The moment the thought flashed through her mind, Himeko's pace quickened. Her figure became a blur of motion, racing toward the village like a gale of wind.
Though she was not a person who reveled in slaughter, she could not stand by and watch the innocent be butchered—especially when this situation might be the key to verifying the parallel world hypothesis.
When the full view of the village finally unfolded before her, Himeko's eyes instantly turned cold.
It wasn't a monster attack at all. Instead, a group of soldiers clad in heavy metal armor were wielding sharp blades, systematically massacring the villagers.
Blood stained the cobblestone paths. Bodies lay strewn haphazardly in front of doorways and along the alleys—the elderly, children, and villagers who had tried to resist but were powerless to change their fate. The smell of rust and iron in the air grew thick enough to be nauseating.
Himeko landed silently behind a low wall at the edge of the village. Her gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings, her mind already made up.
With a flicker of movement, she moved through the streets like a phantom. The soldiers she encountered didn't even have time to react before they were silently dealt with, denied even the chance to scream for help.
As she reached a damaged wooden hut, a villager's corpse lay at the entrance. The sound of a conversation drifted out from inside—intermittent, fueled by a loathsome mix of greed and cruelty.
"Go away... don't come any closer..."
A weak female voice rang out. She was forcing herself to sound firm, but the underlying despair was impossible to hide.
"Heh heh... I didn't expect such a bonus harvest," a coarse male voice replied with a lecherous chuckle. "Let me check the goods first. Once I present her to Lord Blade, I'm sure I'll receive a handsome reward!"
Himeko's brow furrowed deeper. She stepped carefully over the corpse at the door and gave the wooden door a gentle push. It opened with a soft, mournful creak.
The two inside were instantly alerted by the sound and turned their heads simultaneously.
The soldier, a man with a face full of fatty flesh and clad in armor, saw Himeko. His eyes immediately lit up with a greedy green light, and a disgusting grin spread across his face. "I didn't think this dump would be hiding such a beaut—"
Squelch!
Before he could finish his sentence, a cold, flash of light erupted.
A whirring cutting saw, glowing with a faint blue light, manifested in Himeko's hand. It moved so fast it left only an afterimage, cleanly severing the soldier's neck.
The head, still wearing that lecherous grin, thudded to the floor and rolled into a corner. Blood geysered from the stump of his neck, painting half the wall crimson. The headless body swayed for a heartbeat before collapsing heavily to the ground.
With the soldier dealt with, Himeko retracted the saw. Her gaze fell upon the woman in the room—a lady in her early twenties clutching a pair of scissors.
Between the names she had just heard, the woman's appearance, and the system kill-notifications identifying the soldier's rank, Himeko quickly pieced everything together.
This should be the world of Redo of Healer.
Judging by her looks, the woman before her was likely Anna. Was the current timeline the part of the story where the protagonist's village is slaughtered by the Kingdom's soldiers?
No, it shouldn't be that simple.
After all, if her hypothesis about the other worlds was correct, this was likely a parallel world version. There were bound to be differences from the original story.
But no matter what setting differences exist, I hope the 'Hero' mechanic is still here, Himeko mused. If so, perhaps the Main Body can become a Hero. That way, even if the number of clones keeps increasing—leading to the situation Senior Fu Hua described—he'll have an extra layer of protection and won't be so passive.
She steadied her mind and offered a gentle, reassuring smile to Anna, who was still in a state of shock. Her voice was soft but carried an immense sense of comfort. "It's alright now. Don't be afraid."
Seeing that Anna was still tense, she added, "I'm going to clear out the rest of the enemies in the village and see if there are any other survivors."
With that, Himeko turned to leave the hut.
"I... I'll go with you!"
Anna finally snapped out of her daze. She gripped the sewing scissors tightly, her eyes filled with determination. Even though her voice was trembling, she didn't back down.
Himeko paused and looked back at her, her smile turning slightly helpless yet warm. "You should stay here and try to calm down first."
Her voice was gentle, yet it held an undeniable weight of authority. "Besides, what comes next might be a bit... bloody. It's not a scene for you."
As the words left her lips, she stepped out of the hut, her figure vanishing rapidly into the depths of the alleys.
Soon, the village was filled with a chorus of screams and wails, punctuated by the sound of metal snapping. It was a chilling soundscape.
Unable to contain her worry, Anna ran to the doorway and looked toward the source of the noise. In the next second, she clamped her hand over her mouth, her stomach churning as she nearly gagged.
The ground between the houses was already soaked in blood, forming meandering crimson rivers. Fountains of red occasionally sprayed into the air alongside the screams.
And in the center of that carnage, Himeko's silhouette moved like an elegant dancer. Every step forward, every lift of her hand, and every swing of her blade carried a lethal beauty. Those vicious soldiers were like ants before her—completely powerless, without even the slightest room for resistance.
Before long, the screams subsided. The only sound left was the rustle of leaves in the wind, mingling with the heavy scent of blood.
Himeko emerged from the blood-mist-shrouded alleys, walking slowly. Though a few spots of blood flecked her dress, it didn't diminish her grace; if anything, it added a cold, distant allure.
She stopped before Anna and spoke with a hint of apology in her soft voice. "I'm sorry. I searched the entire village thoroughly... It seems you are the only survivor."
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