I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

22 – pig farm

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Even though it was still midday, the weather was gloomy with a lot of dark clouds,

It looked like it was going to rain any minute.

If you’re going to get off, I’d rather get off quickly.

As if gathering ominous energy, the dark clouds in the sky were gradually gathering and getting bigger and thicker.

The pale-faced man, whose hair was slicked back, got off the carriage slowly, sighed, and trudged along.

The place he arrived at was a shabby pig farm built on the outskirts of the kingdom’s capital.

From the outside, it was just an ordinary pig farm with a large yard and a small barn, but strangely, two heavily armed guards stood at the entrance.

The man slowly approached the guard and spoke to him.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Are you here, priest from Melbourne?”

Yes, it came, f*ck,

the man murmured.

Even when the guards heard that, they didn’t show any reaction, as if they understood his feelings.

“… Is Alice-sama inside?”

“Yes, Holy Virgin Alice is waiting for the priest.”

“…under,”

“…Is this your first time?”

“Thankfully, I’ve never been here before.”

Melbourne sighed and took out two small glass marbles from his pocket and handed them to the guards.

“It is a stone inscribed with fever magic. It looks like it will rain soon, so keep it in case you cool off.”

“thank you. Priest.”

The guard nodded and opened the door slowly.

“Priest.”

“Why is that?”

“…”

The guard was silent for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth.

“It smells bad, so please be careful.”

“… yes,”

Melbourne slowly approached the barn.

Indeed, as the guards said, the disgusting stench was getting thicker as they got closer.

By the time I reached the barn door, I couldn’t stand the nausea that was already coming up.

I was lucky that I didn’t eat anything.

Malvern nervously spat thin gastric juices onto the mud floor and sighed.

Then, with her eyes closed, she opened the sliding door of the barn in front of her.

“Wow,”

When the barn door was opened, a hot, disgusting wind blew straight into Melbourne’s face.

No, it’s not the wind.

It stinks.

There was only a rush of air filled with a terrible smell, but the stench was so strong and thick that it made Melbourne’s hair fly.

It was no longer something that could be explained simply by saying it smelled awful.

It felt as if the inside of the bridge of my nose had been torn.

I couldn’t even take a deep breath because I didn’t want to put this kind of air into my body.

But Alice was in a place like this, deep down there.

Melbourne made up his mind and slowly entered the barn.

‘Oh, my God, Goddess. I can see why this pig farm is so infamous.’

I had only stepped in, but the painful groaning of a moaning pig spread thickly and lightly all over the place, piercing my ears.

Inside the barn, there were 10 pig pens, one on each side, 20 in total.

A chair was placed at the end of the aisle where people could pass in the middle, and a woman wearing a thin shirt and thick work pants was sitting on the chair.

Her hair, which was cut short enough to reach her shoulders, was a messy mix of dark brown and blonde hair that was almost red, and it looked like it was stained with dirt, so I couldn’t recognize the original color.

The blue pupils embedded in the large eyes glowed softly in a dull, dirty color, and they were set right in the middle without touching any part of the eyelids.

Her lips were tightly closed, giving her a terrifyingly expressionless expression that made it impossible to read her thoughts as a whole.

Melbourne walked over to her and held his breath.

“Holy Virgin Alice.”

Melbourne approached her and tried to kneel.

It was the courtesy that a priest should show in front of her in a high position in the Goddess Church.

However, Alice restrained such Melbourne and said.

“You don’t have to kneel on the floor to say hello. It’s good to be polite to your superiors… but you don’t want to kneel in pig sh*t like this.”

“… Thanks to you, I lived. Thank you. Alice.”

Melbourne tried not to look around as much as possible.

It was because the terrible rumors about this pig farm, owned by Alice, were already famous among the priests.

On both sides of the aisle where Melbourne and Alice were standing, hell stretched out.

Melbourne tried to be as oblivious to his peripheral vision as possible.

A primordial fear seemed to beckon towards Melbourne from beyond his sight.

“…the results of the investigation are out.”

With trembling hands, Malvern took a roll of parchment out of his pocket and handed it to Alice.

His voice, which trembled as mercilessly as his hand, showed no signs of calming down.

Of course, since she was in front of that Alice.

It was the first time I’d seen her up close and personal today, but Melbourne was afraid of her nonetheless.

In the first place, he was afraid of Alice even if it wasn’t for this pig farm.

Alice Goldfield.

A member of the Goddess Church Heresy Judgment.

Holy Maiden, the heaviest sword of the Goddess Cult.

Commonly, the Heretic Questioner is called the hammer of the Goddess Church, but she was called a sword rather than a hammer because she was a being who hunted corrupt and powerful people, not heretics.

