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The man glared at Flamm who abruptly jumped into the conversation.
Why would someone that held such hostility against them go out of her way to listen to his conversation?
Though surprisingly, he saw Iira holding onto the girls’ shoulder.
“Isn’t it okay? I mean you’re also depressed because you’re being left out by those guys who went to the church.”
Flamm unconsciously turned her sight towards Iira, but the moment their gazes met, she scoffed and turned away at once.
Apparently Iira was moved by their similar distaste toward Dain.
“Well that’s true, but…”
The man looked at Flamm in the face as he thinks, but at last, he smacked his lips and started talking.
“Phil is the guy we sent to threaten the members of the church, but he got killed.”
“Though they failed and turned into a believer instead. They suck”, said Iira as if spitting out those words.
It would seem like she really didn’t like their behavior.
“I accidentally heard about Phil, but he was killed in a way that he turned into something that you can’t call a human anymore.”
“You said that he turned into something that looked like a beast, didn’t you.”
“Yeah. He grew some limbs and heads and his body swelled—rumors has it that countless eyeballs went into his body and then it started turning weird. I didn’t think it was true since it sounded too absurd, but now that I saw a corpse like that, I think I could believe it’s true now…”
“Countless eyeballs and growing limbs…”
It was a grotesqueness different than that of the spiral-faced beast in the research facility.
But the fact that it happened to someone who threatened the church members, there’s a huge possibility that it’s an extension of the same research.
Ten years has passed; it wouldn’t be strange if the shape the result of the research had changed.
“Did they…did they continue their research in the capital…?”
“Do you know something?”
To Flamm’s unintentional mutter, Iira promptly responded.
“I’m just thinking that there’s an eighty or ninety percent chance that it’s the church’s doing.”
Flamm only had a basis that could lead to her belief.
She knew about the existence of the research facility, but whether it’s done by someone that has connections with the church is only a conjecture.
“But Phil’s case didn’t go as far as to make it into public, did it?”
“Right. If it did, the news about such strange corpse would have reached my ears…then why is it that it’s a huge ruckus now?”
The man shook his head to Flamm’s question.
“I don’t know that much. Probably because there’s a lot of it and it’s not hidden well since it’s found in a place with lots of pedestrian traffic.”
“But then again, why did they get him at such a public place.”
It’s unusually sloppy method for the church that wants to conceal their research.
Even if they meant it as an experiment, one would think that they would’ve done it more discreetly.
“Hey, you mind if I come along to where he is?”
She can’t start if she can’t see the body herself.
The man unenthusiastically nodded and led the way.
For some reason, Iira also followed suit, leaving the guild unattended, but perhaps she didn’t think it matters since Dain and his boys are absent.
In the end, she’s still as careless as always.
The scene of the crime was the center of the slums.
It was brimming with curious onlookers, so even getting into a place where you can see the scene of the crime was tough.
As the three people pushed through the crowd, a rotten smell stabbed their nose.
“Ugh…it stinks…This isn’t just because it’s the slums, is it?”
Iira brought her hand to cover her mouth and nose, scrunching her face without paying attention to what people around her think.
The public hygiene of this place had been bad from the beginning, but it doesn’t seem like that wasn’t the only thing that stinks in that place.
As they reached the forefront of the crowd, not only does the stench intensified greatly, an unimaginable sight emerged before their eyes.
“Geh…what the hell is that.”
“That’s not human…is it?”
“That’s what we were talking about earlier but…unbelievable, isn’t it.”
Several lumps of meat with limbs and heads growing out of it were scattered around the street like grotesque objects of art.
On top of that, these things appear to be moving as if they’re alive.
Which begs the question again; are they really corpses?
Even the guards that received the reports scratched their heads in confusion.
The three was stunned by the sight, but a soldier coming from behind them covered the lumps of flesh with cloths they pulled out from somewhere.
Perhaps it was a decision to contain the situation, and without a doubt, it was an excellent decision.
After all, it’s a sight too shocking for an ordinary citizen.
“U…guh…”
There were no shortage of people who closed their mouths due to nausea just like Iira did.
“Try not to throw up here, will you?” Flamm said, not because she was worried.
“…how can you be so calm looking at this.”
“I’m still an adventurer after all.”
“Can you even use that as an excuse? Uugh…”
It seems like she’s close to her limits.
Flamm signaled the man next to her, and once again, they went through the crowds and exited the area.
They stopped in a place where there were less people around.
The expression of the three was dark, all for a different reasons.
