Chapter 217: The Great Sinner
* * *
The monster attack that suddenly assaulted the Zamago Forest base.
It was a crisis that even threatened the destruction of the base at one point, but the situation was already beginning to converge.
"Report! The north defensive wall's emergency treatment is also complete! The perverted old geezer and the adventurers on the north side headed straight to the east!"
Modokin, who had further dirtied his originally dirty clothes with mud, burst into the Adventurer's Guild's temporary branch office that had become an emergency shelter and said that happily.
"Oh!"
"Yay!"
"Thank goodness...!"
The evacuees in the room raised cheers with a "Wah!"
They hugged each other while shedding tears, even though they were business rivals.
Before they knew it, the cries of monsters could no longer be heard from outside, and the vibrations shaking the ground had also stopped.
Naturally, the evacuees' hearts gained some leeway, and smiles appeared on their faces.
...There was a woman who watched the state of the room with a bored frown.
It was Viola, the culprit who caused this commotion.
She was currently completely disarmed, tied up with ropes, and rolled into a corner of the shelter.
Her mouth was even carefully wrapped with cloth, so she couldn't even make a sound.
"Wow, I'm ordinarily glad!"
Standing next to such a Viola and smiling carefree was the rank 1 adventurer Yuju.
Viola glared at such a Yuju spitefully.
She was not an opponent she could never win against.
There was no particularly outstanding combat ability.
The amount of magic power was ordinary.
The skill level was also about that of a general adventurer.
...However, the number of those skills was abnormal.
Every time they clashed blades, this woman named Yuju would attack with completely different weapons and styles than before, which was her combat style.
For Viola, it was like the opponent became a first-time encounter every time she landed a hit, and she inevitably fell behind in her response.
While that was happening, the adventurers who had been fighting at the repaired south defensive wall joined as reinforcements, and Viola was defeated and captured as is.
Viola's physical abilities have been enhanced by the Cube God, but she is not strong enough to overwhelm a group.
She is more of a stealth type of person, and in fact, she has been granted the abnormal ability "Hidden Box" by the Cube God.
This is an ability that makes it harder for others to recognize oneself by covering one's surroundings with a barrier likened to a box.
This power played a big part in being able to prepare stimulants in the forest unnoticed by anyone when setting up this commotion.
However, this abnormal ability is not omnipotent either, and it is impossible to completely erase one's presence, and even if activated in a state of already being exposed to the public eye like now, the effect is weakened.
A dead end.
All is lost.
At first glance, that seems to be her current situation, but her attitude is insolently calm.
Why?
...Because she has a trump card.
(I will definitely carry out the oracle. Definitely.)
Viola wriggled and rubbed her clothes against the floor to make a scraping sound, then blinked, blink, blink... blink blink blink, sending a signal.
* * *
"The holes in the defensive walls are not completely sealed yet! Everyone, let's wait a little longer before letting our guard down!"
The man with the villain's face, Giovanno, glared at the evacuees who were excited by the good news brought by Modokin with a cold gaze and drove in a nail.
"O-Oh, sure."
"'Don't take off your helmet until you're out of the forest,' it's a saying from my hometown, Liheid."
Immediately, the slightly loosened atmosphere tightened, and the evacuees braced themselves again.
"...Are you worried about Emi?"
Taiche, standing next to him, asked Giovanno in a low voice while looking around at the state of the evacuees.
"No problem. That child won't lose."
Yes, Giovanno said that.
Those words came from his true feelings.
But even as he stood imposingly with his arms crossed, he exhaled a long, deep breath.
Because Taiche's point was also true.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. The adventurers have also gone to reinforce the east defensive wall."
Even though Giovanno said there was "no problem," Taiche encouraged him by saying that.
Having one's heart read is a sign of lack of composure.
Giovanno furrowed his brow and covered his forehead with his palm at his own patheticness.
Emi.
His comrade whom he met in this forest.
His benefactor who brought him out from the darkness into the light.
His precious, precious...
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
That's when it happened.
Such a scream echoed in the room.
The owner of the voice was a woman who had been tied up with ropes, had her mouth gagged, and was rolled into a corner of the room.
This woman who suddenly attacked Giovanno and the others was suspected to be the culprit of this commotion, and her body was restrained to interrogate her about the situation.
"What the...!?"
The gazes of everyone in the room turned to the woman at once.
Of course, Giovanno also turned to look in that direction.
And an opening was created.
Stab.
The next moment, what Giovanno felt was the sensation of something cold piercing his back and gouging his flesh.
And... intense pain.
"Gaaaaahhh!!?"
Giovanno, unable to bear the pain, collapsed onto the floor and writhed!
(What!? What happened!? W-Was I stabbed!?)
Giovanno glared at the person who had been standing behind him, his face distorted in pain and confusion.
Standing there, holding a knife with trembling hands, was... a boy.
Giovanno recognized that boy.
It was the boy who had taken shelter in this room along with the merchants.
But.
"Wh-Why..."
But Giovanno didn't know.
He didn't know about that boy.
He didn't know any information other than the fact that he was an evacuee.
He didn't understand why he stabbed him, the reason.
With dark blue hair tangled and grown down to his eyebrows, and freckles on his cheeks.
Slender and small, he seemed to be in his early teens.
Older than... Emi.
He didn't know.
He didn't know this boy.
Who was he?
Giovanno was puzzled.
"Ugh... uuugh..."
And he groaned weakly.
It wasn't just the pain of being stabbed.
Was the knife coated with poison?
He felt nauseous.
Dizzy, too.
It was hot.
Unbearably hot.
"Ha... hahaha...!"
Seeing Giovanno's state, the boy spilled laughter while twisting his mouth wide.
And he muttered in a low voice.
"Enemy of... my parents...!"
With those words, Giovanno understood.
He didn't know who that boy was.
But he painfully understood what that boy was.
That boy was... Narakan, Viola's apprentice who lost his family due to Giovanno's past misdeeds... and looking down at the struggling Giovanno, he coldly declared.
"Serves you... right!!"