How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 119

Chapter 119: Awakening Signal (4)

Clink. Clink.

An air of silence filled the space.

Only the quiet sound of utensils clashing against plates could be heard.

Perhaps because of this, Lily, while munching on her food, looked around the dining area. Despite being a restaurant, the interior was strangely empty. It hadn’t been this way from the start.

When she first entered, there were quite a few people, but they started leaving one by one and never ca back.

Only Keros, who was pretending to be a stuffed toy, seed to enjoy himself, chomping happily on raw at without a care in the world.

“This is a new kind of reaction. Humans really are hard to understand.”

The reaction here was the complete opposite of what she had encountered in the northern region.

Whether she was at a restaurant, asking for directions, or simply resting in a forest or on a hill, people would always approach her.

They were always n, and their eyes glead with sticky desire.

She didn’t kill them. If she had, the killing would never have stopped.

Since then, she had stopped taking off her robe.

She had learned from experience—taking off the robe only caused trouble.

“They don’t even react to gold here.”

She tapped the lump of gold on the table absentmindedly, lost in thought.

Even when she covered her face, gold would cause all sorts of problems.

At first, when humans saw the large lump of gold, they would smile and strike up a conversation. But their eyes, voices, and actions betrayed false emotions.

It was the sa when she visited shops or tried to buy sothing. That’s why she stopped trading altogether.

Although she wasn’t familiar with the ways of the world, she had learned sothing from observing the witches of Ordor. She knew well that dealing with people who showed false emotions would only result in losses.

When she coldly ignored them, the outco was always the sa.

Rough hands would reach for her, or sharp blades would be thrust in her direction.

She didn’t kill them.

Instead, she robbed them of their money.

It was during this ti that she learned sothing important—you could trade with things other than gold.

These were lessons she could have learned during her travels with the witches, but Lily had an extrely lazy nature. She preferred to learn everything the hard way, through direct experience.

After passing through several small villages, she visited what she thought was her first large town. There, she encountered the estate’s soldiers.

[A witch?]

At the ti, her attire had been the problem.

As a result, she spent so ti only visiting places where there were no soldiers.

Every town she visited seed to invite trouble.

The sa thing happened when Keros started eating horses in a stable.

Though black puppies weren’t uncommon, judging by the humans’ horrified reactions, Keros was definitely a strange(?) puppy.

At so point, she began carrying a small hand mirror with her. Whenever she anticipated trouble, she would hypnotize people with it and erase their mories. However, there were always so humans who were resistant to hypnosis, which led to rumors spreading about a woman who chard people wherever she went.

A beautiful woman.

A hand mirror.

A black puppy.

And a witch.

As word of mouth spread, ard individuals began to appear.

Most were slave hunters or rcenaries, people driven by greed.

After capturing a few and interrogating them, she learned about sothing called the Black Market, where witches were apparently worth a lot of money.

That’s how she ca to know about the Black Market.

Realizing that traveling in her current attire would only cause more trouble, she began searching for a village where she could rest and disguise herself. It was during this ti that she encountered traces of filthy, vile spiritual energy in a certain village.

Dark shamans.

They were the vilest of the vile, hunting witches and using their bodies to increase their shamanic power.

The mont she saw the dark shamans toying with humans like playthings, mories of the past, when witches had been hunted, resurfaced.

For the first ti, she felt genuine killing intent.

After unleashing a bloodstorm, she left behind the wealth she had taken from humans.

It was paynt for the clothes that had been hung on a laundry pole.

“How long has it been since we left the forest?”

“Grr.”

“That long? Ti sure flies.”

Several months had passed.

Although she had ventured out into the world with a purpose, she eventually forgot her original goal and beca absorbed in wandering aimlessly.

The human world was incredibly fascinating.

Unlike the static environnt of the witches’ forest, places where humans gathered were always dynamic and stimulating.

Every day felt alive.

She liked it.

“Hmm?”

Her hand itched.