Perhaps because they went into a road where sunlight is sparse, the place felt even unnecessarily darker.
“I don’t get it. Phil was turned into such a shape like a monster but Dain-san went to the church instead…are we really going to be okay following him?”
Perhaps Dain was attempting to expand his influence to keep his power in the West District.
Not only among adventurers, he had also colluded with the guild, and there were many merchants that they had established connections with.
People look up to him and his progress, thus his misdeeds were overlooked.
That benefit is something that only he enjoys, and sharing those benefits is perhaps a part of his intellectual leadership.
But that is not something that he can enjoy forever.
Just like now; if there is another party with a stronger influence, it would swallow them up and dissolve their cohesiveness.
Their development would stop, and if they betray the public expectation, they would collapse.
And Dain is not stupid; he understands this himself.
“Maybe they’ll turn into monsters just like Phil and those other corpses…I get that it’s scary, so I get why you’ll want to obey something that could do that. Picking a fight against the church might have been an uphill battle…but it’s precisely because of that illogical plan that we’re here! Don’t they know that if we give up here our dreams are gonna be over just like that!?”
“Isn’t it clear that it’s over? Dain values his life so much so he ran away with his tails between his legs, along with the other guys too. No matter how important you can think of his dreams is, his life is more important in the end”, Iira said with a cold tone.
That’s what is normal for anyone.
But did they not follow Dain because he was not normal?
That courage of his is his greatest charm, one that made people admire him spontaneously.
Flamm herself didn’t approve of Dain’s methods, but she admitted that he’s doing well.
“I think it’s best to get out of the West district if you’re at loss of what to do. We won’t know if those eyeballs are going to come out again.”
“R-right…I think it’s best to wait out until the chaos calms down.”
“I guess I’ll take some distance away from Dain too. I don’t want to accidentally kick the hornet’s nest and turn into that hideous monster.”
It was a wise choice from Iira.
Meanwhile, Flamm wasn’t such an outlaw that she would harm those who wants to distance themselves from Dain despite how disagreeable they are.
However, if they are pulling any more dirty tricks against her or the people around her, she wouldn’t hesitate to unsheathe her sword.
Afterwards, Flamm separated from the two who decided to return to the guild, and she headed for her own home.
As Flamm opened the door and exclaimed “I’m home!”, she was replied by three voices saying “welcome back”.
It would seem like Milkit and Ink is currently in the living room, while Eterna is in her room on the second floor.
Usually Milkit would lightly run up to her and welcomed her back, but Flamm understood why she didn’t the moment she peeked into the living room while feeling slightly lonely.
Ink was sitting on her laps, so she was unable to stand up.
“Welcome back, master. I apologize that I wasn’t able to welcome you back”, Milkit said apologetically as she saw Flamm’s face.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. So uh, what are you doing there?”
Flamm pointed at the wooden parts scattered on top of the table.
Laid in front of them were something of a wooden frame and several parts inserted into it.
“Puzzle~!” answered Ink innocently.
That’s right. For the blind girl, a puzzle is truly something that she can still play with.
But it’s something Flamm never recalled seeing before.
“Eterna-san had took out everything she could find inside this house, and she said Ink-san could enjoy this.”
“Hee…She found something nice, didn’t she?” Flamm said, sitting on the seat across Milkit and Ink.
She knew that there were things left behind by the house’s previous owner in the storage room on the second floor. Though since it was filled with old items that are full of dust, they haven’t had the chance to look through them.
However, it seemed like Eterna who came before them had managed to spend some time rummaging through them.
“What about those?” Flamm pointed at the metallic toy next to the puzzle.
She thought that it was also an item Eterna had found.
“It’s a disentaglement puzzle. We were playing with it until some time ago, but playing with it too long would bore her after all.”
“Milkit is awesome you know! I had no idea what to do, but she could solve it quickly when I gave it to her!”
“Hee, you’re really good with your hands, aren’t you?”
“F-Far from it…with things like these, as long as you know how to do it, then it should be easy to solve. I have played with this before after all.”
Despite her humility, it was well known fact that her hands are dexterous.
Her way of handling the kitchen knife is nothing short of magnificent that one could think that she usually works as a chef.
Not to mention, she could comprehend how to read and write as Flamm had taught her very quickly.
Her looks and her personality were perfect, and she was also brimming with talent…it irks Flamm to know that such a girl was oppressed until recently.
Though since the person behind that irritation is not within her arm’s reach to vent her anger, holding a resentment in her heart would only tire her, so she quickly regained composure and looked around the room.
