The Piper of Hameln
The sound of a flute echoing through Hameln. Hansel knows the story. The village of Hameln was once plagued by a swarm of rats so vast and rampant that even the cats couldn't handle them. To put it mildly, their numbers grew to exceed every single grain of wheat in the village, leading the mayor to offer a massive reward to anyone who could exterminate them. Then, a stranger appeared—the Pied Piper—who used the melody of his flute to lure every last rat into the river, drowning them all. But the mayor and the villagers, true to their greed, wiped their hands clean and chased him away without paying a cent. Enraged, the piper used his flute to bewitch all the children of the village, leading them away to parts unknown, never to be seen again. Only after losing all their children did the villagers beat their chests in regret, but it was too late. That was the story.
'In that story, it was obvious to anyone that the villagers were the trash and the piper was the victim who got stiffed. But here, it’s the opposite—the villagers are kind, and the piper is just a psycho. No, I can't even say that for sure.'
It is common for an orphaned girl in a small, closed-off society to be mistreated and eventually fall into something akin to sexual slavery, but that doesn't apply to Sophia. Whether that’s because the villagers are genuinely rare, kind-hearted people, or because Sophia isn't just a parasite eating their food but someone capable of concocting insecticides and cold medicine, and even treating the injured, is unclear. Judging by the memories and knowledge from his previous life, even without knowing the full details, this doesn't seem like a justified revenge against a village that failed to pay for a rat extermination.
"Let's get up on the roof and get a better view. Take care of her. We're heading up first."
To find out where the sound was ringing from and where the rats were swarming, they decided to observe from a high vantage point. Hansel sprinted up the wall onto the roof, and Gretel followed. The blessing Tinkerbell had bestowed upon them just before her death was a hope for the future, allowing the siblings—destined to be heroes—to exert the potential of their fully bloomed talents and strength far earlier than they should have. However, they were still far from strong enough to defeat the Snow Queen, who wielded the power of the seven devils.
If he were to use an analogy from the games Hansel knew, it was like having max-level stats from a boost, but lacking the skills to use them and the experience to properly display that power. How to solve that problem? Only real combat was the answer.
Gretel pulled back the string of her bow, which had no arrow. In the empty space between the bow and the string—where there had been no arrow just a moment ago—and between Gretel’s fingers, a silver arrow manifested on its own. She released the string naturally. Following the sound of the string snapping, the whistling sound of an arrow in flight pierced the air. The arrow struck dead center into a spot where only rats, and no humans, were swarming. No one knew how many were hit. No one knew if the rats had dodged it quickly or if two or three had been skewered at once. If it had been an ordinary arrow, that would have been the end of it, but the arrow Gretel fired was anything but ordinary.
A blinding flash. A thunderous explosion. The mice were fried and sent flying like corn kernels popping and scattering from a greased pan. As Gretel nocked a second arrow, something smashed through from below. Someone was invading the high ground the archer had claimed. Gretel didn't bother to guard herself. She didn't need to speak; Hansel was already prepared to fight. Without even looking back, Gretel fired the second arrow.
"Hmm, how is it going?"
"It was you. Even from up high, it’s a total mess."
The one who had smashed through the roof was Pinochia, and Hansel lowered his guard. She had jumped up, shattering the ceiling and rafters in a single leap, carrying a female patient under one arm and Sophia, who was clutching a sack full of supplies, under the other.
"H-hic... h-hic..."
Perhaps because she had been dragged up to the roof in an instant like a piece of luggage, Sophia couldn't stop trembling.
"...A-are... the patient...?"
Even in such a state, she was a true doctor who never forgot to worry about the patient she was caring for.
"Here they are."
Pinochia replied as she laid the patient she had been carrying onto the roof. The patient, who had been treated like luggage just the same, hadn't woken up through all this chaos. Lying on the roof—which was uncomfortable for sleeping—like it was a cozy bed, and being protected by others, they were truly in the most uncomfortable yet most comfortable position. Of course, how long that comfortable state of just lying there would last was anyone's guess.
"If you brought any rat poison, sprinkle it below. That way, the rats will eat it and die before they can climb up."
Rats are different from lions, tigers, or elephants—predators or large animals that are clearly threatening at a glance. Even if the sight of ten lions or tigers rushing in with a roar, or ten rats scurrying in with squeaks, might make you scream, the danger is on a completely different level. A beast is threatening even with just one, but with rats, even one, two, or ten, you might run away out of disgust, but you wouldn't think your life was truly in danger. The greatest danger of a rat lies in its reproductive power—its numbers—which can multiply in an instant. If ten aren't dangerous, you just increase it to a hundred; if a hundred aren't scary, you increase it to a thousand. Knowing this well, the Pied Piper who controls the rats had unleashed so many of them upon Hameln, like a swarm of starving locusts.
'Now, what to do.'
Holding out on the roof where the rats couldn't easily climb was fine, but Hansel pondered what to do next. The flute music continued to ring out, but the performer remained hidden. How to draw them out? Or how to find where they were hiding? As he was about to make a choice, Sophia, who had been watching the village being swallowed by the wave of black rats, screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Everyone! Come this way!"
The attention of the villagers, who were at a loss due to the sudden overflow of rats, focused on where Sophia was. One of the travelers who had arrived yesterday was busily firing glowing arrows at the rats from the roof. At the target point where the arrows flew, small explosions occurred with blinding flashes, and the rats were sent flying everywhere. That sight was enough to give the people in the village, who were in the midst of a living hell, a groundless belief and hope that that place would be safe.
