Chapter 19: Dorothy
Fedor’s shadow had approached him, and when it revealed its true form, the pure joy of one more child appearing filled him.
“Oh, a fresh child…?”
Gasping…!
The glittering wire tightened around his neck, and the villain Fedor collapsed to the floor without even screaming, his breath cut off.
After obtaining the power to silence sounds through books, he had never once lost to someone in the darkness.
He had always believed the darkness was his domain, but the man who called himself Fedor was ambushed in his own hideout.
“This… was it?”
With an incomprehensible sound mixed with the long-awaited strangeness, the attacker held a knife and carefully probed his back.
When the small fingertips precisely located the spine’s position, a merciless decision was made.
The blade pierced deep into the spine, severing Fedor’s nerves completely.
“Well cut.”
The wind-like fast blade cut through the skin and dug deep between the ribs without any margin of error.
In an instant, it cleanly sliced through flesh and muscle, then the opposite hand reached deep into the man’s chest.
Thump thump.
There was no time between pulling out the blade and touching the hot heart beating vigorously.
Tiss, holding the blade, firmly grasped the heart and converted the ability the man possessed into an essence that Shan could absorb.
Whoosh.
Even with the remaining strength to beat, the heart that had become an essence was pulled out with one intense tug.
The heart reflected in blood and moonlight had transformed into the appearance of a well-ripened apple.
Because all of his body had become essence, even though a large hole was pierced in his chest, not a single drop of blood leaked out.
The series of processes to turn the heart into an essence and extract it ended in an instant.
“Th-that… who… is there?”
The girl with her whole body bound trembled and barely opened her mouth to the unheard villain’s voice.
And Tiss looked down at such a girl with an emotionless face.
…
…
“Th-that…”
[What should I do, Tiss?]
I’m also pondering that.
Haa.
How to handle this?
“Th-that… is anyone there? If it suddenly disappears and there’s no sound at all… that would be even scarier.”
The small girl with her eyes covered was trembling and muttering to herself, not knowing what to do.
[It would be better to help her, but since there’s no hero here…]
“I know.”
I know what Shan is worried about.
She pretends not to care on her own mouth, but she’s been secretly caring for the children since the orphanage.
I hadn’t revealed that I was a calamity or anything; I had simply killed a villain.
First, save her, then hand her over to Emily, or entrust her, she’ll handle it.
Good.
Let’s help.
I approached the girl and removed the blindfold binding her.
“Eh… truly, th-thank you…?”
Tiss’s face showed the girl had a slightly dazed expression.
Why is the child like this?
[Well, the current Tiss atmosphere is so suspicious…]
Suddenly, under the moonlight piercing through the clouds, Tiss in a beautiful white coat with sparkling white hair extended her hand with a faint smile, and the girl unconsciously blurted out the thoughts she had been holding in her heart.
“Huuu… Seeing Angel-nim right in front of me, I guess I must have just died.”
“…What?”
[Yeah. Exactly that image. I don’t have wings, though.]
Why is the child suddenly like this.
Her face was about to heat up.
Hmph.
“So… then, before leaving, could I say goodbye to unnie just once?”
Before the child could say something more bizarre, I decided to calm her down.
“Calm down quietly and listen to me. I’m not an angel, and you’re not dead. The villain who kidnapped you, I’ve dealt with. So don’t worry. Did you understand my words?”
Nod nod nod.
Since she didn’t speak but nodded, I grabbed her hand to stop her.
“It’s okay to speak.”
“Just a moment ago, I thought I was going to die without moving, but thank you truly. Angel-nim.”
“Yeah, you endured well. Now I’ll untie the remaining bonds, so don’t be surprised and stay quiet.”
After untieing all the ropes binding her body, the girl, feeling relieved, crouched and clasped her hands to her chest and took deep breaths.
[Like a little owl.]
Owl?
The girl with hair between tawny and light brown was trembling.
“Bambi is closer, isn’t it?”
[Bambi? What is that?]
“There, baby deer.”
[Deer…? Hmm… Now that I hear it, it seems like that.]
While Shan casually continued to comment, I waited until the girl calmed down.
“Truly, thank you for helping. If it weren’t for Angel-nim, I would have suffered a terrible fate.”
“…Thank you later, can you walk by yourself?”
“I’ll try.”
The small girl trying to stand from her seat wobbled like a newborn fawn and fell back to the floor.
“Uhek, it doesn’t work well.”
It seems her legs completely lost strength.
Annoying.
But since I decided to help, no choice.
Whoa.
Kneeling and crouching, I turned my back to the girl.
“Get on my back.”
“No, then Angel-nim’s coat will get dirty with my blood. I’ll try alone.”
