Chapter 75 - Reconnaissance

"How regrettable...just a while ago we were peacefully traveling, and now..."

After Aoi and the Rainens fled to the forest interior I was left alone to deal with the bandits that ambushed us, and the ones who came here before us. Using a curse on everyone that left them temporarily paralyzed from the head below, I tried asking some of them about the other group's whereabouts but their leader said in a straightforward way that the most of them should be dead by now.

Dead.

When I heard that word, my consciousness suddenly went blackout like a TV screen turned off--and the next moment I found myself hanging several bandits by their feet on top of the trees using vines, while their leader hanged by the neck.

Looking at the mess I made, I could only hold my breath and say:

"What have I done...?"

I can't remember anything that happened while I'm still in that 'blackout' state. It's like being driven by an unknown force, something that lies hidden deep within my body and feeds on my emotions.

If that's the case I'll be greatly worried.

"Anyway, I need to go now and find them. I just hope that they didn't wander too far...--"

"W-W-What the--what the hell is going on here?!"

Just as when I'm about to leave, I saw a young man slumped down on the ground, his face turned pale and is visibly trembling even at this distance. He's also wearing a dark blue uniform and a black beret.

A guard?

"..."

"..."

With him slumped over there and I standing petrified over here, we stared at each other in total stupefaction for a few seconds, before--

"A-A-Ah--the flare!!!"

"W-Wai--?!"

Before I could even react he took out a flare from his belt pouch and launched it upwards, bursting with a high-pitched screech, followed by a loud pop.

Signal flare.

Realizing the purpose of that thing, there is one thing that is certain: this is bad.

-----

"So you're saying...these bandits tried to ambush you...and you only defended your friends, is that what you're trying to say?" An officer wearing the same military uniform and beret as the young man earlier, asked me that question while taking down notes on his memo.

After the young man launched his flare, it didn't took his comrades more than one minute to come to our location. As it turns out, they're on patrol duty somewhere close to the area, and the guy happen to see me at the scene.

Well, to my relief--they didn't arrest me on sight...yet. For the meantime they only asked me to remain, and to answer some questions.

"Nn. They tried to steal our things, so I acted merely by virtue of self-defense," I replied, trying to put on a calm demeanor.

"Self-defense?" the officer shifted his gaze from the memo to me, then to the men hanging on the trees. "Isn't this too much to be considered self-defense?"

No matter what angle he looked at, it certainly doesn't look like what I did was an act of self-defense. It's called lynching, and I'm not sure if that's a criminal offense here in this world, or particularly, in this country.

"S-Something happened, actually," wiping the cold sweat off my forehead, I explained: "before we arrived here, me and my companions found out that they had already ambushed another group of people."

The destroyed carriage helped me make my statement convincing. Upon inspection by the other officers they found things belonging to a woman and a child, proving that the carriage doesn't belong to the bandits--and I'm not just making an alibi in front of these people.

"You haven't seen those people?"

I shook my head in response.

"The horses?"

I shook my head once more.

Scratching his forehead, he continued to ask: "Do you, at least, have an inkling of an idea as to what happened to them?"

Looking at his impatient expression, I replied, "When I asked those guys about them, they said they're probably dead somewhere."

I already tried looking for bloodstains on the ground earlier to know where the direction they went, but the color of the ground is too dark for the color of blood to be visible. Maybe they brought them somewhere first, then tried to kill them there.

"Chief, Chief!" Suddenly, a plump officer came rushing towards us.

"What's wrong?"

Collapsing on the floor due to exhaustion, the plump officer said: "T-There...there's something you need to see there, Chief! Something...horrible!"

Even without him telling us more details about it, I think I already know what he's talking about.

-----

At the plump officer's instruction the other officers headed to the place where he said something horrible happened. With the permission of Officer Chief (that's what I'll call him from now on), I also went alongside them, saying that my companions also went to this direction and I have to find them.

Less than five minutes later we finally reached the place, and the first thing we saw was--

"R...R-Red...?"

The trunks of trees, the small shrubs, the grass, the ground--everything was dyed in deep crimson, with the occasional streak of flesh. The scent is also unbearable, that some officers were unable to stay inside the place and had to retreat.

