Family (2)
Chapter 37
***
Around the hideout established by Locust, a protective barrier was spread out. However, it wasn’t a perfect shield against all threats.
Thus, Uni, one of Locust’s subordinates who was patrolling the perimeter of the barrier, soon frowned and muttered to herself after not too long.
“The communication is delayed. What are these guys doing?”
“Don’t be too hasty.”
“Damn it, Simone is dead.”
Uni snapped at Oct, her fellow Dark Wizard.
“Everything’s gone wrong. We might have to flee at any moment. The ones sent to investigate Simone’s death should know this, so why is there such a delay in communication?”
Oct sighed.
As soon as Simone died, all their comrades who were in Dinor City went to the Manor.
That was the last they heard from them.
Uni was right. Given the uncertain situation now, those who headed to the Manor had the duty to quickly send new information.
However, it had been over an hour with no word.
“Your anxiety is understandable. But damn, why did Lord leave just at this time?”
“He’s distracted. Dammit, what irresponsible thing is he doing after bringing us here?”
“Uni, watch your mouth.”
“I get that you’re keeping the good stuff for yourself. But why do we have to move out at this timing?”
“Please calm down. We need to discuss among ourselves at least.”
“Yeah, right now.”
Uni turned around.
Walking along the river stream, she reached the cabin used as a hideout.
Upon arrival, Uni burst into the cabin and shouted,
“Nor! Duode! Let’s talk!”
“What’s the matter?”
“I can’t stand the unease anymore. I can’t stay here any longer.”
“Our Lord ordered us to wait.”
“Screw that. Duode, don’t you get it? Our Lord is distracted!”
“Uni, are you planning to rebel?”
“That’s not what I mean! Since we can’t rely on our Lord’s help immediately, let’s find a way out on our own.”
“That’s insubordination.”
“Why are you being so stubborn? Simone is dead! The investigation team’s communication is delayed! Please, let’s move the hideout. The chances of exposure are high.”
“…”
Uni’s argument had merit.
Duode thought for a moment. Moving the hideout without permission would surely displease the Lord.
But it was also true that the Lord had left them neglected due to his distraction.
Surviving the present moment was more important than facing punishment later.
Duode nodded.
“…Alright. Pack up. Clean up traces. I’ll contact the Lord separately.”
“Great, Duode. Thank you very much.”
“No unnecessary talk. Move quickly.”
Having listened to the conversation, Nor stood up.
“What about the Elf?”
“…Take her along.”
“Alright.”
Entering the room, Nor grabbed the Elf by the wrist and pulled her out.
The Elf twisted her body around in resistance.
“H-hey, let go of me!”
“Shut up!”
Enraged, Nor kicked the Elf’s legs.
Puff!
“Aaah!”
With the Elf pinned against the wall, Nor continuously kicked her stomach.
Due to the wall behind her, the Elf was helplessly exposed to the violence.
Bang! Bang!
“Ugh! Aaaah!”
“Damn useless woman. You’ve been abandoned even by your own kind, and still, you don’t understand your place!”
Nor continued kicking until the Elf’s moans subsided, then grumbled while grabbing her arm.
The Elf coughed up blood and mumbled.
“Ulte will… punish you…”
“Ulte? Are you talking about the missing Lord?”
“Guh, guh…”
“Bitch.”
With a smirk, Nor dragged the Elf away.
The preparations to move the hideout were quickly finished.
Since they were fugitives of the Empire, they were always prepared to flee.
Duode laid out a map and explained.
“We follow the river course and loop around to head towards the Sigini Mountain Range.”
“Good judgment. It’s a great place to escape if things go wrong.”
Indeed, once deep inside the mountain range, tracking would be difficult.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Now, let’s dismantle the barrier…”
Duode suddenly flinched and turned his head toward somewhere in the forest.
“Intruders. Ten of them. At their speed, they’re cavalry.”
“Shit, I knew it would come to this. How much time can the barrier buy us?”
“Not much. Both the concealment and detection barriers have been torn apart. Our hideout location has been precisely exposed, and there’s an Expert-level individual among the intruders.”
“Let’s run fast. We don’t know how many knights are mixed in with the intruders.”
“Minimize luggage and move.”
Nor clicked his tongue.
“Then I’ll take care of this woman. She might start screaming anytime, and I can’t bring her with me due to the risk.”
“Handle it as you see fit…?”
Duode was about to nod when he abruptly pulled Nor by the neck.
A black spear rose from the ground and pierced through Nor’s wrist.
“Aaaaargh! Who the hell are you!”
Having lost hold of the Elf, Nor angrily roared as the concealment of Saria’s artifact dissipated, revealing her.
