Chapter 67 - From the Beginning (2)

Making my command to go back completely pointless, beating the human traffickers—presumably the Bipurit gang—to a pulp was incredibly easy.

It might have been because I killed one guy with the first strike, blew away the upper bodies of six guys with a slash, leaped over the wagon, and killed the rest before they could even react, though.

"Did you take care of all of them?!"

"Demon Knight!"

"Whoa, look at the sea of blood."

Did they change their route to a straight line midway after trying to go back like I said? Three people came rushing over from a diagonal direction.

I shook off the blood and lifted up the one lucky bastard who was still alive.

THUD.

"Kehuk!"

The bastard's body dropped right in front of the Inquisitor, who had just come running up.

"This one is..."

"He's got one foot in the grave. Hmm. Hey, can you hold onto this guy's life for a bit?"

"It is possible. But is there a need to heal this thing?"

"There's no reason to keep him alive, but shouldn't we at least get some information before killing him?"

"That is... a valid point. Wait."

"Just enough so he can talk is fine."

Ah, good, good. I love dumplings that do things perfectly on their own without being told.

Leaving those who were acting like sticky rice dumplings to their task, I turned my gaze. Then, right in front of me were faces filled with doubt, wondering whether I was a savior or simply a slaughterer.

"It's okay now."

At times like this, the one who needs to step forward is Windhand. With his brown skin, dangling earrings, braided hair, and the distinct scent of a sailor, the tension in the people's eyes softened a bit.

"You're okay now."

"... Who are you?"

"... We're reinforcements from Zakrati. So you don't need to worry about anything. Just focus on making it back alive."

He hurriedly checked on the people's complexions and conditions. They must have suffered quite a bit, as their cheeks were a bit sunken and their eyes were dead.

The children inside the wagon were in a similar state.

"We need to unlock the shackles first, so the keys..."

"The children, please save the children first!"

"Please free the kids first! Please!"

"... Don't worry. We were obviously going to free them too. But we still need the keys either way—"

"Step back."

"...?"

Do I really have to go look for some trifling keys? If there's no path, I can just make one.

I grabbed the iron bars while wrapping magic power around my hands and legs. CREAK. The bars began to push aside to the left and right like a curtain.

It's a technique I learned while testing how much magic enhancement increases my damage.

"Whoaaaa."

The children, who had been listening to the sounds around them and sneakily opening one eye since I hadn't told them to open their eyes, let out exclamations.

"W-What the?!"

"Sir, have you truly transcended humanity...?"

"Hah, so there was a method like that! I will help as well."

While I was making a gap for the children to slip out, the Inquisitor, who had firmly secured the guy's lifeline, grabbed the chains attached to the wagon.

Those chains were connected to the back end of the wagon and the captives respectively.

"Don't tell me you're going to do it by hand?"

"Even I cannot do it barehanded yet!"

"Yet?"

She gripped the chains tightly with one hand and raised her mace with the other.

"Wait, if you said 'yet', does that mean..."

CLANG!

The moment the mace struck the chains, instead of pulling taut, the chains just snapped. It was an outcome born from the sheer strength of her grip and her strike.

And she hadn't even used it while blasting divine power like she usually did.

"... Crazy."

"... Wow, I shouldn't mess with her."

Even I'm surprised by that.

Hey Kimchi Dumpling, next time you face me, leave out the divine power and the mace too. No, just leave out anything that involves using strength... I feel like I wouldn't even be able to collect my bones if I get hit by that.

"But even if you smash that, don't we still have to unlock the shackles in the end?"

Regardless of that, whether her action was actually meaningful was another story. They gained freedom of movement, but it was freedom they would have gotten anyway once the shackles were unlocked. In other words, it was wasted effort.

"Hut."

Damn it, she's not just an idiot, she's a total goofball. She's clumsy and cute as always...

"Come out."

"Eek!"

Anyway, it was time to get the children out.

I stopped prying the bars apart and just ripped one of them right off. A part of the embedded wooden plank was torn off with it, but the hole became much wider.

This should be enough for anyone to get in and out comfortably.

I quickly trimmed the torn edges with my sword and stepped two paces back from the hole. The children hesitated for a moment before the older ones started coming out first.

They must have all had good personalities, as the kids who came out first helped the ones coming out after them.

"Maya!"

"Dad!"

Right then, someone called out to a child who had just gotten off the wagon. It was a man whose shackles DeB had just picked with a wire.

"Thank you, Sea Dragon, thank you, ocean..."

"Daaad."

