You Will Be Blessed If You Do Good Deeds¿

The villagers who saw me were all so shocked they looked like they were about to faint.
“Hah, ha!” “That’s an outsider!” “Isn’t that a monster?!” “Grr…”
Robo, who had been pointed at by the villagers, bared his teeth.

Before the villagers’ panic spread further, I pulled Robo back a bit.
“Everyone, calm down... Maria, come over here.”
“Yes, Angel!”

And while the villagers’ confusion faded, Maria, who had been hiding for a while, appeared.
Since she had been under an illusion, there was a chance that if the villagers saw her alive, they might take her back to Margarita, so I had kept her hidden for a while.
When the villagers saw Maria, they were all shocked.

“Maria?” “Is Maria really alive?” “Are you okay?!” “Yes, I’m okay! The master… no, Margarita tried to kill me, though.”
At Maria’s firm words, some people gasped.
In front of those people, Maria pointed at me and said.

“If this angel hadn’t appeared, I would have really died.”
“A… Angel?” “An angel? Maria, this is not some fairy tale.” “Haven’t you heard enough stories about the silver-haired angel?”
At the mention of an angel, once again, there was confusion among the villagers.

‘Is pushing this angel story too much?’
To be honest, it was a bit of a stretch.
“...It doesn’t matter whether I’m an angel or not. What matters is that this person saved Maria.”

While I was briefly reconsidering the concept, Laura, who had come closer to Maria, hugged her and spoke.
“And everyone, didn’t you say before you drank this wine that Maria had died? This is all because of the evil spell cast by our master—no, Margarita!”
“That’s...” “It’s strange. Did the master really curse us?” “If it was a real curse, calling her the master would be ridiculous!”
One by one, murmurs of defiance began to rise among the villagers.

Especially those who had snapped out of the mental influence and started recalling the people they had lost.
“My God, Edgar is dead, and I didn’t even know...” “Yeah, my wife also went to offer a precious flower to the master and never returned. But I had completely forgotten about it. Is this really possible?” “What is this?! Have we really been cursed?” “Yeah, we’ve been cursed.”
I didn’t miss the opportunity and dug into the chaos.

“Margarita has been deceiving and exploiting all of you.”
The people who had lived on this land needed to be enraged at Margarita and prepare to fight back against her rule.
Only then could they grasp the chance for retaliation.

“...But, Laura. Then what are we supposed to do?”
But it wasn’t going to be that easy.
One of the elders, who had been quietly listening, asked.

“You’re talking about turning the eternal snow red... Are you suggesting we run away from the mountain, free from the master’s control?”
“That’s nonsense!”
Another person immediately objected.

“I know the master is strange, but think carefully. This is the land we’ve cultivated. How can we just leave?”
“That’s true.” “...We need to think this through, Laura.”
The elder spoke.

This time, it wasn’t just anger but a tone of admonishment.
“I understand you feel wronged. But... people like us, ignorant as we are, have always lived like this.”
“Grandmother.”

“I’m not saying you should be the only one to endure. I too have suffered. My son left, and it’s been over ten years now. I thought it was an accident, but like you said... the master may have killed him.”
“...” “But honestly, do you think going against the master and leaving the mountain would make a difference? Would some new world suddenly open up?”
“What do you mean?”

Laura snapped angrily.
“How do you know what will happen? Why are you giving up before even trying?”
“Because it’s obvious. Even if we go outside, we’ll all end up dead from a monster attack. At least here in the mountain, we won’t die from monsters.”

‘...This.’
I clicked my tongue.
A person like that, who gives up and tries to drag others into the same pit, is the most annoying type of human.

The problem is, there's some truth to what they're saying.
“Certainly, what the grandmother says makes sense. What can we do if we leave?”
“If we get attacked by a monster, not just a few of us will die. We could all be wiped out.”

This thought crossed my mind as I crossed the plains after entering the dungeon. Near the plains surrounding this mountain, there are an unusually large number of monsters.
It was quite different from the area near Count Burk’s domain, which dried up all the surrounding life.
This might also be one of Margarita’s means of control.

She made it impossible for ordinary people to voluntarily leave the mountain.
“What do you mean by that? Are you saying my husband can die but it’s fine for your family?”
“No, it’s not like that...”

The voices among the villagers began to rise in volume.
This, too, was a familiar flow.
When faced with the threat of survival, those without power lose their ability to make sound judgments.

Like frogs boiling in a pot, they’re too afraid of the monsters outside to jump out of the pot.
Maria covered her ears at the rising noise, and Laura shielded the child.
“Enough!”

