A World Where You All Are The Villains - Chapter 20.1
Her eyes were bloodshot and sunken, her hair a tangled mess.
A middle-aged woman, looking utterly haggard as if she hadn’t slept in days, stared straight at me, holding a large lantern.
‘What the… Where did she come from all of a sudden?’
Aside from the corrupted ones frozen in the ice, there wasn’t really anywhere to hide around here.
I froze in surprise, but the woman came striding over with an expression of joy.
“You came at just the right time! While you’re here, please look at my son too. I’ve almost got him completely thawed!”
“Ugh.”
I reflexively stepped back from the heat radiating off her lantern.
‘So that’s why the ice was melting in broad daylight…’
It wasn’t the weather after all.
‘Is she insane? What if one of the corrupted breaks free and goes wild…!’
I frowned and glared at the woman. Eston quickly stepped in front of me.
“Aunt Sophie, please don’t do this.”
“Eston? You…”
Only then did the woman’s gaze shift from me to Eston.
‘So they know each other?’
I watched the two of them facing off. Suddenly, the woman burst out, practically shouting,
“So you were just going to sneak your little brother out again? You’re so selfish! If the Purifier’s here, shouldn’t you tell everyone else too?”
“She’s not the Purifier.”
“Don’t lie to me!”
The woman shouted as if to drown out Eston’s words.
“I saw it all! You definitely used a green light ability on your brother—!”
“She’s my fellow healer! I can’t use my ability right now, so she came to check on my brother’s wounds for me!”
Eston’s voice rose as well. She should have been flustered, but she lied without so much as batting an eye, and I couldn’t help but be impressed for a moment.
“T-That’s…”
Eston’s utterly composed attitude made the woman hesitate for a moment.
But not for long.
“…Then why are you taking your brother with you?”
“Th-that’s…”
“We all agreed to keep everyone exposed to miasma here! That’s why I haven’t touched my son’s body either…”
“Aunt, don’t tell me… Are you the one melting the ice?”
Only now seeming to realize it, Eston’s voice was filled with shock.
The woman averted her gaze, flinching.
“Well, would you just leave your kid in that ice block in this freezing cold? You have to feed them something at least!”
“Aunt! Do you have any idea how dangerous the corrupted are…!”
“I’m not the only one, okay? The baker’s daughter, the blacksmith’s grandfather, the village chief…”
“Haa…”
“We’re all just worried about our families, that’s all! You came here every night for your brother too, didn’t you?”
The woman’s words drew a sigh from Eston, who finally nodded a little.
“…Fine. Whether you melt the ice or not isn’t any of my business. We’re leaving now, so please move.”
“Where do you think you’re going!”
But the woman swung her lantern to block our way.
“Healing your brother is one thing, but taking him with you just isn’t right!”
“Why not?”
“What do you mean, why not? Did you already forget? Your brother bit so many villagers!”
“I healed them all for you!”
“And that was only right! Wait, this isn’t the time! Stay right here. I’ll go get everyone…”
“Mmh… Sister…”
At that moment, the child sleeping on Eston’s back slowly opened his eyes.
“…Huh? Aunt Sophie?”
Immediately, a suffocating silence fell over us.
The woman’s face twisted as she looked between me, Eston, and Theo in turn.
“So it’s true… You really are the Purifier!”
“Aunt Sophie, this is—”
“You wicked girl! How can you lie so shamelessly? Is that what your parents taught you?!”
The woman, shaking her finger and scolding Eston, suddenly turned to me.
“Purifier!”
“Ah!”
She grabbed the hem of my clothes with a vice grip, yanking at me.
“Please, come look at my son! I’ve already melted him almost completely so you can purify him easily!”
“Let go.”
Fed up with how things were turning, I sighed and shook off her hand.
“I’m not the Purifier.”
“Yes, you are! You made Theo completely fine, didn’t you!”
“That child was hardly affected by miasma to begin with because of his healing—”
“Villagers! Over here!”
The woman cut me off, shouting in a booming voice.
She didn’t seem to hear a word I said.
“The Purifier is finally here! We can save all our families now—!”
“Aunt! Please stop!”
“Everyone, over here!”
Eventually, the woman began leaping and yelling in the direction of the village.
‘It’d be a miracle if I felt like healing even her son, let alone anyone else.’
I looked at her with a crooked smile.
Her reason for all this was obvious.
Resentment toward Eston, and a plan to show Theo’s purified state to the villagers so there would be no way to deny it.
‘Too bad for her.’
Unfortunately, I was in no state to purify anyone else.
Not that I really wanted to if there wasn’t something in it for me.
‘Am I turning more rotten just from being in the villain’s body?’
But it couldn’t be helped.
I was never a saintly protagonist to begin with.
‘Besides, why should I take on a purification the female lead herself never bothered with?’
A surge of rebelliousness rose up in me.
Just then, Eston, watching the middle-aged woman in alarm, looked back at me.
“Um, what do we do…?”
“What do you mean, what do we do? We run.”
I lowered my voice so the woman wouldn’t hear.
“Is there another way out besides the main road through the village?”
“If we go straight back this way, there’s a back road… but it’ll be a long detour.”
She pointed at the dead forest behind the ice blocks we’d just passed through.
The lifeless branches drooping under the miasma looked eerie.
But I wasn’t in a position to be picky.
“I’m going to count to three, then run.”
“Huh?”
“Three, two, one.”
Tap!
Without hesitation, I counted and sprinted away.
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