Nidome no Yuusha - Chapter 186

Chapter 186 - Screams of Exceedingly Deep Forest and Ground [Continuation]

Thanks to the thorough information control, the path that only I know of now is a straight road that is easy to navigate with earth magic, but it's quite the distance.

It is a little harsh on these old bones walking with these number of children.

And the cold air of the night isn't helping the lungs of this old man.

「Now then, let us proceed」

「U, uncle, where, is this place?」

「Fumu, I believe I explained that you should keep quiet and follow me without making a fuss」

Many orphans have lost their relatives due to the war. These children here are one such that cower in the corner of town.

The designation of 『Pure ones』 that the fairy likes, as well as where to easily acquire them with just a little flash of food and money, infact it is quite convenient really that they are children as they can be easily secured.

Besides, if it is children…….

「B, but, I didn't hear anything about us going inside the forest……, even everyone……」

「For f*ck sake, you just don't shut up. Don't worry just be quiet for now」

As well as I can get them to a remote area, I can do whatever I want then.

「Eh? Gyaa!?」

I brush aside the boy holding the helm of my cloth with his dirty hands.

Then I activated the magic that I had on standby.

The magical chains that materialized while making clanking sounds, became visible on the wrists of all the children that were present there.

I hold in my arms a single chain formed from a bundle of those chains.

「You see, as a guild master I have so many fetters* so much that it's bothersome. So I also have to do my best even when babysitting」 (TLN: Restraints/Curbs/ Constraints…)

Since I am afforded the luxuries befitting of my position, I have no complaints though.

「Well, it's gotten later than I had intended so we have to move quickly now」

I am running later than usual because I walked through the underpass at a pace that matches those of the children.

Although we are talking about fairies whose perception of time differs from that of humans, those bastards are such whimsical creatures.

They throw tantrums at the slightest things.

「Stop this, why suddenly……」「Uncle!?」「It hurts!!」「Oh no, no no no no!!」「UwaAAAAAAN, AAAAA!!」

I proceeded into the forest while dragging the kids along forcibly.

Befitting of her name as the fairy queen, Berry Bell who usually puts on an unbreakable aloof demeanor seemed to be somewhat impatient this time. I had better hand over the children and bolt outta here.

「Hm-m, it seems I am also getting old. The voices of the children keeps ringing in my ears」

「Why!? Why are you doing this……!?」

「It's because of my agreement with the Fairy Queen you see. In return for making me have an easy advancement in life, I am supposed to meet the fairy queen's requests」

I forcibly drag the struggling children and walk to the place that is always used for my secret meetings with the fairy queen.

Unlike five or six people, it is quite the hard labor dragging thirty children even if some of them are babies.

「Finally, we are here」

I arrived at a place where the forest looked to be a little improved where a collapsed stone pillar had become whole.

「Hey, Berry Be……, hm?」

When I tried heading towards the center, suddenly the resistance that came back from pulling the chains became stronger.

「What now? Did the chains get tangled up I trees?」

Looking back, there stood the children who had been tied up to the chains.

(……What us this? This doesn't look right)

The children who had been dragged up until now are standing upright in a row casting their faces down.

Including the children who were screaming it hurts, it hurts and the infants who were carried on the backs of their brothers and sisters.

And, despite the fact that their mouths aren't moving, a voice as if creeping out from the bottom of the ground seethes forth.

「Tell us, why?」

A childish high-pitched voice that sounded the same as the children looks, or the voice of a shriveled aged person.

「Tell us, why?」「Tell us, why?」「Tell us, why?」「Tell us, why?」

The children slowly tilted their heads in puzzlement as if they have all rehearsed together beforehand.

I have no idea when they were replaced, but this clearly isn't human.

「This is bad. Did the fairies set me up」

(I really have grown quite dull. To think I didn't notice anything till I got tangled up this far)

The presence of death staring at me from beyond the darkness with fixed eyes that I have felt in many of the scenes of carnage that I struggled through in my younger days.

「WHY」「DO TELL US WHY」「WHY IS IT」「WHY?」「W-HY」

Sweat gushes out of my moist skin.

The necks of the monsters already disguised as the children are now turning to an angle that is impossible due to the structures of living things.

「Hmph, I don't know what you're aiming at. That being said, I, Valeria, will not be done in without, ……what the hell!?」

A human hand composed of only bones protrudes from the bulging ground.

I tried to take advantage of the chains that are still tied to the monsters, at that moment, a small bone-like hands like those of a child grabbed my foot.

「Tsk, are these undead!? Don't get in my……, naguu!?」

At first the strength was weak. However, as soon as I tried to shake it off, the strength suddenly increased.

On the contrary, a number of hands grew up from the ground like a bubbling hot water that just reached boiling point.

「Gaguu, this is!?」 (TLN: Sound of nervous swallowing xD)

「They are people who resent you. These guys here」

「……!?」

For a moment, my whole body ceased to move as if it were temporarily paralyzed.

Those words sewed my body together like a thick pile of death covered in darkness.

「The Fairy Queen demanded sacrifices from you. As plaything for their hideous games, an offering for greater power, as a nursery for their continued breeding」 (TLN: Lit. Propagation/ increase)

「That voice is……, gugigih!!」

A voice I heard just recently.

However, there was no time to be surprised about the owner of the voice, numerous bones crawled out with such vigor like water breaking out of a dam and coils around me as if embracing me, and began to rip off my skin with unbelievable might, or more like they began to chew away at me.

「Get off me, a mere bunch of undead think they can……!? Wh, what the f*ck!?」

I swung my fist to crush the skeletons clinging around my body, but my fist sweeps through the air as if there was no substance in them.

「Th, these aren't ordinary skeletons, Guguguh!!」

「Their resentment is palpable. To the world that allows such absurdity, to the fairies that used them as their plaything, to you who condemned and drove them to hell. In this forest, while being obscured by the magic powers of the trees, but still without fading, they cling on so they don't vanish」

Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.

Buchiyuri, Buchiyuri is the sound as the flesh are torn, along with a crushing watery sound.

(W, why is it I wonder, my outer skin which boasts a superior elasticity so easily……)

Cold waves that causes frost to take root invades my entire body from the wound opening.

―――――I'll be devoured, I am being consumed.

「You bastard, you bastards have done something to me haven't you!!」

In the midst of confusion, I scream at the gang of three in front of me for an answer.

「Not at all, we haven't done anything to you. We are not quite fitting to be your opponent. So we provided them with power to serve as one」

「「…………」」

The trio who came to take examination to enter the battlefield as S-rank adventurers.

The penetrating-icy cold voice of the man who seemed to be the leader that took a step forward.

「I asked if they find you unforgivable, they came seeking you out that they will never forgive you even after death. So, I gave them a body. That very temporary body that hardened their undying hatred even more」

Having said that, the man smiles faintly.

Coldly, coldly, just coldly. With utterly disgusting eyes looking down on a mere insect.