"T-This...is this blood all around?"

"I-I think so. We have to make sure..."

"Ah, don't wanna! I think won't make it back if I do!"

While some guards are bickering with each other, Officer Chief probed deeper into the place, and muttered: "What in the world happened here...?"

A bit far away from us we saw human entrails on the ground, arranged to form a strange set of symbols that seems to be incomprehensible at first, but only after looking at it up close that I finally found out its meaning:

{FILTHY HUMANS SHOULD BE PEELED FROM THE SCALP UP TO THE SOLES OF THE FEET. HANG THEIR INTESTINES AROUND THEIR NECKS. GOUGE THEIR EYES AND HAVE THEM EAT IT. FILL THEIR LUNGS WITH THEIR OWN REFUSE...}

THOSE WHO DARE HURT MY PEOPLE...I WILL MAKE THEM REGRET THE DAY THEY ARE BORN IN THIS WORLD...

"Young man, can you understand what it says?!" Officer Chief asked, taken aback by my reaction.

"N-No, I don't know anything about those symbols," I replied, quickly averted my gaze from him.

Aoi...what the hell, Aoi...

Instinct tells me they're not far away from here, and with Officer Chief coming with me, we found another open space in the forest not long therafter.

"Ren!"

"Ah, you two--"

"Brother Ren!!!"

The moment they saw me arrive Saki hurriedly leaped to my chest, feeling relieved and afraid at the same time.

"These are your companions?" Officer Chief asked, surprised that it didn't took long for us to find them.

"Y-Yeah," I replied, gently patting Saki's back. To Saku I asked: "But, where's Aoi?"

Pointing to a tree, he replied, "She's over there, resting."

Saki whispered, "Aoi has just saved two people earlier from dying, Brother Ren."

"W-What? There's other people here?"

Saki nodded. "Apparently, they're the owners of the carriage that we saw upon arriving here. We saw them in such a sorry state, but Aoi did her best to save them!"

Hearing that, I glanced at Officer Chief, and he said: "Understood. I'll bring people right away."

-----

According to the siblings, the family was traveling back to the capital when they were ambushed by the bandits. Fearing that their sick son will be harmed, the parents agreed to give their carriage to them. The bandits then brought them to the place where we found them, and breaking the promise that they be left unharmed, stabbed the father with a dagger. They didn't do anything to the mother and the child, and they left afterwards to wait for another set of victims.

Though bleeding, the father desperately called for help, until my companions found and rescued them. They're right now under the care of Officer Chief and his men, and are already resting.

Back at the side of the road, I found Aoi resting under a tree, while a female officer is busy taking her pulse.

"Alright. Your pulse is normal, but your skin is very cold and pale. You must be very afraid back there..."

Aoi shook her head. "...I'm not scared. I'm just tired...and hungry."

"Aoi."

"...Ah, big brother!"

The officer, surprised to see me, stood up and asked: "Are you her relative?"

"Y-Yeah," I replied.

Hm? For some reason, her light brown eyes are looking daggers at me. Why?

"Is there something wrong...?

"Nothing," the officer spoke. "I just thought that those who leave little children alone in danger are very irresponsible people and should not be trusted."

"H-Huh?!"

As if completely disregarding my presence she faced Aoi with a smile, and said, "Please stay here, okay? I'll grab something for you to eat."

"...Nn."

As she passed over me, she let out a snark 'tch', and went past me, brushing her wavy, beige hair towards my face. Do I really give that impression to girls?

"Aoi," I kneeled in front of her and held her cold hands.

With a gentle voice she asked, "...Did I made you worry, big brother?"

"No, no. In fact, it's not worry that I'm feeling right now--but pride."

The conflict between her role as the bringer of death, and the opposite of it, really took a toll on her mind and body. Nevertheless, I'm happy that she made use of what little compassion she have, to save people other than the ones she's already familiar with.

"You did well, Aoi."

"...Hehe. Praise me more, big brother..."

"Ah, here you go--"

The female officer, returning with food and drinks in hand, saw me patting Aoi's head. Trying not to appear irritated she approached Aoi and said: "If you need anything just call me, okay?"