When she looked down, she saw Keros licking her hand.

Whenever she got lost in thought after eating, Keros would always signal her like this.

“Are you done eating?”

“Woof!”

“Still hungry? Then let’s find another restaurant. We’ve already tried everything on the nu here.”

There was one thing she had realized since leaving the forest.

The food witches ate in the forest wasn’t real food.

A simple diet consisting of herbs, animal eggs, and tree fruits.

In the outside world, Lily had discovered a whole new universe of flavors.

at.

Yes, at.

Humans prepared all sorts of dishes using at, and their addictive flavors made her feel as though she could never live in the forest again.

Why hadn’t the Ordor witches told her about these foods? She was already planning to introduce the new dishes she had tasted to the witches soday.

But for that, she needed to try as many dishes as possible first.

“Co on, Doggy, let’s go!”

When Lily lightly tapped her right shoulder, Keros drooped his tail. It was his way of expressing that he didn’t want to play pretend anymore, but he had no choice.

They had already disguised themselves several tis during their journey, but there had still been occasions when they were suspected of being witches.

The reason was Keros, the black puppy.

“You stand out too much. Co on, hurry up.”

“Woof!”

“What? Why are you blaming ? Witch?”

Though it wasn’t wrong, Lily didn’t admit it. Grabbing Keros by the scruff of his neck, she lifted him onto her shoulder. Keros, now limp, seed to have given up.

“Oh, my cloak.”

Lily picked up the red cloak hanging on the chair. When she had complained about the cold during a campout, Keros had spat it out from his mouth and told her to use it as a blanket.

When she had asked where he got it, he simply shook his head.

Since Keros often swallowed and spit out random objects during their travels, he likely didn’t rember where he had found it.

Neither Lily nor Keros knew that the cloak was a trophy from the dark shamans they had devoured.

As soon as they stepped outside into the middle of the street, the atmosphere grew strange again.

Humans glanced at her before quickly avoiding her path.

Lily inspected her body, turning this way and that.

Her face was covered, her spiritual energy was hidden, and she had tucked the hand mirror away.

Keros was disguised as a stuffed animal and hung from her shoulder.

Is there sothing strange about this?

“Is it because of you, Keros?”

“Grr.”

“Fine, maybe not.”

Spotting another restaurant, Lily stopped in her tracks. She scanned the nu displayed outside and smiled in satisfaction before stepping inside.

She noticed a dish she had never seen before.

Her travel routine was simple.

Before leaving a village, she would ask the locals where the nearest village was.

Upon reaching that village, she would visit all the restaurants.

After thoroughly enjoying the food, she would head to the next village.

Arthur Clayton was a na she had long erased from her mind.

“Keros, should we stay in this village for a while?”

After visiting six restaurants, she walked out, patting her full stomach.

This village seed quite wonderful.

They didn’t charge her for the food.

Moreover, they cleared the surrounding tables to make it easier for her to eat. And on her way out, they politely greeted her. Compared to the harsh experiences she had endured as a witch, this place felt like heaven.

“But the food wasn’t great. Is it because it’s a small village?”

“Grr.”

“You thought it was good? Are you saying I’m picky?”

Flicking Keros’s forehead lightly, she considered the possibility.

Regrettably, there wasn’t anything else she wanted to try in this village.

She decided to leave before sunset and grabbed the nearest passerby to ask about the closest village.

“…Hik! P-please spare !”

The person knelt down, pressing his forehead to the ground.

Finding this person’s behavior odd, she looked for soone else, only to find that the street was now completely deserted.

Where did everyone go?

“Are they shy?”

This village was definitely strange.

***

Clatter―!

Lily sat at the back of a moving carriage, gazing up at the sky.

As a refreshing downpour drenched the land, her plan to walk was replaced with a carriage ride.

Getting the carriage had been easy.

She had simply stopped a passing carriage and asked for a ride, and they agreed almost imdiately.

The passengers, except for the coachman, had all disembarked, leaving her with a comfortable space to sit.

