Reborn as shield hero with Garps Template

Myne froze, utterly shocked by what happened in front of her.

"I clearly didn't use much force with my kick. Why did he fly back all at once? And I aimed at his waist—why did his head come off?"

Myne was filled with confusion, and soon she noticed something even stranger.

Normally, when a person loses their head, the blood should spray several meters high from the wound, or at least keep flowing. But the soldier lying in front of her, his head rolling far away, showed no sign of bleeding—an extremely abnormal situation.

Unless the soldier had been dead for a long time, he wouldn't be bleeding at all.

But Myne was sure that when she had returned to Lute Village, this "soldier" was still in good condition.

"Hey... Go over and check it out!"

Myne, hesitant to investigate the specifics herself, nudged another soldier standing nearby.

The result was identical: even with a gentle push, the soldier lost his balance and toppled slowly to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"Could it be that they're all..."

Myne took a deep breath and cautiously approached a third soldier.

She saw that although he was still standing, blood was streaming from his seven orifices, and the stains had already solidified—he had clearly been dead for a while.

At that moment, Myne was entirely convinced that these soldiers had been dead for quite some time.

Before Myne could process this revelation, she suddenly felt a hand grab her ankle.

At that instant, she felt like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; every hair on her body stood on end.

"Who?!"

Myne spun around hastily, only to find that it was the soldier she had just pushed, reaching out to seize her.

"I warned you not to enter the village. Why didn't you listen? Why didn't you listen?!"

The soldier's roar was ferocious, and his blood-smeared face was utterly horrifying.

"I didn't kill you! Don't come after me—get away, get away!"

Myne was so terrified her soul felt like it was leaving her body. Trembling, she instinctively raised her foot and stomped desperately on the soldier's hand, trying to free herself.

Soon, the soldier let go.

Myne lost her balance and fell to the ground, looking utterly disheveled.

At this point, she didn't dare to examine the soldiers any further. Scrambling with her hands and feet, she crawled frantically out of the village.

It seemed like if she could just get out of the village, she would be saved—she could escape all of this.

The entrance to the village was right in front of her; just a few more steps and she would be free.

But then Myne saw a flash of light on the ground in front of her, and figures began to materialize. Looking closely, they were all villagers from Lute Village.

"Why did you kill us?!"

"Return our lives!"

"Come to hell with us!"

As these villagers appeared, their mournful voices echoed one after another.

"No... No, I didn't kill you!" Myne screamed, backing away as they approached.

"Still trying to deny it?!"

"It's because of the high taxes you imposed that we couldn't survive!"

"It's you! You're the one who killed us!"

The villagers' voices echoed in her mind.

As they drew closer, something in Myne's mind seemed to snap. Her face twisted with rage, and she leaped to her feet.

"As the future queen, no matter how much tax I collect, it's justified! Obey and die as you should!"

"Don't show yourselves again after you're dead—get out of here, you lowlifes!"

Myne then began to chant, and a barrage of wind blades shot from her hands.

However, the blades passed right through the villagers as if they were a light curtain, only to return to normal afterward.

"It's useless. We're dead; your power can't harm us anymore!"

"Let us drag you to hell!"

The faces of the villagers twisted into ghastly grimaces.

Seeing these dreadful masks, Myne's body and mind tensed further, and she frantically launched even more wind blades, screaming, "I don't believe it! Die! Die!"

But with such reckless use of magic, she soon exhausted her power. No more wind blades emerged, yet the villagers kept advancing slowly.

"Back~~~"

At that moment, the overwhelming pressure and terror exceeded the limits of Myne's endurance, and her mind finally broke. She collapsed, foam frothing from her mouth, her entire body convulsing.

As she fell, the villagers vanished instantly, and the figures of Jack and the others appeared at the entrance to the village.

"She passed out just like that? And here we prepared so many contingencies!"

"Well, the objective is complete. Gather the surrounding Magic Image Crystals and leave no evidence."

Jack and the others quickly retrieved the crystals scattered on the ground.

...

All of this was meticulously orchestrated by Jason, and the villagers were very much alive.

The function of the Magic Image Crystals was to record the surroundings. First, the villagers captured an image, which was then projected as a 3D illusion—an elaborate ghostly ruse.

Here's the corrected and enhanced version of the additional passage with your preferences applied:

Because these were mere illusions, Myne's wind blades couldn't inflict any real damage on them.

Of course, if one observed closely, the flaws were still visible.

When Motoyasu and Myne entered the village, Jason had carefully orchestrated the legend of the "Soul-Returning Night," subtly planting psychological hints throughout their stay.

When they arrived at the square, the bonfire wasn't just any ordinary bonfire—it contained a magic plant called Tesia, which reduced magic resistance and caused mental disorientation. The fire was kept burning daily, releasing a peculiar fragrance.

The sudden plunge into darkness was due to Lilith's magic. The Tesia plant's effects lowered their magic resistance, extending the duration of the illusion's effects. The "Faceless Man" was, of course, played by Jack and the others; all he needed was to wear a simple leather mask.

They altered the food served at the restaurant and waited until Motoyasu and Myne returned there to ramp up the psychological pressure, planting further suggestions. Then they subtly lured Motoyasu away, causing the group to split.

Finally, Jason manipulated Myne to head toward the village's entrance, where they used the Magic Image Crystals to conjure ghostly apparitions. Due to the prior sequence of events, Myne's fear had been magnified to the point where she couldn't notice any inconsistencies.

In essence, Jason, Jack, and the villagers of Lute Village pulled off an elaborate act that terrified Motoyasu, Myne, and the others to the point of near breakdown.

To put it plainly, everything was a charade—except for the soldiers stationed at the village entrance. They were genuinely dead and had been authentic soldiers, killed by Jack and his group beforehand, except for the one who grabbed Myne's ankle, who was just playing a part.

"Is Myne taken care of? What about Motoyasu?"

At that moment, Jason arrived at the entrance of the village and addressed Jack and the others.

"The Spear Hero is in worse shape than Myne—Lilith knocked him out cold," Jack replied with a slight smile. The "female adventurer" Motoyasu had encountered on the second floor of the restaurant had been Lilith in disguise.

"And... did you get it all recorded?"

As soon as Jason asked, Jack handed him several Magic Image Crystals, each one containing footage of Motoyasu and Myne in their most terrified moments.

"Excellent... now it's time for the next phase," Jason said with a nod, casting a cold smile as he looked down at Myne, lying unconscious on the ground.