, he began to speak.

"Sir Zephyr, the necromancer, abducted the villagers."

He spoke, expecting Zephyr to offer help.

However, contrary to what he expected, Zephyr nodded.

"Yes, I know." He replied.

"You know!" Jack was perplexed.

"Yes." Zephyr nodded again. "So, what?" He asked.

"Um..."

The burly man was stumped.

"...are you not going to help them?" He asked.

"Why should I?"

"It is your duty, right? The mages of the storm tower are required to do everything to save the people of the land, right?" Jack asked, exasperated by the way Zephyr was speaking.

"Why would someone working with the necromancer save them from the necromancer’s hand?"

Zephyr didn’t forget what the villagers were saying when he left the village. Their scornful look and hatred were still fresh in his mind.

Although he didn’t harbor any negative feelings towards them because of the way they treated him, he also didn’t have any positive feelings.

Being manipulated by a necromancer was not really his problem. They could do whatever the heck they wanted.

Zephyr had no reason to be concerned about them anymore.