Saria’s eyes glowed red as blood gushed from Nor’s wrist, which he used to create a massive claw.
Confidently raising the claw toward the approaching Saria, Nor panicked and stumbled back as a Sword Energy erupted from Saria’s sword.
Saria secured the Elf first and then distanced herself.
To the disoriented Elf, Saria asked,
“Are you Titi?”
“Titi?”
“Yes, Titi.”
“Do you know Titi?”
“Not really. I only heard about her from Ulte.”
“Do you know Ulte?”
“He’s my friend.”
“Really? I miss Ulte. When will he return?”
It was a strangely mismatched conversation, but Saria, now confident that this was Titi, fired a signal flare.
Mohamed, riding toward the hideout, jumped off his horse upon spotting the flare.
“Destroy the enemies of the Empire!!”
Following Mohamed, the knights leaped off their horses and unleashed brilliant Sword Auras.
In the next moment, dozens of Sword Energies danced wildly, destroying all trees blocking their path.
Kuagagagagagak!!!
Having carved a straight path to where the signal flare exploded, the knights charged full force toward the dark wizards.
The faces of the dark wizards turned pitch black with fear.
*
“Ah, having knights around makes everything easier.”
Ray sat on the muddy ground watching the battle between the knights and the dark wizards, marveling.
When the knights gathered in squads and unleashed their power, the terrain itself changed drastically.
Looking at the plain that had collapsed like a basin and was now filling with river water, Ray lamented.
“When will our kids grow up and fly around like that?”
If only they grew up faster, they wouldn’t have to endure so much hardship.
Fighting like this now, degenerative arthritis would surely strike in their thirties.
Muttering that he could hang on for ten more years, Ray surveyed the battlefield.
A small Elf was sobbing in Saria’s arms.
‘This Elf caused the Count to mobilize all the knight forces.’
Despite her unimpressive appearance, she seemed to be quite an important figure.
Ray thought he could claim some credit for this operation.
Though it was somewhat accidental, without him, the situation could have worsened significantly.
‘Anyway, the fight is too one-sided.’
Thanks to Saria using the artifact to rescue Titi safely, the knights could unleash their full power without hesitation.
Among the dark wizards, there were experts who had reached the fifth Circle, but what difference did that make?
On this side, there were eleven tightly packed individuals at the Expert level or higher.
“AAAAAAHHH!!”
“Ah, nooo!! GAAAHH!!”
The dark wizards couldn’t put up a proper resistance and died one after another.
On one hand, Ray felt relieved; on the other, he felt a headache coming on.
If Locust had been among them, the battle wouldn’t have ended so easily.
They had missed the most dangerous man.
Kuuuung—!
The explosion gradually faded.
The last dark wizard resisting was split in half at the waist and rolled on the ground.
On the Baron’s side, the damage was minimal—only two knights sustained light injuries.
It was a perfect victory.
However, instead of cheering, everyone’s gaze focused on the captured dark wizard, Uni.
Unlike his colleagues who resisted to the end, Uni was captured without a fight.
This was rare. As dark wizards faced certain execution, they usually preferred suicide over capture.
Mohamed asked,
“What trickery is this?”
“Just wanted to die peacefully.”
“I’ll consider cooperating if you behave.”
“Stop joking. Since I’ve surrendered nicely, please just chop off my head cleanly.”
“Are you truly Locust’s subordinate?”
“Damn it. Yeah, I was just doing grunt work for that guy.”
“Where has Locust gone?”
“Don’t know, I don’t know. Stop looking at me like that. I really don’t know.”
Uni vented his frustration with ragged breath.
“That bastard has been distracted lately. He practically abandoned us after bringing us here. Damn, I knew we’d end up like this.”
“Has he been distracted?”
“Yeah. Seems like he found some great treasure or something. He didn’t share any information with us, probably planning to keep it all for himself. He’s probably still near that mysterious treasure now.”
“When did he disappear from your sight?”
“This morning.”
“Ah, trouble ahead.”
Furrowing his brows, Ray stepped forward.
“We need to check the orphanage immediately.”
“This insane fool is crossing the line.”
Jenkins drew his sword at Ray in anger.
He couldn’t tolerate the insolence of this ignorant commoner any longer.
Although Ray understood Jenkins’ reaction and intended to back down, Saria was quicker and knocked Jenkins’ sword aside.
Clang!
Saria’s killing intent directed at Jenkins.
Jenkins also refused to back down and intensified his momentum.
Tension filled the air as the Baron removed his helmet and asked,
“Ray, are you sure the treasure Locust is after is Luna?”
“If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have caused such a commotion to come all the way to Dinor.”
“Locust might have simply abandoned his subordinates and fled after realizing his identity was exposed.”
