In the small living room, Kevin and the others sat together.
Besides Kevin, Menchi, Buhara, and Gowen were also there. Bisky was present as well, and Melusine now clung to Kevin all day long. The Maid Nen Beast brought freshly brewed black tea and gently placed it in front of everyone.
"Ah, this Nen ability is so convenient," Menchi, who was prone to laziness, couldn't help but exclaim enviously as she watched this scene. To be able to freely create and control helpful assistants—wasn't that just wonderful?
Bisky also asked curiously, "I see you can materialize four Nen beasts. How autonomous are they?"
"Autonomous? Oh, are you asking about controlling them?"
Bisky nodded. That was exactly what she meant. Bisky's own Nen ability also involved materializing a Nen beast, and her Nen beast had extremely high autonomy—almost like a real person, and to some extent even had its own personality.
"Just like the things Lorian and the others usually do, I basically don't need to specifically control them."
"Then that belongs to a category with relatively high autonomy."
Taking advantage of the topic, Kevin said, "Bisky, could you please help check on Melusine? After all, she was the core figure of the sacrificial ritual previously. The ritual was suspected to be destroyed, and I'm worried it might have some adverse effects on her. And she originally didn't have the Nen ability to materialize Nen beasts."
Hearing this, Bisky nodded slightly seriously, turning her gaze to Melusine.
After all, sacrificial rituals were never good things. They were purely manifestations of human dark malice. In various countries, there were almost countless hidden records of sacrifices, and even some hidden sacrifices still exist today, still belonging to the dark side of various nations. This was essentially a use of post-mortem Nen. This was why the Hunter Association looked formidable, but in essence, it was merely a civilian organization under the V5.
Melusine began to recount the entire process from the start of the ritual to its end.
"...After I fainted and woke up, I don't know if it was an illusion, but I heard many girls my age calling out to me. At the time, I thought it was auditory hallucination and didn't figure out who they were. Now that I think about it, they were likely the former Saintesses who were sacrificed and consumed—meaning my predecessors. After waking up, my role was limited. When that giant snake fell and Kevin needed protection, I wholeheartedly wanted to protect him, and then I inexplicably gained this Nen ability."
After listening to Melusine's narration, the few people present fell into contemplation.
"Are there really souls?" Menchi couldn't help but murmur.
"Yes," Kevin replied concisely.
Although he couldn't provide definitive proof, in a sense, he himself was a form of evidence. When he communicated with Jin earlier, Jin had also strongly agreed with the idea that humans have souls and had obtained corresponding verification through various channels.
Bisky also nodded at this point. "Yes. The general public may not be aware, but for top-tier Nen users, this is no secret. Quite a few Specialization-type Nen abilities can almost prove the existence of souls."
As a Nen user with decades of experience, Bisky had a broad perspective and extensive knowledge.
"Moreover, we were all affected by evil spirits in the end, which was actually a mutation of the soul—just a change for the worse. Imposing some influence through resentment makes the souls of the dead become like that." Bisky then briefly explained.
This made the few of them recall the scene at the time: those oddly shaped evil spirits that nonetheless seemed to have been human in life.
Gowen seemed to recall something and asked, "Why didn't those Saintesses turn into evil spirits or similar things? They even had a certain degree of self-awareness and influenced Lady Melusine."
"Lady or whatever—that's too embarrassing." Such an address made Melusine's face flush slightly.
Kevin rubbed his brow with a hint of helplessness. Earlier, at the start of the battle, Gowen's oath of allegiance—Kevin had initially thought it was just some requirement of his Nen ability, so he hadn't paid much attention. But it was clearly not a joke—Gowen was serious. After waking up, Gowen's address of Kevin as "Liege" made him uncomfortable all over. In this modern context, such a title was simply too strange.
So Kevin had been trying to correct his address, hoping Gowen would call him by his name normally. After all, knights also had to keep up with the times, didn't they? If not for Kevin's earlier corrections, Gowen might even have called him "Liege Lady." "Lady" was already the result of his utmost restraint. Moreover, through the previous knightly ceremony, in a sense, Gowen was Kevin's retainer. His Nen ability would also keep him loyal to Kevin—provided, of course, that Kevin did not do anything so terrible as to cross Gowen's bottom line and make him unable to accept it.
