༺ The Lord Is With Us (44) ༻
The stench of blood permeated the silent cave.
More than six lumps of flesh were pierced by a sword, hacked down with a hatchet, or had their skulls shattered by a fist. Over half of the flesh seeds were killed by me.
In other words, while the other members killed around four, I had single-handedly killed at least six.
Such a feat should have been impossible with my current skills even if I had let my rage take control of my body. To think I had killed so many in such a short time…
It was probably due to exerting such an unthinkable amount of force that my muscles were sore and even my head was throbbing.
While enduring my body’s complaints, I thought back to what I witnessed. It was highly likely that what I saw in my trance was a memory from the future ‘me’ as there was no one else who could plant such unfamiliar memories in me.
Then, did that mean that was the certain end humanity would face if I didn’t follow the contents of the letter?
All the emotions from the memory lingered as they reverberated within my heart—the grief, the despair and helplessness, along with the seething hatred and rage.
All of a sudden, I staggered as exhaustion washed over me. Catching my breath, I let out a sign.
I trudged forward to pick up my sword and hung the hatchet back on my waist. Then, I looked deep into the cave.
Considering the fact that the dozen flesh seeds we just killed were only a drop in the ocean compared to the remaining flesh seeds and that the unknown monster called the ‘Flesh Nest’ was there, venturing deeper back into the cave posed too great of a risk.
As I was about to turn back, my sight landed on the lifeless corpse of one of the flesh seeds that Senior Delphine had slain. The face of another child peeked through the area that seemed to have melted off from her heat. The child’s eyes, filled with deep fear, pierced my heart.
Profanities flowed through my head.
I didn’t know who they were, but what they did was unforgivable. Thinking of the children suffering inside the flesh seeds, I wanted to immediately storm towards the flesh nest and destroy them all, but unfortunately, that was impossible in our current situation. There was just no way we could handle dozens of flesh seeds at once with only seven people.
In the end, I had no choice but to declare our next course of action to the rest of the party, who were still staring at me with fear-stricken eyes.
“…….Fight off any pursuing flesh seeds. We’re now retreating.”
With that, I moved my feet.
After momentarily staring at my retreating figure, the group soon followed behind me.
No one spoke on the way back to the orphanage.
Reality was bleak—mythological monsters, flesh seeds produced from children, and the unknown demonic human that was still at large.
And the violence I showed at the end only served to ignite the fuse.
Unbeknownst to anyone, a crisis was approaching the world.
It was something we were all aware of despite no one mentioning it.
Because of that, the silence felt heavier.
It was a truth that mere academy students couldn’t bear.
**
There weren’t any attacks from the demonic beasts on our way back to the orphanage. Perhaps they thought we would face our deaths against the flesh seeds. Although I had slain around six flesh seeds in a brief moment, they were, in fact, dangerous to battle.
They were practically immortal and fought until their heads were destroyed. Not only that, they were terrifyingly agile and even wielded poison.
If it hadn’t been us, elite students from the Academy, but some others, they would have helplessly died on the spot.
No, it would have been a relief if they simply died. They could have become living materials to produce more flesh seeds. That was a fate worse than death.
Wasn’t that why the children within the flesh seeds begged to be killed? Just recalling it soured my mood.
Once we arrived at the orphanage, we headed straight to a makeshift conference room without a moment to spare and explained the situation to Leto. He initially stared at me dubiously, but once everyone else nodded in confirmation, he looked to believe it.
Leto began tapping his finger on the table, deep in thought.
While the magic scholar collected his thoughts, the rest of us discussed what our next course of action would be. Needless to say, the conclusion was obvious.
“We need to leave the orphanage as soon as possible.”
It was my suggestion. We seemed to have already gone through several of the attacks mentioned in the letter, and while it stated that we had destroyed the nest, it didn’t necessarily mean that we had to do it ourselves.
We could simply bring back the military to get rid of it. Authority was such a convenient thing to have.
However, my words left several points unaddressed. After listening to what I had to say, the Saintess cautiously spoke up.
“But what about the children?”
“……It’s impossible to retreat with hundreds of children in tow.”
