Journey to the North - 6
In a situation where every second counted, conducting sex education was something only a madman would attempt.
Of course, my actions had all been for show.
Attempting to corrupt innocent children was the berserk button for Nidhog's cultists.
Having successfully provoked their fury, all that remained was to keep their attention glued to me.
"Maribel. I'll draw some of the cultists away, so hold the line on the first floor with Coco."
"Ah, no! If you do that, Lord Hines…! Hnnght!"
"And when the bell starts tolling, bring the kids to the second-floor railing where Coco and I snuck in."
I nipped at Maribel's neck with my lips to make her feel it, then pulled away from her.
Then I raised my voice loud enough for the cultists to hear.
"What! Some kids are hiding in the attic too? Kehhehe! Gotta head up there now!"
"Grab that bastard!"
"We can't let him defile the offerings!"
I shot Coco a glance signaling it was okay to let a few slip inside.
Coco "slipped up" on purpose, permitting their entry, and I bolted toward the stairs to the second floor at full speed.
"Ehehehe! This time, maybe I'll shatter the kids' innocence with some filthy talk!"
"He's heading to the roof with the children!"
"We can't allow that!"
Laughing like a lunatic, I charged up the spiral staircase.
Fortunately, no kids remained on the second floor.
The nuns must have sensed the chaos in the village and herded them into the first-floor shelter.
Unaware of that, the cultists assumed kids were on the roof too and pursued me desperately.
Master, you've successfully drawn the enemy's attention, but how do you plan to break through afterward?
I've got it all figured out!
Squeezing every last drop of strength to climb higher, it felt like living through a horror game's chase scene.
Powerless protagonist condition matches perfectly.
"Tyrbing, I've got a job for you."
As I climbed furiously, I noticed how dilapidated the stairs were.
Couldn't fight head-on, but sabotage was feasible.
I drew Tyrbing and slammed the blade into the floor.
'To thirty years from now.'
Understood.
Crunch!
With that little trick in play, I kept climbing. Soon, wood splintering and cultist screams echoed from below.
One must've stepped on rotten planking and plummeted.
It bought me a bit of time, and I beelined for the roof.
The way you're sprinting without hesitation suggests you know the layout. Been here before?
Tyrbing, you nailed it.
In truth, I'd memorized the entire layout of the Ludmilan Orphanage.
High-difficulty zones flashing entry warnings were irresistible to a veteran like me.
I'd braved the risks to map every inch. No special loot, ultimately a waste—but right now, those old memories proved priceless.
"Yeah, I scouted this place back when you weren't around."
I don't approve of being left out.
"Left out? I just explored solo."
Hmm, so what's on the roof?
"A killer weapon."
Third floor, fourth, fifth. Pitting the stairs against Tyrbing here and there, I reached the roof attic.
This building doubled as orphanage and church, so a massive bell hung on the roof.
The kind that signaled worship time to the villagers.
Post-invasion, it'd be abandoned forever.
"If it's doomed to rot anyway, might as well give it a grand finale, eh?"
The hefty bell was braced by deep-driven stakes and multiple ropes.
Too weak to yank the stakes, I sliced one rope with Tyrbing's edge.
Dooong!Dooong!
One rope severed, the bell lost balance and began tolling wildly.
My eardrums screamed proximity to it, but I ignored the pain and severed another.
Two ropes left.
Footsteps ascending to the roof grew sharper.
But as I held off, Tyrbing grew impatient.
Master, why hesitate and stall instead of cutting?
'Gotta wait a little longer.'
Evacuating hordes of kids to the second floor would take time.
Plus, someone had to block the cultists until it was done.
Not ripe yet.
The enemy is nearly upon us!
Thud!Thud!Snap!
The latched wooden door shattered, cultists pouring in.
Meanwhile, I severed another rope and fell back to the window.
One rope remaining—the bell swayed perilously.
The taut line could snap any instant.
"Finally caught you!"
"What? The kid? Where?!"
"Ha, fuck. Never was one! We got played."
The cultists, convinced more offerings lurked above, realized the ruse.
Then they fixed me with murderous glares.
Gripping swords fiercely, vowing no mercy for the fool who toyed with them.
"Whoa, those eyes are ferocious. Just a little prank and they get all prickly."
I menaced them by pressing Tyrbing to the final rope, as if ready to slice.
Aiming my sword at them, I climbed the windowsill, sun at my back.
They gazed pityingly at the cornered fool.
"Suicide over slaughter?"
"If dying's inevitable, suicide beats murder. Though I ain't dying!"
I drew the scabbard and sheathed Tyrbing.
Then turned and leaped outward with gusto.
"Kyaahoo!"
A rope stretched from the roof window to the outer garden.
I set the scabbard atop it, gripped the end and hilt tight, and slid down.
Glided rope-to-ground.
Chasing shouts from behind, but they didn't last.
The final supporting rope bore Tyrbing's curse.
No way it'd hold that filthy heavy bell to the end.
Crunch!Dooooong!
Rope snaps, bell plummets.
Wooden floors couldn't bear the weight—it'd pulverize the cultists below endlessly.
And beneath the attic lay the first floor's central hall.
"By now, evacuation's long done, and cultists have flooded in from the entrance."
Gravity-boosted bell crashing onto the clustered cultists' heads.
A weakling's ultimate strike. Judgment.
"Ugh!"
I accelerated too, crashing hard—rolled across the grass.
No mortal peril, but every muscle howled.
No time for groans. Had to catch kids Maribel lowered from the second-floor railing.
"...Ah, looks like I wasn't needed after all."
Maribel hefted two kids at a time, shuttling between second-floor railing and first floor.
While she ferried, Coco guarded the second floor, Garum the first.
Garum must've rushed over at the bell's toll.
"Lord Hines!"
Kids all safe, Maribel dashed to me anxiously.
Crash-pain lingered, but I waved casually, feigning calm.
Braced for a bone-crusher hug, but she embraced me gently.
"Never pull a reckless stunt like that again!"
"S-sorry."
"You strut off all confident, and look—filthy with dirt, cheeks scratched up!"
She dusted my clothes, scolding.
No words for ditching without warning.
But the crisis wasn't over.
"Over here! Kids and survivors remain!"
"Don't let a single one escape!"
Endless Nidhog cultists swarming.
Sighing at the thought of shielding kids while fleeing the village.
Way tougher than the game event.
As I steeled for battle, hands clapped my shoulders.
"Young master, you're too much. Should've called me for this!"
"We'll handle it from here. Best you fall back."
Silver-haired elf and white-haired elder advanced, patting my shoulders.
Their aura forced a gulp.
Maribel followed suit, drawing her sword.
Last, Coco vaulted from the railing, landing precisely ahead of them.
"Wow..."
The world's most unbreakable assassin lineup.