"...N-Nn."

"Officer, thank you for--"

"Hmph!"

"?!"

Just when I'm about to thank her, she harrumphed her displeasure at me and quickly left.

"W-What's wrong with that woman..."

"Please pardon my subordinate's attitude, Mister Ren Mortel."

"Officer Chief!" I stood up, surprised to see him standing behind me.

With a regretful gaze, he spoke: "Her name's Frille Lanza--she's originally a member of Medic Corps but right now she's undergoing immersion in the military, under my supervision. That said, she's fond of taking care of people, especially children, and is usually amiable at all times...but she has that strange personality, unfortunately."

"Y-You don't need to apologize, Officer Chief" I waved my hand at him and replied, "it just shows that she's serious when it comes to her work."

However, it's not an excuse for her to show prejudice towards other people other than her patients. What a shame, since her name sounds like a respectable occupation.

Also, little did that woman know, that the little girl she just tended right now isn't actually in danger--but is the definition of danger itself. I mean, how many people have been deceived by this cute face, especially when she's munching her food? I want to pinch this girl's cheeks right now.

Clearing his throat, he said: "Anyway, let's leave it at that. Actually, I came here to ask you something."

"Hm? What is it?"

When I asked him that, he pulled out a dagger from his pocket and asked, "Do you have any idea what kind of weapon this is?"

The dagger he's holding...is one of the weapons the bandits used when they attacked us. Just like that man's sword it also has a black jewel at its hilt, and maybe it can also create powerful gusts of wind just like the larger counterpart.

"Ordinary people are barred from knowing sensitive information from the authorities, but since you unknowingly helped us catch those bandits I'm obliged to tell you what's going on," he paused for a while, then said, "this, and all the weapons those people possessed...are weapons stolen from the arsenal at the center of the capital."

"S-Stolen...?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

Nodding his head, he added: "The arsenal is found near the headquarters of the Narashelian military and the Knights. The defense around the compound is obviously impregnable, but one month ago--a great cache of weapons have been stolen through unknown means. After days of investigation, the authorities concluded that the crime was an inside job."

'Inside job, huh?' that information piqued my interest on the matter. Whoever the mastermind of the crime is, he must've had an ulterior reason why he tried to steal those weapons. The only thing that is uncertain, is how did the bandits got those things. Did they stole it from the original thief, or is it possible that they're hired by that person?

"There's still many stolen weapons out there, but we were able to retrieve some of them with your help. In behalf of the Guard Corps, I would like to express my thanks to you," Officer Chief said as he slightly raised his cap at me.

"A-Ah, t-there's no need to thank me, actually!" I waved my arms frantically. "Like I said, it's just self-defense."

He laughed lightly and replied, "I know. It's an act of self-defense."

"Chief!" An officer suddenly came and whispered something to him. After a few seconds he said, "All of the bandits still alive have finally woken up. We'll take them to the headquarters for interrogation, and send them to prison afterwards. As for that family and your group, we will escort you on the way to the capital to undergo medical examination and debriefing. Are you fine with that?"

"H-Huh? A-Alright."

"Good. We'll leave in five minutes, so tell your companions to get ready."

He then also ordered his men to pack their things and proceed going to the capital. Meanwhile Aoi is still enjoying the food she's eating, and it looks like she'll remain like that for a few minutes more.

"What do you think, Aoi," I lightly pinched her cheek and said, "it seems that I've gotten ourselves in a matter we shouldn't be even touching. Should I be worried or what?"

When I asked that, Aoi--in her 'feeding' state--quietly directed her gaze at me for a moment, then continued to work on her food. For a second I thought she just ignored the things I said, but I was wrong. 'That', is her answer to my question.

"Well, you have a point. Whatever happens--as long as they're humans, we should not be worried too much."

As expected from Aoi, even the meaning of her gestures are questionable, yet the idiot in me still keeps on believing her. It's okay though, since I already resigned to my fate a long time ago that this girl would be the end of me one day. I just hope that the Old Man in Heaven doesn't pull an Old Testament on me when the time comes.

Anyway, before we leave this place I just want to pinch her cheeks one more time, for good luck.