New Field (4)
Would any human being really be able to argue against what Melody had just said?
“……”
“I don’t trust you. I want to talk to the priest.”
“You cannot speak with the priest unless I grant you passage.”
“If I cooperate, what exactly will you do for me? Can you save all our kids in there? And it can’t just end with saving them. You have to take responsibility for how we survive afterward too. If you’re not going to do that, then don’t do anything at all. I want to end this with just me.”
I had no idea how formidable this group was, but if Melody had decided to rescue this child, then that was the end of it. No matter how strong the children’s group might be, it couldn’t possibly be beyond the capabilities of a Heretic Inquisitor.
“Saving them is entirely possible. Taking responsibility for the children is also entirely possible.”
The Labyrinth Temple still lacked many things. Taking in children with nowhere else to go and raising them?
‘With all the money flowing into the temple?’
On the contrary, having children to care for would allow the temple to receive additional subsidies, bringing in even more funds. The priests could take turns looking after them. If the numbers grew too large they might need to hire professional staff, but because all the priests lived communally and had exceptional skill at handling children, they rarely hired outsiders unless management truly became impossible. Each priest was essentially like a childcare teacher.
‘I wonder how many children will come.’
I was already looking forward to it.
“So just say one thing.”
“One… thing?”
“Yes. Say, ‘Please help me.’”
“…Please help me, then. Help us live without doing bad things anymore.”
It would be wonderful if they could live that way, but some people simply couldn’t manage without receiving help. The little brat had shown the greatest trust he was capable of. He personally lowered the cloth that had been covering his face and revealed it to us.
“That must have been difficult. Thank you for finding the courage.”
The child who revealed his face was far younger than I had imagined. I couldn’t understand how anyone could think of bringing such a young child into the Labyrinth.
“This is heartbreaking. How could they do this to such a young child…”
“Even if I’m not that old, I’m the strongest and I know the most. I can do more than the adults. So I’d appreciate it if you didn’t treat me like a little kid.”
“Did those people tell you that being stronger than adults makes you an adult?”
“……”
I didn’t need to hear the answer to know I was right. Why could people commit such cruel acts so casually? It was endlessly sad that there were those who would unhesitatingly exploit children who should be protected.
“I don’t know exactly what those people told you, but most of it was probably wrong. I’ll teach you gradually—what’s right and what’s wrong.”
“Priest, if you take me with you and then sell me off to some weird place, that’s not allowed.”
“I am a formally ordained priest of the Holy Empire. Ah—if you still don’t trust me, I’ll give you this.”
I took out the emblem I always wore around my neck. It was proof that I belonged to the Holy Empire as a priest. While I had a separate identification card, this object held equivalent value.
“I’ll give you mine instead.”
Melody, who understood the value of the item, reached for the emblem around her own neck. But I shook my head.
“It’s fine. This child needs something he can believe in if he’s going to trust us, doesn’t he?”
The emblem Melody carried was a fake. Of course, it wasn’t a problematic item and would pass identity verification. However, it had been forged specifically for a Heretic Inquisitor to use, and giving it to the child would constitute deception. This boy had already been exploited through adults’ lies his entire life—if I deceived him too, what would that make me?
“You’re really giving this to me? It looks incredibly valuable, whatever it is…”
“My name is written on the back. It serves as a substitute for identification.”
“Ah!”
“If I ever disappoint you, you can take that to the Holy Empire and formally raise a complaint. A trial will be held.”
“A trial?”
The child accepted the emblem in a daze, clearly at a loss. He had no idea just how valuable an object he had received.
“Yes. That emblem will prove the truth of your words.”
“…You’re saying that with just this, people will believe the words of a worthless nobody like me?”
“Yes.”
Of course, that was only if I didn’t report it as stolen. I had spoken grandly, but in plain terms it was like a letter of credit. If misused, it could cause me serious trouble.
“Handle it with care. If you lose it or it’s taken from you…”
Gulp—
At Melody’s warning, the child trembled violently and said,
“J-just take it back. I don’t have the strength to protect something this precious.”
The child who had claimed he was the strongest and therefore an adult had reverted to an ordinary boy his age.
“You scared him too much. It’s all right. You may keep it.”
“N-no. What you just showed me is enough. This is already more consideration than someone like me deserves. I’m the one begging to be saved, yet…”
Once the emblem returned to my hand, the sharp edge in Melody’s aura softened considerably.
“You made the right choice. Keeping it wouldn’t have done you any good.”
