Chapter 114 - Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [5]

114. Senior Holy Knight and Sunny Land [5]

Lao village.

Located in the central part of the Sunny Land, Dagrio, it’s a calm and peaceful village with an idyllic atmosphere.

But, that is a story from a long time ago.

Now, it was suffering under the tyranny and heavy taxes of the Black Organization. Villagers were afflicted with poverty and famine, and just living hellish days of being exploited.

Tax collection is once a month – and today was that day.

Under a simple tent in the center of Lao village, the village chief, who was approaching the age of 80 – was prostrating, his forehead against the mud.

「Please… Please accept this and let us go.」

He offered the food scraped together from the entire village.

Potatoes, rice, and a small quantity of meat.

The reality of the situation is, this was the maximum amount that can be offered by this village.

And then,

「Haa…」

Zam Hashfeld sighed loudly – a member of the Black Organization who was entrusted with tax collection in Lao village.

「Hey, village chief. Aren’t you underestimating us a little? You can tell with a glance… that this amount is insufficient.」

「……」

The village chief, who had hit a nerve, could only keep silent.

The Black Organization’s monthly tax is『300 kilograms of food』.

Crops, meat, and milk – only 300 kilograms are collected each month, regardless of the type.

At first, there was still no problem.

300 kilograms of food – in Dagrio, which was famous for its agriculture, that was a trifling amount.

However, the situation has changed greatly since.

Ever since the Black Organization took control of Dagrio, the downpour of rain never stopped.

It was not a normal heavy rain which lasts about three to ten days.

It has been raining for years now.

The two young men, who were behind the village chief, also bowed their heads while gritting their teeth.

(Damn it… cursed Black Organization…)

(These guys… They keep making it rain somehow… To torment us…)

The fertile soil flowed into the sea due to the endless rain.

The thick clouds that covered the sky blocked the sun’s rays.

In such a poor condition, there is no way that crops can be produced as before.

They’ve managed to keep paying taxes by indoor cultivation utilizing indoor lighting, but…

This month – they’ve finally reached the limit.

The village chief frantically pleaded with his forehead rubbing against the mud.

「I am fully aware that we don’t have enough food for 300 kilograms… but!」

He raised his thin face, looked around at the village, and complained of it’s plight.

「In such a poor environment, we can’t grow enough crops…! Food is already running out, and there is an epidemic in the village…! 100 kilograms of food is the maximum we could bring together… Wouldn’t you please accept this?!」the village chief pleaded, bowing his head deeply.

When Zam saw that, he put his hand on the village chief’s shoulder with a gentle smile on his face.

「Hey, do you know? All we need is the spirit ores that can be mined on this island. Do you understand what that means?」

「What do you mean…?」

「Fuu, it’s actually very simple. We don’t care whether you die or not, whether you pay taxes or not…!」

Saying that, Zam quickly pulled out the sword fastened at his waist – cutting down the village chief in one stroke.

「Ga, ha…」

「V-Village chief!?」

「Y-You…! Why did you!?」

The two young men screamed in rage.

Zam frowned, hearing the loud voices mixed with anger.

「Tch, don’t shout, it’s annoying… I have a bad headache because of a hangover…」

He was suffering from a headache due to downing the sake he had collected just yesterday.

「Haa, it’s too much trouble to collect tax from each and every village… And above all, I’m sick of this soggy country dominated by that『Rain Man』… Haa, I’m just going to kill you all.」

When Zam uttered so, more than fifty swordsmen – who had been standing behind him – unsheathed their swords all at once.

「Shit…!」

The young men, who had followed the village chief to this place, took a wooden whistle out of their pockets and blew it, alerting the villagers of danger.

「Like. I. Said… I have a bloody headache!」Zam said, and quickly swung his sword twice.

「Gua…!」

「Ga, ha…」

The two were cut down as they blew the loud whistle.

This is how the tragedy of Lao village began.

■

When the sound of danger sounded through the whole village.

At the Garish house at the southern end of Lao village, Maria Garish, and Millie Garish, who had just celebrated her fifth birthday, turned pale.

