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Infuriating Atrocities
With Kurama in the lead, Aria and I followed along, slipping through the back alleyways until we reached a three-story estate.
“This is the Feces Family Estate,” he explained, respectfully bowing towards me. Aria, on the other hand, glared at the estate as if it were her lifelong enemy.
I began by using Analyze Environment to scan the interior of the estate, where I saw around a hundred stationed soldiers. Their stats averaged around G+ to F, but there were three relatively powerful soldiers among them.
The first was a monk with a scar on his face.
The second a large man whose face was hairier than a bear’s.
The third wore a luxurious navy-blue robe and was abnormally thin.
A normal person would say these three were powerful, but in the end, they couldn’t hold a candle to my strength.
The third floor contained the bedrooms and the guest rooms, and an elite-looking man had several woman waiting upon him, lavishing in debauchery.
The luxurious room on the second floor and the basement had—
“God dammit!!” I subconsciously yelled at the macabre spectacle.
“W-what’s with the scary face all of a sudden?” Aria hesitantly asked, while Kurama bit his lip in silence.
“Sorry, but discussion’s off the table now.”
I pinpointed the basement with Analyze Environment and began activating my teleportation.
“What does that mean? Huh? What? What’s happening?” Aria asked in confusion over the magic circle that had suddenly appeared before I teleported us to the basement.
The room had lighting and a chilly air about, and dozens of children were bound to the stone floor.
Over half were decapitated with their innards spilling out, and you could tell they were dead without even looking.
I noticed my vision dyeing red.
“Calm down.” I told myself.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, and the raging insanity slowly began to cool down.
That’s right. There’s always lowlifes in every world who derive pleasure from these grotesque and disgusting acts. The only difference is how the law punishes these criminals.
For now, saving the survivors is of upmost priority—
“Urrgh……”
Aria stared at the tragedy before us and fell to her knees, vomiting over and over.
Kurama leaned down and gently rubbed her back to calm her down as she continued to vomit with tears and snot flowing down her face.
This was probably a bit too severe for her. But her guardian, Kurama, had wanted to show her this, so there must have been meaning to it.
In any case, we didn’t have the leeway to wallow in despair.
That’s why I said, “If you have time to cry, then bring the survivors over here.”
“H-how can you stay calm after seeing this?”
“What can I change by crying?”
“You’re inhuman!”
Yes. Just by the fact that I’ve retained my composure despite this insanity, I’ve lost my right to be called a human.
“I’ll say it once again. Bring the survivors over to the center of the room.
“……”
With a groan, Aria clenched her teeth and wiped the tears off her face before bringing the heavily wounded children over to the center of the room.
I, too, began casting Heal over the survivors.
It was already too late for several of them, but I was able to completely heal about nine of them. Although—
“……”
Their hearts had been shattered from the extreme terror and despair they had probably faced, and even if I healed their wounds, the light didn’t return to their eyes. Still, they were lucky to be able to continue living in perfect physical condition. It was a better fate than those who had gone into eternal slumber, at the very least.
I placed a sheet of parchment that concisely explained the survivors’ circumstances in one of their hands and teleported them to Sagami Co.’s first floor.
I gathered the children who had ceased breathing over in one corner.
“It must have been painful. It must have been frightening. You can rest easy now,” I said.
I casted the high rank spell 【Flame Rondo】around me and burned their corpses down to the bone in an instant.
I turned towards Aria, who, even now, was staring at the floor with a pale face.
“Surely you understand now, right? The people living here are fiends; they’re not even human anymore. Any attempt at persuasion would be completely useless.”
I didn’t know if she had heard me or not, but bowed her head towards me and whispered, “……Sorry.”
Why was she apologizing? I really can’t understand children, nor can I Kurama, who had showed this gruesome scene to Aria.
“This should be enough, Kurama. She’s too young to show her any more.”
I no longer considered those in this estate as human anymore, and if she came with me, she would only see hell on Earth.
“That’s up to Miss Aria.”
“There’s a time and a place to respect a child’s intentions, but not now!!” I shouted in anger.
“Grey-dono, please believe me. This is essential for the Miss to achieve her goals. That is, of course, if she herself wishes so.”
Kurama turned to face Aria, and said, “You, and you alone will decide. Will you close your eyes, or will keep them open to reality and follow Grey-dono?”
I couldn’t read him, nor could I read Aria.
“I’ll go.”
Aria trembled as she spoke the words I had least wanted to hear.
“It’s not too late to turn back,” I said.
“I said I’m going! Even if I die I’m going!”
Shit. That Kurama really did something unnecessary.
I won’t hesitate against the inhabitants of this estate who had caused this tragedy, so even if nobody were to come, the fact that this place would turn to hell on Earth was already set in stone. It would be filled with fear and despair, completely unfitting for Aria, who had been raised in a world full of sunshine and rainbows.
But at the same time, Kurama insisted that it was necessary. He probably has his reasons, but was it really okay force that over my principles?
……There was no point thinking about this any further.
“Okay. I won’t say any more, but don’t regret this.”
After I saw Aria nodding in confirmation, I looked back to the door.
It’s fine now, right? I’m almost at my limit. It’s time to exterminate these pests.
Letting these dregs scurry about any longer didn’t sit well with me.
And with Aria and Kurama in tow, I ascended the stairs to the first floor.