Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: They Back Me Up No Matter What I Do? (2)
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Entering the basement of the building, I couldn't help but let out a gasp of admiration.
It was spacious, but the scene unfolding inside was incredibly varied.
"They've really set this up in secret, haven't they?"
Someone of Parmon Elder's caliber wouldn't have done this without careful thought.
Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that this might be going too far.
"Goodness, this guy seems like he lived a decent life..."
A soldier sprawled flat on the floor.
Just like any soldier, he was probably stationed here to guard the place on orders.
Unfortunately, he was lying unconscious on the ground.
Drantz, who had been following me, indifferently turned his head away.
"If he'd been wearing a dwarf-made helmet, he might've been fine."
"Parmon Elder hit him, though?"
"...He could've at least twitched."
Seeing him hastily correct himself, it was clear that our elders were exceptions to the rule.
A slap that even a dwarf-made helmet couldn't block...
The deeper we went, the more people were lying on the floor.
"This one's a knight, I guess."
Being a knight, he must have managed at least a twitch.
His sprawled position wasn't perfectly straight.
"Hmm..."
Let me take that back.
He seemed to have done the 'twitch' part of it.
His sword was half-drawn, after all.
His puffy face, crammed into the helmet, proved just how hard he'd been hit.
The children's spirits around were even spectating it, which said it all.
"Is this really okay...?"
Drantz snorted.
"It's fine."
"Really?"
"Those two have snuck into places like this countless times."
The elders' lives clearly hadn't been ordinary...
Just what kind of lives had they lived?
"During the Continental War, there was an allied force that recklessly charged ahead. A kingdom that's since perished."
His following story piqued my interest.
I hadn't heard much about those days.
"It was dismissed as a valid strategy at the time. But those two judged it reckless."
"And then?"
"They blew up all of that allied force's supplies. Took out their commander's tent while they were at it."
"...?"
I didn't know much about war, but weren't supplies super important?
The kind of thing without which you couldn't fight at all?
"In the end, it saved us from a major crisis. Without those two, we'd all have died. It was a gathering of idiots, so it fell anyway."
"As expected..."
"They might seem impulsive, but they're incredibly meticulous."
According to Drantz, the elders were incredibly capable.
Well, they were veterans of the Continental War, so of course they'd mastered all sorts of tactics.
"And they've cut off necromancers' heads plenty of times besides."
"No need to worry, then."
As we walked and talked, the children's expressions darkened.
They seemed worried about the kids locked up with them.
Impressively, they'd even made friends in the midst of it.
"It's okay. An ridiculously powerful elder went ahead."
The kids nodded simultaneously after looking around.
This scene was convincing enough even for children.
"This must be the place."
An open door.
Children trembling in fear.
And the sounds coming from inside.
Crack!
"We'll stand watch here. They have business with that side too."
Drantz nodded toward Serena.
Serena nodded as well, so it seemed like something between them.
"Please take care of this."
The sight that greeted me as soon as I entered was enough to make me grimace.
A filthy floor scattered with bloodstains everywhere.
Rusted iron bars.
And the children locked inside.
Some even looked newly arrived, their clothes still clean.
Parmon Elder bent the iron bars to make an entrance.
"You've arrived?"
"Is it okay to turn the place upside down like this?"
"Rescuing the children without doing this was impossible."
Unless these guys were idiots, they wouldn't leave the guards completely unmanned.
Some clash was inevitable.
"This way is the surest and safest."
"..."
More than the elder's words, one child caught my eye.
A child trembling in terror.
This one stood out particularly.
"Is there something about that child?"
"Yes. First, the kids..."
There were about forty children locked up.
All trembling in fear, but this one was slightly different.
"...Did you come to rescue us?"
Her trembling eyes met mine.
"Yeah."
"Then... can we go home?"
"Yep."
The trembling in her hands began to subside, as if in relief.
Her moist eyes seemed to be thinking of her parents.
"Who are you uncles...?"
"We're..."
Before I could say who we were, there was something I needed to check first.
My hand reached to my waist, touching the cold rattle.
Ting-a-ling!
