Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 1

Delicious Sacrifice - Chapter 1

“Miela. I’m sorry. I have no work for you today.” 

Miela looked up at the village elder with a look of despair. Her tearful eyes were filled with resentment and resignation at the same time. 

“I’ve been eating grass for three days already. You can order me to do anything, so please give me something to eat.” 

“I’m sorry. We’re not in a good situation either.” 

All the fruits fell in the sudden storm and all the wild animals were hiding. Every household was barely holding on, cutting back on food. 

Still, each household had chickens and the grains they had harvested in advance that were stored in the warehouse. Living in this village for nearly a decade, this was not the first time this had happened. Duke Village was on fertile land, and if they just held out a little longer, they would have food again. 

However, the reason they were being so mean to Miela was because they had another purpose in mind. 

“I don’t know if a corpse that died of starvation can be a sacrifice.” 

“…….” 

Annoyingly, the village elder didn’t even say a word of disapproval. 

The ‘sacrifice’ was offered to the monster once every ten years. 

Duke Village was surrounded by a lake on one side and a forest on the other. However, the forest was a forbidden place where no one could enter, and it was called the ‘Monster Forest’ because a monster that ate people lived there. 

If a sacrifice was not offered once every ten years, a monster hungry for humans may attack the village, or it might instead devour all the animals living in the forest in front of the village where the current villagers went to hunt for animals. 

“How can you believe that!” 

She had never seen a single monster, let alone a single hair of a monster, in all the time she had lived in this village. 

Miela kicked the grass on the side of the road in anger and fumed. 

The sacrifice offered ten years ago disappeared without a trace. She wondered if the villagers just said they offered it to the monster and got away, or if the sacrifice ran away after being offered.

In the end, they just needed a sacrificial lamb to make themselves feel better.

Among them, she was an orphan, unmarried, and poor. Even if she was not a native, but from a different village, she would have been the easiest target. 

“…… I wonder how Rumi is doing.” 

Miela hesitated and turned toward Rumi’s house, as she had become her friend a few years ago. 

Rumi, like herself, was from a different village. Miela was under a lot of pressure as she was working hard by herself but Rumi had even more pressure as a single mother, raising a three-year-old. 

Rumi was a maidservant of the lord of the city across the mountain, and she was pregnant with his child. The lord’s wife tried to kill her, so she ran away for her life and arrived at Duke Village. 

Duke Village was located in a remote area, so outsiders rarely visited. The village itself was a closed society, but the villagers were surprisingly friendly to outsiders. 

‘They had no choice but to do otherwise.’ 

They needed a sacrifice for the monster once every ten years. 

When her mother arrived at the village with young Miela, the villagers were more friendly than they needed to be. They willingly gave them a house and a bed to rest their tired body and food to fill their hungry stomach. 

They didn’t even ask her why she ran away. The next morning, a villager brought breakfast and asked, “Is there anything you know how to do?” 

Mom was good at embroidery. There was no need to embroider in a small village, but there was always something to sew. 

The villagers gave her work and food, so the mother and daughter naturally settled in Duke Village. 

Thinking back, it was almost the same when Rumi came. They gave Rumi, who was already visibly pregnant, a house and food without asking her why, saying that she must have had a hard time. It was the same when Miela and her mother came to the village. They also knew that no one who wasn’t being chased would come here. 

“Rumi, are you in there?” 

“Mi, ela…….” 

When she opened the small door and went in, Rumi, who was crying in the corner of the room while holding her child, raised her head. She must have been crying for a long time, because her whole face was covered in tears.

“Rumi…. did the villagers, to you too….” 

“Miela, you too?” 

Rumi burst into tears again. The child, like Miela, was exhausted from hunger and had fallen asleep. Even when her mother cried loudly, the child didn’t wake up. 

“What do we do…, what do we do? If one of us doesn’t go, a monster might come down to the village at night and take our Lena. If I go, what will happen to our Lena? But if I don’t go, our Lena….” 

Rumi clung to Miela, sobbing as if she was about to suffocate, but never said, ‘Can’t you go?’

Rumi and Miela had become close friends because they were in similar situations. Although they both had their own shortcomings, Rumi was kind enough to always put a bite in Miela’s mouth whenever she had some. Rumi, who cared about Lena as much as her own life even though she was the child of a lord who ruined her life. 

Miela bit her lips tightly. 