It was then that she realized that so humans could be surprisingly kind.

“Blyer, huh… I feel like I’ve heard that na before. Where was it again?”

Her next destination had been decided.

The large city of Blyer.

Having wandered through dozens of villages and heard countless nas, this was the first ti a place felt so familiar.

Frowning slightly, Lily pondered.

“Woof!”

When she turned her head, she saw Keros wagging his tail, looking content.

Now that there were no people around, Keros seed the most comfortable.

“Doggy, do you know where Blyer is?”

“Woof!”

“Oh, right. That’s it!”

Keros reminded her.

Their original destination.

After wandering through the villages in the Tobaron region for several months, they had finally arrived at the place they had first set out for.

Hearing the na Blyer brought back the purpose she had long forgotten—the real reason she had left the Ordor Forest.

‘Arthur Clayton!’

As the thought of that na suddenly surfaced, she pulled out her hand mirror.

Should I check after all this ti?

For a mont, she admired her own reflection in the mirror, tilting her head this way and that.

“Woof!”

“Oh! Right!”

She had almost forgotten her goal again.

Gripping the hand mirror tightly, Lily closed her eyes.

Reciting a spell, she caused the mirror to emit a radiant light. Letters began to form on its surface.

When she opened her eyes, the list of Divine Nas engraved on the mirror ca into view.

[Arthur Clayton – Hunter of Divinity (Divine)]

[The Third ntal Barrier]

[Siren's Hymn]

[Heart of Retonicalus (Assimilation Rate 25%)]

[Guide of Other Races]

[Ring of Desire (Survival)]

“There have been changes.”

A lot of additions had been made to the list of Divine Nas.

The Guide of Other Races seed to relate to non-human beings, but what about the Ring of Desire? What kind of item was that?

If it had been added to the list of Divine Nas, it ant it was an artifact recognized by the world itself.

There was also a number next to the assimilation rate of the heart. She didn’t know what that ant either.

Every entry in the list only deepened her curiosity.

“Right. It was this curiosity that made look for him in the first place.”

Divine Nas visible only to her eyes.

Why had she forgotten about them until now?

As these thoughts swirled in her mind, Lily pursed her lips and made a gloomy expression.

“Doggy, do you think this is because of the Curse of the Full Moon?”

“Woof.”

“Yeah, right? It’s a curse, isn’t it? Hah… Still, it’s a relief I have you. My mind keeps getting distracted by strange things.”

Lily let out a quiet sigh.

[The talent of the Full Moon is both a blessing and a curse.]

She recalled the words of the elder grandmother.

A demonic talent that allowed her to grasp everything from mana flows to manifestations with a single glance.

But the curse of this talent was her innately lazy nature, which made it impossible for her to focus on one thing for long.

She quickly grew bored of everything she saw and gave up easily. She understood everything but never tried to master anything.

This was why the entire Ordor faction had taken on the role of being her teacher.

One person alone couldn’t handle her innate laziness.

Lily lay back, staring blankly at the pouring rain above.

The list of Divine Nas reflected in the hand mirror slowly disappeared, leaving only one na behind.

Arthur Clayton.

“Where are you?”

Suddenly, she wanted to see the owner of that na.

But her sentintal mood didn’t last long.

“Snore―!”

“Woof…”

Keros tried to wake her by tugging at her cloak, but she was already snoring, deep in sleep.

It was too late.

Once she fell asleep, not even a downpour, a fire, or a landslide could wake her.

“….”

The carriage ca to a halt.

The coachman had stopped after noticing that she was asleep. But upon seeing the black puppy, he froze, his entire body stiffening in fear as his heart clenched.

Those crimson eyes.

A suffocating terror gripped him, as though any movent would result in death.

“I-I’ll keep going. I’m going now.”

The carriage quietly resud its journey.

Keros let out a long sigh and curled up beside Lily’s head.

The carriage continued its quiet path toward Blyer.