Hearing Gowen's question, Kevin seemed to recall something, linking it to Gowen's state during that final arrow shot.
"Did you also see any souls?" After all, Gowen's sister had unfortunately passed away in the previous ritual.
Gowen, under everyone's gaze, silently nodded.
"En—in that battle, I saw my sister and heard her voice. The target of that arrow was guided to me by my sister. I originally thought it was just a hallucination caused by the surrounding environment and my own state at the time, but now it seems that's not the case."
That arrow was very crucial—everyone knew that.
After hearing all this, Bisky nodded. "Although it can prove the existence of souls, the mysteries of souls are clearly not something we can easily figure out. No one can explain the essence of a soul. Perhaps because your sister's will was strong enough, she wasn't affected."
This was not Bisky's words of comfort, but indeed such a situation existed.
"Strong will?" Gowen murmured, unconsciously clenching his fists.
Seeing this, Kevin patted him on the shoulder. "She was a true knight. Her guidance and your sword made extremely important contributions."
"Hmm."
The Hunter Association's operational efficiency was extremely high.
The next day, when Kevin and the others woke up, the Hunter Association personnel were already busy.
Kevin actually knew the person leading the team.
"Gu Gu?"
The person who came was indeed Gu Gu—the Rooster of the Twelve Earthly Branches.
"Kevin, it really is you. I guessed it when I saw the data."
This incident happened suddenly and time was pressing, so Gu Gu, who was handling matters at the Hunter Association at the time, was directly pulled in to lead this team and handle the affairs of the village.
Gu Gu was clearly a decisive person. Seeing Kevin, she waved her hand toward the distance. A Hunter Association staff member ran over.
"Did you bring your Hunter license? Take it out."
Kevin nodded and pulled out his license. The other person took the license, operated on a machine they carried, and quickly handed Kevin a new license. The license still had two large "X"s, but the overall style had changed significantly. Compared to the Two-Star license Kevin had seen from Kite before, only the color scheme was different, and the overall icon distribution also had subtle differences. The One-Star license used a silver-blue color scheme.
"Is it this simple and rushed?" Kevin, who had just received his One-Star license, was a bit stunned. He had just woken up and come downstairs, and in the blink of an eye, he had become a One-Star Hunter. Wasn't this an honor? Why did it seem like a small card casually thrown away?
Hearing this, Gu Gu looked at him. "I thought you didn't like trouble. How about going to the Association headquarters later? If you don't mind, the Association would be very happy to hold an event—"
Before Gu Gu could finish speaking, Kevin quickly raised his hand to stop her. "No, no, no. This is fine." He then put the license in his pocket.
"So, the youngest One-Star Hunter, could you spare us a moment and tell us about the situation?" It seemed Gu Gu was in a good mood. Kevin nodded and did not refuse.
Kevin briefly recounted what he could say, and after the questioning session ended.
"Let me give you a heads-up. If you don't want to be bothered by too many people, you'd better quickly pack up your spoils and leave here. Many people have already noticed this place, and they've noticed you, and of course, your spoils." Saying that, Gu Gu smiled and winked at Kevin, then went to attend to other matters.
"What does that mean?" Kevin didn't quite understand.
At this moment, Bisky walked over and explained directly, "Idiot. Have you forgotten the Dark Continent? This is a constant focus for all major nations. You mentioned in your narration that the person named Vipere went to the Dark Continent alone earlier than the exploration teams of these countries, and he even returned. He even brought back a young creature from the Dark Continent—that is a globally significant event."
Hearing this, Kevin broke out in a cold sweat. Just thinking about it, he knew there would be no shortage of trouble later.
"So, it's best for us participants to leave here as soon as possible, and let the Association handle the rest. This is their responsibility anyway. Are you ready?"
"Since you've said so, we definitely need to act quickly."
Everyone quickly sprang into action, beginning to pack and organize their belongings. The main thing was to collect various materials. For Kevin now, the rules of the Secret Realm were useless and could be discarded like toilet paper. But he had to take all these materials with him. Fortunately, Bian Locke seemed to be transporting goods on this continent, so Kevin directly contacted him to help with the transportation.
After dealing with these matters, Kevin came to the castle.
"Do you want to leave with me?" Kevin asked Melusine. Although he knew she would definitely not refuse, he still had to ask out of respect.
