episode_0190

Chapter 6 Episode 46 – Loss 3

“What on earth is going on… .”

“Everyone can come back alive, right?”

“Please… . May the Virgin Mary look down upon us… .”

“It’s safe here, right?”

A corner of the forest near the village. Villagers are gathered inside a small barrier.

The barrier was created by the knight’s gift. It is a powerful protective shield that lasts until all the arc contained within it is exhausted, and cannot be broken by any amount of force.

After evacuating the residents inside this protective shield, the knight set off to rescue Philia.

Residents believed the article. Since I had seen him effortlessly cutting down monsters to clear the way, I had high hopes that he would be able to protect this village.

However, there was one fact that both the knight and the villagers overlooked.

If they were just monsters that could be defeated by a new knight, there was no way they would be able to cross the cordon in the first place. They were overlooking it.

A small figure emerged from the darkness. The residents’ eyes were focused on the figure.

“Hey, over there. I have a child!”

At first glance, the figure looked like a small child.

Residents rushed to bring the child. However, the barrier was like a barrier that could not be entered from the outside, nor could it be exited from the inside.

It is too dangerous to leave a child outside when you don’t know how long it will take for the driver to return. However, since it was impossible to break the barrier, the residents could only stamp their feet.

Then, a woman said.

“Um, that kid… . Are you human?”

A child slowly walking towards the barrier.

As the distance got closer, the child’s shape became more clear.

A heterogeneous body that cannot be seen in humans was also clearly visible.

“You’re all hiding here!”

The innocent voice clearly belonged to a young boy. His appearance also looked quite similar to a human. However, the similarities were limited, and the boy was clearly not human.

Full body fur and bizarre yellow eyes.

A tail with menacing claws and spikes.

Above all, it has the shape of an animal’s face with a protruding snout.

“Um, what is that… !”

It was a monster that imitated humans and could speak.

“Hide and seek was fun. But the queen told me to kill them all, so I can’t play anymore.”

Kakak–.

The monster sunk its sharp claws into the barrier.

The barrier, which had not even a scratch on it no matter how many times the monsters walking through the forest attacked it, was torn apart by the fingernails of a young boy monster.

The monster spoke with a bright smile towards the terrified residents.

“By the way, my name is Lot. The queen built it. I told you not to tell anyone, but I’m going to kill you anyway, so it’s okay to brag about it, right?”

*

*

The knight took a deep breath.

As if there were no survivors left in the village, the monsters began to flock in, targeting the knight and Philia.

Fighting while protecting a helpless girl was a burden in many ways. It was an extremely heavy burden, especially for a rookie who had just graduated from a knight training school.

However, the knight stood steadfastly over the monster’s corpse. I held on to my spirit and swung my sword to protect the little warmth sleeping in my arms.

When I defeated the last monster in a group that I thought would never end. Only then was the knight able to sit down and rest.

“Wow… . Did you kill them all?”

Was there any child still alive?

The driver turned his head toward the voice.

At first I thought it was a young boy. But I soon realized that it was not a human.

“How can a monster speak…? ?”

Until now, humanity has been actively researching and fighting against monsters. They were stronger than other beasts and were a huge enemy that threatened the existence of mankind.

However, as research continued, the status of monsters was downgraded from a threatening enemy to a strong beast that simply annoys humans.

There were many reasons, but the biggest one was that the monster’s intelligence was seriously low.

The monsters that do not form groups and rush to kill humans ignorantly are terrifying to the individual, but to the human race as a group, they are no different from stronger and more aggressive beasts.

In addition, the fact that the reason why monsters were most feared, their peculiarity of suddenly appearing in places where there was nothing, was explained also played a role.

Monsters cannot reproduce on their own, but are naturally born from demon energy. The principle of its birth is unknown, but it does not occur in places where there is no demonic energy. After the Holy Mother Church purified all the demonic energy in the Central Continent, there was no longer any need to be afraid of demons appearing.

