I'm Trying to End This Possession

Carl only paused momentarily before resuming his long strides.

 

Is that all?

 

“U-Uncle?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Are we just leaving like this?”

 

“Aah, yes. We’ll investigate after returning to Windsor.”

 

And that was it. I didn’t expect such a lukewarm reaction…

 

It’s a Retillan mine, for heaven’s sake.

 

Retillan, the rarest and most valuable mineral in the world, didn’t exist in the empire’s mines. Its discovery could make someone become one of the wealthiest people on the continent. I thought Carl would be ecstatic by this!

 

Is this all the excitement he can muster?

 

But soon I realized.

 

Well, he’s a master of acting. He even feigned disinterest in his own wealth. Even now, Carl must be pretending to be nonchalant.

 

Right. Carl said he would investigate after returning to Windsor.

 

At that time, Carl would definitely send someone to investigate with great urgency. After all, he’s a sc*mbag who would kill his niece for money.

 

* * *

By the time we returned to the mill, the sky was completely dark.

 

“Get some rest.”

 

Carl handed her a wad of cotton wool, implying I should put it in my ears.

 

“We’ll sneak out at dawn with a stolen carriage. I’ll wake you up, so sleep until then, Dana.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“Don’t try to remove the cotton like yesterday.”

 

“…”

 

Fine. I no longer had any lingering attachments or curiosity. Having finished my business in this land, I just needed to follow Carl’s orders obediently. I am no longer curious about the ritual. If there was one thing that still bothered me…

 

“Please save me!”

 

Ah, really.  It was troubling my mind. Even if I tried not to think about it, that scene kept replaying in my head.

 

I tossed and turned on the pile of straw.

 

There was nothing I could do right now. Yes, let’s report it once we get back to the capital.

 

The imperial army will be deployed once they know heretics inhabit this land. Then, I can ask them to investigate the girl’s situation as well.

 

Let’s leave it to the imperial family army or the police. That’s their job. I already had enough on my plate.

 

Let’s just sleep.

 

Just as I closed my eyes, bang! The door burst open. Startled, I sat up.

 

“Chief?”

 

Chief Natan stormed in, his face red with fury. And then,

 

Slap! He slapped Carl across the face!

 

“What are you doing?!”

 

I screamed, but Natan didn’t even glance at me and grabbed Carl by the collar like a ragdoll.

 

“How dare you insult my son after we let you stay here?”

 

“…What?” Carl was utterly confused. “What are you talking about?”

 

His clueless expression!

 

I leaped to my feet. Regardless, he was my companion, and I couldn’t just watch him being assaulted.

 

“Stop right—”

 

I stopped mid-sentence. It was because Carl, without looking at me, raised his hand. It was as if telling me to stay put.

 

“My son, Norton.” Natan, not seeing that, grabbed Carl’s collar even more roughly.  “You misunderstood my son’s kindness to your wife as an insult. I’ve never let anyone who disrespected my son live!”

 

“Norton? Ah, the one from earlier?”

 

Slap! Carl received another blow on the other cheek, again without resistance.

 

That b*stard!

 

I fumbled at my thigh. Shoot him? Should I?

 

It was when I was contemplating.

 

“Shall I tell you how to apologize?”

 

Natan’s sinister smile widened as he held Carl’s platinum hair, bringing their faces close.

 

“Participate in the ritual as an apology. Got it?”

 

“Ah…” Carl finally seemed to comprehend, nodding with his hair still in Natan’s grip. “So it was about that.”

 

“Yes. We fed and sheltered you, so as foreigners, you should show your gratitude by participating in the ritual.”

 

Natan bared his teeth in a grin and glanced at me.

 

“Isn’t that right? Both Carl and your wife.”

 

His eyes gleamed with lust.

 

“Isn’t it only fair? Good things should be shared.”

 

At that moment, I fully realized. What was the ritual, what did it entail, and Carl’s reason for keeping it a secret.

 

Crazy b*stards…

 

At that moment, Carl laughed while his hair was being grabbed.

 

“Chief, you shouldn’t look at Dana with such impure eyes.”

 

“Say you’ll participate in the ritual!”

 

“How about you turn your eyes elsewhere while we talk?”

 

However, Natan did not avert his gaze. He continued to stare at me with a blatant look of greed, smiling.

 

“Both Carl and your wife. Do you know how much we are looking forward to it? If you receive favor in another village, you should participate in the ritual…”

 

At that moment, thud.

 

Huh?  I couldn’t believe my eyes.

 

What just happened? Why is Carl’s hand in Nathan’s eye…?

 

“—!”

 

Nathan tried to scream, but in that instant, Carl grabbed his jaw tightly with his other hand.

 

“That’s why.”

 

Crack. He crushed it.

 

“I told you not to look at her like that.”

 

Thud. Natan’s body collapsed to the ground. He flailed his arms and legs wildly, but Carl didn’t let go.

 

I instinctively stepped back. What on earth is happening right now?

 

“And I said we wouldn’t attend the ritual.”

 

Carl muttered as he roughly pulled something out. I saw that one of Natan’s eyes was gone. In Carl’s hand, a dark red mass…

 

“…!”

 

A wave of nausea hit me.

 

But Carl didn’t stop. This time, he targeted the other eye. Whether it was from pain, Natan’s mouth, grotesquely broken, only produced strange bubbling groans.

 

“Ug , krug.”

 

“You really shouldn’t have looked.”

 

“Krug, ug, kuug.”

 

“I clearly told you not to look at Dana with those eyes, but you didn’t listen…”

 

Quietly, like a candle about to be extinguished in the wind, Carl whispered as he slowly and deliberately removed Natan’s remaining eye. 

 

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