“Speaking of which, Sarah hasn’t come over yet, huh.”
The house felt silent without everyone’s little boisterous nun.
“Is she not supposed to come before dinner time?”
“Well she was supposed to come to exchange information instead of just eating dinner though.”
“Ahaha, but I am really happy when she comes…which means, I’m rather upset with her now.”
“Isn’t it difficult for you that you have to make a lot of food?”
“Of course not. Rather, I am happy if I can see more faces enjoying the food I made. The more the merrier.”
It’s a textbook answer of a perfect housewife.
Without a doubt, she is probably hiding an extremely cute smile under her bandages.
I’m glad I brought her out of that cage with me, Flamm thought from the bottom of her heart.
“Hey Flamm, if by any chance it turned out that I really ran away from the church in the West District, do I have to return as soon as possible?”
Ink who was listening to the two’s exchange asked in a depressed tone.
She must’ve had a reason for why she ran away from home.
“Aren’t your friends and Mother going to be worried about you?”
But Flamm still couldn’t not send her home.
The girl was stuck on those words; “friends…are they…”
“Aren’t they?”
“They always ridicule me by saying I’m useless. Only Mother was kind to me, but I feel like she also thinks I’m useless…”
After listening to the girl, Flamm heaved a huge sigh.
There’s bound to be someone saying that sort of thing just about anywhere.
Saying that they’re useless, over and over, despite the person in question is the one who knows about it best.
“Well…if someone told me that I’m utterly useless, I would understand the feeling of wanting to run away.”
“So Flamm thought of it too.”
“I was thrown away before I could run away though,” said Flamm with a bitter smile before touching the slave crest seared to her cheek.
“Master…”
“Don’t make that face, Milkit. Thanks to a certain someone who said “we match”, I don’t think badly about it anymore.”
The truth is that without that crest, the two wouldn’t have met.
Without that seal, she wouldn’t have discovered her true capabilities and she would still be stuck doing menial works in the heroes’ journey, while Milkit would perhaps be eaten by the ghouls and died inside that cage.
They met at the depths of hell, but it was precisely because they met, the two could still smile as they are…though Flamm still had no intention to forgive Jean for it.
“That’s nice…Flamm has Milkit with her.”
“Yeah. Honestly if I didn’t meet her, I don’t think I was able to escape.”
“…I wonder if I could also escape if I continue staying together with you”, Ink whispered.
Flamm is painfully aware of her conditions.
But there’s a huge difference between Flamm who was deserted and Ink who left on her own will.
There are people who are looking for her, and she felt that Ink doesn’t notice that grace.
So first, she had to try and talk to her guardians.
“Well…if Ink insists that she needs to, I don’t mind if she stays living here.”
“Really!?”
The girl leaned onto the table, smiling ear-to-ear at Flamm.
“But you have to clearly say it to your guardians. It’s not like you were abused or confined, right? You ran away on your own after all.”
“I don’t know, but I don’t think I was imprisoned…maybe. But until now, I’ve never went out once.”
“N-Not even once?”
To the spontaneous question, Ink nodded.
Even if she’s blind, is it possible that they did not let such a child out from the institution?
“It’s an orphanage, right?”
“I don’t know about that too.”
“How many children are with you?”
“Only four. There’s Mother too with us.”
The institution only held 5 children, so it is questionable if the institution is truly an orphanage.
In a city with the scale of the capital, there should be a larger amount of orphans gathered.
Rather, the orphanage in the West District should house several dozens of children.
“Hey Ink, why did you run away from there?”
“…”
To that question, Ink stayed silent.
The question about the reasons behind one’s runaway is a delicate one.
That was why Flamm didn’t ask her that the first time she meets her, but without an answer, the situation would only grow worse.
Now that Flamm had asked the question, there’s a possibility that she had hurt her, but discovering the truth was a higher priority.
“You weren’t abused, and you weren’t imprisoned, so is that place uncomfortable for you?”
Ink silently shook her head.
“Then…is it because you don’t want to be ridiculed by your friends?”
She shook her head again.
“Then why?”
“That’s…”
It seems like Ink was troubled.
It’s like she’s prohibited to tell the truth to other people.
However—it appears that her trust towards Flamm was stronger.
After a brief silence, she whispered;
“It’s because…I was left out in a place that I feel deeper than just friends and family…I’m sure that I’m not supposed to be there, so that’s why I ran away.”
That means her problem is a different case than simply being useless.
Though not understanding the meaning behind “closer to”, Flamm spontaneously asked back.