The child was a bit strange.
Just a moment ago trembling, now worrying about my clothes while about to be kidnapped and killed.
Grabbing the girl’s hands who were trying to stand up while trembling and groaning, I lifted her onto my back.
“It’s okay, just hold the coat tight and don’t talk nonsense.”
“Wow! Angel-nim, are you not heavy? It should have some weight.”
“Don’t worry, unnie is strong. From now on, we’ll quickly escape here, so hold on tight, okay?”
“Okay… Then, excuse me for a moment.”
Carrying the girl under the moonlight to the village.
Only the girl’s movements rubbing against my fur coat saying it’s warm and the bug’s cry were heard calmly, and fortunately, we returned to the city without any commotion.
…
…
The child was entrusted to Emily.
Rather than the story that I, with unclear identity, rescued the child, Emily, a formal hunter, rescuing her would make a cleaner picture?
I, instead of taking some credit from Emily, entrusted the aftermath to her and returned to the hideout, absorbed Fedor’s essence, and rested.
So, I thought all the incidents from last night were resolved.
But around the next morning, strange sounds suddenly began.
Tiri ririk!
[Heuk! Air raid alert! Air raid alert! Tiss, Tiss wake up!]
“Shan, calm down. It’s nothing.”
After calming Shan who was panicking and muttering nonsense while sleeping, I checked the screen of the ringing landline.
[Emily]
The sender’s name Emily was clearly displayed on the screen.
Fedor, you entered your landline info in advance on the one I gave you.
Beep!
“What’s the matter?”
“…Hello, Emily, you worked hard. So what is it?”
The news Emily told was somewhat shocking.
What?
My mind stopped for a moment.
Poacher Mary… Poacher Mary…
Wait, are you talking about that ‘Blood Mary’ I know?
“What kind of talk is that?”
“That can’t be. This incident is purely coincidence. Coincidence.”
After organizing what Emily said, Mary was still a leader of poachers who hadn’t become a villain yet.
Mary and Dorothy.
Upon hearing, it seems their faces are similar.
Mary, like the guy with the alias Blood, is an ability user who uses blood as ability, and in the original game, appears as an S-rank villain in the mid-game.
As far as I know, the reason Mary rampaged was because her sister Dorothy died to a villain, and that’s the cause.
The villain who caused that, wasn’t it Fedor, and the sister you rescued was the one who caused the rampage.
“So, is there a problem?”
The situation became complicated.
By preventing Mary from rampaging, who will become an S-rank villain in the future, it’s definitely an advantage, reducing future threats.
But I don’t know what kind of person Mary is in her sane state from the time her sister was alive.
Not only Siu and Sia, but the future flow is already twisted.
The fact that I personally did it to twist it was painful.
It was unexpected.
Emily said she would help first because she knows Mary.
“Are you saying I should go to Mary’s side?”
Emily told me that due to the recent appearance of superior grade calamities in the outskirts, nearby residents suffered great damage.
The poacher village is nearby, and since the leader Mary knows her sister disappeared while trying to deal with the calamity, she would be unable to move.
If Emily’s words are true, if we safely return Dorothy to her sister, it’s the perfect opportunity to gain Mary’s trust.
From my position as a non-hunter, it will be quite useful to have the help of poachers when hunting calamities in the future, so accepting this favor isn’t bad.
I quickly decided and confirmed Emily’s opinion last.
“I’m fine with it. Is Emily’s side really okay?”
Hmm…
Considering that the poacher’s residence is outside the area, having the help of Emily-level experts would be good.
So, we headed to the cafe where Emily and Dorothy were.
Dorothy, who was pouting, saw me approaching.
“Angel-nim!”
She shouted loudly and ran over.
“Angel-nim! Thank you truly yesterday!”
Thud.
Dorothy suddenly lowered her body, bowed her head to the floor and shouted loudly, prostrating herself before me.
[Pu ha ha!]
Seeing that, Shan burst into laughter inside.
The small child bowing to a slightly larger child, adults passing by glanced at them, and Emily covered her mouth with her hand and enjoyed it.
[Tiss, Tiss’s face turned red like an apple.]
[Huuu m.]
“Why suddenly…?”
While calmly stroking her chin, Shan who was admiring my appearance suddenly threw an unexpected line.
[It seems kind of cute?]
At that, heat rose to my face.
“Angel-nim, truly became a red angel.”
“Dorothy… I understand your gratitude, but stand up immediately. And don’t call me by such strange titles outside.”
“Then… um, like a benefactor…? Rather than benefactor, true benefactor?”
“Don’t do that!”
Haa.
I sighed and covered my face with both hands, but only the heat from the burning face was transmitted.