As soon as the man's shackles were released, he ran to his child and embraced her. The child, who looked to be only three or four years old, swung her stubby little arms and hugged her dad's face tight. Even though she was at the age where she should still have baby fat, her gaunt cheeks stood out conspicuously.

I want to cry.

"M-Mom..."

"Mister..."

"Cinta."

"Nadine, come here."

Led by that child, the other children also began to find their respective people.

That number was exactly half. The remaining children, seemingly having no parents or familiar adults around, just stood there blankly and shed tears.

"Damn it..."

At that sight, Windhand rubbed his face with his dry hands. DeB was also silently picking shackles, but his expression was just as stiff.

"Um, I know who has the keys..."

Right on cue, one of the kids sneakily spoke up to me. They were an incredibly brave and smart kid. Both for speaking to me and for accurately pointing out exactly what we needed.

"Who."

"It's a Middle race woman... wearing a red bandana on her head... with a hooked nose and a mole."

Was there someone like that?

I recalled the time when I was sweeping through like a storm earlier. I don't know about the people getting attacked, but from the perspective of the one doing the tearing apart, I couldn't really remember the faces from that moment.

Hmm, or maybe it was that person I killed right at the beginning?

If I filter it down by race and gender, the only one left through process of elimination is that person.

"... Alright."

Good. Then I'll check that soon enough.

I stared down at the kid. They were a child so small it truly broke my heart. If I could have it my way, I'd shower them with praise for doing a good job and feed them a bunch of food.

"..."

But there's no chance of that, right? I twitched my right arm before ultimately turning my body away.

Suddenly, the blood-soaked surroundings caught my eye. Even if they didn't witness the actual killing, they must have seen the corpses.

My mouth felt somewhat bitter.

JINGLE.

Still, my guess wasn't wrong, so I was able to get a ring of keys from the bastard I killed right at the start. The speed at which people were freed accelerated.

"What do we do now?"

The problem was what came next, however. We didn't have the capacity to handle these people.

"We can't just leave them behind like we've been doing so far. This place doesn't even have a wooden palisade."

Obviously, we had saved many people on our way here. Considering we had destroyed ten strongholds, the number of lives we rescued might have exceeded triple digits.

However, we lacked the ability to protect all of them.

Trusting in the forces that would follow behind us, we left them at the strongholds. Not that those places were safe, but it was based on the judgment that it was at least better than them going outside.

But what about these people? The situation was too poor to leave them behind just because we couldn't spare the effort.

There was no geographical advantage, no roof to avoid the dew, and a lack of food.

The decisive factor was the absence of barricades. There was no means to avoid the beasts that would be prowling the forests and plains.

"There is a high probability they will die if we leave them behind."

Even the Inquisitor stated as much. She was right. Regular beasts were dangerous enough as it was, but the ones roaming this land were demonized beasts. If ordinary people encountered them, they would undoubtedly be massacred en masse.

"But isn't the distance too far to go back to the previous stronghold?"

"──!"

Then, a certain sound reached my ears.

It overlapped with DeB's voice, so I couldn't define exactly what it was, but... strangely, that sound bothered me.

"Even so, we can't just send them off. Above all, there are too many kids here."

"I know that too, but..."

I swiftly raised my hand. The gazes of the three people engaged in discussion fell on me. They must have perfectly understood that it was a signal to shut up, as there were no further words.

"──!"

I heard it again. Though it sounded muffled because of the distance, it was certain. It was a person's voice.

My body immediately kicked off the ground.

"Sir?!"

"Can't you at least give us a hint, please...?"

"I-I should go too, no, the people. But."

"I'll go check it out for now, so you guys stay here and protect the people!"

"K-Kugh. I-I shall leave it to you! If you cause a nuisance to that person, I will slit your throat at once!"

"... You guys sure do a good job of keeping up with him."

Windhand seemed to be thoroughly talking smack behind my back, but my dumplings were doing a good job.

I sprinted across the earth with peace of mind. Every time my footsteps stomped down, my body surged forward, slicing through the air.

"Run! Don't stop!"

And finally, the source of the sound came into view. It was a group of about a dozen people, and a family of foxes chasing them.

Perhaps influenced by demonization, those things with blood-red eyes had bodies as large as wolves and looked incredibly threatening. It was even more so because they were running as if they had no problem despite having several arrows sticking out of their flesh.

"...! A person...?"

While running, I locked eyes with the person at the front of the group. I ignored them. My body forcefully stepped on the ground and vaulted into the air.

"What the—!"

YELP!

Having successfully leaped over the group of people in an arc, there was now a family of foxes in front of me.