It was still a topic of debate within the Goddess Church as to whether or not it was okay for humans who embraced religion to condemn the power of the world.

As long as the pope favored her, as long as there was a justification that she came out because she could not turn a blind eye to the people suffering from her, and a track record of actually saving the suffering people, there was no priest within the Church of Goddess who openly criticized her activities.

No, the priests were afraid of her in the first place, so they wanted to avoid being involved as much as possible.

There were many reasons why she lived in fear despite all her activities, but first of all, it was because of the support of the many people on her back.

The general public’s support for her had already exceeded trust and was close to faith, or even fanaticism.

Most of the commoners who have recently become active in religious activities flocked to the cathedral to see her, not the goddess.

While the bishop’s speech was overlooked, her words were heard with great weight.

She herself became a symbol of the Goddess Church.

The second reason was its powerlessness.

Of course, she was a promising chivalry student who showed off her outstanding talent from the academy, but she had a history of being eliminated due to lack of skills in the process of selecting a member of the warrior party six years ago.

It’s excellent, but it’s not beyond the level of an ordinary human being.

But last year, after she joined the Holy Knight of the Goddess Church, her powers began to grow tremendously.

There were even rumors that Alice Goldfield had received a revelation from the goddess.

After she devoted herself to the Goddess Church, I heard that there was a big incident in her family.

Caught in a conspiracy, her father was kicked out, and her mother volunteered after being humiliated.

Is her sudden strength and growth driven by anger?

Now she has become such a fearsome existence that there is an opinion that she is compared to the warrior Sylvia who sacrificed herself after defeating the demon king.

Alice opened the parchment and read quickly.

Melbourne inferred from what she was reading and began adding additional explanations.

“The Balder staff is still missing.”

“…a rat-like bastard.”

Alice growled in a voice full of rage.

It felt like the spine of Melbourne was tingling at the anger.

Melbourne followed Alice’s vision and continued.

“But, if you read the paragraph below it, you know…”

“…what?”

Alice’s eyes, which were originally large, widened even more.

The turbid blue eyes that were embedded in it shook slowly.

Malvern continued his explanation.

“Those two you were talking about. Ash Staff and Lila Staff must have already left the mansion the day the Staff family was attacked.”

“…Then, there’s a chance he’s not dead.”

“Alice, it is difficult to give a definite answer. Apparently, the place where the two of them fled…”

Alice, who read the contents first, opened her mouth.

“…the forest near the castle?”

“That’s right.”

“What is the name of the forest?”

“It doesn’t have a specific name because it’s near the Devil’s Castle, so people don’t come and go, but it’s often called ‘The Forest of Lying Trees.’”

“A lying tree?”

“It’s called that because the trees are deformed by the devil’s miasma. The closer you get to the castle, the more trees grow sideways…”

Ellis said, re-rolling the parchment she had read to the end and handing it to Melbourne.

“The Demon King is dead too. The demonic air will not spread anymore, so the possibility that those two are still alive is high.”

“…I can’t be sure.”

“Um, is it because of the ferocious monster?”

“That’s right. Rather, it is a forest full of demons and beasts that have lost control and gone on a rampage after the demon king disappeared. Even if you send the most well-trained soldiers in the kingdom, one out of three people will not come back.”

“…”

Alice closed her mouth tightly.

Her jaw twitched, and I could see that she was gritting her teeth and letting go of her anger.

“They said it was a helpless man and a little girl about 10 years old.”

“Ash and Lila. Yes, it is.”

“Alice… very unlikely. I’m really sorry to say this, but those two already…”

Alice rose from her chair.

He just woke up, but Melbourne involuntarily stopped what he was saying and lowered his head.

Her expression was so terrifying that I had to lower my eyes.

Alice said each word clearly.

“possiblity. low.”

“…huh, heh.”

“Low means there is, right?”

“…that, that”

Alice slowly approached Melbourne and stood to his right.

The pigs around her gasped in terror as she drew closer.

Melbourne still lowered his head, trembling all over his body and closing his eyes tightly.

Melbourne, whose breathing was rapid due to fear, involuntarily drew in a large breath.

“Oooh, ooh!”

Melbourne could not stand the stench and tension that he had barely endured, and fell on the floor and vomited.

Alice slowly approached Melbourne and helped him to his feet.

“Oh, sorry. It is very dirty here.”

Melbourne was led by Alice’s hand and saw it while standing up.

Pigs lying miserably on both sides of the barn howling.

I made eye contact with them.

“Whoops, whoops, whoops,”

I knew.

I had already heard of it, but seeing it with my own eyes was shocking beyond words.

Humans crawling on the ground with their limbs severed.

That was the identity of the pigs in this pig farm.

Corrupt politicians, plundering lords, and corrupt priests that Alice has been hunting.