“Sorry, I don’t quite get it. What do you mean that you were left out from a place “you feel deeper”?”
“We can communicate and play with each other, but…I don’t know how to explain it…it’s like I’m…a different…creature?”
She ended in a questioning tone, making a question Flamm didn’t know how to answer.
Yet somehow, the image of those people transformed into grotesque monsters appears on Flamm’s mind.
If Ink escaped the institution she was kept in the day before she met Flamm, then it was in concurrence with the timing when people discovered Phil’s body.
The eyeballs, the stitched eyelids…there certainly is something in common.
However, the whole time she’s been staying in Flamm’s place, she had never gone out even once.
Phil aside, she was not responsible for the massacre that she witnessed today.
On top of that, her status is completely normal.
Ink was not the criminal; it would be more natural to think that blame falls upon the orphanage…or rather, the people related to the church’s research facility.
They’re looking for the runaway girl…for example, using someone who can control a large amount of eyeballs—but then again, is their search so urgent that they are willing to take the risk of going public?
Judging by her appearance, Ink doesn’t possess any sort of power.
Even her attributes are normal.
And so perhaps that was why the children around her and even Mother regards her as “useless”.
No, if that was the case, then why was she kept in a facility with other children with abilities?
Flamm knows of an underground facility that aren’t so kind to such failed creation.
If she’s such a failure, the church would’ve disposed of her already.
Then is she a successful creation?
Then in that case, shouldn’t her status show a hint of abnormality.
Just like the Ogre from back then.
There are no helices on her body, and her status aren’t abnormal, so it’s unthinkable that the girl was lying.
Which means—Ink is innocent.
That’s what Flamm wants to think.
That’s the only way Flamm can think of for now.
If that’s the case, the only thing Flamm can do to help the girl is to try to hide Ink as much as possible.
However, Sarah is already started asking around in the West District.
Depending on what she did to do so, the fact that Ink is under her care might have reached their ears.
Which means, Sarah is—
Flamm abruptly stood up from her chair.
“Is there anything wrong, Master?”
“I’m going to the church in the Central District. We still have time before dinner right?”
“Yes, I was just about to start making them. Are you going to Sarah-san’s place?”
“Yeah, just in case.”
Flamm was just about to dash out before Ink suddenly yelled “Wait!” and stopped her on her tracks.
“Judging by your reaction, I guess you know something about the place I was in, don’t you Flamm?”
“There was an incident out there. I’m just thinking maybe it’s got something to do with that.”
“Incident…”
Flamm couldn’t possibly tell her the details.
Ink herself showed a pained expression as she bit her lips, perhaps having knowing about what Flamm was talking about.
“Are Mother and the other children looking for me…?”
“Maybe. Do you think the children you live with had some sort of strange abilities?”
Ink nodded.
“…Mother always told me not to tell this to people outside though…”
“Don’t worry, if anything happens, we’ll be sure to protect you.”
“…mm. I can’t see so I don’t quite understand, but everyone said I’m useless because I can’t hear that voice or wield their power.”
“Voice and…power…”
She could somewhat understand what she meant by power.
Perhaps by getting a core embedded into her, she could wield the power of that Helix like that Ogre did.
But—
“What voice?”
That was what Flamm didn’t quite understand.
Hesitating perhaps because it’s yet another thing she wasn’t supposed to disclose to other people, Ink said after a delay:
“…we were told that we were supposed to be able to talk with Origin-sama.”
“That’s…!”
This is the first time she clearly said the word “Origin”.
Now it is clear that the church is involved with this incident.
“I couldn’t do it. Everyone else could, but I couldn’t…but I saw that Flamm, Milkit, Sarah and Eterna couldn’t do it…I thought I was the weird one because only I can’t, but is that really it?”
“It’s not. A normal person can’t talk with him. Everyone else is just like you, Ink.”
“Is that…so…so I’m normal…”
Ink stroked her chest.
Looking at the girl, Flamm and Milkit looked at each other and smiled.
Upon being surrounded by abnormality, normalcy itself becomes an abnormality. It was perhaps further drilled into the poor child’s head as she was kept within an enclosed space.
That was why she escaped, thinking that a monster should not be mingling among the normal people.
Yet the fact was the complete opposite.
Ink was the normal person surrounded by a flock of monsters.
Flamm doesn’t need to hesitate anymore; she just need to protect the girl.
With her objective crystal clear, Flamm double timed out the house.
Under the illumination of the sinking sun, Flamm ran towards the church of the Central District, where Sarah should be.