“It could have protected you instead. Not just anyone can receive that emblem.”
“Then for now, I’ll take this child with me.”
“Um… I suppose I should explain the situation to the team members?”
“After we finish cleaning up the surroundings, I’ll send them to the temple. Until then, I will take responsibility for managing this child.”
Since there was nothing I could do about dealing with the adults who had done terrible things to the boy or rescuing his family, I could only nod quietly. From the start, the story was full of things that would cause an uproar if the team heard them, so a sigh escaped me. Fortunately, Melody had offered to explain the situation to the team members while taking the child out. I had offered to help, but—
“Weren’t you startled? Please calm your mind here for a while.”
She was referring to the knife that had been pressed against my throat earlier and telling me to rest. Only then did I snap back to my senses.
‘I wasn’t really that shocked, though.’
After all, how could a threat from a child actually feel threatening? He had said he would kill me, but after hearing his voice and assessing the situation, I hadn’t taken it as a real threat. Instead, my mind had been filled with thoughts about how such a young child had ended up in the Labyrinth and why he was stealing. I had thought I absolutely couldn’t let him go like this, so I had deliberately acted like a madman. If I had reacted normally, the child would have simply done his job and disappeared. Then he wouldn’t have lasted until Melody arrived, and catching him would have required far more effort.
The noise outside the tent was unusually loud. I peeked out from the entrance, pressed my ear against the fabric, and eavesdropped on the voices.
“…It seems he intends to take the child in.”
“I can’t believe my own eyes even after seeing a brat like this inside the Labyrinth.”
“Those sons of bitches! Don’t they have anything better to do than pull this kind of shit with kids?!”
Fortunately, there was no negative atmosphere toward the child who had come to steal.
‘They understand. That’s a relief.’
It seemed they weren’t particularly bothered that the child had come to steal.
“We didn’t have anything particular to do here anyway—this worked out perfectly! Since it’s come to this, let’s rob those bastards blind and make them see the light!”
“They’re truly vile. We shouldn’t stop at just catching them—let’s uproot them completely. Even after we leave this place.”
As expected, capturing the child hadn’t been strange at all. Everyone was this angry.
‘We really do need to deal with the truly bad ones.’
Abandoning a child here and never coming back for him proved they were genuinely evil.
“You’re giving up?”
“That’s why I told you! Smaller numbers are more dangerous!”
“Fuck, who doesn’t know that? But it was worth that much!! Just looking at those bastards’ luggage showed how valuable it was!!”
“The kid’s not coming back. You didn’t forget how much he brings in every week, did you? The boss specifically said we had to keep that one alive and bring him out!”
“I know, you idiot!! We both heard it together!!”
“What are we going to do now? If that bitch doesn’t come back!!”
Ptui!
The man spat on the ground, ran his fingers through his messy hair, and let out a deep sigh.
“Did the kid get cocky because we kept praising him for doing well?”
“We trusted him too much. Still, he’s just a kid.”
“Maybe they didn’t kill him because he’s a child?”
“What does it matter if they didn’t kill him? How are we supposed to break through that place and bring him back? We barely escaped from those monsters.”
From the beginning, he had felt uneasy. Still, the kid had been stealing successfully, so he thought this much of a gamble was acceptable. There was delicious-looking prey over there—they couldn’t just walk away without touching it. That was something the Black Dragon Bandits could never tolerate. That’s why they had done it, but…
“When we entered the Labyrinth, we were prepared for the possibility…”
The possibility that someone might die. But he never imagined that someone would be the brat.
“I gave him the safest job, and still—that damn brat! He’s completely useless. Just eats our food and contributes nothing, the pathetic bastard!”
“For now, let’s hide in the back and watch. If the kid’s still alive, wouldn’t we see him?”
“He’s the kind of guy who can slip away with his body if he really wants to. The fact that there’s been no news means he’s either badly injured or dead. And from the looks of it, there are nobles over there. There’s no way they’d spare a thief.”
Opinions split in two: those who said they should leave since there was no chance of sparing a thief, and those who said they should at least wait and recover the kid’s body.
“What if we get caught waiting here trying to find his corpse?”
“Come on, how would they know about this place? We found such an amazing spot.”
“That’s true. How could they possibly find us? It’s an underground tunnel, after all.”
No one knew exactly what the space looked like. They had only discovered the tunnel beneath by accidentally stepping into it.
“We got lucky. If it weren’t for this place, we would’ve all been captured for sure.”
That was right. The place where the bandit group was currently hiding was underground.