Therefore, the empire no longer cared about monsters other than those that occasionally came from the eastern continent.

But now the monster in front of the knight spoke.

This means that it has advanced intelligence enough to understand human language.

‘I must inform you. You must report this to the Security Department.’

The knight made his judgment as a knight.

We must let people know that intelligent monsters exist.

Only then will the Security Bureau be able to take appropriate action.

The strength of the opponent is unknown. However, the fact that a being with high intelligence was not scared even after seeing the dead monsters in front of his eyes was probably because he was that confident.

In that case, the knight has no chance of winning.

My stamina was already exhausted, and my arc was almost exhausted.

Moreover, because there is something to protect, the body cannot be free.

If you are killed by a monster in front of you, there will be no one to report important information to.

‘I have to run away with all my remaining strength.’

To maximize your chances of survival, you must abandon Philia.

I have to make my body lighter and run away faster.

‘……’

He put down Philia, who was asleep in his arms.

And then he squeezed out the remaining arc and struck the barrier.

He made a decision.

Not as a knight, but as the girl’s older brother.

*

*

Philia felt a warm feeling. This warmth wrapping around me felt so reassuring. So I surrendered myself to that warmth.

Philia wondered who that warmth belonged to.

Then, the warmly enveloping smoke gathered together and created a shape.

“Dad!”

A slight smell of oil, rough hands with a lot of calluses, and rough beard.

The warm cloud transformed into a father and created a unique texture and scent.

Philia hugged her father tightly.

If I don’t do this, I feel like I’m going to go somewhere.

But Philia couldn’t hold on to her father.

Because it turned into smoke again and dispersed.

“Dad… . Where did you go… ?”

As the smoke surrounding her body disappeared, Philia felt extremely cold and anxious.

And I felt warmth behind my back again.

“Dad… ?”

But that warmth wasn’t my dad’s.

A faintly sweet smell, soft but calloused hands. And even the soft feel I felt when I hugged Philia tightly.

“Mom!”

Philia immediately realized that her mother was hugging her.

“Mom and Dad disappeared… .”

My dad worked outside, so he left the house every day. Seeing off her father every morning was one of Philia’s important daily routines.

When she was young, she cried and held on to her father because she thought he was leaving when he went to work, but now that she is older, Philia knows very well that her father comes back in the evening.

But now, for some reason, I didn’t think my dad would come back.

“Dad… . Dad… .”

The reason was unknown.

Therefore, Philia could only be hugged by her mother with feelings that she did not know what to do.

However, that warmth also gradually began to disappear.

“Uh, Mom? Mom, where are you going?”

Just as my father disappeared, my mother also turned into smoke and dispersed.

Philia desperately tried to hold on to the smoke, but the more she tried, the faster the smoke dispersed.

Philia, who realized that her actions were meaningless and had made things worse, could only stop her arms and watch the smoke disappear in vain.

And again, the warmth surrounding Philia.

It was an unfamiliar yet somehow nostalgic warmth.

“Oppa, you won’t disappear… ?”

My older brother who always played with me when I was young.

My older brother suddenly left the village and returned several years later.

“Please… . Please stay… .”

Because that was the only warmth Filia had left now.

I begged him not to disappear.

Fortunately, Philia’s earnest prayers worked.

My brother did not disappear into smoke.

but,

Tuk–.

That warmth,

Rolling around–.

It went cold.

“Uh, uh… ? brother… ? Why is my head… . Head… ?”

What rolled before Philia’s eyes was her brother’s head.

Philia also knew very well what it meant for the head, which should have been attached to the body, to be on the ground.

The head opened its eyes and looked at Philia.

And he slowly moved his pale lips.

‘It’s because of you.’

“Aaaah!!!!”

Philia opened her eyes with a scream.

Philia was relieved to learn that she had been dreaming just a moment ago.

But in my blurry vision, I could still see something that shouldn’t be on the floor.

Eyes out of focus, lips pale.

My brother’s head fell to the ground alone, without a body, and was making eye contact with Philia.