Chapter 112
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: What Celine Can Do
"What? So all those people are dead?!"
Celine, having learned through us and the newspapers we'd gathered about what had happened during the past month while she was imprisoned, was horrified to hear that the villagers Brayden had been aiding with relief efforts were vanishing one by one. She'd used the utmost honorifics with me when her spirit was shattered, but now that she'd regained even a bit of composure, her speech had returned to its usual tone. Of course, it was still less sharp than before.
"Yeah. You agree that wasn't our doing, right? It takes time to get from here to there—it's physically impossible for us to have pulled that off while keeping you for a whole month."
"I... I didn't say it was you guys' fault..."
Remembering how she'd hurled abuse at us during her captivity, Celine averted her gaze and fidgeted with her fingers. After that incident, she'd tried to escape only to return on her own, which had left her far more dejected than before.
"Wasn't blaming you or anything. Anyway, those Underground Vermin bastards are using the Holy Warrior's relief efforts as a pretext to gather large numbers of people in one place, then spreading curses and hexes to harvest their blood and souls. It's almost exactly like what happened in Arborness before."
"Come to think of it, that's what I was wondering... I heard you caused the terrorist attack at the Carrot Duchy border and burned down Arborness, but why were Ravi and Elfin with you? And Lenis was clearly kidnapped by you right in front of a crowd..."
"Hmm, some of that's true, some isn't..."
I, along with Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis, explained to Celine what we'd experienced. I'd once used my eye's ability to create an illusion and show her before, but back then she was too stubborn to believe it. Now, with the situation changed, the same story seemed to carry some convincing weight. As we shared our experiences and exchanged views, Celine gradually began leaning toward the idea that we weren't the real culprits the world made us out to be. What ultimately shook her decisively was Lenis's words.
"Speaking of which, Celine, there's something I've been wanting to ask you. The Libertà purge—what on earth were you thinking? The Celine I know wouldn't have gone along with something like that so easily."
"L-Libertà...?"
The mention of the Libertà purge clearly pricked Celine's conscience hard; she flinched at the mere mention of it.
"Now that I think about it, we never heard exactly what went down in Libertà. All we know is that Vector cooperated with you all to help with the purge. Celine, what happened back then? What exactly did Vector and Brayden say?"
As someone who'd been right there, hearing every word, Celine recounted what she'd witnessed. The moment Vector suggested retreating after seeing the thugs in Libertà resist, Brayden drew his sword first and cleaved one of them in half with sword energy. That sparked the Libertà purge, making escape impossible for anyone. Hearing that Vector had deliberately nudged Brayden toward retreat while adding, "The world might buzz about it for a bit," made me sigh involuntarily. From the start, he'd been gaslighting Brayden, trying to turn him into their pawn. A guy already convinced he was some superior being would snap under that kind of pressure—fearing failure and obsessing over others' eyes—and start that massacre.
"Brayden might not intend it, but he's the perfect pawn for the Underground Vermin. The Libertà incident was one thing, but this time too, they flattered his ego and he gathered all those sacrificial victims without even realizing he was being used."
I concluded that Brayden couldn't be left as he was.
"Stopping the Underground Vermin is priority one, but we have to stop Brayden too. He still sees us as terrorists, though... so a clash is inevitable sooner or later."
"You gonna fight him?"
I nodded at Ravi's question.
"If there's no choice, yeah."
Looking at Ravi, Elfin, and Lenis, I said, "If you're uncomfortable with it, you don't have to fight Brayden when the time comes. I'll handle it somehow."
But all three shook their heads in unison.
"Me? No way. The only one I love now is Alvis—why wouldn't I fight Brayden?"
"Well, it's not so much for you as it is that I still haven't repaid you enough for saving my entire clan..."
"Ahem, no choice, I guess. You've gotten way stronger than back at the academy, but I've seen you charge like a wild boar and crash out pathetically dozens of times—no reason to think you won't again. And I'm the only one here who can use magic... so be grateful."