I drew my scimitar. The sword, drawn diagonally upwards in an unsheathing strike, sliced a fox.

Following that, the sword made a smooth U-turn and performed a diagonal slash from bottom to top, just in a different direction from before. The body of the small fox that had just lunged at me was cut in two.

The third was a downward strike. The sword, having bisected the smallest one's body vertically, finally dashed forward.

The final target was the male fox lined up at the rear.

STAB!

The male fox, which had tried to bite me, met its end with only a blade in its mouth instead. The sword, having passed through its mouth and pierced its brain, was spat out along with a spray of blood.

THUD. The giant body of the fox sprawled on the ground.

"The foxes are all dead..."

"How did those things that wouldn't die..."

No wonder they had so many arrows stuck in their bodies. These people were the ones attacking them.

I withdrew my sword, newly confirming a fact that was perhaps obvious. The sword, held horizontally to match my gaze, felt slightly twisted.

It's a scavenged sword, so I have nothing to say even if it breaks.

"Um, well, who are you?"

Did they think things had settled down a bit? The person at the front slowly approached me and spoke up.

Their nearly white, wheat-colored hair, sharp eyes, and the pieces of bone dangling heavily from their pointed ears caught my eye.

CLACK. My sword elegantly spun and returned to its sheath.

"None of your business."

If anything, I'm more curious about you guys.

Even though they were being chased by foxes, their armaments were far from ordinary. You could tell just by seeing that everyone was carrying a sword.

What's more, some of them give off a smell similar to Windhand...

Could they be pirates?

"Sir!"

A voice was added without a single footstep. Startled by that stealthiness, the people whipped their heads around in fright. As a bonus, their weapons were pointed in that direction.

"My goodness, why are you so fast?"

However, DeB was a guy who was truly bold in strange places. Regardless of whether all eyes were on him or if sword tips were pointed his way, he carefreey kept talking to me.

"What are these? Demons? You heard that sound from all the way over there and came to catch them?"

DeB succeeded in conveying a similar meaning to me without even saying the word "relentless."

"And, oh my, these people are..."

Only now did DeB's head turn towards them. Well, I don't know if he really just noticed them. I don't think so.

"Who are you folks?"

Perhaps even pretending to push them to the back burner because of me was part of DeB's arrangement.

"... Hoo. I am Blue Moon Watia. My main profession is a pirate, but... right now, I am temporarily serving as the action captain of the resistance force."

Why, who knows if that guy who recognized Windhand's face might know other pirates' faces too.

"The resistance force?"

"Yes, the resistance force. I guess you haven't heard the news yet? It's a group formed to resist Bipurit and his subordinate pirates. More accurately, to protect the people from those bastards."

Saying so, Blue Moon glanced over at me.

"We're currently looking for the people who were dragged away... If you have the time, could we perhaps ask for your help?"

"You speak like that without even knowing who we are. Don't you think we might be the Bipurit gang?"

"A person who not only saved me, but killed those demonic beasts? Very likely. If it were those bastards, they would have left me to die. And then they would have sprinkled powder around and leisurely escaped from those beasts."

I don't know if Blue Moon was just giving out information easily, or if DeB was just choosing questions that forced an answer.

Thanks to that, my knowledge was increasing alongside it. Knowledge like the fact that a militia was active, that it consisted of pirates and civilians alike, or that the Bipurit gang had a way to avoid those beasts.

"Is that so."

"So, what's your answer? If you require a price—"

"Take them."

And if I know that much, honestly, I feel like I know everything. DeB might want to dig into more detailed circumstances, but on my end, I've already finished grasping the situation with this.

Plus, the 'dragged away people' Blue Moon was talking about seemed, no matter how I looked at it, to be the group we were currently temporarily protecting.

If there was an organization willing to take them in, that was rather welcome.

"What?"

"I said take them."

"...??"

Leaving those words behind, I turned around and retraced the path I had come from. It was an act entirely based on my trust that DeB would handle it.

"... Um, the people you are looking for. It seems we saved them a little while ago."

"What?"

See! I knew DeB would do it!

"Shall we go take a look first?"

"W-We shall do that..."

A dramatic compromise was reached, one that was mutually beneficial but made it seem as though only my character had plummeted to the rock bottom.

"Uh, you're back? Where exactly did you go... Sister Watia?"

"... Suriya? Is that really you, Suriya?"

"... Oh my god, I heard they lost contact with you after you went to Montata to scout and was worried, but you were here?!"

"Damn it, who's saying what! You damn little brother!"

Going a little further, there was even a sibling reunion that made me wonder if it was a trick of the gods.