「The sound of this whistle!?」

「Mama…」

Maria hugged her daughter, who was looking up at her with a fearful expression.

「I-It’s okay, Millie! Mama is with you! No matter what happens, I will definitely protect you!」

I will protect Millie no matter what, that was the last promise she made to her husband, who died of an epidemic a few years ago.

「O-Okay…」

After calming down her daughter, Maria opened a small window and checked the situation outside.

What she saw was,

「Wh-What is this…」

The figure of villagers laying sprawled in the center of the village.

「Village chief, Rama, Dresta…」

She immediately calmed herself down as blood rushed to her head, and grabbed Millie’s shoulder.

「Mi, Millie, let’s escape!」

「Eh, uh, okay…」

Maria led Millie by the hand and tried to sneak out of the back door of the house.

However,.

「Oi, oi… Where are you two going sneakily?」

They came across Zam Hashfeld, a member of the Black Organization who cut down the village chief and the two men.

「……」

「Ma, Mama…」

Tension ran on their faces.

「Kukuku, that face… It’s so good! It’s the best!」

Zam liked『hunting』.

Rather than killing the strong who bravely faced him, he loved killing the weak who desperately ran for their lives.

So he ran to the southern end of the village soon after he cut down the village chief.

If you go south of Lao village, you will reach the place where the Holy Knights are stationed.

He was sure that women and children will cling on to that small hope and try to escape.

And now, Zam has discovered two prey as he had expected.

「……Millie, escape.」

「B-But…」

「Mama will be fine. So just run south. Don’t look back no matter what.」

Maria pushed Millie’s back.

「No, no, I don’t want to… Let’s go together mama…!」

Millie shook her head sideways, while dawdling.

「It’s okay, mama will catch up with you soon. And you promised to papa in heaven, didn’t you? That you will be a strong girl?」

「……Okay, I understand.」

As soon as Millie nodded, there was a harsh laugh.

「Kukuku, how sad… My eyes are getting teary! Of course, I’ll still kill you in the end, though…」

At the same time Zam pulled out his sword, with a heinous smile.

「I am not going to let you through here even if it means my death!」

Maria pulled out a shabby sword that was dangling from her hips, with an awkward movement.

「Ho… You were a swordsman.」

Zam’s face stiffened for a moment, but… immediately returned to his original smile.

The reason for it is that Maria’s stance was too poor.

Even Seigan no Kamae which is the most basic stance of swordsmanship was not assumed properly.

An obviously inferior swordsman – Zam decided as such about Maria. The corners of his lips curled into a smile.

「…Millie, go now!」

「Y-Yes…!」

Millie immediately started running as her mother urged, yelling almost.

Just a few seconds later, she felt a bad feeling.

It was quiet – no, it was too quiet.

She couldn’t hear the sound of swords clashing or any screams.

The only thing that entered her ears was the sound of the rain pouring.

When she slowly turned back, unable to suppress the suspicion in her heart,

「Ma, ma…?」

There was the figure of her mother with a sword through her chest.

「Kukukukuku, Hahahaha! Ah… killing is the best after all…!」

Zam, stained red with blood, laughed sonorously.

He violently pulled out the sword that pierced Maria’s chest – shifting his attention to his next target.

「Kukuku! Hey, don’t you have to run?」

「……」

In the face of that unbelievable sight, Millie was petrified with fear and despair.

「N-No… Mama…」

One after another, emotions overflowed within her, and her face became messy with tears rolling down her cheeks.

「Ku, Kukuku! Aa- This feels so good! Oi, you don’t have to cry that much, okay? I’ll send you to your mom right away… Come…!」

And when Zam took a big step forward,

「W…ait…」

Maria, who should have been pierced through the heart, strangled him from behind.

「What the hell is this woman?! You’re not dead yet?!」

Zam was stifled for a moment by her ghastly spirit and the resolve of being prepared to die.

「Run… away…! Mill, ie…!」

「……」

Millie, who heard her dying mother’s wish – still couldn’t move.

She can’t be blamed.

