Translator: Nox

2 - Marquis Maron Episode 2

Episode 2

1. Late Spring, "Purification!"

I fell into the black water below the gorge.

The impact of the fall left me disoriented. Not only did I crash against the iron bars as they broke, but I didn't even have time to hold my breath before the Magical Energy-contaminated river water quickly seeped into my lungs.

Even in that brief moment, I was disgusted by my own helplessness. The current was too fast, and I didn't know how to swim. I should have learned survival swimming.

Drowning was said to be so painful, and I was going to die from it? If I woke up again after death, would I be back home this time? Or in another novel?

Being the villain was fine, but I hoped it would be a forgiving novel where I'd be pardoned just for pretending to repent.

Please.

Something caught in my flailing hand.

A tree root protruded from the riverbed. The water was flowing rapidly, so I instinctively clung to it with all my might.

I used every ounce of strength I had, even the strength I had when I was born from my mother's womb. My palms were torn and scraped bloody, but I held on with the single-minded determination to cling to it even if it meant dying.

Then, I suddenly became angry.

Hey, Hayley!

How did you even survive here? If you gave me the body, you should have given me the ability too! I don't have to beat the Demon King like everyone else, but it's not right to let me die so pathetically!

I'm an isekai'd person, for crying out loud!

Then suddenly, my vision cleared.

The black water was becoming transparent.

The Magical Energy that had blackened the water swirled around and seeped into my body. It was real. I was eating Magical Energy. At a very fast rate.

……?

It was a mystical sight. I didn't feel disgusted or grotesque.

It was strange. Hayley was known to have had her Mana permanently taken away, and her body was ruined so she could never use magic again.

Was Magical Energy different from Mana?

As time passed, the vortex grew larger, and the rate at which my body absorbed Magical Energy also increased. The water became transparent around me, then turned black again as it flowed away.

The tree root I was holding onto also underwent a change. The blackish stem, as if burned, instantly returned to a fresh tree color, and then it was pulled out of the riverbed as if a radish was being pulled out.

Then it started swimming.

Huh? Why is the tree swimming?

Looking closely, it had arms and legs. It also had a face and a mouth.

‘……!’

It even spoke.

I couldn't understand what it was saying because it was underwater, but it was definitely talking. It even screamed and grabbed my hand.

Grab my hand?

I grabbed the hand that the tree root extended in the water. It pulled me with all its might. The sturdy iron bars were really half-broken. I could feel my body slipping through the gap.

And then, in an instant, I was pulled out of the water.

"Ptooey!"

Dead trees were grotesquely intertwined on the riverbank. I wedged myself among them and kept spitting out water. It was awful. Water seemed to be coming out of my nose, ears, and eyes.

Whew, I'm alive.

I almost drowned. It was so scary.

Of all the characters in the novel, I had to become Hayley, and I almost died within a day.

But there was someone next to me who was even more shocked.

"It hurts! It hurts! I thought I was going to die! How can you pull someone's hair so roughly! Huh? I thought my head was going to be pulled off!"

It was very talkative.

"But how did I survive? What did you do? Huh? Who are you? How did you purify me? How am I alive? Huh?"

Very, very talkative.

"How much time has passed? What year is it now? Are you human? Have you finally come to purify this place? Can my kind live here now?"

Only after spitting out all the water and stomach acid I had swallowed was I able to lean against a dead tree root and lie down properly.

Then I said to it.

"I'm Hayley."

"I'm a Dryad."

"And I don't know anything."

"Pardon?"

The Dryad leaned its face over me as I lay down. It had a small, round face, skin like a swamp, and green hair twisted like vines.

"You purified me."

"I did?"

"I was dying in the Contaminated Zone.... When I came to my senses, you were hugging me and purifying me. So I quickly took you out."

Ah, I see.

"Then I'm your benefactor?"

"Pardon?"

"Take me to Maron Keep."

I said that and fainted.

I woke up not long after. I thought the Dryad was loyal for not abandoning me and staying by my side, but of course, I was wrong.

It said it couldn't leave because it would become contaminated and die again if it wasn't by my side, and it looked dejected.

"I knew it."

At first, I couldn't believe that I had done that 'Purification.' But after seeing that the trees had come back to life only in the spot where I had been lying, I couldn't deny it.

A body that automatically absorbs Magical Energy when touched.

Hayley, you're awesome.

I knew it. How could an isekai'd person not have any abilities! I knew there would be something special, amazing, and awesome!

"Maron Keep is half a day away from here. If you follow the waterway, you'll see Dark Lake, and there's a big castle on the hill...."

"Let's go."

We have to go quickly. The sun will set soon. I couldn't spend the night in this eerie place, clinging to tree roots. At least I should sleep in a place with a roof.

Now that I realized I had the ability to absorb Magical Energy and purify contamination, all I needed was a safe place to hide and live.

In my opinion, Maron Keep was the right place.

The Dryad asked.

"But why did you fall from up there?"

"People threw me."

"What? Oh my gosh, those bad...."

"I committed a lot of sins. I was originally going to be executed, but they threw me here instead, so I survived."

"Oh my gosh...."

So I have to hide and live. I'm as good as dead if I go outside. As an isekai'd person, my lifelong motto is to live a long and thin life.

Hanging or burning at the stake is absolutely out of the question. I don't want to be imprisoned either, and I don't want to be chased or run away. Of course, it wouldn't be pleasant to be pointed at for crimes I didn't commit.

"Let's go."

Let's go to Maron Keep. As they had hoped for Hayley, let's go to the empty castle in the middle of the Contaminated Zone and live there. It doesn't have to be abundant. What if it's a little lonely? Not dying is what's important.

Let's live a simple and peaceful life in Maron Keep.

The protagonist will save the world, and I've taken over the body of a villain that the whole world hates, so it's best to self-isolate for everyone's sake.

"Hey, should we touch things and test them on the way? It would be good if anything got purified, right?"

"What kind of human is so reckless? What if you run out of energy? We should go to Maron Keep, secure a place to live, and purify from there."

"You're smart."

"You're the one who's stupid...."

"Should I not purify?"

"I'm sorry."

The Dryad just said sorry in a perfunctory way, so I taught it how to bow its head and apologize politely.

We had various conversations on the way. It was nice to have a Tree Sprite who could talk with me. It was cute like Doraji.

That day, we arrived at our destination in exactly half a day.

The old keep stood tall, shrouded in black mist.

It was Maron Keep.

Pure Magical Energy, incomparable to that below the gorge, was pooled inside the castle walls, and the Dryad was even afraid to breathe inside. It could barely take a step while clinging to my back with its face buried in it.

I was the only one who wasn't affected by the Magical Energy.

"Wow...."

"Why? What do you mean, 'Wow'?"

"The keep is big."

We opened the half-broken castle gate and entered, and there was a huge hall and many rooms. I started wandering around every corner of it.

"Wow."

"What is it this time?"

"There are so many rooms."

It was so big and there were so many rooms that I didn't know where to set up a base. The Dryad buried its head in my back and burst into frustration.

"We shouldn't have chosen this place as a residence in the first place! What's the point of having a roof when the air is so dirty!"

"Wait a minute. Where do I start?"

"Anywhere is fine, so please stop wandering around and purify quickly, okay?"

"No, listen. Even games have a starting village. If eating is important, you should start in the kitchen, and if sleeping is important, you should start in the bedroom."

"I'm going to die!"

"Don't die! Purification!"

That's why things don't work out if you're impatient.

That day, in that vast keep, I purified the most useless treasure vault of all.

That was our beginning.