There are such people.

People who are trapped in vain beliefs and unable to think normally. Or those who blindly believe in superstitions to the point of losing reason and confusing reality with ideals. And those who insist on maintaining old customs, forcing irrationality and taking sacrifice for granted.

They each suffered misfortune due to their stubbornness and unreasonableness.

Sharti did not have the courage to dare stand up to an abnormal group.

She didn’t want to either.

‘I’m just a doctor.’

Sharti was a doctor who saved people and grasped the hands reaching out for help.

So of course, her unilateral response this time crossed the line. As an outsider, she had committed a serious crime by touching and diverting a village’s food supply.

She knew.

Under the pretext of helping patients, she had harmed others as well.

‘There might have been a better way.’

If she had set aside her preconceptions and revealed the disease name to the village head instead of Ashu, then calmly presented the cause and solution of the illness over time, perhaps a more moderate method could have been derived after sufficient discussion.

But Sharti couldn’t do that, and as a result, the criticism, hostility, threats, and anger pouring down on her were things she rightfully had to endure.

‘…It’s okay.’

It’s okay. It’s alright.

Surprisingly, Sharti was fine.

Sharti raised her gaze to look at the broad back that filled her vision.

[Sha, if it’s hard to bear, bite my hand. My hand is tougher than your teeth.]

This was already the second time she had shown seizure symptoms in front of Ren.

And this time too, Ren embraced her without revealing her condition.

[You won’t die. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’m by your side. Sha, my master. Look at me.]

In the midst of auditory and visual hallucinations severe enough to make her lose consciousness, Ren’s voice was like a spell.

A magical spell that kept her from losing consciousness.

‘Even while I was out of it, he made sure my robe and hood didn’t come off.’

Under Ren’s protection, which couldn’t be fully expressed by the word reliable, Sharti felt a sense of relief.

It was the same now.

In a situation where she would have normally turned pale and trembled, Sharti drew courage from Ren’s presence as he got angry, confronted, and refuted on her behalf.

‘What about being a witch.’

Anyway, hadn’t she been thrown before the New Eaton Imperial Army as a ridiculous stand-in 5 years ago?

Even becoming the ‘Princess Arisbyan’ who was famous for her beauty only led to death.

Then becoming an ugly and cruel witch wasn’t so bad.

“If accepting death willingly is the natural order, then what about resisting death and wanting to live?”

Lowering her hand from her neck, Sharti raised her head high.

At the eerie voice that sounded like scraping metal, everyone in the room fell silent.

“Is that going against the natural order, so you’ve just stood by and watched their suffering until now?”

Sharti stepped forward.

Sharti didn’t realize it, but right now she was much more reckless and aggressive than usual, emboldened by Ren’s presence alone.

“Th-that, what a terrible…”

At that moment, someone was heard muttering ‘a real witch’ towards her with a pale face.

As Sharti unconsciously hesitated, Ren immediately grasped her hand.

“Don’t stop, Sha.”

At the low murmur, Sharti squeezed Ren’s hand tightly before letting go.

Sharti took two more steps forward, leaving Ren behind.

Ren left behind clenched his fist. He suppressed the urge to wrap his arm around Sharti’s shoulders and walk with her.

“Don’t use such cowardly natural order as a convenient excuse.”

Many gazes, too many eyes were filled with contempt.

But Sharti didn’t care.

Rather, she was glad.

Look. In any case, hadn’t she made them shut their mouths?

“…Don’t cross the line.”

Ashu’s grandfather spat out a final warning.

Sharti swallowed her heart that felt like it would leap out.

“They asked to be saved.”

“…!”

“They called for me, asking for help. They said they didn’t want to die, they held onto me.”

The eerie and terrifying voice continued without concern.

Sharti put strength into her neck.

“Those of you here probably can’t hear it. Because you’re forcing death while covering your ears and eyes.”

Finally, Sharti walked up to the white-haired old man.

She was within arm’s reach.

“They reached out to me in pain, and I took their hands.”

Sharti turned her head to scan the village officials.

“From now on, I won’t let them, or you, die.”

“…”

“If you want to die according to the natural order, I won’t stop you. No one can interfere with another’s death. But I will definitely save anyone who asks me for help. As a doctor-.”

Thanks to continuing to converse with Ren all this time, her voice had become clearer and louder.

Even though it was still an ugly frog croak, Sharti no longer showed an aversion to making her voice heard.

“The food needed for today can be solved by sending my assistant and the village head’s son outside the village. They’ll bring back food that you can eat comfortably without worrying about poisoning.”

“I-I’ll go! Leave it to me!”

Ashu, who had been nervously watching the confrontation, chimed in appropriately.

As the situation reached a lull, the village officials began to exchange glances surreptitiously.

The village head glanced at his father.

“Elder, do as your heart tells you, whether it’s the natural order or whatever. I’ll do my duty as a doctor in my own way.”

“Not content with turning the village upside down, you’re announcing that you’ll continue to meddle in our village as you please?”

The old man’s brow furrowed deeper as he stared at Sharti.

“According to you, elder, it must have been the natural order for your grandson to ask me for help, for me to enter this village, and for me to find out the disease name- all of it.”

“…You’re not making sense.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m just announcing it.”

As the old man finally turned his gaze away, the strength drained from Sharti’s body.

Whether relieved that Ashu’s grandfather had lost his will to fight, a slight laugh tinged the end of her words.

“Announcing! What kind of speech is that! First, the food you stole…”

“It’ll only hurt your mouth. Let’s get up now.”

