Chapter 739 – Children of the Underground

000

“It’s a little dark… Can I turn on the light?”

“Is there a lantern? It doesn’t matter, but isn’t it better to save fuel?”

When Shitaka tried to dissuade Amelia’s words, Amelia shook her head and created a light sphere created with divine magic above her hand.

Fortunately, even when she was specialized in this dark magic, she seemed to be able to use a little bit of divine magic, and there seemed to be no problem in creating a light source to illuminate the surroundings.

＂Hey! He looks like he’s about the same age as me, and he knows how to use magic! Awesome! Among us, only the oldest sister can use magic.”

＂Thank you.＂

She seemed surprised by Amelia’s use of magic, and when she praised her, Amelia blushed as if she was a little embarrassed.

The stairs leading to the basement, where Amelia and Lilim went down through the door, were a place that met all three conditions: dark, humid, and dirty.

Thanks to this, when I looked at every nook and cranny of the wall supporting the handrail on the side of the stairs, I could easily see the black mold growing.

It was natural that a basement could easily turn into something like that if it wasn’t cleaned and maintained diligently, so it wouldn’t have been particularly surprising.

Amelia’s honest impression was that when she thought of children like Shitaka living in a place like this, she couldn’t help but worry about their health.

“Oh, watch your step, there’s a missing part of the stairs here.”

＂Oh, yes.＂

When Amelia looked down in confusion at Shitaka’s words, she saw that part of the stairs had indeed collapsed, and it seemed like she would fall down if she made a mistake.

Part of the wooden stairs may have been corroded by mold that crawled up from the wall, and collapsed when someone stepped on it.

If you think about it, even if the stairs were fine now, there was a risk that they could collapse over time and block the path.

After carefully going down the stairs, which are longer than expected, the light of a small lamp coming from inside the basement comes into view at the end of the stairs.

When Lilim lets out a small sigh, saying, “We’ve finally arrived,” Shitaka jumps off the last step and speaks to the group.

“Wait here for a moment, everyone will be surprised if you suddenly come in, so I’ll talk to the kids first.”

＂That would be good.＂

Here, it would be a wise decision to listen to the words of Shitaka, the native of the base.

When Amelia answers her by nodding her head, Shitaka quickly disappears into the basement, out of Amelia’s sight.

And, although I couldn’t quite hear the content of the conversation coming from inside, I could clearly tell that it wasn’t going on in a particularly harsh atmosphere.

After waiting for a while, Shitaka returned to the same fast pace as when she disappeared and smiled at the group.

“My sister gave me permission! Then come inside!”

Saying so, Shitaka takes Lilim and Amelia by the hand and enters the spacious basement.

Amelia was a little nervous, but as Lilim, her face showed that she honestly wanted to focus more on saving Cleon from the mass of tentacles on the ground.

In the basement, only a small amount of lamps was used to illuminate the room, so to be honest, it was a little brighter compared to the stairs, but not at a level suitable for human habitation.

As soon as you pass through the basement door, what you see is miscellaneous items such as cloth and cushions placed on various furniture that appear to be used in place of beds.

There were empty cans of canned goods whose contents were opened without knowing when they were opened, and red bottles where it was impossible to guess what was inside, piled up on one side.

And – standing in the middle of all the junk and trash, looking at the group, was a woman from the Dark Demon Clan who seemed to be around Kuon’s age.

With her glasses on her face and her long black hair braided, she gave the impression of being a bit sickly in addition to the pale look typical of the Dark Demon clan.

He exuded an intellectual atmosphere along with the benevolence felt on his face.

She was wearing what looked like a doctor’s white coat, and underneath was a leather vest and a white shirt pushing up her chest, giving the impression that she was an adult woman like Kuon. 〉

At the same time, the long navy blue skirt that fell to her ankles and barely exposed her bare skin below her face gave the impression that she took her grooming seriously.

However, if there was one thing that didn’t match her clothes, it was the blue scarf wrapped around her neck.

As soon as Amelia and Lilim came in, she quickly glanced at their clothes and sighed softly.

“That’s good, I was worried that Shitaka might have been tricked by the devil into bringing her to her basement. Since I can’t go to the surface, she always tells Shitaka not to go out alone. “I didn’t listen to everything she said.”

