Chapter 24
“The reason they wanted orphans, then, the true nature of these monsters…!”
Gilbert hung his head.
Thud! Mary collapsed.
Elisha staggered, pale.
Bord’s usually smiling face was frozen stiff.
Hailey shed tears of sorrow.
Lina, too, was speechless at the shocking scene but could endure. Her training since childhood to become a guard knight for the Cosmos royal family helped.
But… What was with him?
Martin, was he… unaffected? Just hiding it? No, that couldn’t be. Unless he’d known for a long time, some reaction should be normal.
‘…What if he knew long ago?’
Come to think of it, at the national orphanage, Martin said he was waiting for someone, scanning the surroundings from the rooftop. Like he was searching for something.
And he found the hidden passage with the symbol faster than anyone.
‘Could it be.’
A chilling deduction or mere speculation?
With a clanking sound, the ceiling hole began to open.
“Are you all crying there?”
Meanwhile, Cadet Martin manipulated a wall panel, opening the upward path.
I stared blankly as he climbed the ladder lowered from above.
“…Let’s go.”
Lord Gilbert stood. Still reeling from the shock, yet determined to move forward.
“Lord Gilbert.”
“Lina, we can’t stop here.”
His eyes looked like cracked glass from the shock but burned brighter than ever.
“…Yes.”
Looking back, Elisha, Bord, Mary, and Hailey had steeled themselves and were ready to advance. They followed Martin up the ladder.
Then, a shock like a hammer to the back of the head hit.
***
Above the trash bin was a laboratory. Hundreds of glass tubes each contained something in a comatose state.
They took human form but were utterly inhuman, grotesque substances.
“Oh.”
Turning at an unexpected exclamation, I saw an old doctor in a stained white coat looking at me.
“To pass through the trash bin alive…, hm? Wait, you’re Martin of Ulvhadin?”
The doctor was surprised to see me.
I scanned him too.
“Didn’t expect this. You’re quite the expert.”
Wild Instinct first warned me to beware the remote in the doctor’s hand.
“Ho ho, not just one or two? Doesn’t seem like you’re here for a deal. I thought you were trash like me, requesting a deal…, my eyes must be failing. Fine, fine. Keep climbing.”
Know-It-All confirmed complex magic etched on the old doctor’s body, analyzing it as a self-destruct spell triggered upon death.
‘This guy, huh.’
The old doctor before me was my next target. The villain after Martin.
His physical abilities were negligible, but he was a brainy villain who toyed with the protagonist party using traps and interception devices scattered in the lab. Utterly troublesome.
‘…Can’t give him a chance. Strike when he’s off guard.’
By now, the protagonist party and Hailey had all climbed up.
“Greetings. Shall I introduce myself? I am…”
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) is certain the opponent is off guard now.
Bang! I fired at the wrist holding the remote. A bullet hole pierced it, blood sprayed, bone fragments scattered, and the remote fell to the floor.
“Aaagh!”
Faster than his scream, I rushed forward, kicking the remote toward the protagonist party. Simultaneously, I shoved the doctor down and stomped on his perforated wrist.
“Aaaaaagh!”
An even louder scream.
“Baron Keren von Vold Verbus. Holder of a Grade 3 Alchemy License. Honorary committee member of the national orphanage under the Petrak Kingdom’s Welfare Department. Master of synthesis alchemy.”
Seeing through his identity, Keren, despite his pain, flinched and shouted with wide eyes.
“You know me…?!”
“I know you’re a heretic conducting forbidden alchemy to create more effective ‘sacrifices’ using orphans.”
In the original, Keren was introduced as a doting father losing sleep over his missing daughter. Laughable, isn’t it?
Keren flinched, then started blabbering like a comic book villain.
“H-How…! You filthy temple lackey! A heretic inquisitor without divine power?! Or an agent of the Imperium’s Humanity Preservation Agency?! Your delinquent antics at the academy! The Four Great Ducal Families burying you! Was it all a ploy to contact me?!”
I appreciated him mistaking me for an agent of some high authority. Useful.
But this, I couldn’t forgive.
“Don’t scheme.”
I pulled the trigger. With the shot, Keren’s shoe sole and foot flew off. The magic circle on the sole was torn apart.
“Aaaagh!”
Keren screamed. His blabbering was a cunning trap to distract.
“Just kill me!”
“I know you have a self-destruct spell that activates upon death. Did you think I wouldn’t know your plan to blow up the lab for security?”
As his contingencies were exposed one by one, Keren grew terrified.
“Wh-Who! Who the hell are you?!”
