Falcon Gang (6)
If Uncle Hancheol was right, the Falcon Gang had assumed we'd gone to Paris Park to rescue Ara.
Of course, they might have prepared something there for us on the way—but that was a problem for after we'd broken free of our current situation.
At any rate, the fact that they were coming now meant they'd judged the Mokdong Settlement's fighting strength to be gone. If we exploited that blind spot, we could turn this around.
I watched Hyeonseok and Yeonseo talking with the uncles about the approaching attackers, and thought.
They said the only real problem was that Han Jin-o guy. Even without me, Hyeonseok and Yeonseo would be here—we wouldn't get pushed back. So...
I closed my eyes for a moment and started working out a plan that would put us in the best position. After a little more thought, I began explaining what seemed like a decent idea to everyone.
"All right, Charlotte. What's your plan?"
Uncle Hancheol asked, arms folded, tapping a finger.
"First of all—if what you all told me is right, the only real headache in that whole bunch is one person: their leader, Han Jin-o, right?"
"That's right. The trouble is he can fly, so he's hard for us to deal with—and that means he holds the initiative in a fight."
"But we've got Hyeonseok and Yeonseo here now. Shouldn't that be enough?"
At the mention of their names, Hyeonseok and Yeonseo both sharpened their attention.
"Saying it'll be fine because we're here sounds an awful lot like you're about to go somewhere."
Leave it to Yeonseo to catch on immediately.
And when Hyeonseok heard that, he looked at me with worry in his eyes.
"Are you sure you'll be okay? You don't have to do this alone, you know."
Ugh, the way he's fretting over me makes me feel like a little kid...
But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. I looked straight up at him.
"I'll be fine. You know how strong I am, right? Honestly, for the plan I've got in mind, going alone is easier."
And honestly, it might be better if Hyeonseok doesn't know what I'm about to do.
I held his gaze, and after a sigh he seemed to give in.
"All right. But if it gets dangerous, you run. Got it?"
"Got it~ Don't worry!"
After talking it through with Hyeonseok, I told the uncles that I'd figured out where Ara was likely being held. I'd go alone, free her, and if we could move together we'd come back to the settlement—if not, I'd get her somewhere safe and return.
The uncles were worried, of course, but with the gang already on their way, this was no time to be picky. In the end, they agreed to my plan.
"I'll be back soon, then! But first—take these."
From inside my clothes I pulled out the brooches I'd received as a reward for clearing the tower and handed them to Hyeonseok, Yeonseo, Uncle Dusik, and Uncle Hancheol. I'd already charged them with holy power, so there wouldn't be any issue using them going forward.
"These are brooches, aren't they?"
Uncle Dusik asked, his expression suggesting he'd already guessed something of their power.
"Yes. I got them as a reward this time. If they hold my holy power, they can protect you in an emergency—so you should keep them on you."
"Thank you, Charlotte. Is there anything you need? You've given us these—I'd like to give you something in return if I can."
Uncle Hancheol asked if there was anything else I needed for going after his daughter, but there really wasn't. If anything, whatever resources they had would be better spent on the people staying behind.
"I'm fine. Anyway, I should get going quickly—before they notice."
"Understood. Then we'll prepare to receive them. Hyeonseok, Yeonseo—let's go."
Uncle Dusik took Hyeonseok and Yeonseo down to prepare for the gang's arrival. I said a quick goodbye to Uncle Hancheol and headed down from the watchtower—only to find Yeonseo waiting for me.
"I was thinking—there's a bit of a problem with your plan, Charlotte."
"Huh? Is there? I came up with it in a hurry, so yeah—plenty of holes. I might even run into them on the way."
"That too—but with an operation like this, time is everything. Have you thought about how you're going to move?"
"Ah~ I forgot about that. Well, it'll work out somehow, right?"
"Haa... You and Hyeonseok really are alike sometimes."
"So, Yeonseo—you were waiting because you can fix that, aren't you?"
At that, Yeonseo smiled softly, pulled out her grimoire, and summoned the lion I'd seen before—Marinarion.
"That's right. Ride one of the ones I summon. And on the way back, put that tomboy on the other one."
"Ohh~ Thanks! I'll be back quick, then!"
I climbed onto one of the summons Yeonseo had called and was about to slip out through the settlement's south gate when her voice reached me.
"Leaving us here on purpose means you trust us to some degree, right? But you don't have to go alone—and the fact that you are makes me think there's something you don't want us to see. Isn't that right, Charlotte? But Hyeonseok isn't a fool either. Keep that in mind."
I was moving too fast to answer her—but Yeonseo's words rattled around in my head and my heart the whole way toward Mokdong Station.
Hyeonseok had subdued the gang members before without killing them—but that was because of his kind, thoughtful nature.
Sure, sometimes he cares about others a little too much, like Yeonseo says—but honestly, that's one of the things I like about him.
But I was different from Hyeonseok. Back when I worked as an Inquisitor, I'd already killed a great many people. All of them had been villains—kidnappers who used children as sacrifices, or murderers who preyed on the innocent.
Of course, at first there had been times I'd subdued them and let them go. Back then I still carried the values I'd been raised with on Earth—not in another world—and killing people still repelled me. Even when someone had committed a crime, I believed in the possibility of reform, so I restrained them and sent them to prison.
But then I watched them do it again—for their own gain, offering up the innocent, men and women and children alike, as sacrifices or using them as test subjects. And I changed my mind.
People who took or threatened others' lives without hesitation for their own profit were not going to change easily. After that, anyone whose crimes were severe enough, I beheaded first. Otherwise, other people would end up in danger because of them.