Even the person who met Melbourne’s eyes was the cardinal that Melbourne served in the past.

She was caught raping a young boy and became the target of Alice’s punishment.

This was the last reason the priests were afraid of Alice.

she is crazy

Melbourne poured out retching.

When I poured out the sickness and inhaled, the disgusting smell filled my lungs and forced me to spit it out again.

Alice patted Melbourne on the back and said.

“sorry. It was still before cleaning.”

“Kuh… It’s okay, uh,”

“Now, vomit and keep listening. Melbourne priest.”

Alice said to Melbourne, who was vomiting.

“I know what you mean. I understand that there is a high probability that those two are dead.”

“Ugh, thank you for understanding…”

“A corpse is fine, so bring the two of them. At least… shouldn’t we at least bury him next to his family?”

“Ha, but… that just drains the Church’s forces…”

“This is not a request. Priests.”

Alice dropped the word ‘nim’ that she had been using so far and said firmly.

Melbourne, whose pottery had finally stopped, wiped the area around his mouth with his sleeve and slowly looked up at Alice.

She was still looking down at Melbourne with that expressionless face.

“I won’t ask you to find it. At least try.”

“…”

“Please try. Isn’t this a request?”

Try.

It is a command.

Doesn’t this mean, in fact, to bring results unconditionally?

However, Melbourne already had neither the energy nor the time to give reasons for refusal.

I just wanted to get out of here quickly.

“… all right.”

“The order is just a search. If there is a crisis situation where your life is in danger, it is okay to abandon the mission and return.”

“… yes,”

Melbourne replied weakly with a tired face.

Alice knelt down in front of Melbourne and brushed off the filth from his knee.

It was even more frightening to see the superior kneeling casually.

This woman has no common sense.

Just with this damn pig farm and now, Melbourne realized that fact with its whole body.

Melbourne thought he’d rather let himself go.

Melbourne openly questioned Alice.

“What the hell… why do I have to go so far to find those two?”

“…”

“That man named Ash Staff is…”

Alice stood up slowly and glared directly at Melbourne with that creepy expressionless expression.

Melbourne flicked his spit and looked at Alice.

Alice suddenly raised the corners of her mouth to the sides and smiled.

It was an artificial and disgusting smile, as if someone had tied it to a thread and pulled it.

“He is my fiancé.”

“…ah,”

“Do you need more explanation?”

Melbourne shook his head and slowly turned around and left the barn.

It was raining outside, as we had feared, but it made it even better.

He closed the barn door and ran frantically, trying to wash away the terrible stench from himself in the cold rain.

The guards looked back at Melbourne and clicked their tongues in silence.

Alice lowered her head and sighed as Melbourne left.

Then he spoke softly to the pigs in the barn.

“These disgusting maggots.”

The ‘pigs’ all shuddered in fear.

Arms up to the shoulder and legs below the knee were cut off, and they were punished by having to crawl with their heads on the floor. Alice’s words alone shed tears in fear.

“Your guests are displeased. These disgusting things.”

Alice took a whip from the back of her chair and swung it at the pigs.

The backs of the pigs hit by her whip, who were rated as having strength comparable to those of the hero, exploded as if they were fragments of flesh.

Alice said, flicking away the flesh that flew into her hair with her fingers.

“Start cleaning. You maggots.”

Alice went from room to room and hand-patted the pigs with a whip.

The pigs squealed and put the flesh and filth from their bodies scattered on the floor back into their bodies.

It didn’t matter if someone died in this filthy pit of hell.

In the first place, this pig farm was the space she created to kill them in the most painful way.

If someone dies, it’s just a matter of capturing someone else who deserves to die and locking them up.

I will never stop until the day all the bad guys are gone and this pig farm is completely empty.

Alice made such an oath before the goddess.

but.

Inside the barn on the left.

That one space was left blank.

It’s as special as this place.

That solitary cell had the only owner it had already decided on.

Name tags were also pre-attached.

[Balder Staff]

Maria’s uncle.

The one who killed Maria’s parents, and the one who also made Ash and Layla go missing.

Alice’s mother took her own life because her honor was tarnished by a terrible incident, but Ash’s parents died a much more terrible death.

Perhaps… he would have envied the opportunity to take his own life.

Alice gnashed her teeth and threw the whip away.

will definitely catch it

If you don’t catch him, you’ll have no face in seeing your proud friend Maria, who died with honor.

Alas, Maria. my lifelong friend.

I will definitely catch this scum that hurt your family.

I will definitely catch you and torment you for a long time.

and…

“If I were alive, if I could see you again, I’d make sure to show you the scene of that son of a b*tch suffering. ash.”

Alice strode out of the barn.

.