Carnage

*Creakk...*

The sound of the bamboo sofa when Joshua sat down.

"??" Joshua's face stiffened at the unexpected hardness and discomfort of the seat and thought, 'How can I relax on this pure solid thing? My butt will definitely hurt if I sit here for too long.'

Joshua was born from the Agnus family, a family of nobles known for their haughtiness. They were the family that despised and belittled all commoners as though they are rats from a sewer, so this was his first time sitting on the furniture of the people they despised.

Seeing Joshua's uncomfortable expression, Grego's concern grew.

'Is our house not to his liking?'

He built up his courage and asked.

"Uh-um... Hero? Are you okay?"

Of course he is not, if it wasn't just for the mission he received directly from his majesty, Joshua would not have even dared to step into their house let alone to sit down.

"Hmm?"

Joshua looked at Grego and forced himself to smile. "Y-yes. I just didn't expect it to be this difficult- Oh sorry, please don't misunderstand what I said. I didn't mean it that way."

When he heard that, Grego was relieved. He breathed a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke. "Thank god. I thought you might punish me for offering you an inappropriate seat."

After saying that, their conversation did not continue, leading the atmosphere became awkward for a moment; but thanks to the arrival of Grego's son by serving them snacks and drinks at such a critical moment, the situation was somewhat settled.

Shortly after eating and resting for a while, Grego waited for the right timing and asked for the reason as to why Joshua came to their village.

He made sure his question was polite and his tone was not rude so as not to cause misunderstanding.

"Hero...?"

"Yes, Village chief?"

"Is there a reason why you visited our village all of a sudden?"

"..." Joshua paused as he looked at Grego with cold eyes before answering with a smile, "Right, I have a reason. And to be honest, I came here because of the King's order."

Grego inwardly exclaimed at the words 'King's Order' as the king of Phigua they knew never cared about those people on the border, hence, how come Joshua, one of the '12 Zodiac', be there speaking about his order.

'If the king sent a Hero just like him, it must be because of a very absurd reason.'

And to confirm that, he asked for more specific details.

"Is the King's order so important or something that you are here to deliver it in person?"

"Ah, yes. The king asked me to deliver this message." He took out a scroll with the order and signature written on it and handed it to Grego.

And as soon as he had the scroll in his hand, Grego opened it and read it, surprised by the contents.

"East border? Is that where the battle against Swarga is happening right now?"

'Sending us to the battlefield while knowing that we are just a farmer and hunters?'

"Yes." Joshua answered and continued, "But don't worry, you won't fight and just help with the daily tasks there like cooking, cleaning and repairing weapons. And after the fight, the king promised to reduce the tax and...

'If they want helpers in that place, why do they need men and not women when women are obviously good at handling such jobs?'

As Joshua continues to talk about the fun life and the benefits they will get after the fight, Grego's suspicions only grow as he knew that his words were baseless.

He also knew that the king was a greedy man and would not do something as stupid as that unless there was a great gain in return. He stood up and went straight to the front door to open it.

"Please leave. Even if we are commoners, we will not throw away our lives so easily just because of what you said."

Joshua's eyes widened at Grego's action and response, and thought, 'Is this old man outright kicking me out? Me? One of the 12 zodiacs?'

Joshua put his hand on his face as a smile gradually appeared on his lips before he laughed evilly. He stood up from his seat and drew his sword before calling out for Grego who was about to open the door

"Hey old man."

Grego turned to look only to be stabbed by a sword of the so-called hero of the kingdom.

"Augh! W-what..."

"I've shown enough kindness to keep the conversation from getting too bloody, but now you are going to treat me like this?" Joshua said in an annoyed voice while displaying a grin on his face.

"Now, blame yourself for the death of everyone in your village."

"You-! *coughing!*"

Grego coughed up a mouthful of blood as he held the blade tightly while looking angrily at Joshua.

"Is this.... the real face of t-the Hero?!"

"...What if I say yes?!"

*Cough!*

"What a fuck up country will this be in the near future."

"Shut up old man. Let me relieve your suffering by giving you a quick death." Joshua pulled his sword out from Grego's body and ununhesitatingly sliced his neck as if Grego was just a training dummy.

*Thud!*

Some blood spattered his armor as Grego's head rolled to the floor. Joshua sheathed his sword after removing the blood by swinging it hard, and as if nothing had happened, came out of the house only to see the villagers gathered in front with farming tools implemented as their weapons.

Their faces showed anger and frustration as they stared at the young man while expressing their disappointment with him.

"I thought Troy was lying. Look at the blood on his armor and the body of the village chief on the floor."

Troy is the son of Grego. Moments later, while he was on his way to refill their glasses with water, he saw the hero stabbing his father.

Knowing that nothing would change even if he intervened in that situation, he rushed out from the window to inform the villagers of what had happened.

"How can he smile after killing a person?"

"He really killed the village chief. What a scum for someone who's a member of the 12 zodiac."

"I can't forgive this rude mother fucker for what he did to the Village head. Let's kill him right now."

One of the people that gathered there stepped forward and said, "We've got the whole place surrounded so you better give up now you bastard!"

"Nice, tell him vice chief."

Hearing him say that, Joshua just tilted his head as he looked at them with disdainful eyes before answering, "Do you guys think you have the power to handle me? The me that got recognized by the country?"

With his statement like that, the villagers of Normin were disturbed. They gripped their weapons tightly as their desire to kill him grew.

"Haaa?! Look at this young lad, even if you're one of the 12 zodiacs, it doesn't mean you can def--

*Slash!*

The vice chief didn't even have a chance to finish his word when his head suddenly flew off his neck. And Joshua, who was at the door a few seconds ago, was now next to the headless vice chief while holding his sword.

Seeing the sudden death of their vice chief, the villagers fell silent as they did not expect something like that to happen.

"Kekeke! You know what? I thank you all for gathering here." Joshua said with satisfaction in his voice. "Because it's more convenient for me to kill you guys here all at once."

"W-what did you say?!!"

"Bastard!! Attack him!!" Said one of the villagers who gave them the courage to act and attack. All of them swarmed Joshua like an ant in a candy.

However, the young man they thought was a candy was actually a grasshopper that would guide them to the afterlife.

Slash!

Slice!

Shing!

******

Meanwhile, in the forest of Scavar.

While walking down home with a deer hanging around his neck, Jin saw a black flower the size of a toenail.

"A Drake Flower!" Jin was overjoyed after seeing it. He rushed over and soon carefully plucked it up to its roots.

*Drake's flower, a rare herb usually found inside a dead tree. It is also a very sensitive plant that can rot in the blink of an eye if not handled with care.

"To think I could find something as precious as this." He said while carefully storing it in his waist pocket. "Though, I don't know why the mercenaries want them, they still buy them at a high price."

'With this, I can cover three months of my father's medical expenses including the doctor's fee without worry.'