As she spoke in the kind, gentle voice that I had imagined, Shitaka puffed out her cheeks and placed her hands on either side of her waist.

“I misunderstood at first too, but there is no way there is a devil who gives water and food!”

“The devil will do anything to deceive people. The only time they don’t lie is when they’re trying to sign a contract. … Now she’s going to talk, so go calm the kids down. Got it? “

＂… Okay…＂

Shitaka answered briefly, as if she was disappointed by her words, and slumped her shoulders before opening another door at the end of her basement and disappearing beyond it.

When the door briefly opened, Amelia and Lilim did not miss the sight of children of various races beyond.

“Sorry. I knew right away that you weren’t the devil. The magic power that can be felt is mixed with a little bit of divine magic power… They are of the same race as us.”

When talking about Amelia and Lilim respectively, Amelia sighed as if she was relieved, but Lilim looked at her and closed her mouth as if trying to remember something about her.

“My name is Da Capo. Thank you for sharing food and water with Shitaka. And… I heard that you came from outside the barrier. Is that true?”

“That’s right. I have crossed the barrier near the border with the eastern country. Our precious colleague was caught by the magic sword starfish above… No, by the vine… Oh, I’m sorry. If we don’t introduce ourselves…”

“… No, I heard your name from Shitaka. Miss Amelia and Mr. Lilim… Right?”

Da Capo listened to Amelia’s words and nodded as if he understood the situation, with an expression of difficulty.

＂Dengkul-nim is a title used by the children who stay with me. The entire territory of the Empire is covered in black magic, and the spirit veins through which the magic flows are polluted, so souls are not properly absorbed into the spirit veins and are wandering around this world. As a result, undead are created, passages to the hell dimension are opened to target such souls, and demons sometimes come to this world without a summoner.”

＂Not only demons, but also undead…＂

Could it be that the demon that tried to attack them earlier also came over without a summoner in that way?

“But except for some powerful demons, the starfish attacks and eliminates demons that come close. In the eyes of the children, it drives away the devil without causing any harm to them…”

After saying that, Da Capo turned around for a moment, placed one of the jars piled up on the floor, and opened its lid.

Then, inside it was a bunch of black tentacles.

Even with empty words, it wasn’t a pretty sight, so Amelia’s face turned pale, but Lilim looked at it and spoke.

“Is this the tentacle of the magic sword starfish?”

“Yes, it is one of the few proteins we can obtain in this country. Because the starfish’s body is so large, cutting off part of it is not considered an attack. Moreover, he can regenerate with the magic he gains from defeating demons… So children have no choice but to call him Lord Vine.”

＂And, indeed…＂

When Amelia nods her head as if she understands, Da Capo closes the lid of the jar and returns it to its original place.

Then she turned to Amelia and Lilim and quietly said the following.

＂… Did you say that your precious colleague was captured by the magic sword Starfish? ＂

＂Yes.＂

When Amelia nodded her head, Da Capo said nothing for a moment, then she nodded her head understandingly at the two people.

“… All right. If so, let me help you get him out of the starfish.”

＂! “Is this really true?”

Da Capo nodded his head at Amelia’s confirmation and smiled slightly.

Somewhere, that smile seemed a little tired.

“I studied medicine and alchemy for my children. Originally, I learned to make medicine to neutralize various plants that were contaminated with dark magic and could not be eaten, but in the process, I learned how to make various helpful medicines. For example, a drug that temporarily paralyzes the movement of living things.”

Lilim’s eyes sparkle at Da Capo’s words.

“Use that medicine to paralyze the movement of the magic sword starfish, and in the meantime, take out Cleon.”

“Cleon… I guess that’s the name of the person caught in the starfish.”

When Amelia nodded her head at Da Capo’s words, Da Capo continued.

“Some medicines have already been manufactured. I made it in case I was attacked if I cut off the tentacles for food, but I hope it will be helpful to you.”

As Da Capo said that, he went closer to the cupboard and took out a medicine bottle, and inside was a large bottle – a bottle so large that it could hold about 1.5 liters of liquid.

＂Well, are they all paralyzing drugs?＂

“Yes. About 6 bottles of something like this. If you use all of them, it will be effective for the starfish. As you know, it’s quite huge.”

Certainly, I thought that pouring a bottle’s worth of liquid into that object would not be of much use.