But as the days turned into months and the months into years, the hesitation about doing it faded away.
So in the end, this time too, this is the only way.
Yeonseo's words kept churning through my head and my heart. I knew it myself. Solving things by killing only fixed the problem for a little while. Even so, when I arrived at Mokdong Station, my chest still felt tight—like something was caught in it.
"Who the hell are you... wh-who are you!?"
The underlings managing the hostages at Mokdong Station were seized with terror by the sudden appearance of a single girl.
At first they'd let their guard down, taking her for some cocky middle-schooler who trusted too much in her powers—but soon they were giving everything they had to stop her. Of course, giving everything they had wasn't enough to stop her.
"You don't need to know!"
I snapped back at them and leveled Durandal's blade their way.
I'd meant to cut them down one by one from the front—but the moment I turned the sword toward them, Yeonseo's words came back to me. I changed the angle of the blade and tried instead to subdue them with hand-to-hand combat and a sword of flame.
After dropping a fair number of them, I pushed deeper into the station. Rooms that looked like makeshift cells began to appear. Some held corpses already soaked in blood and rotting; others held the virus-infected monsters I'd seen earlier in the shantytown square.
"See? In the end, these bastards are just the same...!"
After passing several more rooms, I came to one guarded by men who looked stronger than any I'd faced so far.
"Is she in there? From everything I've seen so far, I'll be lucky if she's still alive... Please, don't let me be too late...!"
They must have seen me coming—they started drawing their weapons. But there was one difference from the others so far. They pulled something like pills from their clothes and swallowed them.
"Ghk—koff... grrrk..."
Watching them react the same way as the infected monsters gave me a pretty clear clue about what had happened in the shantytown.
"So it was you! You pieces of trash!"
I gripped Durandal tight, wrapped it in Holy Fire, and began cutting them down.
I charged, slipped past the spear thrust from the man in front, spun, and took his head. Toward the one rushing in behind him I tucked the hilt against my chest and drove the point straight through his sternum. I yanked the blade free, reversed my stance, and swept the edge horizontally through the next man—cutting him clean in two. The last one looked terrified, but the pill had already scrambled his judgment. I brought the lowered sword up in a sharp diagonal cut and ended him.
"Hah... that was the last of them. Now...!"
I shattered the door in front of me with Holy Fire. Ara was there. And so were the other captives.
Ara looked at the girl in front of her and a dozen thoughts ran through her mind.
She looks about the same age as Ryeong was before she died... How did she get here? Did Uncle Dusik come too?
"You're Ara, right? Uncle Hancheol's daughter?"
"Huh? Yeah, that's me. So Uncle Dusik came too?"
But the girl shook her head.
"No. I came alone. The gang was on their way to hit the settlement. I figured getting you out fast would put us in a better position—so here I am."
"What?! What do you mean—?!"
Ara tried to move in shock, but she was bound, and she'd taken a beating from Han Jin-o. She couldn't manage it and sank back down.
"Hold on—I'll get you free."
The girl cut the chains binding Ara with her sword, then began to heal her with light.
"Thanks. For everything."
"Don't mention it. More importantly—do you know what this is?"
The girl held up a pill Han Jin-o had left behind.
"Ah! That's...?!"
"So you do know. Good. We'll talk about it later—first let's free the people locked up behind you and get somewhere safe."
"Okay."
The girl pocketed the pill, then cut through the cell door the same way she'd cut Ara's chains, and healed the people inside with light.
"So what's your name? I can't not know the name of the person who saved me."
Only then did the girl go, "Ah~ right," and continue.
"Charlotte Magnier. Just call me Charlotte."
And that was how Ara and Charlotte finally learned each other's names properly.
After freeing Ara and the people held behind her, I led them out of Mokdong Station and hid them in a church a short distance away.
"Once we've made it this far, you should be all right."
At that, the rescued people all thanked me and gathered themselves.
"I'll leave one of these summons here with you—it should help if anything happens."
"So you're going back to the settlement now?"
Ara caught hold of my sleeve.
"I have to. If it had just been you, I was going to take you with me. But with all these other people, we can't all go together."
"That's...!?"
"And right now the settlement is under attack by the gang—so I need to get back fast."
"Then I'm coming too! I can fight!"
"What are you talking about? I healed you, but that only restored enough energy for you to move, and boosted your regeneration for the wounds. If you go now, you won't be any help."
"But—"
"But nothing. If you leave too, who's going to protect the people here? Think about that."
At that, Ara looked back at the people who'd been captive with her, then spoke as if she'd made up her mind.
"Fine. You're right. But how long are you planning to talk down to me? I'll have you know I'm the older one here."
I almost asked what nonsense she was spouting—then realized everyone really was taking me for a middle-schooler.
I'll have you know I'm an adult... and if you count my age when I was a man... ah, better not count that. Not like I can say it anyway.
"What are you even talking about—sigh. Far as I know, you're two years younger than me. Got it?"
"What? What are you talking about! Just looking at you, you're clearly a middle-school—"
Since she clearly wasn't going to believe me, I quickly used my device—the Watch—to show her my ID. Ara stared at it with her mouth hanging open, muttering "That can't be..." over and over.
"Anyway! I need to go now, so wait here properly! Got it?"
I mounted the lion Yeonseo had summoned—Marinarion—and left. Ara was still reeling over my age with her mouth open, but right now getting back to Uncle Dusik, Yeonseo, and Hyeonseok took priority!