I grinned, face twisted with rage.
“Who? Just another villain like you!”
I roughly grabbed the subdued Keren’s hair.
“Aaaagh!”
“Speak! Can you revert the kids to normal?!”
“Let go! Let go, and…!”
“Talk like this!”
“C-Can’t! Impossible! How do you separate what’s already fused?!”
“You can save the kids still being turned into sacrifices! Do it now!”
“F-Fine! I get it! G-Give me the remote! It’s the key!”
I slammed his head into the floor. Crunch, the sound of his nose breaking was clear. Blood streamed out.
“Don’t try tricks. Hand you the lab’s control key?”
“S-Stop…! I was wrong!”
“Which button?”
“Third row from the top, middle button…”
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) detects cunning lies.
I slammed his head again. Broken teeth spilled out.
“Don’t lie.”
“Bottom… bottom button…”
I turned to the protagonist party. They watched my brutal actions, lips sealed.
Ah, this must be it. A villain. Feels… oddly good. Refreshing.
“What are you doing? Bottom button.”
Instead of the stunned Gilbert, Lina pressed the remote’s button.
[Emergency termination of experiment sequence. Switching subjects to standby.]
“D-Done…? Let me go….”
Keren pleaded as the lab’s announcement sounded, but…
“Not done. One more question.”
“I’ll answer anything, just please… it hurts too much.”
“What’s your connection to the Cosmos Dimension Research Institute? Where’d you get that data?”
“I-I don’t know what you mean…”
The Cosmos Dimension Research Institute Log included research on optimizing children as sacrifices.
“The theory for turning kids into sacrifices! Name the source!”
“Found it in ancient ruins. That’s all I know…”
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) detects lies from a terrified opponent.
Another lie. But this was fine. I had a rough guess how he got it.
“Who’s your backer? Speak.”
“They’ll kill me…”
“Or die now.”
“…Marquis Servey, Count Antonis…”
A list of backers spilled from Keren’s mouth.
“That’s all.”
I released his hair and tied him to a sturdy lab device with prepared rope.
I crouched, meeting his eyes directly.
“…Doctor Keren.”
“….”
“You’re still hiding the most important thing. What’s your rank in the Demon Lord Cult?”
“…!”
Keren trembled.
The Demon Lord Cult. A main villain group on a different level from side villains like me and Keren. Their goal was summoning Demon Lords capable of facing nations alone.
Gathering sacrifices like this screamed Demon Lord Cult.
At his greatest secret, Keren’s eyes widened as if they’d tear. Then, his face became expressionless.
“How much do you know?”
“Everything.”
Keren laughed hollowly. Had he lost it?
“Ha, haha, hahahaha! So that’s it! No way a temple inquisitor would know us! The Humanity Preservation Agency is just a political group! You! You’re that guy! The lightning pest who claims to succeed the Cosmos Empire’s so-called revolutionary group, Peacemaker, and disrupts our work!”
I had no idea what he was mistaking me for. I knew of inquisitors and the Humanity Preservation Agency, but Peacemaker was new.
Even in the original, Cosmos Empire info was treated as classified.
‘Peacemaker…’
Gilbert, the crown prince, might know.
To the maniacally laughing Keren, I neither confirmed nor denied, leaving a final warning.
“Remember. Your plans will never succeed.”
It was over. This incident was done.
Or so I thought, when the Fallen Crown Prince of the Cosmos Empire called me.
“Cadet Martin.”
‘Yeah, it’d be weird if you didn’t step in.’
With the Cosmos Empire mentioned, no way he’d stay quiet. Beside him, Lina, his guard knight, stared daggers at me.
I glanced at her briefly and looked away. No reason to engage.
My attitude prompted Lina’s warning.
“Cadet Martin, don’t ignore Lord Gilbert.”
“What if I do? I clearly said to leave each other alone.”
“If you’re really a Peacemaker…”
Lina stopped there, mindful of the Four Great Ducal Families’ heirs and Teacher Hailey.
Gilbert, hiding his crown prince identity, had no more to say here.
Then, Keren’s mutter came from behind.
“…Kill me.”
“…!”
Wild Instinct (Lv 1) warns of an unexpected variable! It’s approaching the doctor!
Wild Instinct screamed warnings. Something was moving toward Keren too fast to see clearly. I raised my rifle and shot at the black shape I barely caught.
Firearm Comprehension (Lv 8) grants you extreme accuracy!
The black shape flinched and dodged.
‘What?’
The bullet hit. But no blood.
I checked the crumpled bullet on the floor.
‘It didn’t pierce?’