Chapter: 159
Right after seeing the demonic beast flying toward the orphanage, I started running like a madman, kicking the ground.
Faces of those I had formed bonds with at the orphanage flashed through my mind.
The smiles of the other kids I had befriended while volunteering at the orphanage, and the gentle smile of Director Maria who always watched over them.
Ah, and Rion.
That child who would brighten up with a clear smile and run into my arms every time she saw me.
The last time I saw her, she was asking to go to the zoo together again.
A chilling image of a lifeless body kept surfacing in my mind.
I clenched my teeth and shook my head violently, trying to dismiss those dreadful thoughts.
No, it can’t be; there’s no way!
They must have all evacuated to a safe place by now.
Yet, despite my rational thoughts, the anxiety wouldn’t leave me.
“I’ll do anything you want, whether it’s going to the zoo or anything else, just please stay alive…”
I prayed fervently and ran with all my might.
It was all I could do.
However, mocking my prayers, the place where the orphanage once stood was already covered in a sphere of black barrier.
The reason for the beasts of greed to set up their barrier was for just one thing.
“No…”
To ensure that their prey wouldn’t escape.
“No!!!!!”
With a desperate shout, I jumped into the barrier.
Please, let it not be too late.
*
“Ugh…”
As I charged inside the barrier, the sight of the orphanage made my throat tighten.
The once cozy and cheerful atmosphere of the orphanage was now shattered and broken, a desolate sight.
But most importantly, the pools of blood scattered here and there around the orphanage completely dulled my mind.
I didn’t even want to imagine whose blood it was, but facing the gruesome scene before me, terrible thoughts surged up uncontrollably, making me feel nauseated.
As I was caught in that terrible feeling, a groan that sounded like a scream from somewhere snapped me back to reality, and I quickly ran toward the source of the sound.
And there, I found…
“…!!! Director Maria!!”
Director Maria was lying on the ground, bleeding.
“Director! Are you okay?!!”
“…Ugh.”
Hurrying to her side, I called out to the fallen director, but it seemed like she had passed out, letting out only pained groans.
Upon checking her condition nearby, I was shocked.
“Director… your eye…”
Where her left eye should have been was a hollow socket, as if gouged out, and blood was pouring from the large wounds covering her body.
And unlike her upper body covered in wounds, I realized her legs remained untouched, understanding why the blood was sprinkled all around the orphanage.
“This bastard…”
One of the characteristics of the beasts of greed I learned at the academy was that they enjoyed playing with their prey rather than killing them outright.
Knowing that the prey trapped in the barrier couldn’t escape, they would leave the legs intact to let the prey run, torturing them by catching and releasing them repeatedly until they no longer could flee.
What lay before me was the dire state of the director.
In that fucking situation, I felt a surge of anger rising from deep within.
Director Maria was the kindest person who dedicated her entire life to children without homes.
I couldn’t tolerate that someone like her was being toyed with by a demonic beast and left in such a terrible state.
I was about to charge out and kill the beast that had done this to her.
“Ugh, cough…”
“!! Director, are you awake?!”
Seeing the director struggling to cough, I was startled and quickly assessed her condition.
With labored breaths, she desperately shouted at me.
“Haah… Watch out behind you-!”
[■■■■■■■■!!!!]
At the same moment as her shout, the roar of a beast echoed from behind me.
A sharp pain shot through my back; it seemed I’d been clawed.
The beast, knowing I had entered the barrier, used the director as bait to ambush me from behind.
But,
“Not so fast, you bastard!!!”
Thanks to the director’s warning and the sight of the beast reflected in her eyes, I was able to dodge and avoid a fatal blow.
As I turned around and reached out, the beast, startled, tried to fly away, but I already had a grip on its leg.
In an instant, flames burst forth from my hand, engulfing the beast entirely.
With its death cries, I saw the barrier surrounding the orphanage dissipate, and I turned back to check on the director.
She was groaning painedly, likely due to the struggle of her attempt to warn me about the beast.
“Ugh…”
“Hang in there! I’ll take you to the hospital right away!”
I urgently lifted the director onto my back.
She had already lost too much blood; there was no time to waste.
If I didn’t get her to someone who could treat her, I couldn’t guarantee her life.
I started running toward the hospital immediately, but despite the fact that it was a time when she should be worrying only about her own safety, she was trembling and murmuring, pointing inside the orphanage.
“Ugh… Inside, inside there’s still Rion…”
I wondered why Rion hadn’t evacuated, but it turned out she was still there.
In a situation where every second counted, bringing Rion along might put the director in more danger, yet she kept urging me with Rion’s name as if Rion were her own child.
Seeing that excessively devoted look made my bitten lip bleed a little.
But knowing how a parent feels when sacrificing themselves for their child, I couldn’t bring myself to turn back, no matter her urging.
So I gritted my teeth and ran forward.
You should save your life first; you can come back for Rion afterward.
At that moment,
[■■■■■■■■!!!!]
A demonic beast was flying toward the orphanage again.
Hoping that the beast wouldn’t harm Rion was just wishful thinking.
Forced to choose a course that felt impossible, I was overwhelmed with despair.