Senior Delphine politely answered the Saintess. The Saintess was the only one Senior Delphine addressed with respect as she was the only one with a similar social standing as her.
Nonetheless, her voice still carried its characteristic haughtiness.
“Before anything else, we have to leave first since we’re the ones with the mobility to do so. Only after that can we do something like bring out the children in groups.”
“……And who will be in charge of that entire process? Not only that, what will become of the children after we bring them out?”
Unable to separate her emotions, the Saintess continued to push against Senior Delphine’s logical suggestion. Her eyes were filled with hesitation. Not only was she an orphan herself, but she was, in general, an extremely compassionate person. As such, there was no way she could willingly leave the orphans behind. Especially after discovering a nest that made monsters out of children nearby.
She originally spoke as if she were ready to leave at any time, but now that the time to make a decision had come, it seemed that her heart had become heavy with conflicting feelings.
“Saintess, the reality is different from our ideals. Would we be able to protect the children with just the seven of us? What would happen if the demonic beasts were to cooperate with the flesh seeds to launch an assault right now?”
However, Senior Delphine didn’t waver in front of the Saintess’ hesitation. Her crimson-red eyes resolutely faced the Saintess. It was an attitude that seemed to challenge the Saintess to try to refute her if she could.
In the end, the Saintess squirmed uncomfortably before lowering her head.
The outcome was obvious if the demonic beasts and flesh seeds attacked.
Everyone here would die. The children, Mr. Gilford… everyone.
Yuren shook his head after watching the Saintess struggle.
“I agree with you, Ms. Delphine. We should quickly prepare to leave.”
“Y-yeah! Let’s leave this old ass orphanage and go to the city!”
With fear evident in her quivering eyes, Senior Elsie quickly backed Yuren up in agreement.
I smiled bitterly. It was just as I expected from a girl that was easily frightened.
.
On the other hand, seeing how Seria kept glancing my way, she seemed to have something to ask.
It was obvious what it was about.
‘It’s probably about her family’s secret technique.’
But there wasn’t much I could tell her.
I didn’t know how I learned it either. I just happened to be able to use it. My best guess was that I had somehow inherited it from the future ‘me’. That brought into question as to how he had learned it, but that also wasn’t something I could figure out right now.
As such, I deliberately ignored her gaze, knowing that her social awkwardness would hold her back from asking.
Sorry, Seria. I’ll let you know if I ever find something out about the Illusory Sword of the Golden Lion.
As I inwardly apologized to Seria, I glanced at Leto.
He was frowning with furrowed brows as if something was bothering him.
At that moment, the Saintess got up from her seat.
“…….Then, I’ll go inform Mr. Gilford.”
“I think that director is going to choose to stay anyways.”
It was Celine. Perhaps due to her strange feud with the Saintess, her tone was curt. Despite that, the Saintess only smiled benevolently.
Her saintly facade was as impressive as ever, though no one but Yuren and I would ever notice.
“Regardless, it’s important to give him a choice. Good deeds must be rewarded.”
As the Saintess began to walk away, Yuren raised his hand.
“Sis, shall I accompany you?”
“No. Get ready. We’ll be leaving soon.”
Yuren nodded as if he had expected her response. Then, he stretched and stood up. Both Yuren and the Saintess left the room.
It was then that Leto, who had been deep in thought, opened his mouth.
“…….It’s strange.”
“What is?”
I was the only one who responded since everyone else was yawning and slowly going their own ways to pack up their things.
I could tell from their sluggish movements that they were all exhausted. It was a relief that there were no more battles to fight.
“Why wasn’t the demonic human there?”
“Maybe it ran away. Even I would be scared if it was seven against one.”
No matter how strong they were, as long as they weren’t a Master, fighting at a numbers disadvantage was fatal.
Granted, I didn’t know much since I had never faced a demonic human before. However, considering all seven of us were elites from the Academy, it was reasonable that it would want to run away.
We also had the Saintess, who could be said to be the natural counter to demonic humans. It wasn’t odd even if they ran away.
Yet, Leto looked unconvinced.
