This Won't Be a Banshee, Will It

The woman before Rein was wearing a coarse, brown linen tunic, stained with blood. Some of it was dried and caked a dark, blackish-red, while other parts were still flowing, a vibrant scarlet.

However, her clothes didn't seem to fit her well. The wide collar offered glimpses of a snow-white, deep cleavage.

Clearly, this linen garment looked more like men's attire.

But even so, it couldn't conceal her tall, proud figure.

She was barefoot, her exposed ankles covered in bloody abrasions from being scraped by gravel. This was the delicate skin of a pampered noble lady, not that of a traveler who frequented the wilderness.

A thick layer of wet cloth strips covered the woman's face, likely a makeshift gas mask, obscuring her features from Rein's view.

A cascade of golden, wavy curls clung damply to her cheeks. She appeared very weak.

However, encountering a lone woman in the wilderness made Rein extremely wary.

Especially since... the woman's hands were covered in blood!

Judging by the smell, it was a strong, fishy scent of mixed human and beast blood.

This woman exuded an aura of strangeness from head to toe.

Alone, in the wilderness, covered in blood, wearing thin clothes – none of it suggested a normal person.

Legend had it that in the Ice Ridge Wasteland, there was a monster called the [Wailing Banshee]. They were vengeful spirits corrupted by demonic energy, possessing deadly danger. They would disguise themselves as weak and helpless maidens to lure passing travelers, then devour their brains...

Was she human, or a monster?

Rein dared not make a move.

The masked, blonde woman froze on the spot, like a deer that had suddenly burst from the woods only to encounter a hunter.

The moment their eyes met, Rein clearly saw the hopeful light in the woman's eyes quickly extinguish.

That gaze, which had seemed to hold immense hope, suddenly turned into the dimness of despair.

"Not an Imperial Knight..."

The blonde woman murmured, her voice like a fine thread, her expression suddenly darkening.

Staggering, she could no longer keep her balance.

Having reached this point, she had exhausted her last bit of strength. As her resolve wavered, she could no longer hold on and finally collapsed to the ground, passing out.

Ymir felt her condition was utterly terrible.

Can you imagine the hope one would feel in a desperate situation, seeing the tracks of their Oma Royal Mechanical Knights' specialized steam locomotive appear on the desolate wilderness?

These were fresh tire tracks, proving that an Imperial Knight had indeed passed through here not long ago.

Ymir thought that anyone who could venture alone into this "Bakenya Highlands" was likely a knight-captain of considerable strength.

Perhaps she was saved.

She couldn't recall how far she had walked in her daze; the tire tracks were the only hope that kept her going.

Then, the tire tracks vanished into thin air, and the locomotive rider was nowhere to be seen.

In her despair, she heard sounds of fighting and saw a firelight...

Then, with her last sliver of hope rekindled, she had sought it out.

Upon seeing Rein, her hope instantly turned to despair.

It turned out to be just a lost, ordinary traveler.

Perhaps, her life was about to end.

"She fainted?"

Rein frowned, his gaze showing a hint of seriousness and suspicion.

This was the Ice Ridge Wasteland, and the chance of encountering a lone human was as low as being struck by a meteorite.

Yet, here he was, encountering one!

He observed her from a distance for a good while, and the woman lying on the ground showed no signs of suddenly lunging to bite his neck.

In Rein's perception, though faint, the woman clearly had a heartbeat and was breathing.

At the very least, she seemed to be human, not some kind of banshee.

He thought she had probably truly fainted.

The night was deep, the dew on the muddy ground had condensed into frost, and the temperature had dropped to freezing.

The woman, clad only in a thin linen tunic, lay there quietly. Alone and helpless, like a soaked kitten shivering in the winter.

This world was by no means a kind one; Rein had learned this deeply during his year with the Phantom Thieves.

Now, with a severely injured and unconscious woman suddenly appearing in the wilderness, anyone could guess something was amiss.

Was this unconscious woman being chased here by people or magical beasts?

Or perhaps... for other reasons?

Rein didn't rush closer but observed her carefully from afar.