“… However, there is a condition to handing over this medicine.”

＂I guess so.＂

Lilim nods her head as if she knew, and says that if Amelia helps them, it is natural for them to help her too.

After hearing the answer, Da Capo nodded as if he understood and told them his conditions.

“I want you to take the six children I am protecting… Out of the territory of this empire through the hole you came in through.”

“That’s it, of course! We were planning to talk about that too!”

When Amelia answered Da Capo’s condition as if it were obvious, Lilim silenced her for a moment.

At that, Amelia seemed to have noticed something strange about her, and spoke while tilting her head.

＂… Only children, right? “What about Mr. Da Capo?”

“I cannot go outside the empire’s territory.”

However, after listening to the two people, Da Capo unties the scarf wrapped around his neck.

Hidden beneath it was a brand, an ancient word meaning sacrifice, imbued with purple magical power.

“I can’t go outside. This brand is a sign that you have been selected by the devil as the next sacrifice.”

After the fall of the empire, some high-ranking demons summoned by the empire disappeared, pretending to have been subjugated by the allied forces of the kingdom and the church. After they disappeared from this land, they reappeared and began to rule the land without an owner.

At first, they slaughtered the remaining humans in the empire to indiscriminately indulge their souls, but in order to control the rapidly decreasing human population, they made the following pact with humans.

Every year, in exchange for sacrificing the soul of an adult human through a ritual called Sabbat, high-ranking demons covenant not to touch other humans.

And the brand was a kind of shackle that designated the soul to be sacrificed on the next Sabbat and prevented it from escaping even if the fear of death dominated the body.

＂… Definitely a high-ranking devil’s oath. That too, at the level of a corps commander. A territory designated with this brand – in this case, the territory of an empire? The moment you leave that place, the stigma will rupture and your neck and body will be separated.”

Lilim looks at it and says that she knows the devil’s skills, and Amelia looks like she doesn’t know what to say.

“Amelia. You see, she defeated the demon and nullified the oath. Please don’t say the same thing. For us now, it is important to save Cleon and escape this barrier within time.”

“Well, I know that. But…”

And Lilim talks to Amelia as if driving a wedge.

Amelia understood it in her head, but she also seemed to think that her good nature could not be abandoned for the human being who was about to be sacrificed by the devil right before her eyes.

Da Capo looked at Amelia like that, and she smiled slightly.

“… As expected, you seem like someone who would come to a place like this to save a friend. “You’re so worried about me, seeing me for the first time.”

As she said this, she wrapped her scarf around her neck once again to hide her stigma.

“But I can bow to you as many times as I want, as long as the children can get out of here. Just in case, if you need bait for a starfish, I become the bait.”

As she said that, she took out a dagger that was about the length of her wrist and elbow from the scabbard hanging on the back of her waist.

Both of them could tell just by looking at it that it was a ‘demon sword’.

In other words, it also meant that if she went to the surface, she would also become the target of the magic sword Starfish.

Amelia now understood what she meant when she first said she was barred from going to earth.

Once on land, she will be chased by starfish, and even if she manages to escape, her throat will burst, and she will die the moment she crosses the border of the empire.

In her helpless situation, Amelia and Lilim could not see a way to save her.

＂This condition. Would you please accept it?”

And when Da Capo spoke to her again, Amelia barely suppressed the various emotions rising inside her by clenching her fists.

She slowly nods her head and answers her.

“… All right. We will definitely take the children with us and get out of the empire territory.”

As if he was relieved to hear Amelia’s answer, Da Capo smiled at her and took out all the bottles containing the medicine he had and laid them out in front of Amelia.

“It is best to spread the medicine from the sky as much as possible. Are you both able to fly?”

＂Eh…＂

In response to Da Capo’s question, Amelia wonders if she should tell him that she cannot use flying magic, but Lilim nods her head.

“I can do it, so I just need to fly and spray the potion. Amelia, you stay on the ground and when the starfish stops moving, bring Cleon out.”

“Ah, okay! That strategy would be good!”

“I will prepare the children, so they can go outside right away. If the demons notice that the starfish is paralyzed, it looks like there will be an uproar.”

After confirming what each other had to do, the three soon began preparing to execute the operation.

Now all that was left was to begin action and pray that the plan would go as planned.