Even in this situation, Director Maria began gently tapping my back.
As if reminding me of what choice I had to make.
Her firm resolve caused tears to swell in my eyes as I was about to set her down.
“Ah…?”
The beast heading toward the orphanage was shot down by starlight coming from the far sky.
Following that shining starlight, a girl who flew in on a shower of luminescent stars circled above me once, and then gracefully landed in front of me with her radiant silver hair fluttering.
“Sylvia…? How did you…?”
“I’m here with Alice to find and treat injured people who couldn’t evacuate while intercepting the approaching beasts.”
As Sylvia answered my question, I noticed the person who had descended from the starry sky and burst into tears.
Alice, a student from Class 1-A like me and Sylvia, specialized in healing magic.
At that moment, she seemed like a savior.
“More importantly, Scarlet, the patient you’re carrying… Oh my god, Director Maria?! Alice! Quickly, first aid!”
“Ah… Got it!!”
As Alice desperately cast healing spells to stop the director’s bleeding, I sighed in relief when I noticed her condition improving, then turned to rush off to find Rion.
But just as I turned away, Alice, who was treating the director from behind, called out to me.
“Scarlet! Aren’t you hurt from that thing behind you?!”
“……It’s just some blood, don’t worry! Please take care of the director! There’s still a child I need to evacuate from the orphanage, so I’ll be back soon!”
The wound I had received from the beast was already healed, so I brushed it off as the director’s blood and slipped away from there.
It was a slightly dizzying moment as I almost got caught, but whatever.
I figured it was okay to be rough with my body since things were like this and muttered to myself as I sprinted toward the orphanage.
While inspecting inside the orphanage, I found Rion huddled in a corner.
And then I understood why Rion was the only one who hadn’t evacuated.
“…Of all the times to do this.”
Despite the commotion outside, Rion was completely oblivious, immersed in doodling.
With so many children to take care of, Director Maria must have had no choice but to leave Rion behind to evacuate the other kids first.
Afterward, she probably returned to get Rion and ran into the beast.
In a way, Rion was somewhat responsible for what happened to the director, but I couldn’t blame her.
Rion’s ability seemed to strike at random, completely drawing her focus into her drawing until it was finished.
Right now, I was just grateful that Rion was safe.
Fortunately or unfortunately, not long after, Rion completed her drawing and lost consciousness as usual.
The completed drawing looked like a scene from a dark cave.
I puzzled over what this strange drawing could mean but decided to move Rion to a safe place, focusing on that for now.
After carrying her to a nearby shelter and gently setting her down, Rion mumbled in her sleep.
“The cave, it’s dangerous.”
*
After evacuating Rion to the shelter, I heard the voices of the children resting there.
“…How is everyone doing?”
“…When we checked in, thankfully none of the kids are dead. There were some injuries from fighting the beasts, but they said nobody was seriously hurt. Phew, if Ms. Eve hadn’t trained them, it would have been really bad.”
“Yeah… I thought Dwight was being ridiculous when he said there was no way the beasts would invade the city, but look what happened.”
“Luckily, the beasts haven’t been too frequent here; they say it’s chaos out in the outskirts where the beasts were released. Thankfully, the witch who supposedly released them hasn’t shown up; it’s all just beasts causing trouble, and they’re managing to keep it under control somehow.”
“It’s a relief the witch isn’t rampaging, but… what in the world was she trying to accomplish by invading?”
“There’s no need to know why; I just hope she stays quiet. With the beasts already overwhelming us, if the witch starts rampaging too, it would be a real disaster.”
Finishing their conversation, I stepped outside the shelter, running through the streets while contemplating the children’s discussion.
I certainly felt puzzled.
What was that witch’s intention, invading the city like this?
But really trying to think about it yielded nothing clear.
Let’s consider the absolute worst-case scenario.
If the witch aimed to destroy this city.
The most certain way would be to eliminate the barrier surrounding the city.
In the original story, the city completely fell apart right after the barrier suddenly vanished one day.
However, as Dwight had mentioned before, as long as the magic circle at the center of the city remains intact, the barrier has the ability to self-repair, even if it sustains damage like before.
In simple terms, to get rid of the barrier, they would have to reach the city center somehow…
But with heroes spread throughout the city to deal with the beasts, there should have been some commotion caused by the witch already.
Unless the witch was completely hidden from sight.
Continuing to think, ultimately, I couldn’t get a grip on what the witch was aiming for, so I kept evacuating the citizens.
Yet, even while evacuating, that earlier notion kept circling in my mind, refusing to budge.
What if the witch had a way to approach the city center without anyone noticing?
And that was why we hadn’t heard news of anyone encountering the witch?
However, surely, there couldn’t be such a way.
Just then, as I sighed and looked down, Rion’s earlier muttering suddenly echoed in my head.
“The cave, it’s dangerous.”
Something on the road caught my intense attention.
In that moment, I realized.
There was a path to approach the city center without being noticed by anyone.
And as I opened the ‘manhole cover’ on the road and descended below,
I shuddered at the sight of the sewer before my eyes.
I realized someone might see that area inside the sewer as a dark cave.
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