Bang!
I slammed my sword into the ground, and everyone stopped talking.
“Grrr!”

At the same time, Robo growled menacingly.
With the momentum to swallow a few people whole, the atmosphere turned to one of fear.
Receiving fearful gazes, I spoke slowly.

“Right, I won’t lie. There’s no guarantee that your lives will improve just by getting rid of Margarita.”
“What? What are you saying?”
“Angel!”

Laura tried to speak, but I shook my head.
If I were really an angel or a hero, I would have waited for them to reach their own conclusions...
‘Angels just aren’t my thing.’

I’m a demon, after all.
I’m not here to show kindness to these people.
I simply need their strength.

So instead of persuading them, I need to make them act the way I want.
“But if you keep this up, you’re all definitely going to die.”
“What? What do you mean?”

Even Laura was stammering now.
“Your master won’t forgive anyone who tries to betray her.”
“What?”

“Betray? When did we...!”
“You drank the potion I gave you. You’re already my people.”
“What?!”

“Was that potion not brewed by Laura?”
“Yes, I deceived that woman.”
I kicked the empty barrel.

Crash!
Laura’s face was priceless.
Well, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

That potion had my magic imbued in it, and that magic was protecting the villagers’ minds.
If you are reading this translation anywhere other than .net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.
For Margarita, it was like having pests lay eggs in her domain, so even if I lost, she wouldn’t leave these villagers, who knew the truth, alone.

Looking around at the now terrified villagers, I said.
“You all drank that potion. So now, the only way for you to survive is... to fight Margarita.”
“You tricked us!”

“This is absurd! What power do we have to go up against the master...!”
“First, stop calling her your master.”
I kindly advised them.

“The person you call master... is, in fact, no different from you.”
Margarita is just the same as them.
I had said this countless times in my past life.

...Back then, those words weren’t accepted.
‘I was too soft back then.’
If I had just terrorized these foolish humans and made them move the way I wanted, it would have been easy.

“And you already have the means to defeat Margarita.”
“Means?”
“Words have power. Especially when it’s the language of a sorcerer.”

Even more so when it’s a phrase passed down through generations.
“You’ve all called her the ‘Red Eternal Snow.’”
Language is a means of communication between those who cannot understand each other, and it is also a tool for entangling the mind.

They have called Margarita their master, but also referred to her as the Red Eternal Snow.
“When the words 'Red Eternal Snow' were spoken by that child, it was passed down through time.”
The words, the language that controls the mind, become the law of this domain.

“If you don’t want to die, climb that mountain.”
I pointed towards the peak of the mountain.
A strange pillar-shaped structure seemed to pierce the sky.

On top of it, untouched by human hands, eternal snow had accumulated.
“And spill blood on that eternal snow.”
“Impossible!”

Immediately, resistance erupted.
“Hey! You don’t know the mountain well. If you climb that high, you’ll die. You can’t breathe, your head will hurt!”
“Yeah, I heard from my grandfather. He said everyone who tried died!”

They weren’t wrong. The mountain was that high and rough, so high-altitude sickness was inevitable.
But...
Whoosh!

Items poured from the air.
Oxygen masks, strength-enhancing items, everything.
“Who said you had to climb it barehanded?”

The items I had taken from Han Jae-young now shone brightly.
Seeing the villagers alternate between looking at the items and me, I grinned.
“And the word ‘impossible’ doesn’t work here. If you fail, I’ll kill you.”

 
“Impossible!”
Immediately, there was an outburst of resistance.

“Hey! You don’t know the mountain well. If you climb that high, you’ll die. You won’t even be able to breathe, your head will explode!”
“Yeah, I heard from my grandfather. He said everyone who tried died!”
They weren't wrong. The mountain was so high and rough that altitude sickness was inevitable.

But...
Whoosh!
Items poured from the air.

Oxygen masks, strength-enhancing equipment, all kinds of items.
“Who said you had to climb it barehanded?”
The items I had taken from Han Jae-young now sparkled.

Watching the villagers alternate their gazes between the items and me, I grinned.
“And the word ‘impossible’ doesn’t apply here. If you fail, I’ll kill you.”
The tension in the air was thick, and as I watched the villagers’ expressions shift between disbelief and fear, I knew they had no choice but to comply. Time was running out, and Margarita’s hold over them wouldn’t last forever.

I had made my point. The reality was clear.
Now, I would either break their will or lead them toward a path they never thought they’d take.