He noticed that besides the linen outer garment, the woman had nothing else that could hint at her identity. No Storage Ring, no jewelry, no coins, weapons, or hairpins...

Rein had learned professional tracking and counter-tracking from the phantom thieves. After this observation, he instantly made a calm analysis in his mind: "There are no personal belongings, and this linen robe isn't women's clothing either. She probably took it from some corpse. She might have been afraid of being located and tracked, so she discarded everything on her."

He had already concluded in his heart that this woman was most likely being hunted.

Then, in the next moment, Rein's gaze fell on the fresh bloodstains on the woman's clothes, and he confirmed, "She has untreated external wounds on her chest. She fled in a hurry, and her pursuers should still be looking for her."

When he then saw the crimson color under her fingernails, his pupils suddenly contracted, "There are flesh and blood fragments remaining, and they're still fresh!"

It wasn't hard to deduce that whether it was a human or a magical beast, this woman must have killed something alive with her bare hands on her way here, getting these meat fragments and tissues on her.

The magical beasts in this wasteland were no joke. Even the weakest Canine Rabbits, of which there were three, had almost made him flee in disarray before.

This woman was unarmed, so how did she walk all the way to the depths of the wasteland?

The only explanation was that even though she was severely injured, this woman was far stronger than he could handle!

Having determined this, Rein immediately became vigilant and had no intention of meddling further.

He didn't intend to get involved with this stranger who clearly seemed like "big trouble."

This woman was now unconscious in his camp. Rein wanted to stay away from this trouble, preferably by staying far from her.

However, traversing the wasteland in the dark was even more dangerous.

Giving up the campfire safety he had finally secured after killing three Canine Rabbits to find another place was clearly not a wise choice.

"Forget it. Let's hope this woman handled things cleanly and her pursuers won't find her anytime soon."

Rein weighed the options for a moment, then prepared to abandon the woman, letting her fend for herself.

As soon as dawn broke, he would leave immediately.

Although he was a half-baked doctor, he could tell. If she wasn't cared for, this severely injured woman wouldn't make it through the night. She would either bleed to death or freeze to death in this wasteland.

This was also the most trouble-free choice, one that wouldn't involve any complications.

Moreover, if the body cooled down, it might provide more materials.

Having made this decision, Rein no longer paid attention to her and closed his eyes to begin meditating.

The crackling of the campfire reached his ears, sounding exceptionally clear in the absolute silence.

Because he had to constantly be aware of any movement in the camp, Rein's senses remained sharp even while meditating.

After an unknown amount of time passed like this.

He suddenly heard human voices and his eyes snapped open.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that it was the severely injured woman mumbling in her sleep.

"Father, I believe all people are born equal."

"Humanity's greatness lies not in their ability to bully their own kind, but in living with dignity while fighting this world of mist."

"I dream of a day when all people, whether commoners or nobles, can enjoy the same freedom, equality, and justice under the sun."

"May the Holy Light shine upon the world."

"."

Her weak voice was intermittent, but the words clearly entered Rein's ears.

He looked at the severely injured, unconscious woman, and as she mumbled in her delirium, his expression suddenly became very strange.

Having transmigrated for a year, he had grown accustomed to human selfishness, treachery, cunning, and malicious schemes.

But this was the first time he felt like he was hearing something different.

It was as if in the endless darkness, he saw a solitary lighthouse, its light faint, yet piercing the darkness.

Rein didn't want to pay attention.

His experience also told him not to provoke trouble.

But why did he have this lingering feeling in his heart?

His research from his previous life had been thorough: dreams were when the psyche was at its weakest, and most of the time, sleep-talking was a true reflection of one's nature, without any false pretense.

Although he was reluctant to believe his own judgment, his "Smart Brain" had already analyzed the results through micro-expressions and speech patterns, changing the rating from "Yellow" to "Green"!

And before this, during his year with the phantom thieves, the "Smart Brain's" human nature ratings for people around him had all been Yellow, Orange, or Red – "evil people"!

This was the first time a Green rating had appeared?

Could there really be people in this world who were rated "Good" by the system?

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