'If we go there, we'll be safe!'
'Those people will protect us!'
'Let's just go!'
It was too small to accommodate all the villagers, but if they fortified the defense centered around this building, maybe they could make it work. Of course, since the villagers who wouldn't be much help in a fight were gathering in one place, the attacks of the rat swarm would also concentrate there, doubling the burden on Gretel, who was busily pulling her bowstring.
"Then... like this."
As a countermeasure, Gretel stopped firing her bow and scattered small traps all over the area below the roof.
"Are those dangerous to people, too?"
"Well, I made them like this because that's how they came out. I made them to catch rats and animals, but I don't know what will happen."
Traps with physical substance created by magical power. Compared to traps made with real effort, they were lacking in durability and usage duration, but they were perfect for a situation like this. Gretel, too, was gradually awakening her dormant power.
"Pinochia, you guard Gretel."
"What will you do?"
"I'm going down to find the one playing the flute."
Hansel left those words and jumped into the hole that had appeared in the roof when Pinochia broke through earlier. As he slipped into the hole, Hansel's figure shimmered like a heat haze, and then his appearance was completely erased. Not a single person among those who had rushed over to Sophia's hospital—where Gretel was firing arrows from the roof—had seen Hansel. Hansel slipped past those who had come running, shouting noisily and looking for ladders to climb onto the roof, as if he were walking through an empty field. They couldn't see Hansel's existence, couldn't even perceive him, and didn't even know someone had just passed between them.
"You lot, don't think about coming up. The roof will collapse. It will hinder the rat extermination. Go below, take shelves or whatever you can find, set up a perimeter, and defend yourselves so the rats can't get in. We've sprinkled rat poison and set traps, so it should be easier."
Pinochia coldly drew a line, telling the people clamoring below the hole Hansel had just descended through that coming up would only hinder the rat extermination. It might look like a cowardly act of trying to save only herself, but that was the reality. The only people who could cool-headedly help solve this situation were Hansel, who had gone to catch the one controlling the rats; Gretel, who was firing arrows at the wave of rats; Pinochia, who was guarding Gretel; and Sophia, who had come up with other medicines besides rat poison. Gretel didn't think Hansel and Pinochia's judgment was wrong, so she quietly fired arrows at the incoming rats without complaint. However, she was slowly getting annoyed by the whining coming from below.
Meanwhile, Hansel moved to find the source of the flute music. He pricked up his ears, blocking his left ear, then his right, switching back and forth to find the place where the flute music carried on the wind was flowing from.
'Ha, it's getting closer.'
Of course, the flute player wasn't just watching idly. Perhaps realizing there was something invisible, the numerous rat swarms moved busily, some sniffing the air, others keeping their eyes on the ground to search for other traces like footprints.
'But it's fine if I just get there faster.'
He just needed to find the performer before the swarm of rats that were trying to surround and bite him could, and blow a hole in their throat so they could never play the flute again. So, Hansel chose boldness over caution and set out to find the performer.
"But do you think just playing the flute is all I'm doing here?"
However, that intention of the invisible Hansel had already been read by the performer.
*
"Please, let us up! It's scary!"
"Hey! Travelers! It's not my place to say this to you who are helping us, but couldn't you let at least the children, at least a few of the children, come up there? Or at least a few of these poor kids who came to the village today!"
Amidst the barricade of furniture like shelves, desks, and chairs set up to counter the rat swarm rushing toward the hospital, some children were crying and making a scene. Some of them weren't hurt by the frenzy of these rats, but were already in poor health while traveling to the village of Hameln. It was natural that they had more wounds and injuries and were in worse physical condition than the children who originally lived in the village. The few children who wouldn't be of much help even if they were below weren't helping the villagers fight. So, thinking it would be better to clear them out of the way so their crying wouldn't spread further and wouldn't hinder the fight against the rat swarm, they asked for permission from those who were busily firing arrows and dropping medicine from the roof.
"No. If even one comes up, it will only be a hindrance, and fighting like this won't be possible. If you want to die, send them up."
Gretel refused firmly again. In fact, even soldiers in a war, unless they were in a situation without an offensive, would get angry and refuse if asked to protect children in a watchtower or trench while they were in the middle of a fight.
"Ugh! I hate it! I hate it! I'm going up!!!!"
Using the rope that had been used to lower medicine to treat the injured, one child began to climb up, screaming.
"Thomas! Come down! Come down!"
Even if it was a bit of an excessive thing to say, Gretel wasn't wrong, so other adults grabbed and pulled the child who was trying to climb up. Perhaps because it was a child who was completely overwhelmed by fear and was thrashing about wildly, it wasn't easy for the adults to grab and pull the child.
"Hmm?"
Pinochia, looking down at Thomas, who was climbing the rope like a madman, caught something strange. She aimed the handgun she hadn't fired a single shot with today, even though she had it in her hand, precisely at the brow of the child named Thomas who was climbing up, and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet pierced Thomas's head, and instead of crying or screaming, Thomas let go of the rope in silence and fell from near the ceiling.
Thud!
Thomas's body fell limply to the floor. Just before someone could scream, properly realizing the sudden act of violence—that the person who had been helping them had suddenly shot and killed a poor child—Thomas's fallen body separated into dozens of rats. That was it. The real Thomas had long since been completely gnawed away by the rats, and the rats had been pretending to be human.