episode_0135

[ …It seems like it was a trend among humans. There’s no need to hide it. I respect one’s preferences… ]

The voice of the Maegum trembled without direction. It took about 3 seconds for Lian to realize that he was being treated similarly to the cross-dressing bartender he had seen at the research lab. Startled, he spoke.

“That, that’s not it! It’s just that… my clothes got ruined from wandering around places like dungeons!”

[ A dungeon…? Did you say you went to such an interesting place alone! ]

The vibrant energy flowing from Maegum subsided. This was due to Lian shocking him by having visited an interesting place.

After barely negotiating and dealing more blood than usual, Lian finally managed to appease Maegum. He looked down at his splendid attire, pondering.

‘It’s fortunate it’s nighttime. If I had done this during the day, I would have stood out too much.’

With that thought in mind, he began to make his way back to the village. Following sporadic footprints, he easily reached the village.

Crunch.

Pushing through the bushes, as he entered the village, the first thing that caught his eye was the temple located at the highest point of the village.

‘I’ve returned to that place for the first time… Oh, wait. I was clearly looking for something -… Ahh! Blood!’

In the middle of the night, after coming to the temple to find the missing children and Pia, he realized that he had neglected them for the dungeon. Only then did he notice a scene he hadn’t seen before entering the dungeon.

‘Huh!? Light inside the temple…’

Until just before descending underground, the prayer room in the dark temple was gently illuminated. Without hesitation, Lian headed straight for the temple.

As he opened the partially ajar door and stepped inside, he saw a familiar face. Relieved to see the ones he had been searching for gathered in one place, he smiled brightly. Lian walked towards Pia as if running to her.

“…!”

As he drew closer, a scene he hadn’t seen moments ago and a pungent smell pierced his nostrils.

“Ha, haa…”

“Ugh, ugh… Mom… Mommy…”

A child covered in blood lay on the ground, surrounded by three other children and Pia, forming a circle.

Pia, with tears staining her face, clasped her hands together in prayer. Another child, unfamiliar to him, tightly held the cold hand of the fallen child, shedding endless tears.

Children raised in a cruel land did not cry. They clenched their lips so tightly that blood oozed out, joining Pia in prayer. They knew that their prayers were the only way to save the dying child.

By the standards of a dark fantasy world, the child had a 99% chance of death. Considering the remaining 1% chance of being given to a necromancer and surviving as a chimera, it could be said that the child’s chance of survival was 100% death.

In terms of medical care in a dark fantasy world, they couldn’t heal wounds where organs had been pierced by blades. Therefore, all they could do was pray to the gods with clasped hands, begging for mercy.

But that was only according to the standards of a dark fantasy world.

‘Wait, if left like this, they might die.’

Lian gazed at the soul escaping from the child’s body. Judging by how far it had emerged, it seemed like the child might not last long. Given the tense atmosphere, it didn’t seem like they were intentionally neglecting the situation. Without wasting a moment, Lian approached the child, reaching out his hand into the void.

“Who… who are you?”

“Gasp..! Lian, brother!”

Tears streaming down his face, the village child, holding onto my friend’s hand, looked up at Lian with a vacant expression.

One of the two children who were praying suddenly choked on their breath and froze, while the other called out to Lian with a desperate look.

Lost in prayer, Pia was unaware of Lian approaching until he gently pushed the prayer aside. The divine energy flowing from Pia seamlessly connected with Lian’s body. Lian’s palm faintly emitted light.

[Ah… it doesn’t hurt anymore -… Huh?]

As Lian firmly grasped the child’s soul, the child’s eyes widened in confusion.

In sight were hair as white as snow and a dazzling golden crown that seemed unearthly human. The splendid attire, like that of a prince from a fairy tale, along with the radiant appearance, left the child dazed.

Swiftly, without a word, Lian pushed the child’s soul back into its body. Then, he swiftly pulled out the knife embedded in the child’s stomach. Miraculously, the wound vanished instantly. It is a common rule in the comedic world that wounds disappear as soon as the soul returns to its body.

“Phew.”

The child, opening his eyes wide, stared blankly at the ceiling.

“Eh… eh…?”

“Oh oh…?”

“Eh… eh..”

In a miracle-like event that happened in an instant, the children stuttered like malfunctioning machines. After a moment of silence passed…

“I… I’m alive?”

“Ahhhh! You fool!”

“Eh eh?! What!? I-I’m really alive!”

“Sister! Sister! He’s alive! He’s alive!”

Excited and relieved, the children, overwhelmed with joy, jumped up vigorously. As one of the Nest organization kids roughly shook Pia, shouting, she stopped praying and opened her eyes wide.

“What… huh, L-L-Lian?”

Pia, mouth agape at the sight of Lian standing there like a painting, gazed up at him. The sacred temple and the children’s cheers all felt surreal.

“Look, look, there’s light over there!”

“Tente! Are you here?”

“Tente!”

“Aniel!”

Voices outside the temple grew louder, and the orange glow drew closer.

“Gasp! The villagers have come looking for the kids! What should I do?”

Though Lian displayed a miraculous feat worthy of praise as a god, outwardly, he appeared as a suspicious handsome man wielding a sinister sword. Summoning the sword would have branded him as a pervert, yet hiding it well was challenging due to his dazzling attire.

“First, let’s get out of here!”

Like a mouse chased by a cat, Lian quickly scanned his surroundings.

“Ah! There!”

His gaze fixed on the door leading to the old man’s room. Without looking back, he ran straight towards the door behind the altar.

“L-Lian? Where are you going -…”

“Tente!”

“Eek!”

Terrified, the villagers stepped inside the temple as Lian fled. Seeing the silhouettes of the children and the bloodstained floor, they screamed in horror.

“Mommy!”

“Ahhh!”

The two village children ran to their parents, tears streaming down their faces. The children’s parents and the villagers instinctively guarded against Pia, wearing hostile expressions.

“What on earth happened here!”

“Could it be… that woman was a witch?”

“Goodness… trying to use the children as sacrifices!”

The children, now strangers covered in blood, naturally accumulated misunderstandings.

In the usual dark fantasy rules, given their young age, if they couldn’t help Pia due to severe shock, she might have been unjustly burned as a witch.

Fortunately, Pia was a devotee of the comedy deity, and one of the children had just survived thanks to the comedy filter. With the lingering aura of the comedy filter, the two children could act more courageously than usual.

“No!”

“I’m not… I’m not!”

The two children stepped in front of Pia, breaking free from their parents’ embrace. The tense atmosphere, as if they were about to stab with the shovel or pitchfork they held in their hands, softened immediately.

“What on earth happened, Tente?”

In the world of comedy, when the atmosphere for a past recollection is set, people can indirectly experience it vividly through detailed explanations.

“In fact, -…”

As the child explained, the villagers listened intently, immersing themselves in the events they had experienced so far as if possessed by the explaining child.

Shocked by the revelation that another child had already been killed by the mansion’s caretaker and that they had also tried to kill, they were horrified at the mention of grabbing swords and chasing after them. As Pia shouted for the children to run to save them, everyone looked at Pia with worried eyes.

“Could it be that the injuries from back then…”

“These bloodstains aren’t from the children, but -…”

“Unbelievable…”

Just as their misunderstandings were deepening, Pia immediately raised her head. Tente, who had been recounting the story, raised his hand and spoke up.

“This blood is mine. When that monster of a grandfather suddenly collapsed, the sword flew and pierced… my stomach.”

“W-what, what?”

“Where! Where did it…!”

The parents, faces drained of color, began examining the child’s body. Pushing the parents away, the child said,

“It’s okay now! Lian saved me!”