Some were honest, some less so, but in the end, all three agreed to fight alongside me. My girlfriends were so reliable. But then Celine burst in with a shriek, like she was having a fit.
"No!!!"
Her intensity startled not just the other three, but even me into flinching. Of all things, "no"... Had reason suddenly kicked in at this late hour? That would be a problem... But Celine's response wasn't quite what I'd expected.
"No! Brayden... I'll handle him! I'll make that bastard pay for how he treated me! I'll kill him with my own hands, no question! Alvis! No, Lord Alvis! You said you needed me. You said I was useful. I'll prove it. I'll prove I'm worth keeping by killing that bastard Brayden! So don't abandon me. I'll do anything. Please..."
The moment Brayden's name came up, Celine's eyes went wild as she clung to my leg, crawling and begging. Her mental state seemed pretty broken... I lifted the muttering madwoman Celine and held her close. A woman in such a fragile state needed gentle coaxing and reassurance to recover.
"Of course I'll be counting on you too. I told you—we all need you, me included. Someone with your skills is main-force material anywhere; I was worried you'd say you couldn't fight. I'll trust you with a lot from now on, so don't worry."
"Ahh... Lord Alvis..."
"Drop the weird honorifics. It's tickling."
"Y-Yes... Ah, no, yeah... Thank you... Thank you..."
Just before breaking out, she'd been cursing and insulting me nonstop, but now her attitude had flipped 180 degrees. She buried herself in my arms like a stray dog finally finding its owner, rubbing her face against my chest like a real puppy. After calming Celine, I spread out a map and pointed to our destination.
"The villages are being offered up as sacrifices at roughly one-day intervals now. The locations are steadily moving down from the far north. Four villages' refugee shelters have already seen outbreaks of plague and mass disappearances. The fifth is next. According to the Holy Warrior relief activity schedule, that's... here."
I pointed to three villages slightly behind the Empire's western-central front lines. Then to the temporary refugee shelter where their people were gathered: the Aguster Shelter.
"This is 100% the next target. Probably tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?! That's too soon!"
I nodded at Ravi's exclamation and glanced at Linian.
"With Linian's help, we leave immediately. The Underground Vermin probably aren't even bothering to hide their target. They're desperate to recover the last fragment of power they couldn't retrieve."
"So they know we're coming? Won't they set a trap?"
"Probably. Whether it's a trap or holding the civilians hostage for leverage. But we can't avoid it. If we look away, they'll sacrifice every refugee shelter Brayden's been hitting. Even though turning them into offerings won't actually make the bastards stronger."
Lenis nodded at my words but still pointed out the lingering issue.
"But even if we go and fight the Underground Vermin, can we really save everyone there? We're strong in combat, sure, but we're only seven people total. The shelter's got thousands, at least..."
"Huh? Why do you say we're only seven?"
Lenis tilted her head at my counterquestion.
"Why only seven...? There's seven of us here, including you."
"Nah. Add 500 more."
"...Ah!"
Lenis finally remembered the ones she'd momentarily forgotten and clapped her hands. I took Celine's hand and gave her a warm smile.
"Celine? You've just joined up, but I need a favor right away. Think you can convince the Sword of the Goddess squad who came with you? While we fight, they can evacuate the people from the Aguster Shelter safely. We've treated them well with no major inconveniences, so if you explain the goal, they might cooperate. Can you do it?"
Celine's dull eyes lit up again as she gripped my hand back.
"Y-Yeah! I'll talk to them! No, let me! I'll convince them for sure! See, I really am useful! Thanks for recognizing it! I'll handle anything from now on, so keep giving me stuff to do!"
"Ha... haha..."
Realizing her mental state was even more damaged than I'd thought, I squeezed her hand in return.
Once the fight at the Aguster Shelter was over, I'd have to love her properly to help her regain her sanity.