“Y-yes?”

As the old man rose, the village head also stood up with a disgruntled look.

The village officials also glared at Sharti with displeased looks before reluctantly leaving the room.

“Master.”

As the old man left the room supported by the village head, Ren quickly approached Sharti.

The room that had been filled with suffocating criticism and questioning was now quiet.

“Are you alright?”

Ren whispered worriedly in a low voice as he examined Sharti standing still.

Sharti was standing firm, her fists clenched and trembling, though she didn’t know when she had started gripping them.

“T-teacher-.”

At that moment, Ashu approached hesitantly.

Perhaps because it was the first time hearing Sharti’s voice, Ashu’s usually innocent smile was awkward.

“Th-thank you.”

Still, Ashu first conveyed his thanks to Sharti, keeping his manners.

Sharti had said it was an announcement, but to Ashu’s ears, all her words were pledges and promises.

Her unwavering trust was conveyed directly to his heart.

“I’m so ashamed of myself. I visited the sick people often, but I never spoke a word or made eye contact with them. I think they viewed me as a grandfather or father figure and were reluctant.”

Ashu bit his lip hard and sniffled.

“I wasn’t someone they could comfortably share even a word about being sick with. Before fighting with my father, I should have visited them and reassured them not to worry…”

How desperate and urgent must they have been to ask an outsider like Sharti to save them?

As Ashu expressed deep regret and reflection towards the patients, Sharti shook her head slightly.

“No. They probably couldn’t move a finger since they collapsed. They would have been sleeping constantly, too weak to even open their eyes. When I examined them, they were constantly sleeping half-unconsciously, moaning in pain.”

“What…? But earlier, you said they grabbed you, saying they wanted to be saved, that they didn’t want to die…”

“…Hmm, it worked well, didn’t it?”

“…!”

Ashu’s mouth fell open.

It had been Sharti’s tactic. Sharti added that she had been anxious, wondering what she would do if no one fell for it.

“Anyway, with this we’ve somehow made it through the crisis… Ah!”

“Sha!”

“Teacher!”

As Sharti’s legs gave out and she staggered, Ren immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulders and supported her firmly.

“I-I’m fine. Just the tension releasing…”

“That’s enough, you don’t need to say more. Here, drink some water first, and take deep breaths.”

Ren lowered his posture and skillfully attended to Sharti. As he did so, he pulled Sharti tightly into his arms, as if protecting her from Ashu who had awkwardly reached out his hand.

Pretending to be concerned about Sharti’s throat, Ren prevented Ashu from hearing any more of her voice.

It was a desire to monopolize conversations with her, while also worrying that Sharti might be hurt by Ashu’s reactions.

“You need to rest now. Leave getting the food to me.”

“No, I’ll go!”

Sharti wrote in a note from within Ren’s arms.

She wanted to escape the embarrassing position, but her legs were still weak, and her cold body was welcoming Ren’s warmth.

“Understood.”

“Yes, teacher.”

Given the hidden nature of the village, they couldn’t go down the mountain to ask for help from the lower village without the village head’s permission.

So the food needed right now had to be obtained from villages beyond the mountain peak or cabins in the mountains.

‘The ore only reacts near this village, so there shouldn’t be a problem with villages that are further away. We should be able to secure more than a day’s worth of food.’

Fortunately, she had briefly checked on the way here, just in case.

Ashu, who had been looking at the map with sparkling eyes, sighed with a troubled expression.

“What if there’s still strong opposition tomorrow?”

If the meager meals continue, the resentment of the villagers will also increase.

After all, more than half of the villagers still didn’t show symptoms of poisoning, so they would likely harbor antipathy towards Sharti’s talk of treatment.

“But I still don’t understand.”

Ren clicked his tongue and continued speaking.

“Is the reason for using such strange logic and forcing things just because of the ‘hidden village’? It seems like there must be another reason.”

“Well, I don’t really understand that either…”

Ashu also frowned, saying he didn’t understand.

“Then I’ll go first.”

“Huh? Wouldn’t it save time if we went together?”

Ren, who had gotten up with Sharti, frowned at Ashu.

“Are you telling me to leave my master alone in this village?”

“Ah, ah, th-that’s right.”

Ashu nodded vigorously at the sharp, almost hostile gaze.

Ashu looked at Sharti and smiled shyly.

Ren flared up and spread the map in front of Ashu’s face.

“This is the farthest place, so I’ll go there.”

“Ah, then I’ll go to these two places…”

“-Wait.”

The village head, who had returned without notice, interrupted the conversation.

The middle-aged man who resembled Ashu was still sending displeased looks towards Sharti.

“Who knows what you’ll do if we send two people outside. We’ll send a villager as a monitor to go with you.”

Ren looked at the village head with a crooked gaze.

In contrast, Ashu nodded repeatedly, pleased even with his father’s sour permission.

The village head turned his gaze to Sharti.

“Regardless of your intentions, you acted on your own without consulting us, so we must hold you accountable.”

At the sudden hostility, the expression disappeared from Ren’s face.

Before Ren could show another sharp reaction, Sharti tapped his arm to calm him down.

At least he was using honorifics.

“Follow me.”

“Father! Then I’ll also…”

“Don’t make me say it twice.”

The village head, who had suddenly turned cold towards his son, jerked his chin at Sharti and left.

‘I guess he means for me to follow?’

As Sharti tried to follow the village head, Ren immediately blocked her way, widening his eyes.

He sent fervent signals with his eyes, saying she couldn’t go alone, that she should take him with her.