This cruel and gruesome『reality』was too heavy for a five-year-old girl to accept.

「Tsk, you’re annoying… Die already!」

After that, Zam regained his cool and pushed Maria away – thrusting a dagger into her body, thrice.

「Ka, ha…」

To protect her beloved daughter.

To fulfill the promise to her deceased husband.

Maria, who was moving with that resolve in her heart, slowly fell forward.

「Damn it… You went through that suffering just to earn a few seconds. Parents are crazy creatures.」

Zam shrugged his shoulders and washed away the blood on his sword in the rain.

「Well, ojou-chan? Let’s send you too. It would be a pity to send your mom alone, don’t you think?」

「N-No… don’t come near me…」

In front of Zam, who approached step by step, Millie could only crawl back with her butt on the ground.

「Kukuku, I guess it’s time to end the『hunt』!」

With a big smile on his face, Zam raised his sword high.

「Hyahhahah! Give me a good scream!」

The heinous blade that took many lives was swung down ruthlessly.

(Mom… I am sorry…)

Millie closed her eyes, prepared for death.

The few seconds, the mere few seconds that Maria earned in exchange for the hellish suffering – produced a miracle.

「Tsk… What is this?」

The sword, Zam swung down, was caught by a black『something』.

The next moment, a boy broke in between them with tremendous momentum.

「It must have been scary… But it’s alright now.」

He had unique black-and-white hair, and comforted her with a gentle voice.

「I’ll finish this soon.」

He released gruesome darkness from his whole body that made hair stand on end – dyeing the entire Lao village『black』like an abyss.

■

Clad in clothes of darkness, I asked the man wearing a black coat.

「Why do you guys do such terrible things?」

I questioned the man in front of me – in order to buy time.

(Not yet… I can still make it…)

This『darkness』is also effective against fatal wounds.

As long as the person is alive, any wound can be cured in no time.

I poured a lot of spiritual power into it, and stretched darkness throughout the village.

Then, I extended clothes of darkness to all the villagers whom I caught sight of.

(…Yoshi!)

After a few seconds, I was able to clad all the villagers I could see in darkness.

All that’s left is… as long as they’re alive, darkness should heal everything.

Then, when I took a breath, an answer came back from the man in front of me.

「Why would we do this? That’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s because I’m having fun. I mean… is there really any other reason?」

「Is that so…? It’s a lot more stupid than I thought.」

Stalling for time was successful and my purpose was achieved.

I don’t want to exchange words with such a fiend anymore.

I swung the pseudo-black sword and hacked his sword in one swing.

「Nani!?」

The man leapt far back in the face of that unexpected situation.

「Shit! Oi bastards, give me a hand! A tough guy has appeared!」

When he screamed so,

「Heheh, what’s this?」

「What the hell, it’s just a kid… You’re getting sloppy.」

「Gufufu, what’s up? You look a little cute, don’t you?!」

Three men, covered crimson in blood, came forth.

「Don’t let your guard down… This kid has incredible physical strength! Bring out your soul dress. Strike simultaneously from all sides!」

They’ve probably had a lot of real combat – as they put their strategy into motion harmoniously.

And then,

「Drown -〈Twisted Love〉!」

「Pressure -〈Thousand Vice〉!」

「Follow my lead -〈Reckless Army〉!」

「Plunge into -〈Gap Grand〉!」

The moment when the four brought out their soul dress and attacked simultaneously.

「-Dark Shadow!」

Darkness as sharp as a sharpened sword swept violently like a storm.

The darkness that moved freely in accordance to my will tore through the four soul dresses very easily and dealt a deep wound into each of them.

「Gu, ha…!」

「Only a single person…」

「N-No way…!」

「What… is this monster…!?」

The four men, who fell to the ground, glared at me with anger and fear reflected in their eyes.

「This is the end.」

I rendered them unconscious by hitting them on the back of their neck – and also knocked out every single one of the remnants of the Black Organization who were overrunning Lao village.

「…Okay, I’ve brought down everyone.」

I took down all the members of the Black Organization who attacked Lao village, and sheathed my sword into its scabbard.