It wasn’t because the village hated kids that they used violent means to keep their children in line. They were trying to protect them, and Alice knew that. But that only made it sadder. It was as if the adults simply didn’t know the best way of dealing with the situation.
“…My master said that sometimes love drives a person to do things they don’t want to,” said Leon.
There was no better emblem of that sentiment than what the pair encountered after a few minutes’ walk. By the side of the road was a house emitting a putrid stench, and parts of it were falling off. It was coated in human waste, and it even looked like the other villagers had been throwing stones at it.
“Looks like the infected and their families are treated the same everywhere,” Leon noted.
Blue-Eye, the disease that turned people into fiends. There was no cure, and just like the Shroud, its precise cause was unknown.
“…Blue-Eye is believed to be contagious, just like other diseases, even though there’s never been any evidence to suggest it’s true,” Leon said.
Many people could live knowing they might turn into a fiend at any time. But when it was their loved ones on the line…they could be driven to do the unthinkable.
“Can’t we do something?”
“All we can offer is a temporary reprieve. After we leave, there’s no telling what will happen.”
In all likelihood, the villagers would go right back to their persecution without ever thinking that what they were doing was wrong.
“The only way to end this is to banish the Shroud, kill all the fiends, and put a stop to this disease once and for all… But we both know that’s not going to happen.”
Perhaps once, he had harbored such hopes. If Claire and Rheinhardt were still around, they probably would have made an effort to save these people. But they were gone, and any idealistic fancies died with them.
Everything now was Leon’s fault. As Alice walked alongside him, she turned and said, “Nothing’s impossible, Leon. You will save the world. I know you will.”
She really believed it. But Leon laughed it off and kept moving.
Then the pair arrived at the house of the village elder, the client for Alice’s quest.
“As stated in my humble request, I would be much obliged to receive the services of two capable goblin-slayers such as yourselves.”
The elder bent down and adopted a meek, servile attitude. It was the behavior of someone begging for salvation.
“The fiends inhabit a cave in the mountains behind the village. Our people are going missing every time they forage for herbs in the forest…”
He continued to implore Leon, throwing away his dignity. The reason for that was…
“They took my dear daughter captive! Please, you must save her!”
“…It’ll be dealt with.”
Leon left the elder’s house and went straight to the mountains in question. On the way, he addressed Alice, who walked alongside him.
“I said before that novice adventurers ought to focus on quests to build up experience instead of entering dungeons. That’s because of how fiends behave. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into two different kinds…”
“You mean the mistborn and the illborn, right?”
“Exactly. The former are humans mutated by the Shroud. It takes away their intelligence but makes them physically strong in return. The latter are humans who succumb to Blue-Eye. They’re smarter but weaker than their mistborn counterparts. The other difference is that mistborn can’t leave their lairs, which means it’s mostly illborn fiends that plague humanity.”
As they neared the cave, Leon continued.
“I chose a safe quest for today, but even if you get yourself into trouble, I’ll save you. However, I won’t protect you. Bear that in mind.”
“Um…aren’t saving and protecting the same thing?”
“No, they’re not. Saving you is my obligation. Protecting you is my prerogative. And I don’t protect anyone. Ever.”
That was his self-imposed curse. Leon lost the right to call himself a protector the day his friends lost their lives.
As their conversation drew to a close, the two of them arrived at the entrance to the cave.
“…Let’s head in.”
“O-okay.”
Attempting to steady her rattling knees, Alice took a few tentative steps inside, and then…
“U-um, Leon? Wh-what are you doing?”
He crouched down, one ear pressed to the ground.
“Be quiet,” he said. “Don’t distract me.”
With that curt response, Leon focused intently on listening, picking up the sound waves reverberating through the cavern floor.
Ghouls lacked a sense of taste, and their sight, smell, and touch were all less sensitive than a normal human’s. However, their hearing was extraordinary, and in locations with lots of echoes, like caves, they could detect things other people couldn’t.
“Thirty-eight fiends,” he said. “And…seven people.”
“Oh, my!” Alice gasped. “Then we must go and help them at once!”
“…Yes. We must grant them their salvation.”
The two made their way deeper into the cavern, guided by the lights of burning torches affixed to the rocky walls.
“An illborn goblin is about as strong as a normal adult male with no Source-manipulating ability,” Leon explained. “Their senses are no stronger than a human’s either, and they can’t see in darkness.”
Thus, the goblins’ den would become their graveyard. It wasn’t long before Leon spotted three goblins, standing just before a turn in the tunnel.
“You wait here and watch,” he said.
Leon raised the pistol in his left hand, taking careful aim at the torch providing the goblins with light. The gun fired, and the cave was plunged into darkness.
The goblins were thrown into a panic. The Reaper drew near.
The “battle” lasted all of three seconds. One per rotten puddle that lay around him at the end of it all.
“…May your rest be eternal salvation.”
Leon muttered his prayer and glanced back toward Alice. “Come,” he said, before venturing deeper into the cave.
The path was a bloodbath. After Leon mercilessly dispatched another group of goblins, Alice turned to him and asked, “Um…am I only here to watch? Isn’t this supposed to be a test?”
“It is a test,” Leon replied. “Not of your skills but of your mind. So, yes. Watch.”
Alice didn’t understand what Leon meant by that. Leon could tell she didn’t see what he had in mind and started to wonder if he was making a mistake. While he chewed on that, Alice suddenly spoke.
“Still, I can see how strong you are,” she said. “Nothing like the ghouls I know.”
“…Yeah,” Leon replied. “I’m not like other ghouls. The others of my kind are unintelligent and are rated as Class Four fiends, slightly above a goblin. I’m special.”
It sounded like he was boasting, but Leon knew there was nothing to be proud of.
“I regenerate any fatal wounds instantly,” he added, “and my arm can tear a human to shreds. I also possess a superhuman level of hearing and a human intelligence that allows me to use these skills to the fullest… All the ingredients to become a powerful force, held back only by my heart.”
“Your…heart?”
“That’s right… I used to be a coward. I hid behind my master and fellow apprentice, shaking in my boots. I was pathetic.”