Malin left the matter of the lady to Xibion to handle and returned to the royal villa, beginning preparations for the upcoming tasks—the local Goddess of Harvest Church was experiencing some trouble of late—nightwalker banshees have been appearing in the large farming estate to the south, resulting in three dead farmers and two Demon Hunters. The farmers were the initial victims, and the young Demon Hunters, thinking they were dealing with ordinary banshees, which generally speaking would be a sure victory for new Demon Hunters (Malin himself had vanquished one during his Apprentice phase when prepared).
However, the nightwalker banshee was different; emerging from the outer planes of Chaos, it possessed human-like intelligence and was extremely dangerous. There was almost no difference in appearance between it and ordinary banshees, but the level of threat was incomparable.
Initially, the Church of Justice had readied an Elite squad to handle the situation without jurisdiction, as the nightwalker banshee was incredibly dangerous and needed to be dealt with swiftly. Otherwise, it would involuntarily call its kind, which was extremely perilous.
But upon hearing of Malin’s arrival in Rongma, the Church of Justice felt there was no need for them to take unauthorized action. After lunch, Malin went to the scene for a look—the wide wheat field stretched across Farole in the south; Rongma was also in the south, and the wheat was about to ripen, thus the fields were a golden hue all around.
If not for the nightwalker banshee being too dangerous, Malin might have waited a few days to let the farmers harvest the wheat first.
Unfortunately, there was no ’if’.
Malin chose the battlefield and then began setting up the Array—while he couldn’t prevent the banshee from switching between Subspace and the real world at will, nor did he want to, considering such transitions require establishing a Dimensional Anchor. After all, he was entering the field tonight with the intent to kill the banshee; he couldn’t let it escape.
Of course, the Dimensional Anchor wouldn’t be activated immediately; it would only be activated when the banshee appeared. Malin assigned Bippo to deal with it, letting the little creature open a sanctuary and wait for Malin’s command.
Since the nightwalker banshee wasn’t a local, Malin had no intention of sparing her; his plan was to kill her upon encounter, and that would be the end of it.
However, with two hours left until nightfall, Malin, finding himself with nothing else to do, decided to hold a free dental clinic, bringing out the old and young from the farming estate for a preliminary check-up.
The teeth of the farmers in Farole’s nationally-owned estate, which housed families who lost their land but had no other skills, did not bode well for dental health—farmers around 40 years old all had missing teeth and many had their entire mouths rotten, opening their mouths as if Nagoth was directly addressing experts. In contrast, farmers around 30 years old generally only had a few missing teeth, but the tartar problem was severe, bringing joy to the hearts of loving fathers whenever they opened their mouths. It was only the young people, 20 years old and younger, who allowed Malin to remove his mask woven from World Tree Saplings to dispel odors.
In addition, there were other issues, but none as serious as dental problems—in Malin’s view, life for the elderly farmers with rotten teeth was miserable; unable to chew various foods, they reduced their intake, resulting in a vicious cycle. In this era, that was not merely a reduction in the quality of life.
There were people around 60 years old in the estate, but only four of them, all possessing very good teeth—losing at most three due to biting hard objects.
Malin’s advice to the Benevolent Church’s Assistant Priest stationed at the estate was to make use of dental floss, and he taught him how to remove the farmers’ dental calculus and plaque—usually with small files, hammers, and needles, then closing gum flaps and wounds with Spell Formations.
Encouraging young people to use dental floss, starting with the farmers around 30, those around 40 would require root cleanings and the crown reconstructions with Spell Formations. Malin paid for these treatments; the estate would become his pilot area, and he believed the farmers’ survival rate would significantly increase.
After dealing with all this, the clock struck 1745 in the afternoon, with the sunlight turning into the last glimmers atop the distant sea. Malin instructed his girls to return to the Undead-repelling Array inside the estate—it was the primary reason why there were only three victims.
Having consumed the Holy Communion prepared by the local church, he waited for the moon to rise before stepping out of the estate with the long sword made from the combination of Mana and Melo.
Lorrin floated above, helping Malin hold the Spiritual Energy lamp, as the moonlit wheat field swayed with the wind.
Gazing at the young girl standing in the wheat field ahead, Malin felt an unease within—everyone said that the nightwalker banshee would take the form of the person deepest in one’s heart, so when the girl in the long dress turned around, Malin could only sigh inwardly, acknowledging it had been a long time since they’d seen each other.
·It’s been a long time, Malin.
The nightwalker banshee smiled and ran towards Malin, apparently seeking an embrace.
Such was the sorrow of the banshee, naively believing she had the upper hand and could kill her target with an embrace.
Her embrace was met with nothing but the long blade Malin thrust into her chest; the World Tree Sapling turned into a nail at that moment, disrupting her Subspace travel and thwarting her teleportation plans.
Taking hold of the combination of Fio and Blood Roar, Malin kicked the banshee down and severed her ’head’.
A decaying head rolled to the side.