EP.161 Lost Lamb (09)
Bee—
As the loud noise that shook my head gradually faded away, a ringing sound pierced my ears painfully.
Struggling to open my eyes, my vision was completely red.
Thinking something might be wrong with my eyes, I felt a shiver run down my spine, but fortunately, it was just a minor cut on my forehead; nothing too serious.
However, if you asked whether my body was perfectly fine, that would be a no.
While there were only slight cuts around my face that could be healed with some saliva, I had a serious injury with a large wooden shard piercing through my lower abdomen and my right leg twisted in a strange direction.
Judging by the level of pain, my insides were likely intact, but besides the twisted leg, it seemed like one or two bones were cracked or broken.
“Are you hurt…?”
“Y-You too…? Are you okay?”
As I raised my head to face forward, I saw Davi being embraced by the chain extending from my arm and her father beside her.
After confirming their spotless attire, not stained by so much as a drop of blood or dust, a sigh of relief escaped me.
Taking out Bawngwi to protect them right after sensing an explosion from the ominous flash that entered the room was definitely a brilliant choice.
If I, who had trained my body to some extent, was like this, there was no doubt they would have met their end if they had been caught in the blast.
“I know you’re in there! Get out now, you white-haired cripple!”
At that moment, a roar resembling a beast’s echoed through the shattered window.
Was it just me, or did that voice sound oddly familiar?
“I’ll make sure to repay you for the humiliation you put me through this morning! It’s best you pray to the gods right now!”
It seemed the rascal who threw explosives into our shack was the very child abuser I had dealt with this morning.
He must have spent nearly a month incapacitating someone like me so he couldn’t be tormented, but now he was determined to get his revenge despite all that adversity.
Why was a person with such formidable build engaging in beastly acts outside the system?
Watching such precious talent waste away like this made my heart uneasy.
“Phew…”
“Wait! Is it really okay to pull that out like that!?”
Struggling to remove the wooden plank lodged in my abdomen, Davi suddenly gasped in horror.
But that concern was misplaced.
The instant the plank was pulled out of my abdomen, the ugly hole in my body started closing rapidly.
“That’s… That’s impossible…”
Leaving behind Davi’s shaky voice as if bewitched, I briefly surveyed the situation outside through the broken window.
“This is insane…”
As I feared, the precious guest who visited this shabby shack wasn’t just the child abuser.
At least a dozen figures were visible to the naked eye.
Among them was a beastman wielding a weapon the size of my torso and a black mage adorned with piercings all over their face.
No wonder the explosive had such a considerable blast; they’d fired artillery.
Confirming the source of the child abuser’s overflowing confidence with my own two eyes, my feelings of fondness for the increasingly pathetic child abuser diminished by another 10 points.
“Lans that bastard… Seems like he was quite pissed off about what happened to him…”
“He must be pretty famous around here…”
“Well, yeah… It’s rare to find someone who doesn’t know him in this vicinity. He only accepts donations while neglecting treatments, and he gropes women regardless of their marital status under the guise of treatment, so people around here don’t even dare approach the church unless they’re seriously injured. I heard he got excommunicated for beating up his mentor who advised him not to hit on the priestesses and ended up getting demoted here…”
“So those folks behind him are…?”
“Mercenaries who specialize in dangerous work around here. Judging by their numbers, someone must have splurged some cash…”
“Indeed…”
I decided to put aside the slanderous tales of the child abuser’s character for later.
What mattered most right now was to find a solution to this dire predicament.
The child abuser’s intention was obvious.
Revenge against me.
From experience, this type of person can’t stand being underestimated, especially by someone who looks weak like me.
If I had known it would come to this, I would have broken not only his arms but also his legs.
Looking back at my past self, who had faltered at his tearful pleas, filled me with nothing but resentment.
This calamity was, in fact, the result of my own soft-heartedness.
“Davi, please take your father and step aside for a bit. If possible, grab the hidden holy sword as well.”
“What? What about you?”
While I spoke to Davi, I momentarily glanced at the stigmata marked on my arm.
Out of the seven blessings granted by the saintess, I had already used two to summon Bawngwi and the remaining two on healing the boy and myself, meaning I only had three blessings left, including the one for myself.
That was far too few to ward off all the danger coming my way.
Yet, it was enough to buy some time.
“That’s…”
Davi exclaimed in astonishment as she caught sight of the few small sticks I had pulled from my pocket.
They looked like the sticks of ice cream that were completely eaten and were the emergency contact magical tools Dawna had given me.
Each stick was engraved with the names of the hero, Apis, Dawna, and Bigtim.
If I broke the stick with the name of the person I wanted to contact, a rescue signal would be sent to them.
It wouldn’t be a problem to dispatch those rascals with just one of my allies reaching out, but that made it all the more necessary to be cautious.
Since I had already sustained a fatal injury, calling anyone without thought would result in a bloodbath right here.
The Hero Party, who were the idols of the citizens of the system, couldn’t be killing rascals in the middle of the city either.
Even if they were wicked individuals who deserved to die, I didn’t want to see my precious comrades committing murder unnecessarily.
Who should I call?
The extraordinary hero, whose love and protective instincts were off the charts, was already out of the question.
Neither could I call Apis, whose camaraderie was as fiery as her temper.
Lately, Dawna had shown a growing interest in producing homunculi, which didn’t even merit discussion.
So there was only one choice left.
Bigtim.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was the only normal person among the many oddballs in our party.
My sole reliable pillar.
The light and salt of the hero party.
Bigtim, who was thoughtful and considerate in everything, would undoubtedly solve this explosive situation peacefully without a drop of bloodshed.
Help me, Bigtim!
Snap.
The moment I forcefully broke the stick with Bigtim’s name on it, I felt the anxiety on my chest lighten significantly.
From this moment, my task became incredibly simple.
Buy time until the important witnesses, who held the clues to the whereabouts of the holy sword and were unrelated to the current situation, could evacuate safely.
And just as their evacuation was finished, I would immediately bolt for the hills.
“I’ll buy some time, so you two get out of here. Oh, just in case, I’ll hand you this too. If things get dicey, breaking this stick will help you…”
“Are you an idiot?”
“…?”
After conveying my plan to her, Davi suddenly spoke to me in a tone filled with disbelief when I tried to give her the emergency contact magical tool out of concern.
“What?”
“Did you really think I’d just run away with the holy sword like this?”
To be honest, I hadn’t completely dismissed that possibility.
After all, these two had already attempted to make off with the holy sword once.
Whether they were just looking to cash in by selling the holy sword, or if they had other dubious intentions, I had no idea.
But one thing was clear: these two had committed the heinous crime of hiding the holy sword.
That fact was beyond dispute.
However.
“Are you kindly explaining to me that you’re going to run away with the holy sword now?”
“!”
I couldn’t see her as someone who would carelessly weigh her family on a scale.
“Hah, I see… Now I understand why the hero is so infatuated with you.”
“Haha…”
As I saw Davi hurriedly escort her unconscious father away, I adjusted my stance.
“Hey! White-haired cripple! If you don’t get out from there right now, I’ll shove another one of those right into you! If you want to quietly die, get out here and smash your head into the ground right now!”
Bigtim, I’m scared. Hurry up.
It was about ten minutes later that I realized my emergency contact had been sent to someone entirely different from Bigtim.
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