At The End Of The Hidden Greenery

Chapter 15 - Stranger

Jiwoo stood up in surprise.

The night was already deep, and it was already dark both outside and inside. The window was open, so she tried to judge the situation outside there, but it was in vain.

She had a limit to seeing by relying on moonlight alone. Even though it was dark outside, it was too dark.

“GAAAAH!”

Another terrible shriek rang out. Jiwoo’s shoulders flinched, but she couldn’t stand still at the strange aura from outside.

As the Akarna, what she felt now was clearly a miasma.

Such a thick energy was the reaction that would occur when a person died after being eroded to the limit and exploded miasma around.

And usually, that didn’t end with just that person dying. When the miasma exploded, the spread miasma went to the surrounding area and annihilated the area itself.

It was for that reason that those injured by the beast were expelled from the group and died in a distant place.

The empire has made an inexorable effort to eradicate casualties like this. No matter how much they strengthened the borders of the empire and sent relief forces to severe places, the damage caused by the beasts continued.

It was no exaggeration to say that it was precisely because of this contagiousness. Even fewer and fewer people were wanting to be dispatched there.

If they apply as a relief force, when they get unlucky, they could be affected by the miasma.

In a word, only the Akarna could really solve this level of miasma.

But she was also conflicted.

Even though Lanceil was an exception, Jiwoo knew that she would have to hide her abilities here. The temple used Akarna themselves, but also served as her protection.

As much as the Akarna was able to remove the miasma, there were so many people who wanted to use her that the heavens and earth would be covered by their number.

That’s why Lanceil was extremely vigilant and reacted sharply when he first proposed to go with him.

ㅡIf you want to go back… It’s better not to reveal more about you here.

These were words that Lanceil had told her, and in fact, from the moment Jiwoo came into this village, she did not have a very good impression of this place.

As the Akarna, she had no choice but to use her power for people while carrying out relief operations— No, ‘rescue’ operations. She has seen so many things that she can’t help but wonder what kind of group people would end up creating in a disastrous situation.

And it was largely divided into two.

The first would be a group that embraces the weak without giving up until the end. Such a group would be easy to deal with as the Akarna.

No matter how catastrophic it was, they wanted to live with a minimum level of human morals, so they did not abandon their societal reason and help the underprivileged. She knew that they would be grateful if they got help, and they knew shame.

Among them, there were many who entered the temple and wanted to become the new strength of the temple. But there was a big downside.

They did not have a very high survival rate. Unless there were one or two talented heroes, it was impossible for a group to survive long. Still, Jiwoo always liked people like that.

The second group was a group that would mercilessly abandon or use the weak.

Those who were injured by the beast or the weak old people were thrown out of the group, and women were used as s*x objects. Most of them invaded the first group and repeated looting and exploitation.