Witch Hunter Rhapsody

Vitas looked at the scenery on both sides of the road, feeling a mix of emotions.

He was now sitting in a rather uncomfortable carriage.

Vitas had relatively high requirements for the carriage, because if one was to be jostled around in a carriage for a long time, the muscles would ache all over, which would have serious negative effects in the event of a battle.

However, because Helena insisted on paying for the carriage herself this time, Vitas ultimately chose a less-than-ideal carriage in order to reduce her expenses.

He was on his way to Helena's village to attend Leon's funeral.

The day after learning of Leon's death, Helena took Leon's body away, then gave the Knights a leave of absence, while she and the villagers returned to their hometown to arrange Leon's funeral.

About three days later, Vitas received an invitation to attend Leon's funeral.

Vitas hadn't wanted to come, since Leon's death was related to him, and he simply didn't have the face to continue appearing at Leon's funeral.

However, Helena's words were so sincere that Vitas felt that if he didn't come, it might make Helena, who was already heartbroken, even more upset.

This little girl admired herself even more than Leon did.

"Master, we've arrived!"

Vitas stepped down from the carriage. Since he was attending a funeral, he was not wearing armor, but rather a simple formal suit.

However, even such a simple dress seemed too luxurious in this small village.

Vitas shook his head, not expecting the village to be in such a bad state.

Although the economic situation of the Duchy of Vilan was bad, who could have imagined it would be this bad?

The surrounding villagers, both men and women, were dressed in simple, coarse cloth clothes, which were brown or black. The dark colors were probably not dyed, but rather stained black by dirt from their daily lives and work.

The villagers seemed to be working in the fields as usual, but there were hardly any people walking on the village roads.

Vitas found the house with a tall banyan tree planted at the address written in Helena's letter.

Only here did the atmosphere become slightly different from the surroundings.

A few people were dressed in slightly more presentable clothes, and white flowers were hanging at the entrance.

Vitas wasn't sure if this was a local feature, but since he was already there and only one family in the village looked like this, it must be the place.

Before Vitas even stepped inside, he saw a familiar figure running towards him.

It was Helena.

"Vitas!"

She ran over and tidied her messy hair.

"You arrived earlier than I expected. I thought you wouldn't arrive until the afternoon, and I was just getting ready to greet you!"

"There's no need. I'm not some big shot."

"Aren't you a nobleman?"

"I used to be, but I'm not anymore."

Vitas and Helena walked into the room while talking.

When do funerals usually begin here?

"For us, the day is the beginning and the night is the end, so you can get some rest at night."

"An interesting custom. Let me meet Leon's family."

"Well, actually, Leon's parents have already passed away."

"Um?"

Helena seemed a little embarrassed.

"So I'm in charge of organizing it, along with a few people from the Knights. Without them, it would be even more complicated."

Vitas looked up.

"Then this house."

"This is Leon's house, but he hasn't been back for a long time. We originally planned to clean it properly at this time, but considering that no one will live here in the future, we only cleaned the usable rooms."

Vitas nodded; he hadn't expected Leon to have such a background.

Perhaps this is why Leon chose to go out and work as a mercenary with Helena.

Vitas felt even more guilty.

Vitas only spoke after being led inside the house.

"Helena, this is a small compensation from me."

"Huh?"

Vitas handed over a small bag.

Helena was startled because the bag contained dozens of gold coins.

Over the past few days, he has been trying to find Maximus, but Maximus has not been found.

Fortunately, storing these two items isn't particularly troublesome.

"This is outrageous, I can't accept it!"

"What are you saying? Although Leon was sent here by that wizard, it was my fault for not taking good care of him. This is my way of apologizing."

"Really, it's not necessary. Leon has no family, and I have no way to give this money to his family."

"Then you can keep it. Your knight order probably still needs funds. The grandmaster of a knight order is often the most important person in the order. Although it sounds like I'm bragging, my previous knight order would not have been able to accomplish anything without me."

Helena shook her head.

"Thank you for your kind offer. If you really want to do something, please continue to help our Knights!"

Helena knew perfectly well that someone with Vitas's personality would never serve in the Knights, so she didn't mention it.

Their conversation ended there, and all that remained was to wait for the funeral to begin.

Vitas has attended many funerals, but today's funeral is particularly unsettling.

Because the deceased in front of them died inexplicably and without explanation, no rational person could accept or understand such a thing.

Leon's friends, who were also members of the Knights, chanted prayers around the coffin, while more people waited beside the dug pit.

The group carried the coffin, walking slowly and heavily towards it.

Vitas's heart sank as well.

He watched as the coffin slowly descended into the pit, and he was so saddened.

Suddenly, it occurred to him.

Does Viya have her own funeral? Does Viya's monster have its own funeral?

Where is Viya's body now?

Nobody cares.

Vitas asked himself.

If I were to die, how many of those who were loyal to me would still be remembered?

Vitas's expression turned gloomy and furious, and those around him could sense his emotions.

However, they only thought it was because of Leon's death and were completely unaware of Vitas's current agitation.

Wizards, wizards, they possess such great power, yet they always do things that infuriate people.

Wizards, wizards, why do these wizards exist?

Vitas must make Maximus pay the price, make him pay for leading Leon to his death.

The wizard must spend the rest of his life paying the price for this!