"...Uncle?"
A possessing spirit circling the child.
What had caught my eye earlier was now clear.
"Not a kid, huh?"
"...Pardon?"
"A grown man in his tens of decades is holed up inside."
Parmon Elder paused in freeing the children and stared intently at the spot.
"Enough with the act."
A chilling smile formed on the child's face.
Creep...
In an instant, the guy's hand moved swiftly.
A dagger had slipped from his bosom and was now pressed against my throat.
I'd known it.
I'd seen killing karma around this 'kid'...
"How did you notice?"
The child's face.
The child's voice.
But the speech was completely different.
Unpleasantly alien, enough to cause dissonance.
And that wasn't the only odd thing.
"You've killed people, but no grudging spirits are attached?"
"..."
The guy's face stiffened.
"You don't even know your head's about to roll."
The sword was at my throat, but I noticed his state first.
It was more like it flashed through my mind.
"No mana accumulated..."
"..."
"Not even possession, in a child's body..."
He'd probably halted his growth somehow.
An assassin raised from childhood, I guessed.
An assassin who hadn't even accumulated mana to avoid detection.
Ting-a-ling!
Faint scenes rose up.
Dead children.
Children killed to erase evidence.
And this guy slipping through them.
"You were gathering souls."
"...!"
The moment I spoke,
the blade at my throat slashed across.
And shock burst out.
"...Y-You bastard...!"
Panicking, he swung the dagger again.
But it wouldn't even scratch me.
I ran barefoot through the Holy Sword Guard; a mere dagger piercing my body?
As the dagger swung once more,
Bam!
His body flew back, crashing into the wall.
Crack!
His arm breaking under the elder's foot.
Crunch!
Fingers crushed.
He wouldn't wield a sword again anytime soon.
"I was wondering how you'd escape, but I didn't expect you to just take the hit."
"No, shouldn't you help quicker if it looks dangerous?"
The elder shrugged.
"As if anything dangerous would happen to you."
"Jeez..."
Seeing him hoist the assassin over his shoulder, I turned away.
Sparkle, sparkle.
The children staring at me with burdensome awe.
"Are you a knight, uncle?"
"Nope."
"A wizard?"
"Nope."
The kids pondered what else there could be.
"I'm a shaman."
"A shaman?"
They didn't even know what it was but thought it sounded cool anyway.
"I wanna be a shaman too!"
"You guys shouldn't do this stuff."
The moment you become a shaman, a peaceful life slips away.
The more talented you are, the farther it goes.
"Time to go now? Let's head home."
I stroked the head of the still-trembling child.
The trembling faded after just a few strokes.
Her breathing evened out.
"Feels like Grandma's touch."
"Something like that."
Now all that was left was getting out of here.
The problem was how to escape with all these kids.
Too many to slip out unnoticed.
As we exited the door, Drantz and Serena greeted us.
With stiff expressions.
"Finished quicker than expected."
The kids trailing behind us.
Stepping out of the basement and into the streets, it was pure chaos.
Crimson flames and black smoke billowing in the distance.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
"Fire!"
"The granary's ablaze!"
Soldiers rushing about busily.
Few soldiers remained near us.
And those were all lying on the ground...
Closel Elder was grinning in front of them.
"You hate killing, so I put them all to sleep."
"El...Elder."
"Hm?"
Honestly, I wasn't sure if this was okay.
This was another country, after all.
If we got caught causing this ruckus, it'd be a huge problem.
The elder waved it off as if to say not to worry.
"No witnesses saw our faces, and even if we're caught, it doesn't matter."
"How could it not?"
"You'll find out in time."
Following the elder out, the path miraculously cleared.
"Whoa..."
Soldiers sleeping along the road.
Even the guards rushing to put out fires.
Thud!
"F-Fir...e...!"
Slump!
Any who approached within a certain distance collapsed.
Just as the elders said: a perfect infiltration and a perfect rescue.
"This works..."
"Where to now?"
One place immediately came to mind.
A vivid place I'd never been to.
My intuition was pulling me there.
"There's an orphanage."