“I understand. But we currently have no means to track Locust directly. The place where he’s most likely to appear is the orphanage.”
“The orphanage, huh.”
“If he escapes from the Baron’s territory, the greedy wizard would still try to grab the treasure he had his eye on. That’s what I think.”
“Hmm, that makes sense.”
The Baron also wanted to eliminate Locust.
Letting him live with enmity would become a significant source of instability in the future.
Even if it meant losing something, the Baron decided to trust Ray’s words.
“Pietro and Titi will join us at the orphanage to meet Didier. Any objections?”
“…”
“Move out.”
“I obey your command.”
Some knights showed dissatisfaction on their faces but climbed onto their horses without a better alternative.
Ray asked Saria,
“Aunt, can you help me catch the mastermind behind this incident?”
“Yes, it’s fine. You can ask for other favors too. After all, you’re my nephew.”
“Thank you.”
As Ray bowed, Saria proudly patted his head.
*
What? Luna’s parents?
Jimmy sneered at the gaunt man.
Where were they when they abandoned her and ran away, and now they’re making complaints?
Moreover, the timing couldn’t be worse.
Reading Jimmy’s expression, the man flushed and yelled loudly,
“Give me my daughter! Luna! Daddy’s here! Come out quickly!”
The woman standing beside the man revealed her identification badge and argued.
“If you doubt us, check. We are indeed Luna’s parents! Here! Check quickly!”
“Ho ho, these people keep causing trouble.”
“I won’t hand my daughter over to these gangster-like kids! Hand her over before I file a formal complaint!”
As Jimmy pondered whether to drive them away by force, Didier stepped forward.
“You people.”
Kuung!
Just taking a step made the ground rumble heavily.
Didier openly released mana, threatening Luna’s parents, and his eyes shone faintly blue.
“I heard that you borrowed a large sum of money, couldn’t repay it, and abandoned your child while fleeing. Is that not true?”
“Oh, it’s a misunderstanding.”
The man whose face had turned pale frantically shook his head.
“I temporarily left home to borrow money from relatives, but an accident occurred. That’s why I returned late. All financial matters have been settled.”
“We need to verify the facts. Appeal to Count Philips. If there’s no problem after a fair investigation, the child will be returned.”
“Ah, but we are the parents! Where has anyone ever arbitrarily taken a child from their parents?”
Just as Didier was about to respond, Karen’s voice echoed loudly across the playground.
“Luna is my friend! Absolutely cannot take her away!”
Starting with Karen, children peeking out of the windows began shouting loudly.
“Luna is our family!”
“We won’t let her be taken by bad adults!”
“If you keep bothering Luna, Ray will come and hit you!”
“Ugh.”
Jimmy pinched the bridge of his nose.
It was dangerous, so he told them to stay inside, but they clearly didn’t listen.
“Be quiet! Get back inside quickly!”
“Jimmy, chase away the bad adults!”
“Kick them out quickly!”
“If you keep standing there, I’ll tell Ray later!”
“Now these brats are threatening me by mentioning Ray.”
Finding it ridiculous, Jimmy laughed and crossed the playground.
Luna stood in front of the orphanage building, looking at her parents.
The young girl trembled slightly, confused.
Jimmy extended his calloused hand and gently stroked Luna’s hair.
“There’s no need to feel uneasy.”
“…?”
“We will all protect you. Don’t worry. No one can mistreat you here. If you want to stay, just say so.”
Luna’s trembling slowly subsided.
After calming her mind, Luna seemed to make a decision and spoke to Jimmy.
“…I want to say goodbye to Mom and Dad one last time.”
“Then let’s go together and say goodbye.”
Jimmy took Luna’s hand and walked toward the fence.
Crossing the playground, Luna recalled the past few months since coming to the orphanage.
She experienced so many things here.
Playing with toys, learning, making friends—all were firsts for her.
Even the discomfort felt when sharing blankets and chatting, the anxiety while waiting in line for snacks, and the restlessness during conflicts with Karen—all turned out to be precious emotions upon reflection.
Though it was selfish, Luna wanted to stay with her friends and with Ray.
Approaching the entrance gate, Luna smiled at her parents, whose smiles were strained.
“Mom, Dad.”
The man brightened upon recognizing Luna.
“Luna, let’s go home.”
“Home…”
Luna turned her head and looked beyond the orphanage toward the hillside.
There was a black giant.
Luna understood.
The black giant, radiating a sinister darkness, emitted a ferocious aura as if it were about to interfere with reality and spew fire.
Time was running out.
Luna regretted not properly saying goodbye to her friends.
“Really missed you. Let’s go home quickly, Mom, Dad.”