“Judging from how the demonic monkeys ambushed you guys today, they’re definitely responding to our movements. Not to mention, they showed signs of strategic movements before as well.”
“Maybe the demonic human alerted them?”
“They would have retreated a considerable distance if they ran away… Is it really possible for them to communicate with non-intelligent beasts from such a distance?”
I fell silent. All his points were sound, but it wasn’t as if they were completely inexplicable.
The demonic beasts primarily acted to protect the cave, and considering monkeys had notable intelligence, it wasn’t all that strange for them to move strategically.
I was about to bring it up to Leto… only if it weren’t for the sudden shout ringing through the air.
“…….Everyone, come out right now!”
It was Yuren’s voice, along with the screams of the children.
Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked at each other before swiftly sprinting out of the room.
Seeing how the children were making a commotion, the situation was bound to be out of the ordinary.
When we finally came outside, a wave of shadows rose before our eyes.
It was a wave of demonic beasts—countless, innumerable demonic monkeys.
It was to the point where I couldn’t even begin to fathom how so many of them had managed to hide themselves within the forest. There were at least a few hundred of them, enough to isolate and completely surround a singular orphanage.
Everyone’s eyes turned blank.
This was an overly strategic move on their part. They had waited nearby, preemptively preparing to encircle us as soon as we all retreated to an isolated area.
We would have been able to notice it had we immediately come back from the forest. However, they had quickly moved to secretly siege us during the time we were in the cave.
I turned to look at Leto in stupefaction, causing him to click his tongue.
“Tsk. I told you, too strategic.”
“Then is the demonic human nearby?”
“For sure.”
I immediately started looking around at his affirmation.
Just where could they possibly be?
Finding and taking down the demonic human was the best method to break through the encirclement, as it was simply impossible for us to face hundreds of demonic beasts.
At that moment, Leto sighed.
“…….Ian, you don’t need to look far.”
Then, he began to express his suspicions and thought process.
“I looked over the orphanage’s ledgers a while ago, but the deficit is simply too large. It’s hundreds of gold a month. It’s an amount he simply can’t handle, no matter how much money he made during his time as a mercenary.”
“……What are you trying to say?”
A slight feeling of unease began to crawl up as I pushed back, but as he had always done whenever he needed to reveal the truth, Leto dismissed my emotions
“And an orphan disappearing every month? Just what demonic beast would be so considerate as to take only a single child? Also, with the shortage of food at the orphanage, you’d expect someone as strong as Mr. Gilford to go out and hunt, but there’s no trace of him hunting the monkeys.”
I fell silent.
Mr. Gilford’s voice rang in my ears I recalled his strict face as he taught me his secret techniques and the loving expression on his face as if he genuinely cared for the children.
They were all fake?
There was no way.
Growing increasingly upset, I was about to argue with him, but Leto placed his hand on my shoulder.
“…….Not to mention, he’s able to keep track of our movements without leaving his seat. Ian, can you trust me?”
My mouth opened and closed as I met his sincere eyes.
If I had to choose who to trust, my choice was always the same—I trusted my friend, Leto.
I lowered my gaze.
After a brief contemplation, I spoke up.
“…….The Saintess just went to see Mr. Gilford.”
Leto’s eyes widened before reacting harshly.
Leto had always lost track of his surroundings once he became engrossed in his thoughts. As such, he wouldn’t have heard the Saintess say she was going to go alert Mr. Gilford.
He jumped up from where he was standing.
“What?! Then, what are you still doing here instead of going immediately, you bastard?!”
“Don’t worry too much… Just keep it a secret from the others. We should avoid creating more confusion and chaos since we don’t even know when the demonic beasts will attack.”
Leto’s eyes widened so much that I worried they might pop out of his head.
“Hey, you idiot. Are you planning on fighting the demonic human by yourself? Are you crazy?!”
“Then, I’ll leave this place to you.”
I immediately kicked off the ground while ignoring Leto’s voice from behind.
Could Mr. Gilford really be the demonic human?
If so, there was only one last courtesy I could show him—sending him straight to hell.
My previously shaken eyes soon settled as a cold glint appeared.
The Saintess was in danger.