Melusine smiled and nodded. "I don't want to be separated from you." She then looked at the bookshelf in front of her. The entire bookshelf was densely packed with manga. "Do you want to take these too?" After all, these were her childhood memories.
"Of course not. These must stay here. These manga weren't collected by me alone; many of my predecessors also left a lot. Let them stay here. The relics of the Saintesses will no longer increase—this is proof of the Saintesses' freedom."
After expressing her emotions, Melusine directly hung onto Kevin. "From now on, I'll be relying on you, my de-ar!"
"Haha, the honor is mine."
Subsequently, Kevin took Melusine and bade farewell to the villagers one by one. Facing Kevin, the villagers bowed, thanked him, and offered blessings, making Kevin a bit flustered. Melusine just smiled, her face slightly flushed, as she said goodbye to the villagers.
Kevin didn't quite understand the depth of the villagers' gratitude toward him. Just as he couldn't comprehend the oppressive feeling of being imprisoned in the village for an entire lifetime, this liberation and freedom made the villagers immensely grateful to Kevin.
"Lorian, are you also going out?"
Lorian, who had already changed into casual clothes, nodded, with Bian Locke following behind her. "Brother has been preparing for a long time and has saved a lot of money, so we should be among the first to leave."
After all, everyone was very excited to suddenly gain freedom, which was understandable. But it was impossible for the entire village to rush out all at once. So, under the influence of the village chief's prestige, everyone was willing to follow the arrangements. With the help of the Hunter Association, a group of young people would be arranged to go out first, allowing them to adapt to life outside and understand the external situation. The Hunter Association would help purchase and construct a residential area in the city closest to the Secret Realm. This would allow the villagers to slowly adapt to modern life from there.
This method of handling things was already quite good. And the person leading this operation was actually a villager from the village—someone who had left the village decades ago through an Exorcist. It seemed such people indeed existed.
"You're definitely going with your dear, it seems," Lorian said with a giggle.
Melusine's face flushed slightly, but her smile was radiant. She was already impatient.
Kevin was talking with Bian Locke.
"This is my address. If you encounter any difficulties outside, or want to keep in touch, you can come here."
Bian Locke took the slip of paper and nodded with a smile. "Of course. No problem."
Finally, it was the village chief's turn.
Seeing Kevin approach, the village chief knelt down without hesitation. This action startled Kevin, and he quickly went to help the village chief up, but the village chief ignored him and insisted on kowtowing. He felt that without doing so, he couldn't express his gratitude. Kevin was also helpless.
Then came another round of thanks. These were the words he had heard the most since he woke up.
After the village chief stood up, he looked at Melusine. "You are also free now. You've found what you want to do. If you have time in the future, come back and visit."
Melusine gently nodded.
"My granddaughter—I entrust her to you," he said solemnly to Kevin, speaking as an elder.
"Don't worry. Leave it to me."
The time for farewell had arrived. Everyone packed their luggage and walked out of the village.
At the village entrance, the villager who looked like a beggar was sitting on a stone, hugging his knees, looking outside.
"Aren't you going out for a walk?" Kevin asked. He remembered how imposing the other person had been when they first arrived, clearly yearning for the outside world for a long time.
"Ah, I should go out for a walk... but can we really walk out?"
Seeing his conflicted expression, Kevin couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at?"
"I find you quite interesting. When we first arrived, you weren't like this. Weren't you quite short-tempered then? Why have you become so melancholic, timid, and cowardly now?"
"Bullshit! Don't think that just because you saved us, you can talk nonsense. I'll walk out right now to show you!"
Saying that, he dragged his worn-out straw sandals and staggered out. As he neared the boundary, his steps gradually slowed, then became even slower, pausing for a while, and finally he slowly shuffled out. When he took his first step, stepping onto the ground outside, his back leg unconsciously recoiled, and his whole body completely left the boundary. This middle-aged man finally couldn't help but kneel on the ground, tears streaming down his face.
"Let's go," Kevin said, watching this scene. Then he followed the others and walked out.
"Hey! You brat, this is my gift—my personal thanks!" He emphasized loudly, throwing a wine gourd from afar.
Kevin caught the wine gourd and waved his hand, his back to him.
"Ah... freedom."
The man, who looked like a beggar, lay sprawled on the grass, looking up at the blue sky.
And in the nearby river, Rabik floated on the water, slowly drifting downstream.
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