She remembered her mother, who moved to different villages dozens of times for her and took on all kinds of hardships, and never complained.

Now she had no mother. But Lena had Rumi. If she sacrificed herself, she could protect them both. 

Miela staggered out of Rumi’s house and headed back to the village elder’s house. 

Each step felt heavy. Sweat dripped down her feet, which would not easily move. Tears welled up. In the end, she cried with every step. 

Even before settling down in Duke Village, in Miela’s earliest memories, her mother was already accustomed to wandering around. 

“From now on, you are going on a secret trip with mom.” 

It was only much later that she realized that what her mother meant by “trip” was really “running away.” 

Living in a new village did not last more than half a year. Every once in a while, wild animals and mountain animals would come down to the village and cause damage. Every time, the glares would be directed at the suspicious mother and daughter who came from outside. 

It had been nearly ten years since they had settled in Duke Village. But looking back, they had walked into the mouth of a monster. 

Whether they were eaten by wild beasts in another village or by a monster in this village, they might have been destined to be eaten to death. 

The elder opened the door in surprise at the sound of banging. 

“Miela? What else do you have to say?” 

“I’ll do it.” 

“Re, really? That……” 

It was annoying how she had been pushed so much, but now that she had actually come forward, they were flustered. 

“I’ll do it! Whether it’s a monster or an animal, I’ll go into the mouth, so leave Rumi and Lena alone!” 

* * * (read on pink-grapes.blogspot.com) 

“We have to start preparing from today. Miela, I……” 

“…… yes, I understand.” 

Although she didn’t regret stepping forward, she was still breathless at the words that she was going to start preparing to be the sacrifice. 

Various rituals were performed, making her wonder if such a thing was even meaningful to the monster. 

Since it was a ritual that was held once every ten years, only the village elders, the village representative, Mr. Son, and the village ladies who had helped decorate the sacrifice ten years ago were able to remember it properly. 

After the decorations were finished, the people who had come to say their final goodbyes came into the room one by one. Most of them could not even make eye contact and just apologized or thanked her. 

“Thank you, because of you, the village……, I am grateful and sorry, Miela.” 

Miela sat upright and did not respond. Now, just seeing the faces of the villagers was enough to annoy her. After Rumi, who had cried a lot, left, the last one to come in was Jack. 

He was a villager as the same age who had usually taken good care of Miela. Jack had even insisted that they not offer a sacrifice

Miela’s expression softened. 

“You’re here?” 

“Miela.” 

Jack stood at the doorway, staring at Miela with a stiff face, then came close and grabbed her arm. 

“…… If you want to run away, I will help you.” 

She had heard it before. She was grateful but those were merely words to shake her up.  Miela smiled lightly and shook her head. 

“If I run away, they will offer Rumi.” 

She couldn’t run away. 

She just laughed while looking at Jack’s face that looked like it was going to cry. Crying wouldn’t make all this reality go away. 

After everyone finished greeting her, Miela was led by the people’s hands into the forest. 

The entrance to the Monster Forest was so dark that she couldn’t see well even though it was during the day. 

She came to a place she normally wouldn’t even approach. She didn’t know when or who decided, but the boundaries of the forest where they could hunt were strictly observed. The rest was the land of monsters. 

Occasionally, outsiders would cross the Monster Forest, but the people thought they were lucky. 

In fact, no one had actually seen a monster. They didn’t even know if there was a monster or not. However, a sacrifice was offered once every ten years, and no sacrifices were returned to the village. With that, monsters became a real fear. 

The Monster Forest was quite dark, and there were only trees and grass around. Nevertheless, the people were very nervous. They moved stiffly with shoulders hunched and gazes gaze fixed on the ground. 

With Miela in the middle, the people carefully decorated the area and quickly left.

“Well, Miella. Take care.” 

They didn’t even wish her a happy life. The people disappeared without even waiting for her answer. 

“…… Haha.” 

Miela, who was suddenly alone, burst into laughter and looked around. Her neck was stiff as tension rose to the top of her head. 

Miela was kneeling in the middle of the bushes. She was wearing a gorgeous dress that one would only wear at a wedding. The hem of her dress draped over the bushes like flowers. All sorts of tributes were laid out around her. 

Sacrificial offerings are offered to be eaten by the monster. In other words, monsters eat people. Of course, no one has seen it. They say they eat them. 

The main dish was Miela. The things laid out around her were decorations.

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