“Hmm? This isn’t your blood, is it?”
I tousled the blood-covered head of the young demon boy, checking for any injuries. There were none. The boy, like all the other children, had been too stunned to speak until he finally opened his mouth hesitantly.
“T-this is… Papa’s…”
“Papa? He was shot, wasn’t he?”
The boy’s face crumpled as tears streamed down his cheeks.
“D-don’t… I don’t want him to die!”
“…Hmm.”
Tears poured from the boy’s eyes.
No, no, that wasn’t my intention. I just wanted to confirm whether his father was alive or dead, not to make the boy cry.
But judging by this reaction, it didn’t seem like the boy had witnessed his father die outright.
“Well then, shall we go heal him?”
“…What?”
“Your father—your Papa—is injured, yes? Then we need to tend to him quickly.”
Truthfully, I wanted to continue pursuing Schwizen, but leaving this unresolved wasn’t an option.
“Lead the way, boy.”
Thunk. Clang. Thunk. Clang. Thunk. Clang.
With rhythmic precision, the Zombie Soldiers knocked the helmets off the kingdom soldiers’ heads using their rusted swords. Behind them, I followed with the children and Shes.
Thunk. Clang. Thunk. Clang. Thunk. Clang.
The soldiers never got the chance to fire their rifles. In this narrow hallway, the Zombie Soldiers struck down any soldier who dared peek out, rendering them unconscious.
…Unconscious, I hope.
Considering the force with which the soldiers were being thrown back, it wouldn’t be surprising if some sustained brain injuries or even spinal damage. It was concerning, to say the least.
“Impressive as ever, Zombie Soldiers. You’re quite strong.”
…
“You’ve done well so far. I should reward you three once we return safely. Perhaps a new set of armor tailored to your build?”
…
The Zombie Soldiers didn’t reply. It would be nice if they became as responsive as Shes someday, I mused when—
“A zombie!? What the—!?”
We unexpectedly encountered a middle-aged man in blue priestly robes, looking every bit the part of a devout clergyman. But before he could do anything, a Zombie Soldier’s blade slammed into his face, caving his head in with a single strike.
“…Well. That was… decisive.”
It was an instant kill. While I was used to seeing corpses in my line of work, watching someone die right in front of me still made me grimace a little. But this was a battlefield, and there was no room for softness.
Besides…
“If we’re talking softness, it’s this, isn’t it?”
I picked up the book that had fallen from the priest’s pocket when he was struck—a holy scripture.
This book wasn’t just for worship; it also served as a handy tool for channeling holy energy to easily activate divine spells.
Technology like this strengthens humanity as a whole but weakens individuals. Had this man been able to cast a spell without relying on his scripture, he might have stood a chance.
Most likely, he was only here to investigate the noise in the hallway. But coming unarmed was a fatal mistake.
“May you find your way to your god, believer. If such a being truly exists.”
I placed the scripture on his chest and continued forward with my group.
It wasn’t long before we reached the cage holding the children’s parents and other prisoners. There hadn’t been any soldiers or clergy capable of threatening the Zombie Soldiers or Shes along the way, confirming that only a skeleton crew had been left to guard this place.
“Zombie Soldiers, Shes, break open the cage.”
Va.
As Shes and the Zombie Soldiers touched the cage, they were immediately engulfed in white flames—divine fire.
“Dark Heal.”
I quickly extinguished the flames and healed them.
Apparently, the cage had been enchanted with holy magic that harmed anyone who touched it. What a nuisance.
Dispel the enchantment? I could, but wasting mana was out of the question. Instead, I retrieved a key ring from the belt of a guard the Zombie Soldiers had knocked out earlier. Testing each key one by one, I eventually unlocked every cage.
At the same time, I began treating the prisoners.
“Papa! Papa!”
“Oh, Koch! Thank goodness… Thank goodness you’re safe!”
The boy—whose name was Koch, apparently—embraced his father tightly. Koch’s father had been shot in the left shoulder with a rifle, but he had cleverly used the cage’s holy enchantment to heal himself, avoiding fatal blood loss.
Now, under my Dark Heal, his wound was finally closing.
…Whoever enchanted these cages didn’t understand demons well.
Koch and his father were tengu—a neutral race neither aligned with good nor evil. This meant both holy healing and dark healing worked on them, albeit with reduced effectiveness and longer recovery times.
After about ten minutes, the wound was completely healed. Cheers of “Wow!” and “Amazing!” erupted from the other prisoners, who had been silently watching in awe.
Good, good. With no more injured demons, this matter should be resolved—
…Wait, really?
Hold on. Wasn’t my original mission to capture a kingdom officer, not rescue prisoners? How did I end up freeing demon captives instead?
“L-Lord Kiwi Alaya!”
“Eh?”
As I pondered, Koch’s father addressed me, his face flushed with gratitude—perhaps from his tengu complexion, or the emotion overwhelming him. Tears welled in his eyes as he clasped my hands.
“Thank you so much! I am Inasa. I cannot express how grateful I am for your assistance in saving my son, healing my injury, and freeing us from captivity! To think someone would come to rescue us singlehandedly…”
“Oh, no, I…”
“Please, don’t dismiss your deeds as insignificant! Do you know how long we’ve waited for a hero like you to arrive?”
But… I wasn’t here to rescue anyone. I had stumbled upon this situation entirely by accident while pursuing Schwizen!
…And now, somehow, I had become the beacon of hope for nearly 200 demon prisoners. How did it come to this?
“So, Lord Kiwi, how shall we escape?”
Inasa asked eagerly, his trusting eyes shining with hope. Beside him, Koch gazed up at me with wide, admiring eyes.
…No, I don’t have a plan! Escape? That’s what I want to ask!
Had I been too hasty in freeing everyone? Just as regret began to creep in—
A thunderous crash, louder than anything before, echoed from outside.
